Hammer Man

Hammer Man
Originally uploaded by sense of movement

Race report coming soon...

Freewheels are for P*****s.JPG

Freewheels are for P*****s.JPG
Originally uploaded by sense of movement

(click the link for more photos)

Q: Why am I riding a fixed wheel?
A: Because I can!

Busselton is the flattest Ironman course in the world. I doubt many people will be using more than a fraction of their 20 gears in any case! Ok I also need to find a way to get lots of attention without having to go too fast but mainly I just wanted to know what it is like!

I'm riding a 40 : 16 (pictured) which means that the bike goes 5.6m for every pedal revolution. That means I'll pedal around 32 000 revolutions - somewhat higher than 'normal' as I'll be undergeared.
Here is the cadence range I'll be riding:

RPM             80 85 90 95 100
speed(kph)    27 29 30 32 34

Morrison was on his last legs as a rusty red racer when Stuart rescued him and gave him a nice pair of track wheels. Big thanks go to Mr Kane for lending me his bike (and also the 'ironfixi' idea). Training partner Mick helped me out with the pedals and shoes so it was really a team effort to get me to the start line! Thanks to Russel for planting the seed of the idea, to Brenda for all her encouragement and Tony for the runs. I struggle with motivation at times and knowing that so many people are encouraging me and supporting me motivated me far more that the desire to get a fast time. Sure I'd love to go back to Kona one day but that is a story for another day...

Well the santa hat is securely fastened to my helmet and Morrison is all kitted up with silver tinsel. My 'race outfits' are 

I'm as ready as I'm going to be! I've done some good training in the last 6 weeks and I'm prepared for whatever is served up to me through the race :-)

I'm number 120. You can follow my progress at www.ironmanlive.com

I'll see you on the other side of the finish line!

D

Racing Outfit

Today I registered and got my race outfit ready.


Wrisband.JPG Originally uploaded by sense of movement

Here is how it went:

Swim

Endurance Speedos $44.99 (Sports Power - Busselton)


Bike (all items from Raylene at 'King Kong' - Busselton)


Bike Gear.JPG Originally uploaded by sense of movement

Tinsel for Morrison $2.00 x 2
Santa Hat $2.50
Cable Ties $1.50

Run


Run Gear.JPG Originally uploaded by sense of movement

Afro Wig $12.95 (King Kong again - great shop!)
Sunnies $9.95 (Busselton Bags and Accesories)
Sweatband $0.00 (just don't tell Baxter!)
0.7m Silver Chain $5.70 (Mitre 10 - Busselton)


Screen Printing $132 (Juice Print - Busselton)


Total Cost $212.60


Having a good time on race day...


'fro with 'tude.JPG Originally uploaded by sense of movement

... PRICELESS!!!

Race Week

I arrived in Busselton yesterday and am staying with a fantastic couple - Max and Val. They are involved in organising rides for the local club, a local partner dance night and also have a vegetable garden and worm farm so as you can imagine we are getting on really well! Tonight we ate Dew Fish that Max had caught in Geographe Bay with Rhubarb compote for desert. Yum :-)

Here are 2 things I like about the Ironman WA course straight away:

1. The swim is a single lap with a purpose. Not that I have anything against swimming around in circles until the 3.8km have been achieved, just that I prefer a swim where you go somewhere!

On Sunday it will be a trip around the 1.8km jetty - the longest in the southern hemisphere complete with 4 iconic huts and an underwater observatory at the far end.

2. The bike course is a 3 lap course without a hint of a hill and the sweetest hot mix surface you can imagine! This was part of the inspiration for riding a fixed wheel bike! I went out for a spin earlier and the gear seems about right. In the headwind there was a decent amount to push on and in the tailwind it was just spinning out a bit.

Fixi.JPG
Originally uploaded by sense of movement

To be continued...

Tour de Central Coast by Fixi & Ferry

Today was my best training ride so far.

In 10 days time I'm going to ride 180km

(as part of the Busselton Ironman) and I

hadn't ridden over 100km before today.

It was also a great chance to take Morrisson

the Fixi for an outing. I think it was his first

time on the Central Coast...

The real breakthrough was my mental approach.

When you aren't fit and you need to ride 180 km

you need to tailor your approach! Sometimes its

hard to ignore the voice that tells you that you're

feeling great and should 'go for it'! What worked

for me was to just enjoy the experience and stop

for a wee break whenever I felt like it.

Certainly a different mindset than when I was

trying for a Kona Slot!!!

I mapped the route using a great tool

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com
I did it in two chunks so as to omitt the ferry.

Narrabeen to Palm Beach:
http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=2413185

Ettalong to Narrabeen:
http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=2413219

The software has some odd ideas about navigating.
It seemed to think the Old Pac Hwy was one way so
generated some interesting detours! I think I got it
right in the end but I'd be interested to see how a
bike speedo compares to 'as the crow'. It came out

as a total of 165. but I'd like to think it was closer

to the 180 mark and in any case Busso will be less

distance in energy terms so I think I will survive.

The ferry ride is a beaut - $10 from Palmy to Ettalong

and 25 minutes trip time. Ferry timetable is at

www.palmbeachferry.com.au if you are interested.

Carl Honore

This guy has written a couple of really interesting books that I'd like to get my hands on.

He has an interesting perspective on the changing landscape of childhood and makes a strong case from the point of view of common sense. His blog is a great read!

A New Mission

OK guys so here is the scoop.

I've entered an Ironman race in just over 6 weeks time.

On Sunday 7th December I will:

Swim 3.8km (2.4mi)

Ride 180km (112mi)

Run 42km (26mi)

My aims is to complete the event and enjoy every moment of it.

This will be my 5th Ironman start. For the first 3 I tried to go as fast as I could and my times were 9:32 (Forster 04), 9:24 (Forster 05) and 9:33 (Kona 05). The last one (Taupo 07) was 'just for fun' and I came home in 12:44.

This time I'll be doing some preparation so lets see what I can do with the time remaining...

I entered the race yesterday and can feel my focus sharpening.

Now that I have 'definitely committed' myself each day will be a fresh beginning. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Says it better than I could! Right now its 20:32 and I'm going to 'begin' by going to bed!

Thanks to everyone who has encouraged me to pin on a number again!

Dunstan

Save the Murray Darling!

I need your help on this one, there are 2 petitions that I'd like you to sign 'cause I think its a really important cause.
One is through Getup! and the other at rivermurray.com.
They are both quick and easy and don't ask for much information.



When I went to visit Biggsy and the crew for some TI training up in Cunnamulla there had been some pretty massive rainfall and the river was flowing strong! This amount of water is actually really uncommon and hardly any of it will make it out to sea.

It was quite amazing and also quite humbling to discover that this flow up in Queensland becomes the Darling and joins with the Murray that starts in the Snowy Mountains.

The Murray-Darling Basin covers one seventh of the whole of Australia and meets the ocean at Lake Alexandria which is South of Adelaide and just downriver the town of Murray Bridge. It seems like all the land to the West of the Great Dividing Range in 4 states feeds in. There is a good map here.

Well the problem is that water can be really scarce in Australia and there is a huge strain on supplies. Lack of water in the river system brings death and permanent damage to large ecosystems. Seemingly there are political challenges whereby state governments and other organisations have conflicting interests. If you have 5 minutes to spare and can join me in supporting a worthwhile cause I'd be most grateful.

Dunstan

Ladder.JPG

Ladder 4.JPG
Originally uploaded by sense of movement

OK so there is a problem with some of the cables above Huaihai Lu, a busy 5 lane road in downtown Shanghai. So what do you do? Bring out a hydraulic hoist truck, right?

Well wrong actually. In Shanghai this type of job gets the prompt attention of 4 blokes with a standard issue ladder! Unbelievable but true and here are the photos to show how. One guy stood upstream and waved the traffic across into a lane and the others held the base of the ladder. Once they had extended the upper part they leaned it against the cable in question and after a brief discussion along the lines of:

LadderHolder 1: "Hey c'mon Bill, up you go!"
NervousGuy: "How come I have to climb again?"
LadderHolder 2: "Quit whinging and get on with it before the astonished-looking Laowei (whitey) takes too many photos."
NervousGuy: "Aw man, it sucks being the new guy."

NervousGuy then made his way up to the cable, in that unsteady manner well known to those of you who have climbed a bendy, wobbly ladders. At this point the traffic-directing guy gestured that I shouldn't take any (more) photos. Not one to argue, I put my camera away as asked.

On reflecion I guess that there is probably no shortage of people seeking work as ladder holders in China and I'm sure it pays well. To give this team their due, it did seem like a quick and efficient way of getting the job done.

... although the guy at the top looked more unsteady than convinced.

It was hard to see what they were actually trying to do. Hopefully not cutting the cable the ladder was leaning against!

Check out my flickr set for the full sequence...

Back in Sydney

I'm at home in North Narrabeen after an outstanding trip and it feels great to be home. I've been doing a lot of traveling with work during the last year but this trip was mainly about taking some 'time off' and catching up with my friend Beth and my Aunt Christine and her family spanning 3 generations! That said, I did have the fortune to visit the TI Studio in New Paltz and enjoyed some great lake swimming and racing with Terry Laughlin.


View Larger Map

I flew in and out of JFK (New York) with China Eastern and extended the transit in Shanghai to a week long stopover. Hence I spent the last week of July in China and the month of August in the United States.


View Larger Map

I'm still working on the google maps for each country so you can see the places I visited. I've also put some photos on my Flickr site and will post some more as I edit them.

Check back soon or use my RSS feed to stay on the pules!

Dunstan

The Adventure Begins

Leaving Home.JPG
Originally uploaded by sense of movement

I waved farewell to Sarah, Simonne and Baxter and headed off into the damp morning air of Wakehurst Parkway.