I'd made huge advances with my Zinn - so wanted to now see how far I could go with some serious work.

A year ago I’d decided to take on a coach – train seriously – aimed at the Nationals TT –  and see what I could do.  I’d only ever ridden in a handful of TT’s at that stage – but figured that would be a good place to aim – as it takes the size element out of the equation to a degree.

So this was it!

Not quite do or die – as apart from me – no one would really care a jot about how I went.  But it was going to be a serious test of my years’ worth of work.

And I was worried about how I’d go.

I’d made really big gains in the first half of my year – which showed up in the difference in the test results from the start and then halfway through the year.  But then I’d hit problems.  I had a big performance drop – which saw me heading to the doctors for a full round of medical test.  Tests came back fine – but showed that I had very high blood pressure – which we dealt with via medication.  This didn’t really explain the drop in performance however and in the end it looked like the probable cause was some sort of virus.  Anyhow it took me a long time to come right from that – and it was only in the weeks leading up to the Nationals that I was starting to feel like I did at the time of the previous test just before things went haywire.

And in the TT rides I’d done up to the nationals – I hadn’t gone as well as I would have liked.  One of the early markers that I’d set myself was to break a 40km/hr average in a TT – and this was something I thought I would’ve cracked pretty quickly with training.  But here I was at the Nationals – still having not got past the elusive 40km/hr in a TT.  I was seriously beginning to think that maybe it was beyond me.

So how did I go?…

There were 2 of in our club having a crack in the TT – and we drove up together on the day.  We met up with Bob and Derek, who were the officials from our club, at their motel.

I’d woken up that day feeling pretty nervous and this was building as I got closer to start time.  But it was that good sort of nervous energy that I hadn’t experienced since my days playing in big rugby matches.  So I took this as a good sign.  We got changed at the motel and performed all the pre ride rituals – pinning the number on the jersey – checking the bike – pre ride meal etc etc.

Nerves, nerves, nerves!

How would I go?  Would I come last? It wouldn’t really matter if I did come last – but please don’t let me come last!!!

So with these sorts of thoughts going through my head – we headed over to the course.  I’d already figured I was going to commit a big no no – in changing what I normally did.  My plan was to do a long warm up of 1.5 hrs.  I’d never warmed up for that length of time before – but I’d never really had the chance as most of the TT’s I’d done up to now were evening events after work – so no opportunity to warm up for that amount of time.  And I know I often struggled early on in races and got more comfortable as things progressed – so I figured I’d do a long warmup that started slow and build the intensity into the last half hour.

So that’s what I did – and it was absolutely the right thing to do.   Spent best part of an hour just going for a ride – nice and relaxed.  I stayed pretty close to the Start/Finish just in case I had any bike problems – and I tried not to see all the very flash TT specific bikes and the riders with the skinsuits and all the TT bling.  It’s the rider that counts the most right?

Then with a little over half an hour to go – I came back to the club trailer and Bob and Derek swapped the wheels on my bike over to the quick SRAM S80 wheels that I’d borrowed for the event.  (a bit of bling of my own).  Put on my borrowed TT helmet – and headed off again to build a bit of intensity and get a real sweat up.

Intervals went well – wheels sounded cool (very important ) and  before I knew it – it was time to head to the start.

Still feeling nervous – but still good nervous – amped, focussed, buzzing, ready to go…

Had to get through the scrutineering – where they measured my bike to make sure it complied with UCI regulations.   If you’ve read the rest of my blog you will know that as I’m 6’7” and have a custom built bike – no – it didn’t meet with the UCI’s restrictive regulations (specifically the front half of the bike was too long and the bottom bracket was too high off the ground).  But I’d made sure that I’d complied as much as I possibly could – especially in the setup of the handlebars and seat.  I’d been in touch with the commissairs before the event to let them know my circumstances and they’d told me that if my bike didn’t comply – they’d let me ride but that I wouldn’t be an official part of the results.  They also then went on to tell me how my bike was all wrong and had very strange geometry – which I didn’t appreciate as I wasn’t asking them what they thought of my bike – I was asking if it complied with their rules.  By now I’m used to people questioning the validity of the design.  It’s nice to let the results speak for themselves…

So as I rolled up – the commisaire said “So this is the famous bike”.  Here we go I thought.

My Zinn in TT mode

He put it up against their jig and saw that the bars and seat were inside the prescribed measurements – and told me that I’d done well to make it comply – off you go…  Wow!   The measurements that my bike fails on – weren’t even on the jig!!!

So I was going to be part of the results…

So that left me with a 5 min wait until my start – in the start box (once you’ve been measured – you can’t leave the start area).  They offered me a seat – but I couldn’t sit – had to keep moving.  Bob came and was a calming influence – focussing on the process I was about to start.

Bob and I in the pre-start area. I think the bike's a little too big for him

Got on the bike with about 30 seconds to go – there was a starter counting me down – and a guy to hold my bike.  I reminded him that I was probably double the weight of most of the other riders – so make sure you get a good hold…

Bob was talking to me as the clock counted down – which was really good stuff – breathing, focus, power etc etc

5, 4, 3, 2, 1, GO!

The plan – that my coach and I had come up with – was to start in a controlled fashion for the first few km.  In the past I’d been guilty of going out too fast too soon and blowing up.  I’d done that in the Wellington Centre TT Champs only a few weeks previously – and had come second in a TT I should have won.  So – start in a biggish gear and keep the heart rate down a bit just to settle in – and then give it death!

And the course played into this plan for me – as just after getting up to speed from the start – it headed slightly downhill for a good bit and this let me comfortably get in a big gear and settle in without pushing too hard.

It’s a fine line however…

I knew the course – which helped – I’d come up a few weeks previously and had ridden it.  It was an out and back that followed the river upstream in the first half.  So was slightly uphill on the way out – but I knew that it was really a series of flats with short steps up in between.  So push hard on the steps and back under control on the flats.

And it went fantastically well on the way out.  I wasn’t riding with either a heart rate monitor or a speedo – but I knew I felt good and comfortable and that I was pushing a big gear – even on the slightly uphill bits.  And I also saw that I could see the rider that started a minute in front of me and that I was slowly catching him!  Cool – I had someone to chase.  Turns out I caught this guy easily – and he was in fact the guy that had started 2 mins ahead of me – and he’d already been caught by the guy in front of me.   It really is the best feeling to blast by someone – and it also meant something very important – I wasn’t the slowest!

Then I started seeing another rider up ahead – my minute man.  And I was catching him too – not as fast – but definitely catching.  Yeee Haaa!

At the turnaround – I was about 20secs behind him – and had 12.5km of slightly downhill to go.  And when you are my size – slightly downhill is your friend…

I caught him with about 6km to go.  He had a beautiful TT bike, skinsuit and all the bling – so it was a nice feeling to pass him on my road bike with clipon TT bars.

Then it was a matter of hanging on.  I was tiring – and finally had to change down a gear – but I knew I was going way faster than I ever had before.   I died a bit on the uphill bits before the finish – and had absolutely nothing left for a sprint.

I finished in 36:08 – and an average speed of 41.5km/hr!  (click here to see results)  Very very happy – didn’t just break the seemingly unbreakable 40km/hr barrier – but absolutely smashed it!

Looking back now – I think I had the perfect day.  I really don’t think I could have gone any faster.  Terry Gyde (my coach) really did a great job preparing me – especially in the last few weeks.  He’d told me a few weeks before the event – that I would average between 41 and 42 – and I didn’t believe him.  I guess that’s why he’s the coach.

To be sure – I think I can definitely go faster – but that will take more training, hard work and focus.  And Terry agrees “I’m picking you have a lot more development left in you”.  He and I are working together again to see what I can do in the Masters 3 division.

I’d love to have a TT bike for the next one – but I don’t think it’s going to happen (I’m still buying the lottery tickets).  But my beautiful Zinn once again proved itself the perfect vehicle for me to get power down on the road.  I know as a rule people seem to ride longer cranks in TT’s – but I bet not many are riding 210mm beauty’s!  Being a road bike – It’s certainly not the ideal platform for TT’s – and I will need to figure a way to get the bars lower still so I can get more aero.  But I think the proportional length cranks more than made up for any shortcomings.   When I do go for a TT bike – it’ll definitely be a custom built Zinn – so I can take advantage of the proportional cranks…  No brainer for me.  Can do things on the Zinn I could never have done before.   Did a seriously competitive time on a road bike with clip on aero bars!  And as far as I could see – I was the only one in my grade not on a TT bike.    So that bike geometry is not so silly after all

Of course this summary is overly simplistic – as there are a lot of other major factors as well.  Tactics, Handling skills and sheer Guts being 3 other major ones – but if you don’t have Power and Aerodynamics – then you aren’t going to be competitive.

Well – the physical conditioning is ongoing and progressing – and my TT speed has been steadily improving.  But the faster you go the more critical aerodynamics becomes.

As with everything I’ve been learning this year – there’s a lot more to it than would appear from the outside…

I’d also like to add that neither of these things are progressing as fast as I would like.  I always knew that it would probably take me a few years of training to get truly competitive – but I was secretly hoping that some miracle short cut might be found – but alas no – hard graft and steady progression is the order of the day.

So it’s nice to be reminded sometimes of how far you’ve come – because that’s easy to lose sight of in the throes of trying to get better.

The first photo above was taken at a club hill climb a few years back – when I weighed close to 140kg!  And the second was a couple of weeks ago – and over 15kg lighter.  I’d say that’s progress to be happy about…

But anyway – enough of the self congratulation – there’s still more to do…

I sort of figured that getting powerful and getting low would be the answer – but the search for speed really makes you dig deeper and see what really makes you go faster.  Getting low with a flat back is crucial – but you have to be able to produce power while in that position.  And I’ve been doing my interval training in that TT like position – to train the body – but – as I’m discovering –  on a ‘traditional’ road bike there are limitations…

I recently sent a couple of photos (including the 2nd one above) of myself to Lennard Zinn – who made my bike and who is also a technical writer for VeloNews and  to see if he could give me some advice.

Boy did he (I am very lucky to have him as a resource)

Wow!

How come this sort of information doesn’t reside in your average cycling club?  (well maybe it does – but it’s not been forthcoming)

So – unfortunately – a TT bike – isn’t on the cards at the present – and I’ll have to make do with my beautiful Zinn road bike.  (My plan will be to get a custom built bike from Lennard Zinn in future though).  This leaves me with the challenge of getting the seat way further forward – and the bars lower.

A quick google search for a forward offset seatpost showed me that – while they exist – none of them are long enough for my needs…  Bugger!

So a little dig around in my garage – gave me at least a temporary solution.

What I found was that I could use my mountainbike seatpost – which was luckily the same diameter – mounted backwards – so the offset faces forward.  And using an old leather Selle San Marco seat that has very sturdy seatrails – found there was enough adjustment in the seatpost and seat to get the seat a lot further foward…

Looks as ugly as sin – but it does the job…

And it makes a difference!  Next TT I did with this setup – I improved my time significantly – and very nearly achieved what has been a goal for a while – and that is to average over 40km/hr for a TT. (averaged 39.855km/hr)

It’s certainly not the most comfortable – but once you are up to speed – that goes out the window and you can feel the difference and really get the power down.

So now I have to get the bars down lower – which should (body willing) give me a big boost aerodynamically.

I’ve also got a set of TT bars instead of the clipons that I’m using above – so there’s a few more seconds.  And I’ve got a TT helmet that I can borrow – so hopefully that’s another few seconds…

I’m a realist – and I know that I’m not going to be anywhere near the podium this time around at the nationals – but I’m improving and learning and absorbing heaps of information and gathering valuable experience.

So all heading in the right direction…

It’s long – so if you want to read it – grab a cuppa first.

So…

facebook - Ted and I flew dow to Christchurch today. He's a seasoned traveller now

Ted and I flew down to Christchurch on Sunday.  We were down there so Ted could have a cochlear implant assessment at the van Asch Deaf Education Centre.  Van Asch is in the beautiful suburb of Sumner – and we were staying in a house on the campus.  A house – I might add – right across the road from a massive rock slope.

Ted and I went for a walk down to Sumner beach on Sunday afternoon – and I remember thinking that some of the houses built into the bottom of the hill must have been very worried at the time of the big earthquake in September and the subsequent aftershocks.    But apparently Sumner had got off pretty lightly in the previous quake.

Anyway – we had hearing tests on Monday in Sumner – and spent a nice evening with my cycling coach Terry Gyde and his wife Michele.  (Was the first time I’d met Terry in person – and it was great to catch up).  Terry is also a fireman – so was telling me a few stories about the previous earthquake and the thousands of aftershocks they’d been having.

The program for Tuesday was a trip to the Christchurch Hospital to see the specialist to give us the outcome of the hearing tests of the day before – and then to head home on a flight at 1:10pm.  Didn’t quite work out that way though…

Appointment went well.  With the outcome being that Ted’s hearing with his hearing aids is above the level that a cochlear implant would give him – so we’ll continue with the hearing aids (and learning sign language)

So after the appointment – Ted and I spent some time at the Canterbury Museum (which is next to the hospital and close to the city center) – before getting an early taxi out the airport so we could meet up with a guy I hadn’t seen or heard from since I was at school.

On the way out to the airport in the Taxi – the driver was pointing out all the damage from the September quake.  He was telling me there was something like 17,000 damaged chimneys.  He also said that he thought that Christchurch was probably the safest place to live in NZ as they’d had the big earthquake in September – and the aftershocks were fading – so they were safe from earthquakes for a long time.  Unfortunately it only took about 20 minutes to prove him wrong in a big way.

Grant - just a few minutes before the quake struck

I met up with my old school friend Grant – and after I got my boarding pass and checked my luggage – we went upstairs to the bar to catch up.  I hadn’t seen Grant since around 1984 – so I made sure I got a photo…

So we were catching up on 27 years of news – when all of a sudden – loud noise – shaking – people screaming and mayhem.   The locals were obviously way more attuned to what was happening than we were (Grant is a local – but was out of town for the 2 previous big ones) – because before I really knew what was happening – people were running past us.  By that stage Grant looked at me and said “I think we’d better move” and I grabbed Ted and we staggered up to the bar – and by the time we’d got there – it had stopped.  When I looked around – there were people on the floor and heavy plaster roof tiles smashed all over the place.   But it looked like everyone was OK.

I’ve been in plenty of earthquakes before – and this one started like any other decent shake – but it built in intensity and ended with a couple of violent sideways movements.

This CCTV footage from a supermarket – shows what I mean

Ted was pretty freaked out – and crying – but I think it was the yelling and running that people were doing – rather than the shaking that upset him.  And he settled down pretty quick.

The airport staff – kicked into action and we were ushered from the bar very quickly and everyone was asked to vacate the building.  We witnessed quite a bit of superficial damage – lots of ceiling tiles down and stuff spilled off shelves – but nothing really that would suggest the amount of damage that had taken place only a few km’s away in town.

At this stage I texted my wife Brigid to let her know we were OK – because I knew news would get out quick – and that the phones would most likely be jammed in a hurry.

12:57 (Me) Big earthquake but we’re OK

1:01 (Brigid) Tried ringing you but straight to voicemail

So we got outside the terminal and everybody was milling around – heaps of people on the phone and lots of very scared looking faces.

I found a place to sit with Ted.  But then we got the first aftershock – quite loud and people we running away from the buildings.  Picked Ted up and moved along with the crowd.  Turning back I realised that we had been sitting at the base of the tall control tower – probably not the smartest place to choose in the circumstances!

This is the quake drum in Canturbury. Shows a quiet morning then the big one and all the aftershocks. A week on now - and the aftershocks are still coming like this...

We were sitting outside the airport for a good while before an announcement came that the airport was to be closed indefinately and asking us to go home…   At which point most people looked at each other and thought what the hell do we do now…

In this time I’d managed to get hold of Brigid and assured her that we were OK – she’d been getting news and said she’d heard that the control tower had collapsed – and I was able to say – no it’s fine – we’d just been sitting underneath it.  Which probably wasn’t the most reassuring thing to say  We figured that we’d try and keep in touch by text as the phones were intermittant.  We discussed what I was going to do – but I didn’t really have a clue at this stage.  Grant’s partner was at the Antarctic Center which was nearby and he’d gone over there to make sure she was OK – and was going to come back – but we’d been asked to move along – so after hanging around a bit I made my way over to the antarctic center to see if I could find Grant.

I’d had a text from my Brother in this time.

1:41 (Alex) Are you and Ted OK?  Did you get caught in the earthquake?

1:52 (Me) Phone coverage is in and out – I’ve been in touch with Bridge.  We’re fine – airport is closed indefinately!  Big Shake.

A little later: (Alex) Let me know if you are stuck for a place to stay – stay safe mate.

It was amazing to me how quickly we’d become like refugees.  Masses of people drifting along the streets – not really sure where they were going.  There were quite a few elderly people with survival blankets around them too.

It was a bit of a surprise to find that the Antarctic Center was operating still and the power was on and the Cafe was open.  By this stage I wasn’t too keen to go indoors – but I figured I’d better get something for Ted to eat.  So we bought a couple of icecreams and sat in the cafe.

Got a couple more texts at this point.

One from a friend who knew I was in Christchurch.

2:27 (Paul) You OK?

2:30 (Me) Shaken not stirred was at airport.  Couple of good ones.  Airport now closed indefinately.  We’ve found a cafe open nearby – so we are all good.

Looking back now – it was a pretty glib reply – but I still didn’t realise the extent of the damage that had been done – or the danger we were still in.

I started realising that it was a big event when I got a text from my Brother in Australia…

2:46 (Kent) R U OK

2:48 We’re fine – holed up in a cafe.  Big Shake!  Airport is closed indefinitely.  Gotta find somewhere to stay or a way north now.

Was also talking to the people nearby – and a lady who had her laptop out and looking on the internet was telling us the news of the devastation in the city – which was beginning to come through.  So the enormity of it all was starting to sink in.

And to remind me even further – as I was talking to her – we got another big aftershock and this one seemed worse than the original quake (turns out it was similar in size at 5.9).  People were running and screaming – and it was pandemonium.  This one was bloody scary!  We didn’t run – stayed in the cafe and grabbed Ted.  I figured that if I ran it would be difficult to get through all the chairs and tables so we stayed put and hoped the building would hang together.  Ted was pretty upset at this one – and after it stopped we evacuated the building.

By now I knew that the outside world was way better informed than I was – and that word would be out about this 2nd big quake quickly.  So I texted Bridge to let her know we were OK.

2:52 (Me) Just had another big one! We’re fine…

(phone coverage was still in and out – so I didn’t really know if my messages were getting through.  I found out later that Grant had been txting me – but I never got his messages for hours)

The staff of the Antarctic Center were awesome – they went round and gathered up all the people who had fled the building and got us all together on a grass area.  The manager then told us to gather round and they’d tell us what they knew.  She said they’d have to close up – and told the staff to go and check on their families – and that if anyone didn’t have anywhere to go to come and see her and she’d see what they could do.  This was a big comfort  I think to those who were pretty freaked out and without a clue what to do.

But Ted and I moved on from there and went back down the road and found a huge crowd of people gathered at the Sudima Hotel and so without any other plan – I took shelter from the drizzle that was starting and hung out there for a bit.  While we were standing their – camper van after camper van was arriving at the front of the Hotel and parking on the grass.  And shortly after a guy addressed the people and said that he had the keys to all the camper vans – so we couldn’t go anywhere in them – but we were all welcome to use them to take shelter or stay in.  Awesome behaviour!  I never saw what company he was from – but what a fantastic thing to do.

I figured that given another quake – a camper van wouldn’t be a bad place to be, and after checking that there was nothing that could fall on them – we jumped in one.  But no sooner had we got in – when I spotted Grant – wandering nearby – so we gave up out spot and took off after him.

He and his partner were fine but a little worried as he hadn’t been able to get hold of his 14 year old son – who was at school.  Grant also lived in a place called Diamond Harbour which was out on Banks Peninsula and close to the epicenter of the quake.  He said that the road out there was tricky at the best of times – so they weren’t sure what they were going to do.  He’d been watching the TV in the Hotel – so he’d seen some of the footage of the devastation – so knew that he’d be lucky to get out there by car.

So – he suggested that we go into the hotel as with the TV on in there – we might be able to find out more.  It was absolutely packed to the gunnel’s – people everywhere and most glued to the TV.  Someone offered me a chair which I happily took – as Ted was getting bloody heavy.  I’d hardly sat down when Ted fell asleep – so evidently that was where we were going to be for a while…  I made sure that the chair was positioned under a supporting beam.

Grant decided at this point he was going to do a little exploring to see what the roads were like – so he left.  He was also going to grab some food for us if he found anywhere open.

With Ted asleep – I was able to text and phone people to let them know we were OK.  Was also able to catch glimpses of the TV and see a bit of the carnage in town.  Was shocking…

Ted woke a hour or so later and by this stage I’d got to know the people at the table I was near – so we joined them.  By now I was busting for the loo – and as Ted was happily chatting to the ladies at the table who were making a fuss of him – I was able to leave him with them for a minute.  But I really didn’t like leaving him in case we had another big quake (the aftershocks were coming think and fast at this point – but none really big – but it was very unnerving).

I figured at this point – I’d stay here as we had power and water and were safe enough.  The Hotel staff were just incredible – they announced that they would try to feed everyone – and were distributing water and blankets to all who wanted them.

Grant returned late afternoon – with the news that he couldn’t get far – and that everything was shut.   He and his partner decided that they would try another less direct route to get home before it got dark.  He’d talked to a neighbour who said that things were OK at his place (which is amazing as they were very close to the epicenter).  He was worried as he still hadn’t heard from his son.  (I spoke to Grant in subsequent days and his son was fine – and they got back home OK)

Got a text from Brigid early that evening…

6:14 (Bridge) How ya doing?  Kids are worried about u. I haven’t had the news on so as not to freak them out too much.  Annie told me her heart was broken in 2 because she is so worried!!

Send back a photo to show we were OK..

We're fine - hotel has been awesome. Battery nearly gone on phone though.

At around 7:30pm – the manager announced that they would be starting a buffet – and that old people and families were to go first – so we got fed quickly.  And that buffet carried on serving people – free of charge – until around 10:30.  There was a massive queue – that just kept coming.  And the staff were just fantastic.  One staff member that we got talking to – revealed that she wasn’t a regular staff member – her daughter worked there – and -after checking that her family was safe – she’d just come down to help out.

That evening news got around that the airport was to be open at 7am all things going to plan – so we at least had a plan for the morning.

Photo I uploaded to Facebook - "All settled in for the night in Christchurch - the Sudima Hotel has been legendary"

So after everyone had been fed – I made a bed for Ted and I with the blanket we’d been given – and I made sure it was as much as possible under a supporting beam.  Had to sing to Ted for a little while – but to my relief – he went off to sleep without too much trouble at all.  And slept through the whole night.  Which was amazing as I don’t think many people there got much sleep.  There were people wandering all night long and heaps and heaps of aftershocks that had some people taking cover – before trying to get back to sleep.  I don’t think I got much sleep – but Ted slept like a baby.  At about 4am – someones phone went off and the ringtone was a steam engine – which caused a few laughs about the place.

Managed to get a couple of Facebook updates out in the morning…

(4:51am – Facebook) Been a long night in chch – plenty of aftershocks. Ted’s slept through the lot of it thankfully. People have been marvelous, generous and warm hearted.

(6:31am – Facebook) We’re waiting outside rthe terminal now. Word is any minute for opening. Ted is entertaining the troops. And we just got interviewed by tv3 news

Ted at the baggage claim. As you can see - he's having a blast! The airport was packed to the rafters with people trying to escape - but this photo weirdly shows nobody at all around. If I had panned the camera round to the left - it's wall to wall people.

The airport and airnz staff were also as helpful as they could be – but the situation at the airport wasn’t great.  Absolute mayhem.  They had cancelled the previous day’s flights and we had to book again.  Only problem was we couldn’t get through to the booking number – or get online on their website to book a flight.  We did manage to get our bag that we’d checked in the day before – and I asked for a wheelchair for Ted – as it was a mission carrying him everywhere.   (The guy that got me the wheelchair also delivered some lollies for Ted )

My coach texted me to see if we’d got out the day before (I’d been hoping that they were OK – but had been reluctant to get in touch as I knew he’d be in the midst of rescue work) – and he had somber news…

7:34 (Terry) Did u get home ok?

7:41 (Me) No – we were about to board plane when it struck.  Stayed at hotel by airport.  We’ve been fine.  Are you guys ok?

7:43 (Terry) We are alive.  Sumner is destroyed!  Been rescuing all nite.  Hundred dead!

Also had been in touch with another old university friend Sheena who I’d caught up with in Sumner on Monday – her house in Cashmere Hills was badly damaged – but thankfully she had evacuated with her 3 kids to their holiday house in Akaroa.  “Shaken and unnerved but OK”

After queuing for ages for one of the two internet terminals – to rebook a flight – I talked to a lady at the front of the queue – who said the system didn’t work when you got to use it anyway – and that the first available flight was on Friday!  So we ditched the queue and came up with plan B.  While I was queuing – I’d been talking to Steve – one of the people whose table I was sharing back at the hotel – and we figured we could be here all day trying to get out – so why don’t we try to hire a car.  So a quick conflab with Steve and his Mother Gail and we figured we’d try to get a car north instead.  (Gail and Steve were from Queenstown – and were heading to Nelson to meet up with Gail’s husband for a holiday – and were just changing planes when the quake struck!  Bad timing!!).

Avis told us that they weren’t letting cars go as they might be needed – but Gail talked them into giving us a car by telling them we were on a mercy mission to get Ted out of the danger zone.  This was absolutely true – but she pulled it off beautifully – nice work!

So just before 11am – we were on the road and heading north.

10:52 (Facebook) Couldn’t get out at the airport – absolute chaos. I’ve paired up with a couple and we’ve hired a car and are heading north. Glad to get Ted away from it.

The drive north was uneventful.  The main things of note were the massive queue’s of people at service stations trying to get gas – and the massive amounts of rescue equipment we met going the other way.  Ambulances, Fire Engines, Generators, Police cars and convoys of Army trucks.

To Safety! With our saviours - Steve and his Mum Gail in Kaikoura. Unfortunately not a great photo - but if you look closely - you can see that Ted is wearing his usual grin

On the drive up from Kaikoura – Bridge had been trying to book us across Cook Strait to the North Island and home.  But all planes were booked out till Friday from both Nelson and Blenheim and the only Ferry we could get on left at 10pm.  Too late I figured as I’d had no sleep the night before  - so got Bridge to  book us a motel in Blenheim where we could get some sleep – and we’d catch the ferry the next day.

Said farewell to Gail and Steve in Blenheim.  They had been fantastic – and had made things a lot easier for Ted and I (at the Hotel, airport and the drive north) so I was hugely thankful to meet up with them and won’t forget them in a hurry.

After and nice night’s sleep that was earthquakeless – we continued our adventure the next day…

(Via Facebook) Part 4 of our little adventure waiting for the bus in Blenheim to take us to Picton and the ferry home. As usual Ted is taking it all in his stride...

On the bus..

(via Facebook) Picton in the sunshine - on the ferry soon.

Self portrait - on the Ferry to Wellington

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Was a nice feeling to finally touch ground in Wellington just before 5pm on Thursday -where we were picked up by my brother Alex.  Good to be finally away from it and just a short drive away from home.

Arrived home around 6pm…

Home again, home again, jiggety jig...

So there you have it.  Was a few days I won’t forget in a hurry!  After I got home I was able to really catch up on the news and saw the full extent of the death, damage and destruction.  And to see how lucky we had been to miss the worst of it.  My coach Terry texted me to tell me that a huge boulder was resting on the doorstep of the place we’d been staying in Sumner!  And those houses that we’d marveled at – at the bottom of the cliffs in Sumner – many of them destroyed (as well as many further up the slopes).  And how if the quake had been half an hour earlier – we’d have been in the center of the city…

Lucky…

My heart goes out to the people of Christchurch – people who were already terrorised by all the quakes they’d been having since September.  Yet – everywhere we went – they rose to the occasion and behaved magnificently.   Behaviour that honestly – reaffirmed my faith in humanity.

For those reading this who aren’t from NZ – there’s a very fitting Maori saying “Kia Kaha”.  Which doesn’t translate exactly into english but means something like – but not quite – all of the following…

“Be strong and fearless!”

“Stand tall!”

“Be Proud!”

Definitely a phrase that sums up the spirit that the people have already shown and offers encouragement and support for the tough times ahead.

Kia Kaha Christchurch…

Perseverance works.

I’m not saying that I’m now some sort of fitness guru – but I will go as far as saying good progress is being made.  Which is a good thing – as it would certainly be soul destroying to do all this work with no reward…

So – had a couple of good weeks…

Since the last post – I’ve had a few good results and a couple of strong rides.

First up was the a Kapiti Club Time Trial.  Only 12km long and I managed to stop the clock with a 39km/hr average.  Big improvement.  I’ve now managed to push in front of the pack I was in  when TTing in the past (they can still kick my arse in a road  race at times – but I’ve got it over them in the TT now at least).  Was still only good enough for 5th place – but I know I can improve a whole heap yet…

Another milestone was doing 4x5km intervals and managing to sit – pretty much at my threshold heart rate the whole time.  This is a big step!  This week I’m going to do 5x5km intervals at that heart rate…   (I know I can, I know I can…)

So onto last weekend’s Vets 2  day tour… The vets 2 day tour is a stage race – with times carrying over for an overall victor.

I got bumped up to the B grade – which was probably fair enough – but I was worried about those pesky hills.  You can be as strong as you like – but if you are 124kg – it’s going to be tough to hang with the 60kg guys!!

The first stage was a 50km race from Martinborough – with a goodish climb (the only one on the course) that had me worried 5km into it.  If I could stay with them up that hill – I should be OK.  So I started the climb at the front of the group and was very relieved to be hanging on to the back of the group at the top.  So that left 2.5 laps of a flat circuit.  The finish was a long straight into a headwind.  I jumped from the back of the group – and passed the group with about 100m to go – a club mate had grabbed my wheel and had jumped past me and was yelling “Go! Go!”  We finished 1, 2!!!  Not known as a sprinter – and it was more of a case of getting into my big gear and winding it up.

So I was surprised and happy about that outcome.

That afternoon we had a short TT – where I was hoping to do well.  But I didn’t!  It was into a fierce headwind on the way out and slightly uphill.  I really groveled on the way out – and managed to get rolling in my big gear on the return – but too little too late!  Maybe a 2 TT’s and some intense intervals during the week were catching up with me?

So started the next day 1min 30secs down on the leader – and in 7th.  It was a 84km race and I felt good at the start – and was hoping for good things to happen.  But no!  Dropped like a stone on the first climb!  Damn!!  I managed to catch the guy in front of me on the decent – and then pulled him up to 2 others – and we worked to catch a couple more.  The 6 of us then set about chasing the main bunch – which we could see up the road.  We were catching for a while – and I was doing plenty of the work – but they go away from us on another little rise – and that saw the spirit go out of our little group.  I still worked hard for the rest of the race – and rode it strongly…  We finished 5 mins down on the winner.

So that was my first taste of stage racing.  Great fun and a fantastic weekend’s worth of experience all round.  (apart from pitching my tent in the rain – only for it to stop raining as soon as I finished! )

This week was easier.  Raced again on Tuesday night (new 40km course).  It turned into a TT for me as I couldn’t hang with the scratch bunch for too long when they came by.  But again – rode strongly.

Then raced again today (Sunday) in a 60km graded race – where the A and B grade started together.  A year ago – there was no way I could have stayed with the accelerations of the bunch in that grade – but did it comfortably enough – and did my fair share of the work on the front.  Didn’t figure in the sprint – but finished in the mid pack.

So – good progress.

I’ll keep persevering and see where it leads me…

Onwards…

“Perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work you already did.”

Damn right!

And that’s where I am at the moment with my training.  Persevering…

The mystery illness/setback that I talked about in my previous blog has pretty much gone.  And I’m fully back into my schedule – but I don’t feel I’ve gotten back to the level that I was prior to whatever happened happened.

But perseverance feels good for the moment.  I’m  happily ticking off the rides on my plan. And it feels like the fitness is building again – which is a relief – because it wasn’t going to flash for a while there.

One of the things that I did since the last blog post was the Round Taupo Challenge ride (160km round Lake Taupo for those that don’t know).  This was something that we were planning for me to peak for.  But I hardly touched the bike in the 4 weeks leading up to the event.  So not the best build up.

I only registered a week or so out – as I wasn’t sure whether I’d even do it after such a disrupted build up – and some rides where I was really struggling still.

So I lined up on the start – not quite sure how the body would react – but keen to find out.  The original plan was to start in one of the first bunches and try to hang on through the hills of the first 80km and go from there.  Still had the same plan – but I figured group 1 might be a little ambitious considering – so I started in group 2.

Went well – stayed with that bunch all the way to Hatepe Hill – 140km into it.  They rode away from me up there – I just didn’t have the legs to hang on.  But a few of us cobbled together a group and we set about attacking the last bit.  This felt good too – and I was able to push pretty hard.  I stopped the clock in 4hs 44mins – which was 5 mins inside my personal best from the previous year.

I should have been happy with this really – but weirdly I wasn’t super excited.  (and I was ecstatic the previous year)  I guess it was because I knew that If I hadn’t had the health hiccup I could have gone quicker.

So fast foward 6 weeks or so – and I’m fully back into it again.  Had a easier month in December and a week off after Christmas.

I’m back into it fully and as I say – things are building again.  A few people have said to me that I might go all the better for the enforced break I had – but I dunno…   I certainly would have preferred it not to have happened.  But that’s life.

Interesting that now that things are heading in the right direction again – that I’m a bit more motivated to start blogging about it…

One of the things I’ve been doing recently is getting into doing a few Time Trials.  I’d love to report that I’m breaking all sorts of records and turning heads – but I’m not there -yet  I’m also training with clip on tri bars in the TT postion when I’m doing my long intervals.  I need to stretch!!!  Hammies and glutes are taking a hammering – and I’m not in a very aggressive position yet.

So plenty to work on – and lots of deep practice going on…

I’ve got a 2 day tour on next week in the Wairarapa – and I’m really looking forward to that.

I’ll let you know how I get on – and in the meantime I’ll persevere

‘Bout time I got round to updating the blog – I’ve got a bit lapse about that – but It’s not because I stopped training or anything – I’ve been training hard.

I guess I’ll start with the fitness test that I was about to have at the time of my last update.

The test was a spectacular success.  Made a huge improvements.  Moved from 220 to 280  watts at aerobic threshold.  And up to 380 watts at anaerobic threshold.  Massive improvement!!  Coach was a very happy man – said he’d hoped that I might be able to move to 250 at aerobic threshold – so he was rapt…

So that was fantastic news – and training and riding was going very well.

A few weeks later though I started struggling a bit on a few rides.  Hit the wall a few times on longer rides and started struggling to hang on to my usual group on Tuesday night racing.  After getting dropped completely one Tuesday night after 1 lap of 10 – I figured something wasn’t right.

So I went and saw the doctor – thinking that the arthritic condition (Ankylosing Spondylitis) that affects me periodically might be flaring up.

But it turned out that my Blood Pressure was through the roof (160/100).  Shit!!

So he advised me to not do anything strenuous – until we could figure a few things out.  So he sent me off for extensive blood tests and an ECG.

I’ve got pretty bad genetics for this sort of thing – with my Dad and his dad both dying in their 50′s of heart attacks – and my bp had been slightly high on previous doctors visits – but never this high.

So it was a few nervous days waiting for the results.

But the results came back fine – with no  problems at all showing up in either the blood tests or the ECG.  The summary was that I’m fit and healthy – but with high blood pressure.

So he’s put me on tablets to control the blood pressure and has given me the green light to get back into it.

Been on the tablets for 3 days now – and took on my first ride today – since all this happened.  It was a 100km loop round the Akatarawas and it went pretty bad I have to say.  Still not able to hang onto people that I could a few short weeks ago.  Even worse today – felt absolutely terrible climbing the Akas.  Weird thing was that on the last 5 flat kms – I was able to push pretty well – but climbing the hills saw me in my lowest cog for the first time in a while – and riding on my own after watching the great majority of the people on the ride disappearing into the distance.

So this was a bit scary.  I felt fine after the ride – and even went out again with my daughter Annie and felt fine.  But when push came to shove on the Aka’s ride – I couldn’t push at all.

So – things aren’t looking too good at the moment…

Hopefully over the next few weeks – thing will pick up and I’ll be back to where I was.

Finger crossed…

I’ll keep you posted…

Adrian.

As I think I may have said before – I’ll take interval work over endurance any day.  Endurance is fine when you’re with a group and having a good yak – but out there on your own and doing endurance I find tougher than a planned interval session.

I’ve been reading a really interesting book called The Talent Code by Daniel Coyle – which sheds some light into why that is I think.   The book is about his investigation of talent hotbeds round the world – small places usually – that produce large amounts of talented people.  And one of the things he finds as a common thread is something he labels “Deep Practice”.  Deep practice is where you are operating at just beyond your limits and having to stretch.  ”The trick is to choose a goal just beyond your present abilities;  to target the struggle.  Thrashing blindly doesn’t help.  Reaching does.”

This actually sums up what I’m trying to achieve for this whole year – but it also captures why I think I enjoy interval training more than endurance.  It hurts sure – but at the same time I feel like I’m learning way more than I would just doing the mileage.  You learn so much more about yourself – how the bike handles – how to get more out of each stroke – how to pedal more efficiently etc etc.  And having a great coach is a big part of this too – as he’s a great sounding board and helps me correct any mistakes I might be making in the details of these efforts.  And the feedback loop is vitally important to Deep Practice.  Some of the feedback from the coach – some from yourself.  Struggle – feedback – struggle again – etc etc etc = accelerated learning.

Interestingly – this is exactly how rugby training is organised in New Zealand (for every team I was in anyway) – which might explain why we’re generally pretty damn good at it.  Rugby training also uses other aspects of deep practice too.  Slowing things down to get technique right.  Breaking skills down into chunks.  Exposing players more often to the skills they need to use so they can develop (training grids etc).  All components of Deep Practice – and in Rugby we’ve been doing this for years and years.

I guess the trick now is to turn the endurance work into Deep Practice as well so I’m learning & improving all the time.  So that can be done by focusing on cadence, heart rate, pedal stoke, positioning on the bike – etc etc.  Attention to detail when I’m out riding endurance alone is going to help a lot – but it’s tougher mentally than when you have the focus of an interval session.  Something I need to keep working on.

Anyway…

Last week was a recovery week after the 4 tough strength sessions of the previous week – to recover and adapt.  This coming week will see a return to the hill but to do a couple of high intensity power sessions – on Tuesday and Thursday.  This is something different again – so will be a struggle – which is great:) .

Then I get a week off!  Which I’m not really looking forward to I have to say.  I’m really enjoying the increase in strength and ability that’s been building over the last 3 months.  The week off will include another lactate threshold test – so it’s be really interesting to see what differences there are.

Struggle on – it’s good for you…

Anyway…

I missed blogging last week for the first time – but it was one of those steady as she goes weeks with not much going on.  Just racking up the numbers really – which is all good.

Apart from the endurance rides which were still the staple for the last couple of weeks – had a couple of sprint sessions – and a hill session.

Also – was pleased to see that my weight is heading in the right direction.  It always seems to be with me, that whenever I’ve embarked on a good sized block of training – that the weight loss doesn’t happen straight away – but lags behind the work by about 5-6 weeks.  It’s not something I’ve focussed on (yet) – but fantastic to see the hard work I’ve been putting in is paying dividends.

Had a good session on the Levin track this last week too.  Been up a few times now – road bikes on the track round the Levin Domain on a Thursday night.  The previous times I’ve bailed out when the pace has gone on as I was supposed to be doing endurance at a certain heart rate.  But this time I didn’t wear the monitor – and felt good – so I figured I have a lick at staying with the group.  Managed well and was finding that after a lap on the front – I was able to get the heart rate under control in the paceline and be pretty fresh by the time my turn came around again.  We managed 60km in 1.5hrs so we were getting along!

Was bloody enjoyable!

This next 3 weeks is going to be interesting – it sees me moving away from endurance as the focus shifts to strength and power building.  Going to be tough – but I’m looking forward to it.

This week I’m calling Grunt Week.  I’ve got 4 sessions of low cadence hill repeats.  I’m going to be using the back side of Paekakariki hill.  Big gear – low cadence – 3km climb = sore legs.  Not sure how I’m going to fit the other sessions in as the climb is about 10km away from work and it’s going to be difficult to fit it in.  Might have to ask for a couple of morning’s leave this week.  It’s an important week and they aren’t all like this.

Did the first session today – managed 5 repeats – before I had to get back home.  (The whole family’s leaning sign language at the moment – so I have to get back in time for classes).  Was a classic up the hill today though.  There was a strong southerly tailwind on the climbs – so I found myself in the new and happy position, in order to keep the cadence low, of being in my biggest gear (53×11) climbing a hill!!

So very sore legs tonight and happy to have a break tomorrow but looking forward  the rest of Grunt Week!

On y va!

I was absolutely stuffed after the weekends race and then had a very tough hilly group ride on Sunday – and was leg sore in the early part of the week – but I need to push through that.   Both on Tuesday and Wednesday – I decided to flag the lunchtime rides – telling myself that I’d do it in the evening.  But it never quite happened.

I feel guilty – because I know I’ve got to have stickability to get the results I want.

I did get out for a  great ride on Thursday evening and absolutely loved it.  Was 5km interval repeats and I was very happy to finish them but very satisfied I did them.

It’s interesting – because I’ve got a huge team background – where – all you really had to do was show up and the motivation is taken care of – by coaches, other players – etc etc.  But with this – you are far more on your own – and you need to be organised and have steely determination to see it through.  Sometimes it’s tough to get yourself out the door (especially when it doesn’t affect anyone else if you don’t do your workout) – which is weird because invariably – once you do get out – you enjoy it.

I need to keep thinking “What would Jens do?”  (Click here to see an example)  :)

So it’s a small setback – but not a major one.

Waiting on the start line

The week finished fantastically well however with me riding in the final race of the Winter Series.  Was a different race again – with not too many attacks – but a quicker overall pace that saw us average just under 38km/hr for the 50km.  I coped fine with that pace – but didn’t have much of a sprint left at the end (I thought I’d finished 5th – but when I saw the results I was actually 9th)  But this place saw me pick up a few more points and it meant that I finished in 2nd place overall for the series (in the B grade)!  Wahoo!

I remember sitting on the start line of the first race – hoping against hope that I’d be able to hang on to the group in my first proper B grade race.  So to finish 2nd is bloody awesome!  And it was confidence building to know that I was actually one of the protagonists - rather than just hanging on for grim death

It’s proof that if you put in the work – the results come.

Topped things off with a 110km group ride up to Waikawa beach in beautiful weather on Sunday.

This week will bring fresh challenges with 400km being the goal.

After that the volume will decrease a bit and the intensity will start building.  My coach tells me that I’ll start hating him around then!

We’ll see – I’m looking forward to finding out…

I was actually on leave this week for the last week of the school holidays – so it was just my luck to spend a few days of it with an ear infection and completely stuffed up.  A trip to the docs on Tuesday – saw me on antibiotics which seemed to get on top of it pretty quickly.

So my first ride of the week was on Thursday night.  Was an interesting ride too – I went, with a couple of others, up to Levin and rode on the track.  I’d never ridden on a track – and I was careful to take it easy – but it was great riding – beautifully smooth, quiet and fast.

Next up was race 4 of our Winter Series.  Was worried that the bad week wouldn’t translate into a great race.  But I surprised myself – but riding strongly.  Was a quick race and I felt good and did some things that I hadn’t done before.  First and foremost was jumping across to a breakaway of 3 that was a few hundred meters ahead of the main bunch.  Had to dig very deep to get across there – but found once there that I was able to work with them.  Unfortunately we got caught with about 500m to go – but I still had enough left to put in a sprint and finished 5th (again).  And the other thing I did (which will sound weird but is important) is that I managed to get out of the saddle and sprint in a  race situation.  I never used to sprint standing on my old bikes – as they were old steel things and would flex like crazy – which was a little scary.  So I always used to sprint seated.  Since getting my amazing new bike in November I’ve been able to get out of the saddle with confidence – and I’ve been climbing standing (which I never used to do either) – and I’ve been practicing sprinting standing – but I never done it in a race.  So managing to do that was an important step.

Was absolutely stuffed immediately after the race – and coughed and coughed and coughed – but came right pretty quick.

Had a good long ride today (Sunday) and it included 5 big climbs.  Finished buggered but happy to report that the effects of the cold seem to have been banished.

So this week I’ll be happily back on track.

Frustrating week – but – still making good progress.