Week twelve
I’m getting new wheels for my Cannondale. I’m rather excited. Spent $900 on Wiggle and I’m waiting for the email that says the package is on its way.
After my brother’s advice, I have purchased…
Easton EA90 SL wheelset
Shimano Ultegra 6700 cassette
Shimano Ultegra 6701 chain
And my finger might’ve accidentally slipped on the “add to cart” button when I was looking at these…
My dad called me today whilst driving to a job for a chat. We got around to the topic of clients we do web hosting and site construction for and if he’d actually billed them finally. (Okay, so it was brought up by me cos I’d like the extra cash and I did do most of the leg work.) He promised me he’d bill them and once they’d paid and he’d taken out his share, pass the money onto me. It’s not a huge amount of money but is a decent-sized sum.
What am I planning to do with it?
Should I:
a) put the money into my savings account?
b) pay the money onto my credit card?
c) buy some new clothes and shoes for work?
d) fritter away the money on frivolous things like comics and dvds?
All these things would be a good and justifiable usage of the cash, especially options a and b (except option d of course). But no, I’m going to with option E…
e) buy a new set of wheels for my Cannondale.
I’ve even scoped out which ones I want. New wheels mean I can put my old Mavic Askims back on Lisa and totally ditch the crappy Shimanos. In my defence, I have been putting money away for a new set of wheels. Getting this money will just bring forward something I was planning to do anyway. It will also free up those saving to be just that – savings (until I decide to upgrade something else on my bike, like the group set). The scary thing is that I’m planning on spending more on a pair of wheels than most people would spend on an entire bike.
So this how my brain works now. Bike = #1 priority.
Week eleven
Cadel Evans that’s who!
Yup, I meet Cadel Evans on the weekend at the turnaround point at Mordialloc. He was most gracious with the attention he was garnering, although there weren’t a huge amount of people hanging about at that time – it was about 10am when he turned up. I had to be talked into it but I did go over to say hello and have a photo taken. Except my friend who I was riding with got all starstruck and hit the wrong button on his phone and turned the camera off instead of taking the photo. So no photo for me. And this was after he talked me into going over.
I did take a photo of his bike as it had a custom paint job so there’s some proof I really did see him (even though you can’t really tell cos it’s just a bike and a pair of legs – but they are legs with the rainbow bands on the socks).
Week ten
Today has been so gorgeous. Hopefully tomorrow is just as nice.
I’m making my way through Batman: the animated series and I have to say Pamela Isely/Poison Ivy is really disturbing. There’s something very creepy about a person (even an animated one) who hugs a plant and calls it her baby. Way creepy!!
I’ve also just read the last issue of Batman and Robin that I have and it didn’t make any sense. But it is Grant Morrison so what was I expecting. I’m very meh about the Batman titles at the moment. Mostly I’m finding them really obtuse and I’m struggling to follow the storylines. Kinda disappointing when it was Batman who got me into comics in the first place.
Week nine
Simon Gerrans rocked up to the St Kilda Cycling Club crits today. He’s just returned to training after a break and wanted to spin his legs. For most of the race he sat towards the back of the pack but we all know he could’ve won if he wanted to.
He had the decency to look right at me with a small smile on his face before the race started.
I rolled another 80kms this weekend. To Mordi and back. When I got to the turnaround point at Mordi, it was very tempting to lie down on the grass and have a nap. It’s so nice to be out riding when the weather is good.
80kms is good but I have to get some more K’s in my legs otherwise Scotty’s Ride isn’t going to be possible for me. I’m kinda wondering if I should reassess my idea and try for a shorter ride, like the 120km version of Amy’s Ride. But that defeats the purpose of setting myself a challenge.
Week eight
Cos you know, sometimes it’s hard to remember that it does get better when we’re down in the dark places.
I had Dory singsonging this in my head for the last five kms of today’s 100km charity ride. Seriously.
Just keep spinning.
Just keep spinning.
Over and over as I suffered my way though to the end. 5kms to go and I was in the hurt box. But I suffered through and finished 100km (99.42km to be exact) in four hours.
Check out that heart rate. It’s not happy is it? My average heart rate on a ride is usually around 140bpm. 150bpm is high for me.
The conditions weren’t ideal. I woke up at 6.30 and it was bucketing down and I started to think maybe I’d be staying at home. I hadn’t registered for the ride so I didn’t have to go if I really didn’t want to. But I’d pretty much decided I was going to do the ride. It stopped raining and it seemed like it would be okay apart from a really annoying headwind. I got myself into a group which was happy to work together. Then it started raining. It rained on and off for well over an hour. The wind got stronger and eventually someone got at the front of the group who decided we were going too slow. I fell off the back and couldn’t get back on. It was brutal.
It started raining really heavily which reduced visibility significantly. I was having major problems seeing because my sunglasses fogged up. I got prescription inserts for them on Friday (I can see!! Hopefully I’ll stop riding over things) and what I learnt today was that once the inserts fog up, it takes a very long time for them to clear. In the end I had to take them off. I was holding them in my teeth as the rain came in sideways and was hitting me in the eye. It was not fun.
So, uh… yeah. 30 – 50kms really sucked and the rest stop was a long time in coming.
It did get better. We finally got to head south so we had a tailwind which made life so much more pleasant. The sun came out and it just seemed easier. And that would be because it was. Nothing like a tailwind to pick up your spirits. 50 – 90km passed by relatively quickly.
95kms in and I had a nasty surprise that I really should’ve known was coming. The ride turned once again into the head/crosswind. That’s when Dory started up in my head. Just keep spinning, just keep spinning. I knew I was so close to the end. I did take some satisfaction in overtaking the sag wagon for the 50km ride. Still, it was really weird to have an animated fish singing in my head. Worked though. I made it to the end.
I was going to get a massage at the finish but there was this really creepy guy there who kept staring at me. I really wanted a massage but I felt so creeped out that in the end, I left. I was entitled to a free lunch as well but I decided a shower was a better idea so I hopped on my bike and rode back to Mum and Dad’s.
Enjoyment is not a word I’d use for today’s ride. It was one of the hardest rides I’ve ever done. I’d even say it was harder then the first time I did the Kinglake climb. My confidence for my ability to do the 156km Scotty’s Ride in December has taken a bit of a beating though. Last weekend’s 80kms was so easy but this was the exact opposite.
Still, pretty pleased with my time though. I didn’t think I’d make it in four hours but I did. That’s something really positive to take from it.