The ride was almost exactly the same as the 2010 ride, the only variation in course occurred at the beginning, but with only 170m difference in the recorded distances, I think we can say that they’re the same. Anyway, back in 2010, I set myself a goal of 5hrs, and missed it by 10s. This year, being fitter, wiser and better prepared I was aiming for a goal time of 4hr 30 or an average speed of 30kph. [It turns out that the ride is 131km, not 135km as advertised, so the goal time was amended to 4hr22m].

The plan was simple – sit in a pack as long as possible and save as much energy as I could for the climb and then push home as best I could.

The day didn’t start off well. When I arrived at the start I was desperate for the loo, so I jogged across the grass to the toilets. Once I was back at the start line, I went to turn on my phone GPS and discovered the zipper in my rear pocket was open and the phone was gone. Shit. I spent the next few minutes retracing my steps across the grass before BINGO! Found it. Of course, this left me desperately short of time and I missed the start by about a minute. Luckily, the first couple of kms has a couple of sets of lights and I caught the pack easily enough.

I hadn’t expected their to be a lead car, but I’m glad there was because it helped keep the pack together and the pace relatively steady. It seemed to me that the great majority of the group stayed together for the first hour or so before it started to thin out. For my part, once I’d caught the back of the pack, I tried to slowly make my way to the front. I’ve learnt that the ride is a lot smoother at the front of a pack and that was where I wanted to be. I could have sprinted to the front fairly easily, the pace wasn’t that dramatic, but I chose to ease up to them, chatting along the way. I don’t mean to big-note myself, but at this stage of the ride I was well in control, and it was well within me. Later in the day, it was a different story.

By about 30km or so, the pack started to thin out. Some stragglers dropped off the back and found an easier pace, and as we hit a few rolling hills (nothing big) we lost some more. By the 40km mark, we had dropped to a leading pack of about 20. Around 50km, I eased off to get some food in me. I must have slowed more than I thought because it took me the next 10km to latch on to the pack again. I dropped off just enough that I was riding solo and it took a concerted effort to catch up, without being collected by the trailing group of a half dozen or so riders. I was determined (and desperate) to join up with the lead group before the turn towards Granya. And I did. I literally caught them 20m before the left turn onto Granya Rd. By this stage, we’d been flying. Almost 33kph average speed. The first 60km passed in about 1hr 50m. WOW! (To me that’s wow. To others, not so much).

I was never going to stay with them up Granya, I’m not that strong a climber. I didn’t do as bad as I thought. Back in 2010, it took me around 40 minutes to do the climb with a short stop along the way. Today I was up in 24m and even passed a couple of riders on the way (but got passed by several more). At the top, I stopped momentarily to check my tyre pressure (fine) before descending. The descent from Granya is great. It’s not as fast as some, but it doesn’t have the hairpins and is therefore much more enjoyable.

As I rolled towards the first pitstop, the lead pack was just setting off again, so rather than take a break, I kept going. I had a quick chat with the guy next to me and discovered that they had only stopped for a few minutes, so my ascent hadn’t been too awful. Despite been passed up the hill, the lead group was still at around twenty, as several people prolonged their break.

The second half of the ride is harder than the first. It’s lumpy like the first half, but each lump bites more. They’re a little steeper and longer than those on the southside of Granya. It didn’t take too long and the lead pack split. The stronger riders went out and six of us dropped off the back. From that point, we never caught them and cold only watch as they pulled farther and farther ahead. For the most part we worked together, at least while we could. It wasn’t too long before we split again. Three dropped off the back, then another and soon it was me and one other trying to keep going. Pushing up the hills as hard as we could and getting as much speed on the downhills. Sometimes we managed to use our momentum to fly over a crest. Other times, it was a slow grind.

By the time I reached Bethanga Bridge and crossed the lake, I was on my own. And that’s how it remained until the end. The climb out from the Lake up towards the Weir hurt but by then I was just grinding through.

In the end I came home in 4h 13m 22s, well inside my goal time. I have no doubt ride into Granya saved the day. Riding with the pack, we averaged a shade under 33kph. By the time I finished, I’d dropped to an average of 31.1kph.

Overall, I’m stoked. A very good strong ride and despite very tired legs, I managed to keep pushing towards the end. I would have been very disappointed if I’d missed my goal time at the end after such a strong (and relatively easy) start. If it had been a solo ride, I think I would have been well over half an hour further back.

Full ride details at Garmin and Strava

One extra detail. As well as losing my phone before the ride, I also managed to lose it after the ride too. I left it on the roof of my car as I was loading up after the race. Long story short, it was found, not handed in (but not stolen), and eventually tracked down. Phew!

Anyway, the catch with the Tuesday group is that they leave bang on 6am. They don’t wait. Today I was 4 minutes late. Which meant my group ride had become a solo ride. I’d planned for longer ride anyway, but I’d hoped to draft for the first 15km or so. At first, I entered thoughts of trying to catch them. I could see the flashing red in the distance, but those thoughts (which were always wildly optimistic) faded to nothing as I turned into the headwind.

South along Mitchell Rd is always hard work. It has a hold over me and I always find it tougher than I should. There is almost always some degree of headwind or crosswind, but for whatever reason, it always tests me. So I gave up on pretending I could chase them down and started planning a route. Triple loop? Out towards Tumba? In the end I opted for an out and back, through Ladysmith and along the highway into Wagga, before turning around at the 50km point. I’d consciously chosen a 100km ride, and had decided to take a crack at one of my holy grails – a century at 30kph. I’ve done one before, but it wasn’t solo. I’d started with the pack and drafted along Mitchell Rd, so I don’t count it as a solo, even though I was alone for over 80% of the ride.  I guess on that day, I got up on time.

All things being equal, todays course was relatively flat, with only 450m total of vertical elevation over the 100km. Saying that, the ride had four distinct trends – 15km uphill, 35km downhill and then 35km up and 15km down. I knew that the last 15km would be fast, and with the right conditions, the last 12km leading into the turn around could be pretty quick too, so I’d be able to make up some time if I dropped off.

The ride went to plan, mostly. Mitchell Rd was a bitch up to the top of Gregadoo Hill. According to Strava, my best time for the climb is 9m48, which is significantly better than todays 13m04. From there, the pace quickened as I took advantage of the overall negative gradient. Plus, my legs had kicked in by then and I was able to maintain my a higher speed. Not long after the left turn towards Ladysmith, I hit roadworks. Happy for a short break, I scarfed down an energy bar and some nuun and took off when allowed. The stretch towards Alfredtown was probably the most disappointing of the ride. It seemed a lot harder than I remembered and I struggled to maintain my goal speed. I did, just, and by the time I turned towards Wagga I was relieved. The road into Wagga is good and in the absence of winds and trucks, lends itself to some very enjoyable riding.

By the time I reached the turnaround point, I’d just snuck ahead on time. For the first time in the ride, my average speed was in excess of the 30kph mark. The ride in from Alfredtown, as expected, had been good to me. I was on time, but I knew the second half would be harder. I was starting from a different point and if I didn’t get my fuelling strategy right, I’d tire too early.

I travelled well back towards Forest Hill but then got smacked in the face by the sharp little climb towards the RAAF base. It was clear now that I’d left my climbing legs at home. Very careless really. Still all ups have a down and I practically rolled back into Alfredtown. A hard right and I was off the highway, heading back towards Ladysmith. From this direction, it’s a false flat through the next 15km, through Ladysmith and into Gregadoo Rd.

Once again I was obliged to stop and wait at the roadworks and as before, I took the opportunity to refuel. Out of habit, I gave my tyres a squeeze and they felt a little low. I contemplated thumping some air in but the lights turned green and I was away. It must’ve played on my mind because within a km I’d stopped to rectify the situation. My average speed had dropped down to 29.7kph and I didn’t want to fail on the account of soft tyres.

I have no idea if it worked or if I was just benefitting from the short break, but when I took off again, things seemed a little easier and faster. I maintained a decent speed until I hit the backside of Gregadoo Hill and wound back to a shade over 23kph on the climb. Once again, Strava tells me that my best time is 4m55 and today I did it in 5m08. Honestly, it seemed a lot slower than that.

Regardless, I was at the top, which meant that I could sprint to the finish. I’d dropped back to an average of 29.6kph by the top. By the end of the hill I was almost on par, and as I continued on, I advanced ahead of my goal. By the time I turned towards Red Hill Rd, I had a couple of minutes up my sleeve. This was important because I knew that Red Hill  would chew up that time, especially the nasty little 10% gradient before the peak.

But over I went and from there, it was all downhill, literally. I crossed the 100km mark a thirty seconds inside the 3h20 goal. An easy couple of kms to the end and I was done.

In all, a great ride for me. A new PB and another goal checked off. Final stats for the day: 101.97km in 3h22m41s. Average moving speed 30.2kph. Full details here.

I was disappointed to DNF the Audax Alpine Classic for the second year in a row, but I’ve moved on and am contemplating my next challenge.

No runs for the month, but I’m going to start getting back into it next week.

STATS:

3 Swims for 5.5km

13 Rides for 603.22km

0 Runs

Weight: 90.0kg (9am 31 Jan 12)

GOAL PROGRESS:

Annual Triathlon: A bike total of 603km has me 6.5km behind on my swim and 120.6km on my run.

A Year @ 30: Average speed for the year to date is 25.59km. A couple of my longer rides have been significantly slower due to the number/difficulty of hills. Had I not ridden these, my average speed so far would have been 29.39kph. So the goal is very gettable. As winter rolls in and my rides get shorter and faster, the average speed should jump up pretty quickly.

It’s a great bike. I love it. I love it for many reasons, one of which is it is not a Giant. You can’t turn around in Wagga without seeing a Giant bike. I have nothing against them, they’re great, but they are also common as muck (in the nicest possible way). Having said that, there are a fair few Cervelos around and I’d happily be seen on one of those.

Anyway, I like my bike. According to the LBS that sold it to me, there are three in town, although I’ve never seen another out and/or about. Which means that I can spot my bike in a crowd and I feel a little special.

The only thing about the bike that gets to me (on occassion) is the lack of colour. Apart from the splash of red on the rims and the seat, it’s just black and white. I like the carbon pattern on the frame, but I’d really like it to have a bit more colour overall.

So, I’ve been slowly swapping out components/accessories to a new colour scheme. I’ve gone for black and red. I’m not sure why, but I suspect the success of Cadel Evans and BMC last year has something to do with it. Saying that, I did pick the red Speedplay pedals before their victory, so who knows.

I started by swapping out the handlebar tape a few months ago. After that, I switched my Gatorskins over to Hutchinson Fusion 3s so that I could have a red tyre wall. Most recently, the red pedals have been fitted. So now the bike is very much black and red.

So it may be black and red, but it is not a BMC (as I was asked today). The “Apollo” on the downtube should make that obvious.

By the time I left, I’d bought a set of Speedplay Zero pedals and cleats.

I have a couple of reasons for changing from the stock Shimano 105 that came with my bike. One reason – I’ve been through three or four sets of replacement cleats for the 105s. Now this is probably because I walk in them too much. As a general rule, I walk in them as little as possible, but even that seems to be enough to cause rapid(ish) wear and tear. One of the worst falls I ever had was a result of failure to clip in properly. The failure was brought about by degradation of the cleat. I resolved at that time to get more durable cleats.

Rather than immediately installing the new cleats and pedals, I waited. I also needed new shoes since my R105s were “snug”. I bought them when I bought my bike and I should have got (at least) a half size bigger. Added to that, I really really wanted a pair of triathlon shoes. As it happened, a few months later, a pair of TR52s came on sale and I snapped up a pair at a sizeable discount (before Christmas, but after my sprint Tri)

So I had a new pair of shoes, pedals and cleats sitting in my room. Now a wise man would give himself time to get used to the new combination before attempting any major rides, but I’m not a wise man. With less than a week to go until the Audax Alpine Classic, I’m still getting used to the new set-up.

I had planned to wait until after, but I found my feet extremely sore after a recent training ride and decided I’d had enough. I was no longer prepared to put up with shoes that were a bit tight, so I switched over.

So the last couple of rides have been all about adjusting to the new setup. The speedplay cleats have 15°of lateral float. I’ve also set them up so that the cleats are as close to the heel as possible. I’ve always had my cleat right under the ball of my foot but I recently read this blog article about cleat position and it made a lot of sense to me. Various other articles and reports reach a similar conclusion, but just as many refute it. For me, I’ve decided to give it a go.

It will take some getting used to and a bit of tinkering and adjusting. I feel like the right foot has too much float, and I’m not keen on that. My left foot feels good. I’m going to reduce the float on the right and then take another ride. I just hope I can find a satisfactory position before I hit Mt Buffalo on Sunday.

The @30 goal has had me thinking. How far could I ride at 30kph? How long could I maintain it for? An hour, a day, a month. How about a whole year? Probably not. Since I probably can’t do it, I’m going to set it as a goal.

So, in addition to every other goal for the year, I’m going to set one more:

Average 30kph on the bike in 2012

Regardless of how many kms I manage this year, 500 or 5000, I want to average 30kph overall. Individual rides can be less, but by the years end, my average has to get up there. So far I’m on track. I’ve done 45.22km @ 30.6kph. Tomorrow I’m heading out on a hills training ride so I suspect that average to drop significantly. But it’ll get back up there – I hope.

As a point of comparison, in 2011 I covered 3,114kms at an average speed of 26.9kph.

As of right now, I’ve swum 1.3km and rode 37.8km. At a 1:10:5 S:R:B ratio, for every 1.3km I swim, I have to run 13km and ride 65km. Which means that as of right now, I’m 13km behind on my run target and 27.2km behind my bike target.

Tomorrow, I’ll probably get out for a ride in the morning. If that happens, I’ll probably do about 42kms and my bike YTD would be almost 80kms. That would then place my annual swim target at 1.6kms and the swim would go from being the LEAD discipline to being 0.3km behind.

I’ll do my best to update the widgets regularly.

Clear as mud?

Complete a triathlon for the year. I’m calling it my Annual Triathlon, although that’s not the greatest name because it the word “annual” implies that it happens once a year, every year. Which it doesn’t. I thought about “circannual” because it implies a year long event, but then it also implies yearly repetition. I think the most apt word is “sidereal”, but it’s a little wanky in this context. So annual it is. If anyone can think of a better word, let me know.

So, what is it exactly? Simply put, it’s a training regime that meets the 1:10:5 swim:run:bike ratio (note s:r:b not s:b:r). For every 1km I swim, I want to run 10km and ride 50km.

Now it’s not a regulation triathlon ratio, but then what is? All of the official distances have different swim:run:bike ratios. A sprint is 1:6.6:4. A Half IM is (roughly) 1:11.1:4.3. The Elite Energy “ultimate” triathlon is at a ratio of 1:10.5:6, so clearly, there is no “normal”.

Other things to consider: I’d like to run at least 1000km this year, and I’ve been keen to ride at least 5000km in a calendar year too. So there’s the 1:5 ratio sorted. 1000km on foot would mean 100km in the water, which for me would be MASSIVE. Then again, that’s only two kms a week, which really isn’t that hard anymore.

So there it is: my ANNUAL triathlon.

To complete a Half Ironman in 2012.

I’ve got my goals set on the Canberra Half Ironman in December.

Now I’m not starting from nothing. Over the last couple of years I’ve developed a reasonable base and a fairly decent level of fitness. In November last year I completed my first sprint triathlon. Details of my journey from coach potato to first time amateur triathlete can be found on my previous blog chrisfit2009.

While I have one major goal, it comes with a few other goals along the way. They are (in no particular order),

1. Reduce my mass to 80kg (or better)

2. Complete an 1:10:5 ANNUAL TRIATHLON – that is for every one km I swim in 2012, I want to run 10km and ride 50km. A secondary goal to this one – I want to swim a minimum of 100km this year. That means I’m aiming for 1000km on foot and 5000km on the bike MINIMUM!

3. Complete these events along the way:

That’s pretty much it. Over the coming days, I’ll update the blog with a few details about who I am, and where I’m at in my life. In the meantime, feel free to follow me on twitter or strava, or see my previous blog.