Vindicated

“They are all idiots” said my surgeon. I was explaining about how much flack I get about riding my bike long distance, but have trouble standing and walking. “Riding your bike is the best thing you can do” he said.

ACC have declined my claim again for the fourth time, because – get this – I am too active (amongst other reasons). Doesn’t that strike you as contradictory that they reckon I have degeneration, but am also too active!!

I’ve had enough; I’m getting this cartilage tear fixed if I have to find the money myself. So in a month’s time, 20 months after the accident that caused it, I’ll finally have normal knees again.

Sunrise on the hills on leaving Hanmer Springs.

It hasn’t stopped me however. I rode home from seeing the doctor in Christchurch, a mere 535kms in 3 days. Day one: from my Mothers place south of Christchurch through the city – which was weird as they had rebuilt the place after the earthquake so much, that none of the roads looked familiar, as they had different buildings on them and I thought I must have gone the wrong way. Anyway I got through to the northern towns and on to Hanmer Springs. It was raining and very cold there, and you could even see your breath. I had a cabin booked there at the camp ground and got warm, fed and rested after 160kms. Day two: was an early start as I had a big day ahead of me of constant up and down hills – I counted 30 hills by the end of the day.

Tired and having a rest and food at Maruia Springs restaurant.

 After finally summiting Lewis Pass I was shaky with fatigue and lack of food, so stopped at the very beautiful Maruia Springs restaurant for lunch. I have to admit I was rather saddle sore today, but 8 applications of my best friend – anti chaff – and I was able to keep going to Murchison and a ride of 180kms. Day three: Murchison to home sounds easy enough, but I was sick of the traffic and decided to take the ‘dry weather road’ to Tapawera. It was rough and corrugated on my skinny road tires, but I got through without getting a pinch puncture on the stones. From Tapawera it is a bit further home than if I had stayed on the main road, so after135kms I arrived home tired but very pleased with myself.

Kawatiri Junction - just before the dry weather road.

With that effort, I’m halfway to being fit enough for the Paris / Brest / Paris. I need to be able to 1000kms in 3 days. I still don’t know if I can do that, but then a year ago I wouldn’t have been able to ride 535kms in 3 days.

I can now plan my next year or so of cycling. Riding the length of Australia may be a possibly in late winter to set us up for spring fitness, and the qualifiers for the Paris / Brest / Paris next year.

ACC staff are all idiots, but my doctor and I aren’t and riding my bike is the best thing I can do. So why can’t I get any of my cycling friends to do a 200km ride with me?

Food and a rest - what every long distance rider looks forward to.

I hate ACC.

You know I just wish people would think before they opened their mouths to speak.

Do I sound annoyed? Well yes, you could say that.

It’s been 18 months now since I had a bad accident on my bike in Vietnam. And I have been battling ACC this whole time to accept my claim for a cartilage tear in my knee.  Now for those of you who don’t know what ACC is, it is an entitlement to all New Zealanders to treatment after an accident. Entitlement – not a gift that you have to prove yourself worthy of – an entitlement. ACC insists that my cartilage tear is degeneration. I have a letter from my surgeon saying I have no degeneration, I have photos of the inside of my knee taken after surgery to show it is a ‘perfect’ knee, and I fit into their own description of a sports induced trauma, but do you think that changes their mind? No. I have a lawyer battling them and I’ve had a trial hearing, but I still suffer constant pain while they deliberate and procrastinate.

Now 18 months is a long time for my other knee to take all my weight. Standing at the counter at work for 6 to 8 hours a day on one leg isn’t easy – try it and you will find out. If the frustration of ACC and the pain and discomfort of standing one legged for so long isn’t bad enough, I’ve just had 3 weeks of working, and standing one legged for 5 days a week instead of the usual 2, as a colleague is away. So the consequence of this is that my ‘good knee’ is now so strained and inflamed that is ‘burning’ and I cannot put any weight on it. So I have one knee with a cartilage tear that won’t support me, and the other knee is now so wrecked with pain that it won’t support me either. Now this is where the frustration really lies. I need to sit on a stool at the counter at work, use a walking stick to walk and pop Anti-inflammatories to cope with the pain, BUT I CAN ride my bike – very well in fact. Every doctor and specialist I’ve seen, even the emergency one I saw yesterday, all say “get on your bike”.

Swellings and lumps and bumps all around my knees, and all my weight on one leg, t Rabbit Island beach. 

 

Now this is where I’m going mentally spare. Everyone sees a walking stick and I constantly get smart aleck comments. The one that grates the most is: “You won’t be able to ride your bike”. Then there’s the other stupid ones like: “Where’s your skis”, and “Don’t hit me”. Do they make stupid comments to older people with a walking stick? No they assume something is wrong, why don’t they assume the same with me?  

And yes someone with a  walking stick can ride a bike, can ride a bike really well, even if they can barely walk, what is more it is doctor’s orders to ride a bike. So think before you open your mouth.

And I challenge all of you to stand on one leg for 8 hours 5 days a week.    

How it feels to ride 225km non stop.

I know a lot of people can’t understand or relate to long distance cycling. I don’t blame them; I would feel the same way if I wasn’t doing it myself.

It was Niel’s birthday this week and therefore his choice of where to go for a bike ride. He has chosen some hard and awful rides over the years and he knows I can’t say no to them because it’s his birthday and his choice. So I was a little bit worried about what this one would be. His choice was to do his favorite 225km ride but in reverse so that I didn’t have to ride up to St Arnaud, but instead it would be down from St Arnaud. The ride went from home in Brightwater to Motueka, down the Motueka river valley to Tapawera, on the quiet back roads through Tadmor and over the 15kms of ‘dry weather’ gravel  road  that comes out on the south side of Hope Saddle, onto Kawateri Junction, St Arnaud and finally down ( but still over 2 large hills) back to Brightwater. Having just successfully finishing this birthday ride, I thought I would tell you how it feels to actually ride for 12 and ½ hours virtually non - stop.

 

The old railway line with a town called 'Kiwi' used to run along this quiet back road.

My workmates don’t really understand why I need time to recover. Well it’s not surprising really, none of them do any strenuous exercise, but I’m not writing this to show off, merely to help them and you to understand.

With all things, the more you do them, the easier it gets. A year ago, I would never have believed you, if you said I’d be cycling this far in one day, and I’ve only just begun on this long distance journey.

The first 75kms you feel magic, nothing is hard, you frequently over take other cyclist with ease, there is no need to stop unless it is a ‘call of nature’. But by 75kms you need to eat, and eat well to sustain that feel good feeling. I have allergies to lots of foods so I tend to eat gluten free muesli bars with a pottle of yogurt and a chocolate bar and a drink with sugar in it, it is also a good time to reapply anti chaff cream and pop an anti-inflammatory for my problem feet.

Just a quick word here – anti chaff cream or chamois cream is essential. A wee niggle at 75kms can turn into unbearable pain without cream in a very short time. It is very possibly my best friend and I don’t leave home without it. Constant bottom wiggles and getting down on to the drop bars can also relieve the pressure on your nether regions. And a comfortable bike and saddle is essential. (That doesn’t mean a big chunky saddle – I couldn’t think of anything worse – that wouldn’t give any part of your nether regions a break from being in contact with the saddle at any time) – I mean a female saddle that you feel comfortable on all day.

Passing the 100km mark and still feeling good is a boost mentally. Actually a lot of long distance riding is mental.  How about riding for 11 hours and you get to a big hill? Well that is when your head takes over. The voice in your head is always there telling yourself you can do it. You can do that hill; you can do that gravel road.

 

Niel on the gravel section at the 100km mark.

By now my feet are hurting, from a combination of hot feet, and my bone and nerve problems. I have had this problem for many years and learnt coping mechanisms for when the pain comes on. If you can only stop for a few seconds – pop an anti – inflammatory pill, if you can stop for a couple of minutes then take your shoes off and rub some anti – inflammatory cream into your feet and change from the clipped in side on the pedal to the flat side, and ride moving your foot around into different positions and then when the pain has diminished  do the same thing with the other foot, always keeping one foot clipped in, so that you don’t lose the pedal rhythm  of clipped in feet.

By the time you get to 150kms, you need to eat again, it is essential, even if you are not hungry. If you ignore this need to eat you will ‘hit the wall’ big time, and be stuck in the middle of nowhere too tired to move. Always take emergency food like muesli bars and chocolate, but nothing beats real food like a hot pie (I take the pastry off and spoon out the meat filling) or cold cooked sausages, and more sugary drinks. It is amazing how much your energy returns after eating. And of course reapply your best friend of anti – chaff.

By now you should be feeling good still, but no longer ‘magic’. Use every trick to keep feeling good, use the drops to change position on down-hills and to go fast. Use small gears on the hills and simply spin your legs to prevent cramp setting in. And drink – a lot – all the time. Water keeps cramp at bay and you will simply need it due to hours of exertion and dehydration from the wind. That voice is back – you CAN keep going, you CAN go faster, and the more you do it, the more you CAN do it.

The last 20kms are when you tire, you know you are going to make it, and your body just sort of does a big physical sigh. That is when you start feeling all the discomforts and pains that you have been ignoring with the help of the voice in your head. It is a case of counting down those last few kilometers, and I often do them quite fast to get them over with, after all you can collapse on a comfy chair when you get home, the faster you ride the sooner you will be in that comfy chair. And when you get home; immediately you feel that buzzy feeling - like a freshly opened bottle of fizzy drink. A natural high that stays with you for the next few hours, until tiredness overcomes you and you can’t keep your eyes open.

And you do need to recover, all the books and magazine articles on training recommend that you stretch when you finish a ride to prevent cramp, but being the women in the house I am too busy making a meal, and stretching never happens; and therefore in bed that night I always get cramp and toss and turn and don’t sleep well – I stretch before I leave on a ride – I MUST remember to stretch on return.  There are not many sports that are as full on for so long as long distance cycling. Iron man events, epic multi - sport events, mountain climbing are a few but there’s not many. And yes they also need periods of rest and recovery. So next time I get asked to cover someone at work straight after a mammoth bike ride, I hope they can see why I night say no, and be a bit more understanding.   

Greymouth 200km event.

Christmas is over for another year thank goodness; we managed to escape into the hills and then got lost – literally. The track we were following turned into a ridiculously steep firebreak, but we could hear vehicles on a road, so we reasoned that if we kept going in the direction of the road noise, then we must surely emerge somewhere. After 6 hours (when we were only supposed to be away for 3 hours) we finally emerged out of the bush. It was a late turkey meal at 10pm, but at least we know we burnt off enough calories to justify going to bed with full stomachs.

Climbing up onto Barnicott ridge.

Looking down onto Nelson city and the Boulder bank from the top.

 

After working all the statutory holidays I was looking forward to a 200km event on the first Saturday in the New Year. It had been raining virtually non-stop for the whole silly season, so I was psyched up to ride for 12 hours in the rain, but the day luckily dawned clear and with no wind, and stayed that way all day. It was perfect cycling weather as it wasn’t hot or cold.

Lake Brunner and 'Dax' my bike.

 

When do you know when it’s time to try a 250km ride? When the 200km ride you are doing feels too short. 

For the 2 weeks before the event, the organizer kept emailing me to check what sort of riding I do, where I go, and what distances do I ride. I felt like I was being interrogated a bit with the insinuation that this is a 200km ride, not 100. I can’t help but feel like I’m being judged, as I’m sure Niel wouldn’t get this scrutiny if it was him doing the ride.

Duncan (the organizer) and I at the 100km mark.

 

Anyway, at the 100km mark, I was as fresh as a daisy and full of chatter, Karen (my support person) who met me there with a thermos of soup, said the organizers face was astounded. I didn’t notice his expression, but I think she was right. I met him for the last time 5kms leaving the town of Hokitika, as he was heading into Hokitika; and he did look amazed that I was so much ahead of him. 200kms ticked off – the next challenge is 250kms, on my way to building up to 300kms.

‘Dax’, my new long distance bike, was perfect in every way. Fast up hill, fast downhill, comfortable for all day in the saddle, and at the finish, no part of my body hurt – tired yes, but not sore.

The accomplishment feeling afterwards, is one of the reasons we do long distance riding. Is it the Endorphins? Is it Adrenalin? I don’t know, but it is addictive. It’s like being high on life. And you wonder why others don’t do it. I know I’d be a different person without this natural high and pride in myself, I think I’d be a more depressed person. I feel like I’m living rather than simply existing.

'Dax' my new Audax bike.

It’s Christmas time again. People either love or hate Christmas. For some it is a reminder of sad times and missing someone, or simply the huge expectations we are put under to provide presents for all and sundry, and heaps of food and drink, and still stay on a budget financially. I was speaking to Karen our neighbor and she absolutely hates Christmas. All our friends are childfree, so like us – there is no point to Christmas. I know I’m not the favorite aunty to my nieces and nephews because I don’t give presents, but I’m not bowing down to consumerism just to make them happy. While people are under stress all around me, I am calm and collected and I intend to stay that way.

Niel getting my new bike home.

All I do for Christmas is go to the movies the one and only time I do that in the year, have the smell of Christmas lilies in the house, and I might have a Christmas ham or turkey – why not? But this year – purely by accident really, I have a new bike.

My touring bike, which I love, is too heavy for long distance audax events where every minute counts, and my carbon fiber road bike is too light – it just wouldn’t take the knocks and hard life of endurance riding on rough roads and hitting unseen obstacles at night and possible patches of gravel. So I introduce ‘Dax’ my new long distance / touring / bunch riding bike. I won’t bore you with the details, but it is the New Zealand brand of ‘Avanti’, and it is partly aluminum and partly carbon fiber and I love it. It is the perfect hybrid of lightness for speed and handling, and strength for taking the hard life of audax and touring.

'Dax' my new Audax bike. 

 

Actually virtually the same thing happened last year, when I finally got my touring bike (that was stolen in Vietnam), replaced just before Christmas. I hope I’m not setting a precedent.

We rode into Nelson to get our movie tickets, and saw a seal pup on the cycle track. In all the times we have ridden that track – we have never seen that before. It was very cute with huge eyes. Then a bit further on we got stopped and photographed and interviewed about our usage of the track as the paper were writing a story about the cycle trail. Maybe we will be in the paper yet again. I think that would be the 7^th time we have been in the paper as a result of cycling!

 

Anyway we went to the movie theatre to get some tickets to see the latest Hobbit film. You would think that the movie industry wants to make money wouldn’t you? Well apparently not. The Hobbit movie hasn’t quite started yet, so I couldn’t buy the tickets in advance. I suggested that I buy gift vouchers and I phone in to book when it is showing. No, you cannot use gift vouchers to book a seat over the phone, even though they are giving away free passes to see the movie on the radio. Get this: I have to phone on the Tuesday before the week I want to see it and only after 5 pm and only use a credit card to book it. As Niel says” Do I need to have my mother holding my hand too” How totally ridiculous.

Anyway, for those of you who celebrate Christmas, have a lovely day. For those of you who don’t celebrate Christmas, have a great day off, and for those of you who come from a country that doesn’t celebrate Christmas – well thank you for reading my blog and have a nice day. Cheers everyone. 

I'm now a Randonee.

I have the overnight bag, I have the Randonee stickers on my bike, and I’ve joined an Audax club, and have done excessively long bike rides, so I must be a Randonee now.

Last week I did a 320km ride over two days. It may not have been a huge distance but the gale force headwinds told me otherwise. It was so hard that I was losing my vision and almost blacking out from the sheer exertion. I couldn’t even use my big chain ring in the whole distance, when I turned into a different direction so too did the wind, I only had a tailwind for the last 35kms. I have decided I need a lighter bike for randoneering, so I am looking at turning my carbon fiber bike into a randoneering bike, by making it more comfortable for long distance and changing the wheels from lightweight racing wheels to sturdy wheels that can take the knocks.

 I am undeniably getting stronger, a 200km ride seems quite easy now, and I am looking forward to doing my first official Audax event in January or February. 

getting stronger.

 

 Actually I have been going over my previous trips in earlier years to reacquaint myself with the memories for my book. I thought you might like to see and hear about our first time we saw the Tour de France. It was so exciting I will never forget it.

My trip diary – Tuesday 16^th July 1996

Wow what a day; the Tour de France was fantastic / amazing, I’ll never forget it. We got to the right road and there were Gendarmes stopping traffic and masses of people walking and riding bikes heading towards Hautacam Col. The closer we got, the more people there were, as they converged from all directions. Then we started up the hill. The sides of the road were filled with spectators and the road itself was a mass of cyclists (some riding, lots pushing their bikes) and walkers. We were determined not to walk no matter how hard to got. Just passed half way up, I was streaming with sweat – it was running down my arms and legs, and I saw Niel waiting for me. We decided to stay at that spot as it was perfect; we could see down around several corners and even further down, we could also see up past us uphill. It turned out to be the perfect spot, as the riders looked right through us and up around the corner, but I’m getting ahead of myself here.

We sat there for 2 hours in the heat watching everyone come up. People were draped in flags and singing. Then the promotional vehicles came throwing worthless stuff to the crowds. I got a little flag with ‘champion’ on it, and a blow up thing (I have no idea what it is). Everyone was grabbing for things, waving, and touching the cars. Then came the cars with flashing lights – warning the crowd back and following them came the vehicles with rows of wheels and spare bikes on their roofs, and more flashing lights, the helicopters  were overhead. When the helicopters got closer, we knew the riders were getting closer. And then we saw them, it was so exciting, the crowds were cheering and clapping and shouting and the riders passed within half a meter of us – looking right at us – although they were probably looking around the corner. And then Miguel Indurain looked right at me – what a thrill – I’ll remember it forever. Even Niel was bright eyed and bushy tailed at being looked at by such a cycling legend. It was definitely worth the long wait. It showed us they weren’t supermen and suffered like anyone else.

Miguel Indurain in full flight.

 

Not many people have seen Indurain in full flight, and have photo evidence.

We have seen and done so much by bicycle, and we have so many more adventures to come. I am pleased to have made the transition from racer to tourer to Randonee; life it full of possibilities if you just reach outside of your comfort zone and grasp them.

I'm now a Randonnuer.

We have joined the AudaxUK. It is a long distance cycling club. Audax events are also called Randonee events. You have a specific long distance to achieve, and a cut off time to do it in. Assistance isn’t allowed and you must prove you achieved the distance either by event organizers signing your card and submitting it, or using a GPS as proof, and sending your card off to qualify your ride, before it is sent back to you. It’s a wee bit confusing, I don’t even know if I have it correct in my head, but one thing is for sure, you must belong to an Audax club.

We want to do the Paris /Brest / Paris (PBP). Like the Olympics, it is held every 4 years. It is 1,200kms long and you have 90 hours to achieve that distance, including power naps when possible. It has been going for longer than the Tour de France and open to all Nationalities and it is our next goal to train for. We found doing 170km days carrying 25kgs of weight on our tour, so easy; we thought we’d build on that and become Randonneurs. PBP is the logical goal.

To be accepted as an entrant, you first have to do qualifiers of 200, 300, 400 and 600kms; and these have to be done in the 12 months before the event. The event is in 2015, the qualifiers must be done between August 2014 and August 2015. So we are busy doing rides of 200 to 300kms this summer, as a stepping stone to next year’s bigger distances.

On the way to Kaiteriteri Beach

 

Yesterday I did my first 200km ride. I called it the ‘Tour of Tasman Bay Beaches”. It is amazing what choices of beaches we have available to us in a ride of 50km in one direction and back for lunch, and then 50kms in the other direction and back. We truly live in a slice of paradise here. The first 100kms was easy, but the second 100kms were a struggle at times. I had a dehydration headache which luckily disappeared after drinking enough, and then I had to grovel into a very strong headwind from Nelson out to Cable Bay. Luckily the wind didn’t change and I had a strong tailwind on the return 50kms home, but by then my legs were threatening to cramp on me. I held the cramps at off by drinking heaps and spinning the pedals instead of pushing hard, I got home after being on the bike for 11hours. I’m very proud of myself for doing it, and I can build on that over the summer to be competent at 300kms by autumn.

Kaiteriteri Beach voted NZ's favorite beach.

 



Moteka Beach.



Ruby Bay.

 You may also be interested to know that I’ve started writing a book. It is an autobiography, but with an emphasis on all the crazy, funny, bizarre and interesting things that have happened while living my life on a bicycle. I’m thinking that I might call it: ‘A Wheely Good Life”.

 

 

 

 

Rabbit Island beach - only 10kms from home.  

Tahuna Beach Nelson's main Beach.


 

 

 

 

Cable Bay - where the power cable between the North and South Islands used to come ashore.