Fund raising update

Also, I just wanted to let you know that we are nearly at the $5,000 mark in fund raising which is great.
We have a couple of initiatives in the next couple of weeks which will hopefully get us closer to $6,000.
Thanks to everyone who has donated.

Cheers
Carl

3 weeks to go - still training

Three weeks today we leave Phillip Island, I cannot believe that we are so close to the start of this ride now.
It seems a long time ago that we started all the training. But that was 7 months and nearly 4,000kms ago. The plus side of the training now is that the weather is so much warmer than even 1 month ago. The 5am starts are not quite as hard as they do not have that biting cold on the face and the body. On a couple of mornings recently I have found myself wearing too much in the way of clothing and nearly over heating...never happy!
The last couple of weeks have seen a lot of kms travelled, we have done over 700kms in training for the month of September alone and this weekend we are planning two big days of riding which will bring the total closer to 1000kms for the month..
We were discussing how far we have come, and if we look back 5 months, a 100km ride seemed quite daunting, whereas now it is not something that we are concerned about. The mental approach is how many kms can we do past the 100km mark? Last weekend I decided to go home after 130kms, not because I was getting tired but because I had other stuff I needed to do....!
The weather forecast is not that great for the next few days but we will have to get out as we cannot afford to lose any weekend training. That is where we put in the big kms and the weekdays are used to keep the legs turning over. After this weekend we only have one more weekend where we will put in big rides as I think the weekend before we leave will be quite mellow, a light ride or two and just getting all the kit together.
The question of how we will go by riding long distances day after day is only something that we will know once we are doing the trip. With families and so on it is asking too much to try and replicate that in training, just getting out like we are impacts more than just the riders. Partners, wives, kids and so on are all impacted. I would like to say thanks to all those involved in the ride, not just Aaron, Paul and Erika, but their families and those who are also helping us raise the money. It is a great team effort.

Cheers
Carl

Perfect training day

Saturday was our first group ride since our Berry trip of 160kms.

We took a casual ride from Wollongong to Shellharbour in fantastic riding conditions, the sun was out, there was no wind and it was warm. It was great to be out on the bike. If we could request conditions for the whole trip from Phillip Island then it would be like Saturday.

The ride out to Shellharbour was at a very steady pace, we were riding at the pace we intend to on the trip. Compared to other training rides this seemed quite slow but it makes the day much more achievable without getting too tired. It was a pace that we could sit on all day.

We were back in Wollongong before 9.30am and then Aaron and I headed up the coast to Bald Hill. When we got to Coalcliff I started to feel a lack of energy, I had eaten all my food and needed something fast otherwise I wouldnt be able to ride much longer. We stopped at a cafe in Stanwell Park only long enough for me to buy two mini muffins and gulp them down...then we headed up Bald Hill.

After having already ridden 95kms the legs still felt really good and once we were in the rhythm it wasnt too bad. At the top we filled the water bottles and then headed back home.

120kms covered in perfect weather up and over hills, it was a good day.

Cheers

Carl

160km training ride

This Saturday saw the team have a serious training ride which will be the equivalent to the longest days on the trip from Phillip Island. It was a 160km ride from Wollongong to Berry and back.

It was a great day and the weather could not have been better. All of us felt strong on the bikes and up to the 120km point was relatively easy. The last 40kms were tough due to a head wind that would not go away.

Further training to come in the next few days but it is a rest day today and perhaps tomorrow, last week was big with 360kms covered in 8 days.

Here are some photos from Saturday.

Cheers

Walk like a cowboy

Well this was our first big weekend, as Carl, Aaron and myself left Bulli on Saturday morning for a return trip to Bulli. We left slightly late - my brand-new chain snapped just a few hundred metres from home, but luckily I could borrow another bike. We were missing Erika, who had a foot injury and wasn't able to join us. It was a beautiful day early on, clear skies and close to no wind. It was uneventful for the outward trip, I was making sure to drink every 20 minutes and eat often, and took salt tablets every 45 minutes or so - I have cramped horribly on a long ride before, to the point of being barely able to walk afterwards, and a review of my nutrition later had suggested I had basically washed a lot of the salts and electrolytes out of my body. Carl and Aaron were faster up the hills, I just wanted to put the bike in the lowest gear and spin up - possibly the bottles of wine consumed on Friday night weren't helping here, but I also wanted to pace myself and leave plenty in the tank for later on. I've done rides before where I pushed too hard too early and the results were not pretty. You don't want to end up hours from home without the energy to get back.

After a coffee stop at Shellharbour we cycled through Gerringong and pushed on to the half way point at Berry where we stopped for a quick snack. The peanut butter bagel I had brought with me went down a treat, washed down with my first 'full fat' Coca Cola in years. Carl's knee, which had been troubling him for a week or so, had flared up again and Aaron was suffering a little from cramp but we stocked back up on water and sports drink and pushed on out from Berry in good spirits.

We noticed the cloud cover increasing and the wind picking up, and those good spirits lasted until about the 95km mark, where there is a hill that felt like it went on forever - looking at the stats now (http://connect.garmin.com/activity/109639588) it looks like it rises 130m in 2.5km which doesn't sound like much but at the time was torture. I was in my lowest gear and pedalling so slowly that I felt I could have gone faster by getting off and walking. Stubbornness kicked in, I was determined to make it to the top without stopping, and I felt such a boost when we finally got the the top and took a break so we could regroup. After this I really hit my stride, I was feeling strong and confident, leading the line into the headwind quite a few times. Then it was on to Shellharbour again for another coffee stop. It was on the ramp off the freeway at Shellharbour that I felt my first and only cramps of the trip - the quads on both sides cramped as I stood out of the saddle to climb. I managed to stretch them out but it was a lesson learnt - don't climb out of the saddle when your legs are already tired!

We had more drinks at Shellharbour and refilled our water bottles. Aaron and Carl will have their own stories to tell but it's fair to say we were all doing it tough with fatigue, cramps and soreness kicking in. The headwind had picked up and it was again stubbornness that got me home, tired but happy with the effort level we had all put in.

On Sunday Erika and I took a gentle ride down to North Wollongong and back, just 25k to loosen the legs, then off for a swim to cool down.

We still have a way to go but this weekend has given me a massive boost in my self-confidence.

For the coming week I'll be riding into work once or twice - that's 65km - then next weekend Erika and I will be riding to St George's Basin on Saturday (115km) and ideally back on the Sunday.

Paul

Paul's update - nine weeks to go

As Carl has said, it's just nine weeks until we start our ride of DOOM! I've started to incorporate bike rides into my daily commute - I live in Bulli, about 75km south of where I work in Pyrmont, Sydney. I've not cycled the entire way as Bulli sits at the bottom of a 500m pass, but I have done various parts of it - last week was Helensburgh to Pyrmont, just under 70km when you factor in getting lost on the way... That, along with a couple of other rides, added up to a 230km week which I was quite pleased with. Still a long way to go though, if we're going to do 1000km in 8 days we need to be up around the 600-700km per week mark in training by the beginning of October.

I still want to lose a heap of weight leading up to the ride, if I can drop 4 or 5 kilos in those 9 weeks it will make climbing hills a lot easier.

Up and at 'em.

Paul

9 weeks to go

We are on the final run towards our trip, this time in 9 weeks we will be on the second leg of our ride.
The weather has not been that kind to us and this weekend is not looking any better, but still have to get out there.
Next weekend is a 140km group ride to Berry and back, that should be interesting.

Cheers