Early Bird

I got up this morning to void...a clinical term for evacuating yellowish fluid into the gray toilet bowl in the grim hours of the wee morning...and prayed silently that it was still early enough for another hour, better yet, two, of sleep. No such luck. It was 4:15 and I had to be up at 4:40 at the latest to meet A at 5 at the top of the hill.

I waddled over to the window, unlatched the window. Brooding blue gray sky. No rain. We missed the bunch, but had a nice ride at a sedate pace. I'm still moeg after the Argus and acclimatising back to 1.5km above sea level.

After the ride - about 35km - we went to gym. Saw LA there, and H. Did some hardcore core and wow...saw some core exercises that I have never seen before that a super-tough.
Weight was 84.38kg (pre-Argus it was 84.3kg).

Think I will swim tomorrow and do Northcliff on Sunday.

Homer's Scream

Driving up Glenhove road this morning (the busy section just ofter you cross the M1) and heading up to Rosebank, I'm listening to 94.7 and it's about a guy who has suffered massive trauma in a car accident. Even Jerry Mansfield is moved to tears. While he was in a coma his wife died, and his poor children, the eldest just 12, had to deal with their mother's death on their own, going to her funeral whilst their father fought for his life. The dad survived, and while listening to this a white bakkie tried to overtake me. Yup, on Glenhove road in peak hour traffic, and I'm going uphill at 70km/h.

At the Oxford road intersection the bakkie pulls up on my left, so I lower my window. I ask the fella if he's listening to the 94.7 and amazingly he says 'Yes,' and smiles. Seems like a nice friendly oke. I tell him that he's just tried to overtake me on a helluva busy road whilst listening to a guy who punctured his lung and God knows what, lost his wife in a car accident that has permanently devastated his whole family - is it worth it? Is it worth the risk? Because - I tell him - even if you did overtake me, you would still have ended up waiting at this traffic light. Then the traffic light went green and off we went again.

Meanwhile, this morning my corpse rose from the dead at 4:30am for a cycle. I had a dream recently that I was in a car accident, and it's been in the back of my mind, I guess, to be extra vigilant. This morning was misty, and we missed the bunch, so rode hard to try to catch up to them. At one point we reached an intersection, the light just went green for traffic crossing as we approached, and Alex seemed to get the message from the car hovering there that he could go through. I was behind Alex, so I was alert to the fact that it was a bit more iffy for me. So I followed him through, and as I did, another car came around the side of the waiting car at the last moment. I swung out wide but JEEPERS I felt like I'd been drawn into a computer game sting...and a million vaults went through my body.

Today's stats:
Time - 1:38:54
HR: 148/172
Distance: 46km
Average speed: 27.9 (coming down the dip in the last 250m of the ride, going at high speed, a car approached it's driveway...another near miss)
Maximum speed: 77km/h
Temp: 15 min/24 max
Ascent: 525
Kcal: 1570

Ja, I've been playing an awesome computer game which must be good for survival skills and reflexes, but going to bed at 2am and last night after midnight and then getting up at 4:30am...
I feel myself falling asleep - I can hear Homer's yelpy scream every time I do ;-)

Rain On My Parade

All week I have not cycled, citing possible rain. Thus I left it to this morning to say, heck, I'm going out for a ride. What happens? It doesn't rain all week, then the buckets come down today. The last half hour felt like a computer game called: Cycle In The Rain Between Traffic And Avoid Being Killed.

Otherwise it was a nice ride. Had a funny lighthearted chat with a Hungarian chick. We went at a chatty sedate pace, the idea being to have breakfast in Rosebank. On the way to work I saw a rider coming down Glenhove, obviously having joined the other riders for brekkies. But I didn't see myself sitting in soggy cycling clothes, warm up a bit, and then have to ride into the rain again.

This morning was tough because of a chronic lack of sleep. Went to a pub in Bryanston, Tanz or something, to watch Allan play a gig. Was good; also good seeing some familiar faces. Not sure if it is the weird drink-in-a-drink someone bought me before I left, but I have a nasty headache, a sort of prickly pain in my head. This morning I felt like I slept on a slab of rock. Shoulders and neck really hurts. Might be a fluey response, not necessarily a hangover. Or else I sleptwalk into a boxing ring at 2am last night and just don't remember. BBBHHHurrp!

Chatted to someone last night who commented on the the pics of girls I sometimes put on my blog. She said it was 'objectifying' women. I plead guilty. I feel like I am constantly pining for someone, and having someone you care about always far away doesn't help. I suppose my excuse is that I am decorating my pages. I see it as eye candy, but I suppose one could argue it's not as innocent as that. But I'd rather put desirable woman on this site occasionally, rather than desirable lingerie, or desirable automobiles, or Steer's Burger specials.

Tonight I am going on my ownsome to watch The Golden Compass. I'd like to be heading in the right direction from there into the weekend. My Lord - head is throbbing. 3 hours sleep. And with this cozy weather all I want to do iszzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...

Cycle stats today
Time 1:33
HR ave: 127 (167 nmax)
Kcal:1167
Temp: 13/23
Speed avg: 24.4km/h

This Is Me Praying For Rain

For entirely selfish reasons I have been praying for rain. This usually lasts about 5 minutes at around 4:30am. Failure to rain means I have to get on my bike and bust my butt for two hours. We went out again this morning for 50km, and I must say, though the sky was gray and woollen the air was smooth, and cool and soft. Lovely temperature to ride. My vrot legs are also starting to recover, though once home I still find myself glaring at my boep, which seems invincible to copious amounts of exercise.

Today's stats:
Time: 1:51
HR ave: 130/ 164 max
Kcal: 1410
Ascent: 520m
Temperature: 16 (max 21)
Average speed: 27.5km/hDistance: 49.6km

Below are the Heart Rate graphs for the past two days. Brown is altitude, blue speed, and red is heart rate.

Dribs and Drabs

I'm lucky to be alive and in one piece. At the end of this morning's ride I was about to turn into African road, and as I did I heard a car moaning. This sound alone saved me. The car was far off so I started a turning, wider than it would have been. Just then a BMW shot into view, coming to a stop - I shit you not - about 3 metres over the Stop Street Line: in other words, exactly where I would have been.

So as I cruised down the hill I had a hypothetical flashback of me being hit full on, then flying through the air and hitting the neighboring wall across the street with a meaty thump. Bike would have been useless fragments, and my right leg would probably be a meat lasagna.

On the positive side, a piece I wrote quite some time ago will appear in the Lifestyle section of this Sunday's Sunday Times. That will be a nice little something to add to my slowly growing portfolio.

Grim Reminder

Yesterday there were 5 cash-in-transit heists in Gauteng - yes, in a single day. On Friday night I encountered a large number of cops in an Engen Quick Shop. I asked one of them, a policewomen: "Are you winning?"
She repplied ominously: "Don't ask, especially not now, with the festive season coming up."
I nodded and said softly: "Well, good luck."
On the same day I received a hysterical phone call from my landlady, saying she was stranded on the 'motorway' and could I help her. I was at work and didn't really know what to do. She said she didn't have insurance. She said she was 'terrified' as cars were whizzing by, she was in the right lane... Anyway, that got resolved by and large.
But these snippets of information remind me that life can change, and change drastically, at any moment.

Movie Zeitgeist

I've heard that the movie 'The 11th Hour' is not worth going to see. I'm going to go anyway, simply to support the Zeitgeist. Although I expect An Inconvenient Truth II I also hope to stretch my knowledge and perceptions around what I believe to be a vastly under-emphasised issue: Climate Change. I believe we are seeing the effects more and more. The fire at the Durban refinery was caused by lightning they say, and it's not the first event, but the second in a short period of time.

Ode to 94.7

One of the highlights, believe it or not, of the 94.7 was listening to soothing music on that radio station during the drive home, with the aircon on, and the hard job of the day done. 94.7 is a GREAT radio station. It's also one of my favorite things in Joburg. I've heard other people saying the same thing. It's just a damn enjoyable station, and it really seems to connect you to the vibe, to the place, to the people.

Today's training:
Time: 1:24
HR ave: 135/164 max
KCal: 1107
Ascent: 390m
Temp: 17 min/19 max
Average speed: 27.7km/hDistance: 36.5km

I went with the fast bunch and struggled, since my legs had had the crap beaten out of them for almost 4 days in a row. Alex came back for me a few times and gave me a few pushes, but near the end my legs were really finished. The fact that my heart rate went as high as 164 on wasted legs gives an idea how hard I pushed it again (I also hit 164 in the 94.7, up some very hard climbs). I can't get it higher if my legs are gone. Tomorrow ought to be easier.

I'm very encouraged by my friend's Alex cycling performance, but overall he reminds me that consistent effort, hard work essentially, will be rewarded. In work, in training, in love, in life. I used to believe that very strongly. Possibly I went to the other extreme, but I'm making my way back. In work, in training, in love, in life.

MORE!

With the amount of exercise I’m doing now, I feel a bit like Agent Smith battling the apparently beatable but seeming-to-be invulnerable Neo. In the Matrix metaphor ‘being heavy’ is played by Neo, and in my case ‘HEAVINESS’ is the great enemy of cycling. Despite extreme sleep deprivation and some mammoth efforts, Neo continues to fight back. Weight insists on 85kg, no less. This being the case, like Agent Smith, I can only grit my teeth and insist: MORE! More of me getting around. More training, more time on the bike, even more strict dietary enforcements, less coffee, more fruit, less sandwiches, more salads.

HR ave: 132 (164 max)
Distance: 40.5km
Time: 1hr30
Kcal: 1222
Speed ave: 28.8km/h
Temp: 15/18/28 (can't believe that last stat is right!)
It was a windy ride this morning, blustery, with two buffets (making actual physical contact with another rider whilst riding), and two punctures. Alex was one of the guys who punctured. He was saying earlier in the ride that they had their office end of year function at Gold reef City last night. He says it was like a street party, very festive, nice atmosphere.

My landlady also had a sort of candlelit dinner in the garden. I tried to have a snooze whilst garden chatter drifted over the balcony into the loft. So anyway, while the guys were fixing their flats, I had a chance to check my cell phone for my seeding. Seems I’m in C, Helmut’s (a rival) in D. Alex says he expects Helmut to beat me by 10 minutes. My hat, we’ll have to see about that, but I won’t be riding with my Zipps so I’ll be feeling the full effect of the climbs, which may be a good thing.

Think after the 94.7 I can start riding on Thursdays, when the guys do the great monster: Northcliff Hill.

On the topic of more, I also need more of the following:
Hair
Knives and forks
Wine glasses
Bottles of wine
Wine opener
Working DVC
Nights out
Fruit
Milk
Sex
Sleep............Uh...Did I mention sleep? MORE!

Top of the Morning (TRAINING)

This morning's 4 hours of sleep was a damn sight better than yesterday's 1. The reward for getting up was a beautiful, clear morning. And strong legs. I managed the climb up Jan Smuts - with a lot of huffing and puffing - but stayed in touch. This is with the A bunch. Er...a round of applause please.

Thank you.

On downhills I rocket past the guys, without pedalling, which means I am like a human cannonball: HEAVY. Thus the power to weight ratio right now remains a very WEIGHTY issue. I weigh about 85/86kg right now; that's ariound 5kg more than Alex. In bicycling terms, that's like riding with a baby elephant on your shoulders. The momentum works savagely against me on the climbs. But, I'm getting there. I swam las tnight, and am basically exercising each day to get the fat rolls rolling over. It takes time.

Here are today's stats:

Notice the monster climb at about 40 minutes. Average heart rate is also high: 141.

Total distance: 51km
Total time: 1:55
Average speed: 28.2km/h.
Kcal: 1665
Ascent: 565
Temperature: 13/15/18