Sandmans Cycling Blog

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sandman
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Re: Sandmans Cycling Blog

Postby sandman » Mon Jul 20, 2009 9:35 am

mikesbytes wrote:I was watching Satellite TV during the week and it must of been the channel that does Alice Springs, cos they kept advertising that race your about to have out there.
Hi Mike, yeah it was all over the TV in Alice and surrounding areas, community advertising ;-) Must say the sponsors are VERY generous, cover BBQ, raffle prizes and some petrol money ! pretty impressed how the whole lot gets pulled together, very well done actually.

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Re: Sandmans Cycling Blog

Postby sandman » Thu Jul 23, 2009 10:55 am

Damn, MANFLU, how that hurts. After a TOP weekend at the Barkly Challenge it was back to reality, meaning back to work. Was supposed to head out on Wednesday however had to defer to today. Stayed up till about 1:00am this morning watching the tour and then up at 5:10am.....

Made it out the door at 5:55am, starting late made me feel like the ride was going to suck :-) Temp was around 6c the whole way, thin thermals kept it just right, AYUPS scareing the oncomming cars and the rear flasher making sure everyone could see me in the pitch black ;-) The thing to worry about out in Alice is either someone falling asleep and veering into you or a 'Camp Car" full of "Inebriated Indegenous" folks thinking they are chasing a kangaroo. Heard some horror stories of things going pear shaped so I tend not to ride with an IPOD and stay on the road edge as best as i can.

Legs felt good at the onset of the ride but at the end of Hatt road I'd had enough for the morning, when I got to the showers it was no wonder, time was pretty quick for the Scott....

So I think I've decided I need something lighter than the Scott and dont want to ride the Specialized every day. Looking at a Specialized COMP or an Avanti Quantum 2.0....as my commuter.....best part is I've decided to buy another bike :-)

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Re: Sandmans Cycling Blog

Postby Spiza » Thu Jul 23, 2009 4:18 pm

sandman wrote:.....best part is I've decided to buy another bike
Don't you mean another 3 bikes... 29er + TT + Scott replacement = 3 :D

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Re: Sandmans Cycling Blog

Postby sandman » Thu Jul 23, 2009 8:33 pm

Spiza wrote:
sandman wrote:.....best part is I've decided to buy another bike
Don't you mean another 3 bikes... 29er + TT + Scott replacement = 3 :D
Jesus I hope the missus doesn't know about this forum.... Spiza u need to come do the Simpson Desert Challenge mate ;-)

ur buddy :-)
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Re: Sandmans Cycling Blog

Postby sandman » Fri Jul 24, 2009 3:16 pm

Looks like the warm mornings are over for now, -2c out on Hatt road. Billy and i were doing some efforts, had about 4 layers on and couldnt feel my fingers or fronts of my arms facing the wind, not a pleasant way to do efforts.....though if the tour riders can suffer, so can we :-)

Pace was pretty good, bit of fade in the end as the darn muscle on the right side of my calf hurt.....suspect leg was out of allignment (heel out) which for some reason made my right hip feel warmer (under the skins)..Must suss out why the heel was out, maybe the booties were interfering with the cleats, all I know it hurt...

Anyway, enuff whining, excellent ride in this morning, looks like a stiff headwind on the way home today however it will end at Gloria jeans :-)

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Re: Sandmans Cycling Blog

Postby sandman » Wed Jul 29, 2009 10:15 am

So far 2 days riding this week, Monday was tough with lots of headwind but still good speed achieved. This morning was spin classes, 110rpm for 30km, felt like i was gunna chuck for a bit, ugly. Spent yesterday lunchtime in the Gym, working with Mike (excellent track rider) to improve overall fitness, we were using a 20kg bar and doing squats with it raised behind my head, more than i could handle :-) So we've put a program together to improve core strength, Billy has me spinning like an eggbeater to improve Cardio....and now he wants to do big gear attacks into headwind (sounds like more fun than spinning !).

Whatever happened to just "riding into work" :-)

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Re: Sandmans Cycling Blog

Postby zozza » Thu Aug 13, 2009 12:40 pm

Nice find with the new Spesh Pete, did you pick it up local?

Can we convince you to remove the pie dish from Princess now? Much better look 8)

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Re: Sandmans Cycling Blog

Postby mikesbytes » Thu Aug 13, 2009 9:48 pm

sandman wrote:Whatever happened to just "riding into work" :-)
Commuting is training
If the R-1 rule is broken, what happens to N+1?

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Re: Sandmans Cycling Blog

Postby sandman » Mon Aug 24, 2009 12:49 pm

zozza wrote:Nice find with the new Spesh Pete, did you pick it up local?

Can we convince you to remove the pie dish from Princess now? Much better look 8)
That would be so gay Zozza, I love my Frisbee ;-)
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Re: Sandmans Cycling Blog

Postby sandman » Mon Aug 24, 2009 12:59 pm

Well the Sandman has been riding to work but other activities with the 4x4 and camping have been taking up my other time :-)

So a few changes, Scored the Specialized from guy at Uluru, she's in pretty good condition, a few unexpected scratches on the downtube however only a pain in the ass like me would noticed. The things rides sweet, like brand new. I was loaned a set of Bontrager XXX Superlight Carbon Tubulars to play with so I rode it to work a few time and my god, the 1200g weight weenie tyres do feel nicer.

Had a few issues recently with the Mavic Ksyrium Elites, dam major rattle from the rear, appears the cassette now wont fully tighten and the gears are loose. I've not changed anything on that wheel at all, I grabbed the SRAM 11-28 cassette that was on the RS-20 shimano wheel that came on the bike and that locked awesome. I put the 11-23 Ultegra Cassette ont he Bontrager and its spot on, go figure. Looks like I'll grab a new Ultegra from Chain Reaction and go see LBS to see if they have any "spare spacers"

Current config on Specialized Comp is the Mavic Ksyrium Elites with the 11-28 SRAM cassette. Weird thing is, on the tarmac Pro, same config they put a derailleur on with a longer arm to manage the 28 on the rear, on this Comp, its a SS cage and trust me, in 53 on front and 28 on back, derailleur dont look too happy !

There has been some good quality suffering recently, lots of headwind and mashing into the bloody wind. 3 days per week for now however it is warming up, we're planning to add another 30km in the mornings and go to 4 days per week. Through winter its too darn cold to stay out too long, especially with more layers...

Good weekend out here, Variety Bash cars were in town and the Henley on Todd boat races were on, we had a darn blast.

Sandman living the dream :-)
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Re: Sandmans Cycling Blog

Postby Spiza » Mon Aug 24, 2009 9:52 pm

Sandman you big girl! Why the hell do you have a 11-28 cassette anyway. Take it off and put it on the MTB. Do I need to order a pack of HTFU bands for you? :wink: :lol:

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Re: Sandmans Cycling Blog

Postby sandman » Mon Aug 24, 2009 10:18 pm

Spizza

The Tarmac Comp came with it... don't blame me ;-) I want to get the 11-23 on the bloody thing :-)

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Re: Sandmans Cycling Blog

Postby Spiza » Tue Sep 22, 2009 8:31 pm

No blog entry for almost 4 weeks sandman. I'm missing story time :D

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Re: Sandmans Cycling Blog

Postby mikesbytes » Wed Sep 23, 2009 1:12 pm

Spiza wrote:No blog entry for almost 4 weeks sandman. I'm missing story time :D
He's too busy riding
If the R-1 rule is broken, what happens to N+1?

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Re: Sandmans Cycling Blog

Postby leximack » Thu Sep 24, 2009 10:27 pm

mikesbytes wrote:
Spiza wrote:No blog entry for almost 4 weeks sandman. I'm missing story time :D
He's too busy riding
it must be a long ride :wink:

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Re: Sandmans Cycling Blog

Postby mikesbytes » Fri Sep 25, 2009 8:40 am

leximack wrote:
mikesbytes wrote:
Spiza wrote:No blog entry for almost 4 weeks sandman. I'm missing story time :D
He's too busy riding
it must be a long ride :wink:
And there's the bike porn too
If the R-1 rule is broken, what happens to N+1?

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Re: Sandmans Cycling Blog

Postby mikesbytes » Mon Oct 12, 2009 9:28 pm

A bit slack Sandman....
If the R-1 rule is broken, what happens to N+1?

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Re: Sandmans Cycling Blog

Postby sandman » Thu Oct 15, 2009 7:39 am

Man I'm sitting in a hotel in Colorado Springs for 2 weeks, freezing cold and no bike.....I need to ride, the Gym bike jsut doesnt do it for me !
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Re: Sandmans Cycling Blog

Postby zozza » Thu Oct 15, 2009 7:53 am

The Sandman should be back in Sydney , somewhere between Penrith and Katoomba busting his nuts not laying in a hotel. :P

Then there's these guys

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Zozza :P :D :P :D :P :D

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Re: Sandmans Cycling Blog

Postby NotFlyingScot » Thu Oct 22, 2009 7:51 am

zozza wrote:The Sandman should be back in Sydney , somewhere between Penrith and Katoomba busting his nuts not laying in a hotel. :P
I rode the Sandman trail as far as Wentworth Falls on Tuesday. They have finally finsished the roadworks at Hazelbrook(?), now getting through Lawson is the PIA! Glad I went Tue when only 33 c, yesterday was 36 in the West :shock: ..
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Re: Sandmans Cycling Blog

Postby sandman » Fri Oct 30, 2009 8:04 pm

Today was the 2nd day back on the bike after 1 month. Ride into work was great today, 3 of us taking turns at pulls, dream run as it was still nice n cool.

Well this arvo was a totally different story, left work at 3:30pm, we're out on Hatt road and the temp I swear was soon up to 40c, especially the heat reflected from the road. I manged to get onto the back of a mates Volvo and got dragged 5km up the road at 60km per our, little did I realize this was not a good idea..Managed to pull from Hatt rd to Airport turnoff into a side/headwind which felt good. So here is the weird part, we got a tail wind and decided to push hard, unfortunately there was no wind and the body temp started to rise. About 8km down the road I started to feel a bit unwell as it was just way too hot and we were pushing hard. By the time we got to the "Red Dog" I was totally spent. Only 30km but in this heat, I must have drunk 2-3 liters of water when the coffees came out.

So the last 2 days were good but I definitely noticed that being off the bike for 4 weeks was going to take some getting over. Driving hard with not much air flowing over you is not a good thing !

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Re: Sandmans Cycling Blog

Postby ruscook » Fri Oct 30, 2009 8:44 pm

Sandman or madman ??? That's a risky effort, take care in that desert as the weather heats up.
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Re: Sandmans Cycling Blog

Postby sandman » Sat Oct 31, 2009 5:28 pm

ruscook wrote:Sandman or madman ??? That's a risky effort, take care in that desert as the weather heats up.
Russ

Sometimes I bloody wonder.. was not clever at all and I got cramps last night too. Feeling good today, gong for a 60km ride tomorrow but we're leaving at 7:00am....he tried to convince me to go at 6:00am but thats a little early for me on weekends ;-)

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Re: Sandmans Cycling Blog

Postby ruscook » Sat Oct 31, 2009 8:47 pm

sandman wrote:
ruscook wrote:Sandman or madman ??? That's a risky effort, take care in that desert as the weather heats up.
Sometimes I bloody wonder.. was not clever at all and I got cramps last night too.
Hi Pete, that's not good at all, a fair whack of dehydration and you could have made yourself pretty crook. Glad you're feeling better today.
sandman wrote: Feeling good today, gong for a 60km ride tomorrow but we're leaving at 7:00am....he tried to convince me to go at 6:00am but thats a little early for me on weekends ;-)
I did an early 6am start this morning. Meant I did 76km and was back home by 930am. Still had a whole day available so it felt good. Route was M4, Northern Rd to Bringelly, coffee at Luddenham, M4, M7 back of Rooty Hill to Nth St Marys. Was a nice easy pace for 50km, and a bit faster for the last 3rd. Really enjoyed both a new route and early start.

Enjoy your 60k tomorrow. I've got an 80k round trip (with 4hrs work in between) from here to Windsor. I generally like this route (M7 and WIndsor Rds) except for the debris on Windsor Rd can be a pain.

Don't forget the sunscreen. I used some today and with 3hrs on the road I'm sure it saved me from sunburn even that early in the morning.

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Re: Sandmans Cycling Blog

Postby sandman » Sun Nov 01, 2009 2:54 pm

Hey Russ

Good ride this morning, out at 7:00am, temp already at 29c...went out with my sons girlfriends dad.... you know the things blokes do to bond :-) Very social, nice ride, a little headwind for part of the ride but any breeze was welcome. Dropped into town for a coffee, heard the local club were meeting at Flynns grave out on Larapinta for brekkie, went out and no one to be found so back to the hospital to meet Carol and have a coffee and pickup the car.

Its a BLOODY hot day out here, we're going to go back to the Hospital pool later for a dip, one of the benefits of Carol working there....

Another scorching day in the Alice ;-)
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