6K Club 2013 Edition

[Lukeyboy]

Count me in. Might cross the 6k mark mid way through next year though. Might not be able to make the 10k club though

After just getting to 6k by the end of last year I'm now officially out of this years club haha.

[celeste boy]

Yes, noticed a bit of a challenge there. Must have had the wind behind you or been riding on Beach Road to build up the kms!

CB

Interesting reply. Funny thing is I ride along Beach Rd to get to work every day. Tail winds though, they are a dream I occasionally have, the reality is a gale in my face every morning this week. My legs hurt!




DS

Shouldn't have had a dig about about Beach Road. We were on holidays and I hired a bike (Giant! luckily not seen by the celeste police) and did 100+km out to Mornington and couldn't believe how flat it was. With a southerly the wind was excellent on the way back. That 100 got me out of the brown so I have good memories all round about Beach Road.
(Nobody says hello or waves back but that is talked about elsewhere on this forum.)
Good to see you are still on my tail although you have jumped a few pages on BJ.
Mugglechops is our resident spoke breaker around here- maybe you two should catch up.

Cheers,

Graham

[AndrewW]

Had my first ride at a crit track today, just a training day with juniors that I tagged along with (I'm 25) http://app.strava.com/activities/54792832" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;. Windy cold day but had a lot of fun. Really getting into the whole training as opposed to just covering kms. Now I guess the next step is just doing a race. Next weekend maybe?

Best lap stats.

1.2kms
1:52
39km/h avg
180/184bpm

[coffeeandwine]

Count me in. Might cross the 6k mark mid way through next year though. Might not be able to make the 10k club though

After just getting to 6k by the end of last year I'm now officially out of this years club haha.

Nice work Lukeyboy! You should be "ashamed" of yourself for bringing the 6K club into repute

Me, I am just trying to stay in the green

[grantw]

Had a great ride with sblack yesterday - 75km of mostly dirt through the forests around Wingello and Penrose. I only fell off twice and have a lovely chainring bite on the back of the calf, but didn't end up in any trees .

Quite enjoy this mountain biking caper, if only it didn't hurt so much!

[Mugglechops]

Had a great ride with sblack yesterday - 75km of mostly dirt through the forests around Wingello and Penrose. I only fell off twice and have a lovely chainring bite on the back of the calf, but didn't end up in any trees .

Quite enjoy this mountain biking caper, if only it didn't hurt so much!

It is lots of fun hey. I am slowly getting back into the dirt.

[grantw]

So you'll be joining us on the 100km later in the year?

[Mugglechops]

So you'll be joining us on the 100km later in the year?

Yes mate, seeing as I will be working out the course for you

Still have a bit more to do on it thanks to Forests NSW smashing a heap of singletrack with logging work

[grantw]

Would you like Shane and I to come out with some shovels?

[Mugglechops]

Will need more than shovels, it looks like a bomb zone.

Probably take at least 12mths to sort it out.

[sblack]

Seams like ages since I updated the thread. Good to see the celeste boy/DavidS battle continuing so fervently. It has to be the longest running battle of the 6k club.

Well done on the early completion and exit to the 10k club lukeboy.

Andywho, best of luck with your step into racing, keep us updated on how it goes.

As for me, it's time to announce a ride I'll be taking part in later in the year. I've created a Tour da Country thread where I'll be sharing my experience as I prepare for and complete my first multiday tour. More than just a ride though as it's an event for the promotion and education of Indigenous Health issues and it's exciting to be part of something that can be both personally challenging as well as having the potential to have some real impact within the communities we visit.

In other news, as Grant mentioned last Saturday we headed out for ride two in the Illawarra Dirt Series, the Bundanoon Bash. The day didn't get off to the best start as I searched everywhere for my merino skins to give my legs some warmth for the cold morning. Three pairs should have been in the drawer where I'm sure I put them at the end of last winter. No luck and I found myself running out the door to head off without them. The car was showing an outside temp of 8 degrees as I headed off but I knew it would drop on the way up to the highlands. Sure enough it was down to 6 by the top of the pass and apart from a brief reprieve on the sunny side of a couple of hills that is where it stayed.

I arrived to find Grant and Ross getting ready and as I got ready I noticed the second issue of the morning not going well. In the rush to leave after spending too long looking for the skins I had managed to leave my action cam sitting at home so their would be no footage of today's ride. I hadn't much luck getting footage of the area as on the recon ride I'd forgotten to turn hold off before putting the camera in it's housing so when I went to turn it on it did nothing.

Oh well, enough of the issues of the morning it was time for the ride. We headed off into the brisk breeze. It was a 15km road section before we'd reach Wingello to before heading into the forest. It was a struggle to get the muscles warm as the breeze seamed to be cooling them quicker than they could heat up but that would all change with the turn at Wingello. Not only where we no longer heading into the wind but we where also gaining some shelter from it thanks to the surrounding trees. Before long things where feeling much more pleasant as we made our way to the Wingello red loop.

I hadn't ridden the trail with the sun so low before and the first descent of the red loop showed how little visabiliy we had going from sunlight to shadow constantly as all three riders managed to cop a slap in the face from a tree hanging across the trail. That aside it was great being in the forest and such a pleasant setting for the ride while the climbs quickly had us warmed up nicely.

A bit further on and the wall would prove too much for any of us and claim the first injury of the Dirt Series. Grant managed to put his chainring into his leg when coming to a stop having the first of his mentioned offs.

By the top of the wall it was time to take a layer of warmth off and the cool weather was now pretty much ideal for the riding we where doing. Before long we where onto the single track which made for fun but exhausting progress. It was somewhere around the halfway mark of the loop when I'd stopped at a track marker and noticed Grant had fallen behind. I was contemplating heading back to check on him when he came back into view and caught up to inform us the reason he'd fallen behind was because he'd fallen off on on the obstacles. He'd landed on his shoulder which was in some pain but felt ok to push on back to Wingello and to reassess how it was going then.

Unfortunately for Grant the most undulating and demanding of the single track is in the later half of the loop and I'm sure an injured shoulder would have been a real test through it. Still he got through ok and we where soon back on the fire trails and headed back out of the forest. The lunch stop at the Wingello store was starting to look real good as hunger was starting to kick in. A burger with the lot and chocolate shake went down a treat as we relaxed for a bit and enjoyed sitting in the sun on the leeward side of the shop.

After lunch it was time to head off into Penrose State Forest. No single track but some climbing and varied terrain as we made our way towards the highest point of the ride. Approaching the top of the ride and the days efforts where starting to take their toll with the smaller hills starting to hurt like bigger ones had earlier in the ride. The top of the ride is at the Yacht Club, where an abandoned steel yacht lies with the lush forest area. From there it's a predominantly downhill run for a while ending in a creek crossing. I know the water is deeper than the bottom of my pedal stroke so I decide to hit it with enough speed to roll through without pedalling. I may have gone a little too quick as the spray of water reaches up over my head but at least I avoid soaking my shoes through as I would have if I needed to pedal.

On the other side of the creek the climbing begins again and now I'm really starting to feel the pain, I'm pretty much done but there's not that much more climbing left. Coming out of the forest and it's time for some more downhill as we find ourselves back on the road entering the outskirts on Bundanoon. From there it's a pretty good run back to the finish where we find ourselves exhausted but well ahead of the time limit. Time to enjoy coffee and cake at Ye Olde Bicycle Shoppe for the post ride wind down, bringing an end to a great day out in the highlands.

[sblack]

Will need more than shovels, it looks like a bomb zone.

Probably take at least 12mths to sort it out.

Shame to hear that Lewy. We saw what an area looks like after logging when we where riding through Penrose. What areas did you loose?

[Mugglechops]

Will need more than shovels, it looks like a bomb zone.

Probably take at least 12mths to sort it out.

Shame to hear that Lewy. We saw what an area looks like after logging when we where riding through Penrose. What areas did you loose?

Half of Superbowl mate.

This is the good bit of the damage

[grantw]

Crikey, that is a mess.

Nice report Shane, I had a great day despite my injuries - and I'm quite glad of my buffer now as I'm pretty sore still and will be enjoying at least a week off the bike by the look of things.

[find_bruce]

I had a 1.5 weeks off due to a cold & that pesky little red triangle caught up & went sprinting past me.

Nice to see people having fun playing in the dirt, although once again it seems mugglechops has a bit more fun than anyone would want

[coffeeandwine]

Strava comes in for a fair amount (of sometimes quite justified) criticism; I think I have found what it was intended for...

A few weeks ago The Climbing Cyclist added the ride to the summit of Mt Buninyong to its list of climbs. As I live locally, I climb this hill a fair bit, but usually turn off to follow the Road Nationals course before reaching the summit. After reading the climbing cyclist's write up, I went out last week to better my time. I managed 29:33 which had me at 139 on the "leaderboard"; as you can guess I was actually at the tail end of the field, with only 14 riders behind me (pretty much familiar territory!).

Checking the leaderboard a bit closer, I spotted a name I recognised - only 1 minute in front of me. Could I take a bit of time off? This week, I went out and repeated last weeks 30km warm up and then started up the hill. I tried not to go out too hard, but focussed on keeping my cadence right. In the top half, there are a couple of short sections around 16%, so I kept a bit back, once through them I started to wind it up. Got to the top feeling pretty good but no idea of my time (had to wait to upload-next time I will use the lap timer!!!).

Uploaded to Strava and saw all these PB's popping up. Managed to slash 1:05 off my time, jumped 3 places on the leaderboard and moved 5 seconds ahead of Emma Carney (2x World Triathlon Champion, 4x World No. 1 Triathlete, 9x Australian Triathlon Champion).

If her coach hears about this, she'll get an absolute rocket She may of course have changed two tyres, stopped for a coffee and got lost...or it could be her time to RUN up the hill

[breezer1]

Wow is winter coming or what, these westerly winds are freezing, and the motivation is going to drop over the next few months i'm sure

[norbs]

Yes, pretty crappy conditions here at the moment. I think it will be more of the trainer for a while. This working business is no good at all!

http://www.nonprocycling.com/2013/05/su ... heck-ouch/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Latest trainer ride.

[sblack]

Lewy, I'm struggling to see where there was a trail in that pic. Let us know if we can help anywhere. If we can sort out a time I'm free I'm glad to help. Maybe do some morning trail work and an afternoon ride one weekend?

Grant, hope you're heeling up well.

norbs, congrats on getting the new job... as far as I can see you've mentioned you'll be working from home but haven't said what you'll be doing, what's the job?

I somehow managed to only get slightly damp on my morning commute. We'll see if I'm as lucky for the trip home.

[FXST01]

1st puncture today in over 5000k on these tyres. Schwalbe Marathon Plus if anyone is interested.

[AndrewW]

Wet cold 30kms this morning then cold 40kms group ride in damp clothes after work. Loved every minute, think the cycling bug is well and truly got it's fangs in. Rest day tomorrow before first race on saturday! Wish me luck.

[Mugglechops]

Lewy, I'm struggling to see where there was a trail in that pic. Let us know if we can help anywhere. If we can sort out a time I'm free I'm glad to help. Maybe do some morning trail work and an afternoon ride one weekend?

I will let you know when we have our next dig and ride day.

Are you still keen for the Husky100? If you are I will chase up that free entry.

[diventare]

Nice week - cold but fair. Made up a bit on last weeks slackness

[AndrewW]

First race down today! Local club 30km HC.

Me and my mate (his first race too) went 2 mins after go and just caught them at the half way mark. The others groups went 12 and 14 mins after us. Ended up a group of 5 of us at the 3/4 point riding ok, but I knew I could go harder on the flat and downhill and was worried about the group behind catching. I tried to take off down a hill but apparently the coasters in my group could go a lot faster downhill then they were letting on and kept up. 4kms out from the finish my mate took off up a hill and I just stuck with him but looked back and had lost the rest of our group. I've got 30kgs on him so he can climb harder but slows right down in the wind on the flat, so we worked together the rest of the way home, me taking the wind on the flat and downhill and him pacing me for the uphill.

Last km is a steady climb but not too bad, about 3-4%, we were evenly matched up the hill. Got to the top of the hill and he was more done though, went around him with 100m to go to get my first win! Other groups were prorbably 2-3mins behind. Already looking forward to next weekend, guess we'll cop a few more minutes handicap.

http://app.strava.com/activities/56105339" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[coffeeandwine]

Nice work andy, the handicappers will crucify you though