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Visualise yourself “Around the Bay”

Post author By steve
Post date April 26, 2016

Training, fitness and good health all go hand in hand, but what is often missed in this thinking, is the mental health and the visionary aspects as opposed to the more common perception of physical health benefits. Having a challenge will almost always galvanise the mind into producing the habits and mental disciplines to get us out of bed in the morning and train, but a challenge has a way of firing up the embers and exciting all aspects of our previously mundane life.

I guess it’s a lot like the ‘Chicken or the Egg’ – the reality is that we need both, just take that first step -right? – but for me it’s always been about the vision first, a vision that I can touch and feel, you know the type of vision that fills your quiet moments, that lift your spirits into action. For me the physical stuff just follows to serve my vision. When it comes to the “rubber hitting the road” action part of this equation, I would have to say its pretty dam ugly sometimes – taking that first step on a run or the strong head wind on a colder morning as my pedals do not serve up the expected power ratios…hmmm why am I here again? I am the only one that thinks that way…right?

Goals sound like such an over rated cheesey cliché that haunts us from the shadows and very often freezes me into temporary inaction, but the reality is this… every time I have succeeded there were ALWAYS 5 things that were working for me…

‘Vision’ – and it was my unique Steve type vision
‘Challenge’ that was born from my vision
‘Very Small Goals’ plus some medium sized goals that set me on the path
‘Ugly Action’ was OK – passing a parked car going the other way was at least a start
Evolution – evolution represented a story unfolding and it was my story

So what comes first? the Vision or the Challenge…because in my books the other 3 points will never come into play until I have bought into the ‘Challenge’ part..What do you reckon?

If you are in Victoria and its getting chillier by the day, just maybe this challenge will reach out and touch your vision?

Why not dive into the “Fast Facts” of Bicycle Victoria’s “Around The Bays 2016”

Tags event, victoria

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It was War @ Tour of Duty 2

Post author By steve
Post date April 25, 2016

Tour of Duty 2

By RideGC
April 24th 2016
Burliegh Heads
Gold Coast Australia
It was war out there today but they all made it home – the wind got the better of some – Mal (bloodied) and Justin and few other mates traveled all the way into this very unique Gold Coast Cycle event from outskirts of Toowoomba (sorry Mal couldn’t remember your towns name) Justin and Mal had a wheel hug on the homeward stretch …maybe they could blame it on the wind which added to the challenge, but these two characters still came up smiling, the same could not be said for there poor old overworked bikes.

What a fantastic calibration between Andy Savage and family and the RSL who are the beneficiaries of funds raised.

Bring on Tour of Duty 3 in 2017
Www.tourofdutygc.com.au

TOD:1 TOD:2 TOD:3 TOD:4 TOD:5 TOD:6 TOD:7 TOD:8 TOD:9 TOD:10

By Jakazni

Listening to the howling wind in the early hours of Sunday morning must have been giving everyone who was riding the 2016 Tour of Duty the heebeejeebees! But in true ANZAC spirit, everyone who had registered fronted for the ride! Most were doing the 100km ride. It was fantastic to see so many women in the ranks as well.

The new cycling kit by JAKAZNI was awesome en masse and everyone looked sensational wearing it. The wind stayed around all day but everyone made it back to the Burleigh RSL. A broken collarbone ended one riders campaign.

Although I couldn’t ride this year due to my left arm being in a cast, I did get to enjoy the many emotions of the ride as well as the spectacular scenery as an on-course photographer.

The Scottish piper out at Tallebudgera Valley was a stand out feature. Even the locals were coming out to see what was going on and to enjoy his many renditions of some classic Rock ‘n’ Roll hits!

It really is inspirational to see te riders take on this ride as it’s definitely not flat and the wind made it even harder.

Well done to everyone who took part. I hope you like the images from the one armed photographer!

View Jakazni’s Photo Roll of Tour of Duty 2

Tags events, tour of Duty

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You can extend your life

Post author By steve
Post date April 23, 2016

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Sydney 2 Surfers is coming into view …see below

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5 Ways That Cycling Can Improve Your Life

Cycling can extend your life…what better than aiming at an Event?
Cycling will almost certainly create new friends…especially at community events
Cycling Improves your memory, reduces stress can help with controlling depression and improve your concentration and reasoning skills…Events have lots of colour and vibrancy
Cycling will save you money if you incorporate commuting and in my experience, when you hit a rhythm in your cycling routine you will also see a reduction in food consumed, and takeaways are not as tempting.
Almost number one for me and that is exploring new turf and rediscovering old. I love becoming immersed and engaged – at one with our environment. This whole cycling lark is a lot like an adventure on tap and you can do it anytime you have the itch

[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_raw_html]JTNDaWZyYW1lJTIwd2lkdGglM0QlMjIxMDAlMjUlMjIlMjBoZWlnaHQlM0QlMjI1MDAlMjIlMjBzcmMlM0QlMjJodHRwcyUzQSUyRiUyRnd3dy55b3V0dWJlLmNvbSUyRmVtYmVkJTJGMWUxSkRucmpxMVUlM0ZsaXN0JTNEUEx1QUpidURGWHFqcFl4VTJmUmhTdWMxZ3ZOczFFbXl4dCUyMiUyMGZyYW1lYm9yZGVyJTNEJTIyMCUyMiUyMGFsbG93ZnVsbHNjcmVlbiUzRSUzQyUyRmlmcmFtZSUzRQ==[/vc_raw_html][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text][/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”713817″ img_size=”full” onclick=”custom_link” link=”/sydneytosurfers”][vc_column_text]The Sydney to Surfers Cycle Tour raises much needed funds for Father Chris Riley’s Youth Off The Streets charity. Youth Off The Streets supports chronically homeless and drug addicted young Australians as they work to turn their lives around. The Ride is an initiative of and continues to be fully run by the Rotary Club of Engadine, and is a fully supported ride for 7 days…

Continue to Sydney2Surfers [Fast Facts…][/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space][vc_raw_html]JTNDaWZyYW1lJTIwd2lkdGglM0QlMjIxMDAlMjUlMjIlMjBoZWlnaHQlM0QlMjI1MDAlMjIlMjBzcmMlM0QlMjJodHRwcyUzQSUyRiUyRnd3dy55b3V0dWJlLmNvbSUyRmVtYmVkJTJGczdiZktwaHVkbmslM0ZsaXN0JTNEUEx1QUpidURGWHFqcmx2M3pXeGowQk1IcEljM0MxQ2cydiUyMiUyMGZyYW1lYm9yZGVyJTNEJTIyMCUyMiUyMGFsbG93ZnVsbHNjcmVlbiUzRSUzQyUyRmlmcmFtZSUzRQ==[/vc_raw_html][vc_column_text][/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_facebook][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Tags lifestyle, Ride Rotary

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Health Heroes @ lake Hume

Post author By steve
Post date April 22, 2016

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Did you know that there are 35 Rotary Cycling Events each year across New Zealand and Australia?
25,000 cyclists enjoy the Rotary hospitality each year and that’s not counting their family and friends who travel with them to support their efforts.
Rotary is probably the single biggest unsung hero in getting people – regular community people onto back onto their bikes. Rotary is a significant Cycling Community and are positively responsible for bring Family’s together and changing peoples lives. There are so many that face challenges, fitness issues and a Rotary Cycling Event provides a fantastic entry level to launch or relaunch a life change.

Help CycleEvents.com and myself Steve, develop “Ride Rotary Ride for your Community” into a place of pride and centralise the efforts jump across to “Ride Rotary’s” facebook page and hit the like button and see where this journey takes us.

Regards Steve

Congratulations to Lake Hume Cycle Challenge and Emma from “The Gooo Sticky info”

An excellent example of what local Community Cycling Events can achieve. www.cycleevents.com/lakehumecyclechallenge

Proudly a Rotary Cycling Event

Albury-Wodonga is taking it to world (so to speak) but the point to picked up on here is that ‘Lake Hume’s Cycle Challenge’ is not just benefiting us cyclists, in fact the whole region is being showcased, the Events Participants, Organisers and Event Partners definitely benefit, but just step back a little, and you will see a lot more positive stuff, the Lake Hume Cycle Challenge pulls in the visitors and that has to be an absolute winner in my books as many thousands of dollars are regularly flushed down the media machine in advertising and yet here we see a local Rotary Club doing more than a little and on a shoe string budget .

Take a look at their website and you will see what I mean www.lakehumecyclechallenge.com.au/

Lets have a look at a recent post on the ‘Lake Hume CC’ Facebook April 2nd

“Sydney rider Emma’s writes fantastic article on Regional Healthcare and the LHCC
Emma thinks riders in the LHCC are all “Health Heroes”. She was so impressed with the Event and the worthy cause she wrote an article for her employer’s quarterly newsletter. Please read it. She has really hit the spot with country healthcare and why the AWRCC has been our beneficiary for the past 4 years.”

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Be creative. There’s always a solution.

Marketing and Communications Specialist, Emma Brown recently embarked on a 100 kilometre charity ride in Albury, here’s her story:

‘Where’s Albury? …..a seven hour drive!’
‘You’re riding 100 kilometres!’

These were the responses I received when I told members of my cycling squad that I was doing a charity ride in Albury.

Even the most enthusiastic of cyclists were perplexed that I would drive seven hours, where there’s no beach, to do a 100 kilometre bike ride. The second response was a shock that I could even complete a 100 kilometre ride.

I often get the award at the end of year presentation for the person in most need of an alarm clock, as I sleep in much more than attend training – as our group meets Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays at 5.40am. So I can understand their shocked responses.

I signed up for the Lake Hume Cycle Challenge (LHCC), presented by the Rotary Club of Bellbridge Lake Hume, as my second cousin Colin Maginnity is the ride director. Colin inspired me to sign up as at 70 years-of-age he doesn’t miss his cycling sessions. And the community ride raises funds for the Wellness Centre within the town’s new Cancer Centre.

This year’s event is especially important to Colin as his brother died of cancer only a month before the cycling challenge.

I also thought it would motivate me to get back into bike training and stop sleeping for five more minutes then waking up at 6am to miss the rides, especially as injury has stopped me running for a few months and I’m planning to do the New York marathon.

And it worked, you might have noticed that on some Tuesdays and Thursdays at around 1pm, I started to lose the gift of logical thought and speech. I had to work hard to keep my eyes open, as fatigue set it. But on the upside I feel fitter, can ride faster and longer, recover better, sleep before 10pm, get into the office ready to go before 9am and happier to catch up with my cycling buddies.

The day of the 100 kilometre ride

I hoped that the average 30 kilometre training rides from Centennial Park to La Perouse or Watsons Bay in Sydney had prepared me well for the event. This wasn’t to be as I felt pretty sick for the last half of the ride. But the scenery was beautiful along Lake Hume especially the lush wooded valley before the only steep climb, as was the view from the dam wall crossing.

The two rider reviver stops were like an oasis in the desert, with piles of fruit cake, muesli bars and watermelon slices, all for free. There was also plenty of support on the ride from fellow cyclists, volunteers, first aiders and marshals.

Colin asked me what was the best part of the ride: ‘definitely riding under the finish arch, knowing it was over’. Which took me four hours to accomplish.

After partaking in the free sausage sizzle, with gourmet coleslaw and gluten free bread, I immediately felt better. Having a few floats in the Murray River and a sun bake on the grassy banks in leafy Memorial Park with a brewed chai latte from adjacent cafe, was the perfect recovery.

At the post ride dinner prepared by Colin’s wife Anne, a delicious beef casserole, with home grown vegetables, freshly baked lemon meringue pie and preserved peaches, I learnt what my $60 entry fee would contribute to.

This is good value if you compare to shorter races in Sydney, such as ocean swims, which often are the same price, you only receive a price of fruit and the fees don’t always go to charity.

The major beneficiary of the approximately $20,000 raised, the ‘Wellness Centre’, will provide support services and complementary therapies, such as cancer support groups, massage and exercise therapy (yoga and tai chi), nutrition and diet advice, meditation and counselling.

These services are designed to help patients remain positive, gain a sense of control and feel supported along with practical strategies integrated with the Regional Centre’s conventional cancer care.

Chairperson of the LHCC, Stuart Lucas, said that the Albury Centre, to be opened in July this year, will be among 10 Regional Cancer Centres across the country. Funds were pledged by the Federal Government in 2009, to redress the disadvantages people in regional areas living with cancer experience, such as a shorter life and a greater chance of dying from cancer.1

From the announcement of the funding, CEO of Cancer Council Australia, Professor Ian Olver, said people in regional and rural areas generally experienced inferior cancer care outcomes compared with those in metropolitan centres and that the best way to reduce the inequity was to bring services closer to patients.2

Stuart said that often people living in the Albury region undertake more aggressive treatment as they can’t afford the time and expense of travelling to Melbourne for regular care, a factor leading to higher mortality rates. In 2008-2012, mortality rates from cancer were highest for people living in remote and very remote areas.3

Colin said that the Centre will be ‘an immense benefit to many families in our region’.

“The tyranny of long distance travel while dealing with cancer is an extra load on families trying to cope with a dire adversary.”

To help bring quality wellness services to Albury and to boost your own health and wellness I recommend doing one of the four below LHCC events next February.

It would be great to keep breaking the records for the number of participants, this year there was 739 entrants, up from 606 the year before. For more information: lakehumecyclechallenge.com.au

Thanks to the Rotary Club of Bellbridge – Lake Hume and support from Albury North, Wodonga Central and Tallangatta Rotary Clubs, the Ulysses Motor Cycle Club, the volunteers and my triathlon coach and friend Tony Golden for accompanying me on the journey.