The Everyday Cyclist

Reality Checks

2011-08-10T13:29:00.001+10:00

Its funny how a trip overseas for a few weeks can put a new perspective on your life once you get back.

I reckon overseas holidays are fantastic. It gives you the chance to get a break from your sometimes 'hum drum' day to day routine and experience life for a few weeks from a different angle (or gradient!), a different culture and best of all a different environment.

I never used to be a fan of flying on a plane and squeezing into a tiny little seat for 24 hours or more to reach the other side of the world. My long trips are normally limited to a trip to Bali or some other country that is hot and within a 7 hour flight from Melbourne. Being 6'3 and around 100kgs doesn't help either when you're on a long haul flight unless you are lucky enough to be at the front of the check in queue and manage to impress the check in person enough for them to reward you with that elusive exit row seat.

6'3 and a bike with a 24 hour trip back to Melbourne coming up!

Anyway back to holidays...

A 4 week cycling 'holiday' across the French Alps really helps you find out a fair bit about yourself. Some of the questions below I found myself asking yours truly when grinding away in the French countryside.

"Am I too old for this?"
"Why didn't I do this when I was 20 years younger?"
"Why have I chosen to climb up a 40 km mountain for a holiday when I could be lying on a beach sipping a beer?"
"Why didn't I train a bit harder and drop the 10kgs I needed to lose before coming here?"
"Should I listen to what my head is telling me and stop before I die on my bike?"
"Why is that 60 year bloke passing me?"

Sometimes I actually verbalised these questions out loud when riding over there- it's funny how physical pain can mess with your head.

It has now been over 4 weeks since I finished my trip of a lifetime and not a day goes by without me wishing I was still over there riding along in my 'picture postcard' in the Alps. Not only has this trip allowed me to live my passion and cycle in some of the most beautiful scenery in the world, I have formed some great new friendships and now I know the overwhelming sense of achievement you get after you make it to the top of a mountain after really testing your mind and body against the elements!

(Not to mention being able to brag about the fact that I rode up the same mountains that the great Cadel did!)

On the flip side of this it has made me realise that my life is no longer about watching other people live their dreams on 'brain draining' reality TV. Now I don't seem to care about someone who can make the best dish, or the best renovation or lose the most weight.

Who has the time to make a 4 hour Gingerbread House anyway? In 4 hours I can ride over to Dromana and climb up Arthur's Seat on my bike (with the help of the ferry of course!) ..... Oh well each to their own. Good luck to these people though on reality TV show, they are all living their passion and doing what they love doing.

Arthur's Seat - it's not as bad as Galibier!

I reckon life is about getting out the door, having a go and doing it yourself. It took me a 4 week trip to France to realise this but better late than never I guess!

Plans are already in place to go back to France again next year - anyone who loves cycling and wants to join me drop me a line!

The Everyday Cyclist.

Not your everyday ride!

2011-08-02T22:09:00.000+10:00

I would consider myslf to typify the average 'Everyday Cyclist' - hence the name of this blog. Also I would assume that there are quite a few cyclists out there that would share a similar profile like mine...

My Profile

Age - 41 (I am in the 'Masters' category when entering events)
Weight - circa 100 kg (confirmed that this is not ideal when riding up the French Alps)
Years riding - 4 (in line when the 'mid life crisis' hits in the late 30's)
Bikes bought and sold - 4
Money spent on bike gear - Too much to try and count.
Favourite travel destination- Anywhere in Europe where there are hills (used to be Bali)
Favourite Food - Pasta - (no real change but handy now)
Favourite Drink - Coffee or Beer (coffee before and during rides, beer afterwards)
Favourite Sport- was AFL, now Cycling is King.

Basically my goal with this blog is to share my great experiences and thoughts with cycling to other like minded cyclists and hopefully get more people into this fantastic sport. I would love to hear from other people as well about their cycling experiences too. I have a goal to ride over in France and Europe more often and eventually I would love to take other people that are passionate about cycling over there on organised tours.

So what is it that has me addicted to cycling?

CYCLING IS FUN - You can go as fast as you want without worrying about speed cameras and fines. Flying down the back of a mountain after hours of pain getting to the top is one of the best feelings a cyclist can have.

CYCLING IS RAW - It's just you, your bike and the elements. No engines, no exhausts and no noise apart from the beautiful humming noise your freewheel makes as you cruise along. Another sound I really like is the rhythmic beat of your breath as it trys to get oxygen in and out of your lungs. It can be quite loud on a lonely climb up the Alps!

CYCLING IS HEALTHY - One of the great low impact exercises and lets you get away with eating lots of food (well most of the time!)

Only 20 Hairpins to go on Alp d'Huez!

CYCLING IS FRIENDLY TO THE ENVIRONMENT- Like I said no fuel required apart from pasta, coffee and the like.

CYCLING IS FREEDOM - Go where and when you want on your own steam. You can choose to travel 10 or 100 km or even pack up your pride and joy and travel to places where you can ride where your heroes ride like Alp d' Huez and Galibier.

In June this year I did pack up my pride and joy and took her (and my lovely wife!) over to the spiritual home of cycling - the French Alps......

My wife went and did the solo Italy thing for a couple of weeks whilst I took on the French Alps with 50 other like minded, cycling nuts. I am proud to say that after 1100 km and 12 mountains an 'Everyday Cyclist' like me conquered the Alps- although it nearly killed me!

THE most rewarding trip/holiday/experience I have done with fantastic memories, great people and beautiful scenery. Of course riding up the hallowed roads that Cadel Evans rode on to win this years Tour de France is something that I will never forget either! Added to this was that when my wife met with me upon arrival in Nice I was the lightest I had weighed since I was 21 years old! Needless to say that after two weeks off the bike eating french cuisine will put the kilos back on pretty quickly too.

If you were watching the the great man Cadel late at night admiring the picture postcard scenery and thought I would like to do that one day, then take it from me - DO IT!
I am now hungry for more hills and now the 'hill' behind Lorne doesn't seem as scary as what it did 8 months ago when training officially started for the big trip.

For those of you that like to look at stats I have attached some info from my Garmin from the day we rode Telegraphe and Galibier- not your everyday 122k ride! One of the most physically demanding days I have faced in my life and with the temperature nudging 36 degrees it was a pure sweat session.

The best thing about hitting the top of Galibier after nearly 5 hours in the saddle was coming home and watching the man from Barwon Heads ride the same road on his way to a famous victory in the Tour De France! SWEET.

CYCLING IS KING.

The road of pain up Col du Telegraphe and Galibier

Click below for all my Garmin stats on this ride.

LDA Day 7 Lanslevillard - Bourg d'Oisans (Telegraph and Col du Galibier) by gda1970 at Garmin Connect - Details

How the addiction started.

2011-07-31T21:16:00.000+10:00

I don't know what happened or how it happened but I can now safely say that I am addicted to cycling and everything else that has something to do with cycling.

Like many people, I reckon cycling found me rather than me finding cycling.

One day you wake up and you've hit the late 30's with your waist size not far behind. The footy boots have been hung up for at least 6 years and you've lost count on how much money you've wasted on investments in gym memberships and personal trainers.

The doctor/physio/chiro has told you to avoid high impact exercise like running and the thought of swimming laps in a pool full of old ladies with snorkels doesn't really cut it. You start getting sick of the constant jokes you and your mates share by calling each other 'fat bastard', 'fat prick' and other snide remarks about your middle age weight gain..... you need to do something.

I never really thought much about cycling and cyclists to be honest. Cyclists on the road never worried me much and I was never an angry anti- cyclist driver either. I used to think of them as guys who belonged to a 'secret club' whereby you who had wear fancy tight fitting lycra blazoned with sponsors names such as 'francaise de jeux' that sounded like a french phrase that I had to memorise back in my year 10 french class.

Four years ago I bought my own first adult bike as opposed to getting a dragster with a T bar auto on the top tube as a present from Santa as a kid. I remember I actually purchased two Fuji Flat Bar commuter bikes as it was going to be a surprise present for my wife on her birthday. I thought it might be a good idea to get out on the road together and enjoy some QT on a weekend - problem was my wife wasn't as keen on it as me. I can remember however walking past the flashy looking road bikes in the store wondering maybe I could join the exclusive lycra society instead...

I played it safe and handed over the cash for the two bikes and I knew straight after the first ride (alone!) along Beach Road in Melbourne that I should've gone the road bike option as hundreds of roadies whizzed past me on their full carbon Pinerellos and the like. I had bike envy and I wanted to join in!

Less than one month later a lucky ebay member picked up a my flat bar for a steal and I made the first of what was to be a few 'roadie' purchases. I didn't really know what I was doing and I reckon the guy in the bike shop knew it. I didn't care though and I rolled out of the shop complete with an alloy bike with 'carbon' forks and stays complete with 'click in' shoes, a set a knicks and my t-shirt that I wore in because I couldn't afford to buy a jersey!

Well after a few incidents of falling over while clipped in a the lights, I was hooked. I could ride faster than I ever rode before, I could drink heaps of coffee and I found something that would hopefully get rid the extra 15 kilos hanging around my guts!

Four bikes and thousands of km's later has seen me just return from the trip of a lifetime riding across 10 famous French Alps from Como, Italy to Nice, France. This has to be one of the best things I have ever done and I can't recommend it enough if you're a cycling enthusiast and want to test your physical and mental limits at the spiritual home of cycling.

The pain is worth it!

It's the highlight of my cycling life so far and there is nothing more rewarding than riding up 12% gradients to the summit of the famous Cols like Alp D' Huez, Galibier, and Izoard. It's just you, your bike, and some other crazy people who share your obsession with pain riding in a virtual picture postcard. It's even better to come home and then watch the local boy from Barwon Heads ride up the same mountains you rode only 2 weeks earlier and win the Tour de France whilst listening to the dulcet tones of Phil and Paul!

This is why I am now a self confessed 'Cycling Addict'

If you want to read more about my journey across the Alps go to my previous blog - Ride it Off.

My ride ( The Weapon) Giant TCR Advanced

Andrew Humphris
(NOT the maillot à pois rouges!)