Regaining my mojo

Last post I hinted at some cool news to report and here it is to bring things up to date to where I am with my riding.

Firstly, since my last actual update I went through a bit of a downer with my riding and life in general really. Work was going crap, I was mega stressed and my training was suffering big time. My left arm numbness was a constant problem and my eating went to the crapper (my typical response to work stress). I was putting on weight and life just was no fun at all. My weight was back up to 98kg’s. FUCK!

So I went back to the drawing board and set down a rough plan for my training. I wanted to race the Northern Combine Three Day Tour if I could so that was my goal event to work towards; it’s always best to have an event to work towards than just train without a focus. So I did lots of base riding on the Richmond Bouli, with very little climbing or intense efforts. Lots of boring, dull, high cadence stuff at a steady pace. Lots of it! I also walked away from some stress jobs and I was starting to feel a bit better.

I did this for about 2 months and I think the backing off in efforts helped my neck/arm tingling and numbness recover. Then I slowly started ramping things up, bit by bit doing more hills at a harder effort and some faster group rides. My weight wasn’t dropping much but I could tell I was putting muscle on as my clothes were getting looser on me.

I started doing LONG training rides on the weekend on my own, riding to places I hadn’t been before and taking in new terrain. I think these did a HEAP to regain my strength, fitness, endurance and self confidence.

One of these rides was a pure ride of exploration (see map here and take note of the route notes along the way). I didn’t really have a plan in place when I left the front door other than to head out Yarra Valley/Kinglake direction. Along the way I would see a road that interested me so I would head off in that direction, not really sure it would take me. I ended up taking a series of ever hillier roads (inc Mt Pleasant Rd) till I spied a bunch of riders strung out ahead of me. Now some would accuse me of being competitive but I like to think of it as giving myself carrots to chase rather than “I must beat YOU” kind of attitude.

Methodically I set about hunting them down, one by one, finally catching the last two just at the base of a killer 13% climb. As I went past them out of the saddle, I knew I had to hold my form all the way up and over the hill for fear that I would look like a dick head if I powered past only to blow up half way. LOL So I grit my teeth and dug deep, pushing my limit the whole way up to the top where a quick glance back saw them no where to be seen. Whew! Now I can flop on the bike and recover down the other side. LOL

A bit later I figured out where I was and I now had a specific road in mind I wanted to explore - Pigeon Bank Rd (a road Jono told me about). So down I went down this “supposed” steep hill.

HOLY FRUCK! This was a monster! Not quite Glenvale Rd steep but it went on and on and my speed kept climbing higher and higher even with my brakes on. I was truly starting to shit myself, hoping it would flatten out as I had no chance of stopping quickly in an emergency and I was worried I might have serious heat build up and have a blow out at 70 kph!

Eventually, after 15 km of never ending up’s and down’s, I found myself at a fork in the road with both directions turning to dirt roads. There was a sign in the middle that said “No Through Road” however, it didn’t indicate which road was a dead end so I stood there, scratching my head not knowing what to do. Finally a local drove up and I asked him which way went to Yarra Glen. “The left road will take you to Yarra Glen mate but that road isn’t made for bikes like that!” he offered helpfully. “I’ll be fine, thanks for the directions” I replied and off I went down the dirt road.

Now, I come from an off road motorcycle background so I feel comfortable on the dirt, what ever the bike I’m riding. But this road was a little bit more than I bargained for, with constant acceleration and braking bumps (you know, those wave type bumps on country roads), lots of loose gravel and rock surface and hills - lots of hills to climb and descend.

As I rode along, a 4WD passed me from behind and 500mts up the road I came upon the driver stopped by the side of the road, the woman waiting for me. She asked where I was going (“Yarra Glen”) and she offered to give me a lift in her car if I wanted. Puzzled I asked her how long this dirt road went for and she thought it was about another 10km. “Well, if they can race on the cobblestones in Northern France, I can do this,” I confidently said and thanked her for her concern. A friendly wave from each of us and off I went. Little did I know what was ahead for me.

As I rode on, the hills got steeper and rougher. I resorted to climbing these steep pitches seated as to do it standing would result in so much wheel spin I was libel to fall over. So, there I was, seated, climbing rough dirt roads trying to weave my way up the smoothest and least rocky path, at a knee popping cadence of about 40 rpm (my usual rpm is 95-ish).

This hurt! A lot! Eventually I came to a fork in the road with a dirt road straight up another painful looking climb, and a nice smooth bitumen road gently down a hill. Now, it doesn’t take a genius to guess which one I took and so, down the smooth made road I rolled, enjoying not having my brain rattled about and being able to focus on the road. But my joy was to be short lived when 3 km down the road this riding nirvana ended in a dead end. So back I went, and up THAT hill I crawled.

Several more km’s of bone rattling dirt later, I found myself on a really steep monster climb (I’d guess 500mts of 18%?) with a really loose base. I tried to ride up it, I really did, but with my cadence now 35 rpm and my speed about 4kph, I had to face facts and get off and walk up the hill. It wasn’t so much the steepness that beat me but the surface I had to try and ride on. Stand up keeping my weight forward to keep the front wheel on the ground and I would wheel spin out of control; or I could lean back for traction but have the front wheel rise up into the air. So for the first time since I was a bit fat oompaloompa on the bike, I had to walk up, all the while hearing Dave T’s voice ringing in my ears “The only time you should walk the bike is when it’s faster than riding!” LOL

Finally I got to the end of the dirt road and rolled into Yarra Glen for a well earned break, tired but feeling very HAF with that satisfied feeling of tackling something a little bit crazy and beating it!

After a break I rode down to Coldstream, Lilydale, Montrose and up Mt Dandenong. I’ve climbed Mt Dandenong from just about every direction before but never this way and after the smashing I had already given my legs in the preceding 90km, this climb hurt. But plod along I did and over the top I rode, descending down the 1:20 with another rest stop at the base and then the final trip home, finishing up with thrashed legs but a happy soul.

That’s it for this post. I’ll save more for the following post (it’s 90% written so it wont be long before it’s posted).

Regaining my mojo