Long Ride Fail

So last Saturday i decided to attempt a long ride. 168km was the planned distance and i was thinking in and about the 10-11 hour mark. Plan was to ride solo, no assistance, all the food and water i needed with me. Mixture of a bit of training and some stress free miles after the last 5 weekends of torture in the basement.

Simple way to put this is as FAIL. I decided to start off with some music, easy miles on the road an just ticking over until i hit 3 Rock. By the time i got there i was in road mode. Fine for mile after mile on the road but unable to actually ride on trails. 2 hours in and i was in no mood to be on a mountain. I sat down ate some CARBOCAKE and then just had a wee mope to myself and shouted at the antennas on the top of 3 Rock for being C*%ts. No idea why but i needed to vent.

Up and over the back trail to Glencullen then onto the Wicklow Way as far as Crone had me second guessing myself all the way. Fair enough i had a big week of running and bike miles in my legs but still this should not be a hard ride. Basicly my mind decided to fuck me over.

Other times i would have rode home, but not today, this was a day to just ride, to battle the beasts to do what cannot be done and to make sure it stuck. Sure i failed on the ride, but at the same time i still did my 100km ride in 6:55mims can;t give out about that too much i suppose.....

Aim for the summer? WW in one ride. Simple.

They call me 'Le Marmot'

As in i'm fat, can be found on the side of mountains, pretty much eat any sort of shit and go squeek when provoked. That's where the similarity's end.

Above was me racing last night in Howth at the IMRA Leinster league race. Last week Bray head, then pretty much every week now for the next 13 weeks. Fell running/ hill running/ trail running/ mountain running (delete depending what country you are from) used to be a big passion of mine when i was back in Scouts. I loved the freedom. One man, some runners, shorts and a singlet. Run to the top, run back down. Its so simple, so fun, and yet fraught with danger. Although i came back from the race with a sprained ankle (saw at least 3 others) one lad decided to headbutt a rock and ended up in hospital with 6 stitches for his trouble. Many many years ago on an open mountain run i got hypothermia....snow and singlet do not mix. But it is great fun.

Last week saw a respectable 50th place out of a field of 255, this week an injured 82nd out of 235. Still a good run (43mins for 9km) but not fast enough. Hopefully i'll get to do 7 races for the league this year, and get my two volounteer slots in as well. Might even get a new T-shirt too ;)

Other than that its been a quiet few weeks. Work on the sleep deprivation data collection has eased off for now, 4th years are all done more or less, just need to give them last bits of help, and projects for CLARITY will be kicking off soon. Training is coming back, 8.5 hours so far this week, so just going to smash the rest of the week to see how i am feeling.

There may be cake

Portal, best game ever? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6ljFaKRTrI

This was a triumph.
I'm making a note here: HUGE SUCCESS.
It's hard to overstate my satisfaction.
Aperture Science
We do what we must
because we can.
For the good of all of us.
Except the ones who are dead.
But there's no sense crying over every mistake.
You just keep on trying till you run out of cake.
And the Science gets done.
And you make a neat gun.
For the people who are still alive.
I'm not even angry.
I'm being so sincere right now.
Even though you broke my heart.
And killed me.
And tore me to pieces.
And threw every piece into a fire.
As they burned it hurt because I was so happy for you!
Now these points of data make a beautiful line.
And we're out of beta.
We're releasing on time.
So I'm GLaD. I got burned.
Think of all the things we learned
for the people who are still alive.
Go ahead and leave me.
I think I prefer to stay inside.
Maybe you'll find someone else to help you.
Maybe Black Mesa
THAT WAS A JOKE.
HAHA. FAT CHANCE.
Anyway, this cake is great.
It's so delicious and moist.
Look at me still talking
when there's Science to do.
When I look out there, it makes me GLaD I'm not you.
I've experiments to run.
There is research to be done.
On the people who are still alive.
And believe me I am still alive.
I'm doing Science and I'm still alive.
I feel FANTASTIC and I'm still alive.
While you're dying I'll be still alive.
And when you're dead I will be still alive.
STILL ALIVE

Roubaix is near

This weekend will be a busy one. From today - Sunday at 6pm i will be in college 24 hours a day getting our last 4 riders through the 24 hour sleep trials. Next weekend will be the same. It will suck, it will be boring, and this time i dont get to actually do any riding. However i will get to spend all of Sunday with a friend watching the Paris-Roubaix.

Nothing i will endure over the next 48hours will suck quite as much as what the guys in the pelothon are going to put themselves through. Roubaix has always had a place in my heart as what cycling should be. Suffering, hard racing, tough conditions and a true 'best man wins' race. In Roubaix you can sit in for a while, but once it hits Carrefour de L'Arbre you need to be on the front to win.

Bring it home Tom.