Avoid the Bay on the Day

Today is exactly one year since I rode my first long ride: the 220km Around the Bay in a Day. It was a lot of fun despite the pre-dawn start and remains my longest ride. I have a photo taken that day by a roadside photographer which shows a fat man on a green bike battling along at the 70km mark. I'd been sick for the fortnight beforehand and off the bike, so I really struggled for the last 20km, but just managed to finish. I put the photo on top of the fridge to remind me of a pretty good day out in the company of thousands of like-minded souls. (Usefully, the photo also helped me realise my seat was a few inches too low.)

I missed the ride this year, mostly because I forgot the entry cutoff. Paying $100 to ride on public roads doesn't seem the good value, particularly if you don't get the free jersey for entering early. There were also some niggling annoyances which turned me off a repeat performance. The finish was a real anti-climax: something like a finishers' certificate would have been a nice gesture to recognise all work people had done towards completing the event. And then there was the 90 minute wait for the ferry in the middle of the ride, more than enough time to thoroughly warm down.

All the same I was chuffed to see the finishers filtering through the city tonight, pedalling towards home, tired but happy, as dusk fell. Well done to them all.

Image from flickr.

New bike! New bike!

After weeks of indecision, I've finally ordered a new bike. Thanks to a general shortage of cash, it won't be all new, but rather a new frame and wheels, inspired by the photo at left of a Surly Cross Check in full fast tourer rig. It will get me through the summer's audax rides and will be useful as a tourer for the planned trip to France and maybe the big ride in August. In the long term, I'd like to get something custom made: lightweight but with with all the braze-ons for waterbottles, lights, racks and panniers.

I needed something fast, but comfortable. As much as I love my 26" wheel Long Haul Trucker, and my red road bike, I desperately needed a compromise between them. It has to be lighters to help get me up the hills - particularly the bigs ones in the Alpine Classic in January. Thanks to the SpeedGoat cycles Mad Scientist Bike Lab it looks like the bike will come in close to 23 pounds, or a shade over 10kg, which I reckon is great for a relatively cheap steel-framed bike. Thanks to Russell at Woodend Cycles for a top deal and for his patience as I kicked tyres and thought out loud for the last month or so. Keep an eye out for a Long Haul Trucker frame on ebay.

I should get the bits on Tuesday, with a fair bit of fiddling I should be able to have it on the road by next weekend.

5,086km so far this year.

Defeating the Mountain

Another weekend, another great century ride. Climb the Tower out of Maldon was a cracker of a ride in great weather. And I finally conquered Mt Tarrengower on the road bike: all the way up the steep 3km climb without stopping or putting a foot down. Last time grinding a 36 inch gear (34x25) up nearly killed me and I had to make several stops. Actually, this time it nearly killed me as well, but at least I made it with some dignity and only as much zig-zagging as was strictly necessary. Several other riders walked long sections. The descent was a beauty too, touching 70km/h.

On the flat, where big men on heavy bikes go a lot better, it was even more fun. About 40km in, I could hear a chattering group four approaching as I laboured up a small hill. I picked up my speed a little so I could jump on the back as they passed and found I'd put a little bit of a gap into them. Hearing the voice of Phil Liggett in my ears: "He's gone, he's got the gap. He's pushing a huge gear and he's split the peleton clean in two" or similar nonsense, I turned on the pace and kept them at bay until the checkpoint at Carisbrook, where I stopped for an ice cream.

I rode back along the Pyrenees Highway on my own, entertaining further Tour de France daydreams and fending off the odd persistent magpie. I finished exactly five hours after I started and was home in time for tea. A most excellent day out.

5,011km so far this year.

The road to Paris is paved with pain

Not a bad weekend in Hopetoun. The Mallee Routes is a lovely ride and superbly organised by Les Solley. There were about two dozen riders from Melbourne and Adelaide - including one who had ridden from the South Australian capital - tackling distances from 100km to 600km.

It was an unaccustomed cool start at 6am Saturday as we rolled out on the 200km, but it warmed up soon enough. I managed to stay with other riders for much of the day, letting them go when their speed crept up too much. I drank plenty of water, ate enough, took plenty of breaks and kept a steady pace.

Despite all this I wasn't able to back up for Sunday's 200km ride. It wasn't anything specific, just a collection of minor woes: uncharacteristic saddle soreness, painful hands and a sore back were the worst of it, but there was also the nagging feeling that it wouldn't be a good idea to tackle the four-hour drive home in a state of utter exhaustion.

I have some toughening up to do. I have two more 200km rides pencilled in this month ahead of a 300km, 400k and 600km in December. I'm confident of the 300km. The 400km will be a stretch. I can't even imagine a 600km yet.

4,829km so far this year.

Keeping out of the news

About six months ago I set up a couple of Google news alerts to keep me abreast of all the latest cycling news. Each day, the kindly Google computers e-mail me a digest of the latest news stories from around the world containing the words "cyclist", "cycling" or "bicycle".

After some months of horrified reading, it seems we only make the news for the worst of reasons. Each day delivers a litany of deaths, maimings, funerals and memorials. Today's missives contained news of three deaths: in Auckland, in Seattle and in Texas. Now and then there's an interesting or unusual variation, like someone being pulled down by a dog or someone being shot.

It's all so depressing. The only thing that keeps me sifting through them, even sparodically, is the occassional happy story about someone completing a ride around the world, or the heart-warming story of an older man still enjoying the long miles.

On that note, I'm off for a ride. Try to keep out of the headlines. T-shirt design top left via cicle.org.

Cycling makes you rich

I took the opportunity last night of tallying the savings I've been making by cycling part of the way to work over the last couple of years. The good lord knows I'm a little obsessed with statistics - but it is a harmless sideline. Anyhoo, I've ridden to work 90 times since January last year, a return trip of 28km.

The savings are really easy to calculate: those trips represent $399.60 worth of saved Citilink tolls. It also means that I've not driven 2,520km in the car. There's a saving of $214.20 in petrol straight away. Taking into account the deferred cost of servicing and tyres bumps the saving up to $373.75. The grand total is $773.35, or $8.59 a ride. Or 30c a kilometre. I'm happy with that result, despite the fact that over the same period I've probably spend twice that on shiny bike bits.

The exercise prompts some further thought. If I'd been more religious about it, and ridden four days each working week over the two-year period, I could have done 360 trips, saving $3,092. Or I could have shed the car altogether and saved the roughly $22,000 I've spent keeping it on the road. Plus had the cash from selling the car in my pocket. Let's call it a nice round $30,000. Even so, I'm happy with the $773 figure. It's a start.

Shiny bike bit at the top left is a spoke threader I have my eye on. Will need to ride to work a bit more to save the money!

4,603km so far this year.

400km around the Mallee

Big plans for the weekend - two 200km rides up in the Mallee. I spent the weekend respoking my front wheel, gluing on new singles and generally setting up the road bike for the epic. Even though the ride is famously flat, I'm looking forward to the challenge immensely. It's been a gradual buildup and I'm very happy with my preparation. It will be an interesting weekend and a good introduction to the bigger challenges which lie ahead.

Coming into the end of the audax season, I'm ticking off the goals. I've done the rides I need for the Percy Armstrong award (1x50km, 1x100km, 1x150km, 1x200km) and the EA Maddock award (5x100km). Two more 200's will put me one short of the Irene Plowman award (5x200km) and I'm only a 50km ride short of my Noveau Randonneur award (1x50km, 1x100km, 1x150km). I'm a little surprised, and very satisfied, that it's all gone so well. They seemed such impossible goals at the beginning of the year - it bit like next year's goals seem from this distance.

Bike shown top left is from the Trading Post. I'm suffering from heavy desire - even though keep telling myself I really don't need another bike. Still, I keep looking it up, knowing one day soon it won't be there any more. Sadly, I have not the cash.

4,575km so far this year.

You Yangs and Yonder

After a few weeks of agonising over whether to buy a road bike and which one to buy, it was nice to take my old roadie out for a spin in the You Yangs and Yonder 100km on Sunday. It was another warm, still day: shorts and jersey weather.

The bunch took off at a fair pace, and I was content to let myself be dragged along at a comfortable 30km/h for the first hour or so, until we stopped at the checkpoint on top of the You Yangs. I don't like to stop for long at checkpoints - especially so soon into a ride - so I was off again on my own shortly after, content to spend some time on my own and to chat with the faster riders as they passed. Most people were doing the 150km option but I only needed a century for one of the audax awards I'm going for which requires 5x100km rides. Besides, there was a monster hill in the 150km, and I'd promised to be home for lunch.

It turned out to be a very quick ride, my second fastest century ever. The last 20km featured long rolling stretches with a gentle tailwind and to my surprise I was motoring along for much of in the big chainring it at around 45km/h. The last 20km took me about half an hour and I was happy to complete 102km with a riding time of 3 hours 47 minutes, for an average of 27km/h. Considering just a couple of years ago I was struggling to get home under the 6 hour 30 minute time limit, I've improved somewhat. And the old bike proved there's some life left in it yet.

4,561km so far this year.

The wind in my hair

Arriving at the carpark I commute from this morning, I realised I'd forgotten my helmet. So I shouldn't really ride, but it's a brilliant day and my ride's mostly on cycle paths and I just really, really wanted to. So I took the chance and rode in anyway, the way we did in the old days before there were helmet laws, with the wind in my hair and I survived ok.

Lovely ride on the weekend: the Green and Gold 50km Audax from Kyneton. Normally 50km would be considered a trifling distance, but this one was hilly and very windy to boot. After one circuit, there weren't many takers for a second. My excuse? I needed a 50km to make up the miles for my Nouveau Randonneur award, which requires a 50km, a 100km, a 150km and a 200km ride in the same season. My first audax award is now in the bag!

Wrestling with the desire to buy a rode bike. Have narrowed it down to two main contenders: the Giant OCR1 and the Trek 1400.

4,391km so far this year.

Even in the rain, especially in the rain

I've been too busy to ride for four days, and I've been getting antsy, so I rose before dawn this morning and went for a ride in the rain. It was just lovely. The antsiness seems to be cured. The addict has had his fix.

My road bike has been rattling around in the back of the car since Monday waiting for me to find some time. Simultaneously, I've been flipping through the pages of bike catalogues looking at fancy new road bikes I'd like to buy to make me go faster. In my heart I know the real solution is not parting with $2,000 but to ride my perfectly serviceable but 25-year-old road bike more often. It's just as fast as any of these newfangled alloy and carbon fibre monstrosities, even if I do have to move my hands to change gears and the tyres are held on with glue. It's just that, well, everyone else has such nice new bikes.

At any rate, there's nothing wrong with my road bike, which fits me better than any other I've ever owned. If only I could get the saddle right. In his book "I am a Raving Sociopath"* Lance Armstrong relates how his team mechanics used to call him 'the millimetre man' because he was so obsessive about getting the setup of his bike just right. It turns out I'm the same type of obsessive, riding up and down the bike paths of Melbourne in the rain, allen key in hand, tweaking my saddle height and pitch. It's like tuning a piano and there's only one right result. It's a matter of persistence, but when you hit that sweet spot, suddenly you can fly.

*Possibly not its real title.

4,252km so far this year.

Spring has sprung!

Winter seems to have disappeared, the days are warmer and suddenly it's shorts and summer jersey weather.

The Spring into Seymour 200km Audax must be one of the flattest rides I've ever done, although it still held some challenges despite the lack of wind for most of the day. It was hot - just below 30 degrees - and I managed to get through about 12 bottles of water and a couple of sports drinks.

Still, I managed to stick with the bunch for the first 100km to set a PB of 3 hours 43 minutes, before getting dropped 20km before lunch and spending the next 60km happily on my own. I passed the remains of the bunch while they were having a coffee in Nagambie and was duly picked up 20km before the end. It was nice to have a wheel to sit on for a bit and they'd moderated their pace somewhat. Along the way also scored up PBs for the 150km (5 hours 59 minutes) and the 200km (8hours 5 minutes). I felt strong all day and it was a good morale-building result before the harder and longer rides which loom over the next few months.

4,231km so far this year.

Shame on the Hell Riders

Melbourne's cyclists are enjoying a spell of very poor publicity at present thanks to a bunch of lycra clad louts called the Hell Riders. Long known for their inconsiderate antics on Beach Road, someone on the Hell Ride on the weekend ran a red light and knocked an old man down, killing him.

It's been an accident waiting to happen. The Hell Ride is hardly the only Beach Road bunch to flout the traffic laws, only the most infamous. Despite codes of conduct and awareness campaigns, red light running is an epidemic among cyclists. As a group, we surrender our moral authority to demand consideration and respect from other road users when we can't obey the most basic of road rules.

As cyclists, there's nothing particularly skilled or clever about Melbourne's legions of cafe racer nobodies. Anyone can ride a flash road bike fast if they're getting sucked along the flat stretches of Melbourne's waterfront in the middle of a big bunch. But it hurts the reputation of all cyclists when they form adrenalin-charged mobs which speed, contest bunch sprints on public roads, run red lights and intimidate other road users. We won't cop it from motorists, and we shouldn't tolerate it from other cyclists.

Shame on the Hell Riders.

4,003km so far this year.

Geek chic

This should lead to some fun: I've bought myself a tiny GPS receiver which will fit on the bike. The image to the left is this morning's drive/ride data downloaded, transformed by magnalox, pushed into Google Earth and saved as a screenshot. The route is represented by the wireframe, and speed (the red line) and altitude (the blue line) are displayed as a graph. Elapsed time is superimposed onto the map itself. Click the image to enlarge. It looks even better in 3D.

Hours of fun will no doubt ensue, although my longer term experiment with this technology may yet prove a useful way to record the route of Audax rides for future reference. By riding the route and making the file available, it might help remove some of the navigational uncertainty from events. In addition, it could be a useful way for people to log their rides, either as verification, or simply as a record for for their later enjoyment.

Bunches Down the Bay

It was a great day for a ride yesterday and a great ride was had. The Bunches Down the Bay was a real treat. After a longish break from Audax rides, it was good to be back in the saddle again. It's a mainly a flat ride down the eastern side of Port Phillip Bay - from Parkville to Portsea and back.

I set off with the bunch at breakneck speed, suspecting I might regret my early exertions later. It's always a danger when you don't ride your own pace. But the carbon fibre and lycra brigade dropped me up the first set of hills and I was able to settle into a bit more of a rhythm. Besides, as is normal, I caught most of them at the 75km checkpoint.

Since I was feeling good and wasn't taking long breaks at the checkpoints to avoid warming down, this pattern repeated throughout. They'd catch me, I'd sit in for a while, get dropped, then overhaul them at the checkpoints. Oddly though, the bigger group didn't catch back up in the last 50km, and about 15km from the end I found a quicker wheel to sit on and was dragged along to the finish.

A very satisfying ride, more so for the fact that I did my fastest century yet - 3 hours and 59 minutes for the 100km and just over six hours for the 150. Now to get ready for a very different ride: 200km around Lake Eildon next weekend. It's all part of the buildup for the qualifying rides for next years Paris-Brest-Paris.

3,947km so far this year.

The beauty of the wheel.

There's something about bicycles that is more spiritual than mechanical. On the face of it, bikes are just machines - but what wonderful and efficient machines they are. It's something more people are beginning to appreciate as petrol prices bite. There's something special about these assemblages of steel tube and rubber and cable and wire that warms the soul of the enthusiast. They're a combination of transport, excerise, fun and style that adds up to a whole lot more than the mere sum of its parts.

For me, building a bicycle wheel is the perfect example of this. You start out with a hub, a hoop and a bunch of spokes. Slowly you weave a pattern which can carry many times its own weight, faithfully for year upon year. A well built wheel is a thing of great beauty and strength and a joy to own.

I rebuilt an old road wheel last night, a traditional 36 hole road racing wheel from the 80's with a Campagnolo hub, a spin-on six speed cluster and a tubular tyre. The flimsy aero spokes have been breaking, and I need it for a 150km ride this weekend, so I'm rebuilding it with straight-gauge stainless steel.

I've build about a dozen wheels for various bikes in the last few years and they've all turned out really well. The trick is taking your time and working methodically. There's a moment in the process when it all comes together - a complex equation of spoke length, lacing and tension - and the wheel all but tells you that you've got it right. As you bring the spokes to full tension, the wheel comes up straight and true and round, an endlessly beautiful and useful piece of hand-made sculpture. Building a bicycle wheel is a tremendously satisfying way of spending an evening.

3,797km so far this year.

Raging down the road.

I'm an angry man this morning. I gave up on the whole road rage thing back in my motorcycling days, after I opened someone's door at traffic lights and gave them an earful for cutting me off. The whole undignified episode took place in front of an unmarked police car. I swear officer, it looked a lot worse than it was. Deep down I know that violence isn't the answer, even though sometimes I forget what the question is.

So today's revving fool behind me at the traffic lights didn't particularly attract my attention as I passed him in the bike lane. 'He's either turning left, or he'll just have to wait,' I thought. Today's lesson folks: if you're going to zoom past me within the range of my outstretched arm, you're far too close. So don't act surprised if your front passenger window gets a tap almost but not quite hard enough to shatter it. And hurt my wrist. Damn those side windows are tough.

There was an opportunity for me to take it further, and keen I was. But sometimes when the red mist descends it's best not to listen to the voices inside your head yelling "kill, kill, kill!". And so we return to the politness and the pacifism. For now. But motorists take heed: if you try to run me over because you're in a hurry, I'll beat you to a pulp if I catch up with you. It seems a fair swap.

Apart from that, I had a lovely ride to work. Serenity now, serenity now, serenity now...

Thanks for bindifry for the pic.

A week on the bike.

Another milestone falls - a week on the bike, or 168 hours to be precise. At this rate I will have ridden nearly 6,000 km by the end of the year and will have spent the equivalent of 12 days in the saddle. It is nearly time to start thinking about next year's goals. I have a feeling I might be aiming for 10,000km. Or 12,000. Why not?

A lazy weekend doing maintenance on the bikes and cranking out a slow 20km on the track to get the fixie set up perfectly. The final annoying creak has been identified and ruthlessly eliminated. (It was an undertightened crank arm). A silent bike means a happy rider.

I'm slowly getting closer to the time when I might have all four bikes on the road at the same time. The Surly and the track bike are now in perfect working order. The road bike needs its back wheel rebuilt (of course) before the Bunches Down the Bay 150km on Saturday, so I'm off to buy the spokes in the morning. The MTB needs its front brake fixed. If I achieve nothing else this month, I will have all my bikes working at once!

The problem then becomes which bike to ride. The Surly and the road bike both vie for my affections on the long rides: they're both great fun to ride, but the road bike has a slight edge on speed and the Surly lower gears in the hills and is ever so slightly more comfortable. I feel like I'm cheating on one when I wheel the other from the shed.

3,684km so far this year.

Spoiled for choice.

Having forgotten to enter this year's Round the Bay in a Day in time, I'm too late to join the anti-clockwise ride like I wanted , too late for the free jersey and too late for the 250km option too. Spewing.

Checking out my riding calendar, I realise how spoiled for choice we folk in Melbourne are. While trying to figure out whether to ride in the ATB at all, I opened the envelope containing my Alpine Classic nomination forms for next years ride, then idly wondered whether to have a go at either the Great Victorian Bike Ride or the Great Tasmanian Bike Ride. Then there's the dozens of audax events I'm trying to juggle. It's a nice problem to have - too many good rides to fit them all in.

And then, looming on the horizon looms the biggest prize of all - the Paris- Brest-Paris is less than 12 months away. Since we're contemplating a trip to see Le Tour not long before hand, it seems a tempting goal to grasp - if there is anything sane about contemplating a 1,200km ride with a 90 hour time limit.

A dangerous occupation?

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau, has released a report into cyclist deaths from 1991 to 2005. 665 cyclists died during that period. Statistics sometimes seem to have a way of helping people amplify their own prejudices, and no doubt this set will be discussed at length among the cycling community online. These facts stood out for me:

• Cyclist deaths are well down, which is good news. "In the 1990s, the number of cyclist deaths ranged from 40 to 80 per year. In the 2000s so far (2000 to 2005), the range has been from 26 to 46 per year". It's a statistic that reflects the general decline in the road toll.
  

• One third of those killed were not wearing helmets. Most of those killed while not wearing helmets were under 18.
  

• In over 60 per cent of crashes, the cyclist was deemed to be ‘responsible’ for the
  action that precipitated the fatal crash. This mainly consisted of failing to observe road rules by swerving in front of cars or cruising through intersections. Again, this seemed to kill a lot of young people.
  

Cyclists complain a lot about the actions of some motorists, often with good reason, but we also need to accept responsibility for our own safety. Wear a helmet, have good lights at night and obey the road rules, and you're stacking the deck in your favour. And you're also setting a good example for those who haven't yet learned that the roads can be a dangerous place.

3,636km so far this year.

A tour de fun

What a trip! At the last minute we decided to ditch the Mawson Trail and do a circuit of the Fleurieu Peninsula which turned out be a stroke of genius. The scenery was terrific, we missed the crowds and, despite heading out in the depths of winter, the days were mild and we didn't have a drop of rain. Even the drivers gave us plenty of space.

Every day had a highlight. Day one was the big climbs up into the Adelaide Hills and the long descents into Strathalbyn just on dusk. Then there was the Encounter Bikeway between Goolwa and Victor Harbour and the pod of Southern Right Whales cavorting just offshore. Day three's highlight was the spectacular tree-lined decent into Normanville. Then we hit the wineries of McLaren Vale and pushed onward to the Haigh's Chocolate factory in Adelaide. Highlights to many to mention. Best holiday in years.

The bikes didn't miss a beat the whole trip, although some of the big hills were a bit of a test for the riders - those granny gears sure got a workout. I'd forgotten how enjoyable it is to poodle along on a heavily loaded touring bike. After a few hours you get used to the load and settle into a happy rhythm and the kilometres just fly by.

Oddly for me, the absolute best part of the trip was a long uphill out of a little town called Clarendon on the Adelaide Hills. The guidebook warned it was a long steep ascent, but by that stage of the trip we were feeling fit and seemed to spin up it effortlessly. It made the long winding descent on the other side all the sweeter.

3,561km so far this year.