The funniest things

I was back at the gym today after a three week break.  Blame my clumsiness and damaging my knee sufficiently that I can’t bend it more than 90 degrees without pulling and I can’t kneel on it.

Anyway, at the gym today after work I had begun my programme which is on the mat where usually you’ll find people doing ab work or stretches.

This Asian kid (I’m old now, so he was probably in his late teens) came toward the mat area.  I’m rolling around the floor and notice what he’s wearing.

Jeans.  Skinny jeans.  And canvas type slip on shoes.

Initially I thought he was there to "support" someone else, no.  He was carting a bar with weights on it.  And as I continued to look up he had the most poncy looking "do" of any man (straight man) I’ve seen.

So what did he do when he put the weight down and stood in front of the mirror.

He preened.  Shamelessly. Right in front of where I was rolling around.

He was there with a number of young Asians.  They were both giggling and fooling about, and working with their weights.

This guy later grabbed bar bells.  He was skinny and I wondered if he’d ever really end up with muscle definition.  You know how some people just don’t seem to develop bulging muscles.  Doesn’t matter they can lift 3 times the weight you can.

So he stood side on to the mirror while doing his bicep curls.  I wondered what the point was.  He had a long sleeved thin sweatshirt top with the sleeves rolled up.  I really didn’t think he’d spot a muscle bulging from underneath.  But hey, I shouldn’t criticise.

This group were there before me, and still there when I left 50 minutes later.

I felt good to have finally made it to the gym for a session. 

First time in Oxford

I’ve never been to Oxford.  Well not that I recall.  Mark says we’ve not been and I’m so far removed from my childhood I couldn’t remember though I tried.

So what do you do when you visit a new place for the first time you might ask.  Well for me. I pee’d in Oxford

Sorry Oxford.  At least it was in the public toilets, of which I carted my bike into because you don’t know what the locals or visitors are like and I’m not taking chances of having my bike pinched.

Though in all honesty, I don’t think I would have missed biking home.

It was my first time riding the Gorges, the full Gorges.

I’d followed the map that was on the Festival of Cycling website.  I knew looking at it, the way to get to Rangiora and through Rangiora was different to past rides.  Those past rides have been in a bunch and I’ve just gone with the flow.  I didn’t need to know where I was or where I was going.  I just followed the bunch.

But yesterday was different.  I had to pull over a couple of times so I could memorise the next 3 streets and the direction I was to turn.

Thank goodness for the AA signs that point the way to Ashley Gorge because I still didn’t come across Glentui Road which was supposedly on my right. And that’s not the only road I missed seeing.

I had no idea that the road took me past Mt Thomas.  In fact I can’t say I’ve ever seen the signs to go to M Thomas.  But now I know where it is.

The other thing that I DO remember from past rides is stopping at the Camping site at Ashley Gorge and waiting for others to go to the toilet.  That had been my plan.  But could I see a sign indicating the way?  No.

Thankfully I wasn’t desperate and knew that Oxford would certainly have a toilet, if not, a cafe would be open and I could ditch the bike (crossing fingers it wasn’t pinched – or not) and make use of the services.

It’s a long way before you get to the Gorge.  Because I wasn’t sure where I was I didn’t know if I was in the right place, but I knew I should get a couple of little hills.  2hrs 40 into the ride and finally a hill.  I still wasn’t convinced I was in the right place until I saw the signs to the camp site.

Travelling along the long stretch of road that has the Mt Thomas entrance was slow work.  I kept looking at the grass on the side of the road and it wasn’t moving yet I swear there was a headwind.  Which didn’t make sense cos it was NE when I left home and it should have been a partial tail wind for me.

I’m relieved to see that it was almost all uphill until I’d reached Oxford.  I think I need to ride it in reverse next time, less uphill!

Naturally riding along Old West Coast Road was downhill but into the wind.  And isn’t that road long!  It goes forever.

However I didn’t ride all of it.  My plan had been to call Mark at midday and for him to come and pick me up – to coincide with 5 hours of riding.

I was sore.  So sore I contemplated getting off my bike at 5 hours and just waiting.  Still it was only another 5 minutes and I saw Mark coming toward me.

My hands were really sore.  I think the only reason I really used the aero bars was to give my hands a rest.  Because in the aero position it was killing my (already) sore back.

Between my butt, hands and back it was pretty uncomfortable.  I’d taken 3 panadol during the ride.  And I was in my biggest gear so I could ride out of my seat to give my butt some relief.

All I could think about was trying to grin and bear it through another 2 more hours.

My hat is off to those that complete the whole Ironman distance.  I don’t know how you do it.

I’m certainly not made of the same strong determination to push through the discomfort.

And as for pushing, I did not.  It was a level 3 ride and I certainly felt just fine, almost like I was cruising, except for the butt, hands and back telling me it wasn’t quite a piece of cake.  My legs were sore as well.  But it wasn’t hard work if you know what I mean. 

Having said that, I was looking at those very short hills and doubting if I could get up them I felt knackered.

Next week is The Gorges again, but level 4.  I guess I get to push it next week.  And then in two weeks I’ve got 180km ride (in 6 hours – haha!) to do.  Yesterday was 132.64k’s in 5:05km.  I don’t really think I’ll manage another 50k’s in 55 minutes.  I’m pretty sure it’ll be about getting the distance in rather than the time.

It’s called my Christmas Pudding Ride.  I better make sure I have plenty of Christmas Pud then!

No, the other left!

Getting to Lake Taylor (the car park) is almost as much of an adventure as MTB from there to Lake Sumner.

While we all knew there was around 30k of shingle road, we didn’t know about the Fords, Falling Rocks … and there were two other things.

As Mark said, you just about had to stop the car to read the list (on a proper sign).

Anyway, those fords.  It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a ford.  I must get out and about more.

Lets say I was glad not to be driving.  Poor Mark had to negotiate them.  And Darren – from the back seat – was looking out the centre and say "go left", and Mark would go right, so Darren would say "no, the other left!".

Anyway, we got to the car park (camping ground) safely with just one crunch to the front.  Poor Deo with his low profile tyres probably had greater difficulty clearing them without causing his car to bottom out.

The camping ground is just $4.00 an adult and $2.00 a child per night.  In case you were wondering.

We all got organised, after everyone needing to stop to use the loo.

Finally we were on our way.  I say finally because I expected we’d have left by 10:30am at the latest and it was 11:10 when I started my watch.  It took longer to get through the shingle road than I’d imagined.

I’d hesitantly asked Richard if the ride would be technical.  I’d read about it and it didn’t sound like it would be difficulty like Hanmer had been.  He assured me it wasn’t technical.

Phew.

So off we went.

While it wasn’t technical, or necessarily difficult, there were the odd challenges here and there.  And I still managed to fall off my bike, not once, but twice.  I wasn’t the only one.  Deo came a cropper too, but in fairness, he was on his Cyclo Cross bike so perhaps was handicapped.

There were a good many farm gates which provided an opportunity for us to regroup along the way.

The weather heading out by car was pretty miserable and my thoughts were with those at Lake Hood, but we were fortunate in that it cleared a lot as we got closer to Lake Taylor and then as we were cycling it was a bit gloomy but it never was enough to make us wet.

At 1:10pm we decided we’d ride a further 20minutes and stop for lunch, hoping that we’d have reached the swing bridge by then.  I really wanted to see it, not so much go on it!

We timed it perfectly.  But how to get to the swing bridge was causing us some confusion (actually I never looked, I left it to Mark and Darren).

The sun had finally broken through all the cloud and the sandflies were out in force.  We thought we’d ride on and take refuge at the hut and eat lunch there.  Yet the hut was on the other side of the swing bridge and the guys couldn’t see how to get to the bridge.

So we walked our bikes up the *walking* track.  I mean UP.  And the track wasn’t some nicely paved out thing, it was through all the tree roots and not even that well marked out (because I went off the wrong way).

Sensibility took hold (finally) and Mark and Darren ditched there bikes and set out like the Famous Five (but 2 of them) to see where the track lead.  And it was decided it was a No-Go.  So we took our bikes back down the track.  Gosh. I can’t believe we even took them up!  Who on earth would have done something so crazy, yet well all just followed along without too many questions.

It was definitely time for lunch, so we stopped at a flat grassy bit and swotted the sandflies away while eating.

The ride back seemed to be more consistent.  People had left the farm gates open.  We closed a couple of them thinking they were closed on our way out, they should be closed.  But we left a few open, and that’s probably why it seemed our riding was in longer stints.

The wind had picked up too.  It was really quite strong and it was a tail wind!  Yippee.  We were tootling along the flat long sections (of which there were really only two).

There were a couple of climbs.  Nothing long or nasty but enough to get my HR to 187!  Though that might have been when I came a cropper and fell off my bike going up hill.  I’d just negotiated it wrong and ended up trying to ride over a rock that had a lip on it that I’d not seen.  And off I came.  Right on the same side as my other nasty fall from Hanmer.  This time I have more of a gash in my knee.

I dusted myself off and we continued.  But it did knock the stuffing out of me and another rocky section I walked, all 5 or so steps, because I was shaking a little and paying too much attention to what was immediately under foot than the direction in which I was travelling.

For all that, I really did feel like I let the bike do the biking.  The downhills (on the way out) I was looking for a line and it was pretty much all rocky the whole way down and I managed (coped) just fine.

Yes there were times were I thought I was losing it but it came right.  And a couple of times I had to hurriedly unclip (over flat stuff) because I hit a rock wrong.  Darren said I only needed another turn of the pedal and I’d have righted the bike and been able to carry on.

My second tumble (onto the same side) was just stupidity.  I might have needed something to eat I think. It had been a long day and we weren’t far from the camping ground and I’d not had anything other than a couple of lollies on the trip back.  We were going so slow and it wasn’t really difficult (energy-wise) at all. I hardly felt it was necessary to have electrolytes or anything of that nature.  Perhaps I down played it too much.

So after watching Darren take his course I decided I didn’t like it, and opted for the grassy edge instead.  But what I realised all too late was the water that was travelling across the road had made a channel in the grass.  The gap was about 40cm and it dropped about 30cm and there’s no way you’re getting your wheel over to the other side without jumping it.

But as I say, I was too slow to compute.  So I came off my bike a second time.  And it hurt almost as much, only because I was sore from the first one.

The day was a long one.  We were away longer than I had expected but we’d had a really great time.  It’s a ride I’d do again.  The only thing putting me off is the long ride out there over that shingle stretch.

Oh, and the cleaning of the bikes – yet to be done.

We reached Amberley around 6:40pm and stopped for dinner at the NW Cafe.  Lovely food.

The other thing that I realised, after getting home, was the sunburn I’d copped.  I had no idea, and despite having taken sun block with me, I still didn’t twig that the sun had come out with such force.  The backs of my legs are a shade of pink, as are the tops of my legs.

Darren seems keen to go back out for another ride, but next time with a tent and a chilly bin with a few beers!  I think it would be great to go again and reach the hut, stay the night (in Summer of course) and then bike back out the next day.

Would I recommend it?  Absolutely.  It doesn’t have the thrills and spills of a single track, but it’s a really enjoyable ride and if you see the photos, there’s plenty of adventure to be had.

Another successful Tiddlers Multisport event

Some of you will know Vivien McCaskey.  She organises the Tiddlers Multisport events.

I went down to help this morning.  Each time I got some sort of communication from Viv the start time to turn up got earlier and earlier!  I was to be there at 7am today.

It’s a really great event and it’s such a lot of fun to be involved.

These are the types of things that really make it all worthwhile

• Parents coming up to you saying how much fun their child had, and how well run the even is
• A dad telling his daughter at the finish line "daddy is so proud of you"
• Little kids cheering on friends, encouraging them along the way
• Nana and Granddad who turn up to watch their grandchildren
• Dad telling his daughter that she might want to take her top off in case she gets too hot during her event (they last 2-3 minutes)

It really is quite delightful to watch all the little stories going on around you. It’s pretty hard not to smile as you witness some special moment between a child and his/her family.

The flipside is that there’s the occasional child that doesn’t really fancy participating.  Viv is really good with them.  Often encouraging them to start after all, or making them part of the event they were registered for by following her around the course as she takes photos.

Every child gets a certificate and a little medal.  The faster boy and girl of each wave has their times recorded, then the fastest boy and girl across all waves for their age gets a prize.

And as you’d expect, there are spot prizes too!

Gosh, what are we teaching our children about sporting events

So well done Viv.  Great job.

Now if you could just somehow get enough money to at least pay for your petrol costs.

I love alliteration

We’re the Pill Popping Palings.

We headed out to McLean’s Island for a two hour ride.  Upfront I’ll say I’m glad I swapped my 5 hour hilly ride that was set for Sunday, to Saturday.  I’ve got such sore legs today after the MTB ride.

My hat goes off to Ruth who did the 6 hour challenge having no real MTB experience.  After 2 hours I was stuffed.  And that’s only a 1/3 of the time.

Ok, I probably could do the 6 hours but not after 5hrs 20min of riding the day before.  I’d pace myself differently (naturally).

Anyway, the ride went well.  I was starting to get into the groove of some of those tighter windy bits.  Some times it felt darn smooth.  And then it wouldn’t.

I did noticed the last lap (the 10k) I did (on my own) was harder concentration wise.

At this stage I’d had 1.5 gummy worms and 2 electrolyte capsules when I started out some 1.5hours earlier.  I think I probably needed a bit more – possibly a bit of caffeine even!

After our first lap (15k) we stopped at the beginning to take a drink. I don’t think Mark’s drinking during the ride, rather if we stop.

We got our computers on the bike last week so it was fun (challenging) to compare our average speeds and maximum speeds.  I don’t mind that our average speed was 21km/hr.  It’s nice knowing just how far through the track you are – how much more you’ve still got to come.

Anyway, at the end of the first lap I asked Mark if he’d like a worm and he said he’d try the "pills".  Haha, didn’t take long before I converted him to getting some electrolytes on board.  I’m not sure if he found them helpful or not.

After completing the 2nd lap Mark decided that was enough for him, he even had 1.5 gummy worms which is the first for him too.  I ask and ask and he always turns it down.

I was on my own for the last 30 minutes of our 2hour ride.  Well actually it’s really *my* ride.

Gosh my quads are hammered.  I need to go do some stretching.  But after Cameron’s remark about the state of our chains I decided I best clean the bikes, chains and lube before tending to my own needs.