Our Asian Holiday – Day 4

Posted on September 7, 2013March 12, 2015 by Chad Dobbs

Day 4: Our final morning in Cambodia was spent wandering the street markets for a new travel bag for Carly. While packing her well-used suitcase the seam tore apart and with an hour until our driver arrived to take us to the airport, we went on a mission.

Luckily for us she found a bag that would accommodate her increasing number of clothes and soon we were on our way to the airport and on a plane bound for Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

As we descended, the size of HCMC was astounding. It’s a huge city with an even bigger urban sprawl; life looked busy from our vantage point in the sky. Unfortunately for us we were about to spend the next hour and a half sitting at passport control waiting to have our visas issued. The paperwork was completed and submitted; we just had to sit and wait while a single person processed multiple plane loads of passengers wanting to enter Vietnam. Eventually we passed immigration and met our clearly pissed off driver who then proceeded to drive at break neck speed through the ridiculously hectic HCMC traffic.

Within an hour we arrived at our hotel and soon set off for a look around the nearby markets. Luckily for us we were inside the market pavilion when the heavens unleashed an almighty monsoonal storm.

Braving the downpour, we ran across the road and tucked into a fantastic dinner of Phõ followed by a tour of the downtown night markets. All in all our first night in Vietnam was a good one.

Our Asian Holiday – Day 2 to Day 3

Posted on September 5, 2013March 12, 2015 by Chad Dobbs

Day 2: We woke up to a sunny morning in Phnom Penh and enjoyed a lazy breakfast on the top of our hotel overlooking the Mekong River. Our guide and driver arrived and took us to the airport for our flight to Siem Reap. Our flight was a quick 45min leg where our new guide Con and his driver were waiting.

We checked into our new hotel, The City River Hotel, just a few blocks away from downtown Siem Reap. A quick lunch in the hotel restaurant and we were off for a tour of the famous Angkor Wat temple.

We drove through Siem Reap and to the Angkor Wat tourist centre where our photos were taken and visitor ID’s issued. A quick 10min down the road and some history lessons from Con, we arrived at Angkor Wat with the thousands of other tourists; mostly Chinese and Vietnamese. In the land of Cambodia this whitey is a rare and much taller animal.

It is really a huge temple at Angkor Wat, the scale is only surpassed by the detail that is on every piece of stone and wall.

We left Angkor Wat for another temple at Pnom Bakheng built on top of a large hill overlooking the Siem Reap province. We were allocated an hour to scale the hill and climb the steep stairs to the top of the temple before enjoying the sun setting over the Great Lake. We made the steep climb in little over 15mins with no heavy breathing or excess sweating; unlike the other tourists in their terrible footwear and heavy clothing.

The top of the temple itself was ridiculously hot and after watching dozens of Chinese tourists climb all over an ancient temple and throw up peace sign selfies, we left for our dinner and dance show in Siem Reap.

The dinner was an Asian style buffet with some Western foods thrown in to appease the people not keen on trying something different. During the meal we watched an Asara dance that was pretty impressive and then headed back to our hotel for an early night.

Day 3: We went for a quick stroll around the markets near our hotel after a light Asian breakfast. The markets were bustling with vendors and I picked up a cheap cap for my journeys.

Our guide and driver picked us up and we headed out to Angkor Wat once again. This time we toured the South Gate of Angkor Thom and Preah Khan.

Later we headed off into the jungle to look a few smaller, less preserved temples. These temples were a lot quieter than the main area at Angkor Wat. I can only assume that due to the extra walking required certain groups just cut them from their itinerary. For both Carly and I it was a more enjoyable experience seeing the temples and ruins that the jungle had taken back.

In the afternoon we spent some time in and out of the balcony pool at the hotel drinking beers and enjoying the sun. As a huge storm started to roll in with retired to our room for a siesta before heading out to the night markets, pub street and a nice dinner.

Our Asian Holiday – Day 0 to Day 1

Posted on September 4, 2013September 21, 2013 by Chad Dobbs

What a whirlwind the past few days has been for Carly and I. The Wedding went off without a hitch and was a huge day and night for not only us but for our family and friends. Carly spent the morning getting ready with her Bridesmaids, family and the Twin flower girls. I spent the morning drinking coffee, wandering around Elwood before finally spending some time with my Groomsmen, Mark and Evan by watching Robocop.
.:Meredith O’Shea is the most amazing photographer ever! Just do what she says!:.

Day 1: We flew out from Melbourne just after midnight on Tuesday morning and flew to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The flight itself was fairly painless and we both managed to get a few hours sleep before landing in Kuala Lumpur. The next 3 hours were spent wandering the airport checking out the duty free shopping before we spotted a Starbucks and leeched off their free Internet until our next flight.

We arrived in Phnom Penh just after 10am on Tuesday morning, 13 hours after we departed Melbourne. Sweet Baby Jesus it was hot!!! I like the cold, thus why I like Canberra; so needless to say arriving to 37’C with 10’000% humidity was a shock to the system. We paid for our visas, passed quickly through immigration and customs and were soon sitting in an air-conditioned car with our driver and guide for the day.

Our first stop for the day was the Killing Fields of Choenung Ek. In high school I did a fair bit of study on the recent history of Cambodia; in particular the Khmer Rouge regime. Although I have seen a lot of terrible and horrific things first hand over the past decade it is still quite sobering to experience something so huge that it has restructured a nation’s identity. The Cambodian people don’t shy away from discussing the days under Pol Pot’s genocidal rule; they embrace that this terrible chapter in their recent history has changed them forever and they strive to overcome the challenges of the past.

Our next destination was the Ohana Hotel across the road from the Mekong River. We checked in and grabbed a quick lunch before a quick walk through the nearby markets.

Our driver and guide picked us up a couple of hours later and we drove to the Royal Palace for a quick tour of the amazing gardens and buildings. Our guide Sam At was full of knowledge about his country, King and recent history. Sometimes he would even ask questions to see if we were paying attention.

For our final tour of the day we headed to the National Museum for a quick look around at the thousands of statues of Buddhism and Hinduism that Cambodia has amassed over the past several centuries. To be honest we were fairly statued out; but it was still a good opportunity to see how Cambodia has adapted yet kept its national identity after so many years of upheaval.

We spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying a quick siesta before heading out for a walk on the banks of the Mekong River, a stroll through the markets and quiet dinner near our hotel.

Training Week In Review – Week 11

Posted on September 1, 2013March 11, 2015 by Chad Dobbs

A good training regime is broken down into many parts. It’s not just the riding and strengthening of muscles that gets you fit; there’s nutrition, hydration, rest, and mental preparedness.

I try to find a balance with all of these things and pay particular attention to my nutrition; I am usually pretty disciplined with my meals and race preparation. Anyone that has sat down and ate with me will know I eat a lot. The average person consumes around 8’000kj daily; including approximately 300g of carbohydrates. When I’m riding a lot I can consume more than double that amount; and if I’m including gym work at least 3 days a week I can sometimes triple the daily averages. This is a good and bad thing. I’m getting the fuel my body needs; but I’m also speeding up my already fast metabolism. Because of this it’s very difficult for me to gain weight so I sit anywhere between 74-77kg.

Lately I’ve been eating a lot and not riding as much hoping this would help me put on some weight. Having overcome a fairly serious muscle tear in my chest; I’ve started light weights again with the aim of building more upper body strength. So far it’s working as my left shoulder/chest/neck feels really good after ditching the chest brace I’ve been wearing for the past 4 months.

This last week was a testing week more than anything else. As I’m about to spend almost a month off the bike and out of training I didn’t want to smash myself into the ground. Instead I spent the few days I had on the bike testing out a new nutrition/hydration mix and enjoying the brilliant Canberra weather.

At the JetBlack WSMTB 12hr, fellow Bermer Adam told me about his beverage mix of choice; Perpetuem. We have similar sporting backgrounds in endurance running and cycling and have very similar body and fitness types. I often get cramps when I ride long distances and increasing electrolytes doesn’t really help me. After doing some research I discovered that while my hydration was pretty spot on, my nutrition was way out. Ordinarily over an endurance race you rely on caffeinated energy gels and sugar snacks to keep you going. Some people eat bananas, but considering I’m somewhat allergic to potassium; explosive diarrhoea and vomiting while riding makes bananas are a no-go.

I trialled Perpetuem over two different rides earlier this week. All of the CORC XC races are short-course races where I’ll ride at maximum intensity anywhere between 10-20km. This quickly saps my energy levels and I get very few opportunities to drink. So on Monday I went for a short spin of Bruce Ridge where I rode short stints at maximum effort and tried the new bidon full of Perpetuem. The drink itself is a milky, fuller mixture and is quite filling. It’s more like a meal replacement drink without the dairy feel to it, however there was no after taste and I felt hydrated. It passed the test for short-course.

On Tuesday I went for a longer endurance ride of Mt Stromlo. 52km of medium to high intensity riding on a beautiful sunny Canberra day. It was a perfect opportunity to test out my hydration/nutrition for endurance rides. While I was struggling a bit in my last few kilometres I was pretty happy with the plan I came up with and will certainly put it into effect during my next enduro; the Scott 25 Hour at Mt Stromlo.

.:A perfect Canberra day at Mt Stromlo:.

Wednesday was a difficult day to get back on the bike after the previous day’s ride. My legs were tender and my lower back was a little tight. But I headed out for an easy loop of Kowen Forest/Sparrow Hill. Once I was weaving around the pine trees I started to push out. All was going well until I hit Rolling Thunder and decided a good old fashioned Strava run was in order. The track was surprisingly loose and I took a corner a little too fast. Cue some heavy rear braking and then some sideways action and I was looking at tree coming towards me at speed. All I could think of was “save the carbon bike” so I did my best Neo impersonation and put my hand out in defiance. I hit the tree with my hand and ended up on the ground; body and bike intact. It was at this point that I decided to end both my day and week on the bike. With only a few days until my Wedding and a heart-racing close call already I thought it best not to tempt fate with any more time in the saddle.

.:Don’t blink:.

Battle Of The Beasts – Update #4

Posted on August 26, 2013May 19, 2014 by Chad Dobbs

It’s been a fairly hectic month since my last Battle Of The Beasts update. I have spent plenty of time in the saddle training, managed a short trip to the snow at Perisher and managed to squeeze in a few cross-country races in and out of Canberra.

.:CORC XC Round 4 at Mt Stromlo (if you look closely you can see my mullet):.

The highlight for this past month has been the opportunity to travel to Dargle Farm for the JetBlack WSMTB 12 Hour with some of The Berm riders and Pedal4Pierce co-founder Nigel Jeffreys.

.:Soldier On at the JetBlack WSMTB Dargle Farm 12 Hour:.

Even though I DNF’d during my first 12 hour mountain bike race due to illness, I had the honour of representing Soldier On at a huge mountain biking event. There were a lot of questions from other riders, the event organisers and the Flow Magazine guys about Soldier On and why I ride for and fund-raise for them.

I’m also very excited to announce that the guys from Beast-Worx, the organisers of the Battle Of The Beasts; have invited me to compete in their next venture: The Call Of The Beast. The Call Of The Beast is Canberra’s/ACT’s first adventure obstacle race. I’m very excited to be a part of this and incredibly grateful that they are willing to support me in my fundraising for Soldier On. The Beast-Worx crew are staunch supporters of all Australian Veterans and Soldier On.

My training for the Battle Of The Beasts has been going well despite a bout of illness and a week of nil motivation to train. In the lead up to my Wedding I’ve decreased the amount of riding I have been doing but will increase the tempo dramatically in the weeks after and leading up to The Beast.

PLEASE SUPPORT THOSE THAT SUPPORT YOU
.:MY DONATION PAGE:.

The Call Of The Beast

Posted on August 25, 2013May 19, 2014 by Chad Dobbs

I’m very excited to announce that the crew from BEAST-WORX, the organisers of the Battle Of The Beasts, have invited me to compete in their next venture: THE CALL OF THE BEAST.

BEAST-WORX are unbelievable supporters of SOLDIER ON & all Australian veterans, which is why they run their adventure races. They have partnered with SOLDIER ON to bring you the best mountain biking/obstacle course/adventure races in Australia to raise money and awareness for SOLDIER ON.

The CALL OF THE BEAST is an obstacle course like no other. It is not for shirtless posers taking selfies covered in mud at the end of leisurely stroll with 4’000 other wannabes! This is an event that will test you physically, mentally and make you earn crossing that finish line!!

I’m extremely proud to announce that not only am I competing in the Battle Of The Beasts mountain bike festival in October I will be competing in the Call Of The Beast on November 30; racing for and raising money for SOLDIER ON!

PLEASE SUPPORT THOSE THAT SUPPORT YOU

.:MY DONATION PAGE:.

Training Week In Review – Week 10

Posted on August 25, 2013March 11, 2015 by Chad Dobbs

For the first time in a long time I entered a new week of riding and training without feeling any pressure. I ended last week on a high after relaxing and just enjoying my time on the bike.

So on Monday morning when I woke up feeling a bit tight and sore in my hamstrings I opted out of commuting to work and rested. On Tuesday I took Kate the XTC into work and rode home via a loop of Bruce Ridge to start my week of riding. I rode a total of 43.6km in what felt like freezing temperatures but was in fact a balmy 4’C.

I took Sara the roadie into work on Wednesday morning and did a quick lap of Lake Burley Griffin with the intention of doing a bigger ride in the afternoon. Unfortunately my beloved Giant Defy had other ideas and I ended up with a busted derailleur and had to abandon any further road rides. I am yet to fix this bike and with more time to spend on the MTB before the Battle Of The Beasts, I doubt she’ll get another ride in the next couple of months.

Thursday and Friday were literally washouts for riding in Canberra. I had no intention of riding in the wind and rain so opted for some time in front of the TV honing my XBox skills. Saturday was a ride-free day due to the Girly flying out of town and my vote to ride having been vetoed.

Sunday kicked off with my regular ride at Bruce Ridge with The Berm crew followed by breakfast at Edgar’s Inn. I haven’t ridden Zooey the Giant Anthem off-road since I bought Kate the XTC a few months ago. I have been riding her to work quite often but this was her first time on dirt in a long time. It took me 10km to get used to her not-so-tight cornering, non-carbon weight, dual suspension and longer wheel base.

I was heading out to Mt Stromlo mid morning for a short spin and with some time to spare I went home and swapped Zooey out for Kate. I was glad I did as I met up with Bermers Roger and Alyssa and followed them around one of the Scott 24 Hour loops. After finishing my ride with 14.2km under the wheels I packed up my bike and gear and went home with a total of 92.4km for the week.

.:Kate at Mt Stromlo:.

Training Week In Review – Week 9

Posted on August 19, 2013March 12, 2015 by Chad Dobbs

Last week I rode a disappointing 86.9km after being sick all week and chalking up a DNF at the JetBlack WSMTB 12hr at Dargle Farm.

As I have written earlier, I lacked the motivation and will to get back on the bike for a big week of riding after a week of being sick and under-performing at a race I felt confident going into. Week 9 was a week where life and procrastination got in the way of my riding.

My first ride of the week was at Bruce Ridge on Wednesday afternoon. A short 11.1km to test out my new tubeless setup on Kate the XTC. The new tyres felt good and looked good on my Crank Brothers wheels.

On Friday I braved a cold and foggy Mt Stromlo morning for a ride with MTB newbie John. 12.8km later I was back in my heated car on the way to work. In the afternoon I headed back to Bruce Ridge for a short 13.1km ride for what felt like a very ordinary and non-fun ride. I wanted to ride on Saturday but didn’t want to push it too much.

On Sunday I headed out to Bruce Ridge for my regular Sunday Morning and Social and Breakfast ride. A sneaky pre-ride loop followed by the group ride and I had added 15.7km to the week’s total. This coupled with a very enjoyable 24.6km at Mt Stromlo after breakfast and I had reached 77.4km for the week.

After a week of not having the motivation to ride, I ended the week on a high and the desire to spend more time in the saddle before I have a few weeks break for my Honeymoon.

Life Is Flow And Cycling Is Life

Posted on August 18, 2013 by Chad Dobbs

Earlier in the week I published a post focusing on my lack of motivation to ride and inability to find my Flow. After some words of advice from a few Bermers I decided to head out a little earlier for my regular Sunday Morning Social and Breakfast ride at Bruce Ridge. With a half an hour before the others were due to arrive I headed out for a quick dawn lap of the winding singletrack.

Up until this ride I had ridden a total of 37km for the week; a far cry from the 253.6km I had I ridden the week leading up to Sunday a fortnight before. My escape from the world, my outlet; the thing I use to control my anxiety and depression was no longer working for me. Missing your Flow is like losing your mojo, your zen, your happy place. I don’t ride for the hell of it; I ride because I enjoy it and I find it challenging. Mountain biking is a sport you can constantly improve at; you will never reach your peak in any form of cycling as long as you adapt and change.

I had reached a plateau at the start of the year with my training and racing. I needed new challenges. Enter longer endurance races such as the 100km Capital Punishment and Mont 24 Hour; and short course cross country racing in the CORC XC Series. I pushed myself further and got fitter and more confident because of it. I ended up injuring myself during one of the CORC XC races and was suddenly off the bike for several weeks. However I didn’t let this stop me; from the moment I was healthy enough to ride again I started a recovery training regime that got me back riding confidently again and improved my fitness.

Sensing that I was beginning to reach my fitness and riding plateau once again I took the huge step of reinventing my riding style. As I was about to embark on a fitness training regime for preparation for this years Battle Of The Beasts I knew if I didn’t change something big I would lose fitness and motivation. Something as simple as buying a new mountain bike was enough to help me break through the mental and physical barriers I was starting to build into my riding.

After riding over 1’700km on my trusty Giant Anthem X 29er Zooey I bought a new Giant XTC Composite 29er that I named Kate. The simple act of paying a lot of money for a carbon hardtail was enough to motivate me to increase my riding time and as result better my race and training results.

Which brings me to my missing Flow. After bonking massively due to illness at the JetBlack WSMTB 12hr and recording a DNF I couldn’t find the motivation to get back on the bike. Partly due to still feeling sick, but mostly feeling like a failure; I struggled to find that balance between riding and enjoyment.

When you are off you can come off. It’s as simple as that. You don’t corner as cleanly, you don’t commit to obstacles with confidence and most importantly you don’t enjoy the time you spend in the saddle.

So this morning I headed off for a quick solo lap of Bruce Ridge and felt something I hadn’t felt during this week; I was enjoying riding. I hadn’t yet clicked into that Zen mentality but I was close. My lines were better, my cornering cleaner and I was enjoying tackling the obstacles on the singletrack.

As a group we did a short 10km loop of Bruce Ridge and I relished the opportunity to stay with the faster riders and push out a little bit more than I usually would for a Sunday morning social ride. I even did something I very rarely do; I did a few jumps. I’m a fan of sensible riding after, well lets be honest.. eating shit at Mt Stromlo showing off and not sticking a jump and tearing my pectoral muscle. I had finally let go of trying to find my riding mojo. As the very wise Argo said during the week “you don’t find the flow…the flow finds you“.

The Flow hadn’t yet found me; but it was stalking me from behind on the singletrack ready to pounce onto my bike.

After our regular after ride breakfast at Edgar’s Inn, I headed out for Mt Stromlo for a quick ride. When I was getting ready in the carpark I had a quick chat with one of my favourite Bermers, Kris. For a downhill convert she seemed very happy to be going for a cross country ride and considering the sunny day, the smiling riders coming down the mountain and the fact Mt Stromlo is one of the best mountain biking Mecca’s in the world; I too was happy even before I got in the saddle.

I headed off for a warm up loop before tackling the climbs up the mountain. At the beginning of my warm up I ran into good friend John and went for a relaxed spin with him as he cooled down after already conquering the switchbacks, climbs and rewarding downhill. Soon I headed out for my main ride and quickly found I was going fast without really trying.

The switchbacks up the mountain felt easy, free flowing and I was passing some riders as I powered up the climbs. By the time I reached the end of Echidna Gap and was about to embark down Western Wedgetail I knew my Flow had finally caught up with me. I took off down Wedgetail, entered Skyline, Luge and finished at the bottom of Old Duffy’s Decent. The downhill ride felt so good I even took the A-line on Duffy’s and launched my XTC off the rocky drop to finish the first part of my ride.

Still feeling good I headed off to the western side of Mt Stromlo for some more riding. Each track felt good and I felt more confident with each pedal stroke. By the time I reached the carpark I had ridden 24.6km and although I was fairly exhausted I wanted more! Alas I packed the bike into my car and headed home. After a quick refurb of my gear and bike for the start of the week I sat down and reflected on my week of riding.

What started off as a week of feeling unmotivated and disillusioned after a bad result in my first 12hr race; ended up with my Flow finding me. All I had to do was stop trying to find it and relax. Just as life has it’s ups and downs, so does cycling.

Life is Flow and cycling is life.

Where Is My Flow?

Posted on August 16, 2013 by Chad Dobbs

Firstly, let me get something out-of-the-way. I like the Pixies… a lot. I’ve seen the band live once and Black Francis as a solo act twice. There is nothing quite like watching a fat, sweaty, old, white man screaming out the lyrics to Debaser in Spanish! Surfer Rosa and Doolittle are unbelievable albums and are my go to albums when I feel like zoning out and just ignoring the outside world.

So anyway, after last week’s disappointing result at the JetBlack 12 Hour at Dargle Farm I have only ridden three times this week. Wednesday was my first day back on the bike and was a short test ride of my new tubeless tyre set-up at Bruce Ridge. I didn’t do anything special and didn’t push too hard. When healthy and motivated I regularly ride between 250-350km a week including at least 100km on the dirt. But after my DNF at Dargle Farm I’ve been feeling flat and unmotivated.

A lot of people are telling me a DNF is better than a DNS and at least I gave it a go. I’m not the sort of person that generally gives up; although I am prone to being half-assed. So after “giving up” last weekend I am now stuck in a rut of “half-ass”. I didn’t go into the event over-confident; I was still sick but had been riding strong – maybe I set my expectations too high.

This morning I drove out to Mt Stromlo for some dawn riding with good friend and MTB newbie John. We did the entire of Loop 2 in just over an hour which isn’t a bad effort for someone who can count the amount of times they have ridden on singletrack on one hand. Although it was freezing cold, foggy and wet I enjoyed the ride and John definitely did judging by his big smile coming down Luge.

.:John coming down Luge:.

Even though I powered up the switchback climbs and rolled down Luge and scored a new PR on Strava; I never felt that moment where I ‘clicked’ with my bike and the trails. I was close but there was no ‘Flow’.

.:Just a little foggy on top of Mt Stromlo:.

After lunch I headed off to Bruce Ridge for some afternoon riding. Once again I wasn’t feeling very motivated but I geared up and got ready to ride. I don’t usually ride with my headphones on; but knowing there wasn’t going to be too many people out riding I selected my Pixies playlist and headed off onto the trails.

While Black Francis was screaming at me and Kim Deal rocked out Gigantic I started feeling I was close to ‘clicking’ this ride. I did some reversals of the normal trails and rode some of the more difficult segments. But alas I wasn’t quite getting there. I chose some ordinary lines that caused my back wheel to slip out on several occasions, over cornered some of the switchbacks and managed to head-butt a low branch on Pub Run.

Slowly I rode back to my car when Where Is My Mind? started playing. I really like this song and can play along to it on both bass guitar and drums. So when Black Francis sang about his encounter with a particularly bitey fish while snorkelling in the Caribbean I equated the bridge and chorus with my inability to ‘click’ while riding…
“With your feet on the air and your head on the ground
Try this trick and spin it, yeah
Your head will collapse
If there’s nothing in it
And you’ll ask yourself
Where Is My ~~Mind~~ Flow?

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