Reminder: Why do I ride?

On the rare occasion, I manage to get down to the Brisbane River for the Monday night noodle ride.

Here is a quick description of the ride. Meet up, talk crap, ride off, spin a yarn, ride, laugh, attack the occasional hill, sprint, ride, stop, eat cheap noodles, talk more crap, ride home while burping.

Given the training I do, last night I was asked, "So Matt, what is this ride for you?"

I responded by saying that it is an awesome reminder of how much fun cycling is. The group is honest, fun & they are simply there to ride their bikes.

Before I met up with the guys I had a quick catch up with 'Hubcap' Andrew Handyside. Smiling, riding & keen to smash out an awesome race this Sunday. Hubcap shared his goal for Sunday with me & I will be sure to call him on it.

4 laps, burger & a coke

Mt Crosby xc racing this morning. Again a great atmosphere & I am letting as many xc dudes/dudettes how much fun it is & to come on down for the next one.

Next Sunday is the 8 hour enduro organised & run by GAR As much fun as I had for the 51 minute race today, my passion is the longer races.

The GAR 8 hour enduro will be day two of a 3 day session. This will be the tail end of my loading week. Then onto a 2 week taper.
p.s. Man, that bald spot is spreading ;o)

Take the next step

I consider myself an endurance cyclist & not a fast one. At the very last minute Natalie & I went to the Balmoral Cycling Club hosted, Saturday morning criterium racing.

I have been riding B grade for a while now. I managed to be in the right place at the right time with a little extra kick in my legs & ended up with a couple of podium finishes. Having to start work at 9am, A grade was the only option if I wanted to feed the 'racing-bug'. So step it up dog!

Big peloton, awesome fun, great cyclists, will be there again.

Must go to bed in preparation for the some short course, club, xc racing tomorrow morning.

ATTACK JAMAN!!!

Crunch!!!...now I need a new helmet

A little reminder for me today. It only takes a small lapse in concerntration & things can go wrong very quickly.

I always look forward to a skills session with Roadie Rob. Tearing along a short bit of single track, I didn't take the first part of the 'S' wide enough & ran out of room for the second part of the 'S'. There were two trees, one on each side of the trail. The angle I approached the little bend presented what looked like the trees side by side with no gap in the middle.

I went from fast to stop! One of the funny things was my head hit the tree so farking hard that my glasses shot off my face & just kept going.

A little 'trail shy' for the remainder of the session. I am finding more aches & pains as the day goes on.

Great Helmet. Will be replacing it with the same one.

Sunday Racing

A Saturday evening phone call to Rhino..."What cycling are you doing on Sunday?"

This ended up with Natalie & I meeting up at Peloton Cycles with Rhino, Tom & a handful of the guys from Peloton Cycles (& a great bunch of guys to ride/race with) all in their shop kit. We then headed to Synergy Park industrial area to race a criterium very nicely organised by Ipswich Cycling Club.

I forgot how much fun criterium racing is.


Saturday morning saw Natalie keeping the B grade men honest at a HPRW criterium at Nundah by racing with them.


A reality check yesterday. It was pointed out to me..."only 2 more training weeks before the croc" The past 7 months since I first entered this event have flown past.

Mount Mee

What an awesome day it was for cycling. I was to meet up with Rach & TR at 6am. I did a few kms first, had a gumby stack in the carpark while waiting then rolled off for a blast into Dayboro.

Bakery stop, biddon fill up & I kept going up over the mountain as Rach & TR had to turn around & head for home.

A short conversation with Rach brought up the subject of excuses. By the end of the conversation it was clear that excuses (& there are too many to mention) are another way of saying "I am not willing to make the necessary sacrifices"

My passion is for 12/24 hour racing. When setting training, racing, nutrition, family ect... goals, sacrifices will always have to be made. Some easy, some not so easy.

Other sacrifices that occur when having a clear intention & focus on a goal are the ones that you don't immediately realise. They just happen. I turn around to have a look & something has gone.

One thing is certain & that is change.

Some beautiful places to ride in Brisbane

This is only 10 minutes from the city.

Brisbane River

Sandgate foreshore. We busted a friend of ours picking up their Sunday newspaper as we cycled past. So we stopped & got a free coffee :o))

No two days are the same.

Here is an example of what generally occurs in a dog's day.

3am: Alarm goes of. Weatbix, hot chocolate, gear up ready to ride off at 4am. This is when my Ay-Up lights come in very handy.

5am: Part way around the 75kms of Tour de Redcliffe loop.

6:30am: Visit favourite bakery for post ride carbs.

7:00am: S...S...S

8:00am: Start work

4:00pm: Finish work, pick up one of my boys from Volley ball training, go home, cook dinner, surf internet, catch up with the "So, what happened at school today?" conversation with my boys.

A few domestic duties, share more time with Natalie.

7:30pm: Nearly ready for bed.

8:30pm: Zzzzzz....

When I write it down like that, the day appears so short & simple. Maybe it is, but some days feel long & complicated. Others are as simple as they read.

Another great local business

I have tried many different electrolyte, carbohydrate, protein... drinks mixes & foods for training & racing. I came across Infinit Nutrition & have been using it for the past 6 months. Nutrition is a very personal thing. Infinit Nutrition allows you to adjust all aspects of the mix. After a little trial & error (my error was adding the caffeine. I had to stop for a piss every 20 minutes) I have now found what my body prefers.

Peter from Infinit has always been so easy to deal with, ready to assist with any questions & besides Aust Post stuffing me around on one order, my order arrives in a couple of days.

In summary, it tastes great, works well & will continue to use it. Should you have any questions about Infinit, you are best to email/phone Peter Nimmo

Little gem in the mountains

One of the wonderful things with cycling is all the places it takes me that would never have seen before. At the top of Mt Nebo is Cafe Boombana tucked away a little off the road. This is a big call, but for me, it is one of the best coffee's to be found in Brisbane. Also as 'Electric Panda' mentioned on numerous occasions, the view is worth the ride. So there is your photo EP.

There are many cycling routes to get you to the cafe. All of which are highly rated rides. Both xc & road. It is easy to get over 2000 metres of climbing in less than 80kms. So it is a great training area too.

The video shows the last bit of a brake smoking decent.

More change...New job

Two months ago I got 'royally screwed' by the company that I had done a very good job for, for over 5 years. A Friday morning visit by the regional manager turned into a "...you fill out & sign a letter of resignation letter now, or we will fire you..." I am still a little grumpy about it. However, I have had the pleasure of working at Riders for the past month simply selling bikes & bike stuff.

This week I started working at Velo Bicycles. I have been riding in their shop kit as they are providing a small amount of support for the Croc Trophy.

One thing I have found this week, I love working on wheels.