Melburn Roobaix 2016 - The Cold One #MelburnRoobaix

On Sunday 26th June, I joined in for my 4th Melburn Roobaix (hosted by Fyxo). If you want some more reports on previous years, you can find them here:


2013 - The First One
2014 - The Wet One
2015 - The (not) Wet One

A Roobaix is not a Roobaix unless a donut (or two) is involved

I had a (sick) cold starting from Monday last week and was off work for about 3 days after that. I didn't end up doing the EllaxMaap ride due to being sick but thought Roobaix ride was not too intense so I should be ok to do this...


What I couldn't account for was that Sunday was soooooooo (temperature) cold...we are talking 2 degrees (with tops of 11) and being outside, riding a bike = my (sick) cold intensified!


So the day started like the previous years where the Canadian and I would park the car in Abbotsford (kinda in between Hawthorn and Brunswick). If I was doing a normal ride, I would have on my long sleeve base layer and maybe a short sleeved jersey with arm warmers. This day required extra layers and the most I had ever worn in my life (of cycling). I had on my Macpac long sleeved base layer, my extra thick long sleeved cycling jersey I bought from Japan, never worn as it is stupidly thick and over that, my new Rapha wind jacket. I wore knee warmers with my knicks, two pairs of socks, wool gloves, my BIKE LOVE cap with ear warmers and my buff.

At Three Bags Full

We arrived around 9am and instead of riding to Hawthorn, we decided to have a coffee at Three Bags Full to warm ourselves up first before the quick ride down to the velodrome.


We arrived just after 9:30am and the line to pick up the musettes were already stretched out alongside the field. As the registration was far more straight forward this year (exchange ticket with musette), the line moved very quickly.

The Canadian and I sussed out the first stop and we ended up riding with large groups to the first stop. It was packed as usual and we answered the first question and then moved on.


What I had noticed with this year's Roobaix route is that it was shorter compared to previous years - less stops and shorter distances. We didn't end up venturing much around North Melbourne/Flemington way and the furthest was Ascot Vale. The route this year did include the trails along the Eastern Freeway which was fun (read: muddy) on the CX bike. I can't imagine how I would have handled it on the roadie.


There were some steep sections after the Eastern Freeway trails - I walked up "the walkway" of Marshall Street which had a gradient of 30-40%. It was impossible for me to ride up that road especially with so many people around...The Canadian rode up the climb and luckily he had a good path in front and around him that he was able to do it.


We stopped for lunch after "The Brewery" stop (Temple Brewery) and had lunch at The B*East. I had a vego slider and the Canadian had a burger and we shared a Poutine together.

Still freezing...

After lunch, it was an adventure towards Ascot Vale, ride along the "drains" (?!) and then the donut stop at Brunswick West where we once again caught up with friends (who work at the bike shop), we then rode together to the last stop before heading towards the Brunswick Velodrome for the finish.

We spent the rest of the time at the finished area chatting with friends, collecting free stuff and handing in our finished manifests. Personally, I felt that due to the finish line not being at the Velodrome (due to repair works), the finished line atmosphere wasn't as good as previous years. The crowds were more spread out amongst the field. I wasn't as engaged in the "voting" process for the costumes, maybe because my sinuses were blocked and I didn't even realize that the draw for the final prize happened.... but I still had a great time and loved the whole day.


My cold has gotten significantly worse after Sunday but it was worth it!!! Can't wait for next year and hopefully the finish line will be back in the Velodrome.

Cycling and Stuff Update

It has been over a month since my last event and I have just been doing a few rides here and there. My next cycling event on the calendar is the Ella x MAAP ride on the 25th June and Melburn Roobaix on the 26th June.

I haven't signed up for Peaks Challenge yet. I am still not committed to it. Although I enjoyed the training, I look back at all the hard work, money spent travelling and paying for accommodation and just not being at home and then stressing out about the ability to meet the 13 hour deadline is not something which I look forward to. So for now, I am going to work on manageable goals in getting stronger on the bike rather putting myself through that realm again until I am ready, both physically and mentally.

I enjoy cycling, don't get me wrong. It is something which I have carried on doing after my stint with triathlon-ing. I have continued with cycling to keep me fit and the impact on my joints has been minimal so that's a benefit.

Looking ahead, after Melburn Roobaix, I have my sights set on Ol'Dirty on the 28th Aug, Amy's Gran Fondo on the 11th Sept (main event), Dirty Gran Fondo Gembrook on the 18th Sept and then I may or may not do Around the Bay in October. I had such a great time last year and the weather was just pure-100% perfect so I just don't want to ruin my experience.

I have changed things around a bit. I am trying out new spin classes to work on strengthening myself on the bike. I am sticking with the Wattbikes but I am mixing things up a bit as different classes use different watt bike types and training types.

Without being too specific:
Class 1 - Often work on technique, we actually look at the pedal efficiency, work on the core. When we work on strength, the cadence is very low and I crank up the fan all the way up to 10 and the magnet to 5-6 and can be pedalling from 50rpm all the day up to 65rpm. We do a few max efforts along the way. The efforts are based on % of max efforts so it will depend on what you determine your max effort is.

Class 2 - They work with the zones based on your MMP test. I attend more KOM classes so during these sessions they work mainly on low cadences and maintaining particular zones. This class has a combination of Wattbike Pro and Wattbike Trainers. I have only used Pro bikes by mistake. The cons about this session is the distance from home. The drive alone is about 40km and the class which I do starts at 5:30am (4am alarm) I really enjoy working within the zones as it is different for everyone.

Class 3 - They only have Wattbike Pro and the difference is within the recovery periods where you want to be able to spin the legs out. I haven't done too many of their sessions. The first session, they instructor based it on W/kg which was hard to maintain for long periods of time especially when your fitness and strength is not quiet there. Everyone had to ride on the same gear and maintain the approx the same cadence so it was hard to maintain especially when the gears of the bike is harder than what I am used to. I am going to attend more of these classes as I feel that I am not part of the main group and therefore, plenty to improve. The location is also great as it is around the corner from work.

I haven't done too many road rides. I just haven't been motivated enough to do them myself as I haven't got a group to do it with and I am not pressured to do it if I am not with a group. If the weather is shit, I stay indoors. I do replace those outdoor rides with spin classes so I am still working on my riding muscles.

Fingers crossed this weekend will have good weather as I would like to complete the Crucifix before the Ella x Maap ride.

Too cold to even smile (4 degrees)

Friends of Tribal Ride (28th May)

The Dirty (Medio) Fondo - Race Report

Today, I completed my 3rd Dirty Gran Fondo at Wandong (4th event if you include Dirty Gran Fondo at Gembrook).

Photo taken by The Canadian at the start

I didn't write too much about the this leading up to it as I didn't want to put too much pressure on myself to do well. I did the same route/distance as last year which was good because it gave me something to compare. The 65km Medio on the mountain bike.

Last year, I came DFL with a time of 5:33. This year, I didn't place DFL and I had an improved (total) time of approx 45min.

The event started much later than last year. Much better as it takes 1 - 1.5 hours to get to Wandong from Melbourne. You are also able to wear what you would ride in for the most of the day rather than worrying about layers. This year, I started the event wearing my short sleeve jersey and bib knicks - no arm warmers, no ear warmers, no knee warmers and no rain jacket. The weather has been kinder to us this year compared to the previous 3. We got to the grounds around 8:30am and it was a mad rush to the toilets (I was busting pretty much from South Melbourne) and to pick up our race numbers before rego closed at 8:45am.

The event started at 9am and I stayed at the back, my usual starting spot for events like these. I rode well through the first 10km, slight climbs through some rocky sections. It was then a fast descent where I decided to practice on my descending skills - being relaxed more through the shoulders and arms, bum off the saddle and use the legs as suspension too. I also trusted my bike that it wouldn't fall into pieces if I rode over rocky and bumpy sections.

I remember one section of the climb where I first hopped off to climb, I am glad to report that this year, I rode up most of the climb to a point where I started spinning through the gravel (it was so steep) and I fell off the bike. Luckily, my hydration backpack broke my fall and I walked away with minor grazes on my elbows and a bruised palm. I wore my long finger gloves so the fall wasn't as bad if I wore no gloves (glad about that last minute decision). I walked my bike up the rest of the climb and had no idea that my chain had come off and was wrapped about the hubs. There was a section of the trail where some guys were shooting bullets into the open field and that was where I decided that I would hop on the bike and it was only then I realised what had happened. I spent about 10min trying to rotate my chain out between the gears and the spokes and the guys ended up helping me - how many guys does it take to get a chain out of trouble, the answer would be 3! It was really stuck! For a moment there, I thought I wouldn't finish the event due to a mechanical.

When the bike was ridable, I thanked them and rode off into more climbs. The gears were playing up due to being misaligned from the handling so it was rattling and shaking throughout. I ploughed through the first feed zone when there was no mechanic available to help and I am not a "food" person as I carried all my nutrition on me. After the first feed zone it was a nice ride through more sheltered tracks with stunning views. Once I got to the 2nd feed zone, I could get someone to help me tune my bike so the gears were aligned with the chain. After this, there was no more rattling but there was a high pitch squealing which I thought  were birds amongst the trees for about 10km before I realised it was actually me.

I remember a few points along the route where I walked up the climbs and I am happy to report that I rode through all of them, every single one!!

Looking at my strava, it looks like there were some good 25% pinches and I felt every single one of them. Luckily the terrain was rough enough that my tyres had a good grip. The final 13km was pretty much downhill and apart from a few tricky sections, I let gravity do its thing. Happy to say that my top speed was 10km/hr higher than last year and so was my average speed was 4km/hr more.

I felt good on the bike but I didn't want to be too complacent. I knew that I wasn't DFL and I knew that I was well under my previous time.

Riding through the presentation 

So happy to finish (or still grinning from the caffeine gels)

Before the start...

According to the actual results, I finished 4:47 which is 45min faster than last year's 5:33.

A few comments/notes:

• Although I trusted my abilities on the bike much better compared to 12 months ago. Some technical sections of the course still had me rattled, especially sections where there were sharp turns. 
• Increase my strength and fitness on the bike so I feel like I am actually racing and not just "riding"
• Without the falling off the bike thing, stopping for 10-15min to get my chain out of the hubs through to getting it tuned at the feed zone, I would like to aim for a respectable time of 4:15-4:30 for next year. 
• I really do need to get on the mountain bike more than the two events I do per year. 
• I would like to do the Dirty Gran Fondo Gembrook on 18 Sept and it is a week after Amy's Gran Fondo (11th Sept 2016). I did both last year and they were also a week apart. 

For the next week, I will do a spin class (most likely on the Tuesday), Albert Park laps if the weather is not shit (otherwise, it will be spin class), most likely another ride into work on the Friday. No long rides this weekend due to some schedules clashing and me having to finish off a billion cycling caps. 

The RACV Ascent - The Event Report

On Sunday 17th April, I participated in the inaugural The RACV Ascent Womens event. It was organised by Bicycle Network. This event is opened only to women and they had organised some road closure for this event to happen. The closures were mostly partial and only fully closed on some sections where safety of cyclist is concerned. There were still cars along the roads during the event but nothing to worry about or dwell upon.

I haven't done any hilly rides for about 2 months! I have only continued with the Wattbike sessions twice a week and flat road rides but nothing which requires efforts....apart from ticking off Mt Baw Baw which I have nearly erased out of my memory.

The event had been planned to start off at 6:45am and because the road closures started at 6am, I wanted to be able to find a car park and get ready with plenty of time. The alarm was set at 4am and I left the house at 4:45am. I think I arrived there around 5:50am with plenty of time to get my bike ready and visited the toilet twice. The start of the event was at the Cherry Farm on Queens Rd in Wandin. It was freezing that morning and I started with arm warmers, a gilet and gloves but as the sun came out before the start of the event and the gloves quickly came off. I had placed myself in Wave 2 - between 4 - 5 hours. I knew that I wasn't fast enough to finish 100km within 4 hours (with hills) and I don't stop for food so I figured that there was a chance that I would finish under 5 hours.

The first few km of the ride was good but I guess without a warm up and we went into a climb pretty soon, my legs weren't cooperating...I felt like I could not pedal efficiently, my cadence was well below 60rpm and my heart rate was through the roof. My confidence for the day started off low but it slowly increased when I found myself being able to ride the descents fast. I did a cycling session with Tribal Cycling a few weeks ago and got a few tips for descending and cornering. I used these tips during the ride and it really worked! I actually did most of the ride (unless I am climbing) on the drops. The 1-in-20 climb wasn't my fastest. I should have come to do a few training rides before the event but there has been incidences of tacks on those roads and not being a confident descender, it scared me to do rides there. Luckily I didn't get any punctures but there was about a dozen or so riders who did. At the top of the 1-in-20, there was a rest stop but I didn't need to so I kept going. The ride through Sherbrooke Rd was really nice, a route I had never taken before (I will be sure to return).

My fave photo - climbing 1-in-20

Along Kallista-Emerald Rd, the scenery was great and there were a few parts where you could really pick up speed. Then we got to Emerald-Monbulk Rd where someone sprayed graffiti on the roads aiming at the riders of the event - quite homophobic, really unoriginal and just lame. Then it was the lunch stop at the Monbulk football grounds. I wasn't hungry for lunch as it was only around 10:30am so I just filled up my water bottle (having gone through a bottle in 2:45), a quick toilet stop, off goes the arm warmers and then on the bike I went.

The rest of the ride was good. I kept up with my nutrition and hydration plan but my legs were starting to get tired around the 70km mark. Both my quads were starting to "tingle" and I knew that if I was to climb a steep section out of the saddle, they would cramp. I was staying in the saddle as much as I could, even through the small steep pinches which were plenty along this route....then came the wall at about 85km....it was brutal to add a climb (16% according to my Garmin). Due to the cramps, I couldn't ride out of the saddle for more than 1 stroke each side....I didn't look up, I just pushed on until I could feel a bit a relief....

I honestly thought that as my Garmin showed that we had already climbed 1790m and the route info said we would climb 1800m for the 100km route, I thought that was that... but the climbs kept coming...rolling hills that felt like everest.

I final steep climb was along Queens Rd and this was where I saw a few people around me walk their bikes up. I applied the same method as before and just looked on the ground and just pushed on. Just before the turn off into the farm, there were a few sharp descents where I just trusted my bike and just let go of all my fears. As I have mentioned before, if I can see where I am heading, I am more confident at not applying the brakes.

So the last hundred meters onto the finish line was through the gravel road of the farm and this part of the ride reminded me of the gravel sections of the Giro della Donna. I crossed the finish line in 5:30 (riding time of 5:15). I stopped to say hello to a few people and then I went back to the car to head home. I didn't really want to have a bbq as I wasn't hungry. I just bought a fruit smoothie for my drive home and that was that.

Official Route for 100km

Finish Line

 A few comments and thoughts for the event:

• The graffiti on the roads - was it suppose to deter us from the event? What was the reaction you wanted? I think it showed more about the level of maturity of the person(s) more than anything. They even had the graffiti going the wrong way...so lame!
• The tacks - it doesn't just affect the cyclist, it also affects the environment - walkers, dogs, wildlife, cars....
• I didn't try anything new - had my hydration every 15min and had my nutrition every 30min. 
• I should have shed the gloves early and stored them in the car rather than carrying them through all 100km. 
• Will I sign up again - yes!! Fingers crossed they will run this event again. It was truly unique. They ended up with 707 female riders which is amazing. 

The Guilt

I will just go straight into my current situation - I was made redundant the Thursday before the Easter holidays. I have been unemployed since then and actively looking for work. I have had a few meetings with recruitment as well as responding to ads on seek.com.au directly. Every advice friends and family have provided to me - I am already doing...

Even though I have what you term "pro hours", I have not utilised it the (cycling) advantage. 

I have done one pro hours cycling session and it was to ride my loan track bike to reassure that I am not always a nervous wreck when it comes to trying something new. I already mentioned in my last post that I successfully ridden the bike around the track (and even up on the banks) for a total of 10km (20+min). Because I wasn't doing anything in particular, the session wasn't catered to a program of any sorts, it wasn't a long session at all. I think if I was to do it again, I will need to look into a program or something or listen to music/podcast/audiobook so I won't get bored. Before you mention anything about safety, I always make sure that I cycle the track by myself, no one else is actually there, I only have it in my left ear and I actually to keep my eyes opened when I am riding...

Anyways, back to the point of this post. Because I am unemployed at the moment, I feel guilty for not putting 100% of my spare time with job applications. I haven't been out riding my bike during the daylight hours during the week which is a real shame. I haven't used my redundancy pay for a holiday or a bike purchase because I have a great fear of the unknown and holding on to whatever I have left. I think once I am accepted for a role, then I will feel more comfortable and less guilty about spending my "pro hours" on the bike...

Wish me luck!

No Brakes Cycling!

Track cycling is not something which I am exposed to....although I have been to the Brunswick velodrome a dozen or so times (DirtyDeeds CX and Melburn Roobaix) and I knew that it was used for track cycling but I have never experience track racing until I attended the Austral Championships on the 19th Dec 2015. 

Since then, the whole fixed wheel bicycle thing has become something which I have been fascinated about. One of my friends has even bought a track bike and she now races them weekly. I tried out track cycling on Good Friday of 2016 (the day after I was made redundant from my work) with the Melburn Hurt girls at Brunswick. 

My nervous face before I stepped out of the car to try track for the first time. 

I arrived early and got a bike my size ready for the trial. There were plenty of girls there who were trying track. Looking at the girls before me, some successful and some not in the initial "take off" on the bike wasn't great for my confidence. The sensation of not being able to pedal backwards to set the pedal in the correct position, requiring to constantly pedal and having no brakes made me so nervous about my turn on the track that I actually had an anxiety attack. My heart rate was so high and I started to get a bit dizzy that I had to just pull out of the line and just relax a bit. I didn't like how the attention was on me...

I took myself out of the line-up, watched a few more girls take off on the bike and then I rode off at my own pace. I wasn't comfortable about being clipped in on both sides and having someone hold onto my bike to start off but I was more than comfortable doing it on my own with only one shoe clipped in. Luckily I have the ability to pedal off on one leg so I clipped in my left foot when I was comfortable but the whole pedal over the entire crank and no coasting thing took some time to get used to...

I went around the track 4 times before I stopped...now stopping on the track bike is another story. Even though I have done it severe times since then, I have no idea if I am doing it correctly. I slowed down by pedalling slower and actually putting on some force to slow down the bike. I had to stop as the saddle was on a slant and therefore was rubbing into my inner thigh and it was just getting ridiculous. I brought the bike up to the workshop for them to adjust and by the time I got back down to the track, it started to rain and one of the girls fell off the track as it was slippery. The track was then closed. 

Not knowing that the track was only closed temporarily, I took my bike back upstairs and swapped my pedals back and then was told that the track was opened again when the rain stopped. I already had taken off my pedals and so I decided to just call it a day and enjoyed the hot crossed buns and coffee and caught up with my friend Sally who also came to try track. 

Before my nervous breakdown...

Since that day, I have borrowed a track bike off a friend of mine and have successfully ridden the bike and also along the steeper banks of the Edithvale track (around the corner from my house). The bike she has was a better fit for me and I actually rode down on the drops without hesitation. 

I did about 20min (10km) on the bike and called it a day for now. It was quiet warm for autumn (30 degrees). I had to stop at the 4km mark during my ride to ride near my bag to drink water. I have this bike until ANZAC day and then I will need to return it. I will only buy a track bike (they are relatively cheap compared to a road bike) only if I find another job within April. 

Me with Amy's Cinelli track bike at Edithvale Velodrome

7 Peaks - Mt Baw Baw (7/7)

So over the Easter weekend, I completed my 7^th Peak as part of the 7 Peaks Challenge. As you may or may not know, I didn’t end up participating in the Peaks Challenge Falls Creek due to being stupidly sick. I had it pencilled in on the 26^th March to finish off the 7 Peaks Challenge as it is 2 weeks after the Peaks Challenge as tackling Mt Baw Baw straight after Peaks would not be the greatest of ideas.

The day came and I had the Canadian, my friend’s husband (Pete) scheduled in to ride up Mt Baw Baw. Pete is a pretty good cyclist. He rides to work everyday and he races A grade at crits. The Canadian has been having problems with his ankle and he didn’t get a chance to change his cassette on this road bike to be able to tackle Mt Baw Baw well so he ended up riding his mountain bike.

Pete and Dayna rode from Noojee with Dayna riding back to Noojee from Tanjil Bren where we parked (already a pretty big hilly day on the bike). We set off around 9:30am and the day was pretty perfect for the climb.

Once we rode through Big Tree Creek, it was a steady and very very manageable climb – so much so, I was spinning at 75-80rpm which we all know that it meant that we were not really climbing….

The official start for the 7 Peaks Challenge is at the Gantry and this is clearly marked on the side of the road. I saw a car parked there and it appeared that someone was just going to ride the 7 Peaks route without a warm up…

Once I hit the main climb, it was a struggle. The gradient was already above 10% and I was already standing up out of my saddle. I rode for about a few hundred metres or so before the gradient went above 12% for too long for me to be out of the saddle and I had to hop off the bike and walk… When I could, I got back on the bike but before too long, the gradient once again reached too high for me to pedal through out of the saddle. I got back on the bike on the start of Mt Baw Baw road after stopping to read about where abouts I am on the climb and if I have passed the 20% part or not….when I realised that I have not gone through Winch Corner yet….URGH! So I tried as much as I could to ride through it all by not looking up….but the gradient just shot up too high for me to ride through. 

Through this section of the climb, I had about 6 people ride pass me. All were pushing their max. All had sweat, snot, grinding teeth, grunts and just in a world of pain. Some were zig-zagging through the climb and eventually made it up….I walked (4km/hr).

Once I walked passed the stupid part of the climb, I got back on the bike and had 3 km left to ride to the end. I really just wanted it all to end but still had 3km to go, riding at 10%+….when I came around the corner and saw the entrance to Mt Baw Baw resort, I was so happy that it finally finished. The Canadian was waiting for me at the entrance and we stopped for a coffee before the descent.

My 7 Peaks time was 1:36 which placed me waaaaaaay below the Strava leader board but it’s all relative. Pete did it around 34min and the Canadian did it around an hour or so.

I put on both my arm warmers, wind jacket and gloves before we descended. To be dead honest, I didn’t even realise I was descending down steep roads. The disc brakes of my bike is great for that. I kept my speed below 45km/hr as the road conditions were horrendous. I stopped after the creek to take off my layers before the small climb back to Tanjil Bren. All throughout the ride back to the car, I was swearing to myself that I will not be riding up Mt Baw Baw ever again and this sentiment still holds. I don’t know if it was because I am not at 100% health wise (still coughing), over 4 weeks since my last hilly ride up towards Hotham, having an anxiety attack in the car when we got into Tanjil Bren or that mentally I was just not prepared to push through the uncomfortable-ness of the ride…

Mt Baw Baw is by far the hardest of the 7 Peaks to do. It is the only one which I had to hop off the bike to walk (I didn’t even walk up WTF, CRB, Meg…)

Now having done all of the 7 Peaks challenge rides, my personal ranking for the rides are as follows:

1) Mt Baw Baw
2) Mt Hotham*

3) Falls Creek*

4) Mt Buller

5) Lake Mountain*

6) Mt Buffalo*

7) Dinner Plain

*The climbs I have done more than once. 

Out of all 7 rides, my favorite has to be Mt Buffalo. I enjoyed how it was more of a constant climb and I could actually keep my cadence > 65rpm for 95% of the climb. I would do Mt Buffalo again in a heartbeat. 

Will I take on 7 Peaks again next year - the answer will be yes but will leave Mt Baw Baw out...because it is stupid..

Moving forward

It has been a week since my post. I am still coughing up my lung but no longer feeling drowsy or sick. I also haven't touched my climbing bike (Avail) since my last big ass ride up Hotham and not touched my Wilier since taper weekend. I think I may have forgotten how to ride a bike...

Well this week, I am going to ease myself back into it....starting out with CF altitude on Tuesday evening. I have also (already) signed up back to Art of Cycling (AOC) on Thursday 5:30am. The Spinroom is opening up a studio in Albert Park in April, I will see how these sessions are and may do these instead of the 5:30am at AOC. Driving all the way to Spotswood from Aspendale can take its toll especially over the West Gate bridge. I will have to be more prepared with my clothing and nutrition so I will drive to work instead of driving all the way home to get ready for work (what I used to do when I lived 2km from work).

This weekend, I have a few cycling things to do:

Easter Friday - I will be trying out track cycling at Brunswick Velodrome. I am excited, yet a bit scared about this...the whole not having control thing with no braking kinda scares me....but I am however looking forward to riding around and around on the velodrome.

(Easter) Saturday - I have planned (even with a Facebook event) to ride up Mt Baw Baw and tick off my 7th and final peaks climb. Fingers crossed I am able to climb this Peak....all I am asking for is good weather. If the weather is crap-o-la, I will try to do the climb either on the Sunday or Monday. If it can't be done during the Easter holidays, then it will be something I will just have to let go of as the 7 Peaks Challenge must be completed by 31 March.

If I have time over the Easter holidays, I may ride the Dirty Gran Fondo (65km) course on my mtb...

I still need to do some strength/endurance training as I have The Ascent ride on 17 April and this is an event I want to be able to complete comfortably.

----------------------------------

With regards to training events and goals for 2016/2017, I will need to look into them and put them down in writing. I know one is Amy's Gran Fondo - being able to finish this event under 5 hours is my goal. Taking in account a bike with more gears, me with stronger climbing legs and working on my endurance and road racing skills between now and the event in September. I need to move away from triathlon style training and work on getting stronger with a group.

I will also incorporate more commutes to work on the bike as now I live 13km from work instead of 2km.

It just wasn't my time...

So some of you are probably wondering now - what happened after my last post?? Where was the count down to Peaks? How was the day leading up to the big event and how was the actual Peaks Challenge?!

Well, pretty much the day after I wrote my last blog entry, I fell really ill. I only had a cold (no injuries or anything like that) but I was coughing, sneezing and drowsy pretty much from Wednesday morning onwards. I took a day off a few weeks ago as I thought I had a small cold and slept it off but last week, it came back in full-punch-in-the-face-style.

I had planned on still heading up to Falls Creek on Friday morning and seeing how I went whilst my partner would do some mountain biking around the area. After all, I had already paid close to $900 for 4 nights accommodation at Falls Creek already. Come Friday midday, I was still in bed and I hadn't packed my bags or bike yet so we changed our plans to drive up on Saturday morning instead. I pretty much decided on Friday night that I would withdraw from Peaks Challenge and only packed my normal bag (no cycling gear). Come Saturday morning, I was still really sick and was in no state to be in the car for over 5 hours to get to Falls Creek. We then decided to just stay in Melbourne for the long weekend instead. We then picked up our little dog from her Pet Country club (fancy dog kennel) and our little family spent quality time together in between my long naps.

On Sunday in between my sleeps and eating only oranges (all I craved and ate when I was sick), I paid close attention to social media and tracked how my friends were travelling throughout the day. The weather was good for the event (no rain as predicted) but it did get humid and hot after lunch. Most of the people I was following completed the event but all struggled and rated it the hardest thing they have done. This also how it was described from one of my friends who finished an "Everesting" only 2 weeks ago (Donna Buang).

Deep down, I was never confident that I would actually make the cut off time of 13 hours. Comparing my times against the cut offs they had provided, both my climbing and descending speeds are below their averages. I had always planned on keeping my breaks to 2min at each water stop (exc toilet breaks). I would have skipped my lunch break at Dinner Plain as I have never been a "eat lunch" kinda person on my long rides and I consume my calories pretty much on the 30min mark with sometimes a date in between. As I had mentioned before, Peaks Challenge is actually a challenge. It is unlike an Ironman where you can pretty much walk the marathon and make the cut off time of 17 hours. Even for a below average athlete like myself, I finished my (full) Ironman within 13:12, with below average times for all 3 legs and still had plenty of time for photos and smiles. During Peaks, you have no "rest" and it is not an event you can do with no hard training. A cut off time of 13 hours is actually hard to do!

I had plenty of support from friends who mentioned how much I had trained and how I would achieve this goal. It was very humbling to know that people believed that I was ready and some were even heart broken when I told them that I was sick and pulled out of the event. I know that I did put in some major hours on the saddle and most of it was done solo. I know that I have the mental endurance to get myself through the event, I guess my body's ability to climb and descend just need to catch up.

I wouldn't have said that my preparation was ideal. Many people have mentioned that I can be negative about myself but I would also like to point out some background:

• Since 2010, my road bike has Campagnolo group sets. Therefore, I never rode the bike on my drops as I wasn't able to reach the brakes or change gears (Campags have thumb shifters) and to make matters worse, I also have tiny hands. It is only October 2015 that I had a bike with Shimano group sets and I am now able to reach the brakes and change gears on my drops. Descending on the drops is something which I am still learning how to do. 
• Following on from the descending thing - I also have a fear of descending. There are a few factors which play in my hesitation when it comes to descending - my fall in July 2014, my lack of bike skills especially turning, my witness of someone falling off the side of the mountain at Kinglake 2011, I don't have a background in going downhill for any sort of activity - skiing, snowboarding, horse riding etc and just the lack of experience in positioning my body on the bike during descents. 
• Cadence along with a good power output is something which I need to work on. I have never been a high cadence person. I never used to race at 90rpm even during triathlon or time trialling. My comfortable race cadence was around 80rpm. My climbing cadence used to be around 40-50rpm. I used to climb Benwerrin in my large chain ring (no compact), low cadence. I should have been training years ago to ride on the small chain ring and higher cadence. Maintaining a higher cadence whilst also maintaining a good power zone is something which I need to gauge. Riding at a higher cadence = not tire out my muscles. 
• I was moving house early 2016 which meant that critical training sessions was not optimised. I had to (i)Look for a place to move into (ii)Pack the old house (iii) Move into the new house and this took a good 5 weekends out of January and February. 
• My cycling climbing only really started in Oct 2015. Prior to that, I would have only done about 4 rides/year in the "hills" since 2010 when I started triathlon. Hills = Kinglake or the Dandenongs (1-in-20). Due to being a triathlon assistant coach 2012-2015, I was often placed to ride with beginners at Studley Park or Beach Road and I would only be out on group rides at Kinglake or the Dandenongs only 4 times max during the winter months. Even then, I would be one of the slower riders due to lack of strength and experience. Since leaving the whole triathlon thing aside, I have climbed more within a month of February 2016 than I ever did my whole life.

I do have plans on completing this route in 2017. I will either complete it as part of the AUDAX (Alpine Classic weekend) or Peaks Challenge next year. These are a few things that I will need to work on:

• Monitoring my power on the bike. I am going to invest in a power meter in the next few months so I can gauge the power output on the bike especially during my climbs and holding it with a higher cadence. I have worked on this during my spin classes at AOC but it hasn't carried through where is counts, out on the roads and climbing. 
• Strength and Core As much as I have incorporated my s & c sessions during my build for Peaks, moving forward, I will need to tweak the program to something more tailored to cycling. Something which I will need to research into more and consult with Chris. 
• The times which I will need to climb the three peaks will need to be reduced significantly if I am to make the cut off. I need to aim to climb Tawonga Gap within 40min (current PB at 49min) Harrietville - Hotham down to 2:15 (current PB at 2:56!), WTF - Trapyard Gap down to 1:20 (currently 1:45). In between, I need to learn to descend properly and not be scared when my speed goes above 40km/hr (or 25km/hr around corners). 
• I need to incorporate some group rides in my program to be more comfortable about working in groups during the flatter sections in between the climbs. I actually didn't have a plan for this year about this as I knew that I was going to be at the back during the first section of the event (the descent after Falls) and was going to be pretty much by myself anyway.
• The hilly rides during winter need to be at least 3 (quality) hours long. Lets aim to do the Full Crucifix (inc Sky High) in 2016. 
• Aim to achieve PB for all my climbs - 1 in 20, The Wall, Inverness Road, Devil's Elbow, Lake Mountain, Donna Buang, Mt Buffalo, Falls Creek etc

I will leave the blog post here for now regarding Peaks Challenge. There are a few things I have lined up in the next few weeks which I will write about more but for now, I am still recovering from my cold and giving myself a break before I get back on the saddle. 

6 More Sleeps!

My God....I have 6 more sleeps until the big event. I am seriously just sh#ting myself at the moment.

Last week’s training didn’t go as planned. On Tuesday, due to a few accidents on the major routes in Melbourne, it caused massive traffic jams and I was not able to make it to the altitude session. Along the Monash Freeway, I moved 5km in 45min and actually escaped the freeway and arrived around Kew after 7pm (the session finishes at 7pm).

Then on Thursday, I went to my last Art Of Cycling (AOC) session before Peaks. It wasn’t my best session as my legs are feeling so fatigued and I was generally tired and not feeling 100%. I actually stayed home that day after the session as I felt like I was coming down with something. That afternoon, I went for a dry needling session to loosen up my hamstrings as the massage session previously proved to be too painful for relief.

On Friday, I booked myself in for a pilates session but I set my alarm for 5pm instead of 5am. Woke up at 5:50am (too late to attend session) and $25 down the drain.

Saturday, I did my first Beach Road ride from the new house in Aspendale. I rode up to Port Melbourne and back (approx. 60km and took me 2.5 hours). The roads were very busy! Sunday, I rode down to watch the Gran Prix crits from Hampton with my friend who raced the women’s Masters and rode back.

My legs are not feeling great at all. They are so fatigued. They didn’t want to ride at all over the weekend. I will have to put them in my recovery boots regularly until the event day.

I received a call from our accommodation at Falls Creek to let us know what is provided and what is not at the lodge. Looks like we will need to prepare some meals in advanced as we don’t have access to the kitchen but will be able to use the microwave. We might start to get some of our things ready for this weekend so I won’t be packing at the last minute.

I am genuinely nervous about this weekend. The weather at the moment does not look great for Sunday. Both Hotham and Falls Creek are forecasted to have showers and maybe some thunder. I know that I am able to ride the entire course, there is no doubt about it. I am just worried about making the cut off. I am not very good at both climbing and descending so I may struggle to stay in front of the lantern rouge riders.

So this is my “6 sleeps to go” blog entry before Peaks Challenge. Anxiety level 10/10.

Last Big Ride...

So this weekend, I did my last "big ass" ride before Peaks Challenge. I went back to Tawonga South/Mt Beauty and stayed at the same motel. I arrived on the Friday afternoon and settled in for the night.

The plan for the weekend was to ride Mt Hotham again before the big day as the last time I did that route was in October. Instead of just riding Mt Hotham from Harrietville return which is approx 60km, I needed a big day out so I decided to start from Mt Beauty, ride over Tawonga Gap up to Hotham and then back over Tawonga Gap again, about 150km in total.

Once again, I left the house at 8am and rode up Mt Beauty side of Tawonga Gap (for the 3rd time ever). For once, I did this ride with fresh legs! By all strava records, I achieved a PR on all segments along this side of the climb. It makes a difference when this climb is not done during the hottest time of the day or after having done 100km already. So I achieved a PB of 10min on this climb. The descent down was also a PB, maybe because the temperature was pretty cold and I couldn't wait to get off this descent.

I had never ridden from Germantown to Harrietville before so it was good to see how I would fair along this route before hitting up the 2nd climb of the event. Apart from a few small inclines and cars (which won't be present on the day), the ride was pretty straight forward.

I stopped at the park at Harrietville to fill up my drink bottle and had quick toilet stop. The day was starting to get warm too as I could feel the sweat dripping off my face. I thought that with the amount of riding I had been doing over the last few months that I would improve on my climb up Hotham but at the end, it wasn't to be.

I found the ride pretty challenging from the start. My legs just didn't want to spin faster than 50rpm and I struggled with the heat. I guess because this was my 2nd time up Hotham, I had expectations that I would find the climbs easier but it wasn't the case. I found The Meg quite challenging, much more than my first attempt and I didn't find the 10km false flat in the middle as much of a relief as I did the first time in October. I struggled with keeping up the speed along this part of the ride. The last 10km of Hotham is where I struggled the most. Straight up after the toll gates there is a pretty long and sharp climb. I rode out of the saddle as much as I could. I didn't find the small roller coaster parts too intimidating this time around but I did find CRB hill more horrific this time around after actually reading about it more in write ups and blogs. I really had a lot of trouble keeping my cadence above 30rpm which was just soul destroying for me. I think at this point I had also ran out of water (both bottles) and was stressing out...I had 5 hot and sweaty ks to go....

I had to stop at one point along the ride to just rest. My legs were throbbing and I was just tired. I knew that I had one or two more sharp climbs to do before I see the water catchment and all the hard work was done for this peak. I have never been so happy to see that body of water as I knew the rest of the ride was downhill towards The General store where I could buy some coke....something I was salivating about for literally hours.

I stopped at Hotham for about 15min or so. I bought a Gatorade and a Coke and added a sachet of Hydralyte into both bottles with added salt. I didn't stop off at the toilets as I didn't feel like I was busting and I sweated so much on the climbs.

The descent back down to Harrietville was not too bad. The roads are smooth and I enjoyed the views. When I reached Harrietville, I felt like the sun was right next to my face. I had to stop and take a quick break....and bought another can of coke for a top up as there is no other method for top up until I reach the motel.

Although it was around 4pm, I felt like the sun was out on force and I was being chased out of all my energy. The ride along Tawonga from Germantown side was the hardest ever. It is my 3rd climb along this route and Strava also tells me that it is mostly my slowest too. No surprises there, this climb was done after a long day...

I stopped twice along this route. I was hot, sweaty and tired. My legs were f#$ked and couldn't keep my cadence > 30rpm which was ridiculous for a gradient no greater than 6%. I hated this climb. I felt like it went on forever and every turn the road took, I thought it was the end but when I reached the apex, it was not the end, just another turn.

When I finally reached the top of the climb, I was relieved and didn't even think about stopping. For once I was so glad for the descent as I was 8-10km from "home". My total time spent with the bike was 10:12 with 9:24 saddle time.

I am so ready for taper....my legs are shattered and I have two weeks until Peaks Challenge. No more long hilly rides until the 13th March.

The Backside of Falls...

So on the weekend of 20 – 21 Feb, I went back to the Alpine region as I wanted to tackle a few more climbs before the big day (which is in 3 weeks….eeekkk).

During the week, I went about my usual training schedule with CF Altitude on the Tuesday and AOC KOM class on the Thursday. During both sessions, I worked on my weakness which has been out of the saddle work.

Come Thursday night, I was panicking slightly while I packed for my weekend away. I have heard plenty about the “Back O’Falls” as it has the final (and steepest) climb. I was stressing about this as much as Baw Baw…

As this climb is part of the Peaks Challenge, I couldn’t delay this like I did with Baw Baw. I needed to tick this climb off before the big day and the 20^th Feb was the day planned. I booked my accommodation Mt Beauty and the plan was to ride up the front of Falls Creek, then ride to Anglers Rest return. I checked on the map and the distance from my motel to Anglers Rest was about 77km so the total trip would be about 150-160km.

I had also planned on a ride on the Sunday as well but that didn’t eventuate – more on this later.

I arrived at my accommodation around 9pm on the Friday night. I settled in for the night and went to bed around 10pm. I woke up around 7:00am and started the ride at 8am. The ride up to Falls Creek was good. It was my 3^rd attempt up the front of Falls Creek and by the looks of my data, it was not my fastest. I was passed by plenty of vehicles carrying mountain bikes and it wasn’t until I reached the toll gates that I found out that the Gravity Enduro is on that weekend. When I reached the top of Falls Creek, I stopped for a toilet break, bought a coke, an orange juice and filled up the remainder of my bottles. A lesson learnt from previous rides is that I take too long to finish off a can of coke so what I did was filled up my bottle with coke along with some salt and water. The salt degassed the coke as well as providing me with some sodium.

I then took off down the back of Falls. I had my jacket on as it was windy but I didn’t realise the back of falls still had a few climbs to do. I stopped about 5km on to take off my jacket and it was then I saw how nice the top of Falls Creek was.

It was around 50km into the ride was where the big descents were and I knew that I was close to the infamous “WTF Corner”. When I rode down the descent, my hands on my brakes were so tight that they were close to red raw and bruised when I reached the bottom. It was a very sharp descent and I knew that I was in for a bit of a shocker of a climb. I rode all the way to Anglers Rest so I could refill my drink bottles and stop for the toilet.

I decided to order a coffee at the Blue Duck Inn which made my total time longer than needed. For the Peaks Event, I need to adjust my strategy and reduce “wasted time”. No buying of coke and then drinking it, no coffee breaks, nothing which will put my finishing of 3 Peaks into high risk.

So after my coffee, I got back onto my bike and rode towards Falls. As I approached WTF corner, I told myself that I was to not look up and just do what I can. The climb was steep and the gradient was something which I had never done before. I saw the gradient >15% a few times on my Garmin and I did ride from side to side. I had no idea how I managed the ride but I was adamant to not stop, more because I could never get back on the bike…

All the negative thoughts came into my head – I was doubting myself for Peaks due to how difficult the climb was and the fact that I would be doing this climb with 200km in my legs having already climbed Tawonga Gap and Hotham….

The ride was a shock to my system and I didn’t realise it until 100km into the ride that I had run out of hydration. I was desperate and panicked about how I was to finish the remaineder of the climb back to Falls Creek (30km) ride with no hydration…I waved a car down and luckily, they had a tank of water in the back of their car. LIFESAVERS!!!! With one of my bottles filled, I rode the remainder of the 30km tired but I knew the worst was over and I would make it in one piece.

When I reached Falls Creek for the 2^nd time, I was too late to refuel. All the shops (Foodworks and the café) were closed. Luckily there was a vending machine there and I topped up my bottle with Gatorade and was on my way back down to Mt Beauty.

At this point, I had done 125km or so and I was worried that I would be riding in the dark. I put on my jacket as it was getting cold at the top of Falls Creek. I would say that my descent back down to Mt Beauty was my slowest. I was tired and I concentrated harder than I had ever been. My aim was to get back to my accommodation before 7:30pm. I actually made it around 7:15pm which was too late to buy dinner from Foodworks but similar to October training camp, I was so exhausted to be hungry.

I ended up having my protein shake, my carrots which I had packed for my car trip and the motel biscuits provided. I showered and then went to bed from the exhaustion.

I didn’t end up sleeping until about 3am due to my legs throbbing. I decided the that I would give Sunday’s training a miss and would treat myself to wholefoods at Bright and then drive home early and that was what I did.

Lessons:

• ·       Pack more nutrition than needed. I had originally planned to be out on the bike for no more than 10 hours but it ended up being about 11:30 in total.
• ·         Always fill up bottles at rest stops and ration with reason…I think at one point I drank half a bottle in one go as I was thirsty but ended up with half a bottle to last me for the 30km….luckily on the event day, there will be more water stops.
• ·         My Lumiere cycling knicks are the way to go and will wear it for the event.

 I have plans on going back to My Beauty again this weekend. I would like to ride up to Mt Hotham again before the big day…

Where are your cycling posts?!

Where are my regular updates of my cycling you may ask??? Well, the reason why I haven't done any posts lately is because I haven't done any riding/training....

Late 2015 (we are talking about 23rd December 2015), we were advised by our landlord that we needed to vacate our house as she wanted to sell…..such bad timing! There was nothing for us inspect until the 9^th Jan and I was going to be packing the house, moving and unpacking during the peak of my training for Falls Creek…

Since the 130km AUDAX ride in Jan, I haven’t done any long or hilly rides on the weekends as I have been packing the house and not venturing out of Melbourne as I had been doing for the last 3 months.

I have kept up my training on the wattbikes at Melbourne Altitude and Art of Cycling but that is about it….50km a week (not hitting the 400+km required as per the program) with 0 elevation.

We only moved in last weekend (5^th – 9^th Feb) and during this week, we will be emptying out boxes as the boxes are being returned this weekend and attending two weddings in between….

I am hoping to get back into the hills on Sunday (14^th – yes, I know it’s Valentines Day) locally and getting back to the Alpine Region next weekend AND the weekend after if I can. I still need to tick off the back of Falls Creek and I would like to climb Mt Hotham once more before the 13^th March.

Time is truly running out and I am stressing.

Looking Ahead - March

March is the big one….Falls Creek Peaks Challenge is on the 13^th. The thought of this event stresses me out to no end, maybe because I have yet to ride up the back of Falls Creek (from Omeo) and the fact that I am moving house (now) when I am supposed to be riding the most ks, highest elevations and spending the longest time on the saddle.

For the week of 29^th Feb through to 6^th March, I will be training but not doing anymore big rides. I will continue with my altitude and wattbike classes during the week, strength work will be about core and functional movements and my long ride on Saturday 5^th will most likely be about distance rather than anything too strenuous and Sunday will be a recovery ride down to crits.

During the weekdays of Week 7^th – 10^th March, I will continue with my spin classes but it will be a taper set. I will see if the AOC Wattbike class would be suitable or not. Driving up to Falls Creek on the Friday and may ride down to Mt Beauty on the Saturday (not back up).

I am not sure what I will be doing for the weeks after Falls Creek…I don’t have any events lined up. I am probably just going to be commuting more to work…and maybe a swim or two at the beach.

I am about 70% confident about the Falls Creek Peaks Challenge event. My descending skills have improved but my fear of falling and crashing at high speeds is still there. My nutrition training has been pretty good. I still don’t eat solids on the bike ride and this is not something which I am going to change anytime soon. I am happy to run on fluid calories for the whole 13-15 hours from when I wake up. As long as I am hydrated, I will survive the day. 

AUDAX Alpine Classic - Falls Creek 130km

On Sunday 24^th Jan, I participated in my first Alpine Classic event. I only signed up for the 130km which is the route which takes you from Bright – Tawonga Gap – Falls Creek – Tawonga Gap – Bright. There is 3 climbs and the total elevation was about 2500m. The reason why I wanted to do this climb rather than the 140km (Buffalo – Tawonga Gap x 2) or the 200km (Buffalo + 130km) was that I wanted to an out and back route and I thought that the 200km was too much for me to do at this point. Having only done a 150km (with 2900m elevation) only the week before, I haven’t done enough long rides to be able to tackle 200km.

My legs after my Big Ass Ride were fatigued but I still pushed on as much as I could during the week. During the CF Altitude class, it took me a while to get going and only pushed towards my limit the last 20min of the session and during the Art of Cycling (Wattbike) session, my power zones were a bit off but it was the best I could push. I didn’t really do anything after Thursday’s session – just wanted to save my legs for Sunday’s ride.

I drove up to Beechworth on Saturday. I was late for accommodation around Bright and surrounding areas and could only find something affordable around Beechworth. It wasn’t an issue, it was only 45min away and closer to Melbourne. After I checked in, I drove to Bright to pick up my rego sticker and bought a crepe from the French Festival area. I bumped into a few friends and also visited friends who were staying at the Airstream caravan (they were riding the 200km from 4am). I stopped off at the supermarket for a few supplies before I headed back to Beechworth for dinner of leftover roast vegies from the night before and drank about 1 liter of hydralyte before I headed for an early night.

My 130km route started at 7am so I planned on a 5am alarm and arrival at Bright at 6:30am taking into account needing to find parking etc. It didn’t take too long to find parking as most stayed in Bright for the weekend and even more people started at 4am so the only “traffic” were supporter cars and cyclists.

I rode into the starting zone around 6:50am and waited in line for the start. At 7am, we started the event and headed towards Germantown. I stayed on the left as I wasn’t racing and I didn’t want to get caught up. Although getting into a pack would help, this day was about climbing rather than anything.

Once we got to the incline that was the (Bright side) of Tawonga Gap, the gap between riders started to widen. I stayed in my rhythm and concentrated on my cadence. I felt the ride was easier than the last time I rode up in January, maybe because I had plenty of people around me. I rode up the first climb with a PB of 3 minutes.

When I reached the top, I didn’t stop and just kept going….I didn’t need to rest or take photos. I wanted to minimise my rest times as much as I could. During the descent I passed two people (wahoo!) There was a control point at Mt Beauty but I only rode through it for timing. Once again, I didn’t need to refill my bottle, it was too early for a toilet stop and I just wanted to keep going.

The climb up to Falls Creek was good. The day was starting to get warmer but I just concentrated on my cadence. I recognised a friend’s bf during the climb and we rode together for a brief periods during the whole 30km as he went back and forth for several reasons. Overall, my climb up Falls Creek was 7min slower (2:40) than my first attempt in Nov 2015 (2:33). I stopped at Falls Creek for a toilet break, drank a third of a can of coke and ate half a banana. I have never been a “meal” person on long rides so no point trying anything new. I consume my calories during the ride and I hate riding on a full stomach.

I think I stopped at Falls Creek for 15min. I topped up both of my bottles and then off I went. Due to the temp, there was no need for jacket where as I needed a gilet and arm warmers during the descent back in Nov 2015. I was 7min slower this time around on my descent as well, I did slow down more due to so many people passing me at such high speeds (1:01). Once I got to the bottom of Falls Creek, it was a slight incline towards Tawonga Gap.

The climb up the (Mt Beauty) side of Tawonga Gap really hits you in the face. You can see it straight away and wonder how the hell does a bike get over that angle. I tired as much as I could to ride at a good candence and could maintain a cadence of > 60rpm for the first 1km. Then I could only maintain the ride at my tired legs cadence of 45-55rpm. I rode out of the saddle a few times and good practice on tired legs too. Due to the heat, my feet started to swell and the pressure was becoming a bit unbearable. I didn’t want to stop half way on the climb so I ploughed on until I got to the top. I stopped for 5min to undo my shoes, a quick massage and then it was off I go down to Bright.

The descent down to Bright was slow for me – about 5min slower than my PB. Then it was a 5km ride back into Bright. I tried to TT it back to town but I wasn’t able to sustain it as my legs were so tired.

Once I got back into Bright, I stopped for about 30min. I picked up my shirt after they sent me a text reminding me to pick it up during the event, ate some fruit and an icy pole and then it was back to Beechworth. The total distance according to my Garmin was only 121km, not close to 130km at all. 

My drive back to Beechworth was not great. I was yawning constantly. I took a shower and laid on the bed for about an hour before I packed my bags for the drive back to Melbourne. Driving back to Melbourne wasn’t the smartest idea on tired legs but it had to be done as I needed to get back to work on Monday. I didn’t drink any caffeine as I needed to be able to go to bed once I got home so the drive back was 4 hours of yawning.

My legs post ride are feeling the effects of over 7 hours riding. Luckily, they are not injured or anything like when I was running. Just tired.

I am looking forward to next year’s event already – I will either ride the 200km Sunrise event or the 250km. I really enjoyed the pace of the event and the support along the way. I have about 6 weeks left until 3 Peaks. I am more confident that I am able to finish within the 13 hour limit but I really do need to work on my descents more and climbing at a better cadence. As I am moving house on the 5^th Feb, I won’t be heading back to the mountains until mid February. I still would like to ride the back of Falls Creek before 3 Peaks. Like I discussed with a friend, I don’t want to go through the entire day stressing out about it.