Back in the saddle!

After having avoiding any serious riding over the past 3 months, I took advantage of the Easter long weekend and headed out for an M7 ride. When fit, this is an out-and-back ride of about 80kms along a beautifully smooth cycleway, but yesterday it was a leisurely 50km.

It was nice to be back on the bike.... I had almost forgotten how nice the Cervelo feels to ride. Spent most of my time on the small chain ring but that's pretty much to be expected. I had downloaded some football podcasts so was able to catch up on the Champs League news. That Guardian News football podcast is good stuff - I am a big fan of Barry Glendenning. Funny guy.

Anyhow, while I was riding, I came across another cyclist (I think he said his name was Bill) who had just taken a pretty nasty spill. Believe it not not, but he had somehow managed to break his right crank arm?!?! I came across him just as he was getting up off the path - he was scraped up pretty bad but fortunately his bike was still mostly OK. I stopped and made sure he was alright. We had a quick chat and it turns out he was still 25km from home! Brave soul ended up riding home on one leg - that's damn hard work... I saw him on my way back and he seemed to be making pretty steady progress. I was just glad he was ok, it could've been much worse. He was pretty lucky.

"Darlington County" & Mt Kosciusko

"We drove 800 miles without seeing a cop, We got rock and roll music blasting off the T-top, singing Sha La La, Sha La La La..." Darlington County, Bruce Springsteen.

Well, I didn't quite drive 800 miles but it was still a healthy 1000+ kms. Elaine was a terrific passenger and, despite her reluctance to share any highway driving whatsoever, stoically stayed awake to keep me company. And she did bring a mix tape.

So we drove down from Sydney to the beautiful Snowy Mountains, walked the un-remarkably named Main Trail Walk, topped the summit of Mt Kosciusko, then trudged a lonely, dusty road back to Charlotte's Pass. Did I mention it was a 6 hour walk.. or that we only had 1.5 litres of water between us? What an adventure!

I never realised that hiking was such a popular past time. There were quite a few people on the trail with their cool hiking gear. Me, on the other hand, was wearing jeans and sneakers. And shades. Thank heavens it didn't rain. I was pretty confident I'd survive the 21.5 kms, but I was sore for the next couple of days. Miss just plodded along at her own pace, humming an endless tune, looking as though she could pretty much walk on into the distance. Impressive stuff, huh?

Enjoy the pics...

confessions of a lazy blogger...

Yes, I know that I promised to blog more regularly, but please forgive me. I'll definitely get a roll soon enough.

With that out of the way, I want to introduce you to a couple of my best friends. AJ, on my right lives in London, and is probably the only reason the GFC isn't any worse than it is. And Elaine, on my left, has a beautiful heart and constantly reminds me that lawyers can be good people too.

And they both ride too! AJ got tricked into a 40km jaunt one weekend when Milos and I dragged him on one of our Sunday morning rides. To his credit, he never ever complained but apparently couldn't walk the next day. What a trooper! And Elaine, well she definitely downplays her riding ability. If I ever get around to helping her find a decent bike, it wont be long before she is dropping me on the climbs. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the pic (Rodeway Inn, San Diego CA)...

Blog v2.0

Welcome to my new (and hopefully improved) blog (also referred to as v2.0) which has now taken shape. Bear with me as I find my voice. It may not be super interesting, funny or even entertaining, but I promise to write regularly. BTW, if you don't especially like running,, biking or swimming, fear not - I plan to treat Blog v2.0 as a bit of a personal soapbox. Talk soon, Stew.