Like a steam train.... toot toot!

Tonight is the famous 'Ride through the Suburbs' which takes place each Thursday night through the Northern suburbs of Melbourne. It's a short 40 odd km ride but it is quick and very hilly. I ride with the boys from the Richmond cyclery who are a super bunch of blokes who are also very competitive. There will be about 100 riders out there tonight and if we're lucky, maybe 5 of us.

We will work in together in trying to take a couple of important sections of the ride. 1st there is the climb up Doncaster Road. This is a heavily contested hill climb that lasts approximately 2 km's. By the end of it I am really gasping for air, the legs are burning and the sweet is dripping from the brow. It doesn't matter how much pain I'm in at the end of this climb, I can't show it as it will give the other riders the impression that they are better than me.

The second section that is heavily contested is 'Col de Burgundy'. Another steep climb that is a little shorter but very steep. I've never challenged for this section, but tonight may be the night.

The last section is the 'Red Rooster Sprint' which takes place at the end of the ride. To challenge for this you want to be sprinting at around 65 km's per hour through the bunch (coming through like a steam train..... toot toot!). Whoever takes this has bragging rights until next week.

Through all of this I'm hoping that I'm training enough to be able to keep up with the guys and girls come May. I guess time will tell, but I know I need to get some longer rides in to ensure that I've got the gas to finish the mighty Tour.

LUCA ~ Honorary TDC Rider

Dear Tour de Cure Team,

Please know that we greatly appreciate your fantastic effort to raise funds for cancer sufferers. You are real heroes!

We have a 4-year-old son with a brain tumor which can not be treated in Australia. Due to the intense care, which our son needs, both my wife and I can currently not work to earn an income. Camp Quality has been extremely supportive of our family and we are very grateful for people like you, who are supporting cancer research and patient support.

Great song - we love it!

I have attached some photos of our sick son Luca - one of the most inspiring person we met ....
Just in case you are interested ..... his story is on http://www.powerbox.inoz.com/lucasstory

Very well done Team! Thank you very much !

We wish all bike riders a pleasant and safe journey with lots of fun!

Kindest regards,
Lars Weber and family

Training Ride North, 24 Feb

Met the Tour guys at 5:30 on Pac Hwy, headed north, picking up Kate in Chatswood at 5:45am.
The most notable point early in the ride was how relatively grumpy Gary was without a coffee to start. He almost cracked a frown. Gary commented he had to fight the bars on his bike to pass Maiseys without a stop. But he was driven by the promise of a coffee at Pie in the Sky, north of Berowra

South of Berowra, we come across amazing thick fog which reduced visibility and speed and drenches everyone. The group is stalled with Max puncturing. Whilst riding very well given his now 9 weeks on a road bike, he's still understandably relatively inexperienced when it comes to fixing a puncture (a rite of passage for the cyclist, a lightning-quick puncture repair inspires awe and generates respect from all quarters). So we stood around and offered supportive gestures such as ""hurry up, we want coffee"". Beats his previous best time by about 45 mins.

North of Berowra, we find Pie in the Sky. Gary's eyes well up with joy, which quickly turns to thinly-veiled furious anger when we note it's not open... I further improve the situation by waiting until he's well down the hill to discover I've got a puncture of my own. During the puncture repair, it's revealed I apparently dated Mother Theresa. It was funny at the time, but would lose something in the retelling. Had to be there.

Long fast descent to the Hawkesbury, awesome views and the subsequent testing climb up to Mt White (3km). All did really well, with Gary smashing it up hill, even though the coffee at the top of the hill was expected to be International Roast quality. At the top though Road Warriors put on a half-decent brew and again we were away on the quiet, winding tree-lined Pac Hwy.

Another screaming downhill painted smiles on all. The star of the next climb (3km) was undoubtedly Kate who held her own and then some for the whole climb. Gary, now mellowed with a short black inside him was sccoting around riding laps between the rest of us, up and down the hill like a Jack Russell on the promise of a ball being pitched, whilst the rest of us just got up the climb

The group split here - all aside from me rode down to Killcare, sailed across to Palm Beach and back down the beaches. I headed north on the F3, which was surprising good with a wide, smooth shoulder and a reasonable amount of traffic. In the next 50km I averaged 30 - 35 km/h and over consistently, with 1 stop to fill up with water as the temperature had climbed. A guy came up to talk bikes, he had a carbon Colnago and was training for the Youth Off The Streets Sydney - Surfers Ride. He also had a passion for talking, which was great but I had to jump on the bike and head north.

My ride was cut a little short at the turn-off to Cessnock after 140km, my girlfriend arriving early (with cold water and an icy wet towel!!!). I jumped in the car and fell asleep shortly afterwards. The infamous effects of carb gels & powerbars inside the car made me not very popular - but it was a great morning and I'm looking forward to the next TDC group training ride.

Training Ride SUNDAY 4th April

Hi Guys,

I have a lunch in Gerroa on Sunday so was planning on riding down there. Approx 150km

If anyone is interested in perhaps joining me to Wollongong or Shellharbour and maybe catching the train back or even riding back I will be leaving Bar Colluzi at 6am

Expect to be in the Gong by 9am and Gerroa by 11am

Hope to have some company on the road.

Geoff

RAIN, HAIL or SHINE

Ladies.........what happened to training this morning. Loey / Max...........great ride guys. Beast / Learjet / 'George'...................hope the sleep in doesn't come back to haunt you in a couple of months.

Bring it on!

This is me, about to set off on a training ride down The Great Ocean Road in January... The carefree pose would soon be a distant memory...

THE SUMMARY OF MAX'S PERSONAL TRAINING PROGRESS IS AS FOLLOWS...

I'm into my third month of training for the event... Coming from a (very) low base of fitness, and trying to keep up with the other guys/girls (mostly seasoned pro's) has been something of a challenge - to put it very mildly!!

Weeks 1 - 5

Nothing short of purgatory...!! There's no other way to describe it!! Including 4.30am starts, where I wrongly figured that over-dosing on caffeine may somehow make up for a lack of fitness... The thing I hadn't factored is that all the seasoned pro's also start with a coffee or two - so no advantage there!! The lowest point was being (almost literally) carried into an air-conditioned Hungry Jacks / Service Station (thanks Geoff!) to re-hydrate and recuperate, on a day of cycling 100kms in 36 degree heat!!

Week 6

I got to the point where my legs and lungs no longer felt like imploding after riding fifteen minutes... Progress, though painfully minimal, was more than welcome...

Week 8

I got to the point where I didn't get dropped off the back of the pack, and made the whole ride un-assisted! There was once a time when one of the guys in the pack would need to cycle up beside me going up steep hills, put a hand on my back and push me a few hundred metres to stop me rolling backwards down the hill (Thanks Stu!).

Week 10

One morning I didn't come stone-motherless-last, and it appeared (at least to me) that I didn't hold anyone in the group up! I won't mention who was behind me that one particular day... They know who they are, and I'm not buying the "sore back" story!!

Week 11

After a bit of a pep-talk on Sunday night (suggesting that people who are not fit enough will have to travel in the support van if they can't keep up!), I'm ready to step up the training to the next level... And there's even some discussion of shaving the legs... I'm told it makes you go faster, and that the ladies love it (but I'm not convinced on either count!).

3 Months and 1 Week until the Tour begins!! Bring it on!!