...and for those new to racing. This is the course

http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/LACC-Criterium-Tennis-Centre-SOP

Current weather forecast is 22c with a chance of showers. 

If it's wet, stay off those white lines!

SOP Crit is on

Sat 01 Nov 08, 1:30PM
JNR & ABCDE GRADES RACING AT 2.00PM SIGN ON BEGINS AT 1.15PM $15.00 ENTRY FEE
JNR 1.30 RACING
C,D,E GRADE 2.OO
A,B GRADE 3.00 SPRINT PRIMES TBA

3 sports - 50% off sale

There is an easy to miss triathlon shop on York St (opposite Grace Hotel sort of) They currently have 50% off all their cycling clothes. They have quite a lot of Castelli which I understand to be good gear. Anyway thought you might be interested.

http://www.3sports.com.au/

News just in - Bob drops Ryan up Bobbin Head!

He may be known for the largest Quads in the Southern Hemisphere but they were no use for the current Masters 1 National Champion on Saturday morning. The drama unfolded midway up the climb. Bob has obviously been working on his alpine ascents. Spurred on by a fresh Harry and a eager newbie Andrew, Bob delivered one of his standout efforts to leave Ryan languishing.

Time will tell how the punishment will be returned. Viva le Schmycledan!

Saturday Ride Details Released!

Harry's at 6:07

Bob's at 6:10

Al's at 6:30

Hornsby Pool at 7:00

3 Gorges, home via Akuna bay.

2009 Tour Stages Released

http://www.letour.fr/2009/TDF/COURSE/us/le_parcours.html

Team time trial is back.

Last hill climb is the second last stage.

Much shorter individual time trials (two of them)

Not a great course for Cadel and I think Sastre will suffer without the CSC team riding for him. Looks like Contador is a clear favourite.

Bob's HB Report

Group 2 for me, along with all the usual Group 1 riders (Luke excepted). Pace was too much on lap 2 after the Group 1 riders decided to go Group 1 after all. 60% of the group fell off, might have been a different story for me if I’d been closer to the front but I was in no mood to close those gaps from the rear. Legs felt good, but a little drained after the weekend shenanigans

Rode in the groupetto at what was still a pace right on my limit. Andrew made me suffer twice with his “super turns”, But it was good to see him off the back on the last flack, very good in-fact. Had enough for a solid sprint, didn’t look back to see if anyone else contested, I was sprinting for myself.

Tonight I think it’ll be a gear overhaul. I seem to have left them all at the coffee shop, I couldn’t find any on the way into work. :/

Cycledan tonight, Schmycledan if Andrew shows!

Tuesday Homebush report

An overcast and blustery morning saw a less than spectacular turnout. It wasn't looking good when Group 1 was called and only a few of the usuals rolled out. No particularly strong legs, I knew I was in for trouble but for some reason I chose to join them anyway.

It was tough going, only 2 or 3 of us were willing to do more than a turn a lap. And after about a lap I was thinking that there was no point toasting myself as Group 2 would be rolling by soon.

That happened up Edwin Flack lap 3. It was a bit of a relief despite the shame of it, but anyway no time to worry about those sort of issues. Pace was good.

It was pretty normal going without any real attacks. Alastair and Easty were looking a bit devious bus Scott was having none of it.

Up Flack for the last time Alastair was looking twitchy. I was expecting the usual inside run and found myself on his wheel. We came fast round the bottom corner and Scotty attacked. Al saw me hovering on his wheel and passed on his displeasure - I believe I heard the word "dirty dog" in there somewhere. That was enough, with the insult ringing in my ears I jumped to chase Scotty. I caught him just before the last corner, rounded the corner fairly untidily and sprinted in the 53x13.

Scotty didn't contest and I didn't have anyone too close to me so I was happy to claim the cafe cred. Shame I didn't go to the cafe afterward.

Around the Bay - 250km

The ride:
http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/AROUND-THE-BAY-250KM-ANTICLOCKWISE

Feeling a little nervous before the start, with my longest ride in the last 4 months consisting of a 2.5 hour burn up Bobbin Head with Luke and knowing that this one was going to take 7.5 hours at absolute best. Weather forecast was for northerly winds followed by an early morning south westerly change with drizzle. Could this be a tailwind all the way around?!?!?!

Got ready and went to bed at 10pm for a 05:00 start. Pillow felt like it was a sack of plastic bags and the temperature in the hotel room was all wrong. Didn't help the sleep and by my reckoning I got a total of about 4 hours.... awoke before the alarm and got dressed for the race. Stuffed my self with food and headed out the door, to greet the early morning southerly change. No we know, by early they mean 4am , not 10am when you want it.

Left father's "oldies" group and met up with some of the lads from the Hunters Hill splinter group (a funny story that one) and headed to the race start. Crowds were quite manageable, just a few people unfamiliar with bunch riding slamming on their breaks every now and then. Much easier to deal with at the start of the day when you've got your wits about you. Along the freeway at a decent kip ~38kph, but broken up by the on-off tactic from the local roads authority. They made the route take each exit and entrance from the free way, with a set of lights thrown in. Still, better than the route through nowhereville they took us through last year. Towards the end of the freeway section the group split up so it was just Bill and John with me and the rest falling behind. Opting to play it safe at the early sages of the ride.

Heading out of Geelong and taking the split to the 250km route the groups started to thin out. Bill took the bit between the teeth and really picked up the tempo. Caught up to a good group and then started working with a few strong riders. They turned out to be rather strong riders, and when they took the front the pace quickly picked up. 35........37.....40......42........and goodbye...... the combination of the rolling hills and bumpy energy sapping bitumen roads had taken it's toll, John popped moments after me, followed much latter by Bill (who may have just been waiting for us to catch up). Silly stuff to be doing a few hours into a rather long ride. We slackened off a little bit and finished the trip round Portarlington at a slightly more comfortable, but still uncomfortable, 34kph average. Bill was in the best form doing most of the lead work with short turns from John and myself.

Rolled into Queenscliff at about 10:10am and just had enough time to grab some lunch and head to the 10:30am ferry across to Sorrento. Ate as much food as I could stuff down on the trip over the bay (sandwich, cake, muesli bar, gel, powerbar and bag of nuts). The prm0ised drizzle arrived as we disembarked the ferry and made for a miserable 40min. Damp sandy roads sending damp sandy spray into the eyes. However, this didn't last too long and the sun came out. enough to dry the glasses and clean up the roads. Feeling rather comfortable and getting to a bit of a groove before the two big (by Melbourne standards) hills hit, and hard. Bill was feeling great and led the charge with John and I struggling to hang on. Which we just managed to do.

Bill, frustrated by the slow pace, then proceeded to lift it, which lead to the dropping of John, and then there were two. Towards the 200km mark I found myself actually feeling really good and Bill and I started trading turns, hopping from group to group, averaging about 36-40 kph. As we approached Melbourne with some 10k to go I was feeling even better and had excess energy with a seriously short amount of bay left to use it. Down on the drops and sprinting between the lights into town, I managed to drop Bill just before the end and even put in a ~700W sprint for the line. nice!

All in all a great day, no flats mechanicals or other incidents with my energy levels fairly good all day. The "300g Bag of Snakes" guide to ride nutrition worked out superbly.

So, if you need good conditioning for long rides. Don't do long rides. Do the 1750!

Stats: 248km, 7hr 45min, Avg Speed 31.8, Max Speed 66, Avg HR 141, Max HR 170.

Thursday's HB Report

HB report - Todays word of the day, "toast"

Only myself and Rob present this morning. Group 2. Al was still recovering for his threshold weed removal training. Ryan was MIA. Luke was driving

It started as a very large group. First lap felt slow, Second was the same. Third lap Southerton attacked. He took of leaving large ruts from his aggressive attack just after the pool. Pavers where flying. Once the dust settled he was gone with some other guys chasing. Robs butt was bouncing about 25m in front of me, the rest of group 2, swarming behind me. I tried to reel in the attack, in no mans land, with no help. At the bottom of Edwin Flak I hit a new PB, I was toasted. Group 2 caught me, didn't even try to get on, my legs where having nothing of it. By the time I got the Aquatic Centre, there was Rob. Group 2 got the better of him as well. Caught up to him, we both cut the corner at the station and rejoined. In the distance there was a glimpse of Group 1. Rob was out of the saddle again, trying to chase them down. On Edwin Flack I could smell was burnt toast, it was Rob. I stayed with Group 2. We passed Rob, and 25m in front of us was group 1. We all hit the gas and caught them at the top of Edwin Flack. By the time we got to the Aquatic Centre I was toasted again. Rolled over the line at about 30 km/h.
Stats for the session.

MAX HR 191 (PB) AV. HR: 166. MAX Speed 51 km/h, Av. Speed 38.5 kn/h

2019 report

Rather dark. No one else showed. I won all the sprints. Hurrah!

"Your" V "You're"

Another one bites the dust

Kohl positive for CERA - Tour de France king of the mountain competition winner Bernhard Kohl (Gerolsteiner) becomes the latest rider whose blood samples show signs of EPO.

http://www.velonews.com/article/84274/kohl-positive-for-cera

Monday night 1735 report

Hazza n I gave ourselves well earned Monday night EKOs. Bumped into Anthony who had taken the mother of all EKOs and simply not gone to work. We were out done. He rode with us to the hospital to rub it in.

Sprint was won by bob-no-chance-to-fix-the-gears-on-the-commuter-Southerton after Anthony gave up (may have been unaware there was a sprint on) and Hazza gave up trying to get around Anthony. Luke, Al and Ryan not showing also helped.

Mmmmm wall bike.....

Thursday's schmycledan

With the usual Protagonists missing and Scotty making a guest star appearance it was never going to be the punishment that Al was calling for after the Col attack this morning. Gentle roll out dodging the general chaos that is Pyrmont till the ANZAC switchbacks. A repeat of this morning's attack after the last hairpin put a struggling Anthony straight into hurtis-boxis-maxis and managed to surprise Scotty enough to get past without him grabbing the wheel. A valiant effort from Harry meant that we all re-grouped on the pedestrian bridge.

Anthony, clearly not recovering well from the morning, blunted any further attacks until concord where the pace steadily rose on the hill past the shops. A Gentle 90% effort along the flat to the roundabout had Andrew isolated and the field down to two contenders for the hospital sprint. Harry took the lead heading into the final hill and had my box gift wrapped and almost sealed.

Was this to be Harry's day?

Oh so close. In preparing my box he neglected to notice the large amounts of lactic acid creeping up his legs, into his eyes and dribbling out his nose, just running out of puff as we went over the hill. Not quite managing to shake his group 2 nemisis and letting himself get dogged for the sprint.

We'd have done Chatham, but with no Al or Luke to show us the way we were fearful of getting lost or something. So we gave it a miss.

Al's Thuesday HB Report

had a good workout today. back is feeling better with every day. wrist still looks like a bee stung it. 

went out with group 1 after the too comfortable group 2 on tuesday. legs were very willing today. gijs was in attendance as well as a few other new faces. pace was medium-fast with scotty slacking in 2nd group. joanna was getting dropped every lap. i felt good enough to sprint every lap and holding a 50m gap to the start of edwin flack. keeps things interesting. on the final sprint i started from the back and had a dice with ivo. i was pulling him back but not fast enough. he squeaked over the line ahead of me. avg spd 38km/h, avg hr 179 (spent quite a bit of time on my own), max hr 190. 

bob turned up at the coffee on the mad-one. he had the audacity to attack with fresh legs over anzac (out of the saddle all the way).
schmycledan! 

Southerton's reply:

When I got over the top of the Col-de-ANZAC and no one came through I knew straight away that tonight could be painful....

Tuesdays at Heffron

Has anyone thought about heading over to the Tuesday evening crits at Heffron Park. Racing starts at 6pm. I think if we were rolling at 5:30 we would make it.
It's meant to be pretty hard and pretty fast. If you're keen, let me know.


View Larger Map

Off season training

With summer on it's way and in my case a second kid on the way I have been doing a bit of research on how to train efficiently for next season. Given that I probably won't be doing any 6 hour base building rides, what should I be doing?

This article on Pez had a few interesting ideas. The myths of offseason training;

• Myth #1: Riding a fixed gear improves pedaling efficiency and leg speed.
• Myth #2: Small Ring Only!
• Myth #3: Long Slow Distance

Full article here »
Quite challenging to my general understanding of training principles, particularly the idea that long slow distance is a waste of time. What do you think?

Carbon Wheels < $1000

Perhaps you need somewhere to direct the savings from the interest rate cuts or maybe you have a baby bonus on the way. Check these out, carbon wheels for under a grand. Sound dodgy? They are Australian made and they won this year's Grafton.

http://www.bouwmeesterwheels.com

Ride Reschedule

Monday morning is looking like a good time. Suggestions on where?

what about something like this?

http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/208886

should take us a couple of a couple of hours. I need something long-ish

Infringement Notification: Harry

Friday's not quite gentle, but not very fast either, ride home was challenged by Harry today, who chose to attack up the hill towards the hospital.

Clearly the events throughout the week (and I'm thinking of Tuesday here) weren't enough for Harry who felt like we all needed additional softening on the softest of all days, Friday. Are we seeing a new aggressive side? How long before Harry gets some boxes to put us all in?

Stay tuned...

What's this? LA on moustache bars!

Hey Haza, check this out you are in good (sort of) company with your moustache bars. Could this be the look for TDF 2009.

Grafton - recognise this one?

Need cheap wheels?

According to Cell Bikes,
Looking for a set of road wheels that are strong enough for commuting, training or taking you from A to B for less than $100?

The Swift Star Arriv's are the answer!
$59 - for two wheels.

Might be worth a try!!

For your next 5 hour ride

http://www.powerade.com.au/default.aspx?s=powerade-no-sugar

Mmmmmm, what happens when you take these with you on your next epic session.

Some of the crew

Pavlova Report

Mmm. Pavlova is a great desert for a BBQ. And I must say that Bob puts on a great BBQ. However for the uninitiated of you, if Bob ever asks whether you would like some more, say no. Even a small piece in Bob’s eyes constitutes the last quarter! Too much for me. Normally.

Bobs greatest mistake was putting a challenge in my desert bowl. I just have to finish it. And it goes like this………

Opening salvo, 45kph over ANZAC bridge courtesy of the Schmycldan Grand High Priest Davis. Considerably reckless but none the less indicative of the night to come and an effective tenderiser. Effective in the fact that it shattered the already nervous group so badly that there was no point using Lilyfield Road as a softening device. And so it went.

Harry scored a new PB over the bridge with 189. A sign that he was going to be finding it tough during the course of the ride.

My planned attack also didn’t eventuate due to some slack riding around the Rowing shed from those behind and some over zealous riding from Anthony ‘C Grade Champion’ Pulvirenti on the front. Anthony was up for a big one and rode some nice tempo through a couple of phases, including taking bit between the teeth around Canada Bay. My normal stomping ground. So by the time we got to Concord shops there were some tired legs.

Alastair opened the throttle to about 80% up Majors bay road and we went flying around the golf course and tacked onto a tow behind a ute. Luke got dropped early which was probably a sign of the effort required to be on pace last night. That was sweet for me as it wasn’t hurting too bad behind the ute, but as I got set to have a go up the final hill Alastair had another big dig. 2 extra gears higher were needed but the attack was not enough to drop me. As we went over the top a counter attack was on my mind but I realised that Al was pretty much done. All fast twitch fibres spent, there was no need so I dog him in the sprint. It was a half arse effort as there was no real glory in that one as Al had done all the hard yards trying to drop me.

Chatham road was next on the menu. And Al once again provided and awesome bit of tempo work. Luke must have been relieved to be holding onto that one. But I think vengeance for the sprint was on Al’s mind. So I dogged him again over the top of Chatham Road. LOL. That last sprint over the top hurt a little. ;)

All in all though I think Al gets the points last night. Huge efforts and a really fun ride!

Bob. I hope you learnt your lesson. That is all.
P.S. Lets have another BBQ. Yeah!

Tuesday HB report

Recovery is on the way! 

Slightly delayed leaving home which left me with the dash-for-cash to HB just in time to see the Group 1 roll by at the end of their first lap. Strung out single file with Al, Ryan and Luke all to busy (or full of contempt) to even give me the nod as they shoot past, not wanting to waste any precious energy on a hello, wave, slight nod or blink. mmmmm Might let that group go and jump onto Group 2....

Group two pace was healthy with a fairly good consistant speed, HR seems to be coming back into line only 5-10 bpm above what it was 3 weeks ago. Harry was in good form but called it a day at the end of the fourth lap, content to let the group slide buy. Increase in pace on 5 lap saw a few more people call it a day and some serious gaps start to appear in the pace lines. Up the flack and roll over for the last time at the crest of the hill. Poor positioning through the corner in 12th wheel but manage to reel them back to a close second place finish out of the 8 or so who wanted to contest.