More Rain, And Then The Sun Came Out - Briefly

It was an early start today!

By the time I had finished working last night and finally relaxed it was after midnight before I turned out the light in the hotel room to have some sleep.  That said it wasn't hard to get up this morning to meet with the men of Devonport Corps for breakfast and prayer.

Before the 'Off'

We spent a great hour with Capt. Kevin Meredith and the guys sharing about our day yesterday and where we were headed today followed by a blessing from Norman Targett.  His text came from Ezekiel 34:26 as God speaks of his covenant of peace; "I will make them and the places around my hill a blessing.  I will send down showers in season; there will be showers of blessing" - pretty appropriate given the day we had yesterday and today's forecast.

Days start was chaotic to say the least.  In our eagerness to get underway, I forgot to talk to Tony and Dennis (support drivers) about the route we needed to take over the river in Devonport.  Last year we got separated from the bus because the bike path diverts away from the road.  As soon as turned onto the bridge I realise the same thing was going to happen again this year - it did.  A phone call sorted that out and we all had a meeting point in mind.

Then it all came undone!

As we climbed the hill east out of Devonport the rain came streaming down; to quote Forrest Gump it was "big ole fat rain!"   As the heads went down and the legs pedalled on through the weather all of a sudden I realised the four of us riders were suddenly only two with our mates no where in sight.  As I tried to shelter from the rain crouching next to a wall, my partner went back to look for the others.  Then the phone rang!  I missed it and tried to call back.  As I was talking to Dennis, Stuart (wherever he was) was talking to Tony and explaining that he'd got a puncture.  So with the water going down the back of my neck I gave Dennis short (and as simple as I could) instructions to get him to us and then headed back to find the others!

None of us were carrying our usual saddle pockets to change tyres having surrendered them to the bus to save a bit of weight.  It took another call to get the vehicles to us by which time I think all four of us were wondering if this was a taste of things to come?

Adrian Wilson leading the way - Thanks Mate!

Stuart, Phill and I were joined today by Adrian Wilson of Geard Cycles in Launceston.  Among the positives of having another rider come along, two things quick stood out to me about having Adrian with us: first, we now have a contact at a Local Bike Shop in Launceston - this should never be under-estimated.  Second, Adrian did way more than his fair share of leading today which added to a good overall pace and some periods of really good pace.

With only one stop at about the 30km mark, we were able to make it the 70km to Exeter for lunch at the Bakery.  After hot food and hot drinks ('Ah, TEA! :-)) we set off for the final 40km to George Town.

One of the 'Ups' of the Tamar Valley

One of the 'Downs'

The riding town was much more up and down, but thankfully the weather cleared to even offer some sunny spells.  The hill at Frankfurt (50km in) took us to the highest point of the stage much quicker that the same segment last year for Stuart and I, so smiles all round!  The road from Exeter was probably the toughest part of the day.  The road undulated quite a bit adding another 500m of elevation.  There were times of that part of the day today where the word that came to me describing our mood was 'grim'.  We were simply, but determinedly turning the pedals and not much else - we didn't talk too much at all for the last half hour except as we came into George Town.

George Town at the end of 109km

Aux Lt. Roderick Brown together with his wife Kelly and daughter met us with hot food, cakes and more tea!  All were gratefully received.  Thanks folks!

The main topic of conversation as we drove to Launceston was tomorrows weather and how it will impact the ride....

Today's Press - The Advocate

Today's Press - The Mercury

We'll know in the morning!


Stuart, Phill, Adrain and I would still love some donations to get to our goals.  These guys are working hard over long days so please be generous if you can!

Sorry about the lack of 'LiveTrack' my Garmin has broken! :-(

Starting Under A Cloud!

Its been sunny and fine in Tasmania for some time now; in fact the last bit of decent rain we've had - if I remember right - was back in January.  I've been doing heaps of riding this so far this year as a result.

Before the off - posing for the camera at Burnie

That changed today!  We started the Red Shield Ride under a cloud.  As we drove northwest this morning from Launceston to our start point in Burnie I was thinking again about the things that we can control and the things we can't.  I posted on Facebook this morning "Sometimes you start things under a cloud - but start you must!"

Riding inland from Penguin

After riding for a little while and then turning south at Penguin to head in land to Gunns Plains, I was reminded that while Stuart, Phill and I were out in the rain pedalling - not our normal choice of conditions for a ride - there are plenty of people today who are incredibly grateful for the rain.  Farmers of both agriculture and livestock have been doing it tough for a while now and who would no doubt be welcoming todays rain.  Things didn't seem quite so 'meh' after that.  The joy of cycling, albeit wet through, starting to kick-in.  I even remembered to tell the boys to 'lift your heads up and look around'.

The ride itself was a good one, and I'd certainly love to come back and do it in the dry.  I love riding along the northwest coast and today wasn't any different.  But we broke new ground for me as we headed sound out of Penguin.  After a bit of a climb out of town, for the next 15km or so, we had what felt like a stead climb at an fairly easy, but constant gradient.  'What goes up must come down' they say and eventually we dropped down into Gunns Plains.

Overlooking Gunns Plains - It was a beautiful and slow descent

Another first for me in more ways than one!  First time at Gunns Plains - it truly in beautiful even in the wet!  First time descending on roads at round about the same speed I could climb them.  By the time we hit the down hill sections of the ride, the roads, the bike, the riders and most importantly the brakes were wet through.  It just wasn't worth trying to descend any quicker.

From Gunns Plains we had a nice climb up and out of the valley after a few km's of riding along the river.  Even in the wet - this was an amazing place!  I say wet, at this point of the ride, it started to get wetter.

Probably the wettest I've been on the bike!

After a brief conversation, we decided to ride directly from Ulverstone to Devonport via the highway, sandwiched between the car and the bus (support vehicles).  Although we were making good time this way; the rain combined with the spray of the trucks and cars, together with drivers haste to get home on a Friday afternoon and the failing visibility, we called it a day about 10km early - it just wasn't safe to go on much longer.

It was a little disappointing to end todays ride that way, but in the end it was the best choice.  Sometimes you just have to know when to stop I guess!?

After a warm welcome by the Junior Soldiers and friends at Devonport, I'm now showered and feed and feeling pretty good about it all!  The only disappointment is that my Garmin packed up early and I suspect there is a issue with the battery - probably due to the heaps of rain!  Hopefully I can revive it tonight!

On the Eve of 'The Grand Departure'

Well we are just one sleep away from the start of the Red Shield Ride!

I've had the chance to reflect a bit during a busy day today and here are a couple of my thoughts.  It's worth bearing in mind though that I don't want to labour any metaphor I any suggest, for I know that in the end they're probably pretty weak.

Gathering the kit

1.  The Ride isn't meant to be easy even if some cyclists find it to be so. A significant component of the challenge is going to be making sure each of the riders finishes each day!  Each persons individual challenge is part of the group's shared challenge.  We in this together!

Bikes are ready

2.  The forecast is for rain!  There are somethings we can control and somethings we can't.  All we can do is prepare as best we can.  In the end though, come what may, we've just got to get on with it!

3.  Tasmania is really a beautiful place to live - I'm going to miss having my brother-in-law Aaron with me this year and in particularly his repeated reminders to lift up our heads and look around.  I'm going to have to work hard to remember to do that over the next few days.

Signage on the Bus

4. I'm looking forward to finally spending the next few days on my bike - there really are not many things as good!  Yes, I'll be riding with others, but even in a group riding gives you the chance to think about a lot of things!  I'm also going to go places I haven't been before and ride some roads I've been wanting to ride for a while!

I'd love you to follow our progress each day - I'm hoping to post a link here for the 'live track' at the start of each stage and I'll be posting each evening about the days experience.

Also, please consider sponsoring me by clicking here.

Thanks

Recovering My Strength

Today's ride was the third since coming back of an eight day family holiday, and I'm happy to say the the legs are starting to feel a little stronger.

I'm still amazed at how much power I lost in my legs over nine days on not getting on the bike.  This was eccentuated as I was looking at my activity history for the past four months on Strava.  I've averaged four or five rides a week varying from 1hour Hills workout rides to climbs up Mt Wellington to 100km rides.  In terms of power in my legs, all that work was brought undone by nine days of rest.

Yesterday's 70km ride was intentionally an easy ride, the really wasn't any thought of power, speed, heart rate, cadence or anything else.  After spending a fair bit of time on Wednesday evening continue to work out some pretty severe cramps from my quads, all I wanted to do was turn the legs over nice and easy for a few hours.

Today was more about finding out just where I am at right now.

I like riding in a group, but I'm equally happy getting out their on my own.  On these sort of days, the only pressure comes me and while I can start off thinking 'just take it easy', more often than not, I tend to want to test myself quite often.  I was under no illusion that today would be a top ride, but it was a test to see the extent of the damage those nine days did.

Mt Nelson Signal Station - beautiful day in Hobart!

Warming up, things felt pretty good. As I turned up the 'Seven Bends' towards Mt Nelson, I wasn't at my best, but things were certainly better than they were midweek. Perhaps the day helped - it was beautiful out there today!  While things were going okay, I spent most of ride up and down Mt Nelson thinking of an alternative route over to Cascade that didn't involve riding up Lynton Avenue - in the end the 'test' demanded I give it go and it felt tough!

Cycling past Cascade and up Strickland Avenue felt better and the three or four other cyclists I passed on the way up didn't do my morale any harm.  Again though, towards the top the questions about my route home started to come; did I really want to ride up Molle St and then Summerhill Road at Mt Stuart?  The descent was good, and the 'test' needed to be satisfied, so off I went.

The last part of today's 44km through West Hobart were hard work - harder then normal? I couldn't tell, it was simply hard! As I rode up the hill to home, I really wasn't sure how I'd gone. As I often do when out for a workout, I'd turned off the time, speed and distance display on my Garmin and was simply using my average heart rate, cadence, and elevation.

I'm really pleased with today's effort.  44km in under 2hours (not bad given the hills) and most surprisingly of all some good PB's on segments through West Hobart when I felt I was doing it toughest of all.  If you're interested, you can check out the ride here.

How am I set for the Red Shield Ride? Maybe not quite as good as I hoped I'd be feeling, but I'm 27-28kg lighter then I was eleven months ago when we rode the first Red Shield Ride and so all thing considered, things are looking good for the ride?

Back Into It After A Rest

Well, after spending the last week relaxing on holiday with my family, today I got back on the bike!

Starting off at Opossum Bay before 116km ride.

I was really intrigued to see what eight or nine days of no riding would yield.  I'd thought about just doing a regular 50km ride, but being fairly confident that I hadn't lost too much conditioning, I figured 'why not just go for a good long ride?' So I did!

Wow!  Now don't get me wrong, I'm not claiming to be anywhere near the condition of a professional cyclist (in fact, I'm quite open about how much of an amateur 'amateur' I really am), but today's ride gave me the tiniest glimpse into what it must be like for to be a professional cyclist.

Having read a few biographies of professional cyclists now, a common theme that seems to run throughout is the idea that in the space of as little as a week not riding their bikes, they can loose a lot of conditioning and performance.

The main thing I noticed early on today was that those eight or nine days of rest have had a significant impact on my power output!  I don't use a powermeter (who can afford those things anyway?), but I could feel it almost straight away on the sort of inclines that I've been comfortably climbing using my big chainring for weeks, I just didn't have the strength in my legs to do so today!

I confess, I was really quite surprised!  It wasn't a case of panic stations or anything like that, I did perfectly well on the little chainring, but it was really incredible what the result of the break from riding turned out to be!

Fitness wise, I didn't feel too much difference.  The distance wasn't harder than it's been at any other time - I still managed to maintain a good pace over the 116km that I rode today.  Until the last 30km or so, I figured the loss of power was the only really difference.   Then the cramp came!  I don't think I've experienced such pain on the bike for four years or so!  I spent the last 40 minutes of todays ride peddling through bouts of cramp in my quads, calves and hamstrings.  In the end I was wishing I'd only gone for a short ride!

Anyway, the Red Shield Ride starts a week on Friday, so I've got eight days to see if I can get some power back into the legs and ease the pain of leg cramps!

If you're interested in seeing today's ride, you can find in here.

It's All Coming Together!

As preparations continue to move along, we're really wanting to step up the recruitment of riders for individual stages!  We'd love to have different riders join us each day!

We have a core group of cyclists who have committed to riding the majority of this years Red Shield Ride which is great!  There are still room for more if you're wanting to get on board - but contact me asap please!

Preparations in full swing

IF YOU'RE KEEN, we'd encourage you to approach you employer and ask them if it would be something they'd support you in by giving you the time-off for a bit of 'community support' and also by encouraging colleagues to sponsor you!

We have a letter of introduction for employers explaining about the ride and encourage you to download it and use it to help raise the idea in your work place!  You get see a copy of the letter here.

Our fundraising platform is up and running now too!  You can access it for registrations and/or sponsoring at www.salvationarmy.org.au/redshieldride

The support crew are coming together; signage for the vehicles is in the pipeline and I'm looking forward to a great few days on the bike in this amazing state of Tasmania - It'd be great if you'd join me.