Thank f*ck rest week is almost over… Oddly, this is the longest period I have had off a bike in two years! So I am probably more than due for a break of a week, but by Thursday I was starting to get quite itchy.

I can handle 3 days off the bike… 4th starts to get ratty and by the 5th I am clawing at my skin wishing I had eagle talons. With tomorrow as a full travel day it will be 7 full days off the bike since I have last ridden. I feel truly dirty and not in a good way. But, if I was going to pick a week off, this seems to be a good one as its pissed down fiercely all week here.

There are two things that have made this rest week more unbearable (other than general boredom):

1. Strava – Its fair to say that Strava is probably the worst thing ever invented for rest weeks. Each day while you do nothing but eat croissants and feel the endorphins seep out of you like you’re a whoopie cushion, you get to see everyone else in your feed riding and putting in mad Km’s or doing cool shit. It’s a bit like being trapped in a cupboard with only access to your fuckbook account following people who have really interesting lives.

2. Racing – Yes, everyone else is racing… Or getting ready to race. Predominately this applies to the lads in the Southern Hemisphere who basically have an abundance of races (road and MTB) to pick and choose from like little smart ass fat kids in a candy/cupcake store.

So, with me doing zilch, lets tap into the DN Global Cycling Network to see wasssssssup. First to Perth Australia, where instead of voting, Herr Doktor today smashed out a 40km MTB race in Western Strayla on the bike that makes you feel like a cheat, the sublime Cannondale Scalpel:

Number is on - Race the fuck out of me

Number is on – Race the fuck out of me

Note the quality post race refueling from the Doc, a SOLO and the bad ass Aussie hotdog. 6th place in age group a fine comeback into the Aussie racing scene for the Doktor. Hearing about racing on dry singletrack has made me fever for MTB racing again… Which is handy given my Scalpel is somewhere on Keppel Wharf right now… Hmmmmm.

Further south to MastertonNZ and the Rivet Racing boys (https://www.facebook.com/RivetRacing) had a tough days road racing in the final of the Balfour Pennington Series. I am yet to ever race in Masterton and for it not to feel like a horror story, so kudos for getting over there and giving it a good crack lads. Here is a file shot from last week of Ango giving it some in the penultimate round of the Balfour Pennington series:

Poised to strike...

Poised to strike… Ango on the far left about to dispatch a giant.

And, in NisekoJapan (yes, I am pining), the Ironhawk has traded an unpadded one piece gimp suit for his Scalpel 29er, smashing in a hot looking MTB ride, pack your bags and book your Niseko trip immediately:

Iron trail... Seriously, when will this place stop shooting out goodness?!

Iron trail… Seriously, when will this place stop shooting out goodness?!

He then doubled down today with some Tour of Hokkaido recon work on the stunning climbs around his HQ… Jealous doesn’t even begin to describe it.

That’s about it from the Global DN cycling network and affiliates, Singapore turned on truly shit conditions for those that decided to venture out here today, the Mountain Bikers particularly punished…

I am 3 hours away from pressing the go button on SPAIN and commencing the epic journey of maxicab/plane/plane/train/train/train/car to my hotel in Torla. Google maps reckons that if I fucked all that plane & train nonsense off and just jumped in the Nomadmobile, that it would only take me 186 hours to drive the 15,000km’s. No shit, you can actually do it (in theory):

What?! This road has tolls? Fuck that, roadie cancelled...

What?! This road has tolls? Fuck that, roadie cancelled…

I suspect that the Pakistan and Iran legs would prove to be challenging… Especially given I would have to get an oil and filter service done in Tehran.

So, until Torla – Hasta la vista!

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3 Responses

  1. Shep

    I had a sweet ride at swinley forest this morning on the Jekyll. about 25km of purpose built single track. Enjoy your trip to Spain!

    Reply
  2. Diana

    Good choice about the ‘no tolls’.That made me laugh. If you do travel on any ‘tolled’ roads in Spain, you’ll notice it’s a lot less complicated than it is in NZ.
    Enjoy.

    Reply
  3. Angus Taylor

    Man imagine driving there, epic action.. Well we all blew to bits in the weekend, 1 hr above Lactic Threshold was lights out for me.. Que tengas un buen hermano maldito tiempo, van Basso – oh espera, vaya Horner .. Espera Go Nibali!

    Reply

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