Internal battle

After a few days of getting up early to train I was beginning to feel the effects and was struggling to rise with the alarm each morning. Despite this, I was determined to take advantage of a day off work and get some hours in the saddle. Then my alarm went off...

For a few hours during the night it had been raining which also meant that the temperature had dropped. This is the worst possible conditions for getting out of bed early to train. 

Several things went through my mind as I had an internal battle with myself about getting up...

The roads are wet and I will have to clean my bike afterwards but I have to get up to train. 
It's so warm and cosy in bed but I have plenty of cycling kit to keep me warm while riding. I just have to get up. 
It's wet out and I'm certain no one else is going to show up for the ride but I told people I would meet them and they could be there. 
I have the day off so I could just sleep in and ride later but I have other stuff I need to do later. 
I have a race coming up so I need to train but it's been a long time since I had breakfast with my wife. 
If I wait and ride later the roads will dry up and I won't have to clean my bike but the sky looks pretty grey and it could rain even heavier later. 
I've been getting up early for so many days and I need to get some rest but I have a race this weekend and I need to train. 
I'll ride further tomorrow to make up for the km's that I missed today but I shouldn't try to make up for missed sessions. 

With all of these reasons flying around in my head, I pressed snooze so that I had time to comprehend them all. After careful consideration, my alarm went off again...

I turned it off, rolled over and went back to sleep. Battle lost. 

Guilt trip

During dinner last night, my wife gave me some advice. Well, she didn't call it advice but that's how I took it.

She said that she had 'stumbled' across a blog during the day that was written by another cyclist. In his most recent post, he wrote about the things he attributed his success to... Hard work, training, early wake-ups, coaches etc etc etc. But despite all of these things, none of them were the major reason that he had made it so far. In fact, the one thing that he had thanked the most for contributing to his success was his wife.

WHY? Well, his wife had to endure years of early rises, missing out on breakfast with him. Lonely weekends while her husband was out training and $$$ being spent on cycling equipment instead of on other more important things. Weeks home alone while he travelled for races and numerous other selfless sacrifices she endured.

I googled to try to find this blog. I found nothing. Did I just not type in the right words to search for or is my wife trying to point something out to me??? Maybe I should dedicate a blog post to her. If only I could find this other blog for plagiarism... I mean inspiration.

In all seriousness, I can understand exactly what this guy is saying. I know that my wife has had put up with my crap for a long time and doesn't complain about it (much). I feel guilty when I go away for races. Not because she is at home by herself, but because I am fortunate enough to see things that I know she would kill to see. In fact, when I call her or get home and tell her about my trip, I often leave out a lot of details so that she doesn't feel bad about missing out on things. Or is it so I don't feel bad???

Reality check

Usually, after a long day of cycling, I'm able to go home and relax and recover. With fewer work commitments, I was able to train harder, longer and better. However, now that I am home, it's back to work and back to reality. 

After being able to rest during the day for so long, my body has to again get used to standing on my feet all day. And it is destroying me! My legs are more tired after a day of work than s long day on the bike. So much so, that I have resorted to wearing compression socks at work to avoid my feet and ankles swelling. 

Along with going back to work, I now have to change my training times. Instead of heading out for a ride at a comfortable time of 10am, I have reverted back to waking up at 5am to squeeze in 4hrs before work. I haven't had to pit a light on my bike fir 8 months but now I leave home in the dark and in the cold. 

Needless to say, the first few days have been a massive struggle to wake up in the morning and I have slept in twice. As I write this, I am looking at the time and calculating how much sleep I am going to get before I have to get up to ride. 

Home again

If you were away from home for 8 months, what would be the first thing you do when you get home? Unpack? Watch some English television? Eat your favorite foods that you have been missing? Well, this morning, 7hrs after I landed in Australia, I went for a ride. 

It was a surreal feeling doing a ride that I haven't done for so long and to be honest, not much has changed. However, there are some things that I noticed that appeared a little odd to me after being away. Here are a few...

For starters, everyone is driving on the wrong side of the road. When did that happen?! After riding and driving on the right hand side fir so long, it has become the norm. I find myself looking into cars and freaking out because there is no one is in what I think is the driver's seat. Despite this, there also appears to be less traffic on the roads. Maybe it's because I've just come from the craziness that is China, but the roads feel 'quieter'.

Before I left, due to the floods, many roads were damaged and repairs had begun to rectify this. 8 months on, and some of those road works are still going. Ahhhh, Australian efficiency. 

The mobile Internet in Australia is so SLOW. It takes twice as long to download a web page and is likely to drop out half way through. In fact, in my new abode (which my lovely wife worked hard to have ready for when I arrived) it seems that one reliable phone company can't even provide ADSL Internet to the location. Considering it's only 5km from the centre of the city, it's a bit ridiculous. 

Australia has, by far, a long long way, the best coffee. (Excluding Wild Bean Cafes and McCafe) Forget what people say about coffee in Europe, it's got nothing on an Australian brew. Ask for a cappuccino in Europe and you will generally get hot milk at around a billion degrees with 10cm of froth on top. 

The biggest difference that I noticed when I went for a ride here is that I have to wear a helmet. I got about 50m down the road before I remembered it. I can no longer have the wind in my hair when I'm riding around. Not even on the bike path. Not even when I go to the shop to get milk. I can't go back. 

Pimp my ride

Here is Asia, for most people, having a car is a luxury and pretty much not a necessity. With several modes of public transport and trains that come literally every 2 mins, it is easy to get around. 

A lot of people choose the bicycle to get from A to B, so there are an amazing amount of different types of folding bikes and smaller bikes that are able to go on the trains. 

In order to personalize their ride, a lot of people will add features like glowing neon rim lights, rainbow colored bits and pieces and in some circumstances, even a stereo! You can ride up behind someone on the bike path and music will be coming from their bike. Yesterday we found a good example of a bike tricked out with a stereo...

Not only was there a car battery and two big kenwood speakers... There was a 3600 watt amplifier strapped to the back for extra bass!!! 

I wonder if he had iPod connectivity??

Big day out

After completing the Tour of China, we were keen to have sone rest and recreation so Simon suggested that we take a trip to the theme park, 'Ocean Park' in Hong Kong. Deon and I thought it would be great to hit some water slides and go for a swim akin to Wet n Wild back home. 

So this morning we packed our towels and sunscreen and set out in boardies and thongs to meet Simon. On our arrival, we discovered that 'Ocean Park' is only a name and the theme park had absolutely no swimming. It was more like Seaworld with more rides rather than a water park. The name was quite misleading. As a result, Deon and I were in fir a long uncomfortable day. 

Ocean Park had a huge amount of things to do. Rides, exhibits, aquariums and animal enclosures, games and restaurants. To accommodate all of these activities, the theme park took up a huge amount of land. So much land that a cable car connected the two major sections of the park. 

This would not have caused us any problems except for the fact that Ocean Park is totally on the side of a mountain!!! There was no flat section and after 7hrs of walking, our legs were trashed. The distinct lack of support that thongs provide proved to be harsh on our feet as we searched fir more activities that involved sitting. 

Despite this, it was a fantastic day. Highlights include seeing a real panda, sloth and toucan, riding the Abyss tower ride, the jelly fish show, and getting very nauseous after riding the 'Flash' and 'Space Wheel'.   

Gift bearer

It's been almost 8 months since I was back home in Australia and almost 8 weeks since I've seen my wife. Needless to say, I'm keen to get back. I left Europe a couple of weeks ago to begin my return trip and since then, I have been carting around 50kg of luggage.

This has caused several problems for me especially when booking flights. I need to check who has the most luggage allowance and be sure that I am not going to pay a small fortune in excess baggage fees. For example, Qantas charges AUD$20 for every kilogram overweight which means I may as well buy another ticket and strap my bike to the seat next to me.

Despite this weight issue, it's not my biggest problem. After being overseas for so long, family and friends are expecting me to bring home a plethora of gifts and souvenirs but I literally cannot fit anything else in. I have already had to leave clothes and shoes behind just to make space. At the airport, I have to walk through security like the Michelin man with 5 layers of clothing on to make it look like I don't have as much stuff in my bags.

I hate to disappoint, but I won't be bringing a bag of goodies home with me. Maybe I'll be able to just tell everyone stories and entertain them with a slideshow night of all the pictures I took with my iPhone? Surely, that will be enough?

Confidence

I used to be confident at riding down mountains. I could take blind corners without touching my brakes leaning over further than moto GP bike. But ever since my crash at the Tour of Korea I have lost my nerve.

At the Tour of China we have two mountain stages. Both have a climb of over 10km before a long descent to the finish. I wasn't too worried about them except for the fact that it has been pouring rain for almost the whole week.

Maybe it's because I'm riding on tires that are 2.3cm wide. Maybe it's because those tyres have no grip and are pumped up to a rock hard 120psi. Or maybe it's because my brakes don't work when mixed with water. Whatever it is, I cannot take corners confidently in the wet.

Yesterday was the last mountain stage and it had a 35km descent to the finish. Leading up to the climb was a narrow winding road and in the wet, slippery conditions, I shuffled further back with every corner.

On the climb itself, I was alone and as I reached the top there was a thick fog that allowed me to see barely 30m in front of myself. This made the first part of the descent extremely difficult as there were hairpin turns and cliff edge drop-offs. I rode with my brakes on pretty much the whole time.

Once the fog cleared, I picked up some speed but still slowed down so much on the corners. This cost me some time and at the end of the stage it seems I was not the only one. There were huge time gaps through out the peleton with small groups forming everywhere.

Maybe I just respect my life too much?

Over eating

I never thought I'd say this but... I'm tired of eating.

In a multi-day race you trash your body day after day so refueling before and after each stage is vital. Normally, at home, I'd barely eat breakfast before riding but on tours you seat down to a buffet breakfast of pasta. After each stage you are dehydrated so you spend the next 12hrs drinking as much fluid as you can or the next day your legs are tired, sore and won't do what you want them to.

It's often said that during tours you are not eating for that day but for the next few days. If dinner comes around and you are not hungry so you don't eat much, you will suffer in the following days. So even if you don't want to eat, you have to force yourself to because you won't get another chance.

With one stage remaining and a rest day today, I'm not hungry. I just want to sleep in. I don't want a plate of pasta or rice for breakfast and I would kill for a good coffee.

Big questions

Before traveling to Asia, I thought about the big questions like, do Chinese people have tattoos of English words, is sweet and sour pork a real Chinese dish, and do Chinese supermarkets have a section dedicated to western foods?

In my time in china, I am yet to see anyone with a English word for a tattoo. Whilst Australians walk around with Chinese symbols saying 'wisdom' or 'peace', it seems that it doesn't happen the other way around.

I have had sweet and sour pork once in China. Despite the number of restaurants that I have been to, the dish is not as common as we make it out to be and it doesn't taste the same either.

As for the last question, last night I found the equivalent of the 'Asian foods' section in a Chinese supermarket. It had breakfast cereal, chocolate, pasta, coffee, peanut butter and a number of other western foods. The name of section was simply, 'Come from Europe'.