How to be a road and mountain biker

Essential knowledge for all bike enthusiasts! Classic.

Photos from the saddle

Sime riding off into the sunset at Wallaroo

A big year + 1

Our 'Team Rice' of 6 is officially going to be a team of 7 later this year! Yes we are expecting our 5th little human to arrive some time in August. We had our 12 week scan and all is good and once Jem and I spotted just one little heart beat we both definitely breathed a sigh of relief!

The boys are so cutely excited and have affectionately named their future baby brother or sister 'Pea Brain' (as at the moment its not much bigger than a large pea). Although I'm not so sure 'Pea brain' will appreciate that in a few years!

2014 is gonna be a big year for us - New land, new home, new baby! Look out Murrumbateman your population is going to double!

Happy Batstralia day!

We went down to the Australia day celebrations near the lake this morning, which was really nice. They had entertainment for the kids, 21 gun salute and a jet fly by which woke up hundreds of bats in the near by trees!

Blank canvas

Hmmmmm.......what are we going to do with all this space?! We have a few ideas!!

Photos from the saddle

There is a hill affectionately known in ACT cycling circles as 'Painslie' (Mt Ainslie) as its the highest road reachable point in the city area. There is a subtle inital climb before suddenly ramping up to 10% gradient and over for at least the last 1km. For me its 1km of pain and an out of saddle grind to the top, beautiful! 

The view from the top of Mt Ainslie at sunrise looking over the Canberra CBD on the right and Parliament house in the distance straight down Anzac Parade. 

Lucas 4 today!

Happy 4th birthday our littlest man. We all love you very much!!

Photos from the saddle

I have passed many different animals over time whilst on my bike - Wallabys, echidnas, wombats, snakes, lizards, cows, sheep, lamas, rabbits, horses, turtles, chickens and of course gazillions of kangaroos. But never have I had to wait for peacocks to cross, until yesterday!

See the light!

Back in my basketball playing days my main focus would consist of fitness, skill and recovery and how I could get the best production out of each, usually in a team environment. I remember I would loath getting up early, especially before daylight. Rarely would I willingly experience a sunrise and if I did It was probably because the team had to do some sort of early morning cross training sloggfest during pre season somewhere, and the sun coming up would have signified the inevitable increased sweat production rather than the beautiful sight of the days first light.

Having the choice whether I get up early or not and planning my own fitness has enabled me to really enjoy the early morning activities, preferably pre sunrise so you get to witness the days first blaze of light before it streaks across the sky. When its still dark there is a strange feeling of being totally alone, even amongst row of house after house. But when the sun makes its glorious appearance, I instantly get energised and it never fails to put a smile on my face.

Breath in the sweet untainted morning air deep into your lungs, work your body and test your limits, whilst cleansing your mind. See the light!

Beloved

Sams beloved teddy and new addition Toto rarely leave his arms for more than a few hours, but when he accidently left Toto behind at Johns house there was much distress! Thankfully the mail man dropped him off to be greeted with a big smile and massive cuddles.

Reverse

Its funny, when you ride a trail, in particular a single track loop 10, 20 maybe 30 times one specific way, you learn the in's and out's of the route. The climb's and where they are, the tight corners, the rock gardens, what to avoid, the tight or low tree (quite often for me), what to look for, the yeehaaa! moments and the good rest spots. On the other hand when you ride that same trail the opposite way, you can almost get a sense of feeling lost. Its a completely different feel to that same track of which usually your tyres and bike are almost on auto pilot. If you can, riding a trail in reverse enables you to almost get twice the enjoyment out of the same bit of dirt!

Its similar in life. Doing things in reverse, or doing things completely differently or new can often be initially uncomfortable mainly because you get out of your comfort zone.

Typical comfort zones are easy to fall into. At times I struggle to stretch myself and try new things as the things I'm usually doing are often the ones I enjoy, feel comfortable with, do quite well and know all about seeming to take up most of my spare time.

Trying different things can sometimes lead to failure or disappointment, but they can also lead to learning something new, seeing different things from different vantage points, enjoying a different way and possible unexpected fun. There may be and usually are bumps in the road, but that's what makes the journey and often what is remembered along the way.

Life can be like a single track, in reverse - if you want it to be.

Sammy talk

We were at the BMX pump track in Amaroo the other day. Sam suddenly got quite irate at me as I wasnt doing what he wanted. I was a fair distance from him but he needed me to change his gear so he could start down a slope, but refused to ask in a friendly way - Screaming "I NEED YOU TO CHANGE MY GEARS!!" for a couple of minutes until bright red and out of breath, he then decided to give up instead seeking revenge on me! He started to run towards me but in his rage lost his footing and stumbled, landed on his knee. As you can imagine, NOT happy.

Once I had finally calmed him down and told him he needs to speak nicely and not scream and yell which has probably scared all of Gungahlin's natural wildlife away, I changed his gears and off he went. Shortly after he then came over upset again and explained he was very worried about his sore not only because there was a little bit of blood, but mainly because the flies kept landing on it all the time. A short conversation followed -

Me - "Its ok Sam its not dirty and will heal quickly, do you want a band-aid on it until we get home?"

Sam - "Yes please because I dont want the flies to put 'nuggets' in my sore"

Me - "What do you mean??"

Sam - "When the flies lay eggs they always put nuggets in"

Me - "Oh! you mean maggots!"

Sam - "Yeh, I know"

Another amusing chat with our 5 year old boy.

Photos from the saddle

A lazy Sunday sunrise ride to LBG looking from under and between Commonwealth Ave to Parliament house.

Newcastle

We just got back from a few nice days up in Newcastle visiting Granny Ivy and Nanna Diana. We also got down to the beach during a king tide for some play in the thumping surf where the boys almost got washed out to sea on many occasions!