2009 has been a great start for the training so far – but being back at work means that it’s harder and harder to find the time to get out. Still, I’m happy with the rides that I’ve managed so far.  This week it’s my time to moan about the weather – it’s monsoon season and although the weather has been warm and dry, the wind that brings the rains in have been adding that extra ‘spice’ this week!   

Here’s what I have managed to achieve since Jan 1:-

Fri 1^st Jan 09            Joyriders Fri ride                     51km        2.01hrs  28kmh

Sat 2nd Jan 09         Joyriders Changi                      86km        3.02hrs  28kmh

Sun 3rd Jan 09         Joyriders Kranji                        75km        2.25hrs  31kmh

Wed 7^th  Jan 09        Joyriders Wed ride                   51km        1.49hrs  28kmh

Fri 9th  Jan 09          Joyriders Fri ride                      51km        1.52hrs  27kmh

Sat 10th  Jan 09       Joyriders Changi                      85km        2.48hrs  30kmh

Sun 11th  Jan 09       Joyriders Kranji                       74km        2.28hrs  30kmh

Wed 14^th Jan 09        Joyriders Wed ride                   51km        1.50hrs  28kmh

I am conscious that I need to get some longer distance rides under my belt, in order to prepare for our summer event at 200km a day, so was pleased to see some dates published for the remainder of the year by ANZA cycling club, (the Australia New Zealand Association) for some Audax rides (a style of long distance cycling event mostly popular in France) and plan to do as many of these as possible before July.

The original form of the audax style involves riding in strict group formation at a steady pace set by a road captain. The group attempts to maintain a pace of 22.5km/h between stops. The route is pre-planned with designated stopping points. For longer audax events the group may ride between 16 and 20 hours in a day before stopping at a designated sleeping location. The goal of the audax is to finish inside the prescribed time limit with all members of the group present. A support vehicle is allowed to follow each group of riders.

Events planned here include rides from Singapore into Malaysia and back to Singapore, all single day rides. February 28th 200km, March 28th 300km, April 18^th 400km (wow!), May 16^th 200km, June 13th 300km  and July 11th 200km.

I have also signed up for the Joyriders Feb trip to watch the Tour De Langkawi Pro event in Malaysia which will also allow us the opportunity to climb Fraser Hill and the fearsome Genting which is supposed to be one of the toughest climbs in pro cycling – bring it on!!

Not to be outdone by my UK buddies I have also taken up Yoga (much to the amusement of everyone at work and at Joyriders).  My long suffering wife Alison and some neighbour friends of ours decided, over probably too many bottles of wine during the Christmas break, to join as a group.

We elected for Hot Yoga (Bikram Yoga) – apparently the secret to Andy Murray’s recent leap up the Tennis world rankings!  Each class comprises of a gruelling hour and a half session of the most fierce stretches imaginable and all at 40 deg C, sauna heat.  You sweat buckets but feel great after the class – and even better after a pint or two of Tiger beer to cool you down afterwards!  We have both enrolled on a 3mth open pass and whilst Alison is going every day (!) I have also managed a reasonable 3 classes a week.

All the best

Chris

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 14th, 2009 at 3:59 am by chrism and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.