Hi everyone

I was meant to write a blog for each day but to be honest I have been so busy and tired that all I want to do is sleep.

A quick update on what happened in the last few days…

On day two we crossed over to Switzerland and passed through lugano which was amazing.  One thing we all noticed in Italy was that it was deserted … its true .. you shouldn’t go to vacation in Italy in August – some of the villages look like ghost towns. In Switzerland we got a bunker for the accommodation and we also had a proper bed for everyone. After eating and washing the clothes I was off to bed.

The good beds seemed to put everyone in a good mood on day 3 … or maybe it was the prospect of cycling up the St Gotthard pass. After a series of.climbs (enough to make you wish to call it a day)  we got to the start of the climb towards the summit.  The only problem was that my knees started giving out before I actually got there.  After done strapping and some catafast I started of the climb … 13km which took me 1hr 57 mins to complete. It was a roller coaster of emotions going up, thinking of stopping, shouting out for motivation, breaking down and recovering.  But reaching the top was amazing, I can’t explain it.  It’s an amazing feeling.  After that it was a fast dash home with a series of downhills, reaching speeds of up to 65kmp.

Day four was when my knees decided to stop on me.  It was a very hard day, cycling through flats wad painful … and don’t get me started about the hills! After a lot of psychological games on myself and A LOT of support from the back up team I got to the accommodation at about 10 at night! Needless to say I didn’t have much energies to do anything and I just collapsed.

Day five, my knees were better … thanks to the care from the medical team. I managed to get through the day without much pain.  Let’s hope tomorrow is even better.

Good night

The say started a bit earlier than normal today as we gave some extra chores to do. Venice is a beautiful city, but not very practical if you have a hundred suitcases to load onto a truck. So we all took out our luggages to the truck waiting at the bus station and then went back for our bikes.

Once we all gathered at the bus station, it was time for the first briefing, loads of hugs and handshakes, and a prayer to send us safely.  At this moment I realised … LifeCycle 2010 is starting!

The ride started off on a slightly negative point when one of the cyclists collided with me and fell. I managed to somehow keep my balance and he only had some scratches. 

Riding here is amazing! The roads are great, the motorists respect you and give you all the space you need and you feel safe cycling. The weather also helps to set the good mood since it’s sunny and there’s a nice breeze.

At the first checkpoint we were greeted with great smiles from the backup team offering us all sorts of food … its a good feeling to know that you’re expected to pig out … so we all dig in

The ride continued over flat terrain (and some declines) until the accommodation. All in all it wasn’t a tough ride except for the fact that we hit the 200km barrier! It’s a first for me, and its a great feeling to read that figure on the speedo!

The accommodation was a bit small, but in the spirit of LifeCycle we turned the negative into a positive and we set up our sleeping bags outside with an amazing view of the lake and the alps.

I’m now off to wash my clothes, eat and sleep! Good night everyone

Sunday …  the moment of truth … did the bike arrive safely on the plane ? There’s only one way to find out … open the box and start putting everything together!

It took me about two hours to get everything sorted, and in usual dwardu style I managed to break the rear fender while mounting it! Some brown tape and a couple if minutes later everything was sorted at least!

I’m now off to stroll around Venice …. Tata

Woke up a 6 to have a shower and get ready before leaving for the airport.  At the airport priority number one was to get the bike loaded on the plane.  Once that was done, there was time for some photos and some farewells.  I don’t usually get emotional at these occasions, but this time was feeling a bit “homesick” before leaving. Maybe its the toughness if the challenge ahead or the fact that I spent a lot of time training and away from my family during the previous months.

After the last goodbyes, it was off to the security checks and the fact that this is really happening started to sink in.  The flight was good (apart from some turbulence on take off and landing) and was over quickly.  Which I can’t say about the bus ride from Rome to Venice which took about 9 hours.  After the long bus ride we had to.walk to the accommodation, and thank God for big Patrick for helping me out with carrying the bike.  Much appreciated

After settling down at the accommodation and having a long cold shower, I’m off to sleep.

Good night all … catch you tomorrow … hopefully ill put the bike together with no problems

Two weeks ago we finished the last portion of intensive training and started a tapering phase.  During the two weeks of tapering we reduced training hours drastically in order to reduce stress on the body in preparation for the challenge.  Reduced training hours gave me the opportunity to prepare for the trip itself … buying a sleeping mat, travelling pillow, cold weather, cycling clothes, energy bars, energy drinks etc.  So I guess I can be forgiven for not posting items on the blog :p

Last Sunday we had our last Sunday ride which took us to the familiar roads of Mgarr, Pwales, St. Paul’s bypass and Burmarrad.  After about 100km, I was off to pack my bike for shipping …

… that didn’t go as expected.  Had a problem undoing one of the pedals and to cut the long story short I had to miss putting the bike on the truck. Needless to say, was quite stressed about this, and now I needed to fix the pedal and then pack it for transport in the plane.

Which brings me to the last day before leaving … Friday the thirteenth!  Thankfully, nothing went wrong but everything took me ages to finish and ended up finishing all my chores sleeping at midnight … not ideal, but not too bad

Before sleeping I realised, the LifeCycle challenge 2010 is just round the corner … and I’m in it

In this week’s email there was something that struck me on sight – the email’s subject. “Fifteenth Sunday ride review.” Fifteen weeks have come and gone and we’re now on the final week of intensive training before the tapering phase. In other words, its just three weeks to go!!

Back to the present … today we had our second time trial. I guess I haven’t really talked about the first one yet … so here comes some background. On Sunday 20th June, we had a time trial to gauge our progress. The route for the time trial starts off from the Qormi-Mriehel bypass and takes us up to Dingli through Saqqajja i.e. always going up. The aim was to do the route in less than 30mins, but I knew this was going to be tough given my knee problems. I managed it 31 mins 18 secs and finished 33rd out of 38.

So, needless to say, this time I wanted to get a better result. Unfortunately we had a strong head wind today, and we got told that the target today is to keep it under 35 mins and that 30 mins would be a good time. My starting position is fifth (we’re starting from the slowest time trial results), and with 30 mins set as my target I set out on to the Mriehel bypass. The wind is strong and I try to make myself as small as possible on the bike to avoid as much wind resistance as possible, but I can still feel myself fighting this extra resistance. As I turn off the bypass towards Attard, the wind drops a bit and I push to overtake two cyclists. I know this is a race against one’s own time, but the physiological boost I got from the overtaking was priceless. Leaving Attard behind I start clibming towards Saqqajja and along the way I manage to push myself in front of the other two cyclists which gives me added energies to tackle the last part of Saqqajja hill. When I get to the top, my heart rate is at 190 and my body is screaming for a break. No time to stop now and as I push myself on I realise that there’s no one in front of me. At that point I get a bit worried that I might slack off with no one to set the pace, so in true army-recruit-training style I start screaming insults at myself. It seems to work! Fuelled by these insults (a couple of which were directed at others) I manage to get to the finish line without anyone physically overtaking me! The feeling was great, and then I look at my stop watch and I’m ecstatic. I managed the trial in 28 mins 21 secs. That’s about a 3 minute improvement from last time and I now placed 20th out of 36

On TuneIn today there was an article about me participating in the LifeCycle (I’m attaching a scan of the article with this post). So I must say today was a great day  Here’s wishing for more

To start cycling at 4am is a feat in itself (God knows I love my bed), but knowing that you still have nine hours of cycling still to go makes it even worse.

After lapping around the flats of Ta’ Qali for about two and a half hours, we (Clifton, Kola and Peter) head out to our Sunday’s favourite hang out place – Mater Dei. Fittingly, it’s where we meet every Sunday at 7am for the group cycle.

After a short briefing we start off on the Sunday ride … and it’s a tough one today. From Mater Dei we cycle to Mosta, and at the Jupiter roundabout the laps start. Down Burmarrad road and then up Xemxija bypass (climb 1). From Xemxija bypass we head towards Ghajn Tuffieha bay, and take a left half way through to climb up San Martin (climb 2). At Zebbiegh we turn again towards Ghajn Tuffieha and then out towards Xemxija bypass. Up the bypass again (climb 3) and up to Mosta through Burmarrad (climb 4) to finish off the loop.

The route was a tough one, but what made it 10 times worse was the unbearable heat. Energy drink stocks were drying up very quickly. So after two loops we stop at Dimples bar for refuelling. After filling all bottles, drinking a couple of energy drinks, and a good stretch we’re off again.

Another two loops, a ride through the coast road and back, and cycle back home help me get the total distance close enough to today’s target. At 176km I decided to call it a day. And there, at home, waiting faithfully for me was my bed … oh how much I miss you lately

Good night all

And hills it was. Left home (Mosta) at about six and headed out to Ghajn Tuffieha (no major hills so far, just an incline up Mgarr bypass). After the fast descent towards the car park I met Roderick and Steve. Together we cycled out towards Xemxija, and hit a right half way through to attack Ta’ San Martin hill. Already starting to get hot, all I could think of was that cold shower at the end of the session …. but that was still hours away.

Reaching the flats at Zebbiegh and Mgarr was a relief. Where to now? We have a quick look at each other and we instinctively say “Tas-Santi”. Off we paddle through Mgarr and soon start climbing up through Tas-Santi. No wonder its called that … ghax tela’ tal-qaddisin!

At the top, Steve and Roderick head home, but I still have some two and a half hours to go. So I turn towards Bahrija, determined to cycle up from Fomm ir-Rih lookout point. The descent was over in a jiffy, stopped for a stretch and a couple of shots, and was soon climbing up again. Although to be honest, all I wanted at that point was tumble down for a dip.

The climb was slooooow, but at a steady pace and when I got to the top I wasn’t as tired as I expected … seems like all the training is paying off

At the top I turned towards Rabat meaning I had a good long descent before climbing up again towards Rabat. At the roundabout at the top I turned towards Mtarfa and cycled up the village twice.

It was still too early to go home so I turned towards Mosta bridge and took the Ta’ Alla u Ommu road down to the coast road. Which left me with one obstacle to get myself home … Burmarrad hill. After that, the long cold shower I was eagerly waiting for

Something about the physio … we start off with some electrical muscle stimulation, move on to some laser therapy and finish off with an ultrasound massage. This isn’t that bad – I though for the first time! Just some twitching on the first machine and then I just lay back for the other two machines to do their jobs. But after all the machines comes the deep tissue massage from hell! There’s so much pain concentrated on one point that I need to hold on to the couch and soon after I start laughing hysterically, begging the question from the physio “Am I tickling you?” Not exactly!!! But the massage does its job well so I try not to complain too much

The pain around the left knee is back! I’m missing training sessions this week and I’m eagerly waiting the physio’s appointment to try and get the problem sorted.

I’m a bag of nerves at the moment. My body desperately wants to get back on that bike and cycling away – it’s now become addicted to those endorphins. My mind is constantly worrying about whether I’m going to be in one piece for the actual challenge, worrying about the “damage” of missing training sessions, thinking that all this hard work would be for nothing if I have to stop!

All I can do at the moment is close my eyes, rest, and pray that all will be well.

PS. Thanks everyone for your support this week – really appreciate