Monday 30 October 2017

Ride Daylesford 2017 - Breaking the comfort barrier

On the 28th October 2017, I participated in the inaugural Ride Daylesford. I entered in the 146km event, using it as a training day for Giro della Donna and this weekend's Bright training camp.


A day or two prior to the event, I started to get nervous. My previous long ride was about 100km with about 1000m of climbing and prior to that, most of the 100km rides were relatively flat (Beach road with LOC). The magnitude of this event started to surface, it is 146km, 50% more distance than my previous session and 800m more in climbing...


I arrived in Dalyesford on Friday afternoon and picked up my registration (bike and helmet stickers) along with the shit cheap event jersey. A friend from work showed me how his zipper broke when he tried it on and the same thing happened to me when I tried on the jersey back at the house. I had never had the intentions of wearing the jersey - I refuse to wear something which I have not worn before. The jersey fabric and construction was terrible and the fit even worse. Such a waste of money. I would have happily chosen to put that money towards a charity than to get a jersey made. I understand the policy of the jersey - so they could recognise who was part of the event but we were also decorated with helmet and bike stickers, it is not like they would refuse to help us if we were in trouble or refuse me to access the water at the aid stations?




On the 28th morning, I left the accommodation at 7:00am thinking that it would take me forever to ride to the start (there was a 8% climb). I ended up getting there around 7:10am and had a toilet break and spoke to a few familiar faces. I seeded myself at the 20km/h area. The ride started off being manageable. I am a lot more confident at the descents compared to where I was 12 months ago and I ended up passing many after they passed me on the climbs.


There were a few false flats and rolling hills but as I was riding by myself, I just rode at my own pace and didn't follow any groups as I knew that I was not as strong as the guys. I planned to be self sufficient on the bike and carried enough food for 10 hours and carried 2 bottles of hydration. By the guide, I knew that I wouldn't need to stop at the first aid station so I skipped it in Kyneton. I saw plenty of people who stopped so I knew that they would eventually pass me along the way.


Two of my work colleagues rode passed me and said hello so I ended up riding with them for about 15km until there was a slight climb and I couldn't manage it without being fatigued. I ended up leading a group for the next 15km until the aid station where I pulled in to fill up my empty drink bottle.


The next few km were uneventful, all I was doing was turning my legs. There was a small stretch of the road where the climb was around 15% and that's where the first of the many climbs where some hopped off their bikes. I made a promise to myself that I would not hop off the bike during this ride so I pushed myself as hard as I could, even when the speed is around 5km/hr and my cadence was as low as 30rpm.


Around the 100km mark, I really started to struggle. My arms, hands and feet were swollen and hurt and my mind started to let me down. At this point, I got out my earphones and started to listen to my audiobook to help me through.


The last 20km of the ride was really hard. There were climbs where the gradients were 10%+. Mentally, I was so tired. Physically, my body changed so much from the start of the ride with swollen limbs and bloated belly. Luckily there was an aid station around Hephburn Springs where I could catch a breath before the final climb from Hephburn Spring to Daylesford.


The final climb into the event village was a relief. I knew that I would finish the event close to 3pm but I had not prepared for how uncomfortable I would be. I have to admit that I haven't done anything this intense since I did my long rides leading up to 3 peaks (Feb 2016).


Here are a few comments regarding the event from my point of view:
  • I might have to see if I need to increase the calorie intake for big rides like this. For Ride Daylesford, I ate 100cal/hour.
  • I need to see what I can do about the swollen limbs. From what I have read online, it comes from too much salt and I did use Hydralyte throughout the ride so I could help with the cramping. The other reason for the swollen limbs is being dehydrated too as it is your body's way of storing fluids.
  • As I am buying new cycling shoes, I will need to keep it with the Boa laces so I can release loosen the shoes when my feet swell. 



For Giro della Donna, it is 125km with 2800m of climbing so I will need to do more climbing training. I know I will not be as bike fit as 2015 as I now weigh 10kg more but I am confident that my descending has improved.

Monday 16 October 2017

Spring cycling and up and coming events

It is now mid October and the weather certainly has picked up and made it more bearable to ride outdoors.


October and November will be a couple of busy months for me with regards to cycling commitments and events.


I have the Ride Daylesford on the 28th October and it is a 146km ride (with over 1700m of climbing, most of it done on the last 50km) so I will need to get some distance/stress in my legs in order to get myself through comfortably. So for this week's long ride (21st Oct), I will ride from my house to Heidelberg (30km) for the 7am start and then ride home. I will be a > 100km day with hopefully over 1500m of climbing. I will be writing off the remainder of the day as I will be in a deep recovery sleep to recover.


I will be heading to Bright over the long weekend for some training with Lead Out 4th through to 7th November. I am looking forward to being back in the Alpine region and to see how I have improved (if any) especially in the descents.


Work has entered me in the Property Industry Foundation charity ride on the 17th November which is a 50 or 75km ride from Healesville. I am suspecting that this ride will be a hilly one but it is fully supported and catered for. Depending on how hectic this ride is, I may or may not ride again on the Saturday.


The week after, it will be my main event for 2017 which is the Giro della Donna on the 26th November. My main aim for this ride is to be stronger on the climbs and more comfortable on the descents. My weight to power ratio will not be great since I have put on weight compared to 2015. The ride is 125km with 2750m elevation. I have not ridden Donna Buang since 2015 so ideally, I should ride up that climb before the 26th November but with so many social and work events coming up, it will look like it may only be done on the event day.


I have done two Mt Pleasant rides within the last few weeks. The sessions were not too dramatic and I didn't tear up after the sessions from exhaustion and defeat. Compared to my first ride with LOC out that way, I am feeling much stronger. Last week was recovery week for Lead Out and I completed the two mid week training sessions but didn't end up riding on Saturday as I wanted to do a long session with the Point Cook Cycling Group (PCCG) riding from Point Cook towards You Yangs and some hill repeats.


The pace towards You Yangs was fairly comfortable with speeds < 25km/hr. Because I was feeling relatively OK, I pushed myself on the hill repeats as the loop is 3km with a climb of 100m over 1.2km. The ride back towards Point Cook was also fairy comfortable for me and I didn't feel too exhausted by the end of the ride which was good feedback for me and how I will get through Ride Daylesford.