2010 is a rebuilding year for me ... coming back from recent difficulties and building up my strength and endurance again. There will not be any 1200K randonnees this year, and no extended cycling tours. But there will be a lot more riding than last year, including several long rides and several hub-and-spoke tours. And there is a determination to get on my bicycle and keep riding.

The rest of this page are my "big" rides this year, complete with a photo gallery of each. The stories are on this page. Please click the links for the photos ...

Murchison Gap 100K (or 88.5 km) - January 9

Rowan and I decided to ride the Murchison Gap 100K this weekend. It started not far from where we live, and we figured it would be a comfortable length of ride, on a not too difficult course.

We arrived in Whittlesea in good time and set up our bicycles ready to go. Rowan opted to ride his Merlin, a carbon fibre bicycle which he has spent some time building up. He was also riding his brand new Brooks saddle. I was on Machak, of course, but was travelling fairly light because I knew there were two significant climbs on the route.

We registered, listened to the pre-ride talk, and were off. Even at 9 am, the heat was already becoming quite noticable.

First thing out of Whittlesea is a climb. You start climbing very gradually in Whittlesea and then it starts going up in steps ... an intense bit, and then a gradual bit, and then an intense bit, etc. And it does this for a full 13 km. By the time I reached the top of that, I was already hot and tired. But the next bit to Strath Creek was lovely. The route went through some cooler areas and the road was good.

Shortly before Strath Creek, my feet started cramping, so I started adding some 'half salt' (light salt - a sodium and potassium mix ... you can buy it in your local grocery store) to my water and that seemed to help. By Strath Creek (50 km), I had consumed about 2 litres of liquid which was quite a bit for me. We relaxed with an ice cream each, and refilled our bottles with cold water ... and more half salt.

Just out of Strath Creek there's a bridge which I wanted a picture of ... it's called "Rowans Bridge"! So Rowan posed beside his bridge. :)

And then we reached the Murchison Gap climb. It's only about 1.8 km long, but is fairly steep ... too steep for me. I tried cycling it, but after slowing to about 4.5 km/h on the bicycle and starting to feel quite wobbly, I figured I'd be better off just walking. I really, really need to practice my hill climbing skills.

That was a LONG and very HOT climb. The heat of the day was becoming intense. I walked from shade patch to shade patch, stopping to take breaks frequently all the way up the hill ... a very long, slow process. Unfortunately what I didn't do was drink. I drank a bit, but I needed to drink a whole lot more.

Rowan, meanwhile, did the climb like a mountain goat on his Merlin. He reached the top feeling and looking quite refreshed and relaxed.

After that climb the road wasn't bad ... rolling ... but I had nothing left, so I was slogging along, and was starting to feel the heat. About 8 km out of Broadford, I went cold. I had chills and goosebumps and started to feel quite dizzy. I dropped the bicycle and dashed for a shady patch with my water bottle, which I poured on myself. The water was hot, but was enough to start to cool me down. I also forced myself to drink some of it. I waited there a few minutes and then covered the 8 km into Broadford on sheer determination.

We realized then that there was no way we'd make it back to Whittlesea within the time limit, so we spent a bit of time in Broadford trying to recover. That is ... I was trying to recover, Rowan was doing just fine.

We shared a 1 litre bottle of coke and at some salty snacks under a tree until my strength recovered to move on to the toilet block where we refilled our bottles and I soaked my jersey and myself in the tap. Then on to the grocery store ... but on the way, my left quad started cramping. I opted for beef jerky because of the salt, and tomato juice. I normally dislike tomato juice intensely, but it's got a lot of sodium and potassium, and I knew that I needed the electrolytes if I wanted to be able to drink as much as I needed. If you just drinks water on a hot day, you run the risk of hyponatremia ... I knew that and was concerned about it, especially after Rowan pointed out I was bloating a bit.

I decided I was recovered enough to carry on to Wandong, so off we went, but it only took a few moments to discover that I was still experiencing the confusion aspect of heat ... I reverted back to wanting to ride on the right side of the road, and Rowan had to lead us out of town because I was having trouble following the directions on the cue sheet and determining which side of the road I should be on.

We rode 2 km, and then had to stop. I couldn't breathe ... my heart rate was going so fast, I couldn't take my pulse ... and I felt awful. I rested a bit, and then rode 4 km before I had to stop again. That time I looked at my thermometer and it read 46C (114.8F) in the sun. I found out later that the shade temperature was 38.2C (100.75F). I had to lie down on the side of the road for a while in order to recover.

Another 2 km ... and I had to stop again when faced with a hill. I told Rowan to go on up the hill at his pace, and I'd do it at mine. I made it up that hill (it wasn't very big) and down the other side, and started on the next hill, when my left leg cramped. I got off the bicycle, and then it really cramped. The quad seized up so badly my whole leg tucked up, and like a domino effect, my calf cramped and my foot cramped. I couldn't straighten my leg ... I felt like a herron, standing on one leg. Every time I tried to stretch the leg out, waves of painful cramps would tighten the whole thing up again. I've never cramped that badly before.

So ... since I couldn't move, and Rowan had gone over the hill out of sight, I decided I needed to just relax ... which isn't easy to do when your leg is a pretzel ... and I dug out my little bottle of half salt, which I proceeded to eat right out of the bottle, and wash down with water, and I took a couple painkillers. 5 minutes later or so, I was able to straighten the leg enough to walk (limp) up the hill.

From that point on, I could not pedal more than about 5 pedal strokes without cramping. I caught up to where Rowan was waiting for me, and he offered to go on and get the van to which I agreed. I couldn't keep going to the finish. It was about 5 km to Wandong, so I told him, I'd try to make it there.

I was able to coast downhill twice in that 5 km stretch for a distance of almost a km each time, but walked the rest. It took me about 45 minutes to cover 5 km. My computer read 88.5 km when I got in ... not the 100K I'd hoped. I got something more to drink there, and rested a bit, but it wasn't long till Rowan showed up, having covered the remaining 25 km to Whittlesea in just over an hour. He was doing great on that bicycle!!

We've decided not to participate in any more timed events for a while ... until I build up my strength and hill climbing skills a bit. We think this DVT (or maybe the Warfarin) is taking more of a toll on me than I'd hoped. And I need to become more acclimatised to the heat!

Port Fairy Trip - January 30 to February 2

When I was working at the cherry packing shed, I decided that I wanted to spend a long weekend in January at a beach. Working in that shed was cold work, and I wanted to enjoy a bit of the summer here.

So on the last weekend of January we headed to the beach. We debated about several places, but finally settled on Port Fairy, a place we’d both been to before, but only briefly. Port Fairy is a control on the Great Southern Randonnee which Rowan and I rode in 2004. But it is a control that we hit at night on the way out, and in the very early hours of the morning on the way back. I knew there was a beach in the vicinity because I remember hearing it, but I saw very little of the area then.

Since I got to Australia, we have been returning to places on the Great Southern Randonnee to have a good look around. That’s one problem with 1200 km randonnees … you fly through various towns and glance at scenery here and there, but never really have a good look at it all.

On our first evening in Port Fairy we had a nice drive around the town, saw the beach, and ate fish and chips. I’m not usually a big fish fan, but I do like fish and chips if the fish is fresh.

The next day, Sunday, we headed for Portland, a place we had not been before. We had been thinking about cycling out there, but the wind was really strong and the distance was more than I thought I could handle these days, so we decided to drive. But when we got to Portland, we hopped on our bicycles and did a 47 km ride out to Cape Bridgewater and back.

The whole area is volcanic, but it really shows at Cape Bridgewater with the black basalt and purple scoria. The scoria wears away faster than the basalt, creating blowholes when the waves hit the cliffs. The rest of the area almost looks like something out of science fiction with the reddish rock formations and the windfarm.

On Monday we did a casual ride through the area around Port Fairy. It is quite flat in that area, but was windy again. Nevertheless we covered 52 km. The rides we did on Sunday and Monday were like a short hub-and-spoke tour … about all I’m up to now, but I’m building up!!

When we got back to our cabin, I changed into bathing attire, and we headed for the beach. It was 19C with a wind howling to 52 km/h, but I ventured into the water. The ocean was cold, but once I was in up to my thighs, it didn’t feel too bad. But I wasn’t prepared to go deeper. We had fish and chips again … it was good there!!

And on Tuesday we drove home via the Great Ocean Road. There is some fabulous scenery along that road, but you do have to stop in at the viewpoints to see it. I especially wanted to see the London Bridge which I did not see in 2004, and I wanted to see the Twelve Apostles again. At least one of the Twelve Apostles has collapsed into the ocean, and did so shortly after I saw them in 2004. So now I have before and after photos.

We had intended to drive the Great Ocean Road all the way around, but when we got to Laver’s Hill, we took a wrong turn and ended up driving through the Otways. It ended up being a good move … it’s pretty in there, and we got to Melbourne in time to pick up a trainer for me.

We had a lovely weekend!!

February 13 - 100K

I completed a 103.8 km bicycle ride today!! WooHoo!! I'm getting the endurance back again!! That's the longest distance I've ridden since the beginning of December ... and I felt good doing it.

I started at 10:30 am, cycled out to Eildon (33 km) where I stopped for a couple granola bars and a bottle refill. Then back to Taggerty (58 km) where I stopped for an ice cream and bottle refill. Then off to Marysville where I stopped for a granola bar and a bottle refill, and back to where my car was parked. I hit the 100 km point at exactly 4:30 pm ... 6 hours!! Quite pleased about that.

The route included flat ground and some undulating hills. It also included a fair stretch of headwinds, but a lovely stretch of tailwind right at the end. The temperature started at 18.4C, then reached a high for the day of 25.6C ... a nice, reasonable temperature for a bicycle ride

And nothing cramped!! My last attempt at a 100K resulted in massive, horrible, painful cramps that ended my ride at 88.5 km. Today I was fine.

February 20 - Goldfields 100K

After my successful 100K attempt, we decided to do the Goldfields 100K starting and ending in Maryborough. We had been in the same area before when we rode the Pyrenees Magic 100K back in November.

The terrain was perfectly suited to my cycling style ... I could happily ride that stuff on all my rides ... long gradual climbs, long gradual descents, and flat stuff. The weather was also good. We were a bit concerned by the prospect of a very hot day, but it started cool (about 20C) and only reached 30C for the high. The wind kicked up a bit toward the end, but that wasn't bad either.

I've now done 100Ks two Saturdays in a row (one unofficial, one official), and am starting to feel more comfortable with that distance.

March 13 - Great Ocean Road(150 km)

It's early autumn here, but after last weekend's preview of winter, it has warmed up again in time for the weekend.

Friday night Rowan and I drove down to Anglesea on the coast, south-west of Melbourne to get ready for Saturday's ride.

And on Saturday, Rowan and I completed a 150 km ride from Anglesea to Apollo Bay and back to Anglesea, along the Great Ocean Road. It was a very technical ride with hills, challenging shoulders (debris, potholes, etc.) and lots of traffic, but a beautiful ride with magnificant scenery all along the way!! I'm still not overly fast out there, but this ride felt like I was out there no time at all ... there was so much to see and do.

There were a lot of people on the ride, but there were also a lot of other cyclists out there. I'm still getting used to seeing cyclists on my rides. It was a rare occurance in Manitoba and Alberta.

The morning started at about 14C, but warmed up to a very comfortable 21C and was sunny the whole way through. I was a bit concerned about the possibility of wind coming off the ocean, but there was next to none. It was a perfectly gorgeous day.

Our time limit was 10 hours (Audax rules of a 15 km/h minimum speed) but we finished in 8.5 hours.

March 20 - Euroa Loop (112.5 km)

Rowan and I didn't have any events planned this weekend, but we got out for a 112.5 km local ride instead. We drove to a small town by the name of Yarck and cycled to Ruffy, Euroa, Merton and back to Yarck.

Ruffy was interesting - a dot on the map town with a strong artistic influence, particularly using old bicycles. Euroa was the big town on the route, and was almost entirely closed. Merton had a petrol station.

The route was relatively flat for the most part ... except for two significant hills. One was a fairly steep, switchback style hill that went on for about 2 km on the way to Ruffy, the other was a long, long fairly steep climb through the Strathbogie Ranges on the Euroa-Merton Highway. The first one wasn't too bad ... the second was a challenge.

April 2/3/4 - Easter Weekend Tour

Rowan and I are on a little 5-day camping vacation ... a hub-and-spoke tour. We wanted to do a Point A to Point B tour leaving from home and heading up to Echuca on the Murray River (Victoria/NSW border) but there was no camping available. Then we sent out a whole heap of emails to see if there was any camping available anywhere within about 300 km of where we live, and we got a whole heap of responses saying that all these campgrounds were fully booked.

Easter is a very popular camping weekend in these parts!!

Finally we got a positive response from a small town called Chiltern, and since it was pretty much the only one that responded positively, we decided to base ourselves in Chiltern and do a hub-and-spoke tour.

So today, we did 86 km out to Rutherford and Corowa ... Corowa is on the Murray river, over the border in New South Wales.

We're debating where to go tomorrow ... there are lots of possibilities in these parts.

Today was interesting ... we covered 75 km, but the first half of that was much more of a challenge than we anticipated. We picked a road from where we are camped out to Wodonga, and thought we'd ride there, then head south to another town and back up to our base again. No problem ...

Except that we were riding into the wind, and very gradually uphill for the first 23 km, and then the road decided that it had enough of a gradual incline, and became a wall. I'd have to guess it was about 20% ... Rowan, who made it further up the hill than I did, said his front wheel started lifting off the pavement. When we got to the top, the road became gravel for the next couple km, then a very, very steep paved downhill, then more gravel, then another very, very steep paved downhill, and a bit more gravel into Wodonga.

It took us so long to cover all that that we decided to take a more direct route back to our base rather than continuing on our originally planned route. However it was still a good ride.

We might try heading south tomorrow and see how far we get ... south starts getting into the mountains ... the Australian Alps.

Day 3 of our Hub-and-Spoke tour sees us cycling down to Beechworth. We had in mind that we might cycle further south but the amount of climbing on the way out to Beechworth ... the extremely heavy Easter traffic on the roads in that part of the world ... and the fact that Daylight Savings Time has ended and the sun now sets at 6:30 rather than 7:30 FPRIVATE "TYPE=PICT;ALT=" ... meant that we made the decision to do a loop back to camp instead.

Total riding today: 75.8 km.

May 15 - 400K (or 230 km)

Rowan and I attempted a 400 km Randonnee this weekend, with me on my new titanium bicycle. The route was gorgeous, going down to Wilson's Prom, and following the coast line. The weather was decent ... cool, but mainly sunny with light winds.

But I discovered two things:

1) I am out of shape!! I've hardly ridden since the 300K last month, and I was working right from the get-go.

2) The fit on the titanium needs tweaking. It was fine for the 30 km rides last weekend, but by the time I hit about 50 km on this ride, my right knee was giving me a lot of trouble.

Once night fell, the temperature dropped way off, I was exhausted with the effort I was putting in to keep up the pace, and my knee was screaming, so we decided to call it a day (or night, I suppose, by that time).

We did 230 km.

June 11, 12, 13 - Queens Royal Tour on the Queens Birthday Long Weekend

Friday evening (11/06/10) Rowan and I packed up and drove to Creswick, just north of Ballarat and about 3 hours drive west of where we live. Our accommodation was a very inexpensive "standard cabin" that was very small and smelled quite strongly of cigarette smoke. Oh well, at least it was very inexpensive.

Saturday morning (12/06/10) at 7:30 am we were at the start/finish area ... a girl guides camp ... signing in and getting ready to ride. Our intention was to ride 200 km, but I haven't done much riding since our 400K attempt about a month ago, so I wasn't 100% sure about that. We've been involved in moving since then, and I'm still struggling with DVT issues.

The ride started very well ... a beautiful route, fairly flat, and a tailwind. The temperature started around 3C, but seemed to warm up nicely although I found out later it only got to 10C. With the exception of a few minutes after the 45 km control where I felt chilly, I was quite comfortable out there.

We flew into the 45 km control feeling great with a reasonable amount of time to spare. But immediately after that control, we were into a headwind, and the hills started. I struggled. My speed dropped dramatically, and my right knee started to hurt. We decided to cut the ride at 100 km rather than doing the 200 km.

It was a fight right till the end, but we made it with about 5 minutes to spare. Pre-DVT, I used to be able to do 100K rides with no problems at all. Now they're a struggle.

Despite the fact that I was exhausted, we ate, changed, and took a little shopping trip in Ballarat where I got new earrings and towels. :) We napped, and then returned to the girl guides lodge where the group of cyclists we were with were preparing for dinner. It was really nice to sit down and socialise with the other randonneurs in the area. Most of the time we arrive at the finish really late and everyone has gone home.

And I must say that the route instructions for this ride were the most accurate I've come across on the rides I've done here in Australia so far.

Sunday morning (13/06/10) at 7:30 am we were at the start/finish area, and signing in again. This time we were going to attempt the 100K ... we knew 200K would be too much for us. But on this day, I struggled all the way around. My legs had no energy at all, and my right knee was quite sore. The route was also fairly hilly ... or seemed that way.

We just made it into the 45 km control, grabbed a quick bite to eat and set off again. I hoped I would have more energy, but it just didn't happen. I also felt cold on this ride. The temperature was about the same as Saturday, and I was dressed the same ... but I was cold.

We had a great 10 km downhill run into the control at the end, but even so we arrived at the finish about 10 minutes late.

Lunch, a short shopping trip where I got new boots and a radio, a nap ... and we were back at the girl guides hall for dinner. We were fed extremely well on this tour!!

It was agreed that Monday's ride would start at 9 am.

Monday morning (14/06/10) at 8:30 am we were at the start/finish area and signing in again. Monday's ride was a 57 km loop (a 50 km populaire) and there were 6 of us in total riding it.

My legs felt like painful jello to start the ride, but they started to settle in after about 10 km, and I began to enjoy the ride. It helped that the sun came out, and that I felt warm.

The area around Creswick is interesting ... there are old volcano mounds all over the place ... so many of them!! Fascinating. The area also reminds me a bit of the Canadian prairies with fields and pine forests. The pine forests are pine plantations, but nevertheless they are pines which don't grow natively here.

We stopped for coffee at Clune. Clune is an old historic town and also appears in the move Mad Max! The 6 of us had coffee together and then Rowan and I set off a bit ahead of the rest because we knew we'd need the extra time.

With 20 km to go, we were passed by two of them, and a short time later we were joined by the other two, Martin and Libby. Rowan rode with Martin and I rode with Libby for a while, then we rode in a paceline together to the finish. Some of that time was a bit of a struggle for me, but the last 10 km or so was great. We were cruising right along!!

We rolled into the finish with about 10 minutes to spare. And then we were fed again. The food on this weekend was wonderful!!

A relaxed drive back through Bacchus Marsh and Melton and we were home ... in our nice comfy house. :)

All up, we rode 268 km over the weekend.

June 27 - Winter Wandong Wander

Just got back from a 100 km bicycle ride ... a populaire. It was a bright and sunny chilly day, starting at 3C and topping at 11.5C, with next to no wind. The route was undulating but no hills were too daunting for me ... in other words, I rode them all, no walking.

Rowan and I finished within the time limit (15 km/h minimum speed) and I found it a bit easier than the 100Ks I did 2 weeks ago. I have been riding my trainer regularly, so maybe that's helping.

We cycled through a very pretty area and I took a few photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/1430288...detail/?page=9 That's winter in this part of Australia

I made a point to ride at a pace that was comfortable for me, to eat and drink regularly, and just to enjoy the ride ... and it turned out to be a good ride! 100 km is about all I can do at this point ... I'm sore (muscles) and tired ... but it was a much better ride than I've had lately. And we finished the ride in time!!

Three things that caught my attention on the ride ...

1) The lamb walking along the side of the road. I thought for a moment it was a big wooly dog, and then it turned and looked at me. It was probably a "two-tooth" (about a year old) but cute as can be.

2) The eagle with a massive wingspan that was flying quite low over me. They are incredible birds ... and incredibly big!!

3) The rider who was riding a little bit ahead of Rowan and me. He was at the 50 km control, just getting ready to leave when we arrived. After he left, the person manning the control told us that rider is 81 years old. 81!!! He didn't look it and he was strong enough to be riding faster than me! We were told that he rode his first Ironman at the age of 70. When he completed it, he was asked why he would do something like an Ironman at that age, and his response was, "Because I can."

If he can still be riding at 81, there are, potentially, a lot of years left!!

September 11, 12 - Toora Tour

It was really windy today, but we still got out for a 31.54 km bicycle ride on the tandem we're borrowing. Despite the wind, the temperature was nice ... warmer down here on the coast than it is up in the mountains.

Spring is springing everywhere here ... the willow trees are in leaf, and there are flowers everywhere. The ditches are full of various wildflowers, the streams are full of calla lilies, and there are daffodils in all the towns.

Did 46.5 km on our single bicycles today, and had a great ride! I felt good and it was fun. I even felt like going further, which is very unusual for me lately!! Lately I've been wrapping up 20 and 30 km rides feeling exhausted, although the days we ride the tandem are less exhausting and more fun.

I'm still breaking in my new Brooks (ow) but it is coming along. It didn't really start to bother me until about the last 5 km, and we were climbing into the wind then. Sat on deck, looking out over the ocean, and read for about an hour, then headed for the spa/pool. Beautiful weather today! Comfortably warm and not too much wind.

October -

We'll see