A drop of the old red

Well I was supposed to be riding the 8hr at Appin today, but pulled the plug on it earlier in the week due to a combination of factors. The first being El Salt is still in pieces in the garage while the forks are being serviced. I am not going to try to do another 8hr on a HT. The second reason is the weather. They have had bucket loads of rain further north and with this course being standstone based if waters added it's just going to kill your drivetrain.
Yesterday was a hit out with the bakery bunch, and the weather was alot warmer then it's been the last couple of weeks...balmy even.
Today I was supposed to go and play with one of my new toys but it rained. I think I've gotten a bit soft liking here in Canberra. It doesn't rain much, and I just can't be arsed forcing myself to go training in it when it does. I will race, but no training.
Works be giving me the $hits still at the moment with our continued restructure so the motivation to train has been a bit off, as it normally is when you have bigger things on your mind.....
On to something brighter, I drink a bit of red wine (especially during the winter) and I have seen this brand at the local bottle store for a while so thought I might give it a go. If for no other reason the brand name.

Product Review: Assos Gloves

A package of gear arrived from Chain Reaction Cycles yesterday. I have started condensing so of the gear I have in my garage to free up some money to reinvest in new gear (Also I'm sure it has nothing to do with my wife tell me to clean up the garage!)
So these are one of the two items that were in the box,


Assos Summer Gloves

Now I have/ do own a bit of Assos gear, and can attest that the price does by you some quality clothing. I have own pairs of their shorts, thermal jackets, vests, rain jackets, and gloves. I have to admit some of it is overpriced. The shorts in my opinion, the same quality can be had from Giordana for a 1/3 of the price. The thermal jackets are worth the money. But the gloves I have so say, are the best have ever tried. The fit of the lycra backing is perfect in the way that it hugs the hand. The stand out is the padding in the palm. It is ideally placed to provide maximum comfort without robbing you of bar feel.



Padding in the palm

But the greatest thing is the price, for these being Assos they are a steal at only $AU65 from Chain Reaction Cycles

In the Hurt Box

Yesterday was CORC’s monthly XC race with this one being based at Kowen Forrest. Kowen as some of you will know is the old location of the Mont 24hr race. It hasn’t been held here for a number of years, and from looking at the condition of some of the trails looks mainly as though it’s the domain of the throttle jockeys these days.

Due to the cold weather of late, I rocked up as soon as the gates were open to get a couple of laps in pre-race and to try and warm-up. I used to be an asthmatic when I was younger and the cold weather still can affect my lungs if I’m not careful and try and race without a proper warm-up.

When I was doing my first lap, the trail fairy was out checking that all the signage was still in place so every time I would pop out onto the fire road he would be waiting and ask me whether the signs were still there. I tried turning is into a bit of a race but apparently a 4wd on the fire road is quicker then me on the MTB as I never beat him to any on the junctions.

Riding the course, there were sections that were so fresh they looked like they had only been cut the previous week. I was glad I pre-rode the course to get a feel of it, as it came in handy come race time. It was really rough and rooty and I was questioning my wisdom of using the hard tail.

Lining up on the front row of and gun goes, and I screw the start by not getting my foot in properly and end up coming into the single track in about 6th or so…after under cutting 3 people into the first corner. Through the first rooty section and I getting a pounding, trying to stay loose, but it’s real hard. Out the other side and onto the first and longest fire road section, and time to wind it up jumping past two riders along this 400m section.

So up into third and it stays this way through the next two single track sections till we hit the single pinch climb on the course. I open the taps and punch it up the climb passing the two riders in front and manage to gap them going in the next section. Then we start hitting the traffic! Ever since I have started MTBing I have made it a point to always call “Rider back” when hitting traffic and not barge past slower riders. I have been on the receiving end before and know that a little bit of courteously goes a long way to making a clean pass. Also I try and make the call loud and anticipate the direction that the riders going to move so as to get the job done as quickly as possible.

I think that’s the reason that I managed to open up a gap back to the chasing riders through the next lap and half. I also was basically doing efforts jumping from one slow rider to the next and then try and recover. I also was going hard on the fire roads to try and add extra distance back.

I as I mentioned it took about a lap and half before the chasers got back on terms. By this stage I was so far in the Hurt Box it wasn’t funny. First one, then two, and finally three came past. I went from floating over the roots to feeling like I was bouncing off every since one. It was close to lights out. I decided given how far gone I was, if I could hold onto a top five finish I would be happy. I couldn’t see or hear anyone behind, but I kept the pressure on for the final lap. I found a bit of a rabbit to chase in Big Jase who ended up having a bit of a nightmare race. I finally caught and passed him with about 1.2k to go of the lap.

Sum of the Numbers

From examining the power tap file, the numbers were spot on for 80mins with an average of just on 270 watts. From looking at the graph you can see the spot where I hit the lead and my heart rate topped out at 182bpm.



The Aftermath

Finishing the race my legs were screwed! They haven't been this sore in months. They felt like the day after a four hour road race. Todays Monday and no riding today, the wife is giving me a leg rub later to try and remove some of the crap from the muscles.

The worlds most hated wheels???

To find out the full story follw this link,

velo-news

The really scary thing was they are testing a MTB version,

Kinda Cool

Never seen this before And I think it's not too shabby....

Into the Pain Cave

Cause the weather has turned a bit sh!t the last week or so I have ventured back onto the pain machine...sorry erg to keep the training up. Because I have a number of TT's coming up I have had to start training on the TT bike again to get reacquainted with the position.
My TT position isn't that extreme, but you do recruit muscles in a different manner than the standard road position. One of the key principles of training is specificity, if you're racing it, you need to training it. In the past I have tried jumping on a TT bike and racing for an hour and suffered cramps after about 40mins.
At the moment my numbers aren't too flash but I know they start climbing really quickly when I focus on 2x20's.

Slacker then normal

Well I have been dragging a$$, more than normal even for me posting an update from the weekend...I think the reason is that I have been mulling over my "desire" for road racing.
There used to be a point in time, in the not too distance past where nothing would phase me in a road race. The weather, the competition, the course.. you get the idea. Well this last Saturday I really came to point where I said do I have the desire to be in this race? But that's getting a bit ahead of my self.
First off I missed the roll out for the race! This is the first time this has ever happened. There was a group of us clustered around the finish line (8 riders), we never got the call to line up around the corner and the 30 rider bunch rolled out without us. Eventually we were told we could join in when the bunch came pass and race for a placing. Now this year the organisers got clever they decided it would be fun to run the course in reverse....and it was drizzling before the start enough to slick the course.
Sure enough first time through the corners past the pedestrian bridge someone crashes two riders in front of me! Rear lock-up left, right left flick to avoid the rider heart rate through the roof and one lap down.
Now everyone knows rain+ asphalt+ grit+ painted lines = danger so next lap through I get the whole two wheel drift thing happening. Now anyone that has had this happen know what a shammy staining experience it is on a road bike. Yeah it's cool and fun on the MTB, but on a road bike it's just not meant to happen. And if it does happen normally the consequences are something similar to super bike racing. The person ends up over correcting and high siding the bike...which normally results in broken bones.
Well I have to say that I must have a guardian angel in this respect as I have had it happen a number of times and never crashed...gone home and had to wipe my shorts out but never crashed. But this day I had it happen two laps in a row, and I was ready to throw in the towel. I really don't know whether other people were having the same trouble as me but I just wasn't up to decking it for nothing.
After the first two laps the course started to dry up after the light drizzling rain and I was more confident through the corners.
A break established itself about halfway through, but at about the 70k mark down came the rain again and I had another moment in the corners. And I just sat up and called it a day. At the time I justified it with personal safety, but in hindsight it seems a bit weak. As I said there was a time where it really wouldn't have worried me.
I guess this is the point where I'm supposed to lament about priorities, age and knowledge. In a way I do want to be Peter Pan and never grow up. I guess age is catching up.

Sunday was alot more fun. I got to ride the MTB around Sparrow for the first time in months. And yes it was as good as I remember. However the up shot of the ride was I diagnosed the noise in my Magura forks. Looks as though the bushings have gone. I'm reserving judgment on this, as the new Australian agent A-Line are looking to cover the forks under warranty. For a set of forks less than 6 months old, with maybe one ride every other weekend it's not boding well. They have perform excellently so far but to kill a set of bushings in 6 months of occasional use isn't flash.