Sandmans Cycling Blog

[sandman]

I hear there is a Merida Time Warp for sale on cycle2max for around $5K...That is one seriously awesuM bike....

Sandman

[sandman]

Feeling crook this morning, maybe took a bad prawn last night ? Took it easy on the way in, couldnt work out which end the food wanted to head....Pinch flat too, hit a pothole, took a nice long shower when I got in.....looks like this afternoon will be windy, lets hope the prawn doesnt resurface.

Sandman

[Chuck]

How'd the ride home go Pete ? Did the prawn manage to "escape"

[sandman]

How'd the ride home go Pete ? Did the prawn manage to "escape"

Chucky, prawn did a runner through the day out of the lower exit, was good Ride home was solid, good headwind, mashing away. Tourists are back in town so the Swedish eyecandy was REAL good Sat at the coffee shop for an hour, sad when the coffee last longer than the ride

Sandman

[sandman]

Well dragged my Sandass out of bed at 5:20am this sunday morning, WT? is wrong with me Rolled out at 5:50am and met Billy" I'm a time trial hero" up near the car yards at 6:00am. Dark these mornings, gotta watch out for the indigenous folks crossing the road, you cant see them. I kid you not, so easy to smack into one as lots walking the streets in the wee hours.

Decided to head up to Mt Evarard and before you say "you whinging sand bastard there are mountains in alice, you were lying to me that its all flat", you ride up some mounds to the Tanami Desert turn off and head towards Yendemu. It is mainly single lane and the bastard is dead flat, well maybe not, over 20km it must change elevation 10m...Why in gods name they call it s "Mt" I have no frikkin idea. On the way out we had a cross wind which was slight tail so it was fast going out, on the way back as usual the wind changed and it was almost solid headwind on the way back. Pushing the 53-13 into the headwind was actually satisfying, I was actually suffering on a flat road, not bad at all !

Once we got back to the Stuart Highway we swung left and headed up to the Tropic of Carpicorn marker and had some "munchies". That section from the Tanami road to the Tropic marker was super fast, tailwind, that was 53-12 with very solid cadence, could have popped it into the 11 but the 12 was just right. So we turned home and thats when the fun started, solid hdeadwind, honestly I dont mind headwind at all so i took the lead for the first 10km in the 53-13 and quite enjoyed it, left quad was starting to tell me "dear friend, change gears" but I ignored it. Let Billy swing onto the front and 2km later he was pooped. He decided to slow down and I kept a reasonable speed, I really dont like leaving my riding partner but we were within mobile range of Alice so it wasnt an ovelry big issue to ride on your own. Good solid push back into town, even though it was slightly downhill, the legs were quite sore but it was satisfying I got something out of this ride, nice 110km to start the day.

Quick shower when I got home and Carol and I went out for a good old fashioned "Greasy breakfast", bacon and eggs, YUM !

Feel like I actually did something positive today, this is a good thing....

Sandman in the Sandpit

[ruscook]

You are mad Sandman, I've not been able to get up at 6am since coming back from Jindy and the island! 530am is even worse

Glad you had a good ride and enjoy the wind...I'm more than happy for you to keep the wind out in Alice

I guess the name of the Mount was a trifle ironic

Have fun.

[sandman]

Russ, its 8:43pm and I'm already starting to feel tired, the result of 5:15am wakeups

So today after a good "tempo ride" into the office, we were greeted with an e-mail from our facility folks, appears there have been a bunch of complaints about us cyclists. I quite appreciated the e-mail as it was pretty balanced, the announcement basically said that cyclists DO by law have the same rights as cars, dont pass them if its not safe and obey the road rules. Northern Territory is the only place where I've seen a blatant disregard for double center lines. Only this morning on the way to work I saw at least 2 cars go right over the lines.....its really not good..

Its amazing how many people believed 2 abreast riders was against the law ! So I think its all good, the message is out, us riders will make sure we keep to the edge of the road and hopefully the cars will give us a wide berth.

Sandman

[KillerHeadWind]

5:15am, that's not early enough, HTFU.
Mt Everard is that a 5 or 10m climb? I just wanna make sure you weren't exaggeration with the profile
It looks like you're still pretty strong with the 53-13 into the 70kph wind or was that 90kph with the the greenish tinged dust?.
The machine still rolls

[sandman]

Killer, we were chatting about it this morning, think from the Tanami Desert turnoff to mt E, its about a 15m rise over 15km ? Its frikkin funny but unfortunately for me its reality

Yeah 53-13 is nice, rode in the 14 for a bit today, i think I'm going to get a Specialized Singlespeed and put a 53 on the front as its got a 15 on the back, I **think** I can get a 14 for the rear, see how we go.

Saw this baby on BikeExchange....now this would be awesome, price isnt too bad.



Rode in for quite a bit on my own today, boys dropped off and I didnt feel like slowing down.. ate 1/2 packet of LARGE Salt n Vinegar chips last night so I felt pretty guilty and had to burn it off though I just came back from the vending machine with a chocolate bar.

Sandman

[Spiza]

Saw this baby on BikeExchange....now this would be awesome, price isnt too bad.

That looks sweet Buy it! Buy it now!!

[sandman]

blah blah, rode monday, windy as all h3ll....good solid ride, no slacking...

Ride in today, felt like riding in molasses, sat on the front for most of the ride with a knee that still isnt sorted. Billy says for a 2 up effort we had broken the fastest ride time for 2 guys......not sure if that was good or not but the ride felt like it sucked.....just no rythm, was a bit humid so sweating like a running tap...hope the ride home improves !

Sandman

[mikesbytes]

It appears that the road goes around Mt Eveard

http://maps.google.com.au/maps?hl=en&q=Mt+Everard+NT&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Mount+Everard&ll=-23.59797,133.844719&spn=0.173981,0.363579&t=p&z=12

[sandman]

Mike, there could be a Mt somewhere but as far as the eye can see the place is bloody flat

Bit of pain train'ing this morning with Bill and Herb, up to the Tropic and back, about 70km. Suffered heaps thanks to the run up Mt Gillen yesterday at sunrise. Major quad hurt, blah blah blah Average speed was over 40 so seriously good pace...a few cattle grids on the Stuart Highway, think the Mavic took one too many, has a slight wobble in it, off to the LBS with it tomorrow so see how quick they can sort.

Time for a sleep in tomorrow, too much waking at 5:10am cant be a good thing even if it is the best part of the day !

Sandman

[Spiza]

It sounds like the knee is better Pete

[sandman]

Didnt ride at all this week, just so busy at work and getting the wheel sorted. heading out tomorrow with Billy for a ride at 6:30am. Long weekend, need to get at least 1 or 2 rides in

Sandman

[KillerHeadWind]

You would have been a little envious today Pete, went up to Megalong Valley this morning, glorious climbing (even if it was blardy teeth chatteringly cold).
Remember those days? Blackheath and beyonddddddd

[Kev365428]

Couldn't be stuffed going onto FB again, so here are my new wheels.

Kev.

[sandman]

Well not posting up my daily rides as they are becoming boring. Its dark and getting colder in the mornings which obviously makes it fun in the afternoon if I wore a long sleeve jersey

BUT today, 200km ride, down to Stuarts Well and back... Nice tail wind on the way there and a superfantastic headwind for 100km return. My riding buddies got a lift back but seriously, I cant ride one way only.. its either there and back or not at all..

At the 180km mark , after 80km of headwind the cramps kicked in.. so the last bit was soft pedalled. Was a great ride, not much out there except for tourists and some seriously big trucks...

Good to get some longer kms into the legs, late night though watching LBL on eurosports till 00:30am and a 6:00am wakeup

Sandman

[mikesbytes]

Awesome ride Sandman. I'm sure I would of got a lift back too.

I would of preferred to ride 100k into the wind and then get the 100k tail wind, but an option on wind direction isn't usually available

[sandman]

Thanks Mike, yeah heading south isnt the best in the mornings as the ride home is always headwind. it was good though, I got to hear the "Singing Dingo" at Jim's place, always a novelty

Sandman

[sandman]

It was bitching cold this morning, I hear out in Alice after the ANZAC weekend, its thermal time.... so 3 layers on this morning as we rode in 5c temps....got to work and the glow of the sun was just on the Horizon....

Full moon though, awesome moonscape in the desert but frikkin CHILLY !

Brother Billy had no gloves on this morning, bitch was whimpering like a big girl. All I heard was "rant rant rant"...he never asked if I had a spare pair so why offer when I was having so much fun. 3/4 of the way in he asks "Pete, do you have a spare pair of gloves".. I say "sure, why didn't you ask" even though they were fingerless it helped him heaps....

Nice ride in, legs didnt really warm up as it was the first cold morning we had and I had to get used to 3 layers

Sandman

[Chuck]

Full moon though, awesome moonscape in the desert but frikkin CHILLY !

Sounds like something you'd have to experience to fully appreciate Pete

Love how you let Brother Billy suffer

[sandman]

Full moon though, awesome moonscape in the desert but frikkin CHILLY !

Sounds like something you'd have to experience to fully appreciate Pete

Love how you let Brother Billy suffer

I'm so nasty Chucky.. He had gloves today, dressed for -10c ! Only got to 7c this morning, I'd hate to think what was going on inside his "ecosystem".... ugh

[sandman]

After some excellent cycling with the FPR brothers and Lifecycles afficienados, its back to Alice. Has been cold this week, down to 1c today, 4 layers ontop and skins on the legs. Feeling like the Michelin man today all bulked up didnt make for a good ride. Found it tough to push the 53-14 which means its not a good day.

TT boy brought out the TT and I let him sit in front for 1/2 the ride as it was plain cold and I didnt feel like being there. Hot shower at work was nice....

its jsut one of those days

[sandman]

Hung out with Herb today, we rode out to Corobboree rock and back, 95km. Kicked off at 4c and warmed up, lots of wind from all directions....Found the "zone" again, really good tempo in the 53-14, tops of the quads hurting so I suspect good wattage. Herb suffered on the way back but he wants to get stronger so the sufferfest had to continue

We're going out tomorrow arvo up to the Tropic of Capricorn, will be awesome headwind on the way home....mashfest

Sandman