Resurecting the Katana & Triathlon

There has not been much going on at the present moment. I have been looking at the possibility of participating in the Lithgow Triathlon. It has been set up to be a fun day. There are 3 categories, Try a Try for small Children, the Preliminary (which I am likely to participate in) has a 200m swim, a 10 km bike leg and a 3 km run & the main event which has a 400m swim, 20 km bike leg and a 5 km run.

I have decided to try (pardon the pun) things to see how they go before I enter. I went to the pool on Friday and did some laps. I got sunburned in the process. I also found that I am a slow swimmer doing freestyle while being slightly faster doing breast stroke. The pool has not changed much in the years since I last visited (I must have been at school at the time).

Today I did a slow run to one of the bike shops involved in the Triathlon and found that I had to stop a few times for breath more times than I care to admit. I have never been a runner. I have to say that it was a major effort to get things done at school when running came up in the PE classes.

All this effort is making some of my muscles noticeable (read tight) I would have to say I wonder how I would go riding to the pool andriding back. I intend on doing the training a day at a time. I will make a decision by the end of the week as to if I am going to enter the event the decisive factor will be if I see if my fitness improve. 

All this has turned my attention to the Katana which has been languishing in my room for months. I have decided it will get the new wheels from another 2nd had bike put on it It will also have a new chain and a new set of cables. I took it to Belly’s Bikes in Bathurst for the service and adjustments. I will find out on Monday if things have been successful.

I have also been considering getting some aero bars for the triathlon (should I enter it!) I have searched the on-line bike shops and eBay for time trial bars andhave found that they are hot items on eBay and expensive everywhere else. I have even tried looking at some overseas sites. Aerobars also known as Time trial bars or triathlon bars are used for triathlons but have been used for time-trialling. They may be useful for time-trialing if DHBC competes in time-trials. I have heard that they are not used for group rides so they will have to be taken off the bike should I take it on slowies.

I have also decided to get the new wheel for the fearless gearless in spite of the price going up due to the drop in the Aussie dollar (otherwise known as the pacific peso). The impact of the drop in the Aussie dollar has been felt in the cycling industry – most bikes containing any US content eg Trek, Cannondale and Surly now have hefty price tags. Combined with the drop in petrol prices due to the crash in the economy it will be interesting to see how things shape up in 2009 with regards to cycling infrastructure.

Olympics + Single Speed raid on Olympic Park

A lot of readers may be curious as to why I have not included the Olympics and the Tour De France in this blog. I have followed both events with interest but given that this year is another of those years of poo, I have restrained myself from barracking for Cadel and the gang. This year as anyone who has seen TheSydneyBlog has not been a good year as a spectator for me. Both my rugby league team (the Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs – with the Money Bill William$ saga) and my AFL team (the Sydney Swans with Big Bad Barry Hall Belting several shades of brown out of his immediate opponents) are not faring too well on the sports field.

Like everyone else I desperately wanted Cadel Evans to take the Tour De France, but had this sneaking suspicion that this was not the year. This suspicion was confirmed and people began the usual post race analysis along the lines of the post match postmortems that are held by supporters of the loosing sides in football games. Some especially foreign bloggers like BikesnobNYC were quick to bandy the word Chocker around. This despite the glaring fact that the Silence Lotto team for which Cadel rides were out spent – multi million dollar teams have almost no limits. Others pointed out that the other Silence Lotto riders did not give Cadel the support he needed in the mountain stages in the Alps and the Pyrenees.

What both sides failed to realise is that the rider came second. That is a good effort for someone facing the financial hurdles and team work issues that came up. When it came to the Olympics there were those who complained about his withdrawal from the Australian team due to injury.  When he came 5thin the time trial it turned out he was riding with an Anterior Cruciate Ligament injury – one that sidelines footballers for weeks without shame! (www.smh.com.au/news/cycling/cadel-evans-soldiers-on/2008/08/13/1218307011869.html) At the end of the day 5th is still good and in closing my piece on the Olympics I say to anyone who wants to knock Cadel or Michael Rogers or indeed any of the Australian Olympic cycling team – if you can do better get on your bike and do it!

It is the same with women’s cycling Oenone Wood looks set to retire and unfortunately Sara Carrigan was not able to repeat her performance at Athens where she won the women’s road race. She wound up having to settle for 38th. All the results are on www.au.sports.yahoo.com/olympics/sports/results/-/cycling

Last night I went on a speculative ride. Purely a recreational one although it became a real test for the fearless gearless.  I have been riding the Green Trek into work recently, it has a rack for panniers and it is my favourite for commuting. I had been doing little favours for the coffee club at work and scored some chocolate for my efforts (very naughty). To burn off this energy I decided to  ride the fearless gearless out to Olympic Park via the Cooks River Cyclepath.

I watched the end of the men’s time trial on SBS and after watching Fabian Cancellara and co take the medals, I decided to go and really give it to the Fearless Gearless. I took the lighting off the Green Trek and mounted up. I went all out for a while but was pleasantly surprised. I have found that my average speed on the Fearless Gearless is about the same as on my geared bikes. This time was no different. Given that we are at the tail end of winter I have been able to ride the Cooks River Cyclepath without the usual pedestrian traffic on the past two occasions I have riden it.  

I had the usual issues with the bridge at Dulwich Hill. but once I got across. I picked up the pace and found I was able to climb some of the hills that I had serious doubts about climbing. I found myself pretty much alone although there were some of the usual suspects as I went along. I wasn’t looking at going to Olympic park initially but given things went so well I decided to give it a go.

After the Bridge across the M4 I found that the road leading to Olympic Park was closed for road works. I followed the diversions until I got to a park. I road across the park, I can thank God for cross country tyres because I was able to go over a grassed area without any serious trouble. I got to the entrance to Olympic Park and was able to ride a circuit around the park. I thought I would be clever and ride to Pommeroy Street but wound up taking a wrong turn and wound up on Homebush Bay Drive. This was potentially dangerous as I wound up having to rely on the shoulder with cars pelting past at 80 km/h. I walked the bike across the road when a suitable gap in the traffic appeared and rode back the other way and got back to the cycle path Fortunately I got back via the Cooks River, I took the hill from hell by sprinting all out and then climbing. I would wonder how I would go when the Peds particularly the walkers (with or without dogs and or ipods) and the joggers with or with out ipods are about.

The reason for this raid was to see if I could commute to Granville/Clyde on the Fearless Gearless. I know Lindsay Munks for Dulwich Hill Bicycle Club has commuted from Marrickville to Parramatta on a one speed mtb and it looks like I will be able to do the same even if it does mean doing some things differently. That said I will have to repeat the effort with a rack and loaded panniers not to mention at some diabolical hour in the morning or late evening (after 10pm) after putting in a full days work or at times when masses of pedestrians and other path users (I gather a Tai Chi group hold their lessons right on the path at certain times) are milling around in the way.