Cyclists like coffee

According to The Oatmeal "...it is like making out with Pegasus".

And with weather forecasts like the one for this week, a lot of coffee is going to be needed!

If you want to know why coffee is so magical, head back over to The Oatmeal and find out
(click on the image!)

Thanks to the good people at The Oatmeal for the content of this blog.

In other news, my knee is well recovered, there has been some changes to my training program and that is coming along well, and my kitchen is complete- you can check that out at http://doolamaticdrs.wordpress.com

Stay safe on the roads, watch out for black ice and avoid the chilblains!

Embracing the headwind

Since my little altercation with the single track at Stromlo ruled me out of the Canberra Tour*, I have been out smashing some kms to get some form to take to Rutherglen. While I was out on Saturday I found myself up against a block headwind- so common in autumn and spring around Canberra. As I was bemoaning how hard this ride was and how slowly I was going, I thought of something I read on the "All Men are Liars" blog.

I have plagerised the most pertinent part of Sam's post here:

In a team meeting,... [the coach] tells his group of fringe players a story he'd heard in church about the Devil having a closing down sale because he's moving to another spot. A potential customer comes in to see what the Devil's got on offer and asks him what is his best seller. "Discouragement," says the Devil, "because as soon as people get discouraged it makes all of my weapons work."

In the context of my ride, I was about 15km in to 90km and the discouragement of the wind was making me want to turn around, go home and curl up in bed. Deep down I know that these kms are essential to a strong year on the bike, but mustering up the motivation to keep going was hard work. And then the epiphany occurred.

Embrace the headwind. If anything is going to bring me back to fitness it will be hard rides, like this one in the wind. Funnily enough, after this the ride got easier! (No I hadn't turned around to have a tailwind!!)

Mental toughness is often the only thing that differentiates athletes on race days. And, this toughness only comes out if you don't let the devil in!

In other news, my knee is looking really good and is standing up to training well.



*If you want to know what happened at the Canberra Tour, head on over to MiffyG or Ride Happy

That didn't seem too bad

After 17 days away from my bike and with pretty limited exercise to compensate I made the most of the glorious autumn weather and managed a sneaky 40 km. Am pleased to report that I didn't rip the wound open as the doctors feared would happen if I rode to early and even better the ride itself did not seem to kill me!

The most important lesson from today however was to never underestimate the value of chamois cream!!!

Despite the positiveness of today's roll I am pretty sure it was sensible decision to not enter the Canberra Tour which is on this coming weekend.

In the meantime, this little break has been the perfect time for the kitchen renovation that the Engineer and I have been undertaking. I don't think I would have been able to survive the renos if I had been in full training- my only cooking appliances are a rice cooker, a small electric skillet and a microwave. I think I am actually craving some pasta! You can see pics of that project over at: http://doolamaticdrs.wordpress.com/

This what my wound is currently looking like (post ride and shower), it has been covered with opsite since the stitches came out. (Read more about wound care over at Cycling Tips- everything in Wade's post is consistent with what I learnt from the AIS nurses and my mum)

And to help you be rid of the image of my gummy knee, this is what you are missing out on if you are not cycling in Canberra in autumn- it was just like this this morning!

Patience and patients- there is a reason the two are homonyms

I am aware that it has been a long time between drinks here at Team Becstar. Sorry about that.

I had hoped to have been able to tell you about a cracking ride at the Oceania ITT (17 March) but it was not to be. Leading up to the race I'd had all sorts of dramas with my back and was having trouble training properly. There were many visits to the physio and managed to get it settled and actually hadn't missed too much training at all. I had been pretty happy with my preparation before that and was pretty confident that this was not a major set back. This time I was a patient patient and things looked good.

Unfortunately on race day things just didn't go the way I had visualised them. I felt good on the bike, I had a perfect warm up etc but something just wasn't quite right. My cadence was good, but the power just didn't seem to be matching up with it. At the end of the day all I can say is that the intention was good, it just doesn't work for me and we need to approach things a little differently.

Post Oceanias the original plan had been to have a short break, but I thought throwing myself back into training would be better for me mentally. Impatient patient I was to soon find out. I had been training well and things were looking good for a good lead up to the Canberra Tour. Until the club race where I cracked. All the energy that I had thrown at training post-Oceanias coupled with juggling work finally ran out. I had to DNF on a local course that I am really quite fond of but just lacked the mental stamina for.

That was the week before the Mont 24 hour. I took the opportunity to freshen up mentally in the early part of the week, finding some patience! And was also not hating my bike too much. Then it all went pair shaped again.

The Thursday before the 24 hour we thought it would be a good idea to test our lights and all that jazz before. Mick from Onya in Belco had sorted me out with an excellent set of Nitelights and I was keen to see how they performed on the dirt. It was all going so well and then it was all going so wrong.

Flying along one of the single tracks on Mt Stromlo I suddenly found myself crashing onto my left side. At the time it didn't hurt that much. Looking down at my leg it seemed to be a bit of a cut to my left knee and some grazing, and there wasn't too much blood. I got back on my bike and caught up to Matt.

"How did you find that?" he asked. "Pretty good and I don't think there is too much blood" He had no idea that I had crashed and was as surprised as I was as the section was fast and flowing but certainly not technical. He took a look at my knee and declared that it really was quite bad and that we should call it a night.

To get to the point, the cut actually needed 3 stitches and a course of antibiotics to go with it. And to make it worse- no pedalling until the stitches were removed. Not only that, but there were no other exercise options- stitches must stay dry. And to not put any extra strain on them I had to try and keep my leg straight.

The stitches stayed in for 7 days but when they were removed I was told at least another week of no pedalling as it wasn't healed enough.

Whilst it has been very difficult doing relatively nothing for 2 weeks, the sensible side of me knows this has probably been a blessing in disguise if I am to achieve anything on the bike this year. Why is it that it takes being a patient to recognise the importance of being patient?

The changing job description of the local bike shop

I have been thinking a lot about this issue in the last few days. It was partly prompted by the fuss Gerry Harvey has been making about offshore shopping, partly prompted by Wade’s post on getting sponsorship, partly by Lisa’s mum’s commentary on what constitutes a cyclist, but the real trigger was the story relayed to me about an abusive visitor to a LBS. (I say visitor as I am not convinced he can be referred to as a customer.)

First up, the disclaimer- Yes I am sponsored by a LBS- OnyaBike Belco & Civic. They have provided invaluable support to me over the years and ask little in return. I will always try my best to do the right thing by them- I plug them on here as often as I can (you can see their logo to the left- click it, it will take you to their webpage), I train in the kit almost exclusively and when I can I race in it- if I can’t race in it I will pull a jersey or vest on for podium visits, and I send anyone who will listen to them for all their bike needs. However, I am under no obligation to write this post for them and in fact it applies to all LBS, I will do my best to be objective.

I am not going to go into a lot of detail about the merits or oversights of Gerry Harvey’s carry on about off-shore purchasing. The big thing that he has been harping on about is the GST exemption for purchases up to $1000. The situation is a lot more complicated than that. For the LBS one of the key issues is the distributor and the demands that they make on the stockists in Australia, which doesn’t seem to apply overseas. For example if my LBS wants to stock a particular bike computer the distributor demands that they sell them for no less than a certain price, buy a certain number of units up front, and in each 12 month period they are required to sell a certain $ amount of stock! This same computer is available online for far less than the required Australian price and is usually accompanied by free postage. It doesn’t take an accountant to realise that it doesn’t make a lot of business sense for the LBS to stock this computer. The price difference is considerably more than just the GST and the free or heavily discounted postage is often thanks to government incentives in the country where the web company is based.

As cyclists we know that this is an expensive hobby, recreation or sport, depending on your goals. Consequently we are all on the lookout for ways to make things more affordable; the plethora of online bike stores is fantastic for that. But there is a catch. Most people know what they need for their bike, but they may not have the tools to do it, or more commonly the ability to do it themselves. I am lucky in that respect, for things I don’t know how to do myself, I have an engineer with a fascination with bikes. But if you don’t have your own trunk monkey you will probably need your LBS. (I don’t really think of the engineer, or bike mechanics, as a monkey, I just wanted to use this clip!!)

The dilemma then arises- you didn’t by the components from the shop but you want them to do the work. Most LBS recognise that on a lot of things they cannot compete with what is available online and will accept the work. However, as the customer you cannot expect them to make you a priority nor can you expect them to do it for free. Make your appointment and pay for the work- you would have to do that with your car or anything else, bikes are not that different!

Loyalty is like karma, the more you show of it, the more you will get out of it. If you get good service from the LBS, go back. If you keep going back the staff will get to know you and before you know it you will probably get discounts and other added bonuses.

Of course it is not just the customer that needs to be considerate here, the LBS is finding themselves in unchartered waters. Increasingly they are finding that their priority is not just in moving stock but in providing good service, useful and accurate advice and mechanical expertise. Some stores are doing this better than others and it will take a little while for people to adapt.

There is no right or wrong in all of this. The situation with distributors and importation adds an extra dimension to the changing landscape, along with the rapidly increasing popularity of cycling in the community. Both sides need to be mindful of what is happening here if the LBS is to continue to thrive. Here are my top 5 tips/observations from the whole debate:

1. If you didn’t buy the component etc from the LBS, be prepared to wait your turn in the service diary and be prepared to pay for the work that the LBS does for you.
2. If the job is only small and the labour cost won’t be much, think about buying something else while you are in the store, especially if you are not a regular- everyone needs tubes, puncture repair kits etc.
3. Show some loyalty to your LBS. You will reap the rewards in time.
4. Put a bit of thought into what you are buying online and why. Ask yourself, will I need to get someone else to install it? If yes, call the LBS and compare.
5. If the LBS aren’t supported, your kids will have to work at a supermarket swiping or stacking instead getting a cool job tinkering with bikes.

What I have put down here is my opinion and assessment of the situation and I appreciate that others will have differing views. Feel free to comment and debate amongst yourselves!

Tortoise vs Hare

The good people from the Vikings Cycling Club have a 3 race series for summer, known as the Hilltop Finishes. As the name suggests, the race finishes on a hill top. I missed the first one, which finished at the Tracking Station, but was told that the race up Corin would be good for me, even if just for training.

The 830 start was perfect for this time of year, although after the torrential downpour the night before, the humidity was pushing 97%!

Women’s A grade was combined with Men’s C grade and we rolled away about 90 seconds behind the A/B grade men. For the first 20 km we stayed together quite nicely, although I realised after that we had actually dropped the other girl who was racing. With a bit of wind around and the impending very long climb, there was little incentive to try for a break away.

The hares in the bunch (ie the dudes) started playing silly buggers and attacking each other about 1km in to the 14km drag to the rec centre. Knowing there was an awful long way to the top, I chose not to partake in this. I was also busy getting my ice cold bidon from expert soigny, Matt.

Patience was going to be key to getting to the top, as far as I was concerned. I found myself a tempo that I could maintain all the way to the top and set about my tortoise approach to climbing. My pace was faster than training pace and attacking over the crest of each of the rollers ensured that slowly but surely I was able to pick off the boys in front of me! At times it was even a bit stealth like!

End of the day, patience was a virtue and I even surprised myself being able to attack from the KOM mark from Canberra Tours gone-by. I missed 5th by 10 seconds- perhaps I was a little too patient! I was the first woman home and in the end I wasn't as far down as I might have been at this time last year! I like progress!!

And if you know me, you will know that I am not known for my hill climbing. After this, however, I reckon there might actually be an inner climber and they might be ready to come out and play!

Just for fun, here is the speed and altitude profile from the race.
That is a lot of climbing at the end!

The straw that (almost) broke the camel

National Individual Time Trial


This is an image of rhinovirus (about 9 billion of these could fit on the head of a pin!). It is one of the viruses responsible for the common cold.

It is amazing how rapidly months of training can come unravelled from something so small.

The signs were there on race day- elevated resting HR, a couple of things not quite right in my warm up etc- and I ignored them all, attributing them to pre-race anxiety and excitement. Afterall, the indications from the days before were that I was in for a cracker.

As I set out on my 27km journey it didn’t take long to realise something really wasn’t right and it was going to be a long day. It took all the mental strength I had to make my legs turn and make the most of what had been dealt to me. I had done the work and I wasn’t going to leave anything on the course. It was going to be tough, I had no power and no speed.

Of course that attitude took a bit of a battering as I was caught on the hill by a fast moving Amanda Spratt and an even faster moving Ruth Corset. I dragged myself over the top of the hill, which is also when I started trying to cough up a lung! And set about re-catching my minute marker (I had passed her around the 15km mark) and putting in a decent final 5 km. That final 5km hurt- a lot, but it was respectable and that was all I wanted. I don’t think I have ever been so relieved to be over the finish line, but I was also incredibly devastated that my ride had been so utterly awful.

Trying to hold myself together I warmed down, packed the car and got out of my wet kit. It wasn’t until I was safely in the Tardis that I allowed myself the tears of bitter disappointment before making my way to mum and dad’s.

It wasn’t long before I became aware of the razorblades in my throat. The signs that I had been ignoring earlier were starting to make sense, and I finally understood what the problem had been... I had a cold.

I am still absolutely gutted from what could have been. The organisers had rated me highly enough to start me 11th from the end and I could barely scrape into 30th! For each person who will judge me on this number there is someone who knows this is an uncharacteristic performance, will ask and will sympathise. In hindsight maybe I should have sat this one out, but it is a long way to travel to DNS and I learnt far more about myself and how tough I can be than I would have otherwise.

And at the end of the day, it is just a bike race. (Thanks Lyn!)

Massive thanks to Brian and MaryAnn Simpson for everything leading up to the event and on race day. Mum for expertly driving the follow car on her first attempt- ie thanks for not running me over!! And Matt for my shiny new disc wheel :) (I will tell you about that some other time)

Making my list and checking it twice

(Sorry I did write this well before Christmas but I haven't had a chance to post it.)

NSW Track Championships- Individual Pursuit and Omnium

After the frustration the Points Race the week before I was determined that my remaining events of the NSW track championships would be better.

Whilst a silver medal in the pursuit would be considered a good result for many, for me it was a disappointing night. In short, it wasn’t my evening and my times were disappointing. The biggest achievement of the night was recognizing a number of issues that have probably been present since I started riding the pursuit, but we will have to wait until next season to rectify those.

Three days later it was back to Dunc Gray for the Omnium. With 6 very different events to get through in one day the key to surviving the day was to have my head in the right place and to be organized. Matt, the super soigny, was on hand to ensure I was fed, hydrated and that right gear was on my bike for each event. Supercoach Brian was on hand with race tactics and guidance, and I had my list of things to achieve in each round.

With the above combination, the result was domination of the event. In summary I won the flying lap, the 2km Individual Pursuit, the Points Race and the Scratch race. I was second in the elimination race and 3^rd in the 500m TT. The highlights including getting the flying lap text book accurate, riding schedule for the pursuit and taking complete control of the scratch race. By the time we got to the 500m I had sufficient points buffer that I only had to finish the event to take the gold- which is probably just as well as a) the 500m is my worst event and b) I was starting to get a bit fatigued!

Three events and a complete set of medals from the NSW Track Champs this year. More importantly, a lot of lessons learnt and things to improve.

The weight of expectation

Some days I am my own worst enemy. I am sure that there are very few athletes that wouldn’t be able to relate to that. Sometimes you will set the expectation on your performance so high that the journey to the result is well below capability. These are the most frustrating days and this weekend I had one. It is one thing to be physically underdone, but to work against yourself is the toughest reality to face. The final result may not have ended up being any different, but you know that you didn’t give yourself the best opportunity to ensure that it was the best you could have done.

It is necessary to have goals and to have determination and the confidence to back yourself. It is the ability to balance these factors without creating unrealistic expectations that make a successful athlete. It is when the balance is out that weight of expectation becomes too much.

NSW Points Race Champs may not have gone my way, but I know where things went wrong and am determined to overcome that and come back to the boards flying! In the meantime, I will accept the bronze and be grateful, given how I feel I performed, that I achieved any sort of result.

ENOUGH WITH THE RAIN ALREADY!!!

But a good opportunity for a product review!

Jet Black Fluid Turbo Trainer 2010 model

Last year I told you about the JetBlack Trainer that I had. Due to a design issue and a piece being lost, which rendered it unusable, I got the 2010 HydroGel Fluid Trainer. Since it has been raining continuously on the Eastern Seaboard of Australia for the last week, I have had ample opportunity to really critique this machine (we have been in drought for the rest of the year so I haven’t really needed it!!)

In a nutshell I can tell you that this trainer is awesome! The information from the website is pretty accurate (although I can’t vouch for the numbers provided). I hope that you find my comments on the points in the product information helpful. If you have any other questions, please flick me an email and I will see if I can answer it.

(NB: This is in no way a paid assessment of the trainer, nor do I have any commercial interest in JetBlack or other sponsorship arrangement- although JetBlack if your reading this...!!)

• Fluid Trainer with HydroGel Roller

• New Roller with Special HYDROGEL Composition creating a new type of contact between your bike and the trainer

• HYDROGEL Roller for increased tire grip, giving ultimate 'on road' feel while training indoors, with no slippage at the roller

This contact is great. The feel is a little bit tacky initially and the first 5 minutes may take a little bit of grinding to get through as the viscosity of the gel improves, but once you are off and going, it runs really well.

The ‘on road’ feel is not quite there- maybe I am just used to riding on rougher roads! But the ride is pretty smooth. The claim of no slippage at the roller is true enough, providing you have the “extra cap-bit” screwed down on to the base to ensure that the screw for the roller can’t come undone as I have had happen a couple of times- not the end of the world, just means you will at first slip and then have no resistance!

• Reduces Noise By 55% and Tire Wear by 25-30% - great for indoor training at home

• Super quiet and smooth

The noise is definitely reduced compared to the 2009 model and other trainers I have used. I haven’t done any active noise measurements so can’t really say if it is 55%, but it is pretty quite. The only caveat to this is that the first 5 or so minutes can be a bit noisier as the gel warms up. Once you are into a good rhythm it is relatively silent. There is still a little bit of a hum but if you have things set properly nothing that your ipod won’t drown out!

As for tyre wear, that is pretty well reduced, again no actual measurements to verify this claim. Like all trainers there is a bit of squaring that happens over time, but if you are only on there for a short time and infrequently you may not notice it. I have a spare wheel that I use with an older tyre that I don’t use on the road. I can tell you that the wear is less than on the 2009 model that I had.

• New CNC'ed head for more efficient cooling

I am not entirely sure what this means, but the unit has stayed pretty cool and has never been notably hot to the touch when I have finished the session.

• Smooth progressive resistance - Trainer automatically adjusts resistance when you change gears or increase speed. Adjustment levers are a thing of the past!

This is really very true and is awesome. The resistance is so efficient that I rarely need to use the big chain ring and can get through a wide vairety of different sessions using just the rear cassette.

• Fluid Trainers increase pedalling performance by helping you develop a circular pedal action

The smoothness of the roller and hydrofluid is what makes this happen. As already noted the first 5 or so minutes can be a bit tough, but once things are running the rear wheel always runs smoothly. Still doesn’t mean you can be lazy with your pedalling, but makes it easier to not be in squares if the equipment is not working against you!

• Progressive resistance 5 watts to 900 watts

I no longer have an SRM but I would be really interested to see how this claim and the callibration on the box actually measure up.

• Dual retention system for solid, precise wheel alignment & stability

The unit is super stable and can handle intense short sprint efforts (although if you are a track sprinter you might be looking at something else anyway). I have never had any problems with wheel alignment, and don’t expect to with the adjustment mechanism and width of the roller.

One additional comment, make sure you pick up a riser block from your LBS when you take one of these home; I think they now come with one, but double check as you will need it.

All up I think I would say 4.25/5 for this unit. It is excellent value for money. It is stable, it is reasonably quite, once the fluid is warmed up it is smooth and the resistance is great. The only problems I have found are the initial warm-up phase (but that passes) and the roller unscrewing (but that is rectified by tightening the extra cap, which is what it is for!).