3 more sleeps to go and I'll sleep on the plane to Canada...well oh well. It's the usual Kat-stress-before-I-go-overseas situation, nothing ever changes. Still got a couple reports to finish and decide about which bikini I shall pack...ah, yea, there was a bike race too, right!
Prep in the last few weeks, actually since the moonride, have been a bit average. I've seemed to be able to catch every bug in the air, damn it, so a big fat flue (not the porky oink oink one...) and a good old tummy rumble have ruined my last two big weekends. Well, gotta go with what get's thrown at ya and make the best out of it. Got a whole week to settle into the race????
I will post again just before the race, at this stage I would like to say cher bro to all the peeps that kept me company on my rides or at least part of them, especially in the later stages of my unmotivated training...A da Man Adam, Sarah PC, Martin and Jamie tha nutter - 4hrs in the rain wasn't enough for him, he did the same thing again the next day...tsts...
AND - a big thank you to everyone who has donated to limbs4all ... we're slowly getting there and its great to see who helps me and Mark!!! thanks so much!!!!
Okay, back to those which bikini shall I take issues...
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Marc Herremans - some inspiration
Another inspirational story about someone who doesn't give up when shit hits the fan...
Marc Herremans
“Life’s only limitations are the ones we make – its all in the mind and nothing is impossible!”
Marc Herremans is a Belgian Triathlete who made it to 6th place at the Ironman World Championships in Hawai'i in 2001, after being in this sport for only 3 years. One year later he crashed during a training ride in Lanzarote, leaving him paralyzed for life from his stomach down to his feet.
Marc Herremans
“Life’s only limitations are the ones we make – its all in the mind and nothing is impossible!”
Marc Herremans is a Belgian Triathlete who made it to 6th place at the Ironman World Championships in Hawai'i in 2001, after being in this sport for only 3 years. One year later he crashed during a training ride in Lanzarote, leaving him paralyzed for life from his stomach down to his feet.
Yet after a short period of 3 months after the accident, Marc refused to be discouraged and started training for the Ironman World Championships in Hawai'i, this time as a wheelchair athlete. That's how he earned his nickname, "Mad Max", as he never gives up hope and always tries to push his limits to the furthest possible.
He participated in the Ironman World Championships in 2002, only 10 months after his accident. Although he didn't finish first, he participated again every following year, because his ultimate goal was to win Hawai'i. In 2006, he finally succeeded in his goal: he was the first wheelchair athlete to arrive at the finish of the Ironman World Championships in Hawai'i(ironically, he didn't receive any prize money, because wheelchair athletes do not receive prizes).
In 2003, he started a foundation called "To Walk Again" that supports other disabled people, such as making a sports centre for disabled people, and that invests in bone marrow research. To gain more support for his foundation, Marc met disabled celebrities such as Christopher Reeve.
In October 2007, Herremans became the first person to complete the Crocodile Trophy with a hand bike. The Crocodile Trophy is one of the world’s hardest mountain bike races, traversing part on Northern Australia - 1400km in 10 days.
read more about him here
Sunday, May 17, 2009
7hrs of A-Z results and the Moonride 12hr solo
Whaka's Trails A-Z in 7hrs ... where did I get to?
Hm, maybe it's called Karma, coincidence, luck or the spirit of Whaka Forest ... in 7hrs I made it ... to the letter E ... for those that know, the only trail in Whaka's network with an E is .. tataaaaaa ... EXIT TRAIL. How convenient at the end of a 7hr ride. Thanks for A Da M and Sarah PC for keeping me company at the beginning and rippin up Corners, I only had to do it twice that day...the A-Z mission will continue...
Moonride - 12hr Solo
Firstly - Murray Flemming, the organiser, kindly donated my race fee to limbs4all. Thanks for that Murray!
moonride...I never really enjoyed those 12hr MTB races in teams - don't get me wrong, I enjoy the team situation, I just don't like this caning it for 25min and then resting for 2hrs and then trying to cane it again and rest again...I just DON'T go fast and always find it frustrating and don't enjoy this riding/resting format. SO - I did wonder if I would enjoy a 12hr solo more than a team race.
And the answer is yes!
With all this training for Canada I knew I was fit enough, the question was how I'd deal with riding an 8km loop for 12hrs, round and round and round in circles...
It turned out to be easier than I thought - at the end of the day it's like an Ironman, you don't look at the whole 12hrs ahead of you, you just break it down into laps and your next stop, rehydration, refuelling and all that shabang. Jamie Campbell and Sarah PC were my supporters and kept me going during the day - Jamie's got heaps of experience in going long and doing nutter things like a double Ironman, so he was perfect support and kept me on my no-doze and knew when I had to do what - thanks big time Jamie!
I really enjoyed the ride and was stoked that I managed to pace myself - Yoda shall be proud! I kept my lap times consistent, even the first few night laps. I slowed down later on and finally bonked on my 21st lap, that one and the 22nd were quite hard. I just got into a real low, the legs were still fine (-ish, as fine as can be after 10hrs of riding) but mentally I just hit the wall. Man was I grumpy! Anyway, Jamie made me ride 21/22 without a break and then stop for one last re-fuel - Coke and sour lollies aaaaaa - and I was all good for my last lap. Knowing it was the last lap helped!
Lessons learned?
You know how they always say, never try anything you haven't tested in your training, on race day? Bullshit. I rode with new shoes, never worn before, had new mudtyres on my ride, never ridden those before, and I hadn't done any night riding for over a year - borrowed those wiiiicked Ay-Up lights from Dave Joy at Bike Vegas and chucked them onto my helmet the night before the race. Never took them for a spin beforehand. And I loved my shoes, tyres, lights and the nightriding. There ya go.
Em's Powerbars (hmmmmm Chocolate Oat explosion, yuuuuum) are awesome for a ride like that - broke it into eatable pieces and just chucked them into my back pocket, no wrapping needed as they don't stick to the jersey or crumble appart. Chooooice.
Keep salt handy and put it into your drinks when you feel a cramp coming.
Die Gailtalerin, my ride, rules.
No-doze rules.
Chocolate rules.
Coke and lollies rule big time. See the pattern? Check out the last pic, that's me on a super-sugar-high...
Don't fluff around as long as I did in the evening part when getting changed and eating 'dinner'. It can cost you a placing.
Bring on next year!
Hm, maybe it's called Karma, coincidence, luck or the spirit of Whaka Forest ... in 7hrs I made it ... to the letter E ... for those that know, the only trail in Whaka's network with an E is .. tataaaaaa ... EXIT TRAIL. How convenient at the end of a 7hr ride. Thanks for A Da M and Sarah PC for keeping me company at the beginning and rippin up Corners, I only had to do it twice that day...the A-Z mission will continue...
Moonride - 12hr Solo
Firstly - Murray Flemming, the organiser, kindly donated my race fee to limbs4all. Thanks for that Murray!
moonride...I never really enjoyed those 12hr MTB races in teams - don't get me wrong, I enjoy the team situation, I just don't like this caning it for 25min and then resting for 2hrs and then trying to cane it again and rest again...I just DON'T go fast and always find it frustrating and don't enjoy this riding/resting format. SO - I did wonder if I would enjoy a 12hr solo more than a team race.
And the answer is yes!
With all this training for Canada I knew I was fit enough, the question was how I'd deal with riding an 8km loop for 12hrs, round and round and round in circles...
It turned out to be easier than I thought - at the end of the day it's like an Ironman, you don't look at the whole 12hrs ahead of you, you just break it down into laps and your next stop, rehydration, refuelling and all that shabang. Jamie Campbell and Sarah PC were my supporters and kept me going during the day - Jamie's got heaps of experience in going long and doing nutter things like a double Ironman, so he was perfect support and kept me on my no-doze and knew when I had to do what - thanks big time Jamie!
I really enjoyed the ride and was stoked that I managed to pace myself - Yoda shall be proud! I kept my lap times consistent, even the first few night laps. I slowed down later on and finally bonked on my 21st lap, that one and the 22nd were quite hard. I just got into a real low, the legs were still fine (-ish, as fine as can be after 10hrs of riding) but mentally I just hit the wall. Man was I grumpy! Anyway, Jamie made me ride 21/22 without a break and then stop for one last re-fuel - Coke and sour lollies aaaaaa - and I was all good for my last lap. Knowing it was the last lap helped!
Lessons learned?
You know how they always say, never try anything you haven't tested in your training, on race day? Bullshit. I rode with new shoes, never worn before, had new mudtyres on my ride, never ridden those before, and I hadn't done any night riding for over a year - borrowed those wiiiicked Ay-Up lights from Dave Joy at Bike Vegas and chucked them onto my helmet the night before the race. Never took them for a spin beforehand. And I loved my shoes, tyres, lights and the nightriding. There ya go.
Em's Powerbars (hmmmmm Chocolate Oat explosion, yuuuuum) are awesome for a ride like that - broke it into eatable pieces and just chucked them into my back pocket, no wrapping needed as they don't stick to the jersey or crumble appart. Chooooice.
Keep salt handy and put it into your drinks when you feel a cramp coming.
Die Gailtalerin, my ride, rules.
No-doze rules.
Chocolate rules.
Coke and lollies rule big time. See the pattern? Check out the last pic, that's me on a super-sugar-high...
Don't fluff around as long as I did in the evening part when getting changed and eating 'dinner'. It can cost you a placing.
Bring on next year!
Friday, May 1, 2009
Possum left/right and Rotorua Trails A - Z
or - how to keep yourself entertained during training sessions.
Lets admit it - some of those training sessions are a wee bit boring at times...okay, I'll regret this sentence big time if Coach Yoda reads this, so let's reword this thought...some of those training sessions leave you a bit braindead at times (better?) and strategies to keep yourself entertained are in high demand...
Tonight I had to do big chain reps up Tarawera Rd, 8 times...woahooo...keeping count of whatever is not one my fortes.
So what better to do than using that dead possum on the white line at the top of the climb as a lap counter! Choice, even numbered reps - we pass the possum to the left side, uneven numbered reps - we pass the possum on the right side! All counting problems sorted!
But wait, there's more - Sunday is a 7hr ride in the Forest. What to do in 7hrs....??? The German in me likes sorting things, so I thought it would be a pretty smart idea to ride all the trails of Whaka Forest in... A to Z order! Looking at the list I don't anticipate to get any further than letter L. For those that know, check out the order below and think about it.
Anyone keen for a challenge - how long will it take you to ride through the MTB alphabet?
Lets admit it - some of those training sessions are a wee bit boring at times...okay, I'll regret this sentence big time if Coach Yoda reads this, so let's reword this thought...some of those training sessions leave you a bit braindead at times (better?) and strategies to keep yourself entertained are in high demand...
Tonight I had to do big chain reps up Tarawera Rd, 8 times...woahooo...keeping count of whatever is not one my fortes.
So what better to do than using that dead possum on the white line at the top of the climb as a lap counter! Choice, even numbered reps - we pass the possum to the left side, uneven numbered reps - we pass the possum on the right side! All counting problems sorted!
But wait, there's more - Sunday is a 7hr ride in the Forest. What to do in 7hrs....??? The German in me likes sorting things, so I thought it would be a pretty smart idea to ride all the trails of Whaka Forest in... A to Z order! Looking at the list I don't anticipate to get any further than letter L. For those that know, check out the order below and think about it.
Anyone keen for a challenge - how long will it take you to ride through the MTB alphabet?
| A Trail |
| Ball & Chain |
| Be rude not to |
| Billy T |
| Bunny Jugs |
| Challenge |
| Chestnut Link |
| Chop Suey |
| Corners |
| Creek Track |
| Dipper |
| Dragons Tail |
| Exit Trail |
| Frontal Lobotomy |
| Genesis |
| Grinder |
| G-Rock |
| Gunna Gotta |
| Hot X Buns |
| Huckleberry Hound |
| Jeffs Link |
| Lentil Link |
| Lions Trail |
| Little Red Riding Huck |
| Mad if you don’t |
| No Brains |
| Old Chevy |
| Pig Track |
| Pondy downhill |
| Pondy new |
| Rock Drop |
| Rose Bank |
| Sidewinder |
| Soak Hole |
| Split Enz |
| Springroll |
| Sweet & Sour |
| Tahi Trail |
| Tickler |
| Turkish Delight |
| Yellow Brick Road |
Ridin round Lake Hawea
For Anzac Weekend I went down to lovely Queenstown to hang out with Seano the Porno and do a wee ride around a Lake...The Lake Hawea Contact Energy Race was on, so we thought we'd do it...it's also called 'NZ's Ultimate Mountainbike Challenge' and as we found out, it's called that for a reason!
I won't bore you with race details, the short version is this: with all the fluffin around and a flat tyre it took us 7.45, it's got a whollodda nasty little climbs in it, I had a shit start to the day, came alright (took a package of painkillers though...) and bonked again 30k out to the finish, lesson learned, don't forget your Ensure and eateateat!!!
Even though it's a flippn long day in the saddle, it was a superstunning ride and race - tough tough tough, but wicked scenery and worth every K of pain! Go and do it!
Pic's are below, as you can see, I'm the champ at rippin pics, hope I don't get bitten in the arse for that? Anyway, if you want a photo of me or the Pornmeister, go to Studio5.co.nz....aehem....
I won't bore you with race details, the short version is this: with all the fluffin around and a flat tyre it took us 7.45, it's got a whollodda nasty little climbs in it, I had a shit start to the day, came alright (took a package of painkillers though...) and bonked again 30k out to the finish, lesson learned, don't forget your Ensure and eateateat!!!
Even though it's a flippn long day in the saddle, it was a superstunning ride and race - tough tough tough, but wicked scenery and worth every K of pain! Go and do it!
Pic's are below, as you can see, I'm the champ at rippin pics, hope I don't get bitten in the arse for that? Anyway, if you want a photo of me or the Pornmeister, go to Studio5.co.nz....aehem....
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
The Flyer, Highlander & a trip to the Tour Down Under
On the 4 & 5 May it was doublewhammy time again - 100km Flyer roadrace from Rotorua to Taupo on Saturday followed by the 75km Highlander MTB race on Sunday...this time it was my own idea, not even Coach Satan's!
The Flyer was rather non-eventful and weird. I don't like the new course, even though the Waikete hill is hard, it was nicer riding through Waikete Valley and not riding singlefile along the State Highway. A staggered start meant no big bunch, in my case no bunch whatsoever until Adam the Bungy Marshment came up and I had someone to sit on. Apparently by that time I had a bunch of guys hanging off my arse - funny that, I asked the guy that was sitting behind me if there's a bunch behind us (hoping I could drop back) and he said ... naaaaaaaa. LYAAAAR. At some stage we were finally in Taupo, I had popped my lolly about 20k's before Taupo and wasn't too stoked about my ride.
But then there was prizegiving. And YEA BABY, I took home one of the major spot prizes - a trip to next years Tour Down Under!!!! Woooooohoooooo. Sexy muscly, shaven, hot as pro cycling legs, here I come! The race wasn't so bad after all!
Sunday was Highlander time. Organized by my buddies from NDuro, Dr. Kat finally took part in one of their races instead of sitting in the timing boot, sipping coffee and looking important. Check out the race here http://www.n-duro.co.nz/run/
Again, a rather 'interesting' race - this time as we bumped into an injured rider rather early into the race. With my NDuro hat on I stayed with the poor fella and his poked out shoulder until someone came to look after him - which meant by that time I was the last person on the course!
Oh well...I pedalled off and did my own thing, ended up picking up a few spots and actually really enjoying my ride. The Highlander is a wicked course and the highlight was defo the ride on Mossy track down to Green Lake - a stunning view!
I was feeling pretty good even though I did the race the day before, until my back started playing up about 20ks to the finish. The crash a few weeks earlier had not only left a scar on the knee, but my rather solid impact on the ground and the bruise on my thigh had screwed up my body...Yoda's massage assessment a week ago was 'your as relaxed as a fencepost'. Obviously my gluts and back were still not sorted, and I ended up with spasms in my back - not good on the downhill parts, especially on No Brains...good thing the First Aid guy was waiting at the end of No Brains and I managed to score some rather pink looking pain killers. The pills, a heap of lollies and my coke did kick in about 20 min later and I was back in happy Kat world...
Didn't do the ride in a stellar time, but was happy with how I felt that day - until the back thing...
Talkin bout crashes - oh yes, there's more. Where Kat is, there's always more...it's pretty bad and embarrassing, but yes, I came off again...again on gravel and yes, on the same side!!!! My elbow looks rather interesting at the moment, but thank god the knee got a hiding a bit above the stitched up scar!
Soooo, I'm off to Queenstown for the weekend, to do the Lake Hawea ride with my mate Seano the Porno. 120km of Gravel...wonder how often I'll crash on that? ;-)
Over and out, may the force be with me and let me stay upright!
The Flyer was rather non-eventful and weird. I don't like the new course, even though the Waikete hill is hard, it was nicer riding through Waikete Valley and not riding singlefile along the State Highway. A staggered start meant no big bunch, in my case no bunch whatsoever until Adam the Bungy Marshment came up and I had someone to sit on. Apparently by that time I had a bunch of guys hanging off my arse - funny that, I asked the guy that was sitting behind me if there's a bunch behind us (hoping I could drop back) and he said ... naaaaaaaa. LYAAAAR. At some stage we were finally in Taupo, I had popped my lolly about 20k's before Taupo and wasn't too stoked about my ride.
But then there was prizegiving. And YEA BABY, I took home one of the major spot prizes - a trip to next years Tour Down Under!!!! Woooooohoooooo. Sexy muscly, shaven, hot as pro cycling legs, here I come! The race wasn't so bad after all!
Sunday was Highlander time. Organized by my buddies from NDuro, Dr. Kat finally took part in one of their races instead of sitting in the timing boot, sipping coffee and looking important. Check out the race here http://www.n-duro.co.nz/run/
Again, a rather 'interesting' race - this time as we bumped into an injured rider rather early into the race. With my NDuro hat on I stayed with the poor fella and his poked out shoulder until someone came to look after him - which meant by that time I was the last person on the course!
Oh well...I pedalled off and did my own thing, ended up picking up a few spots and actually really enjoying my ride. The Highlander is a wicked course and the highlight was defo the ride on Mossy track down to Green Lake - a stunning view!
I was feeling pretty good even though I did the race the day before, until my back started playing up about 20ks to the finish. The crash a few weeks earlier had not only left a scar on the knee, but my rather solid impact on the ground and the bruise on my thigh had screwed up my body...Yoda's massage assessment a week ago was 'your as relaxed as a fencepost'. Obviously my gluts and back were still not sorted, and I ended up with spasms in my back - not good on the downhill parts, especially on No Brains...good thing the First Aid guy was waiting at the end of No Brains and I managed to score some rather pink looking pain killers. The pills, a heap of lollies and my coke did kick in about 20 min later and I was back in happy Kat world...
Didn't do the ride in a stellar time, but was happy with how I felt that day - until the back thing...
Talkin bout crashes - oh yes, there's more. Where Kat is, there's always more...it's pretty bad and embarrassing, but yes, I came off again...again on gravel and yes, on the same side!!!! My elbow looks rather interesting at the moment, but thank god the knee got a hiding a bit above the stitched up scar!
Soooo, I'm off to Queenstown for the weekend, to do the Lake Hawea ride with my mate Seano the Porno. 120km of Gravel...wonder how often I'll crash on that? ;-)
Over and out, may the force be with me and let me stay upright!
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
My new ride and how not to collect mushrooms
Ladies and gentleman, I would like to introduce....Die Gailtalerin!
I'm the proud owner (okay, my credit card is) of a new ride, a sweet Giant Anthem. She matches my helmet, which is a good omen, but she better go fast too!
Oh, and what not to do when mushroom collecting...riding your (old) bike with no thread on the front tyre, fluffin around and taking a left turn too fast on gravel...results in this:
the 4 stitches are courtesey of my landlady Gen....
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