durianrider

248km over hill and dale, headwinds just followed me and im glad cos it matkes me stronger. i call em 'heartwinds' now..cos i just luv em with all my dear little heart..but seriously, with no wind, baby spiders couldnt travel. seeds couldnt fly, tree roots would get weak with no winds blowing against their trunks. so i love you wind. i love you with all my heart. thanks for being with me in training today.. see you bright and early tommorrow..

today there was a fun ride. over 7000riders. 143km course. i gave em 80min headstart so i could pass thousands of em wearing the organic athlete kit and riding the bamboo. then i rubbed it in more and rode the 3hours home with cars atop with bicycles passing me the whole time.

everyday we have a chance to contribute to a better planet. every moment, of everyday..remember this! cos ITS YOUR POWER!

this photo of me handing out rambutans to orphans in cambodia, we rode our bikes there and carried 40lb sacks of rambutans on our handlebars. the locals were look'n. people are always look'n, so lets give em our best to look at..

not too little, not too much, but enough! i get people tell'n me,' i eat heaps of fruit harley, i eat a lot of fruit! but i still dont have the energy to train like i want..'

invariably i ask em 'so how many cals exactly are you eating a day?'
'oh i dont count calories..'

well then , how you know your getting enough fuel if you dont objectively measure the intake and output..

any sports nutrition guide will tell us this. i find the organicathlete ebook most useful.

for me, as an ultra rider, its better to go too far than not far enough..

its the cycle of an organic athlete. we eat the best nourishment so we can perform. we perform so we can eat the best nourishment. i win, you win, the animals win, the planet wins. we all win.

today the crew from trek australia called me over as i rode past on the bamboo calfee. they loved it. one trek employee told me about seeing the organic athlete team doing furnace creek with a baton from a banana. he saw this footage at the bicycle movie week in sydney australia. organic athlete is plant'n seeds, worldwide..

this last week of training with oscar pereiro and team has given me some good form. im climbing well and enjoying the long miles. did 7 hours total yesterday. 2 hours with phill liggett. 4 hours with oscar and co and 1 hour solo recovery spin.

here is a photo taken by liz kreutz. liz is lance's travelling photographer and friend. she asked me about my organic athlete kit last wednesday out training with lance. she thought it was very cool that our team stood for something real.

being an organic athlete has given me purpose ive never experienced before as an athlete. it feels great to be part of the solution and to stand for something with integrity.

im not sure how i got past the 9 police, 4 bodyguards and team crew. you can even hear a bodyguard start up..but they were ok after they realised that im not a terrorist threat..lol!

here is the video link.
http://player.video.news.com.au/adelaidenow/?uFSVv_4yF0c3c8xt7BwOYQBcGiASrHdB



3hours in the mountains around adelaide. lance was more interested in my bamboo bike than what i eat. his assistant, elizabeth was on a motor bike following and taking shots. she called me back and asked me about what i eat. she told me lance has a close friend that is a vegan athlete. she almost fell off the back of the motorbike when i said 'actually im a raw vegan. 100% raw plant foods. NO COOKED FOOD EVER!, i get my carbs from fruit.' she was like' but you ride so fast! thats insane!'

then we hit a 7km climb and i attacked off the front. i was going too fast for lance and the team, cos they just let me go. i guess the guys are saving their legs for the real race that starts on sunday.

somehow i made a video of the ride and will post it on youtube shortly..
when i got back to the city the local journo's did a story. it will run in tommorrows paper that has over 500 000! readers! lol! the journo loved the part about how i can eat up to 60 bananas in a day and ride 515km in a day.

so now lance armstrong knows whom durianrider is..lol! the crazy vegan dude from adelaide that races a bamboo bike..

ok, gotta go hydrate, carb up, rest up, stretch up etc, cos who knows what opportunities tommorrow will bring us?

i didnt think id be riding with 2006 tour de france winner oscar pereiro and co. lucky i eat to go the distance cos i understand that every day you NEVER KNOW WHAT IT MAY BRING..

so ive got 170km under my belt today. not that far but some real quality training and intensity. hitting super steep climbs and trying to hold oscar's wheel is something that provides the required stimulis for cycling efficiency..lol!

rode just on 210 miles yesterday. start the new year with a bang. these new years rides always end up solo...as i can never find training partners do go that distance.

it was about 14hours saddletime with sun, rain, wind and bergs to provide the training stimuli. i picked a course that provided RAAM like conditions. and was lucky to have such diverse weather for the ride.

i stopped off at a friends cert organic farm and grabbed some peaches. i carried a lb of organic raisins and that provided the fuel in between fruit stops.

the bamboo bike rides a dream. i dont feel as beat up as i used to on other bikes. but i also know that the hydration and level of glycogen efficiency i now have makes a huge difference.

how do i feel today? i feel great. i feel like i got some solid miles in the legs yesterday and that it will provide some good conditioning for my upcoming state and national 24 solo xc races.

well im about to do a few hours recovery spin and go spend the afternoon eating and pick'n organic peaches for sunday market..

so go long this year...go way long.