With 2018 drawing to a close.....

I managed to ride just over 7,500 KM during the course of the year, though my goal at the beginning of the year had been 10,000 KM. 

Unfortunately time, opportunity and motivation went missing for a number of reasons at various points during 2018. 

I am pleased however that this still equates to an average of 150 KM per week. Even when I set my goal I assumed two weeks off the bike, simply to ensure round numbers, so discovering that quite by coincide that there were only two weeks where I didn't ride, pleases me. The fact that there were only 22 weeks I reached or exceeded my goal doesn't.

In a sign of just how much I shifted my cycling emphasis from being a road racer to an  adventure tourer. I discovered that I rode my:

Felt F5 Road Bike - 1,420 KM
The shortest distance this bike has done in any one year since I bought it in 2010.

Surly Troll 26" Mountain Bike - 6,090 KM
Not bad for someone who'd been hooked / raised on road bikes.

The important thing that I have learnt in looking at the numbers though is that:

• Riding regularly beats doing big rides one week and bonking the next.
• Riding in the heat or cold & wet, won't kill you so long as you ride to the conditions

All of which goes to prove that my initial 10,000 KM goal is realistic and that in 2019 I will have to get serious about achieving it.

2018 - A new year! A new beginning!

Whilst my "tour" goals for 2018 are still to be finalized, with March / April potentially entailing a trip from Adelaide through to Brisbane, I'm not entirely sure where I wish to visit during the Southern Hemisphere winter.

At the moment I'm tossing up between doing:

• The Tour de Afrique Silk Road Tour
• A self-supported trip through France
• A self-supported trip from Amsterdam to Warsaw
• A self-supported Lands End to John O'Groats trip

My sneaking suspicion is that I'll ride through mainland Europe, possibly concentrating on France as a legacy to my father.... He rode with a mate through France, as a young lad, back in the late 50's, early 60's, before "touring" had reached the heights it's got to now. I loved to hear about some of his exploits and just wish he'd taken a few photos.

I think it would be a fitting tribute, given that it was him after all that got me into cycling! 

A few upgrades

With my destiny seeming to suggest that I need to spend a LOT more time on the bike, I've purchased in the last month or so:

A Garmin 1030

It apparently has far better navigational & mapping features than any bike computer I've used previously, though I am also willing to admit that I may not have set my Garmin 1000 so as to take advantage of ALL the options it offered. Something that I only discovered during my Tour of Spain.

As a consequence guess who is going to read the instruction manual this time, as I look at setting it all up?

Before I head out the door for any longer multi-day trips (particularly overseas), I want to ensure that I've got it set up so I am taking advantage of all it's functionality.

A Canon M3 Camera with 18-200mm lens

Whilst I will buy a new DSLR Camera in due course, I decided that a Canon M3 was a good medium ground between the lightweight Powershot & DSLR cameras that I had stolen in Switzerland. One camera / dual purpose.

In this way I sort of figure I should be able to take decent photos, maybe not competition quality but more than sufficient whilst out on the open road on my bike and whilst also doing the touristic sightseeing bit when in towns, etc.

It will substantially lighten the weight and the value of my gear. I'll write a post about aerodynamics / weight in due course....

A Canon Connect Station CS100

This device, being an external hard drive, theoretically enables me to transfer my photos to it, by Wi-Fi from my camera(s) or via a camera card reader. This gives me the ability to back up EVERYTHING nightly without the need of a laptop computer and means that I can have two copies of a photo and that's before I have got the computer out from time to time to make a third copy, whilst updating this blog, etc. Having lost some photos (albeit only a couple of days worth), but thinking for awhile that it was my entire trip's worth, the pain & anguish one goes through believing everything is gone is immeasurable. 

Hopefully this device will banish that angst forever more!

Hydration

I recently bought a 1L Klean Kanteen Insulated Water Bottle, along with an additional and oversize bidon cage to carry it, on the Troll and did so primarily because I want to do a fair bit of riding during Summer (a minimum of 200KM per week). Having learnt, from my trip through Spain, the effects of riding in the heat, I wanted to minimise the chances of doing that again....

I mean sure I'd watched enough professional cycling races to know that maintaining one's fluid intake was important, what I didn't realise however is that, seemingly if one loses anything more than approximately two per cent of one's body weight, as a result of sweating or what have you, then this can result in a number of negative side effects, namely being:

• An increase in core temperature
• Reduced carbohydrate absorption
• Reduced muscle contraction
• Mental fatigue

Dehydration also results in one's blood becoming more viscous and therefore harder to pump around the body, something that I am particularly keen to avoid. One heart attack and four cardiac stents are enough Thank You very much. 😊 😊

The other aspect to all of this is that the most vital electrolyte for sweating riders is sodium. 

Now of course the media is constantly telling us that there is too much salt in our diets, particularly when one eats processed or fast food, and I am not advocating that one starts going mad with the salt shaker whenever we sit down to dinner BUT sodium does play a vital role in terms of maintaining our blood plasma volume and transporting water from the blood stream to working muscles.

Sodium however isn't the only electrolyte that is lost when one sweats. One also excretes:

• Calcium - It is involved in muscle contraction & relaxation and blood clotting.
• Magnesium - Depleted levels of this electrolyte can lead to fatigue & depression.
• Potassium - It helps transport glucose around the body and hence is vital for energy generation

As a result of gleaning all of this information from a book titled "The Science of the Tour De France" by James Witt, I've come to appreciate that I will have to start paying more attention to the frequency with which I sip on a bidon, but also look at using electrolytic drinks and tablets particularly on longer rides, etc.

Nutrition

As a result of my adventures on the bike, I've become very aware of the importance of not only getting out in the fresh air but also the importance of fueling one's body sensibly, in terms of the food eaten before, after & during a ride....

Wanting to go about it sensibly, I'm looking to see what sport dietitians recommend, how the professional cyclists tackle the issue and so forth though I suspect that I'm about to get caught up in a whole lot of controversy as to what is or isn't the best approach/ diet, etc...

With my reading so far being limited to skimming a couple of cycling mags I have however come across an article which suggests (and it makes sense to me) that what we eat has an impact on our mental health as much as it does our physical one with their suggestion being that in order to alleviate / control depression, one should eat:

Daily

• 1 Serve of nuts a day
• 2 - 3 Serves of dairy a day
• 3 Serves of fruit a day
• 5 Serves of vegetables a day
• 5 - 8 Serves of whole grains a day

Weekly

• 2 Serves of fish a week
• 2 - 3 Serves of poultry a week
• 3 - 4 Serves of lean red meat a week
• 6 or more eggs a week

Whilst it's going to be hard, adapting to that sort of diet / eating regime, when in the comfort of my own home, how I'll be able to do it on the open road, well I suspect that's a whole other issue! Any thoughts or suggestions on that aspect would be most appreciated......

With 2017 drawing to a close.....

YAY!

I'm pleased to say that I managed to ride 7285KM during the course of the year. I had to revise my 2017 target in November. I'm not quite sure how or why it happened, but when I stepped off my bike in Barcelona I then didn't get back into the saddle for a couple of months which buggered up both my original 7800KM goal for the year, as well as meaning I lost a lot of the physique and stamina that I'd built up in the proceeding nine months. 

General hint folks - Use it or lose it.

At least though, when I did manage to get back on my bike I managed to ride 175KM or more a week, consistently. I mean my original goal had been to ride 150KM per week, a target that I was well ahead of achieving by the end of September so I am glad that I was able to salvage some dignity... 7280 ÷ 52 = 140 KM per week, so not too far off target. 

I am contemplating the idea of setting a goal of 10,000KM for 2018, something that I can or will only "commit to" around the end of March 2018, having seen how much I can or do ride during the course of a Southern Hemisphere Summer. 

Now talking numbers & statistics, having taken note of my car's odometer at the beginning of the year, it would appear I have ridden a bicycle further during 2017, than I have driven my car, with the totals respectively being:

Car - 5545 Kilometres

Bicycle - 7285 Kilometres

So a quick note to all those whinging motorists... who give me grief at dinner parties, etc.

• During the time I was on my bike, I wasn't blocking your path by being another car on the road and seriously if you can't safely get around me as a cyclist, then maybe you shouldn't be driving. 

• Furthermore, I was still paying for the same "right" to use the roads via car registration as you were, my car was just parked in the garage. As a result I was doing less damage to the roads (or the environment) by being on a bicycle than in my car, so don't see why I should pay a rego fee, twice. Even if you were to give me a rebate on my car rego, for the distance I rode on my bike instead! 

I mean, please, give me a break with your profanity / negativity towards cyclists it's complete B.S! 

Oh, and if you think I'm wrong and that cyclists should pay a registration fee to ride, here's an interesting article with 18 reasons why registering bicycles is a bad idea.

Genetic Legacy

Given the significance that genetics seems to have on our susceptibility to certain medical issues being passed down the family line. IE: Breast Cancer in some families, heart health in others (such as mine), I cannot also help but wonder...

Are other personality traits or otherwise also passed on.... and I know that this is getting into the whole nature or nurture debate but the thing that got me thinking is that:

• My father would have died somewhat alone as an alcoholic had it not been for some very unusual circumstances.

• My father's, father died an alcoholic having lived alone in the UK for years whilst the rest of his family was here in Australia.

I know that this is something that haunted my father many, many years down the track and that he also was worried that it would happen to him and I now find myself in a very similar predicament, wondering whether this is to be my destiny also....

All I know is that right now - I've got to continue cycling. It keeps me physically active, does immeasurably good for me mentally and ensures that I eat sensibly and stay away from alcohol somewhat. 

Cycling in Spain

Having left Spain and crossed the border into France, I thought I should publish a bit of a brief summary of my impressions of cycling in Spain.... cause I've got to say - I've enjoyed it!

I mean, from the day I set out from Seville, I can't recall ever once feeling intimidated or threatened on the road by motorists. That is despite probably having held up traffic (momentarily or otherwise) from time to time, because there was no way that they could pass safely as I struggled up hill, because I was trying to find my way through town or whatever....

In point of fact, I'm only ever aware of having been honked (and even then not done in an aggressive fashion) on a couple of occasions, with at least one of them being as a result of my doing something wrong. 

I just wish that Australian motorists were half as considerate.

The other thing that has surprised besides motorist behaviour, is the number of times I have seen some of the locals, on their training rides either individually or in a small group.... Seriously it can & has been in the remotest / weirdest of places...

Sure most of them won't acknowledge or say anything to me, despite my always giving a friendly wave, but that's OK, I suspect that's in part because I'm a 'touring' cyclist, something which seems to be a bit of an enigma here in Spain.

I mean I've only seen a few nutters like myself (mainly between Valencia and Barceona) and perhaps the locals realize / suspect that as a 'tourer', there's likely to be a language barrier...

The other thing which has amazed me is the amount & nature of the bike paths here. They are found in virtually every city / town regardless of its size and what's more, they can run for miles into the countryside... They're generally separated from pedestrian foot traffic and the roads (though not always) frequently by way of bollards, ripple strips or the like. 

Of course they aren't perfect, as they suffer some of the same design flaws as found elsewhere around the world.... They can begin / end abruptly for no apparent reason and aren't always that well signposted. All in all though I've been very impressed.

Seville! The adventure looks set to begin

Having re-assembled my bike and taken it for a short ride around the block as it were, I came across a couple of small issues which needed to be resolved before I could begin my ride in earnest.

A bent rear brake rotor and the need for a third hand so as to align everything when I bolted my front light back in place…

Fortunately Valentino the wonderful owner of Bike Life came to my aid and made sure everything was rolling smoothly and so finally I can say… “I’m ready to begin” and with that, tomorrow I’ll be heading out on to the wide open road to discover the rural scenery and to see what Spain has to offer in the way of unique sights and sounds.

2017 Itinerary

Here is my proposed route itinerary which I will endeavour to continually update as it outlines where I hope to be and what I expect to be encountering along the way in terms of distance, profile & touristic hot spots, for the next couple of months or so. Do be aware however, that even I am somewhat skeptical about the time line, given that I will be riding according to the weather, how much I am or am not enjoying the attractions, the hospitality or otherwise of a town, my fitness / fatigue levels and so on....  

It's very different to what I had originally envisaged and had plotted out for myself, which had my going North through Portugal, then through the Spanish Pyrenees, into France, and ultimately finishing up in Berlin, but there's always next year. 

The "holiday" can wait, first things first - Let's see what making a permanent move to Europe might entail.....