Orange Orbea

Getting around on my orange Orbea ....to the pool, to the malls, to the parks, to the gym.

I am constantly amazed by people who park their bikes.. UNLOCKED.
but so safe is Noosa, that everyone feels secure enough to not lock their bikes at public places.
However, i am not taking any chances!

I like my Orbea!
it's cheap, it's heavy(good for training!), it's orange ( one of my favourite colours) and it's comfy.

this weekend is the Noosa Festival. Weekend fun.

lost n found!

this morning was my usual Friday day off from work.
rest n relax....after a short bike n run in the morning of course....no matter what day it is, i always feel better when i exercise in the morning :)
the run was just a short 8km easy pace, just to get my musles warmed up, for another race this Sunday.
a noosa tri club race. format is 500m swim/ 15k bike /4k run..times 2.

whilst running along the lake weyba pathway, i saw a cute little dog tied up by a side branch of a tree.
on the way back , i met the dog again...he was shivering.
I looked round , and shouted " hellooooo" , but no one replied.
Strange, to keep a dog there for almost an hour .
Some passersby came my way, and i decided to ask them for advice.
turned out they were all tourists! a bunch of good that was!
anyway, after waiting there in my running shorts n top for another 20 minutes,
i decided to take the poor doggie home
fed him some water and biscuits ......and he gave me some poo as present. NICE!!!!!!!!!!.......NOT!
i quickly showered, dialled the RSPCA nearby and reported the incident.

Before bringing the dog to the RSPCA, i found out on google it was a miniature Schnauzer!
anyway, i decided to walk over to the lake one more time to see if the owners turned up.
I was walking to n fro on the pathway , with the doggie in hand........for another 45 minutes!
fortunately, a green land rover drove past and waved "Baci!"
yep! those were the owners alright!
Baci had a pendant engraved with his name round his collarband.

Baci was reunited with the owners.what a lovely day!
that was my good deed for the day:)

Good ride

this was near the start of the race , at the Brisbane botanical garden.
this was taken at about 545 am, as people were starting to come through for registration.
after another half hr, it was jammed pack!

we had to sort ourselves according to our abilities.
the pic shows a white sign board, indicating the expected average ride speed.
I decided to stick to this one..30kph.

I had a good workout ,putting some mileage under my belt.
I made some new friends , and most of all , i had a great tour of so many towns n sceneries i have never visited before.
plus i even had some sunburn on my face! ...and i am sure i lost a pound or 2 !
what a bonus :)

the tour was very well organised . everyone was cheery, friendly n easy going.
looking forward to next yr's Brisbane to Noosa Tour ride :)

Getting Ready for Big Ride

Saturday night was spent eating a good hearty meal , roast chicken with roasted potatos n pumpkins....plus a peanut butter jam sandwich....plus a banana.....plus a hot cuppa tea with lots of condensed milk ( is that enough ?lol !) to make sure i have enough fuel for Sunday's big ride Brisbane to Noosa.

it was hard to sleep...because i had to wake up at 230 am.... in order to catch the bus down to Brisbane for the start.
Even harder to force myself to eat at that time!
But i needed to top up my fuels.
I like eggs .they are filling n full of nutrients.
the other food i like b4 a big event are meehjool dates with crushed almonds.
they are delicious.
Did you know dates are 99% carbo? very easily digestible and i like meehjool dates the best becuase they are huge, juicy and have very liitle fibre.

these are my on bike feast.
in the end i only got to eat 2 mars bar, 2 bananas n 1 powerbar gel.......
too busy negotiating the hills!

the organisers provided a truck to transport the bikes down to Brisbane.the bikes were individually wrapped in a blanket, so they were all well looked after.

the cyclists went on a separate charter bus.
it was funny ,whilst we were waiting for other cyclists, these 2 young chaps who were obviously DRUNK ,walked up the bus thinking it was their bus ride home.
the bus driver said, " nonononono.....wrong bus guys...we are off to Rockhampton!" ...which was more than 1000km up north!!
haha...that got rid of them.

My first event in Australia

This Sunday, i will be participating in the Brisbane to Noosa Century ride (160km).
it is a mass tour , totalling about 1500 cyclists!woow!
Early Sunday morning, at 330 am i will catch the organiser bus to Brisbane, where the start will be from the Botanical Garden at 630am.
The course is rolling hills, but very hilly in the middle section, where we will be traversing the Glass House mountains.
There are 3 stops on the way for drinks refuel, but cyclists have to be on the move all the time ,because of the sheer number of participants.Also, there's a bare requirement that all need to cycle at least 25km/hr.
sounds easy enough..but in reality, it's hard because of the wind n hilly terrains that we will be encountering.
I haven't done any 100km ride since the IM race! haha..but i think i have enough experience to gauge my pace n make sure i don't bonk during the ride.
Hey! check out my race number 1111 :) i should ask Dad to buy 4D !

Here are some bike gears i can't live without.
i am a total wimp when it comes to cold weather.
My lips go purple, my fingers n toes just freeze, and i can't concentrate!
today, i went to get some arm warmers, full finger gloves n the toe covers for my cycling shoes!
haha.....

one other thing i bought today, a heater for the house!
it's getting very chilly in the morning n night time.
tonight , i will sleep like a baby :)

Gydier Drive

15 minutes ride from my house is a little town called Tewantin.
From there , i take the Noosa Cooroy Road towards a turn into Gydier Drive .
I discovered this when i tagged along a Friday's ride recently called the Lake McDonald Ride.
Today, i used my GPS to find the road cos I wasn't too certain where it was!
It turned out it was easy to find :)
I like this road because no cars are allowed here.
The road is a winding 3km uphill ride.
Alot of cyclists, on roadbikes n mountain bikes like to scale this road.

There are altogether 15 switchbacks leading to the top of the hill.
The turns like this pic shows ,are clearly marked.
I like them cos i can pace my ride...turn 11,12,13,14 and finally 15!
the hill is not particularly steep but it is a pretty , quiet n spacious road.

I think i will adopt this road for some strength workouts on the bike in future.
it is not too far away from home and the road is safe.

As usual, i pop to the Sunday market to get my fresh farm produce.
At the market today, i had a Smoke Salmon n Trout Pate on Pita bread, a passionfruit yoghurt from Maleny and a cuppacino.

Veges of the week for me would be the flat mushrooms n baby red capsicums i got today.
I asked the lady what's the easiest way to cook the mushroom.
She said " just drizzle some olive oil, and season with salt n pepper..."
I tried that ...they tasted great!

Friday's my day off

I always look forward to fridays , which are my days off from work.
I like to cycle first thing in the morning, usually about 70km.
When i get home, i like to cook scrambled eggs ( with salmon n dill, topped with cottage cheese) on toast or croissant.
After that, it's all about being lazy for the rest of the day!
The picture shows my rear garden.
I like to sit out here n eat my breakkie n read the news.

I like to make a point of visiting a new place every friday.
not necessarily a getaway, but somewhere new.
last week , i visited a 2nd hand Book Store near Eumundi.
I bought a novel " Prisoner of Birth" by Jeffrey Archer.
Today, i visited a family run Gelato factory in Noosa.

I got to try many samples ...no shame you may say... and to my heart's content!
Finally i chose Pistachio.
Gelatos are Italian for ice creams.
They are different in that they are lower in fat content, have less air mass and are served at a lower temperature..thus giving them a creamy, velvety texture.

This is the Noosa River at Pelican Beach, along Gympie terrace.
It's about 5 minutes walk from my house ,so it always makes a great place for an evening stroll.
There are many BBQ spots and garden furnitures, great for a cool beer or wine .
I like rivers. They give a calm and soothing feeling.

The 1st Day of Winter

Today is officially the first day of winter in Australia.
The day break is about 615am ,and it usually gets dark around 5:15pm nowadays.
My cycling friends told me in the summer, it's bright at 430 am in the morning, right up to 8pm!
Can't wait for summer to arrive :)
I tend to get lazy with my workouts in the evening... i blame it on the early nights...they just make you very sleepy by 7pm!

This pic was taken yesterday morning on a group ride.we cycled about 65km,although it felt more like 8okm as it was a rolling course with headwind along the David Low Coastal highway.This place is called Coolum Beach, about 2km from my work place.
Somedays i like to chill out at the beach during my lunch hour, as the view here is just so breathtaking.

Me taking a pic of a group cycling ahead of me.
i tend to join different groups each Sunday...just to get a feel of different group rides.
Some are very serious, and just get the work done...some are too relaxed i wondered if they were just sight seeing.haha!
But i like them all...they have characters!!
most weekdays though, i have to cycle on my own because i have to get ready for work.
Alot of the cyclists here don't need to work..how lucky!

Sundays.....like yesterday, i like to pop over to the Sunday markets.
There are quite a few doted around the areas, so i just take my pick .

I love the roasted sweet potatoes, passionfruit yoghurt and the Franfurter Sausages ....all of which i had yesterday at the market!
so fresh n yummy.
I got some nice farm veges too..broccolis, asparagus. some rockets n spinach, along with some fresh fruits.

I normally eat very healthy..but i must admit i can't live without my treats!
Dark chocolates, icecreams (yup, even in winter!), pop corn,croissants n muffins.....