Monthly Archives: April 2010

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Uuummmm, about that plan…

April 23, 2010 23:57 | Leave a Comment |

I did manage to get up on Tuesday and go for a ride. I even felt like I’d achieved something as I managed to ride the entire length of Yarra Boulevard for the first time in ages. And best of all, I ran into my brother. Not literally because that would’ve been bad. Apparently he also rides Yarra Boulevard every Tuesday so I may be seeing more of him. He, of course, can totally kick my arse on hills so if he does ride with me he’s going to have to slow down. Or maybe I could attach a rope to him and he can drag me up the hills 😉

I also went to cardio boxing on Wednesday night. Everything was going swimmingly until it came to doing some kicking with the crash pad. I don’t know what I did about about half way through I was hopping around the park, grimacing in pain. Somehow I managed to strain my left calf muscle. At first it felt like a cramp but the pain wouldn’t go away even when I stretched it out. So much for my plan. I optimistically set my alarm for 6am Thursday morning but simply moving my leg while still lying in bed told me I wasn’t going anywhere. Which really sucked because it was a perfect morning for a ride. Oh well, hopefully there will be other perfect mornings that I won’t have to skip.

Funnily enough I woke up this morning at 5:45 and thought about getting up for a ride. But I decided I should rest my calf and not risk damaging it even more because as far as I can tell, Yarra Boulevard isn’t kind to injured bodies. I have the weekend to rest up and my calf does feel better this time today than it did yesterday. Hopefully by Monday it’ll be all good as I have plans to ride to Black Rock. What better way to spend a public holiday? Get up early and jump on the bike!! Sleep in? What’s a sleep in?

Posted in: Bike | Tagged: , , ,

So, the plan is…

April 19, 2010 12:35 | Leave a Comment |

Weather permitting:

  1. To be on the bike every Tuesday and Thursday by 6:30am to ride Yarra Boulevard before work.
  2. To go for a ride every second Saturday when there’s no group training on.
  3. Continue to ride every Sunday.
  4. Every day do 2×10 jack knife and 2x increasing number of sit ups on the fit-ball to improve my core strength. Once I can do the jack knife sets without struggling, I will add push-ups to each one.
  5. Start going to cardio boxing again on Wednesday evenings.

    Right now I feel fat and lazy, schlepping around the house doing little or no physical exercise. This must change. I have a gorgeous new bike that needs to be ridden. I am ill-disciplined but I have goals I want to achieve. I want to break 100km in a single ride. I want to be able to do the 120km social rides. I want to be able to do hill climbs without feeling like I’m going to die.

    I lost two kilos when I had gastro two weeks ago. However, I ate barely anything for three days so that probably has something to do with my rapid weight lose. Of course, I’m eating again so I’ve put most of the weight back on. Sigh. I’m tired of doing the body test on the Wii and having minimal changes (the last two have been gains). I feel like I’m not achieving anything. I’m tired of seeing this disgusting gut poking out the front of my bike gear. You really can’t hide anything in lycra so all my flaws are out there for the world to see. Any wonder I don’t like looking in mirrors when I’m dressed for a ride.

    Hence the plan.

    I will find the discipline I once had. I will get out there and ride. I will work hard. I will try to eat less of the bad stuff and more of the good. Every day I will try to remind myself that I’ve already accomplished a lot. Going from a 36 inch waist to a 29 one isn’t something to be sneezed at. But most of all, simply enjoy the riding. It’s as close to flying we can get.

    Posted in: Bike | Tagged: , , ,

    You know what’s weird?

    April 3, 2010 23:37 | 1 Comment |

    It’s weird to realise that I now own a bike that’s worth as much as or more than some people’s cars. And it can still be considered cheap. At least I have proper bike insurance. I really should get a Bicycle Victoria membership as well at some point. And a name, I still haven’t come up with a name that’s sticking. I’m toying with Dale. I have heard of a few girls called Dale and she is a Cannondale so it fits. (What is it with me naming inanimate objects and assigning a gender to them? My car is Mr Bingles and then there’s Lisa.)

    Got a bit of a surprise today when I pulled the rear wheel off and discovered I have SRAM cassette on the back. I thought the bike was sporting a Shimano 105 group set (excluding the cranks which I knew was FSA) but no. Still, if I’d read the specs on the Cannondale web site I would’ve already known this as it clearly states the rear cassette is SRAM.

    I realised today that I didn’t link to any of the art I picked up in Seattle, so here’s my CAF gallery for Seattle 2010. And of course my favourite.

    Having so much art now, I’ve started to think about what would happen to my collection if something bad happened to me. Not a nice thought but it is worth a fair chunk of change so I really should try to work out what’s to be done with it.

    Posted in: Bike, Comics | Tagged: , , ,