Great Ride !!

Not much to mention really as the weeks & km's just seem to be ticking by.

Last weekend I did manage my ride from Tauranga to Auckland, & in some strange way I really enjoyed the 238km / 8hr 45 min ride. The weather was pretty good considering what it was like on Friday & yes I did get my gentle southerly & a pie & coke at Ngatea. Mighty fine change to perpetuem.

So that brings me on to this weekends ride in which I hope to go over the Kaimais again then upto Te Aroha, over to Ohinewai then over the Waikato River at Glen Murray & come into Pukekohe the back way.

Sunday we have the company sponsored Bauer Express so I'm going to ride up & be a lead car for the race.

Will let you know next week if I make it.

Not much to mention.

The recovery week has gone fairly well & the legs are feeling ready for some more action.

The week only consisted of a crap 5km run on Tuesday, 83km between the 2 rides on Wednesday, a 3000m swim Thursday & 90km flat ride on Saturday. Will finish it off with 2800m in the pool this arvo.

So that leads into this week which will see the weekday rides moved to Tuesday so I can squeeze in Wednesday night summer yacht racing ( just for the next 2 weeks till the Coastal Classic race Labour weekend ). Normal swim Thursday, hopefully a small run, then the biggie.

With school holidays & Kathy's last exam, she'll be taking the kids to Auckland on Friday to visit the Zoo & stay with her mother on Saturday. Dad will join them sometime Saturday afternoon once he has cycled there via the Kaimais, Paeroa, Miranda & up the East Coast Rd to Kawakawa Bay. Somewhere along the journey ( Miranda ?? ) I will hopefully run into my Round Taupo cycling buddie who will make his way from Auckland. Then off into town we go.

So this week I need to eat well & get plenty of sleep, & hope for great weather with a nice southerly blowing.

Will let you all know how it goes.

Off to Vegas

No unfortunately I didn't get to go with the boss to Interbike, Las Vegas.

I had to settle with riding to Rotovegas.

I rode over the Kaimai's for the first time which took me 1hr 25 to cover the 29km from home & climb 490m to the summit. Once again the weather didn't know what it was doing & I had rain & sun on the way up. Then the descent it was raining. On to the flat rolling country roads it stopped.

Now the left turn onto State Highway 5 was like the unknown. I travelled this road from Auckland to Rotorua all the time but haven't for atleast the last 8 years, so had forgotten what it was like. It was basically up!!! The first 22km saw me climb 450m with nothing more than a 5% gradient. At the summit it once again threw it down, & with nowhere to hide I just kept riding to Rotorua.

The sun was shining on the airport side of the lake when I got to Rotorua, but by the time I had made my way round it was raining.

The road back to Tauranga from here is predominently downhill as we head back to sea level. Had a great ride along here & heading up towards the Mount I eventually had to head for shelter as the roads began to flood.

Only a short time later was back on the bike & heading over the Harbour bridge for home.

DROWNED !!!!!

Another great ride !!

This weeks long ride was to include hills so check out below to see where I got myself to




Will write a bit more later.

Whakatane here I come

Thought I had better sit down & let you all know what's been happening.

Last weeks mid-week training went really well. I got another couple of rides in on Wednesday totalling 93.50kms, did a 7km run & 2.8km swim. Then on Friday I loaded the companies trailer with tents & bikes etc & headed on down to Taupo. We had staff & riders staying in a couple of houses down there & the one we stayed in was huge sleeping 13 in total & space for more. Saturday dawned grey & overcast for the race but it was quite nice, not hot & no dust.

Once again my time was taken up making sure everyone was happy, doing all 3 prizegivings & generally making sure as the sponsors we all had a great day. For the record our Elite team won, the open & 90's revival team's were both 3rd. Phil a husband of 1 of the ladies at work won the 12hr solo & a Jude from Porirua cycles ( Big Jamis supporters ) won the womens 12hr solo. All in all a great day & couldn't wait to hit the sack around midnight.

Now the plan was to ride part way home but with the boss not coming down & me having to tow the trailer I didn't do a 75km ride.

Instead I did do 45km after work on Monday.

So the next week has rolled around & once again I mangaed 92km between my 2 rides on Wednesday, then knocked off 205kms on Saturday. Had a great ride from home to Whakatane & back. Beautiful morning at 6.30am with a slight westerly blowing , once I turned for home light showers started & a soueasterly ( Tailwind ), then by the time I hit Te Puke it was raining quite hard. Was glad to get off the saddle after 6hr 45mins. Feel like I could have kept riding, but this was only a flat ride. See what I fell like next week after 180km with hills.

The plan is over the Kaimai's, then down through Rotorua & back home via Te Puke.

You all have a great week.

I will !!!

Another good week

This has been another successful week of training.

I once again managed a couple of short runs, totalling 9.55kms ( whahoo )& got in the pool for a total of 5.7kms. Both of these two discipline are taking alittle of the backseat at the moment but still just trying to be consistent.

Now the cycling on the other hand has been coming along great. On Saturday's ride I managed my longest time in the saddle of 6hrs. I have ridden 5hr 43mins before on the way to Taupo 2007. I also managed two good rides on Wednesday. So in total I rode 265.5kms with a total time of 10hr 13mins. Saturdays ride was quite a challenge as I was doing a hilly ride which involved not only the hills but a very strong headwind. It also was quite cold & even by 1pm I don't really think I was much warmer. Yes the sun was out but not warm.

This week is an easy week which is good timing as I head off to Taupo for my works sponsored MTB race. The boss may not be going to join us again this year so I 'll get to run around like a lost sheep. She'll be right !!

Hopefully the plan is for me to ride my easy 75km ride from Taupo then get picked up on the way. Just an easy few kms down Broadlands Rd.

Wednesday's rides will hopefully be a little longer this week as the daylight hours get longer. The rest of the week will fairly easy & hopefully the weather gods will be nice.

Ticking along

Well this has been a good week of training.

I managed to get on the bike before & after work on Wednesday & was riding till about 6:45pm. Something I'm not used to riding in the dark. Before Taupo I'll have to get up in the middle of the night & go for a ride just to see what it really is like. Will also need to practice eating pies at 5am in the morning.

This week I've managed a small run of 5km, as well as my 2 swims totalling 5.5km & bike rides which totalled 253km in 9.5hrs.

Health wise I'm good & not to tired. Am really having to start seriously thinking of what I'm eating during the week & on the ride. It's alright at the moment but will have to start stopping at the pie shops soon as I can't get that much food & drink around with me.

Oh well that's enough from me this week. Keep training & have fun.