t= -1 month, Mission Beach & Chrimbo

Last 3 weeks summary

Distance: 344 Km (longest ride 54 Km)

# of rides: 16 rides

Weight: 91.8 Kg

Now even though the weight is up and the distances haven't been epic, I'm still racking this up as a win. I'm out the other side of Chrimbo with the weight numbers decent. I've also done a few days in Sydney, which always takes me off the bike for  few days.

I've also done a lot more climbing of late. So far in December I've done 2758 m of vertical. Easily my biggest month of the year.  And my climbing is much better for it.

My all time best Castle Hill was a 16.40. On Saturday I did a 16.48 and didn't feel like I was pushing crazy hard. That's about 90 seconds quicker than I was doing 12 months ago. Nice.

Now obviously the hills of the Alpine Classic are a different beast to Castle Hill, but it's still a nice feeling knowing I'm riding close to my PB.

I also did some riding on a quick family trip to Mission Beach. Mission Beach is a rather lovely part of the world about halfway between Townsville & Cairns. What makes it so lovely is the rainforest there pinches down to the beach. It's also largely untouched, and what is there is very laid back & casual. 

We were staying on the northern edge of Mission Beach in a small village called Bingil Bay. Great spot to cycle around. The stretch between Bingil & Mission hugs the beach and literally has rainforest on the edge of the road.

Now as much as I didn't pull the ripcord at Christmas, I did though get a rather cool present: a Garmin 130 Edge cycling computer. My old computer (an Edge 25) was still working OK, but it was a fairly basic unit when it was released in late 2015. 

Now it's not as if the 130 Edge enables me to watch PayTV on my rides or will give me a 75 W boost up the hills, but it's better. Nicer display, more options, but the best bit is battery life. My Edge 25 was only lasting 4 hrs, the 130 should last 12+

"He's going vertical, so am I"

 Last 3 weeks summary:

 Distance: 387 Km (longest ride 63 Km)

 # of Rides: 14 rides

Weight:  90.2 Kg

Good news is COVID is now well and truly in my rear view mirror.

With the change in route for the Alpine Classic has come a change in my riding. I wasn't really worried about climbing Buffalo & the front of Falls. Long climbs but not super steep. Now Falls is out and Hotham is in, all of a sudden by ability to climb seems so much more important. Time to get vertical.

So I've been riding more hills. Well more hill. Castle Hill. Half Castle repeats, full Castles, whatever I feel like on the day. Castle Hill is much shorter than Hotham, but it's steeper. 

Even though my monthly distances are down of late (and that's down to the heat - it's now too hot to be riding by 9), my elevation gain is up. Hopefully I can crush out a lot more hill sessions before the heat & humidity really arrive. 

I've also blown the dust off the Zwift setup, so I'll still be able to ride in spite of the heat & the humidity (we love air conditioning in North Queensland).

The big question is will all the training be enough? I hope it is, but I'm not sure. 3800 Km since June, most of it riding solo (which is harder work). Down 13 kilos. I'm in a decent place. And on the day it should be milder (but they get the odd baking hot day in the Vic Snowies over summer) & I should get to sit in bunches a lot of the day (which is significantly easier). But 200 Km is a big distance jump, and 4000+ m of climbing a monster climbing day.