This was our 2010 ride : a ten minute video tells you all (Click on the arrow to start and the icon at bottom right hand corner to get full screen)

Dear Readers and VRs

Bruce and Katrina and the whole Tour de Vic Team finished their Ride to End Polio over a week ago . Perhaps you have been wondering at times what our intrepid team has been doing ....well Lance at least appears to be suffering from PBRDS (Post Bike Ride Deprivation Syndrome) - he actually rode into a restaurant in his knicks, on his bike last week , between the tables, and all ! What about our Cadel ? He will have completed his warm down ride over about 3 mountain ranges - hope that bike is still shiny! ; Stuart O'Grady will be back in Shepparton, and Laurie-lie must seem like a dream; the King of the Mountain Bikes is probably a mere mortal now, and Eileen, who swam 36 km in 6 days - well hopefully she will have stopped flapping, closed up her gills and learned to breathe normally on land. Margaret will have unpacked "Rovah" the van - will she be walking the streets of Rutherglen looking for nomads to mother ? And what about Graham - has he recovered from the shock of seeing all of us ride into Albury together - getting us all there intact eclipses the achievements of Shackleton (in fact Graham that is your new moniker : "Ernie"). Bruce "himself" Nichols has been wearing a green jumper ever since he got home, wistfully dreaming of that green jersey he never did attain; and your other correspondent Katrina "Kathy Watts-on" (yes self-titled!) - well she has made a little video above for you to all to enjoy -see below it only goes for 10 minutes - don't be fooled by it - we didn't really have such a good time and we really did suffer ! Thank you one and all for your generous donations and sponsorship - the whole Tour de Vic (7 riders, 1 swimmer) - raised $16,000. The 6 extra riders who joined us for the last 84 km also contributed to this grand total. Bill Gates will match this - so there is $32,000 - which will help us to ... END POLIO NOW ! So it's Over and Out from The Blog - Goodnight from all of us and glub glub from Eileen ! Until next year ... we'll contact you, don't worry !

Day 6: Wangaratta to Albury- the Last Post !

The Tour de Vic riders were elated this morning - only 84 km to go , and no big hills ! A presentation was made at breakfast time to Margaret and Graham by the team, to say thank you for their magnificent care and leadership. You could not get a more decent couple anywhere, nor could you find a couple with better values, or who better fulfil the ideals of Rotary. We were joined today by 6 cyclists from the Yarrawonga-Mulwala Rotary Club. It was a beautiful ride through river red gums, along the service road next to the Hume Freeway. Lunch was in the historic and unspoiled town of Chiltern.
We all filed into Albury in triumphant style, and were met by the DG (District Governor) David Cooke. We were filmed for TV, and photographed by the Border Mail. Eileen was singled out by the press for her remarkable swimming effort, totalling 36 km in 6 days !
Our main objective was not fame and glory, or a week's travelling round Victoria , but was to raise money for Polio Plus : the team has raised in total about $16,000 - that $16,000 will go directly to polio vaccination (and will be matched by Bill and Melinda Gates). Bruce and Katrina have raised $6000 of this - all from you, our Virtual Riders and supportive family and friends. Thank you to our generous sponsors, and to the Rotary Club of Heidelberg.
A tinge of sadness was felt by all as we approached Albury - how would we cope without Margaret ? or our new friends? Could we in fact actually get off our bikes - or would we feel like taking them to bed with us ? Who would give us a few laughs when we no longer have King of the Mountains, Lance, Cadel and Stuart O'Grady ? How can we further help Polio Plus eradicate polio ? The sore quads seem be improving already ...we think we might have to ride again next year ! Consider joining us - virtually or in person !
Here endeth the blog - thank you for your interest and your support ... End Polio Now !
from Bruce and Katrina , and the rest of the Ride to Conference Team.

Day 5: Mansfield to Wangaratta

Breakfast this morning was unusually quiet as team members reflected on the challenging day - known to them as the "killer day" - to come. The seven riders ate their breakfast soberly. The Ironman cereal had, of course, been scoffed by Lance and Cadel days previously, but there was still a goodly collection of cereals, some with antioxidants. Of course some team members felt this was probably a waste , as their chances of living more than a few hours were slim. Perhaps Margaret even felt that she might not need to wash up the entire 9 cups and bowls as team numbers might be diminished by nightfall. In the Athlete's Village the three guys - Cadel, Lance and Stuart - were being unusually considerate of each other - making way for the others to have showers, shave etc. Graham, our Ride Director, had given us a no-holds-barred briefing .... before morning tea at Tolmie there would be a long, slow, steady climb, but we should conserve our energy, because from then on we could expect a long and very steep climb of 7 km over The Divide, the last 1 km being particularly severe. Graham then stated that each rider needed to prepare in his/her own way. Bruce was heard saying over and over: "It's Day 4 and fitness improves on the ride doesn't it ?" Laurie appeared to be in a trance-like state, possibly conjuring up visions of his Laurie-lie, sorry Lorelei. King John had acquired slick tyres and a slick hairstyle, but was disappointed tha the Mansfield barber had refused to wax his or Lance's legs. Lance also had gone for the slick hairstyle, but this only served to emphasise his striped suntan (see photo). Even Graham was heard mumbling about : "limpid streams and bucolic hills" and appeared to be hearing heavenly song birds already. And Cadel was polishing his bike... yet again. Last group photos were taken.... tearful farewells from Eileen and Margaret and the riders were off. The group managed the first leg of the ride comfortably. At Tolmie cheering crowds awaited , their cheers increased somewhat after Graham threw bread (see photo). Cadel's cousin and retinue arrived somewhat unexpectedly to say last farewells. The riders set off on what would be the most gruelling leg of their trip - and to the astonishment of all, the seven riders all summited successfully within the hour. They were rewarded by a long downhill swoop to Whitfield (King John even applied brakes). A delicious lunch, then onwards to Wangaratta . The riders were bathed all day in glorious sunshine "which you could almost taste" (according to Graham), and experienced the most wonderful vistas of King Valley. On arrival in Wangaratta the team processed triumphantly through the streets and congratulated each other on 116 challenging but exhilarating kilometres. Eileen was there to greet us, having swum another 7 km .... and we were treated to a BBQ dinner by awe-struck local Rotarians (Appin Park).

Day 4: Alexandra to Mansfield

The Tour de Vic is now over half way, having now done 335 km - and 200 km to go. Ride Director Graham organised a relatively short day today of 70 km - so the Team can rest up before our killer day tomorrow - 116 km and big hills, over the Divide. We are in Mansfield. The day commenced with delicious al fresco breakfast, prepared by Margaret in the dawn light, in Alexandra. Three reasonable climbs before morning tea, and then gentler hills before lunch at Bonnie Doon. After lunch the guys practised bike etiquette, under the supervision of Graham (see photos). Then a short 20 km to Mansfield. Everyone is bearing up well. Katrina has cycled every km and has not needed the Rider Physiological Restitution Centre. Laurie even made it to the motel with the group today. Yesterday, on arriving into Alexandra, he followed a fluoro figure, whom he presumed to be Graham, for 7 km. The fluoro figure turned out to be a young, pretty blonde on a "ladies bike". So while we were all resting at the motel, Laurie was riding off into the sunset, following his Lorelei (who he claims he thought was Graham). Apparently Lorelei didn't think too much of being followed and gave him a filthy look when she arived at her turn off, and Laurie had to turn around, and do another 7 km back to the motel. Eileen swam 5 km today - altogether she has swum 25 km - magnificent ! Finally, Bruce made some dashing breaks to the lead today - but failed to sustain the lead for long - sometimes politely dropping back to allow the Macho Men* to continue at the helm, and sometimes gallantly dropping back to keep Katrina company. Because of this chivalrous, non-macho behaviour, and because he has a pink camera , he has been awarded the inaugural Pink Jersey.
* Note : so-called Macho Men Cadel (John Paton) and Stuart (Laurie McGoldrick) only joined on Day 3 .... "fresh legs" !

Day 3 : Seymour to Alexandra

Here we are at the public library in Alexandra. For those Virtual Riders who dutifully did the perineal homework (see yesterday's blog) I recommend Vaseline, liberally applied, however I note that one of our followers has kindly suggested Proctosedyl. Today was a relatively short 72 km, through beautiful country - rolling hills, green farmland and some sclerophyll forest(how's that for made-up stuff ?). Today we were joined by two serious riders - John "Cadel" Paton and Laurie "Stuart" McGoldrick - both on very fancy schmancy bikes with off-putting writing all over them. However the Yellow Jersey Honours were actually taken out by John Gatt on his King of the Mountain bike. Bruce is a bit upset that he hasn't won a jersey yet but I have a special one in mind for him. Other highlights today included a press conference in Yea - when there was a media scrimmage - the Yea Chronicle was there, with a reporter AND a press photographer (secret : they were actually the same person). The celebrity Tour riders had to suck tummies in hard. Eileen has apparently swum a marathon today but details were not to hand at the time of going to press. On a slightly "sour" note, Lance publicly wondered whether jelly beans supplied by one of the Tour riders contained performance enhancing drugs - because they were purchased from a pharmacy. It was later noticed that Lance took a large number and placed them in his pocket.

Day 1 : Geelong to Gisborne

Day 1 : Geelong to Gisborne






Good evening Dear Readers and Virtual Riders - your on-road riding team is now safely ensconced in Gibsorne, 93 km from our departure point. The team all met this morning at Eastern Beach in Geelong. We are an athletic and fit bunch, as you can see in the photo below, well equipped to cope with the rigours of the ride to come. Not only do we have 5 intrepid riders - Bruce and Katrina have been joined by Team Leader Graham Brown, John Gatt and Trevor Smith - we also have a marathon swimmer (Eileen Gatt). None of us would have made it to first base, however without the ministrations of Margaret Brown, our Road Support. We won't be losing much weight this week, more's the pity. This morning saw us easily complete a 58 km leg to Bacchus Marsh, our road lined by wildly enthusiastic onlookers (see photo below). But things got more serious for the "Tour de Vic" riders in the afternoon - we had to ask our fans to clear the roads so we could concentrate on some significant hills between Bacchus Marsh and Gisborne. John is attempting the Tour on a mountain bike and thus is our King of the Mountains. Graham has the yellow jersey tonight, having led the field most of the day. A new category of Speedo Jersey has been awarded to Eileen , who swam 4 km this morning. For those wondering, Bruce did put new tyres on and has had no punctures today - funny about that. In fact the only puncture was suffered by Graham, who is therefore already in the running for the Holey (?Holy) Jersey.

Day 2 : Gisborne to Seymour

This morning Margaret served a delicious breakfast in the Gisborne motel grounds, just before sunrise. It was a bit chilly! We set off for Seymour at 8.40am and had to ascend a steep hill right from Gisborne. Once Katrina got into her chosen gear she zoomed past all of us and was immediately awarded the "King of the mountains" jersey.  At the 33km mark we reached Lancefield and had coffee and various pasties, coffee scrolls etc.  Next stop after some major hills was Shelmerdine Winery where we enjoyed a gourmet lunch in beautiful surroundings. While we had been cycling, Eileen swam 6km at the Seymour pool, and arrived for lunch looking as fresh as a daisy.

The final leg for the day took us through scenic countryside and "undulating" terrain and we reached our Seymour Motel at the 100km mark.  - Bruce

From Katrina :  Bruce has made this sound like a walk in the park - the real truth is we have had a very gruelling day ... "undulations" being a euphemism for major hills.  True, we had a nice morning tea at Lancefield  but our "Lance" (Trevor) took a tumble over the handlebars, when his chain "locked". Virtual Riders, to really appreciate the experience you should do the following - take a cigarette lighter and lightly singe your perineum * then abrade same with a little sandpaper.  Then bash your thighs a few times with a mallet and ask someone to punch you in the upper arms a few times.  Only then can you truly feel like we feel.  However we are safely in Seymour, Trevor is fine, we are riding for a good cause, and John even spruiked successully for donations in Lancefield.
* -medical term for nether regions

Cadence - the truth - and thank you all

We have covered many technical aspects but we haven't yet told you how to ride.  The serious rider (SR) dons his or her heart rate monitor, and sets it for an aerobic range of say 65 to 85% of maximal heart rate . SR then pedals at the same fast rate - called cadence - of about 80 per minute - and does not slow down.  In order to achieve the fast peddling he/she will need to adjust the gears.   SR tries to keep heart rate in the selected range otherwise an alarm goes off.  If heart rate is too low he / she won't be gaining fitness or controlling weght.  If heart rate too high ie over 85% maximum, he/she is at risk of cardiac event or drop in cardiac output. The very amateur rider (VAR) - like me Katrina -  might find it hard to keep up that cadence,  but makes a valiant effort.  It is better to keep up the cadence in a lower gear when going up hill, than letting your cadence drop and try to push hard against a higher gear.  In fact two things are likely to happen if you do that :  your chain might come off, or you fall off ! So the rider who is happily tootling up a hill, looking a bit dorky,  is doing better than the one pushing hard.  Have a look at our two new cycling friends - at the bottom of the page. 
The Virtual Rider - you - will hopefully enjoy next week's trip through Victoria .  No pushing required ! Our Virtual Riders have done the hard yards in supporting our ride .... to the tune of over $5300 (for Bruce and Katrina; other riders in the team have raised money as well)! We  riders and support team members are paying all our own expenses (motel , food, petrol etc), and there are no administrative expenses,  so every dollar of the money raised goes to Polio Plus.  And Bill Gates is matching your donations dollar for dollar.  Thank you to our Bitumen, Cobblestone and Gravel sponsors!  We will try to blog again, internet coverage permitting, at the end of Day 1 - 93 km up the road (Geelong-Gisborne).
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

Come on a virtual ride !

Tomorrow we start our Big Ride.   You gentle reader, you too should be almost ready to come on the virtual ride - we have blogged about Seats and Cleats, Nix and  Knicks,  Pockets in Rockets, Waxing and Relaxing, Punctures at every Juncture  , Computers and Hooters (well we haven't done hooters - but we can say "Yes"  to the old  Isabel Knock Knock Who's there? ......a bell is necessary on a bicycle !) ).  We still have some of your pre-ride preparation to do, in the last couple of blogs before the Big Ride.  This penultimate blog will cover ... Bikes ! and the last will try to   "put it all together".   Re:  Bikes : what sort? how much?  and, most important of all, what colour ?  Bruce and I both have GIANT brand  road bikes - road bikes are lighter than hybrids, are geared for faster riding, have skinny wheels, fast tyres and a more bent over riding position.  They do not usually have wicker baskets, skirt guards or streamers.  Nor do they have any form of suspension, and so going over bumps can be bone shaking.  We think our bikes are pretty cool, but they are in fact only "entry level"  bikes.  Serious riders pay thousands for extra light weight and extra strong bikes.  As to colour - well I guess it is a bit like dogs and their owners .... colour could reflect owner personality?   Katrina has a sunny yellow and Bruce has pure white !

What I carry in my Glomesh bag, sorry Rocket top

From Katrina :  I remember an advertisement which was doing the rounds of the  women's magazines years  ago -  with the  heading: "What does celebrity-so-and-so carry in her Glomesh bag ?" -  and there would be a  photo of the handbag contents disembowelled, always including some trappings from a glamorous life (theatre ticket stubs, receipts from upmarket stores , photo of celebrity boyfriend etc).  Well here is the cyclists' equivalent :  "What I carry in the pockets of my riding top ".  For the uninitiated , the riding shirt usually has 3 pockets at the back (see photo of the 3 pockets in my "Rocket" top).  ).  I defy anyone to pack more into 3 pockets than this   ... spare tube, camera, phone, lipstick of course, hanky of course, banana, muesli bar, fluoro rain jacket, arm warmers , leg warmers, medications, sunscreen, money, credit card, house and car keys, photo of celebrity boyfriend and more ...  that's what I carry in my Glomesh , sorry cycling,  top (Now ....  a Glomesh top -that's a thought !)

Maribyrnong River Trail to Brimbank Park

Today's 40km training ride (the last?) got off to a late start as we had to "fettle" a hybrid (Katrina's Mongoose) that had not been used recently.  The back tyre was flat, so after attempting to inflate it, Katrina decided that it had a puncture.  She removed the wheel, tyre and tube and replaced the suspect tube with another previously repaired tube. After getting it all back together again (with some assistance), and attempting to inflate the tyre, it turned out that the original tube was good and the replacement was faulty! 

However, it was a nice scenic ride of 20km to Brimbank Park from Edgewater, but a hybrid is the best option, especially as the recent storms have caused considerable damage to the track.  The kiosk hours at Brimbank Park are 10 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. and we arrived at 5 p.m! We did manage to get a coffee at The Boathouse, between Essendon Rowing Club and The Anglers Arms.

If anyone else is tempted to ride this trail, check out the Route details and Cue sheet at bikely.com          Bruce

Welcome aboard the good ship Blog

Welcome aboard:  Bruce and Katrina welcome aboard The Blog some crucial members of the Ride to End Polio team.  Firstly Margaret and Graham Brown, who are the indefatigable ride convenors plus driver (Margaret)  of the Road Support Vehicle (aka Sag Wagon*) ... let us introduce them to you:
  

Margaret: Retired NSW high school maths teacher. Rotarian for 8 years, currently secretary of District Youth Exchange Committee.

Interests involve 6 grandchildren, quilting, line dancing and walking. Second time as Road Support for Ride to Conference.

Graham: Retired NSW Primary school teacher, married to Margaret and living in Rutherglen. Has been a Rotarian for 12 years - Past President Rotary Club of Corowa and Paul Harris Fellow. He has always cycled and particularly enjoys tour cycling in Europe with panniers and tent. Has cycled to Conference 3 times with D9800 and now twice with D9790.

From Katrina : I haven't met Graham or Margaret yet - Graham sounds frighteningly fit, and Margaret sounds awesomely organised .... at least they will know from reading this blog that we are neither!

Note : * Sag Wagon - to be the  subject of a later blog !

Rename the Sag Wagon Competition

As our ride draws closer Katrina is having some doubts - will she be able to pedal every single km ?  Will her sponsors know?  Would they mind ? She is definitely going to try to pedal every single km ... but just in case, there is the Sag Wagon ...  "No shame in the sag wagon"  people say ... but it really does sound a bit shameful ... so here is a competition ...
to rename the Sag Wagon into something a bit more professional or at least poetic.

I notice Margaret calls it Road Support .....so how about the
Elite but Exhausted Rider Support Vehicle? or the  Rider Downtime but Still Going Forward Vehicle, or ...New Pedal Paradigm Vehicle ??? ....   further suggestions welcome - there will be a prize for the best suggestion- a bottle of wine from North East Victoria, to be purchased on the ride - I hope the Road Support team can be persuaded to take a small detour - just a brief sag - ino a local winery - mind you, for medicinal and competition purposes only, of course ) ! (Comp closes 12 March, 5 pm )

Cool Rule No 1

Today Bruce and Katrina rode down to Southbank with Bruce's son Jamie and enjoyed a coffee on the banks of the Yarra,  Jamie and Bruce looked golden (see photo) - Bruce was wearing his 2008 Around the Bay in a Day(ATBIAD)  top .... which reminded Katrina of the information we received from her sister-in-law, R - who is an expert rider. She and Katrina's brother have welcomed us into Team Pill ( see blog  March 3) .  The night before 2008 ATBIAD R asked us what we were going to wear?  We said the Official event top of course.  Prolonged silence ... then R said "I don't know how to say this, but it's not very cool to wear the event top on the day of the event".
(This is our 16th post - scroll down to see the others!)
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

Bacchus Marsh - Gisborne Loop

Bacchus Marsh - Gisborne loop training ride Sun March 7, 2010  Intention : Gisborne to Bacchus Marsh via Toolern Vale, back via Bulllengarook 72 km , lots of hills
2:18  pm - Commenced ride.   2:30 pm - puncture in Bruce's tyre after 10 km , repaired by Bruce. (See photo above: Bruce Repairing Puncture). Katrina wonders aloud whether it isn't time Bruce put on the good tyres, recommended by an expert friend in 2008, after Bruce had had 4 punctures during Around The Bay in a Day.  Implication was that tyres needed to be fitted not merely purchased.   Bruce's rejoinder includes the information that he likes to get maximum use out of things before disposing of them.  2:38 pm - Bruce stops to attend to matters behind a tree - emerges with pair of jocks in hand - no, not an accident , but his own discovery that it may be best to wear  Nix Next to the Knicks after all ! (see blog of 1st March 10 : Secrets of the Knick). After some consideration, Katrina refrains from saying I T Y S.  2:40-3:30 Happy riding up and down hills into Gisborne, beautiful countryside. Could not call in and see our dear friend J as her road too boggy after rain, we thought.   3:30 pm Coffee in Gisborne  3:45 Commence return jouney  3:55 Through Bullengarook, starts to rain  4:15 Rain heavier, wind picking up, thunder and lightning start and Bruce hears a loud pop in tire (yes, another puncture). Both stop to repair tyre, Katrina huddles under a tree (aka lightning conductor) in cold, wet, windy thunderstorm .. See photo

- Bruce Repairing Puncture - (from the Series : Bruce Repairing Punctures).  ) - camera shake evident, due to shivering.  4:30 Difficulty changing tube, and then last remaining tube bursts. Bruce utters some words unknown in Rotarian English, presumably foreign. Katrina helpfully mentions that this wouldn't have happened had Bruce put on the new tyres in the first place, then suggests a taxi home before she dies. 


Local Good Samaritan resident spots stranded shivering duo, drives his ute down to them and offers them shelter and warm drinks while they await taxi.  Asks the duo : Are you seasoned cyclists or is this your first time?

Rain, hail or shine ....

 Rain, hail or shine ...


This is our fourteenth post - scroll down to see the others ...

Sat March 6 , 2010 , 1430 hours

Bruce decided to ride from Kew to Maribyrnong. He checked the weather map ...

and set out ....

He arrived an hour and a half later, a little  wet ....

 

Cleats 101

This is our 13th post - scroll down to see the others ...

Cleats 101

Today we're blogging about cleats - those clips in the bike shoes that hook into special pedals, as in the photo (yes, that is a pedal!) . You may have heard the clacketty clack when a gang of riders all take off together at the lights, as they all click into their cleats again. Cleats make riding more efficient because you are utilising the "pull" muscles as well as the "push" muscles to move the crank around. I was told once they make you about 30 % faster. They also change the ergonomic position - our little red rider at the top of our blog page is clearly using cleats (even though she seems to be going backwards some of the time!), whereas our friend in the (dangerous) scarf at the top of the blog is pushing only. You can see his riding style if you scroll right down to bottom of all the blogs. Admittedly he has a more upright bike than her road bike.

The main hurdle with using cleats is that you have to remember to take your foot out of them when you want to stop. You can't just slide you foot off the pedal - you have to make a conscious twist with your foot, i.e. you have to think about it ahead of time. If you don't, you come to near stop with no way of balancing, and you fall over. I (Katrina) was told that every novice cleat-user falls over 19 times before they beat the cleats - well I have fallen 4 times, I think, and Bruce 4 or 5 - a memorable time in Gisborne after we had done a gruelling 40 km uphill ride into a headwind - he was so elated at arriving into Gisborne ahead of me, he rode in like a hero -and then fell over at the lights.

I am a very cautious rider and take one foot out of my cleats at the slightest sign of trouble ahead - a dog, a child, traffic lights, a sharp bend. I can't get my left foot out very easily and so have to rely on taking the right foot out. I have my cleats set very loosely too, so they are easy to disengage. I have ridden throught the whole of the CBD many times with one foot uncleated ...you just "ride on your heel" - that is a nervous rider for you ! I shall have to develop some aggressive habits to make up for it - bang on car roofs, and swear loudly at all the drivers - what do you think? - End of Cleats 101!

Mt Dandenong training ride

This ride was a little more ambitious. It was Kew to Mount Dandenong via Canterbury Road and return via the 1:20. It was an "out and back" ride with a loop that went Bayswater North, Montrose, Kalorama, Mount Dandenong, Olinda, Sassafras, The Basin. Nice view of Silvan Reservoir but Kalorama to Mount Dandenong was quite steep. A fine day but rather hazy. 79 km at average 18km/hour. Managed the hills on the way there, but my main problem on the way home was cramps in my legs. Obviously not fit enough yet! Katrina was going to join me on the ride but she got b(l)ogged down, again! Katrina found a web site, www.bikely.com, which is good for planning rides. In addition to a map, quite a lot of useful route information is included. However, I wouldn't recommend the ride I did (between noon and 6pm) because for most of the way there are no bike lanes and traffic was heavy on Canterbury Road. Mont Albert Road does have bike lanes, and is better than Canterbury Road for that part of the route- from Bruce. By the way ..... if you are new to our blog and would lke to make a donation to help end polio, lease follow the following link called ....."how to donate" thank you !

The famous Canberra Team Pill and more

This is our 11th post - scroll down to see the others ...Team Pill ... We are privileged to have been admitted to the exalted ranks of Team Pill, a famous elite bike riding group from Canberra. Pictured are some Team Pillers in their Team Pill tops - which depict a pill for just about every calamity which can befall a bike rider- chill pill, help pill, parked car pill, pain buster pill, Mt Lofty pill, pass me pill, last lap pill, cramp pill, totally lost pill etc etc
Thank you Team Pillers !

What new pills might we need on this ride ??

The Great Divide Pill, Yet Another 100 km Day Pill, Blog Pill maybe ?

For Bruce a Get Out of Bed pill ?

For Katrina an Answer the Mobile Pill?

and of course a Polio Pill - we are doing well with that one - we have received over $4000 in sponsorships so far !! Thank you everybody - you have been amazingly generous. We have received sponsorships from children, teenagers, people on disability pensions, from Rotarians, and non-Rotarians and from tinkers, tailors, soldiers, sailors, rich men, poor men, beggarmen, thief(s), doctors, lawyers and Indian chiefs . Thank you one and all

Just to remind you - donations are tax deductible, details of how to donate are on this blog page .. all cobblestone and bitumen donors receive some greeting cards, as a thank you from us.
You could not do anything better with a little bit of money than helping prevent children from contracting polio. Congratulate yourselves ! (no pill needed for that !)

Real riders

Real riders ... Bruce and Katrina are real riders but we do feel a bit "shammy", in our shammy shorts when we note what other riders are doing ... Katrina's brother Ashley is doing the 3 peaks this weekend- an inaugural gruelling extreme ride - 3 peaks being Falls Creek, Tawonga Gap nd Mt Hotham in a 230 km circuit in one day ! Lots of long hard climbs. That is real riding. They are not raising money for anything though ... our purpose is to End Polio Now so we don't feel so shammy after all. Good luck Ash, ride safely and defensively and don't let that heart rate go over 145 please !

Sweet seats

Take your seats ladies and gentlemen .... the bike seat is probably the single most important component of a bike ! The comfort of a seat is not necessarily related to softness ie giant lambswool covers may not really help. What is more important is the set-up of your bike - the distances from shoulders to handle bars, height of seat, tilt of seat, size of frame. Katrina was lucky enough to have Brad of Cycling Supermarket in Altona set up her bike - he fine-tuned all the adjustable parts, and tinkered and tweaked (the bike, not the body), and achieved a certain amount of improvement - but the real change came when Brad found in his store room a magic women's seat ... called, aptly (Katrina thinks), a "Venus". Like most road bike seats it has a cleft in the middle for what Katrina calls "the squishy bits" (no, she wasn't very good at Anatomy in medical school). You need to sit on your two ischial spines, and not on the squishy bits.

Katrina was going to go into the special problems guys can have if they sit on their squishy bits, and certain symptoms they have to watch out for, but Bruce has censored all that, (even though Katrina is a doctor, and she was just doing some public (with an l) education) . So we have left that section out (you can alwys post a question to us in the comments though !).

Well, now you have the right knicks (no undies), the right seat and the right set -up - will your bum be ok ? There is another mysterious factor called "conditioning"- we don't understand it, but it is a fact that the more riding you do the less your bum suffers... we hope this remains true between Geelong and Albury !

Bruce is worried we are concentrating too much on the nether regions in our blogs, so in the next blog we will go from seat to cleats and feets !

This is our 12th blog so please scroll down and read the others !

2010 bike computers

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Bike Computers
How technology has changed since I got my first bike 57 years ago. I was so proud of my Healing "semi-racer" with Sturmey Archer 3 speed Hub gears. It had a mechanical odometer which worked with a pin attached to a spoke, striking a star-shaped wheel each rotation, to record distance travelled in miles and tenths of miles. I now have a Sigma computer, which although not the most sophisticated, tells me that on my training ride yesterday, I travelled 22.36 km in 1hour 7 minutes and 35 seconds at an average speed of 19.86 km per hour. My maximum speed on that trip was 46.62 km/hour (downhill with a tail wind)!
Although I know the total distance I have done in training, it is somewhat short of what I should have done, but there is still time to fit in some long rides before 13th March! Bruce

Secrets of the knick

Photo : Knicking off on the Great Vic Bike Ride , 2007

Secrets of the Bike Knick : Today's Question You Were Always Too Afraid To Ask is ... What is actually inside a bike knick ? They seem to be constructed to be unnecessarily revealing in some departments and mysteriously padded in others . Should middle aged -to-elderly Rotarians ever wear bike knicks ? Or is the mysterious padding to do with continence ? And are there any undies under those bike knicks ?

Well, we are happy to reveal to you the innermost Secrets of the Bike Knick, only because you are supporters of our Ride to End Polio Now. The bike knick has chamois (pronounced "shammy"- could be true too !) - chamois leather inside , stitched in - to protect and cushion nether regions, and absorb sweat (sorry about that). There are no seams to chafe. Katrina , along with 99.99% of the world's bike riders , maintains that one doesn't wear undies as well -as that would defeat the purpose - ie to have wet cotton next to the skin. Bruce, being a good Rotarian, is modest and always wears undies under his bike knicks . Is this TMI (too much information) ?

Would you like more information on washing bike knicks, design of bike seats , what men should watch out for, and more ? ... Let us know ....