tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-76805093555181140442024-03-14T02:06:12.479+11:00Sea 2 Summit 2011: Laura Vize and Emily Petherbridge.The journey to complete the Sea 2 Summit Charity ride, to raise funds for Redkite who provide support to kids with cancer and their families.
On November 19, 2011 starting at Merimbula and finishing on top of Mt Kosciusko. My sister and I will ride 248kms with a total of 5500m vertical.Emily Petherbridgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02191931989141654998noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7680509355518114044.post-2286009140329831882011-11-23T13:21:00.001+11:002011-11-23T16:59:51.745+11:00And the winner is....<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Drumroll Please.........</span></div><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">The winners of our auction are.....</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">1st Prize: 3 month Platinum Membership to Fitness First</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial; font-size: large;">Rob and Sarah Petherbridge</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">2nd Prize: Ella Bache Signature Facial</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial; font-size: large;">Craig Badings</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">3rd Prize: 90 minute Pro Dive Experience at Coogee or Manly</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial; font-size: large;">Angelo Donati</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">4th Prize: Soja Candles Pack</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial; font-size: large;">Megan Moon</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">5th Prize: Peter Wynn's Score Drink Bottle</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial; font-size: large;">Anneliese McGown</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">6th Prize: Peter Wynn's Score Drink Bottle</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial; font-size: large;">Mick</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">7th Prize: Peter Wynn's Score Drink Bottle</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial; font-size: large;">Cameron</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">8th Prize: Peter Wynn's Score Drink Bottle</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial; font-size: large;">Pip Coomes</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">9th Prize: Peter Wynn's Score Drink Bottle</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial; font-size: large;">Rach Wells</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">10th Prize: Peter Wynn's Score Drink Bottle</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial; font-size: large;">Isabel Menton</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">11th Prize: Peter Wynn's Score Drink Bottle</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial; font-size: large;">Rebecca Wade</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">12th Prize: Peter Wynn's Score Drink Bottle</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial; font-size: large;">Josh</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;">Prize draw was conducted by Danielle Kitchener, and witnessed by Emily Petherbridge and Marina Marretta. A limit of one prize per person where there was multiple entries were allowed. All prize winners will be notified via email / phone / facebook.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large;">We would like to say a huge THANK YOU to everyone who donated, bid on or purchased auction items, or simply followed our journey over the last 4 months. This ride was one of the most amazing experiences of my life.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial; font-size: x-large;">We managed to raise a whopping $7053.08 for Redkite!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large;">It costs Redkite $2500 to support one child through cancer for one year, and with your help we have allowed Redkite to support 2 (and a half) children for a year.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large;">If you didn't manage to get your donation in, but would still like to help, the donation pages will be open for another month. (Maybe, we might be able to help the other half of that child!)</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial; font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.everydayhero.com.au/emily_petherbridge"><span style="color: red;">www.everydayhero.com.</span><span style="color: red;">au/emily_petherbridge</span></a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial; font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.everydayhero.com.au/laura_vize"><span style="color: red;">www.everydayhero.</span><span style="color: red;">com.au/laura_vize</span></a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large;">Stay tuned, final ride reports and photos to come this week!</span></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizUvKgqItp5pj-Y7LxzNE8U5VBP5Xxai0k-qYf66QS6ZwrKDeDfOBA6WKiMqahAWsq-tON4H3PwEZWLC-XMdQKMSVxNnR8KQMkydaE_z6dFx8YDsVUeQRzyXg4mkQNOKocBgi9ofzqhjxB/s1600/thank+you.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" hda="true" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizUvKgqItp5pj-Y7LxzNE8U5VBP5Xxai0k-qYf66QS6ZwrKDeDfOBA6WKiMqahAWsq-tON4H3PwEZWLC-XMdQKMSVxNnR8KQMkydaE_z6dFx8YDsVUeQRzyXg4mkQNOKocBgi9ofzqhjxB/s400/thank+you.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Emily Petherbridgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02191931989141654998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7680509355518114044.post-71663588362890154632011-11-16T11:58:00.000+11:002011-11-16T11:58:40.764+11:00Offer Extended!<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><strong>TIME IS RUNNING OUT..</strong> </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To get your entry into our prize draw to win some fabulous prizes! </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But, lucky for you, we have <em>EXTENDED THE OFFER</em>! </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So don't miss out on your chance to help Redkite support children with cancer, and go into the draw to win some amazing prizes, with some incredible odds of winning! </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Anyone who makes a donation $5 and over between 1 August 2011 and <strike>16 November</strike> <span style="color: red;"><strong>Midnight EDST November 22 2011</strong></span> will go into the draw to win some fabulous prizes including:</span></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>3 Month Platinum Membership to Fitness First</em></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>Ella Bache Signature Facial</em></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>Pro Dive 90min Snorkelling Tour off Manly or Coogee with snorkel and mask to keep.</em></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>Soja Candles Bundle</em></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>or one of 8 Peter Wynn's Prizes</em></span></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Prizes will be drawn on the <strike>21/11/11</strike> 23/11/11 and the winners will be notified by email, with winners also announced on the blog.</span></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Donations can be made to Emily and Laura at:</span><br />
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</div></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.everydayhero.com.au/emily_petherbridge"><span style="color: red;">www.everydayhero.com.au/emily_petherbridge</span></a><span style="color: red;">.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
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</div></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It only takes a minute to donate, and all donations over $2 are tax deductible. Every little bit counts so please help us achieve our fundraising target of $2,500 each.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you happen to be the lucky winner of one of the prizes, the items are available for pickup from Mosman, Parramatta, Sydney CBD, or Westleigh, or alternatively can be posted with the winner to pay the postage costs.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.thehomevintner.com/images/prize.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" nda="true" src="http://www.thehomevintner.com/images/prize.jpg" /></a></div></div></div></div></div>Emily Petherbridgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02191931989141654998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7680509355518114044.post-34529191176893677102011-11-03T11:56:00.000+11:002011-11-03T11:56:46.363+11:00Fitz's Challenge Update<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.everydayhero.com.au/events/images/0000/4545/FitzChallenge_CMYK.jpg?1312843163" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="170" ida="true" src="http://www.everydayhero.com.au/events/images/0000/4545/FitzChallenge_CMYK.jpg?1312843163" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Loz and I have been busily training for the Sea 2 Summit. As part of our training we decided to do Fitz's Challenge as a practice run, to get our food, tapering and on day nutrition right.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am glad we had this experience as apparently, I am not very good at it! </span><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Carb Loading.</span></strong><br />
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<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrsYHX8w82XLP0X5-NQTPwf43d7gzNjo0gkPN9GtkZxEV2HFhoejZIOeIJtaL2Zd_JFeIinVWV3Lg-JlJ59JdoVvxb_Djy4-W41iC_DHuTM9tJsDeiEIMuAokMslnS7GPQcKonrXvt2kuo/s640/italian+pasta+recipes+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; height: 264px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; width: 321px;"><img border="0" height="189" ida="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrsYHX8w82XLP0X5-NQTPwf43d7gzNjo0gkPN9GtkZxEV2HFhoejZIOeIJtaL2Zd_JFeIinVWV3Lg-JlJ59JdoVvxb_Djy4-W41iC_DHuTM9tJsDeiEIMuAokMslnS7GPQcKonrXvt2kuo/s320/italian+pasta+recipes+2.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I had never tried this and I did not realise how hard this was. It was some kind of morbid torture, having to stuff my face with carbs I didn't feel like eating nor want. The carbs would make me feel full, and then I would have to eat more when I wasn't hungry at all. I really started to feel for those poor geese who have their bellies stuffed. </span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have been gluten free for 2 years now, and have pretty much cut most starchy carbs out of my diet, except for the odd emergency meal. Two spoons of pasta and I was full. There was no way I could eat a whole bowl. And then another one for lunch the next day, and another one for dinner. Ergh...</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Carb loading - FAIL.</span></div><br />
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<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="http://static2.itsuxtobefat.com/uploads/no-exercise.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; height: 227px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; width: 227px;"><img border="0" ida="true" src="http://static2.itsuxtobefat.com/uploads/no-exercise.jpg" /></a><strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tapering.</span></strong></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was meant to taper from Wednesday as the ride was on Sunday. I was desperate to fit a ride in on Monday or Tuesday, but due to a mammoth load of appointments and work commitments, I didn't manage to get out there. By Friday, I was twitching. I needed to go for a ride or do SOMETHING! I was starting to lose the plot. So I went to the gym, and sat in the sauna and spa. Resisting jumping on one of the bikes or swimming "just one lap" was a major challenge. </span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I managed to resist and thought I had done pretty well. When I went to meet Loz on Saturday for the drive to Canberra I realised just how much I failed. </span></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Loz: "Did you just run up the stairs?"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Em: "Yes, I always run up your stairs!"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Loz: "No exercise means no exercise"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Em: " :( "</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">I also got into trouble when I would be walking and then just start jumping and leaping around as I tend to do from time to time. Apparently that isn't allowed. Neither is dancing around like an idiot.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tapering: FAIL</span><br />
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</div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But overall everything else seemed to run pretty smoothly.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Loz and I had a great drive down, reminiscing about the drive on our family ski trips to Jindabyne. We even pulled out Pet Shop Boys - Please, just for some giggles. Apparently car dancing is also not allowed, but we made some exceptions for "Opportunities" - Em at the top of her lungs "I've got the brains, you've got the looks, lets make lots of money!" </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">(If you have no idea what I am talking about - heres the song below - not entirely sure whats going on with that video clip tho!)</span><br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Which brings me back to fundraising. Our auction items are still on ebay and going at bargain prices! Help us raise money for Redkite, and reach our target of $2500 each so we can ride! It would be a shame to come this far and then not be able to enter due to not reaching our fundraising requirements. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://appropriatetechnology.wikispaces.com/file/view/money-in-piggy-bank.jpg/217176126/money-in-piggy-bank.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" ida="true" src="http://appropriatetechnology.wikispaces.com/file/view/money-in-piggy-bank.jpg/217176126/money-in-piggy-bank.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">Head to </span><a href="http://www.ebay.com.au/sch/sea2summitgirls/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=&_trksid=p3686" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: #eeeeee; color: red;">Ebay, via this link (click here now)</span></a><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;"> to see the items for sale. <strong>ITEMS END TODAY!</strong> Also, don't forget that every donation received goes in the draw to win some phenomenal prizes! Visit </span><a href="http://sea2summit2011.blogspot.com/p/auction-and-prize-draw.html" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: #eeeeee; color: red;">our blog page for more information (click here)</span></a></span></div><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Ok... now.. back to the roadtrip report.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">We arrived at the hotel just in time for dinner... (more carbs) and dessert. Then it was time to pack our jerseys full of GU, Shot Blocks, Hammer Bars, bananas, spare tubes, raincoats, tissues, kitchen sinks, baby elephants.. etc. You get the idea. 3 tiny pockets and sooo much stuff.. my jersey was so heavy it ended somewhere in the vicinity of my knees. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong>Sunday - Ride Day</strong></span><br />
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<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c273/Schmenzz/cyclistsontrack.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" ida="true" src="http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c273/Schmenzz/cyclistsontrack.jpg" width="238" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial;">At 5 am, the alarms go off at about 10 trillion decibels! Up we got, and trundled to the car. All organised we got the car packed and bikes on the roof.. only to realise, that to make it out of the car park we needed the bikes OFF the roof. In a fit of giggles, we quickly removed the bikes, and then made it out of the carpark, with both our handlebars and seats still intact! </span></div><br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">We arrived at Stromlo Forrest Park, which was abuzz! Bikes on roofs, bikes on the paths, cyclists everywhere - warming up, packing gear, pumping tyres, last minute mechanical tweaks. The vibe in the air was amazing. </span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">We headed to registration, got our helmets checked and were ready to go. </span><br />
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<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Loz was off first, she was doing the 165km event and I was off an hour later on the 105km event. </span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c273/Schmenzz/cyclingstart.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; height: 246px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; width: 321px;"><img border="0" height="238" ida="true" src="http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c273/Schmenzz/cyclingstart.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial;">This was my first bike event in my short 3 months of being a cyclist! I was soooo excited! But I couldn't jump up and down like I usually would, as per the tapering rules so I just stood with a big smile beaming across my face instead. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">The ride was fabulous. There were so many people. Most went out hard at first. I am more of a tortoise. I like to start out at a happy pace, keep a happy pace, and finish at the same happy pace. There were some experienced riders, and some weekend warriors which would burn out soon enough. Burning out for me wasn't an option - I had 248kms looming in the back of my mind. So I kept plodding along. </span><br />
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<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">When we got to the top of the first really nasty hill a large number of the "hares" were recovering at the top, gasping for air, while I happily pedalled past.</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">I refuse to stop on a hill. I will only let myself stop once I'm ontop of the hill - at which point stopping is usually useless, as it's then flat, or downhill and you can ride it out.</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Despite my tapering and carb loading attempts, my legs were feeling pretty useless for the first 20kms. They didn't seem to have the energy or freshness I had assumed would be there. I trundled on and then they started to feel much happier. </span><br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Along the way I met a lovely lady wearing pink (I am terrible with names!) and we rode together for the next 20kms. Drafting off each other would have been the smart idea, as this saves a large amount of energy, however we rode side by side and got to have a great chat while we pedalled. </span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">The last 5kms into Tharwa was so much fun. Lots of rolling hills with more downs than ups which allowed me to get some awesome speeds going. If there was a downhill road racing event, I would be in it in an instant! I managed to set a new high speed of 72km/hr on one of these descents! </span><br />
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<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">I arrived into Tharwa, handed in my checkpoint ticket, grabbed some banana and then broke the golden rule of "don't try anything new on race day" and had some orange. Luckily the orange agreed with me, and tasted amazing. It was just what I needed. A quick water bottle refill and bladder empty and I was off again. None of this sitting around having a coffee at the cafe, or standing around chatting like many others were doing. I was a woman on a mission. </span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">My goal was 5.5hrs - 6hrs with a 20km/hr average and I was going to do my darndest to stick to it!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Back on the bike and I was feeling good. </span><br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="http://www.visualphotos.com/photo/2x4646035/african_man_riding_bicycle_up_steep_hill_bld079415.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" ida="true" src="http://www.visualphotos.com/photo/2x4646035/african_man_riding_bicycle_up_steep_hill_bld079415.jpg" width="318" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial;">Some famous guy once said "what goes up must go down". That was the problem with all those awesome downhills - you have to climb your butt back out again! </span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">With some grizzles and groans we kept climbing out. I had quick chats with those that passed me, and those I passed. </span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">I happened to jump on the back of a "peleton" for about 2 minutes. I don't think the front guy had any idea there were about 7 people cruising behind him as he did all the hard work! I ended up going to the front and offered to give "Red Jersey Guy" (as he will now be called) a break. Unfortunately on the next downhill bit I accidently left them for dead. Oh well, at least I tried to help.</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Slowly but surely, I kept trudging along. </span><br />
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<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="http://www.bikerumor.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/Santa_on_a_Bike1.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="220" ida="true" src="http://www.bikerumor.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/Santa_on_a_Bike1.jpeg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial;">There had been 2 people behind me for a while. "Blue Jersey Guy" and "Santa". Eventually they caught up and we had a good laugh. But then there was another downhill section, and I accidently zoomed ahead, only to start slowly putting up the hill again. Blue Jersey Guy and Santa were much better at the hills than me, so they went past me again, in a flood of more jokes and laughs. This continued for a good 20kms. Back and forth, laughing and cursing. Despite the pain from the hills, this made the ride quite enjoyable.</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><span style="font-family: Arial;">When I hit 75kms I bonked (bike term for being energy zapped). I had gotten slack on my refuelling and I paid for it. The boys went up a hill and I just couldn't keep up. </span><br />
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<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="http://www.totalsupplysolutions.com.au/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/MP900399550-239x300.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; height: 378px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; width: 240px;"><img border="0" ida="true" src="http://www.totalsupplysolutions.com.au/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/MP900399550-239x300.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial;">I muched on a caffeine GU (aka glue) and kept trundling along to the second checkpoint at 80kms.</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Same deal as before - hand in ticket, banana, orange, and water and I was off. </span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Now a well researched person would have known that there were no toilets at checkpoint 2. I did not, and my bladder did not seem too concerned with the practicalities. I tried to keep pedalling but could ignore it no more. The diuretic effect from the caffeine was hitting with a vengeance. I had to lose all refinement and find some friendly looking bushes. This was the best decision ever, as now I could concentrate on riding and not on my screaming bladder. </span></div><br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">I then hit a flat section and was feeling fabulous! Scooting along at 47km/hr I was having a blast! I then hit the Urairra Crossing and hit the "3 Sisters" which I like to call the never ending hill. It went on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on.... Just as you turned a corner and thought it would finish, it would go up and up again. </span></div><br />
<br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="http://wiimedia.ign.com/wii/image/article/930/930748/space-invaders-the-original-game-review-20081117095823409_640w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="280" ida="true" src="http://wiimedia.ign.com/wii/image/article/930/930748/space-invaders-the-original-game-review-20081117095823409_640w.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial;">The only good thing about this hill was the road graffiti. Some of it was lame, but I completely lost it when someone had painted a scene from the space invaders game on the road. It was awesome. My day was made. </span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">I kept on pedalling and met up with "Green Jersey Guy" who had flown over from Perth for this event. We had a great chat for the last 10kms and helped each other up the hills. We were then joined by "Red Jersey Guy". We were all hurting, but with some light convo and a few more laughs we made it to the top of the hill. At that point I went all out and zoomed into Stromlo Forrest Park and the finish line just behind "Red Jersey Guy". I did laugh that he beat me, but reminded him: "Don't forget who carried you the whole way" ;)</span></div><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I had aimed for 20km/hr average and to finish in 5 1/2 to 6 hours, and that was exactly what I did. (5:40).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">A quick warm down and then a bit of a chillout session on the grass with the other riders. I got the giggles once again. Cyclists are a funny lot! All I could hear was moaning, and complaining but all said with excitement and a sense of achievement. Everyone was so stoked to have finished.</span> <br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">I then spotted "Santa" and "Blue Jersey Guy" and had a great chat with them, with some more whingeing and complaining.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">What was everyone complaining about? ...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong>The Headwind from Hell Iteslf</strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Cycling is fun. Hills, while hellish at times, are still fun-ish. Headwinds. So.. NOT...FUN!</span><br />
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<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="http://myrosaceacure.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/wind_in_face.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ida="true" src="http://myrosaceacure.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/wind_in_face.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial;">We had a headwind / sidewind from Stromlo to Tharwa. Then, halfway back from Tharwa it seemed to turn around and become the headwind from hell. Going down one of the hills, which was long, and you could potentially fly down doing at least 50/60km/hr, I was pedalling my life out and felt I was going nowhere. I looked down, and to my disbelief I was doing a mere 20km/hr. I go faster than that on flats! Despite headwinds making everything much harder, I found it messed with my head more than anything. I found it so disheartening. I thought I was completely devoid of energy and had nothing left. Which had happened half an hour earlier, but with the headwind, I felt so much worse. </span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><span style="font-family: Arial;">I decided to stop battling, made it to the bottom of the hill and luckily I snapped out of it. The GU's kicked in, I'd turned a corner onto the flats and the headwind became a sidewind. I felt I was on the final stretch and started flying towards the finish (and the epic hills that were still to come).</span><br />
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</div><span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong>Wildlife Watching</strong></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://static.flickr.com/204/458367701_61b5f32fe4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" ida="true" src="http://static.flickr.com/204/458367701_61b5f32fe4.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">During the ride I saw a little hump on the road. As I got closer, I realised it was a turtle! Cuuute. (Except for the fact that it took on a car, and the car won). But then there was another one, and he was alive! Go son! Run! Get across the road! (It was here I also got the giggles thinking.. "why did the turtle cross the road?").</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Later on, I also got to see an emu in the wild which was also pretty cool, as I don't see them often. </span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">The other wildlife which decided to make its presence known was the swarm of bugs we had to ride through. These little guys kept pelting at my face, convinced I needed a rapid intake of protein. Gross. Bugs are not tasty at all. I do not recommend them as a meal replacement. </span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="http://www.classicbeautytherapy.com.au/site_images/sunburn-main_Full.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" ida="true" src="http://www.classicbeautytherapy.com.au/site_images/sunburn-main_Full.jpg" width="273" /></a><strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Wear Sunscreen</span></strong></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was quite cool in the morning, so I started off with leggings on. However, it started to warm up, so at the last minute I took the leggings off. Rookie mistake. I forgot to put sunscreen on my legs. My arms and face were fine as I'd covered them, but my legs are now a shade of deep red / purple. I highly recommend wearing sun protection while cycling in summer!</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">All in all, it was a fabulous day, and great preparation for the Sea 2 Summit which creeps closer everyday! </span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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</div><div align="center" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><em><span style="font-size: large;">Don't forget to get your bids in <strong>TODAY </strong>for our ebay items! </span></em><a href="http://sea2summit2011.blogspot.com/p/auction-and-prize-draw.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><em>Click here</em></span></a></span><span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><em>. </em></span></div><div align="center" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><em>And don't forget that every donation goes into the draw to win some amazing prizes! </em></span></div><div align="center" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://sea2summit2011.blogspot.com/p/auction-and-prize-draw.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><em>Click here</em></span></a><span style="color: black; font-size: large;"><em> for more information.</em></span></span></div><div align="center" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLP5XKC_q4ugdwyZgebZDtFVSeCM6ObNUcn7z-2H5ZZkWwp_b3a2Bar4YoYd4XIZx4gWrSN5mqBQk4XPCugr1TC1m5C5fnys6hhyphenhyphenw0WV58-WVedMoctbAoEMsqSoZOB9_d3dG6AxS8HV0/s1600/ticking+clock.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" ida="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLP5XKC_q4ugdwyZgebZDtFVSeCM6ObNUcn7z-2H5ZZkWwp_b3a2Bar4YoYd4XIZx4gWrSN5mqBQk4XPCugr1TC1m5C5fnys6hhyphenhyphenw0WV58-WVedMoctbAoEMsqSoZOB9_d3dG6AxS8HV0/s320/ticking+clock.jpg" width="318" /></a></div><div align="center" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div>Emily Petherbridgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02191931989141654998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7680509355518114044.post-10280347476709028172011-10-24T23:43:00.002+11:002011-10-24T23:53:04.853+11:00Going once, Going twice..<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">Going Once, Going Twice, SOLD to the highest bidder!</span></strong></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://evergreen.sobox.com.au/files/2011/02/advantage-auction.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="256" kca="true" src="http://evergreen.sobox.com.au/files/2011/02/advantage-auction.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><strong>Are you a fan of the Wests Tigers, Brett Lee, the Socceroos or Bondi Rescue?</strong></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><strong><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial; font-size: large;"></span></strong></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><strong><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial; font-size: large;">Would you like the chance to take home a personally signed jersey?</span></strong></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><strong><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span></strong></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As part of our fundraising efforts we have several items up for auction, including a jersey and football signed by the entire 2011 Wests Tigers football team, a NSW cricket jersey from Brett Lee and more. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bids for the items can be placed via ebay and all money raised from the sale of these items will be donated directly to Redkite.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">You can access the items for sale here: (click on the picture or link)</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/120798986937?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649#ht_1454wt_1398" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c273/Schmenzz/IMG_13051.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"> </span><a href="http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/120798986937?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649#ht_1454wt_1398"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">Signed 2011 Wests Tigers Jersey</span></a></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120799002306" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" rda="true" src="http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c273/Schmenzz/IMG_1308.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120799002306"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">Lucas Neill Signed Socceroos Jersey</span></a></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/120798988958?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649#ht_4990wt_1398" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c273/Schmenzz/IMG_1307.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/120798988958?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649#ht_4990wt_1398"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">Brett Lee's Signed NSW Cricket Speedblitz Blues Shirt</span></a></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/120798995900?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649#ht_3276wt_1398" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c273/Schmenzz/IMG_1309.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/120798995900?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649#ht_3276wt_1398">D<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">ominic Thornely's Signed NSW Cricket Speedblitz Blues Shirt</span></a></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120798997310" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" rda="true" src="http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c273/Schmenzz/IMG_1306.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120798997310"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">2011 Bondi Rescue Crew Signed Lifeguard Shirt</span></a></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120799097772#ht_2738wt_1398" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c273/Schmenzz/IMG_1323.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120799097772#ht_2738wt_1398"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">Fully Signed 2011 Wests Tigers Football</span></a></td></tr>
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bidding will be open from Monday 24 October to Thursday 3 November 2011.</span></strong></div><div align="justify" class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></div><div align="justify" class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></div><div align="justify" class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Please note that the jerseys come unframed. We were going to frame them, however some people have stated that they would prefer to use their own framing companies. We are happy to organise framing if the winner wishes to have the item framed. (Framing costs an extra $190 from Legends Under Glass). </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL1UyqNsNZ4DDV9ngbrsZg5zNcR3NxMHTSguskFwqjIKCfyWhpuyHIxyBensP3mnqDGcTJyiVQaxbGXQx-SLJ79gOIP0Qdw2ExxUNEEcp4wJf0tLt4FFQHB8I3aN2scnG-uRf65IFLFkg/s1600/winner.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL1UyqNsNZ4DDV9ngbrsZg5zNcR3NxMHTSguskFwqjIKCfyWhpuyHIxyBensP3mnqDGcTJyiVQaxbGXQx-SLJ79gOIP0Qdw2ExxUNEEcp4wJf0tLt4FFQHB8I3aN2scnG-uRf65IFLFkg/s1600/winner.gif" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">In addition, </span><strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">anyone who makes a donation $5 and over between 1 August 2011 and 16 November 2011 </span></strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">will go into the draw to win some fabulous prizes including:</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">3 Month Platinum Membership to Fitness First</span></em></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Ella Bache Signature Facial</span></em></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><em></em></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Pro Dive 90min Snorkelling Tour off Manly or Coogee with snorkel and mask to keep.</span></em></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Soja Candles Bundle</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">or one of 8 Peter Wynn's Prizes</span></span></div><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Prizes will be drawn on the 21/11/11 and the winners will be notified by email, with winners also announced on the blog.</span></div><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><em><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span></em></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong>Donations can be made to Emily and Laura at:</strong></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.everydayhero.com.au/emily_petherbridge"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">www.everydayhero.com.au/emily_petherbridge</span></span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">.</span></span></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.everydayhero.com.au/laura_vize"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">www.everydayhero.com.au/laura_vize</span></span></a><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">.</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It only takes a minute to donate, and all donations over $2 are tax deductible. Every little bit counts so please help us achieve our fundraising target of $2,500 each.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you happen to be the lucky winner of the auction items or prizes, the items are available for pickup from Mosman, Parramatta, Sydney CBD, or Westleigh, or alternatively can be posted with the winner to pay the postage costs.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">Happy bidding!</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.shawnkitchen.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/excited-kid.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="231" src="http://www.shawnkitchen.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/excited-kid.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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</div></div></div></div>Emily Petherbridgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02191931989141654998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7680509355518114044.post-14043043075800127722011-10-07T11:15:00.004+11:002011-10-14T08:49:45.163+11:00Time to grow up ...<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><strong>Time to grow up and take off those training wheels...</strong></span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://www.abchomepreschool.com/PreschoolEducationBlog/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/teaching-a-child-how-to-ride-a-bike.jpg" width="400" xaa="true" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jonnyhunter/"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Image courtesy of jonnyhunter</span></a></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So far things have been pretty cruisey. Each week my target kilometers have gone up, and I have happily been hitting them. I had been feeling pretty happy after each ride and hadn't hurt at all after them. (Which I was pretty impressed with considering I started from no bicycle fitness to speak of!) That was up until the 60km ride. I felt it after that one! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The end of the ride was quite typical, got back to the car and had that crazy feeling of "I guess I could do another lap of West Head" (another 25kms). By the time I'd driven home, I was pumped for another quick ride around the neighbourhood. The sun was out and I actually had some free time in my day. It was a great idea until I went to get out of the car. At that moment my legs kindly reminded me that I had totally destroyed them and they were less than impressed about it. Hmmn, maybe that ride would wait! </span><br />
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<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg19TQ3l3QhPyxSiwNuh2ehJf510BexDWqVok2qZqVqoKf8E-Z4RbUkXW94kU8VGQhlxSaNHy0-eTkY119Jb88fAAIUqkwnKbUWU_iqeAX6WCobwxE37v58nzQSqBNmMdmm0i7zJxl2hFw/s1600/bike+carrier.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" rba="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg19TQ3l3QhPyxSiwNuh2ehJf510BexDWqVok2qZqVqoKf8E-Z4RbUkXW94kU8VGQhlxSaNHy0-eTkY119Jb88fAAIUqkwnKbUWU_iqeAX6WCobwxE37v58nzQSqBNmMdmm0i7zJxl2hFw/s320/bike+carrier.jpg" width="320" /></span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Due to some work commitments I then hit a blip in my training schedule. I had to go to Cairns for a week. The hotel was supposed to have a gym but I couldn't think of anything worse than exercising in a hotel gym with some dodgy equipment. The concept of not riding for a week terrified me, as you can lose bike fitness very quickly, and everyday I remind myself that every bit I do now, will help me on Nov 19. </span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">With this dilemma, what's a girl to do?</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The answer was quite simple really, dismantle the bike and take it on the plane! And that is exactly what I did. </span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.drivenow.com.au/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/port-douglas-4-mile-beach-stinger-sign1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" rba="true" src="http://www.drivenow.com.au/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/port-douglas-4-mile-beach-stinger-sign1.jpg" width="212" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Cycling in Port Douglas was excellent. It was so warm, which was a great change from the Sydney weather, and luckily for me, it was sunny compared to the downpour Sydney had that week! The roads were pretty flat the but scenery made up for it, and some kilometers were better than none! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On the Thursday we had the afternoon off, so another chiropractor (who had also brought her bike) and I cycled to Mossman Gorge. The scenery was beautiful and the ride was really nice. I hadn't had the chance to actually do long flat distances yet, as I'd been riding mostly hills, and was surprised how hard and different it was. On the flats you don't get up as often. All I can say is numb bum! </span><br />
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<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="http://www.neonlite.ca/archives/images/TanLines.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="205" nba="true" src="http://www.neonlite.ca/archives/images/TanLines.jpg" width="320" /></span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lessons learnt this week included: when you don't intend to clip in, make sure that it hasn't accidently stealthy clicked in before putting your foot (and consequently the whole bike and you) on the ground, and that suncream is essential for cycling in warmer weather. Glove and tshirt tan lines are not attractive unless you are going for the "I just fake tanned badly" look. </span></div></div></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Soon the week was over, so the bike was dismantled again and packed on a plane for the journey home. Due to lack of time, I didn't manage to do my target kilometers for that week. That meant a 20km jump to the next target.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The next big ride was 80km. West Head is 25km, and Akuna Bay is about 15. To make up 80kms doing these loops screamed boredom. </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.paulmorris-som.co.uk/images/ripped%20l%20plate.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" kca="true" src="http://www.paulmorris-som.co.uk/images/ripped%20l%20plate.jpg" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was time. I had to grow up, throw out the L plates and take of the training wheels. I had to start riding with the big kids. You know, those rides that the crazy people do. Instead of driving to Akuna Bay, I was going to have to ride there, and then do it. Just like the people you see riding on the road. Those cyclists. Real cyclists. I still felt like an imposter. Not a REAL cyclist. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So I took a teaspoon of concrete and commited to 2 laps of the Royal National Park. Each lap was 40kms. There was no "easy out" and I had to grow up in a lot of ways. First of all, everytime I mentioned it to someone, they asked if I was mad. Having never seen it, I was a little concerned. Secondly I had to ride on the road. Not a pretty quiet road like I had been doing previously, but a main road and not a main road at 5am before there are cars on it. A main road at 7-11am in the morning. Thirdly and something that scared me more than the rest, was riding up a windy national park road that was narrow for 2 cars, let alone with a cyclist. This meant the the cars would be stuck behind me without being able to go past. And that meant I couldn't go slow!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It turns out that the Natio Park loop isn't so bad. The only evil bit is the winding narrow section at the very end. Although on the second lap, that last little winding bit transforms from an evil beast to the devil in the firey pits of hell. </span><br />
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<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1333/740838929_072d5203e5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="308" kca="true" src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1333/740838929_072d5203e5.jpg" width="320" /></span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After just over 4 hours we made it to the top and had completed the 80km target. Back in the carpark we got the giggles as we were in a world of hurt. (Or maybe that was just me!)</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Time has seemed to fly! Cairns was late August and I have been steadily riding weekdays and weekends since. Mainly hilly sections as that will be what we will be riding on the day. I have been looping Akuna Bay and West Head, now riding from St Ives like the big kids and also lapping the National Park and my local streets. Rain, hail or shine, much to the amazement of many of the cars going past! Most people like to spend their Friday nights relaxing or going out, but here I am, lapping the local streets at 9:30pm in the dark and rain. </span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So that gets you ALMOST up to date.. but you will have to wait untill next time for the rest!</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We have a number of auction items which will be posted this week, as well as a raffle with some awesome prizes. All donations (past and future) will receive a raffle ticket(s) to go into the draw.</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Stay tuned for further details to be updated next week. </span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Please help me reach my goal of $2500 to help Redkite help children with cancer and their families and provide much needed support for real, essential everyday items such as bills, transportation, counselling and tutoring while they miss school. Every dollar counts, and all donations over $2 are tax deductable.</span></em></span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.everydayhero.com.au/emily_petherbridge" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" kca="true" src="http://www.melon.com.au/clients/redkite/sites/all/themes/redkite/images/donate_now.gif" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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</div>Emily Petherbridgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02191931989141654998noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7680509355518114044.post-64243616610795503752011-09-29T13:15:00.001+10:002011-09-29T13:17:50.095+10:00Special Screening of Crazy Stupid Love Cancelled<div>Unfortunately we have had to cancel the Sea 2 Summit Movie Night special screening of ‘Crazy Stupid Love’ we had planned for Wednesday October 5 at Event Cinemas Macquarie, due to insufficient numbers.<br /><br />For those that have bought tickets, we will be in touch with you shortly regarding arranging a refund. Thanks to all those who supported the event. </div><div> </div><div>If you were unable to make the event but would still like to support Redkite, donations can be made via our everyday hero webpages: http://www.everydayhero.com.au/laura_vize or http://www.everydayhero.com.au/emily_petherbridge<br /><br />Everyone who makes a donation will go into the draw to win one of several raffle prizes, more details to follow soon……<br /><br />Laura & Emily</div>Laura Vizehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12009430142942456795noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7680509355518114044.post-26800261194120002102011-09-16T20:18:00.003+10:002011-09-22T15:22:41.318+10:00<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYfUUrwIAunoHEPCycjaoaeSOcvk6lGncHnqBbYYy86jMSj5O4ThOYYRsdfNulNghqnDO5olfGUv_7fRbi5IPPgdAqJZkV5Nz-ccK08XQawCaXOq7lJltK3AE_chu6vJ1x7rYvlQNkZqSJ/s1600/start.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5652860320673082850" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYfUUrwIAunoHEPCycjaoaeSOcvk6lGncHnqBbYYy86jMSj5O4ThOYYRsdfNulNghqnDO5olfGUv_7fRbi5IPPgdAqJZkV5Nz-ccK08XQawCaXOq7lJltK3AE_chu6vJ1x7rYvlQNkZqSJ/s400/start.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 400px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 299px;" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A couple of weeks ago, Andrew and I headed up to Terrigal for the weekend. He had a long training run planned and we had also organised to catch up with a few of our friends who live up that way, so it was a good excuse to cycle somewhere different.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A good mate of ours kindly plotted out a nice ride around the beaches and Lake Macquarie, via Warners Bay and other scenic spots so we headed off a little after 7am. The traffic was pretty good with cars giving us plenty of space on some of the narrower roads and the scenery was spectacular. The route pretty much hugs the coast most of the way, and although it was fresh when we started, it warmed up quickly and turned out to be one of those perfect days on the bike.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">About 70kms in, we decided to take a break at Warners Bay. We stopped off at a local bakery and grabbed a couple of chocolate milks to keep us going. It was lovely chilling out in the sun by the water.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It’s always hard to get going again once you have stopped, but eventually we decided to get moving and made our way progressively around the lake. We thought we had the directions right at one point, and headed down a steep incline off the main road.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCy6xIHET2CTczFLwCTEUU6FMNJxQ0XLOyM8VQOovu6MCy9ENZHaIdmJa3baP0zB0xoUp0tuRCtq29AMyLKmuV1-7khj-6y2uUCu7j40EF3AXnwvYDeSbPxBBtZhuBd1Ygi8k3HYcWWxUs/s1600/warners+bay.jpg"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5652860639189230114" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCy6xIHET2CTczFLwCTEUU6FMNJxQ0XLOyM8VQOovu6MCy9ENZHaIdmJa3baP0zB0xoUp0tuRCtq29AMyLKmuV1-7khj-6y2uUCu7j40EF3AXnwvYDeSbPxBBtZhuBd1Ygi8k3HYcWWxUs/s400/warners+bay.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 400px; margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; width: 299px;" /></span></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Well we got it wrong, and ended up having to back track up the hill – which ended up being reasonably long. This wasn’t such a bad thing, as the ride itself was pretty fast and flat, so the odd hill or two wouldn’t go astray.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Passing through the Entrance, Toukley and Long Jetty brought back childhood memories as my grandparents had a holiday house at Kilarney Vale for years when I was growing up. Strange to visit places I hadn’t been to for some years.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">120km later and we made it back to Terrigal. Time to put the bikes on the roof and head home. Glad to get another long ride under the belt ahead of Sea 2 Summit – but might need more hills next time.</span><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Don't forget to get your tickets to our fundraising movie event! </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Come see "Crazy, Stupid, Love". Starring Steve Carrell, Julianne Moore, Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone.</strong></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Wednesday 5th October.</strong></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>6:00pm</strong></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Event Cinemas Macquarie (in Macquarie Centre)</strong></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Cnr Herring and Waterloo Rds</strong></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Macquarie Park</strong></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Tickets are $45 each</strong></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Drinks, canapes and lucky door prize included!</strong> </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><a href="http://www.iwannaticket.com.au/event/sea-2-summit-cycle-challenge-special-screening-of-crazy-stupid-love-NjI4"><span style="color: red;">I WANT</span><span style="color: red;"> A </span><span style="color: red;">TICKET!</span></a></strong></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><span style="color: red;"></span></strong><br />
</span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tickets available through </span><a href="http://www.iwannaticket.com.au/event/sea-2-summit-cycle-challenge-special-screening-of-crazy-stupid-love-NjI4"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">www.iwannaticket.com.au</span></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Don't forget to 'Like' our <a href="http://www.facebook.com/#!/Sea2SummitGirls"><span style="color: red;">Facebook Page</span></a> and RSVP on our <a href="http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=284279901586406"><span style="color: red;">Facebook Event Page</span></a><span style="color: red;">!</span> </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div></div>Laura Vizehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12009430142942456795noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7680509355518114044.post-24997292950694717182011-09-07T12:51:00.003+10:002011-09-07T18:33:54.668+10:00A night to remember..<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">We may be a little bit crazy, and a little bit stupid. </span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"></span><a href="http://static.moviefanatic.com/images/gallery/crazy-stupid-love-poster_405x600.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" nba="true" src="http://static.moviefanatic.com/images/gallery/crazy-stupid-love-poster_405x600.jpg" width="270" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So as part of our fundraising efforts we will be holding a private screening of "Crazy, Stupid, Love." </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tickets include the movie as well as drinks and canapes. There will be a lucky door prize, a raffle and an auction held on the night. All money raised will go towards Redkite, who support children and their families through cancer.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We have been training like crazy, and need your help to raise the $5000 needed for us to take part in the event. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So put it in your diary now.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Wednesday 5th October.</span></strong></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">6:00pm</span></strong></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Event Cinemas Macquarie (in Macquarie Centre)</span></strong></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Cnr Herring and Waterloo Rds</span></strong></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Macquarie Park</span></strong></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tickets are $46 each. </span></strong></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><strong><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://www.iwannaticket.com.au/event/sea-2-summit-cycle-challenge-special-screening-of-crazy-stupid-love-NjI4"><span style="color: red;">I </span><span style="color: red;">WANT </span><span style="color: red;">A TICKET</span><span style="color: red;">!</span></a></span></strong></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.iwannaticket.com.au/event/sea-2-summit-cycle-challenge-special-screening-of-crazy-stupid-love-NjI4" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" nba="true" src="http://frugalyork.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/movie_tickets.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tickets available through </span><a href="http://www.iwannaticket.com.au/event/sea-2-summit-cycle-challenge-special-screening-of-crazy-stupid-love-NjI4"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">www.iwannaticket.com.au</span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Don't forget to 'Like' our </span><a href="http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=284279901586406#!/Sea2SummitGirls"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Facebook Page</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> and RSVP on our </span><a href="http://www.facebook.com/Sea2SummitGirls#!/event.php?eid=284279901586406"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Facebook Event Page</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">! </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><blockquote><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Bittersweet, emotionally uplifting and distinctly hilarious, <small>16 July 2011</small></strong></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><strong><img alt="8/10" height="12" src="http://i.media-imdb.com/images/showtimes/80.gif" width="102" /></strong><small>Author:</small></span> </span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/user/ur1622466/comments"><span style="color: #136cb2; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">DonFishies</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <small>from Canada</small></span></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Crazy, Stupid, Love. is one of, if not the best, American romantic comedies of the past decade. This may come as a shock to some (as it surely took me aback) but there is no other way to describe it. Going into an advanced screening of the film earlier this week, I had my doubts that it would be anything outside of generic. But instead of tripe, I got one of the most unexpected surprises I have seen all year.</span><br />
<blockquote><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong></strong></span></blockquote></blockquote><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>A big thank you to:</strong></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Fitness First</strong></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Ella Bache</strong></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Peter Wynn's Sports</strong></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Bondi Rescue </strong></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>The Socceroos</strong></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Wests Tigers</strong></span><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Arial;">and more.. </span></strong></div>Emily Petherbridgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02191931989141654998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7680509355518114044.post-5979835843592857092011-08-30T21:28:00.002+10:002011-08-30T21:33:09.621+10:00Bane of my daily cycling existence....<div>Ok that might be stretching it a bit, but I reckon everyone has a hill. You know, the one you dread cycling up. I am lucky enough that my usual commute to work is mostly downhill, with only a small rise just before I reach the Sydney Harbour Bridge. On the way home however it is a different story.<br /><br />Get past the cycle ways through the city, up and over the bridge, down through Milsons Point and you hit Ben Boyd road. Now this is not a terribly steep or difficult hill – it’s about 1km long and has some steeper sections at the start, but it weaves around a bit and has this annoying habit of seeming like it goes on forever. It flattens out in sections so it is definitely rideable, but when I am sitting at my desk, its dark outside and I know I have to ride home, it’s the thing I dread the most. I often have the thought....what if I just take the ferry home....(bikes fit great on ferries as opposed to buses and trains do not go to my house).<br /><br />The thing is, once I’m past that hill, the rest of the ride is quite enjoyable. That is <em>after</em> I get over the leg burn and re-learn how to breathe. Still, riding this hill five days a week can only be a good thing, since I have 5,500m of vertical waiting for me on a single day in November.<br /><br />So I look at Ben Boyd as my daily challenge. I’ll continue to try and climb it faster and more efficiently, and one of these days I may beat my riding buddy to the top. If the hardest thing I have to do in my day is ride up Ben Boyd then I really have nothing to complain about, and I’ve never returned home feeling worse than when I started after heading out for a ride.</div>Laura Vizehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12009430142942456795noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7680509355518114044.post-54048503216570102082011-08-19T21:06:00.004+10:002011-08-19T21:22:31.600+10:00Northern beaches adventures and a week in review<div><br /><br />After a sleepy Saturday, Sunday was the day to get the next long ride in for sea2summit training. There’s nothing like knowing you have to train for 5,500m of vertical gain to be covered in one day to get you out of bed!<br /><br />Bright and early, Andrew and I rolled out from Mosman to head out to Akuna Bay via frenchs forest and Terry Hills. The weather was looking a little dodgy so we figured staying close to home was probably the best bet. Radar images were showing rain to be as widespread as the southern highlands so my usual trick of heading south in bad weather wasn’t going to work today.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr-FFtJ9c5SHKB649QNgf6gp3xka_yg8BnqA5auc3B1FZUqXz9C4c2UaCZzuG9-noSkcFAIh8DKhYKtW6smJKRvuPDD2EL7vDaRyzh9I08FPODD02xinEt4IOy16BKqDzgBYWNxiZs4BHn/s1600/photo+%25284%2529.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 299px; height: 400px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5642522614121595362" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr-FFtJ9c5SHKB649QNgf6gp3xka_yg8BnqA5auc3B1FZUqXz9C4c2UaCZzuG9-noSkcFAIh8DKhYKtW6smJKRvuPDD2EL7vDaRyzh9I08FPODD02xinEt4IOy16BKqDzgBYWNxiZs4BHn/s400/photo+%25284%2529.JPG" /></a><br /><br /><br />A loop around Akuna bay and out to west head, then down McCarrs Creek road to Church point and the kms were slowly adding up. So far the rain had stayed away, so it was turning out to be a good day in the saddle.<br /><br />Heading back from West head we ran into Emily who was out on her own training ride. It was nice to ride together on the way back and I was really enjoying seeing how fast we could go on the downhill stretches. West head is great for pushing pace, as there are limited cars and a great road surface with the surety of no potholes to catch tyres. To still be feeling relatively fresh at 50km was a good sign and with the last set of hills out of the way, we headed towards Mona Vale and home.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3siCrJkj6ctDM9sV2IM5lOIHvZyr3Ay-orpDVkTiy9sYaMTA2bLQleRuUxEzjBaUwqMId6oWIMBaHHA4JdS-sheseskhg777TIn3xCkNzx2JGoPVbkgQJwvwjDshIC-tUi922UjwMx9Mv/s1600/photo+%25285%2529.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 299px; height: 400px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5642523058947275458" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3siCrJkj6ctDM9sV2IM5lOIHvZyr3Ay-orpDVkTiy9sYaMTA2bLQleRuUxEzjBaUwqMId6oWIMBaHHA4JdS-sheseskhg777TIn3xCkNzx2JGoPVbkgQJwvwjDshIC-tUi922UjwMx9Mv/s400/photo+%25285%2529.JPG" /></a><br /><br />Pittwater road is always fun to ride, if a little busy. With three lanes for traffic , we were able to ride side by side with cars mostly giving us a wide berth. It was great to get into the big gears with a fast, solid pace onto Wakehurst parkway. A coffee gel just before the hill did the trick as we headed up towards Seaforth.<br /><br />We almost made it home without any rain, but it caught up with us in the last 15kms. Glad to make it home with 100kms done. We headed to a café in Mosman for great food and well-earned coffee indulgence post ride.<br /><br /><strong>The week that followed….</strong><br /><br />Not a lot of riding to be had mid-week, except for 80kms to and from work due to a mostly rainy week. I managed to fit in 3 runs which was a bonus and good cross training. The goal for next week is to increase the kms during the week. October is fast approaching with Fitz’s Challenge and November isn’t much further beyond that!<br /></div>Laura Vizehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12009430142942456795noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7680509355518114044.post-9954941380261153812011-08-15T22:55:00.003+10:002011-08-15T23:07:49.724+10:00Lessons from a Learner<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://o.b5z.net/i/u/10096299/i/Learner_plate_pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="261" naa="true" src="http://o.b5z.net/i/u/10096299/i/Learner_plate_pic.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">LESSONS FROM A LEARNER</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Over the last month I have gotten into this cycling thing again for the first time since I was a kid. I had been riding spin bikes at the gym, but as I have been reminded time and time again, it is not the same as a real bike! </span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So here are my tales from a learner cyclist!</span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/33/Dense_Tule_fog_in_Bakersfield,_California.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="227" naa="true" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/33/Dense_Tule_fog_in_Bakersfield,_California.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Fog</span></strong><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I decided to get up early on saturday morning to go for my ride before a seminar. It was dark when I left home, and still dark as I started my ride. As I descended down into Akuna Bay the fog hit. Foggy weather is dangerous enough for a cyclist because:</span><br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">a) you can't see where you are going and</span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">b) the cars can't see me. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To make things worse, it was still dark so visability was quite difficult.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Even though I was lit up like a Christmas Tree I was still terrified someone would hit me. </span><br />
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<div align="left" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The magic of a bike tune</span></strong></div><div align="left" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNhyphenhyphen5zngCQA2hTmX3pXxzlI-PJ_BXuY4YN7UsPiq2Urgtr3HTuuChE-5Ef0DWo-19jCcrH-heaVpviSFrNrQUtuFv-2sJuYa8pV7JCcjsyL2AjgciECHQwoAPzPcnJ1KHyE4s439jecr8/s1600/IMG_1197.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNhyphenhyphen5zngCQA2hTmX3pXxzlI-PJ_BXuY4YN7UsPiq2Urgtr3HTuuChE-5Ef0DWo-19jCcrH-heaVpviSFrNrQUtuFv-2sJuYa8pV7JCcjsyL2AjgciECHQwoAPzPcnJ1KHyE4s439jecr8/s320/IMG_1197.JPG" width="320" /></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I took my bike in to be tuned on Friday as the gears were feeling a little clicky and finnicky and I didn't think this was normal. The shop was amazing and squeezed me in. On the way down the hill the changes were so smooth. It felt like engineering genius! I managed to make it all the way up the hill without hurting too bad! I then turned into West Head Rd and powered up the first hill. Fantastic. But then, as I went to go down the first hill, I realised I had no low gears. Uh-oh. So I stopped the bike and that was when I realised that the cable was hanging loosely doing very little. Damn. My plan to reach 60km that morning was shattered as I had limited time to get it fixed before going away</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">this week, which meant I had to go home and</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> get to a bike shop before my seminar.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Luckily the guys fixed it on the spot for me! Phew! </span></div><div align="left" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
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</span></div><div align="left" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="http://www.theharteofmarketing.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/leech.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" naa="true" src="http://www.theharteofmarketing.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/leech.jpg" width="320" /></span></a><a href="http://www.theharteofmarketing.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/leech.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong></strong></span></a><strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Leeches</span></strong></div><div align="left" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> I had forgotten about leeches in Australia. The only time I had ever been up close and personal with them was while trekking in Nepal. While I was checking out the cable I saw a brown thing on my bike. I thought it was a worm and went to flick it away and then I saw its little sucker. ARGH! LEECH! Cue waterbottle and the jet stream that followed and the little guy was gone. AHA! Take that! No blood for you!</span></div><div align="left" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
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</span></div><div align="left" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/mountain-bike-trail-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; height: 298px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; width: 229px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" naa="true" src="http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/mountain-bike-trail-3.jpg" /></span></a><strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Downhills hurt</span></strong></div><div align="left" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When you are climbing uphill, all you want is to get to the top, and then go down the hill. Trying Akuna Bay for the first time I discovered that downhill hurts too! The kind of hill that goes on, and on, and on, and on, and ON! Not knowing the road very well, I sat on the brakes most of the time. Being a Learner Cyclist, I am still not great on the drops. They're fine on a road I know, with a smooth surface and on a hill that doesn't require braking. When I need to brake I get into trouble. I have incredibly small hands, so on the drops, or on the hoods I struggle to reach the brakes. When you add this to a big stretch of steep downhill..... all I can say is OWWW! Hand cramps!</span></div><div align="left" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
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</span></div><div align="left" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/15/WD-40.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" naa="true" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/15/WD-40.jpg" width="265" /></span></a><strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Cycling gloves and chain grease do not mix!</span></strong></div><div align="left" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I took a friend cycling on Sunday to reattempt my 60km goal (as I had to abandon ship after the previously mentioned technical difficulties). I leant them a pair of my brand spankas cycling gloves. They were pretty, which is hard to find in the land of cycling gloves. Most are black and masculine looking. These were a nice grey suede and had white on top. However, when the chain falls off and gets jammed between the teeth on the cogs, this colouring is not so ideal! My previously clean gloves were now a new shade of black.</span></div><div align="left" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pondering how I was going to get the grease out of my gloves I did what any Y-Genner would and turned to google. Amongst the crazy suggestions were shampoo, dawn dishwashing liquid, hairspray and hand degreaser. The list goes on. One that caught my attention was WD-40. Really? Spray oil on grease? I asked my dad, and apparently it made perfect sense! </span></div><div align="left" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
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</span></div><div align="left" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c273/Schmenzz/gloves.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" naa="true" src="http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c273/Schmenzz/gloves.jpg" width="239" /></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So off i trotted to the garage and grabbed some RP-7 (the poor man's WD-40) and coated my gloves in a layer of smelly oil. </span></div><div align="left" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I let them soak for 5 mins and then coated them in a layer Morning Fresh. Apparently the WD-40 cuts the grease, and then the Morning Fresh removes the oil. I had lost all hope of reviving my gloves, but the results were astounding! Not 100% perfect but pretty close!</span></div><div align="left" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div align="left" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This brings me to the next lesson. When using this technique, GO OUTSIDE! Do not use the kitchen sink! My house smells of WD-40! It is horrible and lingers. The other lesson is don't smell the gloves. It lingers in them too! Although I think some outside-time in the sun might help. As a side note, this doesn't work with plasticy fabrics. My white plastic shell wasn't so lucky. But such is life.</span></div><div align="left" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
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</span></div><div align="left" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Actually, these were all just lessons from the weekend! I wonder what is in store for me this week. I'm off to Cairns for work for the week. Roxy is all packed up in her bike bag and ready to go!</span></div><div align="left" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
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</span></div><div align="left" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><em>Please help me reach my goal of $2500 to help Redkite help children with cancer and provide much needed support to their families.</em></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><em><br />
</em></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.everydayhero.com.au/emily_petherbridge" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.melon.com.au/clients/redkite/sites/all/themes/redkite/images/donate_now.gif" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><em><br />
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</div>Emily Petherbridgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02191931989141654998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7680509355518114044.post-443075557526211482011-08-10T16:55:00.001+10:002011-08-10T21:03:47.923+10:00100 Days To Go!!!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://photos.weddingbycolor.com/p/000/006/958/m/71328/p/photo/206267.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" naa="true" src="http://photos.weddingbycolor.com/p/000/006/958/m/71328/p/photo/206267.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><blockquote></blockquote><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><em><span style="color: black;">Today marks the 100 days to go point!</span> </em></span></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Training is progressing well and both Laura and I are hitting our targetted weekly kilometers. Suprisingly I have found the kilometers easier than I thought I would. Which is a huge bonus! I still have a long way to go to reach 248kms but at this stage, everything is on target and all systems go!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Last night Laura and I attended the Redkite Sea 2 Summit Information Evening held in Moore Park. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was a great opportunity to meet the staff from Redkite and Sold Out Event Management as well as the other cyclists taking part in this years ride. </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/282497_10150741565040367_775280366_20152431_1375119_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" naa="true" src="http://a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/282497_10150741565040367_775280366_20152431_1375119_n.jpg" width="239" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Meanwhile Laura and I are busily brainstorming fundraising ideas and events so stay tuned! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">If you have any great ideas we would love to hear them! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Also, if you happen to be one of those people with "contacts" that might be usefull for signed raffle items, or raffle donations please let us know. The more items we have to auction off the better! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">We are also "selling" adspace to the blog. (By way of donation to Redkite). If you would like to place a permanent ad on our blog to advertise your company or products, email me at <a href="mailto:emily.sea2summit@gmail.com"><span style="color: red;">emily.sea2summit@gmail.com</span></a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">We have so many great things coming that we want to tell you about, but if I did, they wouldn't be a suprise! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><span style="font-family: Arial;">So you will just have to stay tuned... </span><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><em>Please help me reach my goal of $2500 to help Redkite help children with cancer and provide much needed support to their families.</em></span></span><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a 1?="" href="http://www.everydayhero.com.au/emily_petherbridge" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.melon.com.au/clients/redkite/sites/all/themes/redkite/images/donate_now.gif" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div>Emily Petherbridgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02191931989141654998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7680509355518114044.post-56607701467515958772011-08-07T19:42:00.003+10:002011-08-07T20:00:13.979+10:00Polo crosse, coffee, rain, hills and more hills<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Training ride 3</b></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">7 August 2011</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Left home just after 5am fully planning on cycling Brooklyn to Yarramalong via Bumble Hill but it was starting to rain on the way out so we turned around and headed to Bowral.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Radar had little rain showing for the southern highlands so we went in search of hills.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The ride I had in mind was 120km from Bowral out to Robertson, Jamberoo and Albion Park, via Macquarie Pass and return. Its a ride I've been wanting to do for a long time and with 1200m vertical and a blue sky day, it made for perfect sea2summit training.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The first 30km were nice and undulating and made for a good warm up. There was a Polo crosse event on which made for interesting viewing as we cycled past. Horses everywhere. Some startled easy and took off as we went past.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We hit the looped section of the ride just past Robertson pie shop. Tempting to stop for snacks but with the bulk of the ride still to go we pushed on.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">About here I popped the first caffeine gu. The effects of this morning's coffee had worn off and I needed another hit.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A bit further on we hit Jamberoo mountain road and the descent into Albion Park. Whoa that is one full on descent! Having not ridden this before, I'm not sure I would have if I had seen it in advance. Narrow, bumpy road, blind corners and lots of cars combined with sections at least as steep as Awaba (12-16% grade at a guess) it was all I could do to hang on. I was sure I'd burn through my brakes but we made it to the bottom, flying near out of control the whole way. Highlights included the Subaru Wrx and Porsche clubs that were racing and pacing up the hill. Man I was glad they were not on our tail on the way down.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is what we just came down...doesn't look anywhere near as steep as it is!</span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig0jBmXsWHOa0ruI1ggxIoIEL6yYGsbsWOz7NdkFR_orVqjrtT37j4wTzkwhbvYe09HI79nsTOqfNZ3mdEvNQ0bXEw_ga-o0vxS87m-7I7x7U9Ajse43MaCFkaGD-hu3x3QcuLVdtXV3n1/s1600/photo.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5638038084911470930" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig0jBmXsWHOa0ruI1ggxIoIEL6yYGsbsWOz7NdkFR_orVqjrtT37j4wTzkwhbvYe09HI79nsTOqfNZ3mdEvNQ0bXEw_ga-o0vxS87m-7I7x7U9Ajse43MaCFkaGD-hu3x3QcuLVdtXV3n1/s400/photo.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 299px;" /></a><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Up and down a few more hills, a quick re-fuel at Albion Park and all too soon we were facing the 11km climb up Macquarie Pass. More caffeine gels needed!</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The climb that awaited us....</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The first 6 or 7km are reasonably steep and pretty twisty, with a couple of tight hair pins. This was hard work and I was celebrating each km as it passed. They seemed to click over on the garmin way too slowly. Finally got to the top of the steepest part where Andrew was looking nice and chilled. Apparently he'd had time to do the hill twice... Hmmmm...</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Once past the pass, it was an easier 30km or so back along the road to Bowral. I reckon we averaged about 30km/hr, it was great to get the legs turning in the big gears flying down the hills to power up the other side.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Great to get back to the car, just in time to beat the rain clouds rolling in. Happily found a bakery back in town and stocked up on snacks for the trip home.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Great day out.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Total distance: 110 (123km for my other half Andrew who managed a few out and backs while waiting for me!)</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Time in the saddle: 6hrs</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">No of coffees? 5 if you count the two before I started, 2 gels during and 1 coffee after. No such thing as too much coffee I say :)</span><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><em>Please help me reach my goal of $2500 to help Redkite help children with cancer and provide much needed support to their families.</em></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><em><br />
</em></span></span></div><div class="s;eparator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.everydayhero.com.au/laura_vize"1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.melon.com.au/clients/redkite/sites/all/themes/redkite/images/donate_now.gif" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><em><br />
</em></span></span></div>Laura Vizehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12009430142942456795noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7680509355518114044.post-63310782280405209822011-08-02T12:29:00.009+10:002011-08-03T09:28:16.921+10:00Traning Session #2: No rest for the unfit...<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Saturday 30th July</strong> </span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So another week rolled by.</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After a huge weekend last week, and being fully booked at work everyday this week, my mid week activity slipped in favour of the nanna nap!</span></div><br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyyxdKqkKgGqOokDGvqI-7T9aNVjP20N-cX1yS8txX1Kv6e4E8VZQQg0tls5NCwrToOaJdGFvPzxmTtTkq9bvQtovjnIrg3HwNJRm8QtZSrNeOd3rkrsASh7vYh7Fp210-4W6Hi0JB2HU/s1600/blog1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyyxdKqkKgGqOokDGvqI-7T9aNVjP20N-cX1yS8txX1Kv6e4E8VZQQg0tls5NCwrToOaJdGFvPzxmTtTkq9bvQtovjnIrg3HwNJRm8QtZSrNeOd3rkrsASh7vYh7Fp210-4W6Hi0JB2HU/s320/blog1.jpg" t$="true" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Saturday afternoon was quiet at work, so I decided we should leave early. I had a seminar Sat arvo so I knew I'd be pressed for time. </span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I met up with my friend Kat and dragged her up to West Head. I decided not to tell her how hard it was, as I didn't want to scare her off! </span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 hill done and I was not her favourite person in the world. But she perservered and made it to the end and back! To her credit, her bike wasn't changing gears properly so it was a tough ride. </span><br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="http://sfbikecoalition.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/bike_lanes_fall.jpg?w=400&h=273" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="218" src="http://sfbikecoalition.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/bike_lanes_fall.jpg?w=400&h=273" t$="true" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I had been going well recently with the fall tally, however, it suffered on Saturday. I had finally made it up "hell hill". I was super stoked! So I rode down a little at the top to help motivate Kat. I unclipped as we stopped for a breather, and then when I went to take off I informed Kat "I always struggle to start uphills". No sooner had I said that, when my foot missed the pedal and TIMMMMBEERRRRRR!</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Over I went, onto my left elbow, sending pain shooting through my collarbone, and my butt landed on the seat tip. Excellent, another butt bruise when the first one was only just fading! Luckily my collarbone was fine and up I jumped and continued on. </span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXfHD2SsHKEEPrDWbPxgWZ5i-35jB2Z1nJ9nIJWuje-K4bXfURpbaFDHT1TGNCJjRE08kqLvpTMsf6muZPTysgk6I4j02gB245djQ2QVxg_NvU2HV_d2BNjvDhhoKK95yLtXAOMwZydm8/s1600/blog+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXfHD2SsHKEEPrDWbPxgWZ5i-35jB2Z1nJ9nIJWuje-K4bXfURpbaFDHT1TGNCJjRE08kqLvpTMsf6muZPTysgk6I4j02gB245djQ2QVxg_NvU2HV_d2BNjvDhhoKK95yLtXAOMwZydm8/s320/blog+4.jpg" t$="true" width="320" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The ride back is so much easier than the ride out. I think Kat was starting to forgive me a little now. On the way back I saw my sister stopped. (She had run into us at the West Head Lookout). I stopped to check that everything was ok, when she told us how she had just seen and echidna waddle across the road. CUTE!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After having a chat with Laura about fundraising ideas I thought I would go meet Kat. So I decided to click in my right foot as I was just taking off anyway. (I usually click in the left first and put my right foot down). But then I looked up and Kat was coming around the corner. So my usual "stop" mechanism was put my right foot down. The problem was that it was clicked in, and my left one wasn't. So leaning the right was a fatal error. Well, almost. Somehow, in a moment of quick reactions, I managed to somehow get my left foot down, jump around on one foot for a bit and end up with the bike infront of me, right foot still attached, and front wheel in the air! Impressive! </span></div><br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Distance: 25kms</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Fall Tally: 3</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">New Falls: 1 </span></div><br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sunday 30th July</span></strong></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">I've been wanting to ride to work. It's 33kms and an easy way to get kilometres done during the week. </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><iframe frameborder="0" height="350" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://maps.google.com.au/maps?q=eucalyptus+drive+westleigh++to+elizabeth+street+parramatta&oe=&ie=UTF8&hl=en&saddr=eucalyptus+drive+westleigh&daddr=elizabeth+street+parramatta&geocode=FUaG_f0dFiEBCSmB5NiXPacSazGZ6KbSmy_3yg%3BFbwW_P0dTjcACSn9JvysG6MSazGcSqFfmJJ2tg&ll=-33.763736,151.044846&spn=0.199792,0.291824&z=11&output=embed" width="425"></iframe><br />
<small><a href="http://maps.google.com.au/maps?q=eucalyptus+drive+westleigh++to+elizabeth+street+parramatta&oe=&ie=UTF8&hl=en&saddr=eucalyptus+drive+westleigh&daddr=elizabeth+street+parramatta&geocode=FUaG_f0dFiEBCSmB5NiXPacSazGZ6KbSmy_3yg%3BFbwW_P0dTjcACSn9JvysG6MSazGcSqFfmJJ2tg&ll=-33.763736,151.044846&spn=0.199792,0.291824&z=11&source=embed" style="color: blue; text-align: left;"><span style="color: red;">View Larger Map</span></a></small></span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">I had been a bit weary of the ride, as it's along Pennant Hills Rd. I had decided the best way to do it was with a test ride first. This presented problems as I would be riding to work at 5am, and home at 7:30 / 8 pm. Not the most convenient test times! </span><br />
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<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">So after some birthday celebrations the night before I told myself "suck it up Princess" and got up at 4:45 and rode to work and back. </span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c273/Schmenzz/bike.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c273/Schmenzz/bike.jpg" t$="true" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial;">I chose Pennant Hills Rd for the full distance as I thought it would be easier than the hillier back streets. The one thing I hadn't anticipated was the horrible road surface! There were GIANT cracks every meter for a good kilometer! Each "kathunk" killed my butt! And I was petrified of getting a flat as I don't really know how to change one yet!</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">The run to work wasn't too bad, pretty much all downhill, which meant coming home was going to hurt!</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="http://www.olwenanderson.com.au/images/newsletter%20images/j0427619.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://www.olwenanderson.com.au/images/newsletter%20images/j0427619.jpg" t$="true" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial;">A couple of shot bloks and a quick stop to take a pic, and I was off again back home. Thanks to those AMAZING Clif Shot Bloks the hills weren't too bad. "Just keep peddling, just keep pedalling" and slowly I made it up each hill.</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">I found my happy place on the hills. A slow but consistant pace on the easiest (still bloody hard!) and I'd get there eventually. I could do this comfortably in the saddle and use the "lift" from the pedals and rest my quads. Standing up killed my quads in about 30 seconds!</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">I got home just after sunrise, with time to have a shower and then go treat a patient before their Sunday morning sport! </span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">T</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">hats when the illness hit. All day all I could think about was going for another ride! I did my best to fight it, but by 5pm I gave in and went for a 10 min spin. Someone call a doctor!</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;"><em>Please help me reach my goal of $2500 to help Redkite help children with cancer and provide much needed support to their families.</em></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.everydayhero.com.au/emily_petherbridge" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.melon.com.au/clients/redkite/sites/all/themes/redkite/images/donate_now.gif" t$="true" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>Emily Petherbridgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02191931989141654998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7680509355518114044.post-25972426371707416602011-07-26T23:46:00.003+10:002011-07-27T08:08:45.647+10:00Training Session #1<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Sunday 24th July: West Head loop.</b></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Laura and I embarked on our first training session today. </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkJDNZC1gzrmBFZ7dZ-bCZ7Nr38xbXk4mIdUlK3rdGI0fHs7nMo9TCY9xzr0JQpeGhCN1r72g067QHN3nWFQymAN4yDn3OZLZj3l69HM1125-nBHubIs63VQFFtDY2XvuCydgnF_qYbXk/s1600/IMG_1161.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkJDNZC1gzrmBFZ7dZ-bCZ7Nr38xbXk4mIdUlK3rdGI0fHs7nMo9TCY9xzr0JQpeGhCN1r72g067QHN3nWFQymAN4yDn3OZLZj3l69HM1125-nBHubIs63VQFFtDY2XvuCydgnF_qYbXk/s400/IMG_1161.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We were joined by Andrew Vize who had just bought a road bike this week so he could join in on the fun. He will actually be volunteering during the race and it will be excellent to have him there to support us. This will be a bit of role-reversal as Laura usually "crews" for him during his ultramarathons. (I am sure she will be returning the favour when Andrew runs the Coast 2 Kosi a few weeks later. (This ultramarathon is essentially the same course, but they are even MORE unhinged, as they RUN it!) For more info on Andrew's crazy ultramarathon antics check out <a href="http://ultra168.wordpress.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">Ultra 168's website</span></a></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We met at West Head again. I like this road as the surface is fresh, and there aren't too many cars. It also has a good range of hills to keep you entertained, puffing, and cursing! Luckily the rain had just eased and then decided to stay away for the rest of the afternoon. </span><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><iframe frameborder="0" height="350" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://maps.google.com.au/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=mccarrs+creek+road&daddr=west+head+lookout&hl=en&geocode=Fb1V_v0dNvoDCSmrHcNKDVQNazGi_Rb3n3Qg4g%3BFSKh__0dwccECSGHahQWa0icEw&gl=au&mra=ltm&dirflg=w&sll=-33.61805,151.020813&sspn=0.688447,1.304626&ie=UTF8&ll=-33.620909,151.281052&spn=0.200124,0.291824&z=11&output=embed" width="425"></iframe></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There had been a lot of rain this week, which was evident by the amount of dirt, rocks and debris in the dips in the road. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Whilst hooning down the hill, at about 60km/hr, on skinny minnie, twitchy, flimsy road tires, rocks and debris are NOT your friend! But, luckily for me, I remained upright long enough to then have to pedal back up the hill. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We had been riding along quite happily when we turned a corner and there it was. "Hell hill" as I had affectionately named it! This was the hill that had beat me last week. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8lQND1EX2PpT7ysz1Chv4stm95wXoH-WHTg-5zJJIL5A0ogOD1djPQAXqZEq3J90rFpdAVKB9yyVRbhC-KueFXd0wIDZXg-04bTGkDKlKToAth5_qbWjaDu6Ejx79_7fkQ36ZiJlCprY/s1600/IMG_1150.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8lQND1EX2PpT7ysz1Chv4stm95wXoH-WHTg-5zJJIL5A0ogOD1djPQAXqZEq3J90rFpdAVKB9yyVRbhC-KueFXd0wIDZXg-04bTGkDKlKToAth5_qbWjaDu6Ejx79_7fkQ36ZiJlCprY/s320/IMG_1150.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The view from the top of "Hell hill". <br />
It looks small, but you can't see the steep bit<br />
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</tbody></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hills didn't seem too bad on my mountain bike as a kid. If you stopped progressing up the hill, you put your foot down. Easy! But now, with cleats, everything had changed. When you stop moving, there is a surge of fear that sweeps over you as you do the maths in your head. "I could keep pedalling, but if I lose momentum I have approximately 0.2 seconds to get my foot out of the pedal before my hip makes friends with the bitumen ... AGAIN! Do I keep pedalling and take the chance <i>*runs percentages of failure through head*</i> or do I hedge my bets and unclip and admit defeat?" </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I made it 1/2 way up the hill before admitting defeat, and spinning around and getting another run up to try again. This time I made it 3/4 of the way. Not bad. But still disappointed. So I sucked up my failure, unclipped and walked the rest of the way.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Try walking normally with these platforms<br />
stuck to the bottom of your shoes!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Walking in cleats must be one of the best calf muscle lengthening exercises. Because of the cleats on the base of your shoes,your toes sit higher than the heel of your foot. The result: the penguin waddle that I am sure you would have seen as the flocks of cyclists waddle their way to the coffee shops on a Saturday morning! The penguin waddle creates an excellent stretch to the calf muscles. The stretch is then increased even further when you add a steep hill to the mix! </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The reward for climbing up "hell hill" was the very fun ride down the hill to the lookout! The only problem was, as I was so excited riding down it, I was painfully aware that the only way out was back up the same hill. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwx9L-M3-eY6N4NanmLGwPzL7dgRZLQSatolD3q1Rk3S4chDjVLujJo8oRljo2W4ZpntmeWt9lF9dXLakS9j7TY6B1lZb31bPQ6-ddA08Y1VIkegdl3wCleWeNdJhdZjCXHoZFbhCdOXY/s1600/IMG_1152.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwx9L-M3-eY6N4NanmLGwPzL7dgRZLQSatolD3q1Rk3S4chDjVLujJo8oRljo2W4ZpntmeWt9lF9dXLakS9j7TY6B1lZb31bPQ6-ddA08Y1VIkegdl3wCleWeNdJhdZjCXHoZFbhCdOXY/s320/IMG_1152.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The view from West Head lookout. <br />
The recent rains had sent all the silt and tannins into the ocean.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2uNmplEVG1QJ9mkWyr0VgmrWJkNEOzQulKtGMaaKjd2NbafJhpBAhk9fhry9q7aTpi9rjnGYnnX6bFWMn1eatUpu4RiaRRoaFqjydzMFtkYSDuinFiTOMiITTqVm4C2uWamhBAmq8StY/s1600/IMG_1155.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2uNmplEVG1QJ9mkWyr0VgmrWJkNEOzQulKtGMaaKjd2NbafJhpBAhk9fhry9q7aTpi9rjnGYnnX6bFWMn1eatUpu4RiaRRoaFqjydzMFtkYSDuinFiTOMiITTqVm4C2uWamhBAmq8StY/s320/IMG_1155.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After several near misses (of the hip meeting the bitumen variety) Andrew came up with some new cycling terminology.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Barked<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">: What happens when you accidentally steer the bike off the shoulder of the road into the bark chips whilst still clipped in. </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">"You're barked!"</span></i></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Timber<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">: </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">Verb. T</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666;">he action of falling of the bike. Usually a consequence of being barked!</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I had come straight from work to todays ride, and had only had a small yoghurt for breakfast with no lunch. After riding for a while I was hurting! On the way back from the West Head lookout, (up another torturous hill) my legs started to tremble badly and the need to vomit ramped up in intensity dramatically!</span><br />
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<a href="http://velonews.competitor.com/files/archive/images/ClifBLOKS_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://velonews.competitor.com/files/archive/images/ClifBLOKS_1.jpg" width="320" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Luckily Laura had some nifty gels on her. These weren't the usual sachets of goop that most endurance athletes use. But little blocks, kind of like jelly lollies. 2 Clif Shot Bloks later and I kept pedalling. I didn't notice a huge change at first, but the vomitty urge disappeared and I could keep pedalling up the hills much happier than I had been all day. These Shot Bloks were gold. I think I am in love!</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I rode happily back to the car, and as the sun set we all went home. I was still a little hyperactive and bouncing around from the Shot Bloks much to the amusement of the people in cars around me! (Those of you that have been fortunate enough to have been in my car would understand this!)</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.baikbike.com/wp-content/uploads/backshorts.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://www.baikbike.com/wp-content/uploads/backshorts.jpg" width="224" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">No ones butt looks good in cycling shorts!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As an aside, why is it that whenever I am on my way home from riding I remember that I need to pick something up from Woolies? Walking around with shorts that look like they have a nappy in them is NOT attractive, no matter how good looking you are. I am sorry, but even Megan Gale would look horrid in a pair of these. I must remember to put a super long jumper or trakkies in the car for next time!</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Summary: </b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Distance: 25kms</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Duration: 1:45 mins</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Avg Speed 14km/h</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Max Speed 61km/h</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Fall Tally: 2</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">New Falls: 0</span><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><a href="http://maps.google.com.au/maps?f=d&source=embed&saddr=mccarrs+creek+road&daddr=west+head+lookout&hl=en&geocode=Fb1V_v0dNvoDCSmrHcNKDVQNazGi_Rb3n3Qg4g%3BFSKh__0dwccECSGHahQWa0icEw&gl=au&mra=ltm&dirflg=w&sll=-33.61805,151.020813&sspn=0.688447,1.304626&ie=UTF8&ll=-33.620909,151.281052&spn=0.200124,0.291824&z=11" style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">View Larger Map</span></a></span></div>Emily Petherbridgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02191931989141654998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7680509355518114044.post-31841405911908307502011-07-22T14:09:00.003+10:002011-07-28T14:08:21.965+10:00 <br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.redkite.org.au/sites/default/files/uploads/getinvolved/Redkite_Sea2Summit_Logo_WithStrap_Lgebannercropped.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://www.redkite.org.au/sites/default/files/uploads/getinvolved/Redkite_Sea2Summit_Logo_WithStrap_Lgebannercropped.jpg" t$="true" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">"</span><span style="font-size: large;">Arguably Australia's toughest </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">and most rewarding single day cycling event</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">"</span></span></td></tr>
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<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On November 19th 2011, sisters Laura and Emily will take part in the Sea 2 Summit cycling challenge to raise money for Redkite, who provide support to children with cancer and their families. They will ride their bikes from Merimbula Beach to the top of Mt Kosciusko. The ride is a total of 248kms and climbs 5500m of vertical. This ride</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> has been described as "Australia's toughest and most rewarding single day cycling event".</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Over the next 3 and a half months, they will be training and building up to the event. Laura has been cycling for a few years now and will help bring Emily up to speed as until 2 weeks ago, she had not ridden 1km on a road bike, let alone 248kms! But, in Emily's words "if you are going to do something insane, you might as well do something COMPLETELY insane!" </span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">You can stay up to date on their training progress by clicking on the tab above. </span><span style="font-family: Arial;">To be able to participate on the day, the girls must raise $2500 each. If you would like to make a donation, please click the button below. Every donation helps, no matter how big or small, and don't forget that every donation over $2 is tax deductable.</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.everydayhero.com.au/emily_petherbridge" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://www.melon.com.au/clients/redkite/sites/all/themes/redkite/images/donate_now.gif" t$="true" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Click above to donate to Emily Petherbridge</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.everydayhero.com.au/laura_vize" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="http://www.melon.com.au/clients/redkite/sites/all/themes/redkite/images/donate_now.gif" t$="true" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Click above to donate to Laura Vize</span></td></tr>
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<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">If you would like to sponsor the girls and have your business advertised on this site please contact Emily at <a href="mailto:emily.sea2summit@gmail.com"><span style="color: red;">emily.sea2summit@gmail.com</span></a></span> </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.redkite.org.au/sites/default/files/templates/200_600/kite.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://www.redkite.org.au/sites/default/files/templates/200_600/kite.png" t$="true" width="193" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Images courtesy of </span><a href="http://www.redkite.org.au/"><span style="color: red; font-size: x-small;">http://www.redkite.org.au</span></a></div>Emily Petherbridgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02191931989141654998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7680509355518114044.post-66346257321778627242011-07-19T23:52:00.024+10:002011-07-22T13:12:46.660+10:00"Hey Em, I've just had a crazy idea...."<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Last week I bought a bike. Not just your everyday run-of-the-mill bike you had as a kid, but actually a big kids bike. A real road bike.</b> </span></span><br />
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</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Having not ridden a bike since I was about 14, I was a little bit daunted to finally have a bike with the "rams horns" handlebars (officially known as "The drops"). Not being one to do things by halves, I went for it all, the rams horns, the skinny-minnie road tyres (which look about as stable as a hippo en-pointe) and the carbon fibre soled shoes with zero flex that locked into the pedals and made you walk like a penguin when off the bike... Thats if you manage to unclip your feet before the bike falls over, taking you with it! And just because nothing in bike-land makes any sense, they then go and call these clip-less pedals. No wonder it's all so confusing!</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="343" id="il_fi" src="http://www.giant-bicycles.com/_generated/_generated_au/bikes/models/images/550/2011/TCR%20Advanced%201W_2000px.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding-bottom: 8px; padding-right: 8px; padding-top: 8px;" width="550" /></td></tr>
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</div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My new child. A Giant TCR advanced W in an extra small. Now affectionally known as Roxy. (Thats short for the ridiculous oxymoron that is a Giant bike in an extra small). <span style="font-size: xx-small;">Image: www.giant-bicycles.com</span></span></span></div></td></tr>
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</div><div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So I picked Roxy up last Wednesday. Practiced clipping in (to the pedals) on Thursday, much to the entertainment of the local council workers on a break at the local park. Fall tally = 1. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The problem with clipping in, is that if your balance is off, just ever so slightly, and your foot is in that pedal... there is nothing you can do. Zilcho, nada, nothing. You are going down! Its a strange mix of slo-motion falling, with frantic thoughts of "unclip, unclip" yet there is a sense of calm, knowing that your efforts are futile, and also a sense of hilarity about the whole thing. There is a certain elegance to the way you fall over when clipped in. Its like a tree. Lopped at the base, you fall as one straight piece, right on over, still holding onto the handlebars and land with a "thud". </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">However, no real damage was done, and I clambered up, vowing to avoid doing that again as much as possible!</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Since I was still having trouble with the pedals, and hadn't actually ridden anywhere yet, I decided to wear normal shoes on my next attempt.</span></div><div><br />
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</div><div><b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Friday 15 July. </span></b></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I decided to meet up with a friend and actually try and ride this bike. The first things I noticed were:</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1. Riding a road bike on the bricks they make pavement out of, such as on Australia Ave at Homebush Bay, are not conducive to a stable riding experience.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2. Road bike saddles HURT! And that was discovered only 2 minutes into the ride!</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3. Normal leggings on a road bike are a disaster. a) Due to the aforementioned Number 2 and b) because you need to spend the whole time pulling them up. When you combine b) and number 1 together, your fall tally can very quickly escalate!</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Luckily, since I was wearing normal shoes, I did not fall today, which was good for my confidence. Unfortunately, due the severe lack of saddle comfort, I could not sit properly for the next 2 days.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div><b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sunday 17 July. </span></b></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My sister had offered to take me riding out at West Head. She had promised that it was relatively flat, and we could cruise around and I could learn to clip in and out without falling over like a lopped tree.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">She was right about it being relatively flat... when we were IN THE CAR! On the bike, that's another story. I was about to learn just how unfit I was. I knew I was unfit, as since I started working crazy hours I had been struggling to exercise, but geez, these were tiny hills I was struggling with. So after about 40 minutes of struggling up and down hills in the rain and fog, we called it a day.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Fall tally: 1 TOTAL: 2</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Damage count: torn grip tape, scratched shoes, left hip redecorated to a new shade of deep purple, palm of left hand accessorised with a handle bar imprint in the same shade as the left hip. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lesson learnt: Even if you unclip the pedal on the right, if the road is tilting to the left, the bike will tend to want to go that way. Either unclip on the left, or compensate accordingly. Failure to do so will result in an increase in the fall tally. TIMBERRRRRRRR!!!!</span></div><div><br />
</div><div><b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tuesday 19 July</span></b></div><div><b><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></b></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So that takes me to today.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Just a normal day when out of the blue I get a text from my sister. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Hi Em, I've just had a crazy idea. Redkite have a fundraising ride that goes from the coast to Kosi on the 19th November. You need to fundraise 2.5K but it's for kids with cancer and their families. It's fully supported and goes through Jindy and looks fab. Want to do it? Would give you something to train for. L"</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So I've heard of this route. My sister's husband had done the Coast to Kosi ultramarathon on a similiar route previously. (Yea I know, they're fitness junkies!) I'd heard all about it. It sounded hard. Actually, like Hell. 248kms of Hell. But being a skier since I could remember, there was something about riding from the beach, through Jindabyne, and up to the top of Mt Kosciusko that enticed me. And it was for kids with cancer. Who can say no to that?</span></div><div><br />
</div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So with zero fitness. Having actually ridden this road bike twice, for a total of about 2hrs, with an inability to make it up the slightest hill, I registered for the </span><a href="http://www.redkite.org.au/sea2summit2011"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sea 2 Summit 2011</span></a><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">.</span></span></div><div></div><div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.redkite.org.au/sea2summit2011" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="159" m$="true" src="http://www.redkite.org.au/sites/default/files/uploads/getinvolved/Redkite_Sea2Summit_Logo_WithStrap_Lgebannercropped.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It starts from the beach in Merimbula and finishes at the top of Mt Kosciusko 248kms later and 5500m vertical higher. (Oh, and did I mention there's a time limit?).</span><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe frameborder="0" height="350" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://maps.google.com.au/maps?hl=en&q=merimbula+to+mt+kosciusko&ie=UTF8&ll=-36.686041,149.111938&spn=1.541759,2.334595&z=8&output=embed" width="425"></iframe></div><div style="text-align: center;"><small><a href="http://maps.google.com.au/maps?hl=en&q=merimbula+to+mt+kosciusko&ie=UTF8&ll=-36.686041,149.111938&spn=1.541759,2.334595&z=8&source=embed" style="color: blue; text-align: left;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">View Larger Map</span></a></small></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So if 248kms wasn't bad enough, dont forget the 5500m of vertical!</span></div><br />
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<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The way I looked at it, I could do something impossible, but maybe attainable, like the Project Futures Cycle from Sydney to Canberra to help stop sex trafficking (a highly worthy cause which I will incorporate into my training if I can. Check it out here: </span><a href="http://www.projectfutures.com/cycles/2011cyclechallenge.php"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Project Futures Cycle Challenge 2011</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> )</span></div></div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Or, I could do something completely off this planet, and of epic proportions. So I went with "Go hard or go home" and "what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger".</span></div></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pulling this off will be one of the greatest achievements of my life thus far. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So now I have 3 and a half months to learn to ride a road bike, and learn to ride 248kms and 5500m of vertical. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><strong>Wish me luck!</strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Images courtesy of </span><a href="http://www.redkite.org.au/"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">www.redkite.org.au</span></a></span></div>Emily Petherbridgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02191931989141654998noreply@blogger.com1