Guest blog from the saddle!

Emirates Road Cycling Club Presents... - "The Percival Aviation World Cycling Challenge 2013".

Nathan tells his story:

10th December we climbed aboard BI097 to Dubai. Here we go! Early morning arrival into Dubai to be picked up by Flora Park transport.  (These guys would be invaluable over the coming days. Not only did they put us up for FREE!!! but they made sure we were transported to where we were supposed to be. A big thank you to Sidek and his team.) Didn’t quite make it through arrivals before we stocked up. Some of what got consumed before our pre-breakfast sleep...

First day there Linton came to meet us, it was good to see our old friend. Then Freddy came to pick us up for a little drive around and some shopping. Rush back to the hotel and then off to the Dubai Autodrome for a few laps. It was a pretty awesome place.

They open it up to cyclists for a few hours on Wednesday nights to whizz around. Fun for everyone from serious cyclists to the very beginners. Plus it was really nice to get to ride with Linton again, it's been a while and he has been missed on the long trawl down the coast road. Then it was back to the hotel and off for dinner. A few more ales and it was time for sleep.

Thursday was a rest day before the big event. some of the other teams went for a ride but we decided that rest was best. By now Will was recovering from his cold, and instead I was well on my way to one. Achoo!
I spent the day meeting up with Boel and the kids at Mirdif City Center, while Jeremy and Will went off to fine tune Will’s bike for the big day. We later had a team meeting before the Team Captain was supposed to meet the other Team Captain’s for final meeting. Roll call: Mike Lee? Present. Jeremy Saap? Present. Will Turner? Present. Nathan Watson? Present. Team Captain?….. Team Captain?…. Where is the team Captain?! A few frantic text messages it was revealed that he hadn’t even gotten on the flight over... Oh well. Jeremy sorted it and then cooked us a massive feed of pasta energy goodness. (When going on to a cycle event, always take a top chef!)

Early to bed and up at 0315. Aw god, that was early. Bit of a snivel and “Top Chef” had prepared breakfast. Nice. So a quick break and it was off to the bus again. We arrived nice and early. It was a little cool, everyone was wearing their undershirts. Mike Lee was a little chillier and rugged up!
Last minute pits stops meant we were rushing to get tot he start line. No rush needed though, as the start was delayed due to lighting issues. They also announced that the race would be shortened by about 10km.
We finally got away and it was on! In the rising sun we headed off towards the city, it was a spectacular ride. The roads were quiet and we were heavily protected by the local Police. A big thank you the Dubai Police force for keeping us all safe. The pace was pretty high, but not exhausting.

As we neared the end we started to ramp up the speed. There had formed a small gap and Will and I were closing on them quite nicely, but then we looked up and already saw the finish line?? They had shortened it by 13km, not 10km. Bugger!

We came up short, but just in the back of the main pack. It was a little disappointing on a personal level, but we had ridden a good race, and with an average moving speed of 40.9km/h for 2 hours we were pretty stoked overall. As a team Royal Brunei came in 8th. We had to be happy with that.

After the race everyone was invited to prize giving and lunch at the JW Marriot. A fantastic afternoon with all the teams.
Saturday saw another early start for breakfast and then a recovery ride to Bab Al Shams. A bunch of pilots (egos), and bikes on an “easy” 85km recovery ride. What could possibly go wrong??!! Off we set, a few gentle miles and then down went the hammer. Oh deep joy. But the breakfast was pretty cool. It was then time to head back and call a concussion. After a few pretty hectic days I finally hit the wall.  We all finally rolled to stop and I got to meet the legend that is Stephen Roche!!! Yeah baby, him!!

What a finish to a great experience!! Can’t wait to do it again next year. It was a blast.
Thank you Will, Jeremy, and Mike and a huge thank you Emirates Road Cycling Club. You put on an outstanding week, made everyone one feel very welcome, and set the bases for hopefully an annual event. Well done.

What's Nathan up to?

Nathan has not been featuring much on the blog lately. What is he up to? Well, he is pretty much doing what he always is doing - working and biking.

In November he took part in the 'LOF Cycle Challenge' bike race, as 1/6th of 'Team Anakpanayu'. He only took photos of a whole lot of other people, but here is at least one of him, with his friend Johan:

It was a 98k race and their team came 2nd! Kids were very excited Daddy came home with a medal!

Now he's packed and ready to go and compete in a big cycling event in Dubai - the 'Airline World Cycling Challenge'. The AWCC is part of the annual challenge 'Spinneys Dubai 92 Cycle Challenge'. It is expected that around 2000 cyclists will be riding the 92 km around the iconic streets of Dubai this Friday. This is the largest amateur cycling challenge in the Middle East, and one of the region’s fastest growing sporting events, doubling in size each year.

More than 80 cyclists from airlines and aviation companies worldwide are gearing up for the AWCC. They will have lots of fun, because apart from the challenge itself on Friday, the weekend happenings comprises of training rides, a special awards ceremony, a brunch and a desert cycle! :)
And - cycling legend Stephen Roche is taking part too!

Royal Brunei Airlines (RB) are sending five members from its 'Royal Brunei Flyers Cycling Team' to this challenge: Jeremy, Will and Nathan with Rosh Othman and Michael Lee. Yesterday they had a team jersey hand-over ceremony, and got interviewed for the news etc, so watch this space!

(Photo courtesy of Geotrax, one of their sponsors.)

Raising the pulse

I went for a run our first day in Aberdeen, a lovely 6k run along the countryside. Thoroughly enjoyed it too and had great plans on running or doing other kinds of excersice every other day the whole summer holiday. 

Until the next day when I could hardly walk...

I was in so much pain on the outside of my foot, and the Doctor said I had probably overstrained a ligament, running too far and not being used to the hard surface. So no more running for me for at least six weeks. Great. Not. 

I still tried to go for my forest walks while here in Sweden, but I could feel the pain coming back each time so finally I resigned to doing not much more than normal walking around. 

Until today!

My cousin Johan kindly offered to take me for a ride (on Nathan's bike) this afternoon. My Garmin wasn't charged enough unfortunately, so I have no exact idea how far we went; but we were out for 1h20 and 'MapMyRide' says nearly 30k. I sure can feel it it my legs... and bum!

Before:

And after:

Now I'm more confident riding here and will probably go out a few more times next week, on my own. The roads here are all nice and wide, and there's not a lot of traffic, it feels really safe. 

I feel motivated again!

A big day

Today was a big day for Mormor, we all came along to buy her - a new bike!

Lucas said last year when she took out her old bike for the first time "that must be the oldest bike in Sweden!"... And yes, it was pretty old - at least 50 years!

Actually, when she came to think of it, this is actually the only bike she has ever got brand new! 

Setting it up:

Strike a pose!

And then off we went, she was going to work, and I made her company on her first ride for a bit!

Cycling Swedish style

Nathan has taken his Boardman out a few times this summer too, not only at family rides, but on a few racing rides.

He has been enjoying the stunning scenery and the quiet roads.

First family ride

We have arrived in Skara, and the weather is delivering here too!

We didn't have any cream to make the dessert on order for tonight, so we quickly decided to take our bikes out for our first ride in to town to get some. 

It was 7pm, but the sun was still out and it was nice and warm. 

45 minutes later we were back from town with all ingredients necessary, and both the little people happy to get their chocolate dessert they had longed for. 

Bad biking mojo

It has been a bad week for Nathan and his bikes this week. He and Lucas took their mountain bikes out for a spin with some friends yesterday, and after a while I got a call and had to dispatch rescue patrol - for the second time this week! (On Monday he was out riding his road bike, when the chain snapped! Had to go and pick him up from the side of the road then too.)

Well, back to yesterday. While riding back home after some muddy adventuring off road, his rear derailer suddenly "exploded"! The hanger was completely broken and the derailer twisted and broken too. Bummer.

Luckily though, no one else than the bike was hurt. I always answer my phone with dread if Nathan's name pops up on the display when I know he's out riding. At least once I hear his voice I know he's ok and not lying on the road unconscious somewhere.

Apart from the end result of the broken bike, it seemed like they had had lots of fun though! Both them and the bikes were muddy, muddy, muddy!

Washing the bikes took nearly as long as the ride!

And then washing the shoes...

Runs in the family

Nathan sure can be a little bit of a shopaholic too, if you just bring him to the right shop!
I think the guys in the bike shop were very happy to see us this year, Nathan and Will were in there every day up to the race, sometimes a couple of times a day!

He waited to pay his bill until the last day though. Maybe a bad idea?

This years bike park

Getting race ready

Friday we all went to town and to the Event Center to pick up the race bibs and the race packs. All super organized, it only took us about 30 seconds.


The kids actually got the exact same race packs as Will and Nathan, even for their short ride. It was a back pack with a few different little bike/race/energy associated samples, a water bottle, a newspaper and a banana.


And, the kids even won some spot prices, both of them, with a little "help" from the nice volunteer..! (Unfortunately for them, it was a bike magazine and a bottle of wine. Score for the big people though!)


We also went to the big Race Expo and had a look, but all Will and Nathan came home with in their shopping bags was a new pair of socks each! Bad shopping mojo.

Our little Heart Riders

This year we decided it was time for the kids to participate in the race too. There is a special 5k category for children under 10 years old, called the "@Heart Ride", so we signed them up for that!


(@Heart is the Charity of Choice for the Lake Taupo Cycle Challenge. It's a charity that helps raise funds for children that are born with heart defects.)
Initially we thought you had to be in the event to be able to pick up your child for those last 5k. Since the boys were racing for a fast time, it was down to me to sign up so that I could pick them up. We had it all planned out so that I would do the relay with Granddad, and just do the last part - I was pretty sure I could handle 40k.
But, then we realized that the kids actually could sign up on their own, as long as they had an adult escort rider with them. Even better, now I too only needed to do the 5k!

Nathan took us out to the starting point, here we are, ready to go!
Lucas got to borrow some of Grandma's riding gear - and Grandma's bike! For Linnea, the bike shop kindly lent us a bike and we bought her a cool blue and yellow bike shirt, since she didn't already have one. I rode Granddad's mountain bike.








We had a great ride all along the lake back into town! Superb!
It was glorious, sunny, warm weather; and riding alongside all the riders in the main event, sensing their excitement as they came close to the finish was so cool.

Lucas got all into it and just wanted to take off as he thought Linnea and I were to slow. I told him he wasn't allowed to sprint until he could see the finish line (500m before), and man did he go once he was allowed!!
Nathan was in charge of the photos this time, and he only got Lucas from the back too since he came whizzing past all on his own!


It was very nice because every time a @Heart Rider came in all the spectators were cheering and carrying on, Linnea thought it was great!











Lucas really, really enjoyed his first bike race experience and he's all keen to do the whole challenge next year, with Granddad! Hey, why not? The youngest finisher this year, having done the full 160k was only 11 years old!

When asked how it had been for her, Linnea answered:
-"I kept saying in my brain, go Linnea, go!"

I'm so glad we signed them up, and I'm even happier they really enjoyed it and want to do it again! Go kids, go!

Four hours forty one minutes

It was a great day for the 'Lake Taupo Cycle Challenge' yesterday. A little bit chilly in the morning but then mostly a glorious, sunny day.
The group Will and Nathan were scheduled to start at 7.25, so there was ample time in the morning to get up and get ready, have a sturdy breakfast and get all their kit together.



Off they went, warm-up ride into town.




Parts of the support crew. Will's Dad and his wife came over from Napier, and his sister with family plus Will's Aunt had driven from Rotoroua, all to be a part of the day too:


As always, everything was perfectly organized and the start ran smoothly, group by group. Over 8000 cyclists had signed up for this years race, in 12 different categories.


The boys passing the start line:




We had got a good place at the finish line in plenty of time, and were there for about 40 minutes waiting, although we knew the boys would probably not be there just yet. But it's all about placing yourself to get the good photos!
Will wanted to get under 5 hours, and Nathan wanted to beat his best time of 4h45min, so they were stoked when they crossed the finish line in 4h41min!
Unfortunately they came by us probably the only moment none of us paid attention, so we almost missed them! Didn't have time for the big cheer we had prepared, or for the good photos - it turned into more of just a surprised and panicky "Woah, woah, woah, there they are!!!" and just these few snaps of Nathan's back...



Good job guys! We're very proud of you!


Here's a shot just for you Scotty!