Stromlo – Page 2 – Blogged Down By Life

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?

Training Week In Review – Week 7

Posted on August 5, 2013March 11, 2015 by Chad Dobbs

After a week spent (attempting) snowboarding I started Week 7 feeling very sore. I had many small but painful bruises all over my limbs; and an extremely tender left shoulder.

Not one to do things by halves I jumped straight into my riding by commuting to and from work on Monday on Kate the XTC. The week off the bike was quite evident with a heavy build up of lactic acid in my leg muscles and butt cheeks!

Tuesday was a slight sleep in and a shorter commute into work. Ignoring my screaming quads I rode out to Mt Stromlo via Lake Burley Griffin and had a quick spin around some of the easier trails to get 21.1 km of dirt under the tyres. The commute home was a painful 38.1km in the cold of Canberra’s night-time.

After a fairly intense 95.3km on Tuesday I took a rest day on Wednesday before taking the easy route to and from work on Thursday. Even though I felt like I hate skimped out of some quality riding by taking it easy I did reach my goal of 200km in just three days of riding.

On Friday I decided to break out Sara the roadie for some easier commuting for my early start at work. After a fairly long and tiring day at work the decision to take the short route home was an easy one… But I had to work hard for it. Canberra decided to put on some incredibly strong wind gusts that almost blew me off the road and into the gutter several times.

With Round 4 of the CORC XC Series being held at Mt Stromlo on Sunday I intended to take some time on Saturday to service and ready Kate for the next days race. Instead I took her out for a spin around Bruce Ridge with fellow Bermer Tony on his new Trek Superfly (which is sooo nice… pity it’s not a Giant!) It was a very enjoyable 50.1km of riding but I still needed to prep my bike for the CORC race.

I don’t warm up very quickly when I ride. It’s generally around the 7-9km mark when on the mountain bike before I’m actually warmed up enough to take on the singletrack with speed and confidence. Because of this I will either ride out to a race if it’s close to home or do a few laps of the course beforehand. On Sunday morning I joined fellow Bermers Andy & Tony for a ride out to Mt Stromlo.

It wasn’t long before I was tearing off layers of clothing in the crisp Canberra morning; I was warming up very quickly. We arrived with ample time to register and unfortunately enough time to get very cold in the chilly air, light rain and sweat drenched clothing.

Soon I was off riding Mt Stromlo’s western trails for some quick paced XC racing. I hadn’t ridden the first part of the course before and was in for some technical and rocky trails. I handled the course well on my first lap and made up a few places before deciding to attack the faster riders in front of me. I took a few chances and was quickly passing the juniors and slower paced riders. Fast fire-roads and different lines up the short but rocky climbs allowed me to use Kate for what she was designed to do; quick acceleration and powerful climbing.

After worrying about not riding the trails prior to the race I was really enjoying the experience on what I felt was a great course. Halfway through my second lap I pulled up to see an injured rider laid out on the trail. Young Pedal 4 Pierce rider Chris had taken a spill and was concussed from the fall. A few of us diverted race traffic and helped out until an ambulance arrived to take Chris to hospital. Thankfully he got the all clear and was sent home later in the day.

I finished my lap; came last in my grade and helped pack up the rego/event centre while enjoying a post race coffee. When all the dust had settled I packed up my gear, rode down to the main car-park and headed off to lunch in the city. After scoffing a pizza at Debacle I headed home slowly with a full stomach and 81.4km under the tyres for day.

At the end of the week I finished with 352.5km on the bike. My biggest week of riding this year. Although I’m a little sore in the legs I’m looking forward to another big week in the saddle with my first 12 Hour solo race this coming weekend at Dargle Farm.

Training Week In Review – Week 5

Posted on July 21, 2013March 11, 2015 by Chad Dobbs

For the first time in a long time I was looking forward to tackling another week on the bike. After taking a few hits mentally during the past couple of weeks it felt really good to want to spend more time in the saddle. Thanks to the previous week’s 250.3km of fairly high intensity riding I started the new week quite tender and fatigued.

While I had grand plans of long commutes on the roadie, Canberra decided it was going to be a very wet week with lots of fog. It is a fact that skinny tyres and wet/icy asphalt don’t mix so I prepped Zooey the Anthem with some lights, higher pressure tyres and dragged out my waterproof jacket.

I wanted to ride at least 50km each day while commuting; a goal I achieved on both Monday and Tuesday while riding in some light rain each time. Even at this early stage of the week I was feeling a lot of muscle fatigue but was still making gains while getting very wet and muddy.

Wednesday was dry enough that I was able to ride the roadie, but the aforementioned muscle fatigue was now in the fully fledged DOMS stage and any aspirations of a massive road ride were halted before the wheels began to even turn. But I still reached my 50km/day goal with a short commute into work and a longer commute home. I even managed to wash both Zooey and Sara taking advantage of the break in rain and brief sunshine.

Thursday was another mild Canberra day so I decided to take Kate the XTC into work. After riding Zooey and the ultra stiff (in a good way) Sara, riding Kate felt amazing. By swapping out a few components I’ve managed to keep my carbon hardtail under 10kg. With the front forks locked out and a good tucked position I quite often overtake most road bikes on the commuting climbs; something I relish doing. There’s nothing worse than tackling a long and difficult climb and having someone pass you looking cool, calm and collected. I aim to be that person; especially on a 29er while my prey is on a road bike sporting aerobars.

…But anyway, I took Kate to work on a particularly foggy morning the longish way and managed to push out 31.1km prior to work. On the way home my quadriceps were incredibly sore; but I wanted some off road time. A quick spin around the more fun tracks at Bruce Ridge went down a treat and I then headed off home covered in mud.

Thursday was also the day an article about my fundraising for Soldier On was printed in the Australian Army News.

Friday was a complete wash out for commuting and to be honest I don’t think my aching legs had much more than a slow roll left in them. My bikes stayed at home and instead of riding I signed up for the JetBlack WSMTB 12 Hour at Dargle Farm on 10 August 2013. This will my first 12 hour and I’m looking forward to pushing myself over an extended period of time to test my body and mind before October’s Battle Of The Beasts.

This will also be my last race before my Wedding in September; so in some roundabout way the race will be my Buck’s Ride and I’m looking forward to spending the weekend riding with some of my good friends from The Berm.

At the end if this week I managed to push out 215.3km in four days riding.

Next week will be a much smaller week for riding as I only intend to ride on Sunday due to spending some time on my board in the snow.

Training Week In Review – Week 4

Posted on July 14, 2013March 11, 2015 by Chad Dobbs

Week 4 was going to be a larger week for the numbers from the get go. I needed to break past 150km; a weekly goal I had only achieved once in the past three weeks.

I had decided I was going to spend more time on the road bike, but also knew I didn’t have the endurance to smash out the long rides I wanted to do. My fitness has improved dramatically over the past few weeks but my quads are constantly screaming at me for a rest. The only option was for some good paced commuting to work.

Monday I took the roadie to work along the short commute racking up 18.6km in the chilly Canberra morning air. On the ride home I took in a more scenic 30.1km around a bit of LBG and exploring some of the bike paths near my suburb.

Tuesday was the day my beloved Kate was booked in for her first service at Onya Bike Civic. I had experienced a fair bit of gear skipping during the previous Sunday’s CORC XC race at Kowen Forest. As always the service, both mechanical and customer, was first rate and I soon had a singletrack eating machine firing at 100%…. Well for a about 6km of Bruce Ridge actually! I managed to clip a stray fallen branch and snapped a spoke on my Crank Brothers Cobalt 29er front wheel. After cutting my ride short at 7.1km I managed to fix the spoke with a spare included with the wheels.

Wednesday was a short commute to and from work on Zooey my Giant Anthem X 29er… Not a lot to say about this apart from riding a 29er dualie on the road is a lot harder than sub 10kg road bike running 110psi. I earned those 38.6km!

Thursday’s commute to work was on the roadie in subzero temperatures. I was relatively warm in my leg warmers and wind-stopper; but still had ice on my legs when I arrived at work. The commute home was a shit-fight of epic proportions; twin punctures, spat at by a bogan and a small stack due to a moron who didn’t have her inbred dog on a leash. <end rant>

Friday saw a ride to work in subzero temps and some incredibly thick fog! There was even plenty of ice on my legs and crotchular region!

The ride home was almost as big of a fail as the previous day. The dirty little secret of Canberra cycling community is the abundance of glass littered in cycle lanes and cycle paths. There is a stupidly large amount that never gets cleaned up because TAMS (Territory & Municipal Services) couldn’t give a rat’s arse!

<end rant>
After copping my fifth puncture in two days I called the girly and got picked up 2km from home.

Saturday was supposed to be a few laps of Mt Stromlo with some of the guys and girls from The Berm, but alas due to an oversight in forgetting my front wheel thru-axle that plan was aborted and I ended up riding in the afternoon.
My ride around Bruce Ridge and to home pushed me over my 200km goal for the week.

The close of the week saw a ride into Bruce Ridge and a spin around the grippy singletrack before the usual breakfast at Edgar’s and a steady ride in the pouring rain to home.

By the time my all my bikes had been cleaned and stowed away, I had amassed 250.3km for the week. All in all I didn’t push myself too had and despite a few mechanical issues with two of my bikes I was happy with the end result.

Training Week In Review – Week 2

Posted on June 30, 2013March 11, 2015 by Chad Dobbs

Week 2 was never going to be a big week for the numbers. The weather was very ordinary early in the week, work was fairly busy and I was interstate over the weekend. I set a goal of 150km and achieved 121.4km for the week.

My first day on the bike was Wednesday afternoon. I rode from work to Mt Stromlo and relished in the chance to push my Giant XTC up the switchback climbs. I’m not the fastest rider downhill due to my aversion of death by bike; but I do enjoy being able to climb quickly with confidence and endurance. As sunset approached I headed home and covered 65.1km with a vertical gain of 656m.

Lake Ginninderra at sunset

Thursday afternoon I took the roadie home and was feeling a little bit of pain in my quads (more training needed).

Friday I took the XTC to work and managed to chase down a few roadies en route. By lunch time I had packed Kate into the back of the car and was driving down to Melbourne for some wedding prep over the weekend.

Saturday I had the chance to ride Lysterfield Park with a good friend and although he suffered a flat and we had to walk back to the carpark it was a good ride.

Week 2 of my planned training regime didn’t go to plan, but with a few quality rides and a good catch up it wasn’t a total loss.

Training Week In Review – Week 1

Posted on June 23, 2013March 11, 2015 by Chad Dobbs

Almost two and half months ago I crashed during Round 10 of the 2012/2013 CORC XC Series at Mt Stromlo. Leading up to that race I was probably the most cycle fit and confident I had ever been. This (over) confidence lead me to attempt a tail whip ride at the end of the race; a decision that ultimately ended in face full of gravel, blood and a grade-2 tear in my left pectoralis major (a torn muscle in my chest along with some ligaments).

Over the past two and a bit months I have been riding with recovery in mind and doing my best not to aggravate a very touchy injury. There were days I could barely get out of bed let alone ride a bicycle. A poor sleeping position would mean I couldn’t move my neck and shoulder. I still I have pain after waking up but surprisingly I’m very comfortable on a bike when wearing my chest brace.

The hardest part for me being off the bike was the disappointment at being injured and the boredom I was experiencing. I was at a point in my riding where I was ready to step it up a notch; thus the CORC XC Races.

So after six weeks of recovery rides, including a couple of XC races, I decided to formulate and implement a gradual Training Program. And this week was the first of many to come.

I aimed for 150km of good solid medium intensity riding for Week One. I completed 120.6km with 58km of that being some quick singletrack at Kowen Forest/Sparrow Hill and Mt Stromlo. Although I didn’t reach my target goal for the week I was very happy with the average speeds over the distances I rode and the Mt Stromlo climbs I completed with relative ease.

Plus the one and only David Blucher got a photo of me riding Kate in my Soldier On jersey on Duffy’s Decent on Mt Stromlo on Saturday afternoon.

Recovery Week In Review – Week 6

Posted on June 16, 2013March 12, 2015 by Chad Dobbs

It has been two months and two days since I crashed at Mt Stromlo during Round 10 of the 2012/2013 CORC XC Series. During that time I’ve been trying to get back to my pre-injury fitness by slowly building my strength and endurance levels. Between 1 January 2013 and 14 April 2013, when I crashed, I was averaging 250km per week on the bike. I had ridden in the Mont 24 Hour, 100km Capital Punishment, some short course XC races and plenty of 70km+ rides on both the roadie and MTB. In total I had ridden 2’242.4km in just over four months.

It’s no secret that I ride bikes as a form of therapy and rehabilitation. Exercise is an amazing tool to soften the edge of anxiety and depression. Mountain biking is something I can fully immerse myself in; the riding, the technology, the competitiveness and the social scene. Canberra has an amazingly inclusive and tight-knit mountain biking community. One of the reasons why I have enjoyed riding so much these past nine months (the first time I ever road singletrack was on 9 September 2012 at Bruce Ridge) is because of the people I have met and ridden with from The Berm. It doesn’t matter if you are a novice or an elite rider, if you enjoy riding you are welcomed with open arms.

So this week was supposed to be the start of my new training regime. The plan was to restart my daily commuting on the roadie and get as much singletrack in between as the girly would tolerate. I have a lot of ground to make up and the weather in Canberra is not very accommodating; we have had a lot of rain and sub-zero temperatures. This past week I have woken up, checked the weather on my iPhone and walked onto the balcony to gauge my tolerance of the early morning temperature. Only once did I brave the cold and ride to work.

I did however use every opportunity before and after the heavy midweek rain to ride my new Giant XTC 29er 1 – Kate. I managed to get a couple of rides in at Mt Stromlo, two at Bruce Ridge and two at Sparrow Hill/Kowen Forest. For my sixth week of recovery riding I ended up having my second biggest week in the saddle since my crash. After today’s 66.6km road ride around Lake Burley Griffin I amassed 209.1km.

So after six weeks of Recovery Riding I am now transitioning in Training Riding.

Recovery Week In Review – Week 5

Posted on June 10, 2013March 12, 2015 by Chad Dobbs

Recovery Week 5 started off with a 20.2km ride on Monday afternoon at Kowen Forest after a particularly ordinary day at work. The ride itself was cut short after I got chased by a sheep and then had a low speed collision with a small kangaroo. But I did have a lot of fun just riding on the Kowalski’s immaculate single track.

Wednesday saw the arrival of my long awaited Soldier On jerseys and a quick 22.6km ride home on the roadie.

Thursday was the day I picked up my new Giant Composite 29er 1 Kate, which I spent the next two days drooling over and swapping out components before her maiden ride at Mt Stromlo on Saturday morning.

Round 2 of the CORC XC Series was held on Sunday and after a sluggish start I was very happy with my finish and even managed to have an off on Kate without letting the new carbon frame bike hit the ground. How did I manage that you ask? Well I just made sure my body hit the ground first and I lifted the bike into the air and made sure she didn’t make contact with the ground.

After a big week in cycling, mostly off the bike, I was happy with my 74.1km in the saddle and left with a huge smile about a new bike and my Soldier On jerseys.

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