5 weeks to the taupo ride

with around 5 weeks to go before taupo the training is going ok I have been doing less km each week then this time last year and have been riding a faster aver speed this year (23-27 km/h last year I was riding a round 15-20 km/h) doing the long bike tour did help a lot to get (and stay) fit for long rides (having a bad fall out when tramping on the tour then getting hit by a car just after getting back from the tour was not in the plan but suff happens)


I also have starter doing hapkido (have a look at www.hapkido.co.nz to see what hapkido is) to help with a few things and for some thing new to keep life fun


I will have my longest ride on the bike from doing taupo last year next week as I do the tour de manawatu 2 lap fun ride (2 laps of the 116 km corse so about 255 km all up with the ride to the start doing the ride and the ride home ) with the ride starting at 3:30 am it will be a good test of bike set up and how I do things for doing long rides before the sun rise on a few hours of sleep( the ride starts at 3:30 am so when doing the 2 lap me and the others doing the ride (around 6-10 people)will be riding with people doing the 116 km ride of the tour de manawtu fun ride like at taupo where I will be starting the last lap around the lake at about the same time as the 160 km riders start


I still need to pick up a few things from the bike shop before I leave for taupo about the 16/11/2011(like a spare folding tire and the hammer suff (what I will be eating and drinking as I ride around the lake- I will be using hammer perpetuem for liquid food and hammer heed for sport drink also a few gels -last year I used nut bars+ gels and had had some problems eating around the 14 hour mark so I have been doing a lot of reading as well as talking to people and trying different food out to make sure it not going to happen this time as food problems can be a show stopper ) and a few other bits and pieces. I am planing to get to taupo about 5-7 days before the start of the ride taking about 3-4 days to ride up taking it easy so I don’t over do things and have a good rest before the ride

the taupo ride only around 6 weeks away

with the taupo ride  only around 6 weeks away I have been doing more km on the bike each week (around 265 km this week)

I also have been doing a lot of reading about doing long rides (bike rides over 200 km) and have been doing some planing to make sure that the ride will go as well as it can go on the day- my to do list is now down to 2 pages from the 10 pages I had a few weeks ago

I have been going over the bike replacing most of the drive chain on the bike as a lot of it has wore out over the last year as I have done around 7500+ km in  the last 12 months on the bike friday as well as around 1500 km on the mt bike so that bike got a few new parts as well ( I also replaced a few other things on the bike friday so I don't have to worry about then not working on the ride)as I like to have my bikes ready to ride at all times

my training has been getting back on track  after a few weeks taking it easy as my leg heal up- I don't know what took longer to get better- getting back to riding as I toured around the east coast back to Palmerston north after the fall or winting for the leg to heal after the Dr. deal with the big lump I had on the leg from the fall(falling 1-2 m on to a steel bar is not a good thing to have happen when training for a long bike ride )

I not sure how my training will go next week as I will be at 2 horse events -hasting A&P show and dressage at taupo getting a lift with a friend (back on track) so I will be trying to fit my training some where (maybe a few night rides?)

a few weeks before the taupo ride there is 230+km fun ride in Palmerston north (tour de manawatu 2 lap ride) that I will be doing before riding up to taupo about a week before the start of taupo ride I ride up to taupo as I cant drive and don’t like to take the bus places when I can ride my bike also I will be getting in the last of my training as I ride up - it’s an easy 3-4 day bike tour up to taupo