Finally, I've made the jump into the Thorn Nomad MKII Club

[Slammin Sammy]

Great stuff, Tony! I'm equally as impressed with the 735m climb during the day as the 102km. NZ is bumpy.

Respect!! 

[jags]

my son is arriveing home from Aukland tomorrow man is he in for a shock .
the weather here is cold and wet guess we had better put more blankets on his bed.

[nztony]

JimK, thanks for that. Talking of looking fantastic, a motorist stopped up at the lookout and asked me about my bike and I told him I was training to ride in the UK and he looked at me and the bike and said “you don’t look like an athlete” I have to admit, while denting my pride for a couple of seconds, throughout the rest of my ride I literally laughed out loud several times when I remembered his remark and smiled to myself thinking “how dare you!”

Il padrone, I seem to be averaging around 18km/h but I don’t want to focus on that  as it can be distracting – I’m more interested distance and time to build up my endurance. Until I got the bike last month I had no idea of what distances I might be able to cover, so I couldn’t plan any trips, but now I can look at maps and work out daily distances between towns/cities etc.

Thanks Danneaux, trust me, I keeping with the tight lycra shorts – but no tight lycra tops! And funnily enough, and I don’t want to jinx anything, and I don’t understand how, but just about all my rides have been in tailwinds, whichever direction I seem to ride! I wonder if it is to make up for all the headwinds I rode in my 20s?

Matt2matt2002 thanks for the best wishes. The location is here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nztony/12046140414/ then click on Paekakariki Hill, Wellington, NZ (just under my name and buddy icon) and it should take you to the map.

Mickeg, it took me over a year, probably more, to decide on the colour for the panniers, and I almost went for the Grey Ortliebs as I thought they look too yellow, but the black sections of the panniers break the yellow up nicely, and I am purposely wanting to be as visible as possible to traffic – hence the rather bright shirt too!

Rualexander, very well guessed, you are 100% correct.

Swilson, trust me, I’ll be posting more photos as that is my other hobby. (and I don’t need to be asked twice!)

In4, unfortunately the day I took this photo it was cloudy, often the skies are blue and the view goes for miles – although the cloudy (but warm) day made for an easy ride.

Sammy, very kind (about the metres climbed). Although I’m not exactly a “climbers” build, I have always loved the hills for training for both cycling and hiking, and if I go along at my own pace, there aren’t too many hills that frighten me. The ascent up here from Riverstone Terraces to Moonshine Valley is brutal: http://sportypal.com/Workouts/Details/3623063  (The ALT button at the top of the map is worth a click.)

Jags, it has been unseasonably wet for January here in New Zealand, but warm. Yesterday it was bucketing down, so it was back to my hiking in the hills, while the Nomad sat at home nice and dry. When I get to touring on the Nomad I’ll ride it in the rain, but while it is still shiny, sparkling and new, I’m not. Back in my cycling days in the 1980s I rode in any weather – but I’m allowed to pick and choose when I ride now without a grumpy coach ready to get tell me off for slacking.

[JimK]

he looked at me and the bike and said “you don’t look like an athlete”

That is so ridiculous. To be honest, you look so strong in that picture, it made me think, "What am I doing on a bike? How can I possibly keep up?" Then I remembered my real secret: I don't need to keep up!

Have fun riding!

[jags]

you should have decked that guy in the car
just flicking through your photos ,man what a beautifull country no wonder my son loved it.
we dont get much rain in ireland maybe twice a year 6 months at a time though 

jags

[nztony]

JimK, thanks for the encouragement, but honestly (other than for about 2 seconds) I thought what he said was extremely funny and it gave me many smiles and grins for the rest of the ride whenever I thought of it. And you're absolutely right, whatever pace suits is the right pace.

jags, rain twice a year - sounds great, as does Ireland - I've been checking it out on Google Maps and Street View, and day dreaming riding down the country lanes. Next year I hope to ride the UK  including the Outer Hebrides and a new idea, perhaps a couple of days circumnavigating the Orkney Islands right at the start of my tour, before hitting Scotland, and making my way to Dover. If time permitted, and sadly it probably won't, I'd love to cycle from the very top of Northern Ireland to the bottom of Ireland - but there is always the following year.

[jags]

Tony only joking about the weather most of the time its fine, as a matter of fact the sun is out now blue skys but still cold.that tour of ireland is better done from south to north better know as Mizen Head to Malin Head, fantastic trip as long as the sun shines but i guess thats the same as most cycle tours
on that google street maps you can spot me in my wee garden,amazing stuff no where safe to hide these days.hope you make the big tour tony great way to see a country by bike magic.

jags.

[nztony]

Jags,
That looks fascinating. I checked it out on Google Maps, but which way is the most interesting, via the East Coast or West Coast? Google Maps, of course, suggested a route straight up the middle! I guess it would be half dozen one and half dozen the other, i.e. either or?
Tony

[jags]

oh the west coast all the way if you like i'll send you a map with the route i done,mind you i only got as far as galway.(long story) there are some tough enough climbs mols gap /healy pass.the climb up to clifs of moher. but if i can do it so can anyone .plenty campsite on the west coast around 9 euro band b is 35 euro but usually a great breakfast.i only stayed in one hostal that was doolin nice but not my scene to many young doods .
btw tony my son is just home from your part of the world he  ust gone to bed  completly knackered and freezing cold  .
if you want any info on ireland  i'll be only to glad to help where ever i can,check out boards.ie for more info on mizen to malin.

jags.

[nztony]

Jags
Thanks for that info, I was thinking the West Coast was going to be the answer. I'll do some Googling. No hurry though as only daydreaming at this stage - UK up for next year I hope, then will be time to plan my next trip. Of course, I'll be doing some practice runs here in NZ first.
Tony

P.S. How is this for a coincidence: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nztony/11741301623/

[jags]

hah how often would that happen great story tony..

well best of luck with planning your tour as i said if you need any info give me a bell.


jags.

[nztony]

Now that I am getting very close to my first 1000km on my Nomad, (less than 50km to go) I'm starting to get my legs slowly back into
cycling again and am now able to venture a bit further away from home and take in some more varied and interesting sights and routes.

I'm quite pleased with my progress after the first five weeks, as did 6 1/2 hours a couple of days ago, followed by 3 1/2 hours the next day
and I usually try to find some decent hills. I'm a big guy so I'm not a natural hill climber, but nevertheless I have always loved
riding up them - as long as it is at my pace. I was a little worried after my first two or three rides and was starting to think
my reintroduction to cycling (after a 20 year plus break) was going to take a bit longer than I thought, but I seem to be coming
back into it quite well now - I'm can be a determined and dedicated sort of person I guess. There have been a few hills I've put off until I've had
a few weeks back in the saddle that I am now attempting, and I have to admit I've been a little frightened approaching them and
wondered if I have bitten off more than I chew, but so far so good! Because I work 12 hours shift work, there are days that I can't ride
but I think at this early stage that could be a good thing to give myself a chance to recover from my rides, as I know what I'm like,
I'd probably end up overdoing it, so a bit of enforced days off the bike probably isn't a bad thing.

I have to say ditching my baggy mountain bike shorts and sticking to tried and true lycra cycling shorts has been my best decision
in the last couple of weeks - my comfort factor had gone up four fold and my Brooks B17 and I are now on pretty good terms.

http://sportypal.com/Workouts/Details/3644843 and http://sportypal.com/Workouts/Details/3644843#id=3643689



or here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nztony/12201172385/
The infamous Rimutaka  Hill Climb - probably well known to most New Zealanders living in the bottom half of the North Island.
(and did you notice the lovely weather here in NZ at the moment - I have white lines down the side of my face where my helmet straps block the sun!)

[Danneaux]

You and the Nomad are lookin' good, Tony.

Looking on from afar and reading the "snapshots" of your reintroduction to cycling, I think things are going really well. I would have expected  a bit of plateauing, but I think your past top-level cycling skills are still ingrained and are being put to good use. The body remembers!

Very good, Tony.

All the best,

Dan.

[nztony]

Dan

Regards the plateauing - I was patient for my first four weeks of riding, just letting the miles and hours in the saddle mount up without trying to do anything silly, getting my legs, and hands and butt used to everything again - and I still have a long way to go, so I mustn't get over confident. As for my the body remembering, I am confident I remember i.e. my brain, as for my muscles etc, I'm not so sure! I'm super enjoying knocking off some of the bigger hills around here though and each one gives me the confidence that I'm getting back into it. I live in a different city now from when I was a cyclist in the 1980 and 1990s, so unfortunately I can't compare old hills and training routes with those I'm doing now.
I'm eager and itching to get out and do some more miles and hours as I don't want to just do 100km rides, I want to ride them well, as so far, I've been pacing myself until I know I can handle the distance. In the old days 6 hours would be a 160km ride, today it's a 100km ride! Then again my bike was a lot lot lighter than my Nomad, I was a lot lot lighter, and I was 25 years old!\
best regards and thanks for the encouragement,
Tony

[NZPeterG]

Hi Tony,
Good to see your new Nomad and that your out cycling.

I was out cycling before work on Tuesday this week MTBing and we only cycled 45km's but climbed over 1300 metres

Never Got to work Tuesday? Ok as was cycling with one of my work mate's (boss) 

Love Hill's as for any uphill there is a Down Hil 

Mountain Biked home one of the long ways 10km's tonight 


Pete