Mr. Cleetus: Training & Travelling

[Mr. Cleetus]

Thanks guys. I think I am just having some head issues about being under-prepared both in fitness and equipment. Various things seem to be going wrong at the moment - but mostly I think it is just work stress messing with my head! blah blah blah, I'll get over it. I just need a swift kick

Work is still being pretty silly. I had to miss my rides on both Thursday and Friday so I could get things done. bah.

Thursday:
Friday: Off both days, but not on purpose! grrrrrrr

probably needed it anyway.

Saturday am 6hr mtb 3x40 min climb: wow. That was one of the hardest rides I have done in a very long time. We did it with one of the countries better mtb'ers. It was 1hr20 to the base of the climb - and we werent messing around - it was a bit too hard really. The climb is 40 mins (for me) of relentless hard climbing; really its the best climb around. No break and on the edge of the seat the entire time. I was completely cooked on the third... I was done. Then we had to get home. Far out. Mr Speedy went to the front - after the first 2km it is entirely flat - and we (he) averaged over 40kph for the ride home. This was generally into a light southerly and on a mtb after nearly 5 hours of riding. ON AN MTB! INTO THE WIND! He is crazy. I am just pleased that I was able to hang on. He is an amazing rider. I can believe he could do that after all the hard riding we had already done.

Sunday 1hr single track: It was supposed to be longer but I lost all of the air out of the valve on my rear tire (tubeless). I can't figure out what is going on. Maybe the rim strip is bugga'd but I can't see it. I could have put a tube in, but I figured that was enough for the day. I was pleased to see my recovery was pretty ok after Saturdays ride, but no need to over do it. I just need to make sure I recover a bit from the last few weeks now. I will have to be extra careful due to the work stress.

Monday off

I broke my old fizik arione wing & twin flex saddle a few weeks ago. I really am a fan of the twinflex but it seems I cannot get one from NZ and didnt want to risk ordering from overseas in case it took an extra couple of weeks to get here, as some times happens. So I went for a Kurve, which seemed like an interesting idea. Wow, that is a hard seat! I think that maybe it is a clever idea, but I am not fully convinced yet. I guess I will know soon!

Aerobars are pretty ideal for the Brevet. I would use them, but I just can't get comfy with them with my position on the Gryphon. A lot of people use them for those types of events. Here is a nice shot of them in action early on Saturday. This was before I was completely shattered, even if I was sucking wheel

[bob_summers]

haha so I guess he was soft pedalling the climbs while everyone else suffered, so he had enough in the tank to pull all the way home! I hate people who can do that! That's a bastard of a ride though, what're the surfaces like?

Seems like the Kurves are finding their fans, will be interesting to see how you get on with it. I was considering one, as both my Toupes are 7yrs old or so, and no longer flex too well. But Kurves are double the price of what I was looking at, the Spesh Romin....

[Mr. Cleetus]

Yeah, the Kurves are insanely priced here too. The only reason I have one is that I am treated very well by my bike shop....

The flat on they way out was the surface you see in the photo (which is surprisingly fast) - on the way back we jumped on the asphalt. The climb is loose gravel and rock; it's pretty rough, but not technical, with a few spots were I struggle to keep things upright. They have improved it hugely in the last year. I had been hoping to find the limits of the Ravens, and I did! Unfortunately it was on the high speed loose gravel and not on a nice soft single track like I had envisioned.

Hah, he was completely smashing us up the climbs, so we can't use that as an excuse!

Here are some pics from some previous rides up it:

[Alistar]

Quite a privilege in one sense. Name doesn't start with a B does it? Those guys are just ridiculously strong though and I always wonder how it is physically possible to be able to keep pushing the pedals as hard as they do without seemingly getting tired...But then I never really try to keep up with them

Looks like a great track up.

[Mr. Cleetus]

Hmm, no B in his name... trying to figure out who you mean.

Took my wheel in on Tuesday to sort out why I was having problems with the rim strip. Got that sorted, but oops, pretty much every other eyelet on my rear wheel was cracked! Picked up a new build with a Velocity Blunt SL today... Looks better than the Delgado Crosses did anyway. I seem to be hemorrhaging money on that bike at the moment!

sooooo,

Tuesday: off, stuck at work too late

Wednesday pm 1hr30 road ride with 24km TT: Phoooo, TTing is just not going well. Conditions were better than the last two weeks, so I was 40s faster than last week, but my watts were only up a little bit. Not what I was hoping for! At least I am over 40kmh, but I am 90s down on where I would usually be if going well.

Thursday pm 2hr single track: I went out with a group on their fun bikes. Me with my two racks and drop bars. Needless to say, I did some of the more technical riding I have done in a while, and I certainly found the limits of me and the Ravens! dry and smooth, ok! dry and gravelly and rutty, err, not so good. I only ended up in the bushes once, and then I started taking it easy

[Mr. Cleetus]

Friday off

Saturday 3hrs30 mtb fully loaded, road and single track, lotsa hills: woooo I forgot how heavy the bike gets! I've got more weight on the front end than I've had before, but it wasn't too bad after a little while. I've gotta be careful with over-steering on tight single track though. I kept it upright for once!

[Mr. Cleetus]

Sunday 3hr loaded mtb road & single track: I think I've got most of my setup finally sorted. Still some details to arrange though. My hamstrings were killing me at the beginning of the ride, but by the end I was feeling pretty comfy (but with some backache). I purposefully picked two tough climbs to see how they would go loaded: one on the road and one single track. The road was a good reminder of what sustained climbing loaded can feel like. I was quite pleased how easily I did the single track - it is a stretch I usually just barely clean when not riding loaded. It's a very steep climb with some ledges. I didn't think I would make it, but it was no problem. I guess normally my pace is quite hard up it, so I am on the limit already when I hit the hard bitsh, but I was taking it easy when possible this time.

Here's what my setup is looking like. This is at the top of the road climb, which starts just about 2km from my front door. I can get about 2.2L in the bladder that is in the frame bag. That is probably enough for most days, but I will likely need to carry some on my back at least once. Hopefully I can do most of the ride with little weight on my back - just a mostly empty pack.


It seems all of my pics are from very open space, but most of my riding is actually not! I just never seem to get pics from the bush, so here is one from today. You should have seen me ride up the stairs I am surprised the weight of my bike didnt take the bridge out. It is sooooo heavy.

[bob_summers]

Seems a tidy set up. Very smart to have the bladder in the frame. What kinda distance are you looking at between water points? Coz you could just bungee a 1.5l bottle to the front or rear rack rather than have it on your back? Although I suppose it means stopping to decant it.

[Alistar]

Oh well, not long now eh Mr C! Hopefully the weather will settle down a bit for you on your trip.

Yeah setup looks great. Good to see you remembered not to forget a nice space for your big comfy sleeping bag on the back

[Alistar]

Hey best of luck for the brevet Mr C! Hope it all goes well and you have a great time. Good luck with the weather Gods too btw. Will be checking out your progress with interest.

[fredrikw]

Good luck!

[Mr. Cleetus]

Thanks guys! I'm off to catch the ferry in a few minutes! Nor' easter tomorrow?! Nooooo way, that'd be awesome! I won't count on it coming true.

[bob_summers]

GOOOOOOO!!!!!!

hey where's the tracker this year? anyone know?

[Alistar]

Yep here it is

http://trackleaders.com/kiwibrevet

Mr C's been storming it. Top 8 to Hanmer yesterday and making great progress today Go Mr C

[bob_summers]

hey he's not too far from your house Al!
I think I remember that Oliver guy from last year.