Curtin Springs Super Ride

And so, it was Finally here, the day all of the Rock Riders had been setting themselves for, our first “Big Ride”,  a test to gauge where we are at, Saturday morning 24^th March 6:00am, gathering at Rock Riders HQ (Pearce Residence) to set off for Curtin Springs...85+ Kms away

Ben, Roger, Leon, Mandy and I were all pumped and eager to go, our support driver Adrian was there as was Jenn who would follow later to collect us at Curtin Springs......Jenn was the luckiest Girl in Yulara, seeing so many fine athletic specimens in Lycra so early on a Saturday Morning was a site to behold....a Brisk 15c was the temperature outside...we were all ready and waiting for 6:30am, Matt would not be with us today as he extended his Honeymoon ...and no one had heard from Christian but we would wait until the 6:30 start time before we would leave without him.

6:25am, outside in the driveway, lights on, helmets on, iPods in, no sign of Christian.......Go!  And off we went, albeit casually, out of the resort, right onto the highway and into the dawn breaking Central Australian wilderness along the Lasseter Hwy towards Curtin Springs, where Steak sandwiches and beer awaited us.........15 degrees and a slight cross breeze...why didn’t I wear long sleeves and Skins?

It didn’t take long for the five of us to spread out and settle into our own pace and “comfort” zones with Roger and I doing our normal ride, followed by Leon on his “29er” mountain bike, Ben and Mandy. This was not a ride of speed or to arrive as a group, but for us all to ride at a pace that was “comfortable” and to ensure we all arrived at the end.

15 Kms along the Hwy we commented how we had well and truly left Yulara behind and were in “uncharted waters, In the deep end"...we had not ridden past 13kms on this stretch of road previously and it was Cold, Bloody cold, with the sun still not up, The gentle cross breeze had turned into a 25km head wind and let me tell you Lycra is not warmth giving!

Adrian followed behind the riding group, with signs in the rear window stating “Idiots ahead”....I mean “Caution, Cyclists Ahead”. The car had an esky...Packed full of Cold water & Powerade, a First Aid Kit, everyone’s personal stuff for the other end and there was also a good selection of Red Frogs, Snakes, Jelly babies etc and everything we needed to complete the journey

At 25Km Roger, Leon and I pulled over when we saw Adrian approaching, filled up our drink bottles, got some sweets, and handed out some “GU” and away we went, informing Adrian we would be right for the next Hour and he could stick with the others.....

At about the 26km mark, my toes on left foot started to feel numb like they were frozen...I kept taking my foot out of the cleats to shake it around and wriggling my toes to try and fix this minor issue without stopping...at about the 60km point I had to stop, and no sign of Adrian....we pulled over and stopped, took my shoe off and walked around for a bit and the toes came good, must have had the shoes a bit too tight...we stretched a bit, had a good drink, filled up on sugar Lollies and away we went again. Adrian informed us we were about 12 Kms in front of the others...Roger and I were very keen to get to Curtin Springs, Turn around and ride back 6kms to the others and ride back into the station with them, this would have given us an even 100Km ride.

The wind was a constant pain, fully in our face the whole trip, the road seemed to be a never ending incline..we started to try reverse psychology wishing for bigger hills and stronger wind and guess what...I think we got what we asked for and more.....80Km into the ride we crossed the Cattle Grid into Curtin Springs station, on their land, cursing the head wind and hills and now we had the roughest road surface we had ridden on and decided to stop and have one last break. During this break we informed Leon his rear tire looked flat since we had left the resort....so he pumped it up with the pump he had in the car and then said it felt like a new bike, Roger stretched his back and rubbed his calf...I didn’t want to rub anything as I was sure everywhere hurt evenly and I didn’t want to play favourites with any particular aching muscle......

2kms to rest area, Curtin Springs Road house the sign said, we were almost there....then out of nowhere came a gust of wind that physically pushed all three of us across the road and very nearly knocked me off my bike....into the station we rode and pulled up on the edge of the gravel driveway...deciding If indeed we really wanted to ride back to the others, all the while watching the wind seemingly increasing....the decision was...NO, we would go and get a well deserved beer instead.

We got a Coopers each and stood at the entrance waiting for Ben and Mandy who shortly joined us.

Steak sandwiches all round and Coopers pale ale under the Bough house capped off what had been a great ride, A great day with good friends and team mates....now to start Planning our next major ride as we build up to 200km in 2 days.....Oh, Christian had a Work call out and was on duty until 4:30 am and could not make the ride....

So, Sunday we have the Family Fun Day and Fund raiser at the Residents Club where we will be raffling Harley Rides, Kings Canyon accom, Hire cars and special Dinners while selling our Merchandise....

To Ride or Not to Ride........Kata Tjuta to Yulara

Saturday morning 17^th March, Roger was in Alice Springs,  Matt and Ben were in Perth for Matt & Lucinda’s wedding, (any excuse not  to ride guys!...oh and Congrats on your wedding Matt & Lucinda) Leon was also away and Christian was working.......Mandy and I were looking at the weather deciding if it was too windy to ride, I wanted to wait and see what it was like tomorrow but Mandy convinced me “we have to learn to ride in all weather conditions”....who was I to argue

We loaded the bikes onto the car, got water supplies and off we headed to Kata Tjuta, we were not impressed with the wind as we drove out as it seemed very strong and blowing in the wrong direction for us riding back, we were both questioning our decision to not wait until tomorrow...but “onwards and upwards” as they say

At 10:30 Mandy, after a couple of happy snaps, was on her bike and off up the HWY towards Yulara, some 50 + Kms away. I got my bike off the car, IPod on; Cyclemeter started and followed Mandy about 5 minutes behind. The first few Kms I thought the ride was going to be a easy ride as I was averaging 29-30Kms per hour for the first 7 Kms....this soon dropped to low 20’s and High teens for the remained of the ride.

16Kms into the ride was the first time had could see Mandy since she left the car park, and when I did manage to catch up some tourist driving the opposite direction was trying to talk to her out his car window explaining there were camels ahead beside the road....Thanks mate...trying to ride...see plenty of camels out here.....

The wind was relentless, full on head wind 30km per hour the whole way, temperature was 34c so we were getting really impressed half way between the car and home..........

I stopped for a break at 25 Kms and waited for Mandy to arrive...when she caught up said she had been shouting  for me to stop as the camels, the ones I did not see, were running along the road beside her and would have made a great photo.......After our break about 2 Kms on a herd  of camels came onto the edge of the road, the big Bull Camel walked into the middle of the road and just stared at me while I got closer and got the camera ready...He took off into the bush with his herd before I was in range and missed another good opportunity to the Camel, the road and the Rock in the one shot......

42.5 Kms we stopped again at the Lasseter hwy and Uluru Road for a short stretch and rest....on the home straight now with only 10Kms to go and on familiar road... Of we went and it seemed like we had not been riding at all, wind behind us and a smooth road, average speeds crept up to 30km per hour and in no time we were home...ready for the Couch.....But NO, we had to drive Mandy's car back out to Kata Tjuta and pick up my car first that was still at the Walpa Gorge car park

52.79Km in total, 2:15:40 ride time and a severe Wind/Sun burn in true cyclist patterns on knees and arms...a great ride after long procrastination of “to ride or not to ride”

Now we have had two 50+Km ride under our belts, next weeks ride Yulara to Curtin springs (85kms) should be easy?

STATS

Finished Cycle: 17/03/2012 1:13:44 PM

Route: Kata Tjuta To Yulara

Google Maps URL: http://maps.google.com/?q=http://share.abvio.com/fd0b/fdf0/4e45/44af/Cyclemeter-Cycle-20120317-1033.kml

Shortened Google Maps URL: http://j.mp/zPrIw7

Import URL: http://share.abvio.com/fd0b/fdf0/4e45/44af/Cyclemeter-Cycle-20120317-1033.kml

Ride Time: 2:15:40

Stopped Time: 25:04

Distance: 52.79 km

Average: 23.35 km/h

Fastest Speed: 40.55 km/h

Ascent: 79 meters

Descent: 164 meters

Calories: 2238

Training rides & Car Wash

Friday 9^th March, we hit the Highway again, heading north towards Alice Springs for 12.5 Kms, turning around and riding back (25km, three days per week) .....Now we have become a little more High Tech and have heart rate monitors. This new addition has created a new dimension to our training.....trying to ride one day in a High Heart rate zone, the next day in a low heart rate zone (I like these rides) and the other day we just see how we feel, or what sort of a night was had just prior

 Saturday, 10th March was scheduled for our Car Wash fund raiser, two of our team were unable to assist due to prior commitments interstate, but thanks to our friends at the NTFS (Firies) and some loyal supporters and partners of our team we managed to have two lines of cars going through at a time stopping at a washing station, chamois station before heading to be vacuumed... opened the Firies doors and washed through until just after 1pm, collecting  $1,400 profit for our efforts, or $200 each. $200 each?   Yes, our team is very close to growing by 1 more with Christian Holzfeind committing to joining us. Christian came down to wash cars with us as well, welcome aboard Christian

 Sunday, 11^th March a biggish ride was planned with Mandy, Roger, Matt and Myself...we agreed we would ride at a sensible pace, low heart rate and not worry about the time.  Route selected was out to Uluru, around the Rock, coffee and something to eat and then ride back to Yulara, 51Km approx....8:00am we hit the road,  riding at a nice easy pace keeping heart rate below 130bpm or at least around the 130 mark...until we neared the Cultural centre roundabout...we had a couple of tourist Britz vans and a bus behind us so we dug in and took off around the roundabout and off up the road the circumnavigates Uluru, my heart rate jumped to  179bpm and it took a few Kms to bring it back down to around 140 where it stayed for the remainder of the ride.  Half way around the rock, Roger thought it would be a good idea to ride out to Talinguru (Sun rise viewing area) which Matt and I enjoyed immensely...uphill with a very strong head wind...thanks Roger!!

At the Cultural centre we all sat and had our coffee, Powerade and a nice roll with Spaghetti, Bacon and Cheese...this was great food!

After we had recharged our batteries we headed off again back to Yulara this time the heart rate was well up and the average speed was increased dramatically...Riding out we were 5 minutes behind our best ride time...Back home in Yulara we were 2.5 minutes ahead of best!  A great ride covering a total of 58.9 Kms...Should have ridden around block to make it an even 60!

A big thank you to Megan, Steve, Grace, Annemarie, Miranda, Anthony, Jim, Tiana and Lucinda for Their help and hard work yesterday at the Car Wash...

Our Fund Raising has put us over $10,000 for the team with a good 6 months to go!

Team Wear, Blow outs and Merchandise

It’s been a while, Almost a month, since I last put events down for others to read and most probably laugh at.....So, here is a quick snapshot of what we have been up to, individually and as a team

We organised Polo Shirts with the Team name and Logo embroidery on them, along with our very special, kind and wonderful  Sponsors (who paid for the shirts) “Uluru Motorcycle Tours” & “Uluru Express” logos on the Sleeves...Orange is the New Black and what all the cool Kids are wearing!

Mandy and I headed to Kings Canyon on the 18^th Feb, determined to ride the Giles Track, starting from Kathleen springs....a leisurely 22kms of rocky Mountain ridge we have walked many times before... So, bright and early we unloaded the bikes from our car, put helmets on and away we went.......1.6 Km Mandy advised me, Politely, of her age and that she was not a “XXXXX” (Expletive) 18 year old stunt rider!...To which I agreed and as the going was way too tough and my bike was actually suffering from the sharp rocks and pebbles...I needed air in the tyres as they were looking in bad shape. We had walked probably 1.2 Kms of the track and turned around and managed to ride nearly all the way back to the start of the track.  We then planned a quick ride into Kathleen Springs, back out, across to Kings Creek Station for a coffee and back to the car park....about a 26km round trip. So into the springs we rode, Mozzies everywhere near the water. Turned around and headed back towards Kings Creek Station

When we got back to the car, my tyre was getting very Flat and to be honest it was struggling to hold up my Athletic Body.......

I tried inflating the Tyre a little, only to have the valve burst and any air that was in the tube escaped and it was now completely flat!

Needless to say the rest of the Bike ride weekend was a non event...due to the fact I had taken my spare tubes out of my bike saddle pouch and replaced with first aid supplies the previous week when we rode the Sedimentaries...and the tubes were in my back pack....which was at home on the kitchen table.....D’OH!   Blow out number 1

Sunday night, 26^th Feb, the Rock Riders met at the residents club for dinner to discuss training and fund raiser ideas and to get a team Photo. We have plenty of Ideas and some will go into play in the coming weeks...We have a car wash on the 10^th March, a raffle on the 24^th March with great prizes, a BBQ and Merchandise sale at Easter. We have also set the date for our first “Big” group ride, planned for the 25^th March where we will ride to Curtin Springs....88km up the Lasseter highway...naturally when we get there we will have to replenish the Fluids.......Steak Sandwich and cold beer will definitely be the order of the day!

Saturday 3^rd March, Roger decided he would get ready for our “big” ride and get some Km’s into his pedals and headed off for a ride out to the rock and back...a 51Km ride...this took Roger over 2.5 hours and he covered 66Kms.......How does a 51 km ride turn into a 66km ride I hear you ask?.... well all you do is have breakfast/Coffee with your wife and family after you have made it to the Rock and done a lap around it...you then head off and receive a phone call from your wife....ride back to where you left her at the cultural centre at the Rock and......Change her flat car tyre........before continuing on his way back to the resort.......Blow out number 2

Ben and Leon have also been hitting the Rock for their training rides, trying to break Land speed records in the process. What we used to cover, a 14.83km dirt track loop from the Cultural centre to the base of the Rock, around it and back in 47-50 mins Ben and Leon are completing in 33mins....Must be those Bloody “29ers”...Great work, Power riding, by the boys, I only hope they are up to the 88kms on the road and are not worn out 20kms up the Hwy.

Monday 5^th March, Mandy was back into full training after a few days off, riding out to work (Yulara to the UKNP head Quarters..19kms there and 19kms back...while carrying a backpack with her work clothes, boots and lunch. Mandy Smashed her top speed to record 46km per hour.....When Mandy had reached town and due to local speed limits slowed down to about 18kms and was passing the Sails in the desert hotel she was confronted by a 65 seater Coach that failed to stop at the ring road/driveway intersection. Correctly Mandy decided the Bus was bigger than her and ditched the bike and her into the dirt beside the roadway while the bus fully loaded with Sounds of Silence guests continued on happily....Hit and run some might call it......Blow out number 3

During upcoming markets in Yulara over Easter we will be cooking a BBQ and selling our Merchandise;.....T-Shirts, Caps, Stubby Holders and Pens... and hopefully after this we will have enough funds raised to give the good people of Yulara a break from our continual donation requests.....For a while

6 Riders, $2,500 each required, a total of $15,000...Currently as a team we have $7,725, just passed half way....