Wasabi turns 3!

 Bit of a bike post today.  Its Wasabi's 3rd birthday!  boy have we done some kms! 15,148.l kms to be exact. 

 Ive gone up 1000's of metres in elevation.

 We've ridden to many cafes for many a good coffee and a laugh with friends.

 We did the 7 peaks together.

 Stopped to listen to the sounds of the bush.

 Been snowed on as we descended Lake Mountain

 Rode with my daughter when she came home for a visit

 Rode with my mamil and our friend while supporting them on their 3 peaks journey.

 Spent many hours with m mamil in the saddle, complaining, suffering, supporting, singing, laughing and getting fit.

I love my bike, she gives me freedom and the opportunity to get lost and find myself again.
Happy birthday my friend, I look forward to 1000's more kms

won a prize!

 So I won a fabulous prize from the wonderful jodie of ricrac!

 I need to make something now!

 lots of detours in my life locally! All temporary and will eventually give us better roads to drive and ride on safely.

 Its Autumn now... soon the leg warmers will be pulled out from my drawers... Im wearing arm warmers and my vest has been out a few times now... long gloves will be making their appearance soon too.

 My hubby bought me a new phone as I was driving him nuts with my old phone not working properly.  The camera alone on this is superb.  I had a little photo shoot with this little poser.

I find myself on solo rides more often of late but I still stop for a coffee and to sit and reflect on my mornings adventure.  I hope all of your adventures are successful and fun.  Tomorrow Im off down along beach road where its pretty flat in comparison to my local rides... this one wont be a solo ride so im sure it will be full of laughs and of course coffee.

Trip to Perth and new projects

 Introducing Bear!  he is the froglets puppy, he is a dachshund x boarder collie.  I kid you not!  Hes gorgeous and very cheeky.  I went to Perth where her man is currently posted to see where they are living and catch up with her, I managed to find 3 bike shops, 3 patchwork shops and a few good coffees.

 I hired a bike for 5 hours and got a nice 60km ride with Doris (you gotta name your bike!) We rode up and around the river, found a great coffee  of course.  The weather was amazing while I was there, didn't put the winter woolies on at all.

 I came home to slightly cooler conditions and had a few rides in the fog!  Its actually very peaceful when its foggy, but you have to be more cautious and we always have our lights on regardless of time of day or the conditions.

 My legs got a little dewy on this ride.  Like my socks?  they are called disco... and yes I wear odd socks :)

 On a quilting/stitching note, I have finished my bike stitchery, need to put it in something now....
So my next stitchery is this one..... I actually have enlarged it as it was a little tiny for me... I will turn this into a cushion.

 This is called cactus rose.  Its paper piecing of the extreme hahahha. I haven't done any paper piecing but one of my cycling buddies has, so she is going to torture me with this.  I guess its fair payback as I take her out for 'challenging' rides... shes getting stronger and fitter!

This isn't my quilt, I have bought some lovely fossil ferns in Perth and supplemented them with some other fabrics... I will take pictures for the next post.. promise.

tram tracks

Today's post is brought to you by the letters T and W.

 Today's valuable lesson was in how to fall gracefully off ones road bike on tram tracks.  Yes Road bike wheels fit into tram tracks very nicely.

these aren't my actual wheels (wishful thinking there!) But they give you an idea of my wheels

 

 This is however an actual picture of my elbow that took the brunt of my fall today.  could have been much worse, my bestie who fell a few weeks ago is still nursing a sore arm, but is riding with me still. (waiting for someone to tell us that perhaps we shouldn't ride together any more lol)

So here is my garmin... shows you the time I started, how long we rode for and the distance. Was a nice ride and we missed most of the heat (36 degrees here today)

So the quilt for the boyfriend continues... strips are being sewn together, and four patches are now ready to have the next part sewn to them.

S

 I'm really pleased with the colours and pattern, I hope that he will appreciate the quilt, I usually only make them for those that I hold close to me and that will understand the time and love that has gone into them....

Have you ever given a handmade gift to someone and realised that they have no idea how much time and effort can go into something specially made?

I survived

I survived!!!

what an amazing day. I rode 73km in 4 hours. I killed off 3141kcal.... gotta love that!

I think I drank 6 litres of water.

We left just after 9am from Geelong and set off at a nice steady pace, we had people overtaking us left right and centre.... but we just plodded along at our pace which was around 20-25kph depending on the hills etc.

My poor buddy really felt the heat and was done in about 10-12km from the finish line. We had an angel appear with a jug of iced water from her house that we were sitting outside in the shade that helped us continue on our way... it only took about 20mins and the water was hot.

I phoned her hubby to come and pick us up in the car..... she decided that she felt better and we started to ride again.... got a call from him to ask us where we were.... then we saw him.... on his bike!! omg, I think my buddy wanted to murder him. BUT she finished the ride, we stopped for another break and devoured lemonade icypoles then rolled into the finish line.

It was bloody hot!

the question is would I do it again??? YES I would do it tomorrow! Was a challenging ride without being ridiculous but the temperature.... no I wouldn't ride in 40 degrees if I have a choice.

Thank you to team coffee for participating in this event with me, makes eventing so much more enjoyable with friends

maiden voyage

Well I took the beast for her maiden journey.

I went to the gym and did a step combo class then did an RPM class (stationery bike) and then when I got home I discovered that my appointment with the osteopath wasn't until 4.30pm so I quickly got changed and jumped on the bike.

WOWZER!!! awesome ride and I only went whizzing around the back blocks... I did wheelies around the roundabout several times and if the neighbours were watching they would have been wondering what the hell I was doing.



When I got home I took the opportunity to take the photo of the beast resting... this brings a quilting theme to my post

shiny new road bike

After thinking about buying a road bike for the past 4 years I finally got one!!

I'm so excited... I remember how excited I was when I bought my new hybrid. I am still going to ride my hybrid as my bestie wont be able to keep up with me! She has already asked the bike shop to fill my frame with lead to weight me down.


I got a text message from her lat night saying that she is going to call me the roadrunner and signed off as the coyote.... now I'm a bit worried as the coyote would always try and catch the roadrunner using Acme gadgets, the coyote was never successful but my friend is a little smarter than the original coyote and has already told me that when I get a puncture on our triathlons she will ride by and wave to me, so nasty!!!


in comparison to my seat on my hybrid this one isn't the most hoo har friendly either.... going to have to build up new muscles for this one!!


The fisherman was a little horrified when he saw my shiny new bike in the front room corridor, I told him it was no different to his rods and reels being inside the house! (no sense of humour). I might have to put it in our bed and see what he does!!

can I do it again??!!

WOW!!!!
Oh my goodness, what an amazing day.
I cant believe that the big day has come and gone.

My team and I conquered the westgate bridge twice in a day. Now it said 50km BUT they lied!!!! This is my friend and I at the start, Im wearing the red top!

We did 55km and it took Georgina and I 3hr 10min riding time. We also rode back to the car from Alexandria gardens so did a total of 60km riding.
The day started out with a promise of showers and 16 degrees. We did have a few little showers but nothing to write home about, and the temp in someways was pretty good as we did get very hot riding up the bridge.

There were bikes everywhere and people stretching in strange positions where ever they could find a plot of grass that wasnt muddy.
We are now plotting our next riding experience and are hoping to do the 80km next year, but with luck we might find another ride between these.
Essentials for the day... coffee! we are team coffee after all!

My trusty steed did me proud and she rode like a dream. My big fat seat saved my bum from getting extreme soreness... Im feeling the effects of the ride but havent stiffened up to the point of not being able to walk.