Your ride today, yesterday....

[KNAPPO]

based on the photo, it looks like time spent off the bike is where the real problem is
Hope you're ok and you haven't damaged yourself or your bike too much!

Ha!

Yeah glad I didn't hurt the bike after the drive train expense the day before...
Ripped up a brand new jersey and the helmet but im glad I bought it now and wasn't wearing a non full face as my right side would be grated up like my guts.

The jersey got stitched up so it has character now lol. Itll be a while before I can justify a new full face as they arnt cheap, confidence has been knocked about a bit so ill be taking it easy for a while.

In 2 weeks the twins get their first BMX's so ill be spending a bit of time with the 3 boys riding around the local fire tracks and pump track at Cobblers. I could have bought a new bike with the damage bill from the last two rides.

[CLP]

You know that scenario when some upstart out of towner comes in, disrespecting you and beating all your Strava PRs? that's what I was on the receiving end of today

Had an awesome ride this morning with Norbs, taking on SA Police's annual Ride Like Crazy, a charity ride for raising funds for cancer research.
I had a less than ideal lead up to this one. After my last race my right knee was giving me all sort of hassles, so I figured I needed to baby it for a bit.

After being given the green light to start, Norbs was off! Wait, what?

The pace was quicker than I'd be doing with Miss V (who unfortunately is still off the bike) but generally manageable. Heading up most of the hills, Norbs was a frickin' powerhouse, smashing his way up the road anytime the road headed upward. His work/training over the last year has definitely paid off. While I was being a little cautious with my riding, I don't think I would have caught him even if I wasn't. I suspect my Norton Summit PR might be falling later in the week

Unlike previous attempts of Ride Like Crazy, I took on the Corkscrew Challenge, spurred on by Norbs who was super keen to give this bit of road some attention. Actually pretty pleased with getting up there in my 3rd best time. Norbs loved it.

descent down from the top of Corkscrew Road was a bit annoying with some clowns getting in the way, but we eventually blasted past those guys then a bit of a zig-zag through the suburbs to get us back to Unley Oval for a well deserved feed.

https://www.strava.com/activities/832244454

IMG_0063_800.jpg

[KNAPPO]

Giving the bird to the Corkscrew, nice!

[hutchy]

All that Zwifting pay off for Norbs...... well done gents nice ride.

[norbs]

Good write up Carlos.

I didnt think we were going to hard at the start. Just passing a lot of people. There are some interesting styles out there.

The segment up the freeways is hard to judge. We went on the road, not the bike path, but I took nearly 5 minutes of last years time 30:35 vs 35:20. I did manage 279W for that time. So pretty happy considering my health.

The rest of the ride was good. A got very cold over the top at one point when it dropped to 10C.

The run down hill to the bottom of Corkscrew was tremendous. Carl mentioned I gapped him on some climbs, he didnt mention what a fucking demon descender he is. He goes downhill like a cheetah with Tabasco on its date!

Corkscrew is a killer. I really miss the 34 tooth inner ring on those real steep climbs. 28 on the back helps, but at one point I was doing 40RPM and that is a killer. As with most climbs, I reckon I could go quicker after doing it a few times, just so I know where I can push and where to conserve.

All in all, a great ride to do. The best organised ride I reckon I have done.

https://video.relive.cc/strava_83222611 ... 040175.mp4

https://www.strava.com/activities/832226117

[CLP]

The rest of the ride was good. A got very cold over the top at one point when it dropped to 10C.

Behind the scenes view of Norbs posting about his cold nipples:

GOPR0345.MP4_snapshot_06.45_[2017.01.16_13.00.41]_0800.jpg

The run down hill to the bottom of Corkscrew was tremendous.

I reckon that 's one of the best descents around Adelaide. Fortunately, you can easily include it as part of a loop when you do Norton Summit..

Corkscrew is a killer. I really miss the 34 tooth inner ring on those real steep climbs. 28 on the back helps, but at one point I was doing 40RPM and that is a killer. As with most climbs, I reckon I could go quicker after doing it a few times, just so I know where I can push and where to conserve.

can you go a 30t on the back? That'd put you in about the same range as a 34x28 setup. Thinking that I might have to retry corkscrew in the near future, but with a 27t on the back. I had this vague notion that i'd ride near you to get some footage of you climbing Corkscrew. That plan probably would have worked better if I could keep up reviewing the footage, You seem to take a swig from your bottle then shot off like a rocket. I think the contents of that bottle may need some analysis :P

GOPR0347.MP4_snapshot_08.29_[2017.01.16_15.41.08]_0800.jpg

[CLP]

A couple of rides over the last 2 days which couldn't be more different!

Yesterday was forecast to be a hot one, so i planned to ride out to the TDU Stage 1 finishing loop early to beat the heat. Basically took it super easy, and got into out to the finishing loop within good time. Nice riding out there, with minimal traffic. Riding out to the bottom end of the course things took a bit of a nasty turn with the wind picking up and the heat ramping up significantly.
At one point I pulled over to take a photo of my garmin temperature readout figuring it wouldn't get much higher. Half a km down the road and it'd increased by another degree. By the time I found Miss V at the designated meeting point on the top of Whispering Wall my Garmin was telling my it was 44 degrees. Sweet Jeebus. Seriously, it felt like I was breathing in fire ..

Fortunately we'd planned ahead and we had some nice ice water

https://www.strava.com/activities/834605787

GOPR0348.MP4_snapshot_00.06_[2017.01.18_16.15.07]_0800.jpg

GOPR0352.MP4_snapshot_02.26_[2017.01.18_16.18.02]_0800.jpg

Today I headed out to Stirling to watching the starting loop. Mr Norbs was meant to come along to this one but he's apparently acquired some exotic illness . Wishing our fearless leader a speedy recovery. I headed up Norton Summit (no records were in jeopardy!) and then onto Mount Lofty. I stopped off at Mount Lofty Summit which was covered in fog and appropriately chilly at 10 degrees. :o Contrast that with yesterday! :o

Quick run down the hill to Stirling where I milled about the place, including smashing a BBQ sausage, before calling in on an ex work colleague who lives on the course route to watch the race unfold.

Stress free ride home via the old freeway under sunny skies. Awesome

https://www.strava.com/activities/835707058

[CLP]

Back to following the TDU yesterday and today after a day off on Thursday.

Yesterday was the day of the Bupa Challenge tour. I'd opted not to do this ride, but planned to head out and watch from a few vantage points. My general aim was to avoid the Challenge tour riders if possible, but with various road closures this was pretty difficult at times. Weather was fairly ordinary. Quite cold, a little damp and a bit breezy. Nevertheless, the when i managed to get on roads not used by the tour it was a fairly peaceful ride through the Adelaide Hills. After watching from the intermediate sprint point at Birdwood I raced over to Mt Torrens to watch from a vantage point that Miss V and I had scoped out via Google Maps the night before. I had originally planned to ride home, but having watched the Challenge Tour riders struggling up some of the hills, I decided a lift back in the car with Miss V might be more sensible. All the same, a 63 km outing

https://www.strava.com/activities/837852309

Today .. well.. what a sensational day to be on a bike!
Rode from home to McLaren Vale. I had intended to ride with a group, but i think i misread the meeting point. Never mind. Rode solo to McLaren Vale and met up with everyone, including Miss V at the designated spot. Weather was sensationally perfect.

https://www.strava.com/activities/838783239

GOPR0366.MP4_snapshot_02.51_[2017.01.21_21.38.42]_0800.jpg

GP010366.MP4_snapshot_06.44_[2017.01.21_21.41.50]_0800.jpg

[CLP]

Yesterday's commute was a little more special than I would normally hope.

Pulling away from a set of lights and I hear a pop/creak/something from the bike. I think nothing of it since it seems to happen a lot with my CX bike. I looked back at my rear wheel and notice it wobbling a lot more than usual. Turns out that I had busted a spoke. I managed to get it to work though. Looks like I sheared off the spoke at the nipple end, and it's ejected itself from the wheel.

I swear those wheels are cursed. If there's something that could get caught in them, they will be caught in them

[KNAPPO]

I had a great ride last night down Dry Creek and along the singletracks that go up Milne Road. This area got smashed really hard with the recent storms and was almost unridable about 2 months ago so I stayed away.

The local trail faries have been doing some work and areas where the creek bolted over the bank and flowed down the trail have gone from flattish singletrack to nice n techie trail. One area a pair of massive tree roots are un earthed and the dodgy bits have been filled with rocks making a really cool tree root bridge. The Milne Rd section has at least changed by 40% with new lines and obstacles. Love this area as it naturally changes every few years with erosion.

https://www.relive.cc/view/851547519

[KNAPPO]

Free trail upgrades.
2 months ago this was a straight piece of trail that went over all the newly exposed roots. You would have never known this was all here.

[wabbit]

Pretty sure this is my first post.

Sunday out of the blue I decided to wash the bike and helmet being covered in 3-4 years of dirt, pumped up the tyres and thought fuck it lets go (wet helmet and all). Rode down to the servo and pumped up the tyres some more. Got 6mins into it, legs telling me they've had enough then BANG, rear went. Walked it back home. Learnt it's not smart to use a servo pump on bike tyres, whoopsie I didn't know. Monday picked up new tubes, tyres and a real pump with gauge and a battery for the trip computer thingy. Figured out how to change tubes and tyres, not hard but the rear had me stumped for awhile.

Today I left at 6pm, rode around hilly Mount Gravatt. Found some bike paths and parts I didn't know existed. Got to a familiar place, had a drink and decided to head back another way. All up 47mins, 430 calories, 150bpm (avg heart rate), 11.2kms, top speed 48kph, average 11kph.

Felt completely fucked afterwards but now after a rest and dinner I'm very glad I did that, quite proud of myself.

[norbs]

Good man. Strava.


Sent from my E5823 using Tapatalk

[CLP]

Good stuff!

[KNAPPO]

Found some bike paths and parts I didn't know existed.

Top work!
This is the best part of riding a bike, discovering new places even if they are close to home.

Last week I found two new singletracks I didn't know were there, they were on the other side of a creek I ride fairly often but their character was a lot different to the opposing side. Love finding new trails.

[wabbit]

Thanks everyone Norbs, Strava... meh, I honestly wonder what I'd get out of it.

This is the best part of riding a bike, discovering new places even if they are close to home.

Yeah I think you're right. I do remember being a kid or maybe a young teenager being out and about until it was close to sun down. Was given a mountain bike and I'd just explore and go places, many suburbs away until I knew I better get home soon. The Gold Coast was great for that, bike paths everywhere, new estates, oh fuck flooding! slowly going through up to my handlebars. Good times, my ride did remind me of that and also how unhealthy I've become haha.

[CLP]

Thanks everyone Norbs, Strava... meh, I honestly wonder what I'd get out of it.

it's not for you.. it's for us to monitor and evaluate you.. and give you grief if you appear to be slacking off. Or something like that


In other news.. it was frickin' hot in Adelaide today. ~40 degrees when i left from work Apparently another 2 days like this to go.

[wabbit]

Or something like that

Haha, holy shit I can't sign up fast enough

[markus]

Nice mtb ride today, trying to keep up with our only dh/enduro pro and his cousin who has mad skillz and an e-bike. I started at zone 2 heart rate and the rest of the 2.5 hour ride was more or less at my xc marathon race pace

[KNAPPO]

My 3rd time down the Wildflower Downhill at Ansteys Hill. 1st time in the daylight.

Going to enjoy having this place officially open to mountain bikes in a few weeks time as it's all riding distance from home.

[wabbit]

That looks like great fun

[KNAPPO]

Had to put together a quick 60 second clip from yesterday.

[KNAPPO]

Made this on Monday night, pretty happy with how it turned out.
1st shot is how it looked before.

[KNAPPO]

Too much riding on the weekend = very sore Knappo today....
Something tells me doing a big night ride Saturday night, finishing at 11pm, going to bed at 1am then getting up at 6am to do it all over again with a mate wasn't the best idea.


Top ride with my boy on Saturday.




Then trashing about in Ansteys Hill on Saturday night and Sunday morning.






Hard to pass up a view like this!

[KNAPPO]

well done gents nice ride.

Hutchy, your next challenge.