Monster’s diary

Status
Not open for further replies.
Just got home from work. It was howling a gale this morning so the ride in wasn’t pleasant and took 15 minutes longer than normal but I had the pleasure of a tail wind on the way home.

Picked up a couple of Strava PR’s today too which was nice including a sprint segment. I’m now 6th overall with an improvement of 3 seconds on my previous PR. D04BBA1C-A522-4DC0-B06E-D8BCB53B756C.jpegDEF7C5AA-E59E-405B-8A9E-BAA642678224.jpeg
 
I love the reward of a tail wind on the way home. The other way around is so annoying!
 
I seem to have bounced back well from my cold. I’ve been looking forward to a hike up mount lofty as I haven’t been for a while. All prepared and confident I set off hoping for a time around 35 minutes and when I got to the top I pulled my phone out of my pocket to see the timer had stopped and only recorded 2.99km of the 3.8km route with a total time of 28 so I’m thinking total time would have been around 35-37 minutes. This is going to annoy me so much now that I’ll start work late on Tuesday so that I can get a run up mount lofty in the morning to set a time.

The descent was good though. 29 minutes total and a ranking of 176th out of 1675 total times so I’m pretty happy with that. B789B943-A58B-4AD0-A225-6B7C7D4DC8FC.jpeg55D051BF-53E4-46E2-90DB-C74D9AADCDF0.jpeg
 
Feeling grumpy ...

Yesterday I was too sore to go for a ride (legs ache after jogging up mount lofty) and today was a LOOOOONG day at work then dinner and a movie with the partner. It’s 11:30pm and I’ve just walked in the door at home. Don’t get me wrong it was a good night and I’m certainly not grumpy about that. I’m just very much aware that I’ve not been out riding since Saturday (now Tuesday very nearly Wednesday). Tomorrow is set to be a long day too so I probably won’t get out until Thursday night. I’ll have to make Thursday night a long ride to make up for it all.
 
Cycling has become such an integral part of your day now that I understand. I hate feeling grumpy though. Hope you feel a bit better this morning. It's bucketing down with rain here, so no golf.
 
Cate said:
Cycling has become such an integral part of your day now that I understand. I hate feeling grumpy though. Hope you feel a bit better this morning. It's bucketing down with rain here, so no golf.
Click to expand...

Yeah. I’m not that grumpy. Just annoyed that I can’t get out there. Cycling makes me feel free it’s really strange.

I can imagine what weather you’re getting. We’ve got the biggest cold front this year coming through tonight. Winds up to 125km/h in the southeast as I understand.

I’m working from home today just to look after my dog.
 
I decided as much as I prefer getting out on the road I would set up my indoor trainer and ride in the lounge room while watching a movie. I thought I’d do a quick 10km ride and then some resistance training since I’ve not touched the weights in a while.

It feels good to have got some exercise in but wow it shows I’ve not touched the dumbbells in a while!

Also even though I never left my lounge room the cycling computer thinks I went nuts around the block. Funny little route it’s given me!F90C458C-5713-47BB-9A36-131C790CFB5A.jpeg
 
Last edited:
Ahhh it feels good to have been for a ride! If I’m completely honest I didn’t particularly enjoy the first 35ish kms but the last little bit was quite good once I was sheltered from the wind. Not exactly strong; more blustery and annoying.

On a negative note I had a bus pull right out in front of me tonight; across the road to pull into the bus terminal. No cars behind me but he was just too impatient to wait the extra 3 seconds. 805D81ED-B9BD-4A1B-8E81-AF5893E68A84.jpeg
 
Cate said:
Thank goodness you must have good reflexes! Great ride, TM.
Click to expand...

If only that were the case. If I had good reflexes I’d still have two eyes . Unfortunately I’m getting very good at predicting stupidity.

At the end of the day we all make mistakes and I do understand one bloke on a bike doesn’t take up much room so we’re hard to see. Funny thing is really often (like twice tonight) cars get stuck behind me because the driver is too cautious to pass by. I end up riding in the gutter and waving them through. I really don’t mind if people pass close as long as they try to give room and I have at least a foot between me and their mirror. I guess it’s a combination of the flack a lot of cyclists give drivers, the well meaning nature of MOST people and the unpredictability of so many cyclists around here (I’m in by far the minority when it comes to using lights at night in this area).
 
Predicting stupidity is a good skill to have when cycling or driving. I continue to be amazed at the stupidity of people who drive through the fog and/or rain without their lights on. Why on earth wouldn't you want to be seen?
 
It is simply not safe in my area to ride, B Doubles and road trains are not going to give space to cyclists and there is no shoulder.
 
Yes in Queensland but further north near Fraser Island, I get a lot of log trucks passing my driveway plus the trucks going to and from the Laminex factory. Tourist season makes the road a nightmare.
 
No ride today; the weather looked a little too wild so I opted for a 30 minute resistance session then I watched a YouTube video about triathlons for beginners and it inspired me to go for a little jog with the dog.

I’ve never been a good distance runner so anything over 2km is a stretch at any respectable pace so I think I’ll start splitting my week up and doing half running half cycling. I’ll start short distances and slow pace and just build up from there. F2A90503-5F18-4081-BF38-8248B3A371BC.jpeg
 
Hey TM, your cycling and now running continues to impress me. I'd like to find some kind of exercise that interested me, thinking about swimming, but its a ways to the nearest public pool. I am sure I will find something.

Thanks for stopping by my diary, and we are in agreement on business travel, the less the better.

Australia is on my bucket list, I've never been. If we make it down it probably won't be for a year or so. In some ways Australia is like the US, too big to easily prioritize what to see and where to go on a trip. Oh well, we have some time to think about it.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top