So….you may be
hearing crickets in the background whilst reading this entry….I don’t blame
you. I haven’t been blogging as much as my previous years because the current
phase of my life is crazy!
I had mentioned
before we are moving house and for the last few weeks, I have been doing some
sewing for the hobby business, looking for a place to move into, culling my
belongings to minimise bringing things to the next house, arranging for
removalists, arranging for cleaners and steam cleaners, planning for TDU and
throwing out clothes which I no longer fit in *sigh*…
Good news, we found
a place, it is closer to the city and we move in on the 9th
December. Our current address is Aspendale which is approx. 35km from the city.
The new house is in Hampton East and it is about 11km which is going to be
great for commute.
I am really looking
forward to it as I am going to make changes to my lifestyle for 2017. I didn’t
end up doing any events after Ol’Dirty. I had an entry for “Chase the Dog” but
the day ended up being horrific and I actually came down with a bad cold which
set me back off the bike for 2 weeks. I then pulled out of “Ride to the Divide”
as I had a backache and I pulled out of Giro della Donna due to the lack of
training with the house moving thing and also keeping up with my cycling cap
orders. I sold my ticket to a friend’s husband and as he is elite cyclist. As
the change was done on the day before the event, I ended up getting messages
that I had scored the QOM for the day (the actual female who came first was
about 20min after Pete’s time) and won top 10 of the finish…..wow! Luckily it
was all sorted and the females all were awarded correctly for their placings.
Hobby business
wise, it has been great. I had a huge order within November which I needed to
finish within 1.5 weeks due to the house-moving thing and also completing
custom orders. I am totally obsessed with sewing at the moment as I get to tune
out with my audiobooks, destress from work/life and it is a creative outlet for
me.
I essentially have
not done any events within the last half of this year and I am not going to put
myself through any until I get some proper training done. After being dropped
in a supposedly easy shop ride last week, I decided that I am going to commit
to a training/coaching group, doing more group rides and following a program
under the instruction of coaches. I think the only reason why I haven’t signed
up to coaching before is that most of them start either too early, not great
when you have to travel from Aspendale or they finish too late and with my new
field of work, taking a shower at work when everyone has already had an hour’s
work will not look great…
I won’t be starting
out with them until after my move into the new house and when things settle
down with sewing and my work but I am looking forward to setting and achieving
new goals in the near future. Some goals I have for cycling include:
- Being more comfortable about riding in groups, this includes being able to keep up with speeds greater than 30km/hr for the entire ride.
- This is the only way at which I can finish at a reasonable time for Amy’s Gran Fondo and Giro della Donna
- Maintaining my cadence > 60 when climbing for gradients > 5%
- Pushing my power/weight ratio > 2W/kg for the majority of the ride with an average power of > 150W
- Following on from the power/weight ratio, reducing my fat mass down to < 65kg
Triathlon training
really didn’t condition me for road racing/riding, not enough time in groups
and not enough opportunities at cornering either. In the past, there would be
one or two cycling sessions a week (on windtrainers) and then a long ride on
the weekend. Not sufficient for road racing.
Things I will need
to invest in for 2017:
- Getting a power meter for the purpose of monitoring strength and improvement of power to weight ratios. I was supposed to get it within 2016 but luckily it hasn’t been required
- If I do end up doing proper road racing events then I will need to invest in a non-disc brake, Shimano groupset bike. I can’t reach the brakes and the shifters on my Campagnolo down on the drops and I can’t use my Liv because of disc brakes.
- Paying for cycling coaching. At the moment, I have been in contact with Lead Out and will try out a week or two before I sign up, most likely on a $130/month plan.
- Recovery boots. I rented them for 6 months last year when I was training for 3 Peaks and I found them to be a great help especially for my Ehlers Danlos Syndrome (EDS).
I am pencilling in
some big goals for 2017 and 2018. I may visit the goal of Falls Creek Challenge
again in 2018, with a bit of guidance and a proper training program I want to
be able to tick that event off my bucketlist. I will also be biting the bullet
and signing up to some road races over the winter months to learn how to ride
at a decent distance in a pack.
I am looking
forward to being a fitter, better bike handler and generally healthier version
of myself for 2017 onwards.
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