Incognito
What a few weeks it’s been, I’d say one of the best rides of my life! That’s one of the reasons why I’ve been pretty incognito, hence the lack of socials as well as blogs.. but I’m back, back in the saddle with a crash helmet because we’ve just ticked over the 250 days till we start The Ride from Steep Point.
So what has happened in the past few weeks? Uni is DONE FOREVER! Well at least till I do another course… I’d like to say a big thanks to all those who helped me over the six years of ‘that’ journey, I really wouldn’t be in this position without them! It feels so good to use that past tense there haha! So you can probably guess how my emotions are right now, on a high and extremely happy!
Another reason I’ve been all incognito is my bike has been in for mods again but this time the upgrade is to cleats…. ‘I’ve finally done it Mum, I’m off my L’s!’. Although when I got it back on Friday I had a sore right knee for a few days, I’ve self-diagnosed and worked out that the reason why the pain is the foot length adjustment as well as the cleats transition, also had a little bit of help from a neuro-physio so that was handy!
First ride back yesterday was just a leisurely 10km, nothing special, just ticking the boxes off the big list. My knee did balloon up with a lot of inflammation, as expected though, it hasn’t really been used until yesterday… Basically, I’ve got to start from scratch again.. Nah not really I’ve just reassessed my goals and to put it into simple terms, by the end of July 2021 I’ll want to
A) be doing a 3x80km ride outdoors in a row.
B) be able to ride 750m of elevation in a day.
That’s the far point and it looks a long way off, however I’ll break it down day by day, week by week, month by month, it already doesn’t look so bad. The hashtag I’ll be using is #serioustraining - I feel it’s fitting!
I’m kinda excited and at the same time more daunted, the main cause is the time… time seems to be a common problem/point. And only time will tell!!
Anyway, Where are we with sponsorships? We’ve got a few feelers out, through contacts in the local area, no promises. We won’t get anywhere if we don’t ask. Gotta have a go to get a go...
So what's the next step? I’d like to start contacting newspapers, TV stations and radios, get it out there even more is my opinion. I also think we will have to have another meeting in the next week or two to make sure everyone is on the same page.
Also, I’ve got a few more things in the works but I’ll save that for maybe the next blog… you know to build your suspense!
Anyway I’m out, until next time.
A SMASHING few weeks!
What a great few weeks it’s been! I’ll start with the human-powered vehicle and what’s been up with that. So firstly, I absolutely killed it on the 14th of October, a bit like the name of one of my fave bands at the moment ‘A day to remember’ because it was on the bike! What I did was 80 minutes of the relatively flat freeway (The usual Angler’s training ground, where I normally train) and I was aiming for max speed for the entire 80… Well, I actually got 19.26km’s for 1 hour and 16 minutes because I had a few little pit stops! Either way, I am very happy, it was a good send-off for my trike to go in and get a few new mods.
The few areas it’ll need fixing is seat adjustment, now I slide down on my seat and I lean towards the left side so I’m actually basically sitting on my shoulder blade, I’ve been doing that since I got the trike so I’ve got an embedded bruised looking (it’s not bruised) long mark on my back. I thought it was about time I got that addressed…. But at least I now haveI an extra battle scar! I’m also getting the length of my pedals adjusted as my legs are actually of different lengths. As you can imagine, it’s my right leg that’s the short-arse…. Hopefully those two factors will take a bit of the load off my left knee and my right leg will get to do a bit more work, still you never know till you try so we will have to wait and see!
So how did the 4 points meeting go?
We addressed a few points that we need to cover and get ticked off.
We need to get a social media person/team who knows what they/we are doing, cause I'm stabbing in the dark, big time! I have learnt that consistency is key, that is for sure!
We also looked at the route planning and decided that we need a more detailed plan, e.g. using minor roads as opposed to freeways (I’d prefer freeways, less bumpy butt) but it’s for safety reasons obviously, so we are going to be getting a bit of help from the bicycle network in that department. I’ve also done the detailed route from Steep Point to Wilsons Prom up to Sydney (the first segment). We need to keep it so that I can keep you posted on where we are travelling and if there are any changes being made along the way. So that’ll be up online in the next week, so stay posted on that! (Thank god, it took a lot of time to do that!)
Also talked about the need for sponsors, so if you know of anyone with a business (or even privately) who might be able to assist - don’t hesitate to send them my way!! Or share the website details - the more people on board the merrier.
And lastly, yesterday I finished my second last block in Public Health at Uni! I got a HD in it so I’m really happy with that! In the translation session (group presentation) everyone liked my RAP song about stroke and sociology which was what the unit was about. If you want to check that out you can at
if that doesn’t work, this will.
https://soundcloud.com/tommy-q-1/tom-quick-sociolgical-critique-of-health-promotions-stroke
So the feels and what’s up next, all rolled into one?
The feels or vibes I'm getting right now is I'm feeling accomplished, so i’m going to surf that all the way to shore even with the last unit! Four more weeks then i’m done! So that’s what the main focus will be, unilyf. I will also be doing a bit of personal training now that we are easing the restrictions. In terms of the four points there are two things that need to be lined up, A) zoom meeting with bicycle network and B) the route needs to be uploaded.
Well, I'm done, I tap out!
Until next time.
Adios
Shaving your head doesn’t make you go any faster, trust me.
So, we started pitching to a few companies. When I say we I mean Mark. I have no idea how to do it, wouldn’t know where to start! I’ll learn as we go. I’ve already learnt a lot about creating websites. With me, I’m very ‘scared’ (I think is the fitting word) to fail in the academic side of things… So having mates there to help you and teach you is really my approach to learning. Anyway, that’s a side story, we are waiting to hear back from them, fingers crossed!
On the website, I’ve transferred the route I’d made into a more readable detailed excel spreadsheet about the ride and the exact locations we should be each day. I suppose you could say my predictions. So I expect leaving from Steep Point on the 2nd of August by mid-December in 2021 I should be in Sydney. Now, I just need to work out how to put it on the web and have the ability to change it on a day to day basis. Also, I’ve got to plan further ahead, when to leave from Sydney to head up north, got to get the timing right because I don’t want to head up too early and have to wait around until after the Wet. I’m thinking at this stage about the 20th or so of January 2022 but will see, I’ve got some time to think about it.
Talking about academic learning, I’ve started back at uni, I’m surprisingly liking the subject. Social Bases of Health: Global Perspective. It’s basically about the determinants of health. One of the assessments (last week for me) you get to do a creative output piece eg infographic or a poster but I’ve chosen to make it into a rap song about SES (socio-economic status), the social gradient, and health inequalities in regards to health promotion. With the topic being, you probably could have guessed, stroke! I’ll keep you posted on how I go in the next blogs I do.
On the human-powered vehicle, I did the retest (Goal 3) outdoors, and my view is I SMASHED IT! From memory was something like 14.8km’s per hour average, It was certainly one of my more positive tests. So now it’s just maintenance, steady-state. It should be easy right? It won’t be I’ll tell you that right now! I need stimulus or my mental strength weakens dramatically. So I’m just going to mix it up, like this week my goal will be 100km cumulative throughout the week and next week I’ll spin the bottle and see where it lands.
It’ll hopefully keep me motivated enough and I’m hoping that in turn, it’ll keep my emotions at bay.
What am I feeling ‘right now’?
Pretty steady-state to be honest, nothing to get me really worried about, that’s a good thing! That’ll probably change when I head towards the last weeks of uni block cause I have the rap song due, we will have to see. As they say in the classics ‘only time will tell’!
Alright, as always. To follow for more content see the links at bottom of the site.
Anyway じゃあまたね
Means ‘see you later’ in Japanese