About me

I've been riding and racing my mountain bikes since 2009 at the same time as studying a medical degree, I tried a training plan once and realised I hate intervals with a passion so instead I just ride and race and enjoy...

Thursday, May 12, 2016

I do still exist - blog resurrection

Well, there has been deafening silence on here for a while .... time for that to change.

So much to catch up since the last post about the Highland Fling, first of all 3 Peak Falls Creek.

In February 2015 I finally got to do this event, having been entered the previous year but then sidelined due to surgeries on my arm. It was a fantastic event  and I smashed my sub-10 hour goal with a 9.5 hour time.

The post-event low that followed however wasn't pretty, two weeks after 3 Peaks was the Mont24, where we once again took out mixed 4s - and that was pretty much the last time I rode for a few months.

Balcony Road
With a trip to the European climbs on the cards I needed to get fit, so I entered my first 3-day stage race as motivation and slowly dragged myself back to some level of fitness for Battle on the Border at the end of May 2015. I was still a fair way of peak fitness but it was s fun introduction to female road racing and I finished mid-pack in B grade women.

July and August saw us head to Europe - I can't possibly describe it all here, but it was the most amazing riding experience. The Italian and French Alps following by the Dolomites .... heaven on a bike.

A few highlights included conquering all three routes up Mont Ventoux in a single day, but it's so hard to single out highlights in a holiday which included riding fantastically beautiful climbs in a region which respects cyclists and has spectacular scenery food and coffee.
Stelvio

Then again - the post trip low and getting fat and unfit because it was so uninspiring to ride back in Australia after that. Especially when you come back onto evening shift, and bogans throw beer cans (full) at you on the way home... just because. Oh and the fact that paediatric patients generously share all their viruses with you.

So other another post event/holiday low and one which probably extended well beyond cycling. Looking back I would have say I was struggling with a period of depression, and there wasn't much of life I was enjoying.

The lack of exercise and upwards trending weight definitely was compounding the issue, I tend to be all or nothing - if I am training well, I eat well, feel well and am happy. When one thing goes downwards, so do they all - lack of exercise is combined with overeating, and eating the wrong foods. I have never been seriously overweight but I can easily gain 10% of my body weight in a short period of time, let's just say despite it being a European riding holiday I put on a whole kilo a week thanks to the croissants, pizza, pasta and gelato. 

Then an interstate move came onto the horizon, and energy was diverted into organising a November move to Brisbane. More time off the bike, fairly high stress levels and add to that the fact that Tim's new role in Brisbane involved an initial 9-month secondment to Seattle, USA.

So I arrived in Brisbane fat and unfit, but the move was the catalyst which got me back on the bike. It wasn't pretty, it's demoralising coming back from a long period off the bike. Luckily the start aligned and we found the University of QLD cycle club. Although the first group ride of just 60km practically killed my unfit legs.

Not long after joining I got offered a place on Women's team being put together, and that motivation combined with new and beautiful rides around the Brisbane area finally saw me start to get back to something resembling fitness.
Morning session up Mt Nebo are beautiful


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