Posted on Nov 22, 2009 under News |
Hi Everyone,
I have been away quite a lot recently so haven’t had a chance to catch up with everyone. I understand we have been joined by a new runner on Tuesday evenings which is good to see. Also, Thursday’s at North Lakes are still on the agenda if there are a few who wish to arrange one. For the moment these are on an adhoc basis unless they become more popular. If they do, they can be put back into our schedule as a regular weekly run. I don’t plan on running them too often myself as they don’t seem too knee friendly to me on all those concrete pathways.
Mountain biking and road cycling is still happening although it’s become redundant for us to arrange them when there are plenty of regularly organised rides already out there. Examples are Duttons Cycling Club from North Lakes on Saturday mornings and fairly regular mountain biking rides at Bunya arranged through MTBDirt for Saturday mornings, Sunday arvos and even Wednesday evenings for night rides.
Anyone keen to run a loop or two of the Sheepstation Creek Enviro Park? Add a comment and we will try to find a Saturday morning that suits.
See you on the road or in the bush, Ron
Posted on Oct 04, 2009 under News |
Hi Runners,
I hear it’s been quiet recently. I haven’t run for a couple of weeks myself and won’t be back until November as I am heading off on a holiday for a few weeks. Hopefully there will still be plenty of Tuesday night runners showing up as the warmer weather kicks in. The days should be getting long enough now to start running our alternate summer route through the darker back blocks of Narangba.
I can also report that a couple of runners have been missing recently due to mishaps on their mountain bikes but they are healing well.
See you in a few weeks, Ron
Posted on Sep 15, 2009 under Mountain Biking, News, Our Runs |
Tuesdays are still going well with Robyn joining us for the first time tonight. We have stopped meeting as a group at North Lakes on Thursdays for the moment although a few of us are continuing on from one of the regular’s homes. Just let me know if you want to join us and I will give you the details. The start for these is 6:00pm.
A group of us went mountain biking on Sunday morning at Gap Creek. It coincided with the annual reconstruction of the dirt access road so it was an interesting drive out followed by a lot of car cleaning on Sunday afternoon. I managed a flat tyre half way through a long trail. I had a spare tube but didn’t have the necessary spanner to remove the wheel so after a long walk out it was great when a good samaritan helped out with the required tools and we were able to continue on with our ride including some impressive downhill single tracks. The carmaraderie of the mountain biking community never fails to impress me. There is a good chance of another ride this weekend so let me know if you are interested and I will send you the details when we have made final plans.
Have a good week and see you at a run or ride, Ron
Posted on Sep 03, 2009 under News |
I host this site at home on a small server and it runs from early morning until late at night 7 days per week. As most of us are at work on weekdays I am cutting back the hours to just evenings on weekdays and all day on weekends. I get to reduce my carbon footprint and the information will still be available when it is needed. On weekdays it will come online just after 5:00 pm each day and go offline again at 11:00 pm. On weekends it should be available by 7:00 am.
Posted on Sep 01, 2009 under Cycling, Mountain Biking, News, Our Runs |
Numbers are on the increase again with a good showing tonight at Narangba Station. It was good to see Cara return after taking it a little easier for a while following her preparation and completion of the Kakoda Challenge a few weeks ago.
There are definite starters on Thursday night at North Lakes. Stir is participating in a Nike challenge where he needs to run up to 10k’s per day for 22 days so he is currently keen to do every run on the schedule.
Mountain biking is still on the agenda most weekends and road rides are set to make a return now that more civilised temperatures have arrived. More about that soon.
see you at a run (or ride), Ron
Posted on Aug 28, 2009 under Mountain Biking, News |
Ben (Son) and I competed in the Flight Centre Mountain Bike Epic last weekend for the first time so I thought it worth posting our experience.
Firstly - it’s an EPIC!!
We did the 52k Merida Pursuit which started at 10:30am with an easy roll initially for several hundred cyclists before entering the first of the private properties and starting to climb. A loose rocky surface was on the agenda and cyclists seemed to just fall over without warning. From there it was a series of dirt and bitumen roads, hill climbs that were unimaginable, exhilarating downhills, more private properties and temperatures hitting the low 30’s. I managed to make it to the 25km checkpoint feeling pretty good and pushed on with enthusiasm. Somewhere during the next 10km I hit a wall with severe cramping which eventually passed when another stretch of bitumen appeared. Finally at the 40km mark we entered the final stage of the race which included about 8km of technical single track. Where I was there were more competitors walking than cycling and many of us were stopping frequently to rest. Cramps were the biggest problem and I coined the phrase “cramp and crash”. Riders were with you one minute and then careered off the trail into the bush with cramps the next. I was also starting to feel like I might black out from dehydration and the relentless cramping and took some time out in the shade with another rider feeling the same. I have to say that the camararderie amongst mountain bikers is without peer and everyone passing by checks that you are okay. Anyway, after reaching the 40k mark in 3 hours it took another 1:50 to ride the final 12k’s. I collapsed over the line, drank a litre of Staminade and vowed never to compete in another Epic. For the following hour I was cramping from head to toe in an unprecedented way but like all things it passed eventually.
Ben made the comment that it was the toughest thing he had ever done and I would have to agree 100%. How do the 100k riders do it?
By Monday night the conversation at home had turned to planning a strategy for next year! My wife Annette can’t believe it after witnessing the carnage and can’t understand the attraction - me either!
As far as the results go, I expected to be almost last in the 50-59 group with the amount of time I spent resting. I was pleased to eventually place 28th out of 41 finishers in a time of 4:53.41 while Ben managed an impressive 10th place in the 20-29 group in a time of 3:10.44.
Check back in 12 months for the 2010 report!
