challenge accepted and achieved!

 Yesterday was the whittlesea challenge.  The start was challenging, it was pouring with rain from the moment I got there to pick up my number.... It was dark and gloomy and many people were sitting in their cars considering their options to ride or go and get breakfast in a warm cafe. There was a few cars turning around for the soft option.

 But my friends and I decided it wasn't an option to not take the challenge head on and give it a crack.  I was delighted to find my bestie at the start line to wish me luck and wave me off.
We rode from Whittlesea up to Flowerdale in the rain, up the hills.......

Then at flowerdale the rain stopped! By then I was sodden and had a squelchy butt, but so was all the other lunatics cyclists who had decided to ride.

After Flowerdale we headed up to Strath Creek.  There is a long climb and all of a sudden... WHAM!
you hit the really nasty bit.  There is a short climb with a hairpin bend that you have to do a standing climb or you will fall off (some did).  Then as you ride further up you can look down to your left and see the road you just climbed up below you... as pictured below!

 Here is one of the girls nearly at the top of the climb... I'm a few riders behind her.. looking like an ant poo.

 Once we conquered that hill I relaxed and enjoyed the rest of the ride to Broadford.  The sun came out for a short time and we all dried out but it was still a cold gloomy day. There was some awesome descents and I managed to get a top speed of 54km on one of them but my timing chip decided to slip down and went flying off into the bush, I had to stop to fetch it as the organisers would charge me for loosing it!

 After Broadford we hit a horrid headwind which kept us company all the way back to Whittlesea, it wasn't nice and not at all welcome.  The girls formed a pelaton of 5 and we kept each other smiling or groaning by singing songs and mimicking the local wildlife (large dogs).

 I kept my head down and powered my way up the hills.  Just when we thought we had finished with the climbing it just seemed to go on and on.

 One of the girls had to jump in to our own personal sag wagon as she had hit the wall, but considering she was only going to do the short course of 68km with only one hill I think she did a damn fine job.

the final 10kms were really hard, I thought at one point my nether regions were on fire but the saddle I have been testing survived a very rigorous testing and I will be purchasing one this week.  I had left the girls behind me and was riding with one of the boys who kept pace with me up Strath creek so I was happy to have some company for the final kms.

So at the end of the day I rode 108km (they always rip me off a few kms!) in 5 hours.  Today I woke up with some sore muscles in the glutes and hammies but did 40mins on the treadmill and some long stretches and tonight I'm feeling much better.

I couldn't have done it alone and without the support of my friends and family (who think I'm insane lol) Will I do it again?  Most likely!

How do I get sucked into these things?!

oh my lordy me.... what have I done this time!!

I have signed up with the group I ride with to do the whittlesea challenge next Sunday morning.... all 110km.

The distance isn't the issue here. Its the hills.... the big huge climb up the yea road right at the start... a nice 8% climb for 1.32km then it drops to a 5.4% for 2.4km then we reach the top and get a breather with a nice long downhill stretch for 4km 

It will be a pretty ride through Hazeldene and then Flowerdale until we reach Strathcreek for an 8.4% for 4km  this I have been told is like a spiral up to hell.  I have done last year Arthur's Seat climb which I just checked out and find its an 8% climb for 3km  so I have been very close to this already... I wish I hadn't checked that cause I just remembered how hard it got.... gulp. OMG I just saw tucked in the profile a 10% climb at the end.... end my life now......

There is a steady climb up towards Broadford with a few little peaks (after the earlier ones these are nothing!) and down into Whittlesea.

Tomorrow morning is a training ride up Humevale which is only a 3% gradient but its 7km long.

On a sewing note, I am doing some bullion grub roses on little singlets for the girls BBJ coach who had a little girl a few weeks ago to go with a lovely little crochet hat that a friend made for me to give to her.

Its the one at the front!  the ears have pipe cleaners in them so you can bend them... cant wait to see it on her!

Isnt today about me?

 

Today my friends from the gym and I didn't lie in bed and get pampered for mothers day.  No we joined 40,000 other mums and their families to help raise money for Breast Cancer.  We have a friend at the gym who is currently undergoing treatment and her wonderful daughter in law set up Team Lynne.

 My partner in crime decided that we would run the 4km first together as Lynne was a runner when she was well.  This was our special tribute to her.  It was a very emotional event as you can imagine.

 We ran at 8.15am then met all our friends for 9.30am for the 4km walk.  In the time between us reaching the start line and returning the crowd had tripled but the atmosphere was great.  All the kids that joined us mums in our group paired off and had a great time.

 The noisy one on the right was overjoyed to see her friend joining us and they surged ahead in the crowd.. our t shirt that we had designed looked fabulous and made it so easy to see each other.  Lynne loves turtles and the colour green, look on the loop of the L and you will see a little turtle... and on the front of our t shirt is a bigger turtle.

 The crowd seemed to go on forever.

 The kids had lined up on the bollards and I was lucky to grab a snap shot.

On Friday night I went to a ladies night at my local bike shop, our team leader is a talented lady and made these lovely cupcakes with little choccy bikes!

I also received from my girls a pair of toe thingys... yes they are called that, they are covers that slip over my shoes to help keep me toasty warm on these cooling days when I'm cruising on my beast.

bike riding

Last Sunday I rode 74km, was a lovely day to ride.  
Then on Thursday I rode 72km, it was ANZAC day and before we left we stood and had a minutes silence in memory of those who fought for our country.  We had our Less We Forget bands on our bikes for the duration of the ride.

The route we took was challenging, we rode up through Arthur's Creek and around the back up to Kinglake... there is a hill called Mad dog (or something like that) and you have to be mad to ride a bike up there.  Then I got told there was more....  8km of pure climbing.

Here's the profile, as you can see it just goes up and up... and up.  of course what goes up must come down!

I clocked 62km, what a massive rush!  Instead of sitting on the hard shoulder which isn't a bike lane but a nasty skinny lumpy piece of rubble I came out on the road itself... what a difference!  I shot past my bestie which put a massive grin on my face and I think I startled her!

Next time I will come out onto the road earlier.. make sure you aren't in a car behind me! I have one more saddle to test out before I make my decision...

some cooking and sewing

 the noisy one is doing junior bakers at school this semester... I was treated to a Delicious Monte Carlo for my afternoon tea today. was bloody good too!

 Last night she decided at 9pm to make choc chip cookies for her friends at school, I managed to snag one before she packed them into brown paper bags and hide them in her school bag.

 I decided I would try and be all arty farty and stacked them up for a photo...

 She also made hazelnut choc muffins with a chocolate ganache icing... my work colleagues thought they were Divine.... I must say she is pretty good in the kitchen with baking goodies, specially chocolate stuff.

 Today is my besties birthday. I bought her a yoga mat as the ones at the gym are rather yukky, I got her a mat with cherry blossom design and I got myself one with koi carp (they were on special after all!!)

 So then I had a brainwave, I needed to make a bag for us to cart them into class.  I found some lovely fabric that another friend had made for me a while ago.  Then I decided that the bag will be a little neat so needed some slippery fabric to line it with.... I was very thrifty!  I popped into savers and found exactly what I needed for a whole 99c  then I decided to find cord or ribbon, nothing in savers but a few doors up is one of those cheapo Asian shops and I scored a reel of ribbon for $2  and the best thing was the lining and the ribbon matched well!

There was a flour explosion in my kitchen.....

weekend stuff

 One of my friends at the gym has been diagnosed with breast cancer, she would run every day to the gym.  Her daughter in law created a team for her for the mothers day classic.  My partner in crime and I are going to run 4 km for Lynne... I'm not a runner but I will do it for her.  Then we will join all our friends from the gym and our little girls and walk 4km for her.
We are getting T-shirts organised and the gym is going to do a fund raiser for breast cancer with a mega class.  I am blessed to be part of a wonderful bunch of women (and men!) who rally together when times are tough.

 The noisy one made garlic rice (was bit more like risotto in the end) and had BBQ chicken to go with it.  was quite nice, she needs to make a few more things, zucchini slice is next, she keeps pulling a face but I think she will be surprised.

 Tomorrow is club championships.... 4 hours plus poolside, timekeeping, running around with timing sheets, marshaling kids and conning parents into coming onto the committee for the new year!

I also managed to ride just under 100km on Thursday and Friday morning with my friends, we did a new route with a couple of nice hills (yes I hear you laughing or choking).  I scored myself 2 QOM's... now I have you all wondering!!  Queen of the Mountain.  When you ride the fastest up a hill you get the title of KOM or QOM... its what many riders strive for... yes I do have a competitive streak in me.  OH  the saddle testing is going well, I have tried 2 similar saddles both are so much better than the above one.

 Milly loves to garden with me, today I picked up the secateurs and she went bananas!  I butchered the climbing rose as the rose hips were dragging it to the ground... she was tossing them in the air.. loon!

And Mr Cookie???  well.... the little b$#(@(#ered  escaped last night from the house at about 11pm  I was sick with worry as he is a house cat and has very little outside experience.  He returned at 3 freaking AM!  I was able to sleep.  He was exhausted by his adventure and I hope he hasn't acquired a taste for travel.

adrenalin rush

 The noisy one has to do some baking for school and take photos so she made banana bread...

 then a custard teacake... was rather tasty!  She needs to make some savoury stuff too, hope its on a work day so I don't have to cook dinner!

 The adrenalin rush today was brought to you  by the Victorian BJJ championships.....

 The froglet competed in her weight division and scored herself a Silver medal.... she was so disappointed with herself for loosing the gold but she knows what she needs to do next time.  I'm proud of her regardless of her placing and I said later you will be less disappointed in your loss and proud of your win.

 The noisy one had a 15th birthday and has been banging on for the past 2 years about getting a onesy.... these are her feet.

Mr Cookie Cat happened to get in the way of the camera and got snapped.... hes a handsome man.