All the way to Lake G (and back again thanks to Snickers)

So this morning I had an epic ride with Rach on the PROD aiming to get to Lake George and back.

It got off to a pretty daunting start when I turned up to the ANU where the bunch consisted of a whole bunch of V-Max boys and the only other Valkyries were Rach, Lisa and Deciana – all well out of my league and I was ready to get back in the car and go home. However, I decided to go along, and with encouragement from Deciana and some help from her giving me a push up Northbourne : ) I eventually made it out onto the highway.

From here, Rach came and kept me company while the others pushed on. Just past Eaglehawk I had my first flat tyre - excellent, great opportunity to learn to change my own tyre. However, it proved to be little more troublesome than expected and inevitably Rach changed the tyre for me. Having spent what seemed at least 20 mins by the side of the road we pushed on for Lake George.

The next part of the ride was great – I practiced getting my hands off the bars, drinking from my water bottle while riding, descending in the drops, and sprinting. I could feel an improvement from last week, especially in getting up Shingleback Hill.

Eventually we made it to Lake George – it was a fantastic feeling to realise I had made it and achieved a goal I had set myself, and there wasn’t any part of the ride that I couldn’t achieve (with a bit of time!).

The trip back started well, managing to get up the nasty little steep section up from Lake George. But from then on it started to get progressively worse. We had already been out for 3 hours including the tyre change, and I started to experience what is commonly known as bonking. I did not recognise it at all at the time, never having experienced it before. I just started to feel really tired and couldn’t find a comfortable position on the bike. I had no energy on the hills, was unable to get my heart rate up and was even slower than my usual slow speed.

The café in Hackett seemed a very long way away at this point, so I started breaking the trip down in my head, setting little landmarks to get to. The downhill part to the Tulip Farm lifted my spirits and I thought things might get better. But back out on the highway I somehow managed to get even slower. It was getting to the point where I would’ve preferred to get off my bike and walk it home rather than sit on it for a minute longer, either that or sit on the side of the road and cry, when Rach made the executive decision that we were stopping for food at Eaglehawk. I managed to drag myself up to the servo. As I couldn’t seem to function, Rach organised food – a Snickers bar and a bottle of Pepsi, followed by a Milky Way!

That Snickers bar was the best thing I had tasted and it worked a treat! In no time I started to feel much better, and was able to focus a bit more on the surroundings – only to realise we had been standing in front of the porno mags while eating (interestingly there is a MILF mag)! After having a laugh about this and calling Brad to let him know I was still alive (we had been out for over 4 hours by this time) we set off again. The difference in my riding was amazing – I was still feeling tired and a bit sore but I had energy again! It felt so good to ride back into Canberra and make it to Hackett with a smile on my face and feeling proud of my achievement rather than a sobbing, broken mess.

Lessons learnt from this experience:

• Having enough and the right type of food on a long ride is really important to ensure you have enough energy to get home. "Bonking" is a nasty experience and best to be avoided.
• It is good to be able to change your own tyre and practicing in the comfort of home is probably the best place to do this.
• Snickers bars are really amazing
• Rach is a great person to have with you on a ride – I wouldn’t have made it there and back without her!

Goulburn handicap

Yesterday Rach, Tegan, Maja, Liz and I (and Simon!) headed away from the sunny blue skies of Canberra with a really solid Vikings contingent and headed to rainy rainy Goulburn for the Windellama 50km handicap.

Apart from getting absolutely soaked, it was excellent fun (actually I think the rain added to the fun, especially some of those limited visibility descents). The Valkyries plus Milto made up the whole of E grade (I'm pretty sure there wouldn't have been much of a race without the Vikings!).

Highlights:

- The beautiful old couple arguing about how to start the race - 'ready, set...' 'no! aren't you going to count down from 5!?' 'oh, alright! 5,4,3,2,1 go!'

- Sitting on Bec's wheel down the hill and getting up to 60kms/hr - my new speed record:)

- Tegs and I had a very exciting 5 minutes riding with the fast kids before we lost them up that second hill.

- Maja was a legend for not turning back early, despite invitations from the driver behind her.

- Finally getting to visit the greengrocers/cycle shop that I've heard so much about.

Things I learnt this time:

- A towel is a really good thing to pack for away races, as well as a nice warm change of clothes (as is checking the weather report before you leave home).

- In the last 3kms of the race, don't take a turn on the front unless you have the extra energy.

- Be careful not to accidentally find yourself at the front of a fast bunch and getting in the way:)

- Getting soaked is not that bad when you're working hard enough to stay warm.

Thanks guys for a great day - can't wait til next time!

Norman training session

Great training session this morning, Valkyries who showed up for the Norman included: Rach, Anna, Ches and Tegan and joined up with a small group of Vikings to form one Normanbunch.

There was no rain during the ride, and the pace was moderate - making for an excellent bunch ride where no-one got dropped and most people were riding fairly comfortably. The benefit of a small group meant that we could easily amend the Red Hill route to exclude Red Hill, making for a fairly flat ride.

There was some concern on the way bak when we passed under Adelaide Ave, and heading into Yarralumla approacuing a small roundabout which is notorious for speeding traffic which appears out of nowhere - Ches found herself lying her bike down in front of a truck.

Fortnuately, she had braked enough that she wasnt going very fast and was up in an instant - apologising to the extremley shocked looking truck driver. Ches' official new Vikings title is Public Relations Officer. No injuries other than a sore hip/thigh and she rode all the way back to the Pickle for breakkie and coffee.

Apart from the off, it was a great training ride.

Lessons from this morning include:
-just because its raining in Tuggeranong, does not mean it is raining in the city
-approach intersections slowly and with caution - especially in the rain when braking is less effective
-"hammer the rivet" whenever possible
-turn up to training consistently or new Valkyries like Tegan will blitz you!!!
-slightly soggy Normans are often the best ones because the bunch is small, the pace and route are easy, you get to ride with people you normally wouldn't, you get to know the route, and you don't get dropped.

Valko-Maxx Strip Tease

Wednesday's training session on the program called for a rec ride, of 20-30 minutes, however there was some mild confusion with thursdays sesssion which was planned for a longer 30-60 minute session.

At any rate, 3 Valkyries and a Vmaxx showed up at 6am in the city for a ride heading north, including
Brad, me, Anna and Verity making her return to form.

Given the balmy temperatures of 5 degrees I busted out the summer bibnix, with a long sleeve thermal, jersey and arm warmers. Kind of cool to be getting back into summer kit - I find I ride better without all the thick winter layers on.

We formed a nice bunch and got moving without working too hard, practicing some high cadence and explaining the sprint drills from yesterdays session.

There was enough energy for some chatting but once we hit the Federal Hwy Verity made up her missing sprints and shortly after the hill Anna turned to head back, dutifully following the program!

Rach and Verity continued on with Brad and enjoyed a spectacular sunrise all the way to the Tulip Farm turn, where we turned to head back into town.

The light rain started once we were back on Northbourne and it was about then that a niggling numbness in my hands started to hurt a bit and get quite annoying.

Popular opinion was that my arm warmers, over the top of a thermal were the culprit so each traffic light saw an arm being peeled off - which gave Brad the idea of commuter strip tease and the suggestion that we'd better get to the Pickle quickly before I ran out of removeable layers.

We made it to the pickle without breaking decency laws, enjoyed a coffee and headed off to work - pleased with ourselves that we had a really enjoyable, good session before the rain really set in.

Feels good to be training.

Week 1 Sprints OPH

This morning’s sprint session was fantastic!! It was so good to have so many people to train with!

Attendees

Cheska, Anna, Cherrie, Jane, Rach, Ange, Liz, Tegan and Maja

Most of the group met at ANU and rode over to OPH however I met the girls there. I think I was a little late and missed the first drill however when I arrived we paired up and did a few loops working on bike bending around OPH – basically being in a hard gear and slowing down to the point of nearly stopping before pushing out a standing sprint in the drops. We then rode up to federation mall where we did 3 by 10s (again in the drops) up the incline and recovered the rest of the loop (10 revolutions in standing attack sprint, 10 seated sprint and the final 10 out of the saddle again). This was lots of fun as we did it in pairs however I noticed my loss of power as the reps went on! We then headed out to Mugga Way and did some bunch riding. I found myself at the front and Rach was by my side keen to control the pace with little sprints every now and then – I held in for a few but it got me a little unstuck and I dropped off on the last little ascent of Mugga way. Needless to say, the descent back to Deakin shops was a lot of fun with some friendly sprinting rivalry between Liz and Ange – great to watch!

We met up with the Vmaxxers at double shot and ended the session with a well earned breakfast and (for the first time for me) a few stretches!

Was a really great session today – thanks so much to everyone! Was one of those sessions that got me really pumped!

Yay for some improvement

It was a great morning this morning with a good group of Valkyrie girls showing up for Sprint training.

This was the first time I've backed up a commuting day with a training day, usually I leave a day in between but feeling a bit stronger and having worked on all my physio drills religiously I felt I was ready for it.

The one legged drills were fine and the 'bike benders?' were excellent, reallly enjoyed those. Trying to power up Federation Mall was a challenge and while my technique got better my lungs did not! It's my new love/hate hill as it's fun, short and still challenging.

After we'd done a couple of laps Rach suggested riding up to Mugga Way before a coffee. Hmmmm, not sure how I'll go with that one but happy to give it a spin. Well, an attempt anyway.....

Heading up Melbourne Ave is when I realised that it's all up hill. Uh ohh... Hills are still not my friend. I started off well and valiantly tried to keep up but was dropped about half way up (I think, may be an overestimate there). This was when champion Liz came back with some words of encouragement and a fair old push up the remainder. Wow, thanks Liz!!

Reaching the top I realised I was cooked. It was a great morning but I was done. I had arranged to ride back to ANU with Anna but not wanting to cut her ride short I headed off on my own, drafting my blog entry as I went. As I rolled down Flynn Dve the lovely Anna caught me up and we headed back to town.

An update on the Hoodies.

I wore mine while on marshalling duty on Sunday, nice and warm, lovely. I had some jealous Viking boys notice our latest attire and commented that it was cool, however the matter of white hoodie and grease did come up. Maybe we should consider red next time. Anyway it was fun to show it off...

Cherrie.

Yay for 60 k!

On Sunday morning I completed my first 60 km ride on my road bike in a ride out on the Federal Highway. It was my third ride out this way and the furthest I’ve got so far. On my first ride I made it out to Eagle Hawk riding with Brad, Rach and Andrew. Last weekend I made it out to the Tulip Farm riding with Tegan, Cheska and Tim. And yesterday I got a little bit closer to making it to Lake George by making it up Shingleback Hill and to a “Stop sign” just beyond it with fellow riders, Rach, Ange, Anna and Paddy.

Even though I am still a lot slower than everyone up the hills, it is encouraging to see the improvements I have made since my first ride to Eagle Hawk. The cycle lane doesn’t seem quite as narrow as it used to, the hill out of Canberra while long is not insurmountable, riding down the hill back into Canberra seems more fun and a lot less terrifying, and its nice when I go looking for a lower gear when going uphill that I sometimes still have a couple left! I have been able to practice sprinting out of the saddle, descending in the drops and even sprinting in the drops.

Even though I was completely knackered after my ride yesterday, I am keen to keep going and maybe make it out to Lake George and back next time. Thanks everyone for the encouragement, slowing down for me, and for waiting at the top of the hills (or coming back and riding up them again with me).

Rollin' with the VMaxxers

After a nice snooze following this mornings session, I felt like heading out again and joined Vmaxxers Brad and Mr T on a really fun 25k out and back on the Federal hwy to macs reef road.

What really struck me was how much technique they practiced, instead of just riding along chatting, they were practicing

Sprint Training

Awesome coached session today at Stromlo Forest Park, with Simon unveiling his new look, post thesis!

Valkyries present were:
Anna, Francesca, Tegan, Rach and Liz.

We learned some valuable new sprinting drills which both gave us better technique and also had us working at a high intensity in short intervals.

We practiced one legged pedalling for a smooth stroke, rapid easy gear pedalling for cadence and speed, jump start Bike Benders for strength and kick, and then 'tenner sprint drills which had everyone working at their peak.

We then combined these techniques with our best Cavendish and Renshaw impersonations and ran lead out trains, repeatedly imitating the final two laps of a crit race.

Excellent session and thanks to Simon for the great on the bike coaching! I really felt my technique improve by the end and was surprised how much i was yanking on the bike in the sprint position.

Did Valkyrie Vikings coin the phrase Cadelebration in tweets @cadelofficial ?

You be the judge...

Other gems from staying up all night watching Le Tour included, Cadelirium, Cadomination, Cadefinite, Cadelightful, Cadelicious, and my personal favourite: Cadelivered. Always knew he would.

Valkyries gear up for the Summer racing season

Great to see so many Valkyries at our planning evening on Tuesday. I for one am so excited about the upcoming training plan leading us to the Summer Criterium series and the Tour of Bright.

A few Valkyries will be joining the Vikings Cycling Club Novice program either as participants or as mentors, and I think this is going to be the best year yet, I am really looking forward to it.

Lisa K and Dees have been blasting the V-Maxx boys and showing them how its done, and I think we will be welcoming a few honorary Valkyries into our ranks soon as well.

It's going to be a great spring and a fantastic summer.

Vikings Novice Program 2011

If you're interested in getting into racing bikes, registration for the 2011 Vikings Novice program is now open, with more details here: http://www.vikingscycling.org.au/novice/?IntCatId=40&IntContId=7926