is racing. . . is rad

I am excited.
I am always excited.
But tonight is something different.
It was track racing at Brunswick again and what a perfect night it was.
Due to me being newbie i was D grade again tonight with the race line up being an 8 lap scratch, 10 lap points, 12 lap scratch and elimination.
As expected I never was close to coming first, though I'm so certain i had the most fun for the night,
It is the BEST feeling of seeing how far you can push your body as it yells and screams at you to stop. The biggest satisfaction I got for the night was just constantly chasing and not giving up.
I finished every race. I am just so pumped. Just edging to get back on the bike. . . kick out some km;s.  .
cycling for me is becoming obsessive and i love it. ..

So some things i learnt from tonights racing
1. don't give up you will always regret it
2. gaps are made so you can get in them
3. don't get in the gaps til your confident
4. ASTHMA MEDICATION
5. training always helps. .

im a girl of few words so til next time

One race down?

so the weekend was one of pain, cold, mental exhaustion, asthma, lactic acid and nerves. . . ohterwise known as such an amazing weekend.
it was my first road race, where i didnt finish, i didnt even do well, but i did start.
i only completed 2 laps of the course. and it was alot harder then i thought it ever would be. lessons were definitely learnt though.
my first lesson was how to pack for a race, i did over pack. . . i over packed to the extreme. yet i still forgot some things i needed such as enough water, some pre food and i need to invest into some leg warmers.
next was how to avoid pre race nerves. KNOW WHERE THE RACE IS, getting lost trying to find a race is a stupid rookie mistake. if i wasnt nervous enough i made it worse by not having a map, not knowing the address and thinking i could find my way by looking at google maps 2 seconds before leaving. . . BAD IDEA.

also im prescribed to asthma medication for a reason. i need to use it. .  this was my biggest delema for the race. when you cant breathe you cant race. and another way to help with the breathing is by doing a proper warm up. . . not a ride up the road and roll back. . .
starting a race on cold legs causes cramps. especially when everyone else is warm. .

also training is a must. . . i need to get so many more km's into my legs but i just find it so hard with uni to think about as well. . .
trying to find time to do even a 30km ride everyday is hard enough, let alone a decent ride. . .
lastly i need to start riding in bunches. . . being nervous in a bunch or sitting on someones wheel leaves you being spat out the back on the bunch trying forever just to hold on. . . i didnt like that and also did play up with my asthma

but im still so happy. . . i know what it feels like to race. .  i love the pain, the speed, and best of all the accomplishment of giving it a go. .. 

So Fit So Fit Month

so today is the last day of April, which i must say has been the worst month of training on the bike I have ever had. With Uni and Easter, its just been impossible to be able to ride the bike and not feel guilty about it.

But with every new day comes a new attitude. For me that is what the month of May brings. With the uni girls by my side the Month of May (aka so fit so fit month) shall be one of great success i hope.
My goal is quite simple. Get fit. How I'm going to do it is to. Get moist.
pretty simple stuff in the scheme of things

This month is all about doing the K's and being healthy and hopefully with that the pounds will also come off.

So I'm aiming to do 800km this month on the bike. but also hoping to run about 20km. which actually doesn't sound like that much. so i might up that one if i have time.
As for the healthy part. Im having a dry month, so no Booze, no sugar drinks, no energy drinks. . . just water and coffee (couldn't give that one up.
No fast food, potato cakes or nachos.. . .

All i can really say bout this month is i hope so bad that i end up losing some weight and get my fit on.


And i did write that last night but was o so nicely interrupted so though it is 8 hours late from yesterday this is still yesterdays entry. . .
Now to start so fit so fit month with not just moistness but also a quick run. . . so so excited

the entry

as a beginner i have been reading others blogs and decided i need something to keep my progress on how i am riding. . . I'm a simple writer but love nothing more then riding. . .

I Backed It Up

So i did tell last week of the biggest ride I've ever completed. I rode 134km for charity and I remember thinking "that was fun but it'll be a long time before i do that again". I'm even sure I told many others that same statement. But that only lasted a week.

On Saturday and Sunday I got invited to do the Murray to Moyne (M2M) with the Bendigo Feel Good road cycling team. For those who don't know they M2M is a relay bike ride going from Echuca through to Port Fairy (520km's) over 2 days. So when your not on the bike your traveling on the bus which follows you.  I'm 100% certain they only invited me for 2 reasons. 

1. I'm Robbie Oakenfull's older sister 2. They needed to make up numbers.

It was the best weekend I have had where I ended up riding just over 270km's over the 2 days. It was the hardest riding I have ever done.

The ride for my was all about learning and learning was really all I did, whether I was on the bus or on the Road.

The biggest lesson I learnt was head wind sucks and lucky for me my first 2 stages on the bike were both head winds. Position is everything with head winds, it is what will conserve your energy the most and never drop the wheel in front of you (learnt that one the hard way).

For me, I had never ridden in bunches before other then on track. everything is different on track then on road, from taking turns to the jargon spoken even the way you are meant to sit on your bike. These were all taught to me by different riders on my team.

While off the bus i was learning about nutrition and asking a million and one different questions. 

So with Nutrition:      Drinking is a must, ALWAYS, CONSTANTLY. Glucogen for energy and Endura to draw fluid into the cell both placed in the drink bottle as well as drinking water while on the bus. Tonic water is also a miracle worker for treatment and prevention of cramping. 

                                     CONSTANTLY EAT. Nothing heavier then a sandwich. "dog biscuits" were my favourite which leanne made (not actual dog biscuits). I found nuts a good and easy food to eat as well as bananas and watermelon. While I rode I ate those baby food in the squeezy packets, they were AMAZING and fast energy. 

Just after riding:             Stretching is a must, legs and shoulders mainly to keep muscles from cramping up or become stiff and sore. If you can a massage to regulate blood flow and remove metabolic waste such as lactic acid. Keep warm. Eat, Drink.

Riding jargon:                  "car back" "car up". "up the road" down the road". "passing". hand signals are handy to know.

Riding tips:                    Choose your gear so your dancing on the pedals so not pushing and not spinning. there is a happy medium which helps with long distance riding (best advice I've been given). Night riding although seems scary really isn't any different to day riding but a lot more fun.

Long winded explanation of what happened but considering none reads my blog and I am never planning on writing a book or becoming an English teacher, I see it as more a personal note on my achievements and a basic guide to what i am learning as I have come into this sport with knowing nothing and wish to push myself to my full potential.

Cycling is ever so slowly not being just a hobby or something I do, but is becoming who I am. I say this not to say I'm becoming a bike but that on the bike I am constantly being surprised by my capabilities of what i can do, what i can't do. Someone once told me "the tougher the ride the tougher the character".  

As much as I could write bout cycling forever and especially this weekend I'd better do my actual homework. . . 

IT WAS HARD

Firstly, I've never been a blogger, not entirely sure what its all about, but as a newbee to the life of cycling thought I could blog the rookie mistakes I make and the milestones I conquer.

I've only been riding since November last year and the weekend just past I knocked another thing off my bucket list. I rode the furtherest I've ever ridden of 134km.  For most bike riders is not that big of a feat but for someone who struggled to ride for 20km in November, I'm so stoked.
I was only planning on riding 100km (that was all i had written on my bucket list) but thought id raise some money for Epilepsy Awareness Day so raised 495 dollars so thought I would ride that little bit longer.
IT WAS HARD.
I have been training and riding what i thought was enough to be able to make this ride easy.
Doing that first 50 km was great with a new PB for timing of 1:48 (not an olympic time but still happy). the next 30km were harder especially when facing a hill of any sort. but it was from 80km to 100 km that killed me. Even with Hurley trying to crack jokes I didn't find those 20 km fun. But hitting that tonne, probably the highlight of my year, so much so that I got Hurley to take a photo of my speedo just to prove that I rode that 100km.
Than as all good bike riders do, it was coffee and lunch time in a small cafe in Williamstown.
The ride home was cruisey, no world records broken or anything like that.

When i got home i was buggered. My knee's were the only thing that was hurting, I couldn't eat, i had a hot/cold shower (what i see on tv).
But today the day after my ride, i felt good. still knees were a bit sore and legs didn't like me walking up 4 flights of stairs.
but i survived. and looking forward to my next challenge on the bike.

So my PB for 134 km is 5:15 hours averaging 25km/hr