Author Archives: Drastique

About Drastique

Still on probation

Tour of New Zealand 2013 – United States Poostal Service

As there were seven stages and a criterium race on the 8th day, there were a lot of fantastic memories. Not possessing the cunning wit of Danny Boy or the deluded ramblings of le Bullet, I felt I wouldn’t do the memories justice by compiling a ride report.

However our magnificent driver/soigneur/mechanic Martin (Matt’s dad – one of the riders) got a lot of the footage on camera. I’ve included a link to some of our memories of the tour below.

The next edition is in 2015 due to the fact that this year was only its second year and funds are currently lacking to maintain a yearly race. I would love to see a few ER teams (of 4 to 5 riders) head across the ditch in 2015 and take on the kiwis at snatching away their own title. It’s an amateur race but one that is run at quite a quick pace (see some of my Strava rides). It takes in sometime breath-taking kiwi scenery (I’ll give it to them – they do have some incredible scenery… and a better rugby team for that matter) and two groups run simultaneously (one beginning at the northmost point of the north island and the other – which we did – beginning in the southern most point of the south island – meeting in Wellington for a criterium on the 8th day).

I haven’t really gone into the key facts of the tour in this email (distance, experiences outside of the stages each day, etc) so if you are interested/want to hear more please feel free to send me an email, call me or shoot me a text (0439418447).

It was hands down the greatest cycling experience of my life (and yes unfortunately it tops 2013 3Peaks due to the incredible amount of fun I had being involved in an 8-day stage race). I’m definitely returning in 2015 (as apart of the United States Poostal Service) and would love to enjoy the experience with as many ER’s as possible. I honestly believe.

I will mention one quick story if you are still with me this far through the email:

Before we got to New Zealand we were being hailed as a very strong team that will most likely challenge the GC standings. I’m not sure where they got this from as two of our riders had not ridden for more than 4 months and our “racebook page” on the Tour of NZ website stated that we were just “four big powercats trying to cause some trouble” and “we’ve got the skillz to pay the billz” (spelling included). Due to the fact that we thought we might get disqualified for having a team name – the United States Poostal Service – we initially raced under the alias – Australian Postal Service. So when we got to the tour it was hilarious that they had mistakenly assumed we were apart of the actual Australia Post and that we were chosen from 1000’s of employees to make up an incredible race team that would bring a somewhat Sky-esque dominance to the 7 stages and crit of the Tour of New Zealand. After two of our riders placed second last and last out of 120 in the peloton on the first stage, they had to reassess their understanding of us (Matt and I actually placed quite well over the race – Matt even nearly taking out a stage win but coming off the bike on the second last corner). After an interview with all of the Poostal boys at the end of stage wrap up at the local pub, the peloton finally understood that we were actually just a rag-tag bunch of misfits looking to have an awesome time while taking the proverbial out of Lance.

Anyway apologies for the essay but I hope I’ve at least caused one or two sparks to ignite that will result in an ER force crossing the ditch in 2015 to take the overall win in the 2015 Tour of New Zealand.

Simba

http://www.tourofnewzealand.co.nz/rb.php?team=105

Rider of the Week #31 – Lemming

Leave a reply

1. Tell us a bit about yourself
A recent convert to the north-shore way of life, I was born and dragged-up in the badlands of Bankstown and surrounds. “Educated” at ANU, Newcastle Uni and Griffith Uni (Brisbane); I then set forth to South Korea where I lived, worked and wreaked havoc in my futile attempts to make them understand Australian (Proppa) – English. Until the end of last year, I were a enGlish Teecha. Some health issues (MS) have seen the need for me to wind back and look for a somewhat more part-time occupation – which I am just about to commence the search for.

2. What got you into cycling?
I can’t remember never not being able to ride a bike as a kid; which I did, probably, excessively during high school (mostly stalking girls). However, the advent of university and a driver’s licence – well, I’m sure it’s a common story.

About, 8 years ago, I decided I was too fat and unfit – enter the bicycle until about 4 years ago, when I suffered a major MS attack. About 1 year ago, I was able to get on the bike and build up my fitness and shave 50kg from my gut. Hopefully, my new, semi-monastic life-style – sans sugar, wheat, legumes, red-meat, and ESPECIALLY aspartame – will keep the nasties away from my auto-immune system.

Before losing 50 kg

3. How did you come to join the Easy Riders?

Blame Bucky!

4. Tell us about your bikes.

As a little kid: A dragster – with T-bar shift (cool)
Then, a BMX
High School: A couple of Jim Bundies
Since 2005: A Giant Yukon (broke it); my trusty SCOTT 🙂 – and waiting on my delayed JIM BUNDY HANDMADE with Di2 😀

Fixing stuff

5. If you could ride anywhere in the world, where would it be?

Perth => Sydney is definitely on my wish list as are the French Alps.

6. Tell us a riding story.

I hope this doesn’t sound too dumb; but about 6 months into this past year of riding, I decided to test myself and if I really wanted to push myself to overcome the issues around my health, weight & fitness.

So, one day – without any plan – I took off on what would become my first, and only (so far) 300 km day. The first 200km (Mittagong then back to Prestons) went by surprisingly easy; but the final 100km, especially the last 50km, were a hellish blur.

Riding up and down lengths of the M7, I had hours to experience pain, self doubt and the noises in my head telling me to stop – to end the stupid test I’d set.

However, once done – I can say that not only did I have an awesome ride under my belt; more importantly, I felt that I had achieved something – won the battle against my own doubts.

7. Do you have any advice for the riders at the back of the ER peloton?

Carpe Diem!

8. Lastly, tell us something we don’t know about you.

In the 5th grade play, I auditioned for Prince Charming; they gave me the part of an ugly sister 🙁 Thus ended my fledgling acting career

Wearing a cape at the beach (as you do)

Rider of the Week #30 – Ivan The Terrigal

Leave a reply

1. Tell us a bit about yourself

A Sydney boy relocated to the central coast, happily married with three kids, owns the only dog that is not a Staffy on the Central Coast, owns an old and ‘hand me down’ cat (thank you sister in law!) and two fish that just won’t die (the ones we wanted only lasted 6 months). I love to surf, although less so now I’ve been bitten by the bike bug and generally spend my time running the kids around to music lessons and soccer. I love making pizza, cooking in general, camping, and the occasional yoga session.

2. What got you into cycling?

Have always been into cycling as a mode of transport, although as a young rider was bought an orange Malvern Star road bike, rather than a BMX, like all my friends. Recently, at the local BMX track, I took it upon myself to demonstrate for the benefit of the kids, the best method to attack the bumps at speed. It was all going so well until I accumulated a little too much speed, lost it and hit the dirt pretty hard. Nothing seriously injured other than a bit of blood and the kids laughing uncontrollably.

3. How did you come to join the Easy Riders?

Other than having a hankering to wear lycra amongst like minded men, I was looking to extend my commute from the Central Coast to avoid work, and noticed the ER website. I just turned up at Gordon and was swept up with the momentum. Thanks Turnip and others for making me feel welcome.

4. Tell us about your bikes.

Cannondale CAAD 9, which has been recently refurbished. Thanks Brownie I love it and definitely not too many CAAD9 s with Campy group sets getting around The Central Coast, or Sydney for that matter. Recently the proud owner of a 1990s Peter Bundy steel framed road bike, thanks also Brownie.

5. If you could ride anywhere in the world, where would it be?

Definitely Italy or France, but am happy to be convinced otherwise, and would actually settle with anywhere that gets me out of the office.

6. Tell us a riding story.

Thanks to the Three Peaks ride, I now have a good riding story. There are now quite a few ride reports making their rounds, however, my story is somewhat unique. The lead up to, and the morning of the ride was fantastic and much the same as all the ER’s, however, I had barely crossed the start line when …….gently rolling forward (one foot unclipped), with WBA positioned in the start line chaos just behind me, I heard a crash although don’t recall feeling anything undue. The peloton stalled again and WBA pointed out that I was lucky, the guy who fell tried to grab my shoulder on the way down, but missed. I thought all great, no harm done, however, it soon became apparent that something fairly dramatic was wrong with the rear end of my bike. WBA and I had agreed to ride together, so as he passed, we arranged to meet at the bottom of Falls Creek at the round about. Did you really wait 4.5 minutes, 5 minutes I think would have been acceptable! But seriously, not much WBA could do with the whole peloton flying past him, 200km left to ride and lots mountains to get over. Back on the side of the road, I was at a complete loss. Where was the help?

I managed to attract the attention of a ride official, who said to bring my bike up the stairs, behind the buildings, and into to the bike registration area (where we had the ride briefing the previous evening). It was strangely disconcerting to be out of sight of the race start and to be around people who were at Fall Creek just to enjoy a day in the mountains etc. A mechanic took one look at the wheel and said ….”maate, maaate that wheel is hitting both sides of the brake callipers, I reckon the rim has been bent, you got another wheel” I said no, and thought OMG I’m having a Satnav moment. “If you had a Shimano wheel, I could have put something together for you, but a Campy wheel…?!” The mechanic said that he would not be able to spend the time to attempt to true the wheel.

Panic starting to take a grip, heart rate and blood pressure up, I asked them to mind my bike, tore off my shoes, and bolted up the side of the mountain to our apartment building and to my only hope, that Collette, whom I thought was still around, knew where a spare wheel was [note for next year, could we get accommodation a little closer to the start line!]. Unfortunately no spare wheel. Collette’s bike had Campy wheels, although she was planning to ride the other side of Falls and around the lake. To my eternal thanks, Collette made the ultimate selfless act and offered me the use of her rear wheel. Wheel in hand, I ran all the way back down to where my bike was, only to find that the mechanics had trued my wheel a little. The mechanic said I should take it easy around corners (bit hard when hurtling down Falls Creek and Mount Buffalo), but at least I could ride, although I was not filled with confidence in the road worthiness of my wheel. I asked the mechanics to return the Campy wheel to Collette, and off I charged. I didn’t have Collette’s mobile number and gave pretty sketchy directions to the mechanics as to how to find her, however a little way along the ride, I found the mechanics, who told me they found her and put the wheel back on……phew!). Now, a small aside, should anyone find themselves in a similar predicament at the start of a ride, and you are lucky enough to be able to continue…make sure you actually cross the start line….I spent a good few kilometres wondering if I had done so, although as it happened, the accident happened after the start line.

I must have been 25-30 minutes behind the last rider ie about in 1,499th place and the good news was that I had the road to myself, but with adrenaline pumping, care was required to avoid loosing it on a corner. I had expected to see the last of the riders prior to the end of the first 32km descent, alas nothing but an empty road. I did, however, catch up to a rider about ¾ the way down who said she was not in the race, but knew the mountain well and on her rear wheel we flew down the remainder of the descent, at a faster pace than I would have otherwise done.

I made the first round about at Mount Beauty, however still no sign of the peloton, the race officials seem to be closing their marshalling stations….more panic….ride faster, but not too fast, 200km left to ride…..don’t blow up. Still panicked, but on the other hand, glad to be on the road and moving. Is it possible to finish the ride this far back, or will I have to accept riding as far as I can prior to being pulled off the road.

I started to run into the first stragglers on their way up Tawonga Gap, but after the initial relief of seeing these riders, any riders really, I realised that these guys were never going to make the ride within the 13 hour cut off. I think don’t panic, keep steady pace up hill, keep passing these riders.

At the top of Towonga Gap, I passed 20-30 riders who had stopped at the drink station, and at that point I really started to feel a lot better…‘Ivan The Terrigal’ is back in the race!

Sometime after the descent from Tawonga, I caught the wheel of a far stronger rider, and held onto it for dear life, and made good time to the drink station prior to Mt Buffalo, albeit ‘wheel sucking’ (appropriate I think, but will leave that to others to make a ruling). To make up the time was pretty good however I had spent a little more energy than I would have liked. I took my time up Buffallo which I found a long and tough climb, however really enjoyed seeing the ER’s speed down the hill.

At the top of Buffalo, I took my bike to a mechanic for a check, a European guy, who had my rear wheel almost trued in 3 minutes flat. It would have been fantastic if the guys back at Falls had spent a little time on the wheel, prior to dismissing it!

I rode into the lunch stop and saw a heap of ERs getting ready to depart….I filled my water bottles, grabbed some food, sorted out my drop off bags, and set off with them, happy as anything. It was an amazing feeling to be with a group that I knew would look after me (read…more wheel sucking!), and to have company for what I suspected would be a long valley floor, and possibly dreaded UNDULATIONS (refer to Thredbo training camp). The valley floor was hard, hot, long etc etc, but I had no doubt that I would make it…I had come so far….overcome panic and prevailed over a horrible start to a 230km ride.

I should also thank B1/Michael for mid ride, repairing my ‘broken’ shifter, apparently using all his mechanical skills…pushing the shifter button a little harder! Possibly, fatigue had set in a little there.

As it turns out, with B1/Michael, WBA and Laurie, my best time for a climb on the day was the final climb up Falls Creek! B1 and I were even convinced by the ERs cheering us on at Falls, to finish with a 300m sprint!

7. Do you have any advice for the riders at the back of the ER peloton?

I just assume they are having an extended “sandbagging” strategy, and with a blink of an eye will be on the front.

8. Lastly, tell us something we don’t know about you.

I answer to “Squid” whilst on the Coast.

Rider of the Week #29 – Andy H (Pigeon?)

Leave a reply

1. Tell us a bit about yourself

Yet another English import. I’ve been here 10 years now, attracted by the climate and the great outdoors and I haven’t been disappointed. From the North West of England originally although I moved around a bit for work. I’m an actuary by trade and work in reinsurance when I’m not on the bike.

2. What got you into cycling?

I’ve cycled for as long as I can remember. As a kid it was the fastest way of getting anywhere. I cycled to school and to work whenever it was practical. Mostly I’ve cycled to explore places. You can’t see enough on foot and you miss too much in the car. Cycling is just about right. More recently I started cycling to work to lose weight as I’d become a bit of a porker and within a couple of months of the OTP did the trick with weight, liver and cholesterol all normal again.

3. How did you come to join the Easy Riders?

A common story here. I was struggling up Pymble Hill and Saint Nav glided alongside and explained there was an easier way and I haven’t looked back.

4. Tell us about your bikes.

I have 3 bikes currently

My Peugot Alu 9000 road bike from circa 1998. It’s been a great bike and is my regular commute bike.
My Marin Attack Trail full suspension mountain bike. It’s getting on a bit now (new in 1998) but it’s still a great bike and we’ve had some great adventures together.
My most recent purchase is the Baum Corretto. This was about 12 months in planning / debating. It was a reward to myself for losing 20kgs and it has been well worth the wait. (The pictures speak for themselves:)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/baumcycles/8156031042/in/photostream

5. If you could ride anywhere in the world, where would it be?

On the mountain bike it would have to be Marin County, California. On the road bike, the high passes of Europe would take some beating. I hope to achieve the latter in 2014 by having a go at the Haute route or similar.

6. Tell us a riding story.

I’m struggling a little here…..One adventure I had on the bike as a kid ( i was about 10) was a trip with some mates to Beeston Castle which was around 40kms from home. Parental permission would not have been granted and so naturally was not requested. All was fine until my brother (on his BMX) lost a pedal when we got there and I had to rig up a tow rope whilst he pedalled with one foot on the return journey. This proved a little too much and we admitted defeat about 10kms from home called dad to pick us up and face the consequences. His displeasure at not asking permission was more than offset by his amazement that we managed to get so far.

7. Do you have any advice for the riders at the back of the ER peloton?

Not really. It seems to me that the back is the best place to be …..it is a commute group after all.

8. Lastly, tell us something we don’t know about you.

As a kid I raced homing pigeons through to when I left home for university. It seems to be a dying sport now but it kept me off the streets for much of my youth. In my spare time I volunteer with DARTS which is an organisation that provides road transport for disabled people giving them an opportunity to attend events and activities.

Breaking News

Leave a reply

Team Comet has announced that it has parted company with high performance coach Flash Gordon. Comet’s executive management did not feel that Comet was delivering against several Key Performance Indicators and all members of the leadership group were asked to submit a PowerPoint pack on how things could be improved. It is understood that Flash muttered something along the lines of “engineers don’t do PowerPoint” and refused to cooperate.

There have been rumours for some time that all was not happy within Team Comet. Several experienced observers have pointed out that a thrashing up the back door once a week was never going to be sufficient to turn Comet into the elite athlete promised when Team Comet was launched last year. There have also been whispers that Flash has been reported to the ER Chief Steward on more than one occasion for illegal use of the whip. We asked the Chief Steward for a comment but, perhaps learning his lesson from the recent Wheel Sucking debacle, the Chief Steward said that all investigations were now strictly confidential.

B1/M has been asked to stand in as high performance coach while Team Comet interviews candidates for the permanent position. Potential candidates are invited to present their credentials in writing to Team Comet c/o the Bitter & Twisted Café, Kent Street, Sydney. Meanwhile expect to see Comet riding around on a steel bike with a house brick strapped to the handlebars.

In other news the B2B bunch have reportedly made a lucrative offer for Danny the Boy to return to their fold. They are hoping that his epic ride reports may add a bit of interest to their otherwise pedestrian email list and that they may encourage their 3 days a week riders to get out a bit more.

A spokesperson for the ER executive has denied talk of a transfer deal and said that Danny the Boy is not for sale at any price.

3 Peaks – Chris Parks

Leave a reply

Loving the 3P wrap up. My story is an interesting read. With only a precious few hours training beforehand, finishing the three climbs was always going to be tough. After the gun went, I was quickly well into last place when my new little bag with all the gels fell off my bike and I had to go back up to the start to find it and put it back on. Lesson 1: dont use new gear on the day. Descending solo was good however, and at that time of the morning it felt like I had the road to myself. Unfortunately, this was all to true when I missed the turn off to Tawonga Gap and headed straight through the valley. Still not sure why the marshall didn’t return my friendly wave with a shriek of “why the bloody hell are you going the wrong way?”…anyway, 12 kms on and not seeing anyone but another wayward traveller and no gu’s on the road made me turn around and head back. Lesson 2: know the route and don’t rely on others to follow.

With an hour lost, it was always going to be tight. I spent the next few hours trying to catch the guy in red. He had stopped at a cafe on the other side of the first climb when I passed him. The rest of the day went fairly well. Unfortunately because of my place well back in the pack, I barely linked onto a train and had to do most of the flat stretches solo.

In the end, the SAG wagon picked me up, at about 735pm, approx 5 kms from the finish line.I was the last person to be picked up as far as I know. They guy in front of me walked the last few kms solo. I was completely beaten and am still gingerly hoping around today.

2014 it is.

Chris Parks

3P and peeling the onion – Van Diemen

Leave a reply

Firstly, thanks to all the wonderful comments and kudos for the ride on the weekend, I’m humbled. It saying a lot about you lot….thank you.

So it hurt, let’s just say the first 170 km went pretty much to plan, covered in 6.5 hours.
What happened next was a story of peeling the onion. The warning signs were between ovens and Running water when I ran out of water, and stopped producing sweat ( my skin was dry).
I crawled into Running water and couldn’t hold down the fruit cake they were handing out, and after drinking 3 l of water and picking up 2 gels, I rolled out thinking 60 km in 3.15 hrs , maybe….
But not long after the roll out my body started to shut down, I rolled to a stop halfway to Mount Beauty, and laid down under a tree and realised my plan was changing from a time target to trying to finish.

Turnips story from last year gave me a new goal.

After about half an hour , I got going again and got to Mount beauty feeling stuffed but OK.
I laid down again in the car garage on the concrete in the shade and had a PowerAde , and an icy pole , and opened a bottle of coke , but decided to ration the coke for the 30 km climb ahead. Once again drank a couple of litres on water and topped up.

At this stage I was stilling hoping for a 530 pm finish.

The 16 km ride up to Bogong village was goal 1. I faltered about 500m from the village and had to lay down again, this time I was too tired to move into the shade , I somehow thought putting my hand over my face was the shade…

I was also out of water again, but fortunately at the village I got 2 bottles filled ( and I finished my coke).

Crossing the bridge for the start of the second half of the climb ( 16 km to go) I felt good for about 500 m , then started to cramp up. I kept going until about 12 km to go when I needed to lay down again, and once again somehow managed to have the shade disappear, my arm providing the shade. I tried to ride but I couldn’t, so I began to walk. I got going again, but now the cramps were pinging constantly.

I finally collapsed at 8 km to go in the shade this time, next to a stream, and was completely gone. I couldn’t get up, every time I tried my legs cramped, pinning me to the ground. Eventually a motorbike official saw me laying down and came back to check on me. I was out of water again, so he raced up to falls to fill my water bottles and called the sag wagon. Somewhere during this time the ER family showed up Flash, Dopey, B1/M and someone else ( sorry I can’t remember clearly what happened). I said I was done, as I couldn’t move anyway, and excepted my fate. The guys were great, in defeat I had found victory.

I rang my wife and said I was OK, I remember saying ‘ tell the boys I tried…’

The motorbike official came back and gave me my water, and again radioed for the sag wagon, and I had to get him to help me to my feet as I couldn’t stand up (my legs cramped when I tried). I said to him I would walk until the wagon got to me.

I had time laying there to reflect on everything, and to say its OK to stop now. But two things happened, I never stopped looking at my watch, and the storm clouds started to form overhead complete with thunder. I still had about 2 hours to the cut off, and I knew a combination of walking and riding might get me there.

Like a miracle the temperature started to drop rapidly ( it was still mid thirties before the clouds rolled in ).

I kept walking , then rode a bit, then stopped, then walked, then rode, then stopped. I couldn’t walk the bike in a straight line, so I put it over my shoulder.

I kept my head down when a sag wagon went past.

Finally the falls creek ticket gates appeared…

I knew Danny and Dopey stayed at the YMCA there and rode to the start from there…only 4 km to go and 1 hour till the cut off.

I don’t really now what happened over the next hour, even the sight of falls in the fading light didn’t help much.

Then another miracle , Stealth had walked down from the village to find me…thanks mate! The guy who finished first in our group was there to help me home…..

He walked with me then I got back on my bike, and he pushed me like the Tour de France!

I was overwhelmed by the people standing in the dark urging me forward to the finish.

I made it with 5 minutes to spare, and a medic whipped a chair under me ( I couldn’t make it to the tent for my jersey!)

Then the final layers came off the onion, I was shaking, crying, and unwilling to do anything. My head in my hands I was offered some soup, but I couldn’t look at it, nothing had stayed down since Running Waters.

You learn a lot about yourself sometimes, with 8 km to go I was defeated and content, then I saw the possibilities again,

It took me 6.5 hours to cover the last 60 km, and gave me the experience of a lifetime.
Wow, had to write that down…. now I can relax.

Van Diemen.

3 Peaks – Danny’s Version

Leave a reply

Hello Peddlers of the North,

Since there has been no ride report of this year’s 3Ps, I thought I would have a crack at it while the memories are still burned hot in my mind (and legs). This ride report will be much shorter than my last one (I took a hint from the feedback from the last one!).

The Pre-amble

Getting to falls creek was easy. Many people pushed hard leaving sub 6am – we left Sydney around 7 and got into falls by about 4pm and I arrived into my accommodation by 5pm. I stayed down the road away from ER base camp. ER’s predominantly stayed up on the mountain, whilst I stayed at the very awesome YMCA with all meals provided in a very large mess hall – great results. We met up with the group for the rider briefing at 6pm after we arrived – which turned out to be a total waste of time as the sponsors blasted us with their propaganda and provided absolutely no value in terms of tips for the next day! And we also had to listen to a fairly weak election campaign from their local member…but I digress.

The start

Arrived at the start line around 6.15am was one of the first 100 in the line up. Jumped at the back of Wave 3 and waited for the rest of the pack to dribble in. VD and Darcy started ahead of me, the rest of the group that passed me (Flash, Satnav, B1/m) started behind me. The descent was amazing, it was warm by the time we made it over the start line at 6.50am. The start was an anti climax in that it was a very slow rolling start over the start line, then sped up around the corners. I attempted to GoPro the descents but lack of attention on my behalf meant a technical failure in the recording department and only filmed one descent (Mt Buffalo) the whole day – guess I will have to do it again in 2014 to get better pictures.

The first third of the descent people were over taking like crazy. They were risking some pretty crazy blind corners, where unless they knew turn for turn what was coming, they were really going out on a limb. The second and third third of the descent it was the opposite. I really got into the rhythm of the descent, and started picking my lines that were doing most of the braking for me, but then I would get around a corner and come across a person who was riding dead centre of the road and just hard on the brakes – really quite hard to pass when you are picking your own line. About 2/3rds of the descent down took off my jacket arm warmers and long fingered gloves, left my leg warmers on until the top of Mt Buffalo (shoulda really taken them off here)….At this point Satnav and VD (I think?) passed me, and Flash joined me at the rest stop to stop for a tea break.

Started eating and drinking at this point and also had a banana that I had pocketed from breakfast (Egg, Hashbrown and Sultana bran @ 5am). I was on Perpeteum for most of the day – but more about that later.

The first ascent

Tawonga came in no time at all, with a nice gentle flat from the bottom of the descent to the first climb. Flash over took me on this hill screaming something along the lines of “Why aren’t you going faster Danny!? what about all the training we have done!?!?” and leaving me for dead. WBA passed me on the way to the top of the hill. I was also filmed at 3 separate occasions by a film crew going up this hill (and Mt Buffalo) so maybe I will make it on a promo? I made it up the hill and checked my timing sheet. I had gained 10 minutes on the 13 hour cutoff time for this checkpoint. Feeling good. I then rolled down the hill to the next rest stop which was in Bright. I made great time down the hill and overtook everyone that I came across – it was a much cleaner smoother descent than the first one, and much shorter. I only started drafting someone 5 kms out of Bright (there was about a 10 km flat section before that) which was shame – I could have achieved a faster time on this flat had I drafted. It was at this point that I started to feel the heat warm up. I jumped off the bike at the Bright stop, and grabbed my nutrition and was back on the bike in less than 3 minutes. I rode off with WBA and stayed with him in a small train until the base of Mt Buffalo.

Mt Buffalo the terrible

Unfortunately I had to reface my nemeses Mt Buffalo which I had climbed twice before for the Audax – it wasn’t going to be any easier this time. I started climbing up Mt Buffalo and had a great pace. This was when the groups really started to thin out. However I didn’t see the first Easy Rider until about half or more of the way up (Stealth, followed by NNNick), which was a great confidence booster. I knew that Mt Buffalo climb up was 2 hrs and climb down was 30 minutes so they couldn’t be more than an hour ahead. I know this sounds pessimistic, but knowing that some were going to finish at 8 hours and myself at 13 hours at the best – this was a great confidence booster. Mt Buffalo was harder this time not because of the heat (was about the same temperature as the Audax back in January) but because of the lack of water. I finished my water about 90 minutes into the climb up, and there was about another 30 minutes to go. The Audax they had 2 water stops on the way up and a proper rest stop at the top. The 3Ps should have had lunch at the top so you could digest on the 1 hours full descent (30 mins of down hill and 30 mins of flat), but instead they had it at the very bottom of the hill instead. They also could have put in some more water stops. By the time we got to the top there was only 1 tap of water. There were 20 people here, and I did a 15 minute stop instead of a 3 minute stop (as planned) due to the wait. Luckily I was 40 minutes ahead at this point of the 13 hour cutoff, when I departed Mt Buffalo – feeling great.

Scary Descent

A couple of bad things happened on the descent which I haven’t mentioned until now. I spotted the Lantern Rouge half way up the mountain (about 1~ hour behind me) in the shade having a rest! My GoPro whilst filming snapped off the handlebars while in full motion. I had to slam on brakes to pick it up. My Garmin stopped recording, had to do a restart while descending. Also someone almost crashed in front of me on the gravel section (which I avoided subsequently due to their near crash). Not going to plan! GOPro was fine, Garmin started recording again, all good.

Lunch

I caught up with a departing ER group at Lunch – I should have refilled and tried to catch and stay with them. I made the mistake of trying to get changed into my fresh kit at lunch. I say try because I got halfway through changing and decided against it, bar changing socks. But this cost me 10 minutes of fumbling around. I also packaged my broken gopro up, grabbed lunch, filled water bottles, went to toilet, this cost me 20 minutes of ride time. Big mistake. I was a bit incoherent due to the heat at this point, and really didn’t take notice that it was getting so hot and that I might have to change my nutrition plan. At this point i was sinking about 750ml an hour + 750ml at each rest stop, with perpeteum dose as recommended + 1 SIS gel an hour + electrolyte tablets. This turned out not to be enough water or electrolytes to sustain. I pulled out of lunch feeling very fresh and hydrated (took my left warmers off here), and continued on. I did have my jacket, leg warmers, arm warmers, long fingered gloves still on person (they were a bit big though!) due to fear of cold in the final climb. Next year I won’t touch my extra kit unless needed and I will breeze through here and skip the yucky lunch!

Lunch to Ovens

This was my biggest win for the day. I got on a descent paced train, held 35 km/h most of this, took turns, got it down to 60 seconds rotation on the front with a group of 4 other strong generous riders. I did my turn with no problems. However 2 people joined the back of our train, I got behind them, they slowed not being able to keep up, I lost the front bunch because I didn’t look up, and then they pulled off into the distance leaving me at sub 25 with 2 duds. Not impressed.

Ovens – dehydration sets in

When I arrived at Ovens, all of a sudden a terrible feeling set it. I felt absolutely shattered. Worse than I have ever felt before. I felt like I have absolutely no energy. I downed an extra couple of litres of water but that didn’t make much of a difference. When I pulled out it was over 40 degrees, just passed 1pm I think and all of a sudden I could only manage sub 20 km an hour on what was very flat terrain. I also started getting terrible stomach pains and cramps which were even more draining than the dehydration. I finished by two water bottles almost as quickly as I had got them and ran out of water until the next rest stop. There was a hill in this bit but that didn’t get me down. It was the lack of water in the heat that really slammed me. I left this rest stop with about 45 minutes in the bank ahead of the 13 hour cutoff – what gains. But then emptied it all out on this next stretch. The pedal to the next rest stop seemed like an eternity through happy valley.

I was on my own for most of this and quite worried that I was going to go into dehydration. As the water had run out and my stomach was having its own party that was causing pain, I really started to worry and listen closely to my body for any signs of real dehydration. There was marshals and ambulances galore going by so I knew if i was going to cark it I was going to be in a stretcher in minutes, but I didn’t really have any other options other than to go slowly to the next rest stop.

Running creek

By the time I go to Running Creek I knew it was all over. What I had experienced on that last section had eaten any of my advantage and then some. I had also wasted body resources on both my stomach and my dehydration rather than on my legs where it should have been. I left this rest stop after about 15 minutes of again drinking as much as possible, mixing more perpeteum and picking up my last food drop off. I knew I had to have about an 18 km/h average to make the 5.35 cutoff at the next stop, and a plus 20 km/h average to make the recommended 13 hour cutoff time of around 5:10 for the next stop. I was struggling to do 15km/h on the flat. This was the most depressing part because if I had a second wind here and could push out even 50% of my normal ability I would have made the cutoff at 5.35 at the next stop.

I stopped at Tawonga for a coke at about 5.25 because I knew I wasn’t going to make it. Jumped back on the bike and at 5.30 a sag wagon drove passed and said “you can keep riding it will take another 10 minutes and you will probably miss the coach and have to sit in the back of the sag wagon the whole way up. Otherwise come with us now we will get you there in time”. I then jumped on board and got a lift for the last 5 km to the Happy valley rest stop. I had my photo taken with the sign that says the rest stop is now closed and the guy said that it only closed 5 minutes ago!!! So bloody close! Ah well next year.

On the coach on the way up the mountain we passed many ER still going hard. VD was the first who was carrying his bike, over his shoulder, about half the way up, and walking on the wrong side of the road (there was traffic both ways!). We then passed Simba and BT half way up. What a great day.

The finish

Took us only about an hour by coach up the winding road, not bad keeping in mind we were dodging the last cyclists up teh mountain. As we were going up we saw many bodies on teh side of the road waiting for the sag wagon. Luckily none of these were ER!

I got to the finish and exchanged words with the others who had finished. While waiting for my bike to be unloaded from the truck, I saw Darcy and Flash finish which was great. At this point I also heard that Stealth had taken the best time in the ER, making him the undisputed grand master of the cycling group (no matter what anybody says!).

I packed my bike in the car and was about to go, but I got a message from Darcy saying that he was at first aid and that he needed some company. I joined him, brought him a coke and sat with him for an hour as he regained his energy. I then dropped him off at his accommodation and headed home to the YMCA to swap stories of the night. He pulled out alright, turned out he was in an ambulance at the bottom of the last climb for 45 minutes while he regained vitals in order to climb the mountain (against the medical opinion of…everyone) so well done Darcy.

Prologue

I think many things went wrong for me and many things went right. I really enjoyed the challenge and was mentally ready to ride so much of it on my own. Nutrition will need to be tweaked and I need to work out why I got stomach cramps. Too much water? Not enough eletrolytes? Not enough perpeteum? Too many gels? So many what ifs! The real challenge was the heat. I was really happy with my times on the climbs and on the flats, where I wasnt struggling from the heat or stomach problems. The downside was the lack of water stops, the failure in the nutrition and not being able to put the middle section (the “easiest”) in the bag. More training on flats required. I did get some really nice ER and non-ER member messages (specially training master Flash) after I finished – thank you all for your kind words, I really did enjoy my 200km ‘effort’ this year. Hopefully there will be next year!

And more importantly hope to see you all there!

Danny Boy

Rider of the Week #28 – Van Diemen

Leave a reply

1. Tell us a bit about yourself:
Ex rower, rugby player and lifesaver, happily married to Marisa , with two boys Joshua 11, and Andrew 8.

2. What got you into cycling?
I’ve always had bikes from the age of five. My neighbours on the Gold Coast were keen cyclists heavily involved with the Nerang cycling club which had its own velodrome. I never had access to racing bikes back then (BMX was king, I saved up at bought a Peugeot BMX with blue tuffs) so these days its great to reconnect with the idea of flying along on a racing bike, something I always hoped to come back too.

3. How did you come to join the Easy Riders?
Your cousins in B2B were waiting at the SHB one night just before Christmas in 2011, I got a tow, and they mentioned ER to me. Satnav did the rest of course …

4. Tell us about your bikes.
When I finished rowing in 1999 I had a vacation in Jesolo (near Venice) staying with an Italian rugby mate I had played Rugby with. I went into a bike shop there to buy a gel seat for my bike, and came out with an Olympic master .The Italians drop gear at the end of a season (fashion is soooo important) so I got a GREAT deal!
Since then I’ve stayed loyal to the Italian Brand and have two Colnagos , a master ( to replace the stolen Olympic) and a CX-1.

5. If you could ride anywhere in the world, where would it be?
The north of Italy, Lake Como and the Dolomites.

6. Tell us a riding story.
When I got my Olympic master it was in April in the north of Italy , Which coincided with the Giro Italia, it was in town and I had no idea… back then I was a complete ignoramus ! I couldn’t even pronounce Colnago let alone ride one!

Anyway they gave me some shoes and I rolled out on the brand new Yellow Olympic master, turned right just as a peloton went past , so I hoped on and ended up riding some ridiculous distance with them (hours) with no idea where I was going or what they were saying. All I know was that I had got them excited (must of been the new yellow bike) and the pace went up, and up, and bye! see you later…..then I had to work out where the hell I was and find my way back!

7. Do you have any advice for the riders at the back of the ER peloton?
In rowing like cycling, the more you put in, the better you get, no doubt about it.
With that I had a saying for myself “the difference between a hassle and a habit is two weeks!” It’s worked so far!

8. Lastly, tell us something we don’t know about you.
One Sunday in the mid 1990’s after racing surf boats all weekend , my crew ended up at the Clovelly hotel in the eastern suburbs. There was a Miss legs competition, and in a time a sexual equality , I thought I would push the point for us poor guys and enter! The rest as they say is history! I bloody won the event (crowd scoring) which caused mayhem!

Rider of the Week #27 – Turnip

Leave a reply

1. Tell us a bit about yourself

I grew up in Blackpool, on the west coast of England, about 50 miles from Manchester. Rode to school every day because it was quicker than the bus and it’s pretty flat. Met Mrs Turnip when I moved to Stevenage after Uni. Stevenage, just North of London, is town built after the war to accommodate the people from London’s east end who were living in temporary accommodation after the war, it’s full of bike paths. Mrs Turnip didn’t own a car when I met her but she did own a bike, a Raleigh ladies bike that was very heavy from memory. Me, a single guy who drank too much found the bike paths safer than the main roads!.

We emigrated to Australia in 1988, because my boss at the time wouldn’t give me 5 weeks break to go on a holiday to Australia, so we sold our house and bought 1 way tickets to Sydney.

Our two girls have grown up with cycling parents, and have been on cycling holidays in France, and South Australia. Though they have both traded their bicycles in for a car.

2. What got you into cycling?

My first memory of cycling was used to race around the pavements in our cul-de-sac we (there were some technical right angled corners with a brick wall deigned to rub the bark off the riders nearest to the wall). These corners favoured smaller riders with lower centre of gravity who could sneak around on the inside. (I’m the one on the left, My best friend Mike, and my brother Martin always the engineer is studying the pavement surface to try and seek unfair advantage)

3. How did you come to join the Easy Riders?

Used to commute with Zlatko, along the hard shoulder if the M2 from Browns Water Hole, and then on the bike path over the Lane Cove Tunnel. When the RTA stole our M2 bike path to build “an extra car lane” Mrs Turnip remembered seeing an article in the North Shore Times about a commuter group who rode to the city from Turramurra. I loitered outside the petrol station on Pacific until I saw St. Nav sprint pass. Big mistake, I tried to catch his wheel only to be dropped before Telegraph Road. The next day, I rolled out of the petrol station as soon as saw him, and managed to hang on until Pymble hill, gravity took over and I managed to keep up until Gordon. The rest is history.

4. Tell us about your bikes.

My first bike was a hand me down from my older brother. As you can see from the earlier picture its even smaller than my current Merida!.

When I went to high school I upgraded to a BSA 20” ( my legs were still too short for a real racer even with 24″ wheels). Some say they still are!

When I finished year 10, and passed my O-levels my parents bought me a Freddie Grubb with 10 gears ! (only lasted 4 weeks before it was stolen)

After that I borrowed my brother’s bike whilst he was at Uni, not sure where he got it from but its Frame number as GPO12345 !

This dream machine saw me through University in Liverpool. Its frame was so heavy the local 8 year old lads weren’t strong enough to ride it away even if they did manage to break the lock during lectures. Nine year olds didn’t waste their time stealing two wheels, they had already graduated to anything with 4 wheels and an engine. I think my brother still has it his shed in Macclesfield, that’s probably why he doesn’t ride!

In the summer holidays I used the trusty post office bike to ride to work as a deckchair attendant on Blackpool Beach and sometimes gave a friend a lift home, with her sat on the handlebars. OK I was never that good looking!

5. If you could ride anywhere in the world, where would it be?

Definitely France. We’ve had several great cycling holidays there, 10 days in Provence, a week in the Loire Valley with the teenage turnips. The French really understand cycling probably because the TDF reminds them every year how lucky they are to live and ride there. I’m a fan of the mountains, Mrs Turnip prefers the more gentle roads through the vineyards. It’s a difficult balancing act keeping Mrs T happy, enjoying the food and wine after a leisurely and scenic ride, or take my beloved up the hills? My answer is do both! Thankfully Mrs Turnip is still talking to me after getting to the summit of the Col du Persaud, just in time to see the Cadel Evans and his BMC team-mates come over the top in last year’s Tour. She has given me a leave pass for this year’s Tour. She is holidaying in Holland this year.

6. Tell us a riding story.

June 2011.

Having signed up with a friend for a 16 day ride in Italy from Rome to Lake Como, we arrived in Rome a few days early to get our bike sorted and recover from jet lag. On the first day of the tour, I foolishly gave one of my water bottles to a fellow rider, as her only one had bounced out of her cage a few kilometres back down the road. As the mercury rose above 30 degrees I dropped off the back of the pack when my 750ml bottle of life giving liquid was exhausted. The next couple of hours were spent getting lost in the hills somewhere north of Rome. I discovered I’d missed the lunch stop when I got to the top of a 20km climb and looked down at the lake below where we were supposed to regroup.

A quick check of the map , I discovered that if I descended down the other side of the mountain, I would be back on the route sometime that afternoon. After a quick roadside sandwich at a truck stop, and with a full bidon, I descended quickly, to make up for lost time. Too quickly as I it turned out as I was now ahead of the peloton and as the Italian workforce raced home for their siesta, I fought through the traffic jam of a major town, and was finally spat out of the other side towards the village where our camp site was located and a well-earned rest. At the 110km maker I heard the familiar grumble of the rain gods, who were not happy that I ridden all day without getting wet, and shortly after the rain started descending with some force. Still riding on my own and with only a photocopy of a map to guide me to my tent, I took refuge in a petrol station. Unfortunately I didn’t notice that the forecourt was cobbled and liberally covered in diesel. The crack from my broken elbow when it hit the ground still makes me feel sick when I think about it.

Getting the Lycra off that night was very tricky, as I couldn’t bend my elbow. The next day I had a nice bruise forming around my right elbow. By lunch I had to admit to the tour medic Id crashed the previous day. He immediately drew a line around the bruise and allowed me to ride the afternoon as I could control the bike and the brakes.

When we arrived at camp the bruise had extended from my shoulder to my wrist, and so I was sent for an X-ray. Even though the radiologist could speak no English, and my Italian is limited to ordering beer, coffee and pizza, we looked at the X-ray together and I knew my holiday was over.

The next week was spent with my arm in plaster from my wrist to my armpit, travelling in the best sag wagon ever, a converted fire engine, through Tuscany before a Business class ticket back to OZ (Thank-you Westpac Travel Insurance).

7. Do you have any advice for the riders at the back of the ER peloton?

Always ride at a pace you comfortable with and at a speed you think is safe. For me its about how you get there and arriving safely, not arriving first. My 3 peaks finishing time of 12 hours 57 minutes last year, sums it up. [Editors note: the cut off was 13 hours] Don’t try and ride to someone else’s ability because you may not finish at all.

8. Lastly, tell us something we don’t know about you.

I wrote the computer program which monitored for radioactive leaks at perimeter of the Sellafield which is a nuclear reprocessing site in Cumbria England. Perhaps that’s why I now live on the other side of the world!

Turnip