Sad old bastard....

I fear that I may have become a stereotypical MAMIL (Middle Aged Man In Lycra, in case you don't know). The evidence is compelling - I've taken up cycling in my mid to late forties, embraced the full road bike/Lycra thing, turned into a complete coffee snob, and now I have this bloody blog to document it all. As I approach 50, I'm afraid I've become a seriously sad old bastard!

However, there's a few parts of my mamilism that don't quite fit the mould. I don't hang out with my cycling buddies at the end of a ride drinking coffee, nor do I do the team kit thing. Neither of these things really float my boat. Firstly, I don't have a bunch of cycling buddies because, for me, bike riding is a fairly solitary experience and I'm not really interested in riding with a group. Nothing against those who do - it's just not my thing. Nor do I like to promote teams/brands etc. I just wear plain jerseys or those from charity rides that I've done. Once again, nothing against those who don the kit, but it's just not my thing.

I've always had an aversion to brands and labels generally and, much to my wife's annoyance, I've never liked wearing garments emblazoned with logo's or brand names. It's no great ethical stance - I've just never been able to work out why you'd pay lots of money for a windcheater that has a huge Nike logo on it. Every time you wear it you are promoting their brand - they should really be giving you a discount because you are a walking advertisement for their company. The people who restore your roof will happily knock a bit off the price if you stick their sign on your front lawn for 12 months. What's the difference?

The coffee snob thing has evolved since last December, when I wandered into Cash Convertors with my son to look at video games and happened upon a Rancillio Silvia espresso machine for sale for the princely sum of $140. I was aware that the Silvia is probably the most popular machine for home baristas and can make a cracking cup of coffee if you get your technique right. It's also around $750 new, so I didn't hesitate in snapping it up. The guts of it is basically like a scaled down commercial machine - it has a full sized grouphead and a mini version of a high pressure commercial boiler with a 3 way valve so you can backflush it to clean it out. My grinder is just a Breville thing, but I've modified it so the burrs run closer together, giving a finer grind suitable for a decent espresso machine. I suspect I'd get better results from a better quality grinder but, for the moment, it does the job.

Anyway, it took me a while to get the grind, dosing and tamping technique right, but I'm finally getting there and can now pull a fairly reasonable shot. It's certainly equal to or better than the coffee I've experienced in most cafe's. Our weekends now seem to revolve around the frequent coffee ritual. We've also had a couple of holidays over the past three months (to Mannum in April and Port Elliot last week) where we've had to take the coffee machine with us. Sad I know but, as we explained to the kids, if the parents are kept happy (and energised) then everyone has a better holiday.

Anyway, I'm not about to stop any of these MAMIL pursuits anytime soon, so I'm quite happy to be another sad old bastard riding his bike and writing a blog that mostly seems to get read by people in Moscow. I really don't think anyone there is interested in my mediocre cycling story - I somehow suspect all the hits I get from Moscow come from some automated software that scans websites looking for ways to exploit people and do nasty things. Anyway, onwards and upwards.

Hitting the trail

I dusted off the mountain bike today and hit the trails through Shepherd's Hill Park with my son, Miles. It was only five kilometres or so but it was a reasonable workout with a few steep hills to get over, some of which we had to walk up.

It was a nice area to ride through, albeit a little wet and muddy in spots after a bit of rain this week. We had to hop off a few times to negotiate muddy creek beds, but generally the track was pretty good. My mountain bike skills are terrible though - I don't have a lot of confidence. We both need to do a bit more of it and build up some skills. If I end up following through with my plan to do the Mawson Trail sometime over the next year, I'll definitely need to get plenty of km's on dirt under my belt. Anyway here's some pics:

We did a bit of a walk around at the end of the Viaduct Track, which ends at the Belair train line. We hiked up the hill and did the 'Stand By Me' thing and walked along the tracks for a bit, then into the tunnel.

 

Overall, it was a pretty nice way to spend an hour or two and I think we'll be doing a bit more of this, especially given that we have so many trails nearby.

Some carbon bling

I've been quite content with my road bike which I put together about 18 months ago. Given our lack of disposable funds for my cycling habit, I built up an old Scott AFD aluminium frame from the mid 2000's that I got off Ebay with mostly Shimano 105 components that I acquired along the way. I'm quite happy with the geometry and the fit - it has a fairly long head tube so I can sit relativley upright which suits me with my back issues. I don't obsess too much about the bike fit thing. I'm inclined to think that if you are in the ball park with the frame size, you can fiddle around with different stem lengths and angles, seat heights and get it right. Mind you, I've never had a professional bike fit so I probably don't know what I'm talking about. I just put the seat as high as I can manage, adjust the handlebar to a height so that my back isn't too uncomfortable, then set the seat so my sit bones are across the widest part of the seat. It's fairly simplistic but it seems to work okay bacause I feel quite comfortable on the bike. My lower back is always an issue - I don't think any amount of bike fitting will change that - but I can generally still manage to walk upright after 4 or 5 hours in the saddle.

Anyway, the main problem with my frame (as with most aluminium frames) is that the ride is a bit on the harsh side. I fitted a carbon fork with a carbon steerer which made the front end a bit less skitty, but I still tend to feel every bump and roads with any sort of rough surface can be a bit of a pain. I've fancied getting a carbon fibre frame for a while because of it's 'laterally stiff yet vertically compliant' qualities (ie. it doesn't flex much when you pedal hard so all the power gets through to the back wheel, but it gives a bit when you go over bumps, absorbing some of the harshness). However, a new carbon fibre bike or a just a frame is out of my price range. I've been looking secondhand for the last six months or so and everything has either been the wrong size, too expensive or too crappy. I'm also bit concerned about buying secondhand CF in case there's any cracks etc., so I'm not keen on buying anything from interstate that I cant see first.

On Saturday a frame popped up on Gumtree. It was a large size Malvern Star Oppy Le Mauco full carbon frame, fork and headset, advertised for $300. It was from the first range of Malvern Star bikes that were relaunced on to the market in 2008 and the Le Mauco was the top of the range Dura-Ace equipped model, selling for around $4000. It was well reviewed and considered to be great value for money at the time and they got Phil Anderson to promote it, riding it around for a while extolling it's virtues. Looking at the opinions expressed at the time there seemed to be a bit of bike snobbery about Malvern Star, given that historcally it's been such a ubiqitous bike brand in Australia (undoubtedly the most recognised Australian bike brand - bit like Raleigh in England). Anyway, they're still around and making pretty good, well reviewed bikes.

So I rang up about it and the guy explained that there was a tiny crack in the white paint on one of the rear stays. He was working in a bike shop when he bought it back in 2008 and this was evidently a common problem with this model and, although there was no stuctural problems, the distributor still replaced the affected frames as a goodwill thing. Given this information I had my doubts about it, but still decided to go and have a look. It was in pretty good condition, with not a lot of use or abuse (nor any sign of a crash) evident. I had a close look at the crack, flexed the rear stay in and out to see if the crack opened up, which it didn't. I also did some research on paint cracks on carbon fibre and apparently it's not uncommon. Anyway, he seemed like a good guy and I satisfied myself that it was worth taking a punt on the frame, so we haggled and I got it for $275. I'm still not sure if I've done the right thing - I'll just keep an eye on it. Anyway, I built it up on Saturday night using the components from the Scott. Most of the bits date from around the same time as the frame (Shimano 5700 series shifters and derailluers, Ultegra calipers and FSA Gossamer compact crankset) which is a good thing. It looks a treat:

I took it for a short spin on Sunday and it's very nice. It's lighter (but still a tad over 9kg because my components aren't exactly light) and is significantly smoother than the old frame. To try it out I went up the Veloway back down again. The path is quite rough and the decent can be bit hairy in spots but it was so much smoother than the old bike. I straight away felt confident and comfortable on it, which is a good sign. I'm looking forward to taking it out next weekend for a longer ride. The fit is pretty good. The head tube is a bit shorter than the old bike but still not too extreme so my riding position is relatively relaxed. And so am I.

Autumn

It's been a couple of months since I've updated this. It's been relatively uneventful from a cycling point of view. After recovering from the broken ribs, I got into a nice routine of daily commuting for six weeks or so. 

I've built up a commuter bike out of parts I had laying around. I was commuting on the Giant CRX2 but we had a change of bike storage arrangements at work - I had always stored my bike in our storeroom but we received a memo advising that bikes being brought into the building apparently constituted a safety hazard and it could no longer happen. The bike racks out the front of work don't have a great theft record so I was disinclined to leave my fairly expensive Giant out there all day, every day. I had an old Avant Montari mountain bike frame with rigid forks hanging in the shed along with some 26" wheels with skinny road tyres, so I built it up as a 7 speed (no need for the front derailluer) with racks, mudguards etc. for commuting. Anyway it's great fun - nice and light and easy to chuck in the back of the car every day and I dont have to worry much about it getting knocked about. All the bits I used probably cost no more than around $140, so I'm fairly happy with that. Here it is...

I'm less happy about being off the bike yet again. I injured my back three weeks ago - I'm still not 100% sure about what happened. I think it occurred when I picked up Ruby's heavy schoolbag one morning and twisted a bit while I did it. I didn't notice it at the time but when I dropped her at school and got my bike out of the car, it was pretty tender. However, I rode to work regardless which, in hindsight, was not wise. I could hardly move when I got off the bike at work, it was spasming so badly. I bought the bike inside, hobbled slowly down to the nearest tram stop and went straight home. As I've probably mentioned before here, I've been prone to lower back issues since having a herniated disc around 12 years ago. I used to tweak it on a fairly consistent basis but it's been better since I've taken up cycling - I suspect it's because my core has strengthened. Anyway I haven't hurt it for around 18 months now, but I certainly made up for lost time  - I was so sore I had to take four days off work. From past history, it takes around four weeks before it feels better. Anyway it's still not 100% but it's improved enough to jump back in the saddle and start commuting to work again today.

We're staying down at Port Elliot in the school holidays (three weeks away) with our friends, the Kelly's, and I intend to do some rides whilst there. My fitness level has dropped over the couple of months, so I  need to start putting some work into my legs between then and now. I haven't been a total slug - I've done a couple of decent rides since I last wrote. We stayed at Mannum for a week in the last school holidays and I did a nice ride out to Palmer. The road out there was straight and not wildly exiting but the climb up Palmer Hill was good fun and a fairly reasonable work out. Beyond Palmer Hill the road stays quite windy through to Birdwood/Mt Pleasant etc or back towards Adelaide through Lobethal/Norton Summit or Woodside/Balhannah. It's all looks like pretty good riding through there but on this occasion I was conscious of not disappearing on my bike for 5 hours when were on holidays, so I reached the top of the hill, turned around and headed back to Mannum. Here's some pics...

Cometh the pipeline, cometh the bike - heading towards Palmer from Mannum

Heading up Palmer Hill

...further up the hill...

...and heading back down

The other notable ride was a run down to Willunga and back last month. I had another shot at the big hill and tried to focus on pacing myself better. I'd always tried take it easy early on in the climb, fearful that I'll run out of puff at the end. However, I've been feeling like I've been leaving a bit too much in reserve, so I'm trying to go out a bit harder on climbs. On this ocassion the first km was relativley quick (for me) - I did tire towards the end of the climb but I still managed to knock a bit off my best time, despite being in noticably worse shape that the last attempt.

While I was at home recovering from my back injury (and in a slightly valium induced haze) I started day dreaming about riding the Mawson Trail. The Mawson Trail is a series of connected and signposted tails, fire tracks, back roads etc. that stretch from Adelaide to Blinman in the Flinders Ranges - a total of 900km. I started reading a bunch of blogs and stories about people who've done it and it's fired up my imagination. It won't happen in a hurry - there's a fair amount of planning and training involved and I'll need to allow three weeks to do it, which will mean taking long service leave. I'll need to spend a fair amount of time on my mountain bike (which I hardly ever ride) and do some shorter two or three day trips, maybe even on some of the Mawson Trail segments closer to Adelaide. There's also the Kidman Trail which runs from Willunga to the Barossa which, at around 250km, might be be good to try first. Anyway, that's the plan.

Back on the bike

Well, I finally got back on my bike on Saturday. It's been 6 1/2 weeks since the accident and my ribs feel like they are progressing quite well. I've mostly followed the doctors orders to stay of the bike for six weeks. I've also started commuting to work again last week but have changed my route to the CBD. I now come in on the bikeway along West Terrace, avoiding the the horrible (and stressful) Morphett Street section.

I took the plunge on Saturday, got back on the roadie and headed for Norton Summit. The first thing I noticed was that my ribs were fine but my wrist is still quite sore from the accident. It wasn't as noticeable on a flat bar commuter but the my wrists take more pressure on the drop bars and it was quite painful. Either I got used to it or it settled down, but I didn't seem to notice it so much as the ride went on.

The last few times I've been up that way I've contemplated heading up to the top of Kensingston Road, but have chickened out. Now, my legs that are a bit out of condition after six weeks of bugger all activity. I had intended to get on the trainer and try and maintain some fitness and strength over the past six weeks but I just can't seem to summon any real enthusiasm for riding on the trainer - I just need to be out in the fresh air and riding in the hills. I need to have a destination. However, I will try and get into it because I want to maintain some fitness over winter this year. Anyway, despite all that, I decided to tackle the climb.

I have seen Kensington Road mentioned often in discussions about Adelaide's nastiest climbs. From the Penfold Road roundabout it's 1.3 km at 11.5%, which put's it in the short but brutal category (for me, at least). After making it to the first right hand bend, there's a long, steep straight bit ahead which is fairly intimidating. Looking at the road ahead I thought I had bugger all chance of making it up this bit, let alone to the top, but I persevered. I nearly made it - I got to around 200m of the top and just couldn't go on. I had a 2 minute breather and did the last bit to the lookout.

The business end of Kensington Road

The last bit before the lookout at the top of Kensington Road

The view from the top

After admiring the view, I rolled down the hill and it was clear that my legs had turned to jelly. Thankfully they recovered sufficiently by the time I reached the bottom of Norton Summit Road. The weather was perfect on Saturday (mid 20's and a gentle breeze) and there were loads of cyclists out on Norton. It was a perfect morning to be riding up a hill and, despite my lack of fitness, I still managed to knock around 45 seconds off my best time, which I'm quite pleased with.

Tom Playford minding my bike in the park at Norton Summit

Looking back down towards the steep bit on Woods Hill Road

From Norton Summit I headed over to Greenhill Road, rolled down the hill and headed home. All up, it was 64km with 825m of climbing, which was a fairly good workout for my first day back on the bike. Hopefully we'll have a few more weeks of decent weather so I can squeeze a few more long rides in before winter hits.

Broken ribs

Well, I'm off my bike for the moment. I got out of the shower last Friday morning and realised that my rib was making a clicking noise when I pushed it in a certain way. I went and had an x-ray done on Saturday and got the results back yesterday. It turns out I have two broken ribs. The GP advised that I shouldn't be riding at all, partly to aid recovery but mostly because of the risk factor. If I fell again on an already damaged and vulnerable rib, I could end up puncturing a lung or suffering pneumothorax (collapsed lung) or chest flail (a bit of rib breaking loose), which can be life threatening. In hindsight going for a long ride in the hills last weekend probably wasn't that sensible, but I thought the ribs were just bruised at the time. Clearly I should have (yet again) listened to my wife and had an x-ray done straight after the accident. Needless to say, she has reminded me of this fact a number of times.

Anyway, the doctor has successfully put the wind up me and I've decided to stay off the bike for another four weeks or so while it heals. I'm pretty peeved about the whole situation as I'll miss the Velo Adelaide ride on Sunday. I've done a fair bit of hills riding over the past few months or so in preparation for the ride and I was hoping to achieve my goal of doing the 110km ride in the same time it took me to do the 80km ride last year. I suppose there's no reason why I can't do it when I've recovered - it just would have been nice to do it on the day with all those closed roads, the support, the feed stations etc.

I'm also annoyed because I really feel like I've started to make some progress over the past month (improving times up some of my regular climbs by 10 - 20%) and I was hoping to keep pushing it along. However, the thing that mostly gives me the shits is that I didn't even get the satisfaction of venting my spleen at the fuckwit driver that caused this. There's not a whole lot I can do about it now - I guess I'll just dust off the trainer and keep riding in the safety of my shed.

Seven Hills on Sunday

I went out for a bit of a post-accident shakedown ride on Sunday morning. My rib and my wrist were still sore, so I wasn't sure how far I'd get. I was pretty keen to at least try Saddle Hill Road up in the Belair National Park. After doing Sheoak Road three weeks ago, I posted a comment on Adelaide Cyclists and another member suggested that Saddle Hill Road is a good alternative route up that way. It's still steep but doesn't have that ridiculous bit at the start.

I also felt the need to get back out on the road to try and get my cycling mojo back. Riding on quiet roads in the hills is obviously different to doing an urban commute in busy traffic but I nonetheless had a strong need to get out there and get amongst it. I've been a bit of a nervous wreck commuting in traffic especially in the few days after the accident. I've always considered myself to be a reasonably safe and defensive rider but I'm more cautious now. Having experienced someone doing something completely unpredictable and reckless, I keep expecting everyone to do the same. Every time I have someone on my right when approaching a left hand corner I find myself braking in anticipation of them swinging in front of me. I'm sure I'll stop being so paranoid in the weeks to come but maybe just a bit of paranoia and extra vigilence is a good thing. I don't want it to diminish my cyling experience and take the fun away, but equally, I don't want to end up on the deck again.

Sunday's ride ended up becoming somewhat of an epic. I read a write up recently of the 'Dirty Dozen' ride in Adelaide last year (here, nicely written by Adam Willis with great pics) which involved a bunch of riders doing 12 of Adelaide's steepest climbs - a total of around 3000m of climbing - in one day. It's given me some ideas for future climbs. Anyway, Sunday's ride ended up being my scaled down version - 'Seven Hills' perhaps. I did 1512m of ascending over 84km which is more climbing than I've ever done in one ride. Here's a list of the the main parts of each climb, with stats from Strava segments:

Shepherds Hill Road (bottom end)      2.3km @ 6.3%
Cherry Plantation Road, BNP             0.9km @ 11.2%
Saddle Hill Road, BNP                      1.5km @ 8.0%
Sheoak Road (east end)                    1.0km @ 8.7%
Mt Lofty Summit Road                       2.3km @ 5.1%
Germantown Hill                                1.6km @ 6.1%
Old Mt Barker Rd (from Kain Ave)       1.2km @ 7.4%

As you can see, it's mostly short, sharp and shiney climbs. Not suprisingly, the hardest was Cherry Plantation Road in Belair National Park, which was actually a mistake. I missed the turn-off to Saddle Hill Road and kept riding thinking I was on it. I should have twigged when I came upon a 'no through road' sign, then a boom gate across the road. I persisted and the road turned steep very quickly and was littered with twigs and bark due to the fact that vehicles hardly ever go up (or down) there. It took some serious zig zagging and dodging of the debris, but I made it to the top. The road flattened out and I followed it to it's logical conclusion, which should have found me on Sheoak Road. However, when I reached the junction it looked suspiciously like Upper Sturt Road. I contemplated following it to Crafers but I was determined to do Saddle Hill Road, so I re-traced my steps and finally found the turn off. It turned out to be a particularly nice road to ride on with bugger all traffic - it was still steep and challenging but not as severe and demoralising as Sheoak Road.

The Valley Road - very pretty

The start of the Cherry Plantation Road climb

The start of the Saddle Hill Road climb

and further along

I've had another minor acheivement this week. I finally made it to the top of a Strava leaderboard for my age bracket. It's on one of those countless short urban segements which really are a bit naff. It's the diagonal path running through the south parklands linking Morphett Road/South Tce with Goodwood/Greenhill Roads. It was quite accidental - I was just enjoying having a tailwind on my commute home (for a change) and thought I'd give my legs a bit of a blast. Anyway, I'm number one out of 23 in the old buggers' age bracket (45 - 54). Happy happy, joy joy.....