Caesar Says ... Carpé Diem!

Every Day a Treasure

Greeting from the Picnic Basket

Another fantastic forecast. With the run of brilliant weather  continuing (not so great for the farmers in Tasmania, but that's another story), it seemed an absolute must to get out and make the most of it. I was awake early and saw that there was almost no wind. Perfect cycling weather again in southern Tasmania. 

There was no way I wanted to squander a day of light winds and warm temperatures - in other words, autumn glory at its best- especially at this time of year. Who knows when we'll get another such day? A walk would have been good, but after having a toenail extracted a week ago I thought it might be prudent not to hammer away on a rough bush track, so a ride it was.

To take advantage of the still conditions I decided to forego breakfast and get on the road ASAP. The plan was to get a coffee and a nibble at the Brighton Bakehouse and then decide on a further course of action.

I wasn't entirely sure how I'd go after having my left calf excruciatingly tortured by Bec the physio yesterday afternoon, but thought I'd just head out and see how things went. Of course, once on the road it's sometimes hard to hold back. Still a bit tired from a big ride a couple of days ago, I set off at a measured pace (yes, I can do that!).

After Brighton, I couldn't resist the lure of Richmond and Grasstree Hill. And then of course, the lure of a century kept me ticking along. Eventually, my ramble took me around to the Picnic Basket at the foot of the Bonnet. Without Di there (she was have an R&R day) to urge me homeward I thought a stop for coffee would be nice before riding up the hill then turning for home. 

A slight variation on the last Richmond/Grasstree route, here's where today's ride took me ...

The black dot is coffee, the green marker is my start and finish line

And here's the elevation profile ...

A relatively flat ride by Tassie standards, with only 1200 metres elevation gain in 107 kilometres of riding.

It's on a day like this - which is just about as good as it gets, I reckon - that I count my blessings. Apart from not currently doing any rock-climbing, this is pretty much what I had hoped for when undertaking retirement. However, as signified by the raison d'être for and title of this blog, we are not only being in the moment but also preparing for ...

THREE WEEKS FROM TODAY ...

... when we get on the plane to link up with the folks from Ride and Seek and the other eighteen punters with whom we are teaming up with for our epic ride from London to Rome. I've been wording up Sam from R&S to tow some of us up the long passes. We'll see how that pans out. 

Three weeks is less than one of the Grand Tours takes to pass, so our departure is not far off at all now!  We are so looking forward to this big adventure. Out of curiosity, I've just looked up the distances of each of the Grand Tours for this year. In chronological order they are:

• Giro d'Italia: 3383 kilometres
• Tour de France: 3519 kilometres
• Vuelta a España: 3277 kilometres

They'll do those distances in 21 days of racing. With only a couple of rest days along the way. Amazing. We are only covering 3120 kilometres in 26 days of riding - not racing! We'll have three days in iconic places (Troyes, Como and Venice) to recharge our batteries between stints. Some days are going to involve a lot of saddle time, especially those with lots of climbing. There are actually a few days where we cover less than 100 kilometres per day so we should get a bit of time to savour the sights along the way. I suspect on the four days of 150 kms or more it's going to be primarily a matter of enjoying the sense of movement and appreciating the scenery as it passes by. One way or another, it's all going to be grand: and EPIC!

(Pssst! If you ride a bike can you please fill in my chamois creme survey on the right? Here's a reference point if you don't know where this is coming from.)

Oh, and one more thing. A belated thank-you to my friend Ivan who brought all his wheel-truing and tuning gear over on the weekend and sorted out my rear wheel for me. It's done 453 kilometres since then and has stopped making those annoying noises at slow speeds. Nice one, Ivan!

The Countdown Continues ...

One Month To Go and training the house down!

We Ride!

(Kudos to whoever can first identify my jersey and its most significant wearer and post a comment.)

Today is the eighteenth of April, so it is one month to the day before Dianne and I fly out of Hobart for London and the start of our great cycling adventure. Yes, we are excited. And focussed. 

Di's injury put something of a dampener on our preparation for a time, but she seems to be recovering and is managing to get more riding done with less discomfort each time she gets on the bike. So far I have managed to avoid any setbacks since getting back into proper training towards the end of March and have put in some quality kilometres on the bike. Yesterday climatic conditions in southern Tasmania were outstanding for bike riding, and I managed to do my first imperial century for the year. Di repeated the ride from Richmond to Colebrook and back that we did a few days ago, but at a faster pace.

One aspect of Hail Caesar! we are really looking forward to is meeting our fellow riders. Of the 20 punters, we are told half are couples. The age range is from 28 to 71.  I expect the 28 year old and some of the other young ones (?) will be able to tow some of us older, slower folk along some of the flatter bits so we can save ourselves for all the climbing (over 40,000 metres of it in 28 days of riding). Whether we'll be able to keep up is another matter.

Today's Ride: A Derwent Duet for Dianne and Doug

After my big ride yesterday and Di's encouraging solo foray we decided to head up the scenic Derwent Valley for a short but rewarding loop.  Di says that this is her favourite short ride. I too like it very much, and if the road surface on much of the south side of the river wasn't so bad I might agree with her. Riding along the Derwent towards Bushy Park brings one close to the river for much of the way, then it's past cherry orchards, the Kinvarra Estate winery and on to the hop fields, across the Styx River and then the Derwent itself. A lovely climb yields views such as this one down on to the river ...

... which looks lovely even on a dull day. 

Here's a photo I took from the same spot, of Di, looking back towards Mt Field National Park in the distance ...

Once on the other side of the river a short, sharp climb gives way to a long, swooping descent and more great views of the river and more orchards. Quiet country roads, open vistas, interesting terrain and attractive scenery. What's not to like? 

We cruised along, taking turns at the front and just enjoyed being out. Another day of living life and interacting with the environment. And the major bonus is that we've gone a little further down the track to being ready for a gorgeous, month long cycling extravaganza.

Caesar's Itinerary Keeps Us Motivated

Every once in a while we have a peek at the details of Caesar. Looking at the route from time to time and reading about some of the historical highlights along the way is really good for keeping us on task. I can now share what that route looks like ...

Each purple dot represents an overnight stay, with Troyes, Como and Venice marking two-night stops and a rest day and a chance to do the laundry!  

Finally, if you're a serious cyclist how about taking part in my chamois cream survey on the right of the page? It would be fun to see what people think about different potions and lotions to keep things peachy down there!

Rolling Along Towards Departure Date

Another day, another training ride

Well! It's only five weeks now before Dianne and I board the Big Bird and fly off to London. After farewelling visitors from interstate we have been trying to mix some cycling and walking training (the latter due to our intention to complete a long hike in Europe after our cycling adventure.)

Things were going pretty well, but Di has had a bit of a setback a week ago (more about that later), so I was off riding on my own again today. Here's the route I took ...

This ride goes out the bike path through Hobart's industrial heartland, on to the road and past MONA; through more (but less dense suburbia) and then along the Derwent to view black swans and the occasional pelican; over the bridge at Bridgewater and on to the rurality of the eastern shore and the Coal River Valley. Some rolling hills, vineyards, a couple of bridge crossings, through Lutana and back on to the bike path before negotiating the city centre and our little hill before arriving back home.

Although it can be a little tedious navigating the city during rush hour, most other times it's pretty easy getting through our small city centre, and we like to get down on the bike path as soon as we can. It's about 3 kilometres from our place to the bike path - and no, we don't ride in a straight line as the next image might suggest!

My friend Tony has lent me a Sony Action Camera, so I thought I'd try it out today. (An apology in advance: I forgot to reduce the road noise on a couple of the videos, so you might want to turn your sound down.)

It's a nice run down the hill to start ...

... except when someone you know and love runs into you unexpectedly!

Our Intercity Cycleway might not be the most aesthetic bit of infrastructure in Hobart, but for cyclists, runners, roller-blade aficionados, mums and dads pushing prams and sundry other self-propelled folks it has been a huge boon. The pathway through the industrial heartland north of the city, and is great for getting out of the city without too much hassle from motorists.

The one not-so-good thing about the bike path is that there are some awkward road crossings through Derwent Park and on into Glenorchy. Four of them stand out, and and if you look at the links for Sunderland Street, Derwent Park Road, Lampton Avenue and Elwick Road you will see why. It was at Lampton Avenue that Di was nearly bowled over by a young lass and her boyfriend zooming in from a side street while my darling was crossing. Di managed to narrowly avoid a collision but not without wrenching her lower back, hence the time off the bike the past few days.

Basically, the problem is the number of streets that are adjacent to each of the crossings of the bike path. While some motorists have become more cyclist-friendly there are lots of others who are aren't. I like to try to get through this section of the bike path as efficiently as I can as it is easy to get stuck at some of these intersections.

Things went pretty well today ...

A good opportunity to exit the bike path presents itself at Berriedale Road. By turning right at this intersection and then left on the old Main Road, one finds oneself riding close to the water and past the previously-mentioned MONA and the Moorilla Vineyard and Winery. Riding past the vines on either side of the road provides a nice preview of what's to come in the Coal River Valley.

The riding is very pleasant for the next five or six kilometres, before one must navigate across the Derwent River between Granton and Bridgewater ...

Despite us not having the best road surfaces here in Tasmania, I do tend to rave on to whoever will listen about how good the riding is hereabouts. It was a pity that my first outing with this camera was on such an overcast day. Here is a little video taking as I was approaching Brinktop Hill from the east when a bit of blue sky did appear, albeit rather briefly ...

The final video is coming into Richmond via the oldest bridge in Australia (google it if you think I am making this  up!) and then arriving at the Richmond Bakery for a rest, seventy-five kilometres after leaving home ...

Here's my (second best) bike, also happy to have a short break from the road ...

(Despite being such a reliable steed when we rode across Australia, it doesn't get to go to Europe with me. Dianne and I have decided that we might as well take our best bikes on this grand adventure.)

I had thought about going home via The Bonnet and back for a little extra distance (and "Brinktop and The Bonnet" has a nice ring to it, don't you think?), but because I was so late starting this morning I decided to save that for another day, meaning that I only had another thirty kilometres to cover before arriving at my doorstep. Hopefully Di will feel recovered enough tomorrow for us to do a nice gentle ride somewhere in the country.