The next day I still was feeling ok in the legs but in the second and subsequent days (and even today, can you believe it?) my quadriceps are still quite sore. I opted out of both the Sat AM bike ride with Cyclebuzz (but, in truth, that was more about the weather) and the Perth Half Marathon yesterday. How awesome was Courtney Carter - 67mins (and tracking 32mins at the halfway…geez)

Brownie snaps to Fiona Longden for volunteering on the rego desk at the Perth HM at which I am told up to 900 people ran. Steve Dunn put in a 1hr 44m effort. Sorry mate, I am sure I would have been right alongside you with that effort. Perhaps I can ‘dip my toe in the water’ at the Perth Marathon on 5 July in two weeks time!!

I was so impressed with John Worsfold’s effort last year. Steve reminded me that the Mt Kilimanjaro Marathon entries have just opened with the event being held late February 2010. Yes, I know, I know - I’m washing my hair on that day too!!

Dee and I spent a lot of the weekend studying her new Suunto T4C Heart Rate Monitor instruction booklet.  In time we will buy the foot pod, bike pod, PC pod and GPS armband accessories which will add enormous functionality to it. Even so, the watch has an intuitive coach program that assesses your physical attributes, heart rate and sets your training effort for the next week. Its amazing that our exercise bike was telling us we were burning approx twice the calories that this watch says.

The Painathlon (www.painathlon.com)  is on the horizon at the start of August and it seems as if it will attract record entries in the hundreds. The event is worthy of this popularity but not an effort to underestimate, especially with the Zig Zag addition. I’ve said to Jono Hague that I’ll help out with the next ‘reccy/familiariser’ of stages 5 to 10. Yesterday was the familiariser of stages 1 to 5. Still, there are teams options for the first time so check it out and get on board. Looks like that familiariser will be on Sat 4 July - perfect, relaxing prep for Perth Marathon, n’est ce pas?  Richard Kelly again doing well in West Coast Masters A grade racing at Pickering Brook.

I used my new Nightpro light set on the cycle home last Friday and , at 3 watts, its around 100 lumen and considerably brighter than my Basto light set. Didn’t stop me from nearly skittling a bandicoot on the path just south of South St on the Freeway path. Scared the &%$# out of me!

Friday’s spin session had only around 8 or 9 of us with around 8 people missing. Still, everyone put hard efforts in and well done to Lesley, Brendan, Emily, Norma, Scott and Luke. With a full contingent, we will have Brendan, Liz, Dee, Sarah, Lesley, Emily, Norma, Scott, Luke, Grant, John, Margaret, Scotty, Michelle which makes around 15 of us. Jeff, just let me know if you have any Cyclebuzz folk wanting to give this a go. Even though we aim to start at 7pm, sometimes we don’t get into the Spin room till around that time. In any event, we will always finish around 7.55pm. It’s a great option on a cold wintry day.

Ash told me about an event that’s on in mid November called the Geo Bay Swim. It’s a 19.2km swim from Dunsborough to Busselton Jetty. You don’t end up more than 300metres offshore and powered boats are not allowed as support craft, only skis. Looks like a long-sleeved wetsuit will need to be purchased soon enough.

I’ve put my name down for the July ATTA event at Shenton Park. A pretty hard time trial with a couple of hills. Should keep the ‘fixed wheel’ cyclists at bay! By the way, if any of you know of options to convert my Colnago to a fixed wheel setup (or of a cheap fixed wheel commuter bike) please let me know, thanks.

Finally, we should be able to field a team of 8 in this Sunday’s Cyclosportif 78km effort. This entails 5 laps of a 15+km circuit around the Herne Hill area and is pretty flat. We then have some exciting track racing to watch at the Midvale Speeddome starting at 11.30am with some of the best track riders around Australia.

Let’s hope its not torrential conditions like it has been for the last 2 years. Looks like it will be wet though!!

I’ve got to stop challenging female cyclists - they just keep getting quicker. If its not Lorraine Shutz, its Davina Summers (and another random commuter between Canning Bridge and Mt Henry the other day!)

Reservoir. Stay happy (or, alternatively, continue to support West Coast and Fremantle)!! Actually our team at work is lunching at a Noodle House called Win’s. Hopefully our WCE and Freo supporters will tag along…..as its the only Win they’re going to see for some time!!!

Been a long time between drinks. I didn’t end up doing Cyclosportif Lancelin as we simply didn’t have enough team members. For the upcoming event on 28 June at the Swan Valley, we have a team…..thank God!

This morning, around 10 of us transferred to doing the Cyclebuzz ride. It was a 6.30am start and pretty chilly at around 4C. Beautiful morning though and Troy Coulthard steered the ship. At the corner of Willeri and Roe Hwy, 5 of us turned left onto the Roe Hwy path up to Welshpool Rd and back again to the Cyclebuzz shop. It was solid time trialling and around 20kms extra that was a good sharpener.

Last night, I was coaching week 2 of 10 of my Friday night Spin Cycling class at Pure Fitness gym. There were around 14 of us and the class is pretty much full at the moment. Its a great vibe and I only charge $5 per person per class. I can’t see me doing a good time in next week’s Perth Half Marathon. I’d be happy with a time better than 1hr 45min but pretty poor preparation.

I’m still on track for my Ironman WA team to do both the swim and run. I’m also going to do the Painathlon (www.painathlon.com) in early August 2009. for the second time. An extra stage has been added up the Zig Zag at Kalamunda…..so there’s more pain. Give yourself a real physical challenge and do this thing. Sign up in next few days to get an earlybird discount.

I’m wanting to buy a fixed wheel commuter bike but it may cost a little. I’ve signed up to do the Shenton Park time trial cycling event in July. My diet is pretty much non existent. Truth be told, I’m still in hiatus from the half ironman at Busselton. There’s now just under 6mths till Ironman WA. And as I was cycling along Roe Hwy path I was reminded about all the long, lonely runs up till Kenwick Link from Canning Vale. Such a bloody long way.

I watched the Carlton vs St Kilda footy match last night. My Blues unlucky but on the way up. The Forrest Hwy (Perth to Bunbury ) will open mid August 2009. Potentially, a huge line of unbroken bike path to add.

I was marshalling at the Champion Lakes 20km cycling time trial last week. An interesting perspective to help out rather than to just compete. I’ve been reading Cam Meyer’s cycling blog about his Giro experience. A great read

I had a great line the other day. Next Friday is apparently ‘Purple Bra’ day as a fundraiser. I was quizzing workmates on where I’d find a purple bra…..and , of course the Freo Dockers came to mind. Harsh but fair!

Reservoir Amoebas

CHRISTO

On 10 May 2009, as a 45yo bloke, I achieved a milestone that encourages and enthuses me both as an athlete and as a cyclist. For a 20km time trial at Champion Lakes in Western Australia, I achieved a 40kph average speed. Dead on! Now for just over a third of the field who achieved this and better, its likely no big deal.

But for me, for the last 2 years, this is an achievement I’ve aspired to and its great to think that in middle age, you can actually get better at something.

I will be starting a Spin class at my local gym from Friday 5 June to Friday 7 August inclusive. It will be 7 to 8pm and I will charge the massive amount of $5 per session to cover the cost of hiring the spin room. I already have 14 people on board and I can take up to a max of 19. If you want to jump on board (and Pure Fitness gym in Canning Vale suits you as a venue) then phone me on 0420414163. But don’t wait too long. Once the spots are full, they’re full. These sessions will be as fun as I can make them but lets not forget you still need to work hard.

This weekend, the cyclosportif is in Lancelin which is a fair hike and this will be the first time our BFSR guys have skipped on one.

Still running on Tuesdays for a 19km effort in Canning Vale. Also on Wed 5.30pm from Belltower, anticlockwise around Bridges.  Swimming not yet on board but will need to crank up soon enough.

Good training and health to all of you

Reservoir

CHRISTO

The Busselton Half Ironman 2009 was huge. There was a total of 1100 individuals and 300 teams. We set off from Perth on the Friday. I was going to leave at 6am to get to Busselton in time for the practice swim at 10am but ended up leaving Perth at 10.30am instead. We saw the ‘Centre of the Universe’ roadhouse at Lake Preston which is owned by Bob who won the recent Biggest Loser competition in Australia.

We saw a girls whose Barina had broken down at the Settlers Roadhouse and she had a bike in the boot so hopefully, thanks to the arrival of an RAC towtruck, she made it to Busselton. We arrived at Beachlands Resort in Busselton after seeing a veritable procession of cars on the way down with bikes on racks or roofs. Our cabin was almost brand new and the resort was very nice and close to the beach. We set off to Barnard Park to buy some Busselton Half Ironman merchandise. We had a pizza and coffee at the Vasse cafe in town and met up with our friends Brendan and Liz to check bikes in. I had my bike Sparkles. Liz had her brand new $7500 Cervelo P3 and the event was to be her first use of the bike.

I fidgeted a bit that evening and we all ate some spaghetti bolognaise that Dee brought down. We stayed up till around 10.30pm and all slept pretty well till around 5am. We got some porridge, muffins and milo in us and got to Barnard Park around 6am. I laid everything out at my bike, stocked up my drink bottles and gave my tyres one last nervous check. I had new aquasphere goggles, an Orca Sonar long sleeve wetsuit and some lanolin cream smeared on my face, hands and feet. The jellyfish were said to be everywhere. As the elite/open group departed, it was noted that they copped a fair few jellyfish welts. Thankfully, they had cleared most of these jellyfish away from groups that followed. I managed a swim that was 4mins quicker than I thought. I spent around 6mins in transition so to say I pfaffed around a bit is a massive understatement. I was hoping to trial on my bike in around 36kph for the 90kms and was just a few minutes away from this at 2hr33mins. My run was around 10mins slower than its been in previous years but my bike was markedly quicker. I’m not sure what the incidence of drafting was but I know the chief tech official did all he could to weed this out. Anyone drafting does so completely against the spirit of individual challenge that characterises this event.

I still managed to be 6mins quicker than I’ve done this event before. Dee’s team finished in around 5hrs 30mins. A guy called Michael Frieberg did a team bike leg in just over 2hrs. Quite astonishing! Congrats to Luke Mackenzie and Charlotte Paul, the winners. Congrats also to Brynt McSwain and Lajos Varga who finished in the top 5 and who also do the Front Runner training with Raf Baugh and Ray Boyd.

We had a great night after the event and all 9 of us vowed to put 3 teams into Ironman WA. Can’t leave well enough alone!! We later went with Brendan and Liz to a great restaurant called Relish on Caves Road just south of Dunsborough. I am still chasing the elusive sub 5hr result. It will come one day.

I had a tough cycling training session tonight with Richard Kelly and Brendan MsSweeney. I will do the final time trial of the season at Champion Lakes on Sunday for a 20km effort.

Arsenal lost to Man Utd. D’oh.

I will run a Spin Session on Fridays at 7.30pm at a gym called Pure Fitness. My thanks to Astrid for helping me out with this. I can take a maximum of 20 people and I was involved previously for 18mths doing this. It works well and I’ll only charge $5 per person per session payable as an amount of $50 up front to ensure I’m not out of pocket. So it starts on 5 June so email me on christo64@live.com if you want a spot saved for you for this 10 week block. You’ll work hard, its a non threatening, safe environment and loads of fun (but clearly some hard work is involved)

I am still on board for cyclosportif (www.cyclosportif.com.au)  which is on at Lancelin for a plus 100km effort on 17 May. An undulating course.

We also plan some treks on the Bibbulmun Track shortly and the next running event will be the Perth Half Marathon on 21 June in around 7 weeks time.

Reservoir amoebas.

CHRISTO

I’ve just been for a training ride on the old Colnago for 2hrs down a bikepath along a freeway and there were so many dragonflys. I’ll never forget I found a couple of these critters wedged in my aero bike helmet. Gross!

I’ve done a few swims now at a rate of around 1min per 50metres for around 40 laps. I still find this a very taxing activity and much harder comparatively than cycling or running. I’m sure not everyone experiences swimming this way.

We are all set up now for Busselton Half Ironman on 1 May with accommodation at Beachlands Resort. I have the bike nearly ready. I’ll buy some pitstop for around $20 to put in my valve if I puncture (as I have tubular tyres that glue on and are, essentially tyre and tube built into one).

I’ll get my cluster cleaned on the Gravity Zero wheel but its only one or two cluster rings that need cleaning. The chain needs a clean but really the bike is ready to go. I’ve done my 160km time trial on it and lots of time trials this season with ATTA (Australian Time Trials Association). There are many time triallists who travel at 40kph or better but I know that won’t be me. I will be very happy to get a 2hr 30min time for 90kms but this will mean good fitness, form and the discipline not to try to smash the first lap as I have done previously.

Its been pretty busy on the home front. I think I mentioned that I sent a Twitter follow to 180 people with the family name of Christiansen like me. I suggested a convention of Christiansens until someone told me there were around 40,000 of them in the Denmark phone directory. Perhaps scrap the convention idea!

The Carlton Football Club had a great win against the Western Bulldogs (Australian Rules Football) so they now sit third on the ladder. Just thought I’d throw it in there randomly. I want to promote the Friggin Loon. A very funny person who finds the funniest, weirdest stories from around the world. There’s also a bunch of great videos to watch (try the Japanese game show, Human Tetris. Very, very funny)

In Australia, we have had a spate of $30 one way airfares from Perth to Melbourne and Perth to Adelaide. Unbelievably cheap! They tend to sell quickly and via Tiger Airways.

In a few weeks, my younger brother John will be doing his first marathon, The Great Ocean Road Marathon on Victoria’s south coast. Its a hard run to launch an initiation into marathon running but he’ll do it.

Its been a very relaxing weekend with swimming and cycling. I’ll do a very light run today and another 40laps of swimming. I know I should be working in a taper but I’ll do a 6km tomorrow and commute to and from work on my bicycle till Thursday.

I will prepare my usual checklist for Busselton Half Ironman on my next blog entry. Keep checking www.triwa.org.au on the Busso Half Ironman thread for updates.

I have to say that on Saturday morning (very early) there were a couple of hundred cyclists, most of whom I figured were out on some last minute training for Busso. Just a short while ago, someone yelled out ‘Gidday Christo’ from the steady line of traffic returning from their long weekend break. Have no idea who it was!!

I have decided on the City to Surf Half marathon at end August. The next cycling event is Lancelin on 17 May.

We nearly caught a young kids trying to break into cars outside our house. 4.30am in the morning…and he looked around 14 yo I reckon.

Bring on the stimulus payment. I have already formulated at least a dozen items I’d like to buy.

Cheers

CHRISTO

Last Tuesday, had a great run with Rodrigo on our usual 7.30pm effort for 19kms. We took over 3.5mins off our best time on the first 9.5kms. Cycle commuting to work all week. On Thursday, went with a couple of mates on a training ride for around 70kms, Friday I went on a 130km ride including a lap around the Mundijong Rd/Hopelands time trial circuit. Saturday was the usual 60km bunch ride. That just leaves yesterday’s 160km time trial. I have to say its one of the harder events I’ve done on the bike. The road surface is pretty dead and bone-jarring. To get over 2×40km laps realising you’re only half way is demoralising and there is a huge temptation to finish at that point. I persevered to get a 32.4kph average which I was happy enough with. Its been over 500kms of cycling this last week so I’ll look forward to getting a bit of extra running and swimming in over these last 2 weeks.

We met up with Dee’s Busso Half Ironman team last night at a restaurant called Valentino’s in Northbridge and it was a great evening. It’s going to be a huge event with 2000 competitors in the individual and team categories. I think the Busso Jetty is under renovation and closed so spectating will be a little different for people this year.

The Blues lost again but we’re still 5th on the ladder so it’s still very early days. I think after Busso I’ll set my sights on the Perth City to Surf Half Marathon then I will be part of a team for Busselton Ironman again, as runner. Our cyclist is aiming to go better than 40kph so he’s aiming for a huge effort. We need to find a swimmer but there’s no rush.

Reservoir

CHRISTO

Busselton Half Ironman is getting real close now. I spent yesterday swimming at Port Beach and just relaxing (for about 5 hrs in all). On Thursday, I had a hard cycling session with 2 guys who are a bit better than me (one an A grade crit rider and the other did an Ironman 180km ride at 39kph). So its an understatement to say I worked hard to stay with them. Still, it makes me stronger.

Today, I did the usual group ride and shot past one guy going 57kph on a sprint we do at a place called Shelley foreshore. Now, I only held the sprint for 15sec but that’s not the point. There was no counter-attack and he has a $10000 Equinox TTX with all the bling.

Tomorrow we have over 30 family members watching Dee’s Kilimanjaro exploits as well as it being Easter lunch so it will be a hectic day (also fitting in our exercise and Easter mass).

Easter Monday I have an 80km time trial. Now, for those of you that normally cycle in groups, this is hard stuff. Its a 10.3km lap done 8 times and its very tempting to quit at 40kms. On 19 April, I have the 160km time trial so that is a big step up again.  As an aside, I had a good run with Rod Mejias on Tuesday for 19kms and he should also be doing the 80km TT.

I’ll be relying on good diet, solid training and my Gravity Zero wheels to push me a bit harder than I’ve been travelling. On the www.atta.asn.au website the results from yesterday are already in and Matt Illingworth was a non-starter (not surprising after getting the bike prime in the Australian Ironman at Port Macquarie. He’s an awesome cyclist)

I still weigh around 79kgs so I’m hoping to drop 1kg each week now for the next 3 weeks. My wife’s Busselton Half Ironman team now has a replacement cyclist so its all systems go. I have a workmate who has registered a team called ‘Stimulus Package’. Just a great name.

I want to publicly acknowledge and thank Paul McCartney from Bikeforce Southern River (just around the corner from me) He’s been a great help and support to me in my cycling and endurance training. We had our last cyclosportif ride (www.cyclosportif.com.au)  in Margaret River and it was our last as the Bikeforce Southern River team as sponsored by him. A hard ride in which our team placed 10th out of 26 teams. I think we’ll travel harder and faster at Lancelin (however the half dozen teams that were missing-in-action at Margz will no doubt be there for the 105km Lancelin ride in mid May as well.

Great weather in Perth Western Australia. Around 30 to 33C. Had a bushfire close to our place today however some helitankers snuffed it out pretty quickly.

I just registered on Twitter (http://twitter.com/christo64) but I’m still trying to figure out its intrinsic value, its allure, its purpose in my life. Actually, twitter golfers is a great site to visit as well!

I trust all the zombies at Jacob’s ladder are hard at it. The Central Park Tower Stairclimb approacheth!!

Remember - dyslexics have more nuf!

Regards

CHRISTO

Its been a while between drinks. I had a 20km time trial today on the bike. Considering my last effort at Neerabup was 37.2kph average, today’s effort at 38.1kph average was a minor improvement. Its difficult to assess over a much shorter distance. I have a 16km TT at Bibra Lake on Good Friday which will be a dose of nostalgia, having last done this event around 16 yrs ago.

After that will be an 80km time trial followed by the 160km time trial on 19 April. This is only 2 weeks before Busselton Half Ironman but I want to make amends for the 31kph average I set in my last 160km time trial due to breaking my aero bars into the second lap.

Managed just under 30mins of swimming this weekend and no running. My next 5 weeks will be catching up on some running and swimming. I had Darlington Half Marathon last weekend and my time of 1hr 43mins was around a minute slower than last year’s time (but no granny walks or other injuries so its all good)

I’ve been doing a mid week ride on Thursdays with a couple of friends and this has been at a solid pace. My weight at present is still around 79.5kgs so I have around 1kg a week to lose in the next 5 weeks. Carlton’s big win over Richmond won me some money and was emphatic leaving us on top of the AFL ladder. The Eagles lost and Dockers aren’t currently looking convincing.

I will travel down to Margaret River for the cyclosportif event next weekend. This will be 99kms of team riding but we only have around 5 or 6 riders. Will stay at a big guesthouse but will need to leave early on Sunday morning.  Lots of swimming events, triathlons, cycling events and WA Marathon club events on at the moment. Perth is a great place for cross training in these disciplines.

I will get back into the Front Runner training on Thursday and am still doing the 80min brick session running on Tuesday evenings after my 1hr cycle home.

RESERVOIR

CHRISTO

The last gasp of Perth’s summer (even though its Autumn) today with 37C. Today was the State 40km Individual Time Trial Championship and there was a veritable truckload of very fast cyclists out there. I was very happy to not only get over the magic 36kph but to up the ante a little for 37.2kph average over the 40km distance. My last of 4 laps was a good 20secs quicker than the first 3 so was very happy with what amounted to a hard-earned negative split.

Congrats to Matt Illingworth on breaking the event and course record with a blistering 46.5kph average. There was an unbelieveable number of riders out there today with averages over 40kph including a large percentage of them in the ‘veterans’ category. This gives me no excuse and, interestingly, a great deal of heart that there is room for improvement and that I am improving.

I haven’t heard how the Australian OD Championship triathlon at Perth went today but Annabel Luxford and Erin Densham there among the females with Kate Bevilaqua using this as a training hitout before her assault on IMOZ at Pt Macquarie.

A lot of the Front Runners squad did a ‘reccy’ of the half marathon course yesterday for in preparation for next Sunday’s Darlington Half Marathon over the 21.1km distance.  Yesterday, I had a good hitout with the Bikeforce Southern River crew for the usual 60km ride. Not sure what time we finished in but we had some Veterans riders along with us along Mt Pleasant Esplanade and Shelley foreshore run.

They peeled off left over Riverton Bridge. The BFSR riders finished off at Dome at Canning Vale and we made plans to form our Cyclosportif team for the first event at Margaret River on 5 April. This is a 99km distance and there is a social ride on the Sunday between Augusta and Margaret River. Should be an interesting start to the season.

On the sporting scene (and this will be understandably brief) the Blues went down to the Dockers (makes me sad just typing it!) however the Gunners had a solid 4-0 win over Blackburn and Liverpool were good enough to beat Man Utd 3-1.

To those of you doing the Freeway Bike Hike on Sunday 22 March, ride safely and be prepared for sudden slowdowns if riding in a big pack.  Also, to those of you doing your first triathlon at the annual Freo Corporate Triathlon on the same date, best of luck. Enjoy the day!!

I have to comment on the day I had yesterday after the morning bike ride. i sat down and watched the Foxtel ‘Sound Relief’ concert in aid of both the Queensland floods and the Victorian bushfires. So many memorable moments. Where to begin? I thought there were many, many highlights…..so I’ll highlight them. Coldplay and John Farnham together for ‘You’re the Voice’, Kylie Minogue’s version of ‘I Still Call Australia Home’, the Hunters and Collectors punchy sound after all these years, the Split Enz reunion featuring a couple of my faves in ‘Shark Attack’ and ‘I See Red’ (complete with a cameo of Red Symons walking across stage. Fantastic!), The Presets ‘ All of my People’ was an absolute showstopper  with the young fans heaving in rapturous synchronicity, The Hoodoo Gurus ‘Whats my Scene’, Colplay’s Chris Martin’s amazing random run into the audience literally disappearing under all the fans, the Bliss and Eso specatular hiphop (’hell yeah’), the special address from Princes Harry and William, the $300000 earned by the little koala. As a self-avowed Midnight Oil fanatic, I have to admit to doing a few dances to the Oils at the end. As happy as I was to see them, I am realistic enough to know I may never seem them perform again. As a young 16 to 17yo I went to many Uni gigs, the Astor Theatre, etc nearly catching a few of Rob Hirst’s drumsticks. Simply a great, great band. King of the mountain really resonated.

It’s been a great weekend but I have to get some running in this week and some swimming.  I am still hopeful of a sub 1hr40m half marathon but its a challenging course heading out.

I have my AFL Fantasy team selected and on March 28, two fabulous events: the end of daylight saving and the beginning of the AFL season proper.

I have to share with you a very funny game show called ‘Human Tetris’ in Japan. Check out the Friggin’ Loon website for some very funny video footage. Crazy Japanese, just crazy.

Well, thats it - I’m spent! What a weekend! A real overload of the senses but ecstatically so. Let’s have so many more concerts like Sound Relief.  Train hard, eat well, sleep well.

Reservoir

CHRISTO

Accommodation booked at Beachlands. Starting some 80min runs now. Swimming still has a fair bit to go. I’d like to think I can knock off 1.9km swimming strongly and between 35 to 40mins. The bike continues to be the challenge. Can I get an average better than 36kph? I’ve been very close with the ATTA events so this encourages me. Went in the BRW Triathlon in Perth but a very average performance I’m afraid. I’ve been happy with my cycling at least but a hot weekend awaits (33C Sat 14/3 and 38C on Sun). I’ve mapped my run from home to our 40min point. Its just on 8kms and I have it saved under ‘Paul Christiansen’ as a Canning Vale run.

I already have a team together for next year’s Rottnest Channel swim. Just under 5kms for each of 4 team members. And we have a boat lined up too!! Perhaps this is a little over-exhuberant. Nah!!

Darlington Half Marathon awaits and there’s a fair few of us aiming to sneak under 1hr 40mins so we may even form a ‘bus’ for this time. ( nb A bus is marathon parlance for a group of people that aim to run together for a common time/result)

I’m also looking forward to some 80km time trials coming up soon. Unfortunately, I’m still weighing in at 82kgs but its my aim to shed one kilogram for each week leading up to Busso. Let’s see (he says after scoffing a double quarter pounder meal from McDonalds!!!! Doh!!!

Getting a valve replaced on one of my tubular Gravity Zero wheels. I hope Mr Ingpen has a minute or two spare to help me so I can use it on Sunday for the 40km TT at Wandi. Its State Championships but I’m around 10kph slower than guys like Matt Illingworth.  I’m hoping for a Steven Bradbury moment…en masse.

As a Blues supporter, I’m hoping we get across the Dockers but, in truth, we did pretty well against Geelong in the NAB Cup. If you’re a Roma supporter, I’d like to offer my condolences, but as an Arsenal supporter, I’m clearly also thumbing my nose at our 7-6 win on penalties in UEFA Champions League.

Adios amoebas. Don’t forget to check out the Friggin’ Loon. Impossible to explain, just read it. Very edgy take on current events.

CHRISTO