Machka 

This weekend is Labour Day Weekend here in Australia, so it is a long weekend. It's also my birthday weekend (birthday on Tuesday)!!


Yesterday (Friday), Rowan and I drove about 150 km to Lancefield and arrived here in pouring rain. We spent the evening setting up our bicycles and gathering all our wet weather gear together.

Today (Saturday), Rowan and I rode our first 200K brevet since early 2008!! 205 km in total!!

It was a relief to see clear skies when we set off for the Start/Finish area in the morning, but we still carried our wet weather gear with us just in case. At about 6:30 a fairly large assortment of riders gathered for the 7 am start. There were rides of several distances going on ... 100K, 200K, 300K, 400K, and 600K. Rowan and I opted for the 200K.

At 7 am, we all started, and just when I was starting to settle into the ride, about 5 km down the road, I flatted!! The same thing happened on my 100K two weeks ago!! We determined that the problem was not the brand new tire I put on, but rather the rim tape which is old, worn, and out of place. Rowan fixed it as best he could and we fixed the flat and set off again. Fortunately Rowan's fix worked and I did not flat again for the rest of the ride.

Shortly after the flat we rode into an area of heavy, wet fog. We could hardly see, and our glasses kept misting up from the fog. The fog went on for kilometers ... kilometer after kilometer of white.

Finally, about 60 km into the ride, with about 40 km to go to the turn-around, we got out of the fog and into sunshine. Then it started heating up which combined with the humidity made it rather uncomfortable, and we stopped to shed some layers. From there all the way into Bendigo, it was warm and sunny.

Our control in Bendigo was a pleasant little 24-hour store where we had sandwiches and squares, and coke before heading back.

As we were leaving Bendigo, we could see storms forming in the distance ... where we were headed. As we rode, more and more clouds formed above us ... and then it started to rain. But only for 5 or 10 minutes at a time. We would discuss stopping to put on our jackets, and then the rain would stop. Then, all of a sudden it was like we rode into a fridge. One minute the temperature was fairly warm ... the next minute the temperature dropped. And shortly after that we put on the jackets.

It continued to rain on and off all the way back, with several loud rumbles of very close thunder around. We noticed hail heaped up on the side of the road, and found out when we got in that quite a number of the other cyclists had been caught in that hail. And then we found out on the news that Melbourne had a superstorm during the day and was blanketed in hail, some as large as golf balls, and waist-deep flooding in the CBD.

We stopped for a bite to eat in one little town, and when we set off again, I struggled. I felt like a hamster in a wheel ... like I was riding for all I was worth and getting nowhere. But apparently that bit of road is like that. It's a long, long gradual climb, but some of it is a false flat ... it doesn't look like anything, but it is. We had a great run out to Bendigo, but the route there came out of the highlands and into flatlands, and then we had to climb back out again. Fortunately when we finally got to the top, I was able to pick up a bit of speed again.

We rolled in after 11 hours and 48 minutes of cycling ... with 1 hour and 42 minutes before the cut off. I was really pleased with that time!!

And then, we ordered a chicken pizza to eat while watching Australian Rules Football in our room ... and I must say, it is quite the chicken pizza - it's huge and heavily laden with toppings. Mmmmmm!!


So ... what did you do this weekend? Did you get out for a ride? Did you ride your trainer or rollers? Did you go to the gym?

nahh

Today is...going to go to the basement and lift for a while, then clean bike from a ride last weekend, it's still caked in mud but I have had no time.

If my riding partner can get his bike fixed today, probably a ~20 mile ride today, maybe exploring a dirt road that would be on Day 1 of a tour we're planning this summer

Tomorrow, I have the choice between a social group ride, or a hammerfest with friends. we'll see how I feel.

Machka 

Sunday ... no riding today. A bit tired from Saturday's ride and another storm has moved in.

The Melbourne area got slammed yesterday with a major storm ... we got pieces of that storm on Saturday's ride ... and evidently our cabin got hit quite badly too. It appears that 2/3 of the floor was flooded.


Anyone else cycling out there this weekend?

Machka 

Photos from Saturday's ride ... they are the YMBC (You Must Be Crazy) photos ...

https://www.flickr.com/photos/1430288...detail/?page=4

SharpStone30888

Congrats on the 200km brevet, you're back

As I kept reading down I was just waiting for the hail and flooding

No riding for me this weekend. Very busy yesterday, and today I devoted to a long (slowish pace) run for the buildup to the 30km run in a fortnight.

Next 200km brevet planned for Sunday 28th March More prepared now, have my quite large saddlebag (ortileb large), have my reflective vest and 2 front and 2 rear lights to adhere to the audax Australia lighting rules (borrowed them last time). I need to grab some hammer electrolyte capsules before I go on the brevet (bad cramping about 160km in last time).

Next weekend will have to cycle on Saturday after work, can't on Sunday as my nephews christening is on. I need more time on the bike.

FlashBazbo

36 mile workout (long climb repeats) was scheduled for 2 or 3 30-minute climb repeats but ended up being one climb. I didn't think my new setup, with one less gear at the low end, would make such a difference. (Of course, it's also my first climb of the season and I'm another year older.) Does anyone make a 46-30 compact crankset?

Today will be a 3-hour recovery ride in the foothills.

Daytrip

Happy Birthday, Machka.

I took my longest ride of the year so far--55 miles. It was cool (35 degrees F.) and very windy, but sunny and not bad when I could stay out of the wind. Unfortunately, it seemed to blowing into my face a lot more on this loop than I expected. Here's a few photos:

leooooo

Beautiful first ride yesterday. After weeks of snow and general winter weather, we hit 50 degrees in NYC. Matched the temperature with a 54 mile ride!

Seedy J

Rain rain rain and it's getting cold again. Next Monday I move to Florida, tomorrow I pack up my bike, and this is NOT how I wanted to spend my last week in a comparatively hilly area. The weekend group rides got cancelled again, and between packing, rain, and various other errands, I only managed to do a 50 minute roller session (5x5' ZeCanon intervals) on Saturday. Got 2 nice big rides in during the week though - a new (to me) 110 km route (Nabetani Touge/Mikuniyama) with 1150m of climbing and the ride over Mt. Katsuragi into Nara (best descent 'round these parts).

stevegor

Well done on the 200km ride Machka and Rowan, If I knew you were coming to BGO I would have met for a quick chat.
Glad you enjoyed my stomping group.

I rode 80km on Sat morning with my group ride. We had a few sprints etc, but mainly stayed together working rolling turns. Some of the 20 something year olds in our group are getting stronger so I have to use my "sneaky 'ol bugger" tricks I've gleaned from racing to stay competitive. After the ride we met at a local park with other groups for coffee and cakes to raise money for charity, in honour for a local rider who died recently of cancer.

Sunday and Monday, no riding.....GRRRRRR.

datlas 

Saturday: 50+ mile ride with the local club.

Sunday: 45 miles with a friend.

Both days featured 100% sunny skies and temps well above freezing.

After a nasty February in the Northeast USA, this was like a gift from the weather gods.

nahh

I lifted in the morning, and did a hilly 30 mile ride Saturday. It was not that great, a gravel road that's generally passable was covered in giant gravel, mud, and snow. We ended up walking a lot of it.

Today I went and taught kids' karate, then ran with my girlfriend afterwards. That was a lot of fun! Did about 4 miles.

^oZ

90 km in the sun. Finally.

davincirider

Just a quick 50km rec ride to clear out the cobwebs. But it still felt awesome to have the sun and a breeze in my face.

Happy Birthday Machka.

chado445510

I went on my first group ride today! It was 30 miles and I was told I did very well. Happy about that. Hopefully I'll do it again tomorrow.

trinamuous

My first and second group rides this weekend I had been trying to get out for weeks, but the weather denied me. I'm coming off of an 18 mi r.t. commute that I started last fall, and I just began cycling last summer...I had no idea how I would do with the group rides. These were also my first rides on my new bike.

Ride 1: 38 mile trip through the Mt. Vernon area side streets of Alexandria, VA. I rode with the faster group, which started with 10 or so riders. The first half of the trip was more or less flat, but the second half had a couple decent hills and a good number of rollers. I thought there would only be a slower group, so I had the wrong cue sheet, and I was in an unfamiliar area. I also was finding out how the 12-23 would work out that came on my bike last week (12-25 is in the mail). Getting dropped was not an option! Go figure, since I had no choice but to use the 23 and would not allow myself to fail...as a result I pretty much smoked everyone on the hills...on my first group ride

Ride 2: I was very pleased with the Saturday ride, and a bit tired. Today's ride was supposed to be a laid back, 30 mi (plus 18 mi "commute")...a large non-competitive event in the Georgetown/Potomac area of DC. It was fun riding down the highway with dozens and dozens of riders...also funny seeing some of the bikes people were using. I saw people in commuters with the studs still equipped, mountain bikes with HUGE tires, etc. As I approached the midway point, a large group of club riders passes. I let em...I'm a bit tired. Then a hill, up which I pass the club riders who couldn't hack it. The entire group is waiting at the top, and I end up joining it...thinking they're doing the same ride I was. Turns out it's group B of one of the big Sunday club rides in DC (Bicycle Place). It goes a different route. Once again...unfamiliar territory. I CANNOT get dropped. I was intimidated at first, but planned to just make sure I stayed with the back. That turned out to be a bad idea, because I was getting stuck behind those getting dropped. So I ended up pulling up to the main group a couple times...had a few red lights that helped as well. It was challenging, but I had no problems riding with the group until I got to familiar territory, Rock Creek Park, and took a nice, casual ride home (another 17 mi or so).

It was a very fun, challenging, rewarding, and memorable first weekend of group riding

Machka 

We had no idea when we'd actually get there. I was figuring we'd be pretty close to the cut-off time, but we ended up having about 1.5 hours to spare.

chado445510

Oh you had it much harder than I did. It was a group of four (4 equates to a "group," right? ), and it was a no-dropping ride. But congrats on completing both high level rides!

valygrl

Last weekend I had a wake-up call and realized that my very hard cycling vacation is in only 5 weeks, and I better train!

So, 70 flat miles yesterday, about half with some slower girlfriends.

Today I got out with DataJunkie & a clubmate, and did 70 miles of my absolute favorite local ride - a climb up to 9300 feet, which is completely amazing this time of year. It was sunny and beautiful but only 35*F up there, and I brought a whole extra wardrobe for the 20 miles of descending and was glad to wear every bit of it.

Nikephoros

53 miles. Very nice weather, high 60's clear skies. Took it easy since I had some newer riders with me who hadn't done that distance before.

mzeffex 

I did 28 miles.. just plain riding. It was in the 50s, which was great.

ID64

I did 55 KM on Saturday and 45 KM today. Was a bit warm in winter jacket

Schmadley

Saturday - 60km around the Northern Beaches

Sunday - No ride as I was recovering after a very late night (or extremely early morning).

Monday - 25km before starting the week with a visit to the Dentist (don't have to go back for a year now - Woo Hoo!)

DVN

Happy birthday, Machka!

Rest on Friday, 2 x 20min. TT efforts on the trainer on Saturday, and a beautiful 50km tempo ride on Sunday. It's so nice to be able to start riding outdoors again.

Daytrip

85 miles over the weekend. 250 for the year so far. Looks like another 50 during this week if the weather holds.