"You have overcome, because greater is the one who is in you, than he who is in the world"
1 John 4:4
Dude, seriously. What is wrong with bike shop assistants? I'll come back to that question.
For several months now, I have severely neglected my beloved Gigi. I dont want to have to worry about these so called "important" things like cleaning the bike chain, checking the tyres, changing cables, tuning the brakes (do you even tune brakes?). I just want to ride and hope that the bike fairies will deal with the maintenance.
But alas, no such luck.
To my horror, I discovered rust on Gigi....it was at this point that I decided I had better get my act together and start to look after her.
Unfortunately, there was one monster obstacle in my way, that being...........the absolute retardedness (yes that's a word) of my local bike shop. I cop less abuse in a Parramatta jersay at a Bulldogs game.
However, refusing to be overcome by their poor display of human interaction and customer service, I bit the bullet and finally took Gigi in for her first health check.
Yes, I took Oliver in for back up.
Yes, they thought he was my husband.......yes that was weird.
So right now I am bikeless, and the poorer for it. I miss my Gigi.....
Monday, February 15, 2010
Saturday, January 2, 2010
a slight obstacle
Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."
2 Corinthians 12:8-9
I don't even know where to start. My favourite songbird once said, "let's start at the very beginning, a very good place to start". Funny, I have never referred to Julie Andrews as my favorite songbird before. Shutup Sandy.
Sorry, just having an argument with myself.
Okay, so, cycling.
Seriously, a fair bit has happened.
A friend invited me to ride with them in the beautiful Royal National Park (to be referred to as RNP in the future). It was an incredible experience and also a bit of a culture shock for Gigi and I to ride in rainforest like surrounds. That pleasure was extremely short lived however, as I tried to maintain a brave face whilst cycling down the hills we were going to have to climb back up shortly after. My companion is also an exceptionally experienced cyclist, Gigi and I were understandbly overawed, but still determined. My heart was well and truly in my throat when we completed our descent and started to turn around to make our way back up.
This ride was challenging for me on several fronts: 1) I was intimidated by my company; 2) I'm not used to riding on the road with cars (ha!); and 3) Gigi is a big boned lass and quite heavy to lug up hills.
Nevertheless, I hid my shaking legs and erratic heartbeat from Cervelo and co., put Gigi in the granniest of granny gears (someone said that in a forum I was reading and I've been aching to use it. I think it means in the lowest gear), and headed up the easiest section of the RNP.
I think you can get an idea of how my progress was going by the comment that was screamed out of an overtaking car, "pedal faster!". Ok fine, I may have been going 8.5km/hour, but still, you talk tough when you're in your motorised vehicle.
The important part is............I made it up! It wasn't pretty, in fact, it looked downright painful. Especially when my knowledgable guide declared that the current section we were riding was the last hill.....only to discover that it wasn't. All that aside, thank you for being incredibly patient with me, and for encouraging me when I looked like I was going to pass out. Lovely.
But pretty much since that point, my cycling hit a bit of a wall and quite a few setbacks.
A blood test revealed a Vitamin D deficiency which was causing muscle fatigue and weakness, so had to start supplements for that. Then it turns out the cortisone i'm on is a catabolic steroid, which means instead of building up muscles, it has the opposite effect and so whenever I exercise I get muscle wastage, instead of increased muscle strength and endurance.
That last one threw me a bit. Everytime I exercise, i'm hurting my body instead of helping it.
And that's where I was at this morning. I had managed 50kms up until that point, except I found myself getting weaker in rides, slower, more dizziness, it just wasn't right. I was constantly out of breath and only just having enough energy to make it back to my car.
So I thought maybe i'll try a new strategy. If when I cycle, I don't increase my energy levels or endurance, then maybe utlising what I already have more efficiently, will allow me to push past the 50km mark without operating within the catabolic state that is hurting me.
I figured the way to do that is to improve the intake of oxygen in my system, and to minimise my energy expenditure as much as possible. I had to choose between speed and distance. My energy levels don't have enough for both, so I either ride short distances and increase my speed, or long distances, and go slower.
Distance wins everytime.
It was a very clinical ride, I had to concentrate the whole time. With my breathing, I forced myself to breathe in through my nose and out of my mouth (something I had not been doing), and with my gears, I just sat in the lowest gear I could depending on whether it was flat or hilly.
And for some reason it worked.
My quads weren't sore going up hills, I didn't get tired, my breathing wasn't laboured. By the end of the 50km I felt like I could have gone another 20. I did lose some speed, however I would rather it be by choice, than due to exhaustion.
I also intentionally tried this on a morning ride as I have considerably less energy during morning rides.
Who knows. Maybe this is how everyone is meant to ride and just took me over 3 months to figure it out?
Or maybe i'm just a cycling genius and I have discovered the holy grail of cycling techniques.
Maybe it's bed time. Definately bed time.
2 Corinthians 12:8-9
I don't even know where to start. My favourite songbird once said, "let's start at the very beginning, a very good place to start". Funny, I have never referred to Julie Andrews as my favorite songbird before. Shutup Sandy.
Sorry, just having an argument with myself.
Okay, so, cycling.
Seriously, a fair bit has happened.
A friend invited me to ride with them in the beautiful Royal National Park (to be referred to as RNP in the future). It was an incredible experience and also a bit of a culture shock for Gigi and I to ride in rainforest like surrounds. That pleasure was extremely short lived however, as I tried to maintain a brave face whilst cycling down the hills we were going to have to climb back up shortly after. My companion is also an exceptionally experienced cyclist, Gigi and I were understandbly overawed, but still determined. My heart was well and truly in my throat when we completed our descent and started to turn around to make our way back up.
This ride was challenging for me on several fronts: 1) I was intimidated by my company; 2) I'm not used to riding on the road with cars (ha!); and 3) Gigi is a big boned lass and quite heavy to lug up hills.
Nevertheless, I hid my shaking legs and erratic heartbeat from Cervelo and co., put Gigi in the granniest of granny gears (someone said that in a forum I was reading and I've been aching to use it. I think it means in the lowest gear), and headed up the easiest section of the RNP.
I think you can get an idea of how my progress was going by the comment that was screamed out of an overtaking car, "pedal faster!". Ok fine, I may have been going 8.5km/hour, but still, you talk tough when you're in your motorised vehicle.
The important part is............I made it up! It wasn't pretty, in fact, it looked downright painful. Especially when my knowledgable guide declared that the current section we were riding was the last hill.....only to discover that it wasn't. All that aside, thank you for being incredibly patient with me, and for encouraging me when I looked like I was going to pass out. Lovely.
But pretty much since that point, my cycling hit a bit of a wall and quite a few setbacks.
A blood test revealed a Vitamin D deficiency which was causing muscle fatigue and weakness, so had to start supplements for that. Then it turns out the cortisone i'm on is a catabolic steroid, which means instead of building up muscles, it has the opposite effect and so whenever I exercise I get muscle wastage, instead of increased muscle strength and endurance.
That last one threw me a bit. Everytime I exercise, i'm hurting my body instead of helping it.
And that's where I was at this morning. I had managed 50kms up until that point, except I found myself getting weaker in rides, slower, more dizziness, it just wasn't right. I was constantly out of breath and only just having enough energy to make it back to my car.
So I thought maybe i'll try a new strategy. If when I cycle, I don't increase my energy levels or endurance, then maybe utlising what I already have more efficiently, will allow me to push past the 50km mark without operating within the catabolic state that is hurting me.
I figured the way to do that is to improve the intake of oxygen in my system, and to minimise my energy expenditure as much as possible. I had to choose between speed and distance. My energy levels don't have enough for both, so I either ride short distances and increase my speed, or long distances, and go slower.
Distance wins everytime.
It was a very clinical ride, I had to concentrate the whole time. With my breathing, I forced myself to breathe in through my nose and out of my mouth (something I had not been doing), and with my gears, I just sat in the lowest gear I could depending on whether it was flat or hilly.
And for some reason it worked.
My quads weren't sore going up hills, I didn't get tired, my breathing wasn't laboured. By the end of the 50km I felt like I could have gone another 20. I did lose some speed, however I would rather it be by choice, than due to exhaustion.
I also intentionally tried this on a morning ride as I have considerably less energy during morning rides.
Who knows. Maybe this is how everyone is meant to ride and just took me over 3 months to figure it out?
Or maybe i'm just a cycling genius and I have discovered the holy grail of cycling techniques.
Maybe it's bed time. Definately bed time.
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