Where have we been

Hi all, sorry for the lack of posts over the past couple of months!

We have taken a look at 2011 and have some extremely exciting events, training schedules, books, articles and achievable adventures for you to follow and in turn start creating your very own...

eddie

T4 - Achievable Adventure - MTB

Port Macquarie - Tacking Point Lighthouse to Point Plommer (Part 1)

Date: 7/11/2010

Distance: 40km's approx (due to computer failure)

Trip Time: 4 hrs

Ride Time: 3 hrs

Bike: 07' Giant Rincon (slightly worked)

The skies had let go a great deal of rain over the last two days and after being confined to the house during this time (due also to lack of decent surf) it was time to work off all the built up energy. So I planned a trip which would included about 45% tarmac, 55% 4wd trail, and with a good smattering of sand and mud thrown in for good measure, which would take me from south of Port Macquarie to a great little surfing and camping spot known as Point Plommer.

The day started overcast but there was, according to the bureau, a great day ahead. So it was in to the weet-bix and then on to the packing. My equipment for the day was quite limited with a multi-tool, some spanners and tyre levers, camelbak, food and spray jacket (just in case) taking up most of the space in my small daypack. Next was a pre-departure check on the Giant. After recently fitting a few new parts, mainly a new wheelset and crankset, the pre-departure check took a little longer than usual. However at 8.00 am I set off.

First was a detour to the Lighthouse for a quick photo op and "Good Morning" to mother nature, I also received a "Good Morning" from my local Heartbreak Hill at this point. After the Lighthouse it was on to the tarmac for about 12km's to reach the Settlement Point Ferry, which would get me across the Hastings River. The ferry is free for pedestrians and luckily mountain bikers are included in this category. An added bonus is that the Ferry master is always a good fellow to chat to about the condition of the coming road. The outlook: "Not good." I pressed on however, still determined to make it to the Point.

After departing the ferry it was a short ride of 500m to take me to Plommer road - a non-designated public road that receives little maintenance. After about 6km's of relatively smooth dirt which was great to get the cadence up and stretch the legs out, I spotted the first one, a shimmering mass spanning the entire width of the road. As I gaze past I spot not one but many, many more, lined up like sentries. It was apparent that I was to pay in order to make it to the Point. So I settle in for the long haul and throw the bike over my shoulder, genuinely excited about the next part of the adventure. However, after another 1km of 'olympic-sized-swimming-pool' hopping, the sides of the depressions became steeper and increasingly difficult to by-pass. At this stage I met a motorcyclist who informed me that the remainder of the journey to the Point would be much the same, and stopped to consider my options. At that point a 4wd rounded the bend and headed for the next hole, I almost lost site of it as the water cascaded over the bonnet. The decision was made; I would turn around and try again another day.

So a detour for lunch on the beach and the 12k's of tarmac to home would end this adventure.

J-Boy

Coming soon, Part 2; The bit where I actually make it to the end.

T4 Run

Injuries!!

Why the bloody hell do they occur???  I have spent the last 2months asking myself this very question.

3 weeks out from my goal, the Melbourne Marathon I was on my longest run, a timed 3hr run (sitting at about 5:20pace) after arriving home all was good, i felt strong, had plenty left in the tank and my body was in the best shape it had been for many years so everything was going to plan...  The next morning i wake with sharp unrelenting pain in my left knee that I initially thought was residual pain from the run, however that pain didn't go away and after many physio visits, an MRI and a chat with a sports doctor i had pushed myself that hard that i had an overuse injury of the left patella and rest and no running for 2 months was the prescription.

Today I'm back and I realise why (for me) this injury happened, I lost sight of why I run.... After struggling through a slow 8k run about 10mins ago, although it was tough i enjoyed every 36minutes of it and suddenly I realised  why I run,  running allowed me to file, release all my energy, especially after being chained to a desk for the entire day, I loved it.  I wasn't worried about time/splits 4x500's 4x200's sprint work, running was fun!!

So my injury has allowed me to understand why I run, which will assist me achieve my REALISTIC  goals for the coming year, work with a coach and a squad to gather more knowledge and support and most of all enjoy every run like it is my last!!

eddie

T4 Event

Challenge Cairns

USM this week announced a new Ironman Triathlon for 2011. The headline event of the Cairns Adventure Festival will be Challenge Cairns Great Barrier Reef – an Iron Distance Triathlon. This is a full iron distance event consisting of a 3.8km swim, 180 km bike ride, and 42 km run, sounds like fun!

Challenge Cairns will have the highest prize money of any ‘Challenge’ branded triathlon in the world $142,000, making it the second-richest triathlon in the world.

So add this to the bucket list and get training...

For more information on Challenge Cairns check out http://www.usmevents.com.au/Triathlon___Multi_Sport/Challenge_Cairns.htm

T4 Gear

Don't leave home without one!

Did you have any form of Identification on you this morning when you went for a ride/run/surf/swim? I dare say most of you will say no. At the beginning of the year I went out early for my an unusual MTB ride. I didn't wake the family, I snuck out the door at 4.30am and hit trail that not many people know about. Coming back down the trail, I hit a large rock and went over the handle bars, landing very hard and cracking my helmet on a boulder. Slightly shaken I got up, dusted myself off and headed home...

I wonder if anyone would of found me if I was knocked out? I wonder if they did find me, how they would let my family know I was injured and in hospital?

RoadID is a product which I have used ever since, I never leave home without it. Basically the ID carries your emergency contact details and any urgent medical advice. They come in a heap of fashionable styles and colours, you can order them as a wrist, ankle or laces band or dog tags. I prefer mine as a Livestrong yellow wrist band, its one of those things that goes on every run.

If you don't carry any ID on - spend the $30 bucks and order yourself a Road ID. Its a small insurance policy and peace of mind for the family when you are out there living the dream.


Craig Alexander tells you so :)

Be safe on the roads

Racing Calendar

For those who want to take the next step and test their skills against others, Adventure Race has a great race calendar with races broken down into categories (hiking, biking, kayaking etc.) and States with links to all respective websites. Check it out!

T4 - Gear

For the person who has everything...
Whether you love to snorkel, scuba dive, swim, spear fishing, or just like to walk around with snorkelling gear on, you can now record all the action with these awesome video camera goggles!




Supper Cool

T4 Achievable Adventure

We (Bonz and Eddie) are just about to drive out to a place in South East Queensland where we will learn to ride horses, feed farm animals and most importantly of all eat as much bush tucker as we can get our hands on.

Now as both of us haven't been on a horse for a very long time, (me never) this could be very interesting to say the least.

OUR LOCATION will be About 1hr 1/2 south west of Brisbane

Lilydale Host Farm look out here we come!


View Larger Map

T4 Charity

There will be some exciting news to release next week in relation to a certain marathon (one of the biggest in the world) and a charity that a couple of the members of the T4 team will be raising money for, while training for one of the biggest events of their lives.

We will update you on how our training and fund-raising efforts throughout the week have progressed regardless of how good, bad or ugly the results may be.

By taking something you love and combining it with a charity that both inspires you to train harder and allows you as an athlete/weekend warrior to give something back is extremely important to me and to the members of the T4 team.

There are plenty of options out there for you, if this is of interest no matter how big or small you think the event/challenge is, here is a fantastic website, where you can create your very own event or join another and start fund raising in conjunction with your personal goals immediately, check out run for charity http://www.runforcharity.com.au

We will hopefully announce a partnership that we hope will foster mutual benefits over the coming years....very soon...

Wednesday Morning - Gap Creek Ride

Gap Creek is only 15 mins from Brisbane City and worth getting out and playing around the tracks if your bike has been sitting at home collecting dust. There are plenty of Mountain Bike only tracks graded beginner to intermediate.

Every Wednesday morning we will post random photos that we have taken from Gap Creek. We are up out on the track by 6 back in the city to start work by 8am... There will be tears, stacks, jumps, cool scenery and other interesting things :)

See the start of our collection, ENJOY!!

5:00AM START Whipbird way Bandicoot byway

Two intermediate trails that link together for a long ride on purpose built single-track.

JM manoeuvring over a rock wall

Interesting choice of headware, any ventilation??

5:30 sun's up and so are the birds, awesome start to the day

Ensure you are clipped in before attempting any steep climbing

check out more tracks and information at 

http://www.mtbdirt.com.au/brisbane-trails/view/trail/22

.

Sunday Afternoon Ride - Wynnum Manly Esplanade

Bonz on her new bike!

Only a 20min drive from the heart of Brisbane City is an excellent ride that you can chill out and enjoy Brisbane's Bayside.  Park at the Manly Marina as there is heaps of on street parking at no cost, then start exploring over 15kms  of bikeways/walkways, where you have no worries about cars. 

An excellent afternoon ride for those living in Brisbane, seriously check it out!!

Below is a map of the route and where to enjoy excellent fish and chips after your ride

Wynnum-Manly foreshore between Elanora Park and Fig Tree Point at Lota.

View Manly Sunday Afternoon Ride in a larger map

Brisbane to Gold Coast 2010 - Cancelled due to Massive Rainfalls.

With some good reason the event was cancelled the afternoon before by organisers, as storms on the day of the event recorded up to 290mm in under 24 hours, and winds up to 40mph.

Check out the rainfall radar:

The event will be held on a date in the near future when the rain stops.. and it has been non-stop for nearly three weeks now. Bring back the sun!

See Bicycle Queensland for more details.

Thank you Australia Post Gods, for hearing my Prayer. Amen.

I got a call from Sandy this morning telling me my shoes should arrive today, but I didn't want to get excited in case the pedals didn't show up.

Well they both turned up at the same time and now I am walking around the office in my shoes trying to break them in!

Everyone thinks I am a little strange and like a kid at Christmas excited about my new presents... maybe they're right :)

Bring on Sunday's Ride!

5 Days and Counting

The countdown is on and the Melbourne Marathon is looming in the distance.. Check out Barefoot Sean's post from his run this morning and the emotions that run wild 5days out from a marathon.

For those of you who are interested here is the map of the marathon, all 42.2kms worth!



You can download the PDF on the Melbourne Marathone website

Gearing up for the Brisbane to Gold Coast 100km

This weekend is the Wilson HTM Brisbane to Gold Coast and I have ordered some new shoes and pedals.

I have only been riding road bikes since I borrowed my mate Eddie's bike for this event last year. I had to wedge my feet into his two sizes smaller shoes and jump on his small size frame for the 100km event. It was only the second time in 10 years I had ridden a bike, and it nearly broke me! I remember getting off at the halfway point, taking off the shoes and just lying on the road to stretch my back out... felt like heaven.

So now I have a bike of my own (since May) but have been riding without clip-ins. I find I get much more power in climbs when I can use all the muscles in my legs when I am on my mountain bike, so I decided to upgrade (from riding in my Asics joggers!).

I am going with the SH-R086W for my extra wide feet:

and the PD6700 pedals, which are pitched at the pro level and definitely not where I am yet, but they were on sale - and hey, who can resist a bargain...

Thanks to Sandy @ Shimano for helping me with the shoes, and the team @ Torpedo7 for their sale on Shimano gear this week for the pedals :)

(only thing left now is a little prayer to the Australia Post Gods that everything arrives by friday!)

T4 Run is here!
How good is T4! Just wrote my countdown to Melbourne blog! 7 Days!

T4 Ride
Eddie has just published a downhill mountain bike clip on T4 ride, check out how quick JM comes down!!

Introducing our Weekend Warriors

You will receive posts and blogs from a number of peeps, sharing activities, inspiration and random adventures. If your lucky, they may even upload real time video diaries! So without further ado we would like to introduce you to the Terrain4 Weekend Warriors. We are quite a good looking bunch .... yes?

Our dreams become your inspiration

Firstly thanks for checking out T4 this is a very exciting time for the team here and we hope you enjoy the read.
Terrain4 has been designed to encourage those who maybe thinking off, looking for that extra encouragement to achieve their outdoor pursuit dreams.  We at are not outdoor professionals, we are not editors, publishers, web designers, however share a passion for living and breathing the 'weekend warrior' trade. We all carry full time jobs and a passion for our given sport.
T4 will start at the basics, it is our love for the outdoors and a bloody good challenge that T4 was born in the first place.
Many adventure magazines and online websites constantly focus on completing epic adventures, don’t get me wrong they are amazing feats of accomplishment, and we love a great inspiring read, however this is not something that I will put on the to-do list anytime soon.
Throughout our blog we will bring you ideas on where to start, how to become involved, ‘learn to’ courses plus feature achievable adventure travel stories, T4 ‘firsts’, all aimed at illustrating to you that you don’t have to be ‘Superhuman’ to achieve ‘Superhero’ status.
Get reading, and start dreaming on your next adventure whatever it may be.

weekend warrior 'Eddie'