Fall VI

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Date: 17/12/2007
Reason: Pedals not uncliked on time/Riding uphill on a high gear
Location: The Bicentennial bikeway exit to Queen st
Effect on Body: Minor Abrasions
Effect on Psyche: A bad day to be wearing white shorts
Effect on Bike: Seat post dislodged
Lesson: When it's wet, its bad to be dreaming and going uphill on a higher gear. Doing these at the same time, results in a fall and total destruction of what will now be known as the shorts, that were formerly white !!

Fall V

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Date: 10/11/2007
Reason: Pedals not uncliked on time/lost balance
Location: Lights before Queensland institute of medical reasearch
Effect on Body: None
Effect on Psyche: Another one bites the dust !
Effect on Bike: None
Lesson: It's clear now that I can't yet manage both, being stationary and clicked in with the pedals. It's time to unclick at every halt, possibility of a halt or extreme slow movement with the possibility of a halt. Phew !

The Road

Long and endless
Unforgiving and merciless

In a journey with no destination
Pushing forward is not a chore, its destiny

I will conquer all
Come blood, sweat or tears

Impossible as you may seem,
You are what I make of you.

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Dedicated to the loooooong rides and the riders.

The Fall(s)

Fall IV
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Date: 01/11/2007
Reason: Pedals not uncliked on time
Location: Roundabout before entering Southbank parklands
Effect on Body: Abrasion near left knee, minor
Effect on Psyche: It's getting better
Effect on Bike: None noticed
Lesson: If you can't balance yourself in a stationary position, get off the damn pedal and come to a complete halt !


Quick recap of I, II and III

Fall III
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Reason: Lost balance by putting too much weight on the unclicked pedal
Location: Lights @ Queen/Anne/Boundary St Crossing
Effect on Body: Minor scratches
Effect on Psyche: I really have to master this pedal clicking/body balanching thang
Effect on Bike: None noticeable
Lesson: Stop horsing around and learn to balance already !


Fall II
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Reason: Lost balance
Location: Lights @ the crossing of Boundary and Adelaide St (?)
Effect on Body: Abrasion on Right Calf, Blood Spilt !!
Effect on Psyche: I'm loving this now !
Effect on Bike: Slight scratch on the handle grip tape
Lesson: Balance on the foot that is already off the pedal, not on the one that is still clicked in !!

Fall I
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Reason: Too high a gear to go uphill/Pedal not unclicked on time
Location: Outside my garage
Effect on Body: None
Effect on Psyche: I love cycling/This is the beginning of a wonderful relationship
Effect on Bike: None
Lesson: Need to learn how to unclick the pedal/Ride uphill on low gear

Life is a bike ride

Life is a bike ride. Uphill, downhill, slow, fast, hard, easy, impossible, possible.

Fall down, get hurt, bleed, get up, learn, be better. Ride !

Ride in the rain, ride with the pain
Ride up, ride down
Ride slow, ride fast
Just ride, live life.

I'm in love with life.
I'm in love with Cadence.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder

2 days of not riding my bike has made me want to bike even more. Yesterday nite, I got it back !!!! It's a new one, but the same model n stuff !!! I'm more excited about it ... THE BIKE IS BACK !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Riding it back from the mechanic with normal sports shoes really made me realize how much of a difference the cycling shoes make and also how much more comfy they are, I'm sold !

Now that I think about it, my bike has my all time favourite colours on it: Red, Black and White, wooohooo for that, as an after thought !!

Today morning, I'm back on the sweetness and it feels better than ever. I have devised some strategies to not fall off the bike, so hopefully that will work out for me. Will probably go for a ride out to the Airport tomorrow morn.

The love is back !!! (: it never went away in the first place ;)

and there's a crack in the frame :(

Call it misfortune, bad luck or a plain kick in the crotch, but my bike has developed a crack on the top bar. i noticed that while I was going uphill and something did not sound right. I took it to the mechanic and it has been confirmed as a manufacturing defect.

Anyway, this is just a test, yes its broke my heart and shattered it to pieces, but a new bike will fix that. Well more than the new bike, its my resolve that will piece my heart back together.


YOU CANT TAKE ME DOWN UNIVERSE, DO YOU HEAR ME ?? MUAHAHAHAHAAHAHA!

...and the blood has been spilt !

Yes, I fell off my bike thanks to the cycling shoes. Unclicked one pedal, one foot on the ground, off balance ..husha busha, we fall down. A little bit of a scratch on the calf, shaving off the skin and hallelujah ! *evil grin* I'm loving this now !

In love with Cadence

Cadence: ca·dence, noun, verb
Cadence is the number of revolutions of the crank per minute; roughly speaking, this is the speed at which a cyclist is pedaling/turning the pedals.

On my shiny new Avanti Cadent 1.0 for the first time with Specialized sport road shoes, wearing a cycling specific shoe also for the first time, it was exciting and I was keen to get the show on the road. The path out of my garage to the main road is an uphill climb, not too long, but just enough to get the heart rate up. Usually, I would ride up on a relatively high gear and manage it pretty well.

Here I go, I took off and before I knew it, it call came to a grinding halt, I fell off the bike !!!!! The gear was too high and I wasn't quick enough to get the shoe click out of the pedal. I was on the ground elbow first with the cycle hanging off my shoes until finally one shoe finally caved !!! I got up, smiled, brushed off the dirt from the elbow, pushed my bike to the top of the road and off I went.

When I fell down, I realized, this was it, this is me. I might have more falls, more serious ones, there may be blood spilt, but this is me. The ride on this baby is faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaast !!!! The full carbon frame makes it more shock proof and the cycling shoes demand more than just pedalling along! The cyclocomputer said the highest I hit on dowhill was about 54kmph and on flat was about 40kmph. Phew, its a bit unreal, I really doubt if it was that fast. If it isn't now, it will be very soon.

I have finally arrived at cycling with my road bike! Not by merely buying it, but by wanting to be on it, by enjoying it and by feeling like I belong.

I'm in love with Cadence

The 100km Bike ride

You can't do it.
There's no way in hell you can pull this off.
You'll faint in the middle.

If you do finish it, your legs will hurt so much that you wont be able to move.

Okay, if you have do it, learn about how to do it.
Practice longer rides.
Eat right
Train.

Okay, it sounds like a challenge, but you can do it.

Okay, so I've started the thing, no point looking back, let me do my best.

Alright, more than halfway there, I don't feel like I can not do it any more.

I have done it, I have really done it.

Pinch me, is it real ?

Yes it is ! I have completed the 100k "Wilson HTM Brisbane to the Gold Coast Cycle Challenge" and in under 5 hours including breaks !!!

A lot went in to it of course, practicing longer rides on the weekends, bicycling 4-5 days a week for at least an hour. Its a great feeling and it is yet to sink in.

May be I don't want to sink in because it wasn't challenging enough. Well, it was a bit of a challenge, especially the saddle sores !! But now, I have the conviction to be better at it, perhaps stronger and faster.

All in all, this marks the final nail in the coffin of a thought process revolving around weight (fat) and food. By finishing this event, I have proved to myself that I'm no longer in that mindset.

And that is how I know now, that come what may, Fitness and Good nutrition are here to stay.