Back on two wheels

After a 4 week taper, I finally went for a ride on Saturday and did the ACT Hill Climb Championships at Corin. Dave, Nath, Tamas and myself all rolled out there early to find that we were going to be in the last group of riders to start. On the ride out there I felt fine, but I was getting Short of breath on the climbs, but my legs weren't getting sore. I started 30 seconds after Tamas and made it my goal to catch him, which I thought was a good and probably achievable goal as I'm usually a better climber than him. The undulations at the start made it hard to find a rhythm, and made him look a lot closer than he was, but by about half way when the real climbing had started, I caught him. I was under the impression that once the top of the climb was reached, there was just one pinch before rolling down to Corin Forest where the finish line was (you would think for a HC they could actually have a proper hill top finish), but there were about 3 pinches before Corin Forest, and then we had to keep riding along the flat road before the final pinch to the highest point on the road. On the final part of the actual climb I smashed myself and then gave it everything up the final pinch, but I' had it after that and couldn't smash myself on the flat bit to the finish. But after all that, I won in under 19s which I was pretty happy about. It ended up being a big day and a very nice ride, and I was just ahppy that I made home not feeling too bad after such a long break.

Last night saw my return to the CCC summer crit races. I was pretty tired and feeling a bit dead, so I had no high expectations. I was riding a lot smarter than I have before, but the race was just ridiculous. right from the start it was absolute chaos, people passing on the inside in the middle of a corner, intense speeds and constant attacks, I saw one guy about 4m in front of me get cut off by a girl he was pulling to the front and had to brake so hard that his back wheel was sliding out. I had a pretty good crack, but I had to pull out with about 3 or 4 laps to go.

I'm looking forward to doing some big rides now that school has finished, Cameron (another XC rider on the ACTAS talent development program) wants to have a crack at honeysuckle and Im going to attempt the Boboyan Road return, as well as Williasmdale? and the Murrembateman, Gundaroo, Sutton return. If I can do these three rides, I will complete my goal of riding every rural road in the Canberra region this year.

Lazy Days

I think we left off at me preparing for a road race at Tharwa a few weeks ago. They got A and B to race together (I race B) which meant the pace was going to be a bit more full on, but probably not to bad, and it wasn't all that bad most of the time. I was doing some solid turns on the front, racing a bit smarter than the last time I raced road back on May. But 3rd lap (of 4) they decided to really crack it up the climb, and I really didn't have the energy for something that intense at that stage and decided to let them go and catch of on the brief descent on the other side. This wasn't my greatest move, as it turned out the pace had been set for the rest of the race, not just the climb and after hammering myself for about 5 km sitting only 150m behind I gave up and just rolled to the finish, knowing I had a good ride and enjoyed the sun. In the end only 2 B grade riders finished.

Since then nothing has happened.

I currently have a crack in the back rim of the roadie. After abusing the heavy delicate piece of crap for over a year now, it finally gave in. I also haven't fixed my mtb forks and my SS commuter is out of action, so I have done no training for 2 weeks. I will probably try fix my forks this week so I can do the dirt crits, and I guess I will try and sort something out for my road bike since I'm meant to be racing the road crits on the Token team now.

So that's all for now, if you don't hear anything for a while, its because I have no bikes and I'm a bit busy with school (which finishes forever in 3 weeks) and enjoying a few late nights out to make up for all those last while training over winter.

Fine weather, fine times

I think if training is the only thing in the way of becoming a good rider, I just need to move to a good climate. As of the Scott, I was planning on just chilling for the rest of the year, training when I want, but not forcing myself out of bed at 6am (not that it ever actually happens). But this week has seen the most training Ive done in months. Why you ask? Its been hot, sunny and not too windy, so Ive been doing all the riding I can before it gets windy or cold or wet again.

Tuesday I did a ride out to Sutton before school, which ruined me for the rest of the day, but it was well worth it, had such a great time, then Wednesday night, I hit up the epic Mt Pleasant and Mt Ainslie, had ACTAS gym sesh yesterday, then I did a 70km ride out to Lake George after school this morning. Plus Ive been riding to school everyday, so me and the roadie have spent a lot of time together this week, were becoming good friends.

Tomorrow, I PLAN to do a road race out at Tharwa, its about 75km over 3 laps on a fast, picturesque undulating coarse. I'm going to have to ride out there, which as about 30km, so I hope I'm not too stuffed after that to have a good race, but I will have fun either way. After that, I will probably race the Club Championships at Uriara Homestead next weekend. Then there are two big races (for me at least), the IBM Classic which is doodles around the bottom of Corin dam for a bit before the 12km climb to the finish at Corin Forest, a climb I know pretty well, and can climb very well, followed by the ACT Hill Climb Champs, a TT up Corin Dam, another race I think I could do well in. There is also the return of Team Token Products to the Summer Crit Series and CORCs dirt crits once I fix my forks.

That's all for now, Ill let you know how the Tharwa race goes next week.

Scott 24 Punter

Had the Scott on the weekend. To sum it up, the coarse wasn't as good as last year, there were too many people and the first lap (which I did) was horrible. It missed the techy sections of the blue lap and the wicked DH of the red lap (there was a little though, and it was awsome). The race seemed to consist of riding on your own in the open boring sections and then meeting a train of punters at the start of any climb, descent or tech section. The race also proved ignorance is bliss, my dusk/night/dawn laps were so much fun, sliding around in the dust giving it everything. But the day laps were a bit sketchy. our team was pretty young (except me) but we had a pretty good race and got 2nd in the school category. A fun race as always, but I think they should go back to last years format, it worked really well.

Thank you CORC for supporting our team, catchya later dudes.

Crazy Yowies

I raced the You Yangs Yowie on the weekend, I got 9th place. I was a little worried as my forks were buggering up again and I only had about 40mm of travel, but as it turned out, it may not have been such a bad thing. It was a pretty small field and there was about 5km of fire road with a good climb at the end. I managed to ride with the lead bunch though this section and reached the top of the climb in about 5th place and stayed with them through the first small section of single track. However when we reached The Clam I didn't really know what was coming and had to walk and dropped my chain in the process. I caught a few others who had dropped off the back but lost them again when things got technical again. the last 15km of the track was super flat, super smooth and super easy. I was in the big ring half the time and just hammering away. At the end of the first lap I could see a guy off in the distance and made it my goal to beat him, I caught him on the big climb and we raced each other for the rest of the race until the final real climb of the lap before halfway when I got a good lead and opened up a good gap by the end of that lap. By the final lap I was feeling pretty smashed and decided to take it easy in the belief that I had an easy lead over this guy and everyone else was too far away, but the the descent at about halfway he caught me and the race was on again. He was way more skilled than me and had a good 30 second gap, but I managed to pull him in, and got away with out being chased. I ended up about 30 seconds in front at the finish in 9th place, 20 minutes off the lead.

One Angry Doctor

I raced the Doctor last weekend and that would have to be one of my best races. I placed 21st overall, and 10th in open men which i was pretty disappointed about, but my time was 20 minutes faster than last year (again not that happy about the improvement) and I raced the best race I could. The heat was intense. 30 degrees with hot winds made it a full on race. I was pouring water on my head but the water was hot and the wind did nothing to cool me down. I had a great start and managed to get in the top 15 or so as we entered Old Mogo Town, and as we started the first long open climb I stayed with the leaders for a while, eventually getting dropped about halfway up. I lost a fair bit of time in the first 10km due to the technical nature of the fire roads and single track, but once we started really climbing I started to make my mark. Just before the first feed station I managed to catch Adam Franklin who has serviced my bike many times and won open men in the race in its first year. After that I lost a bit of time in some of the flat rutted tracks but we all came together at the 50km mark where i had a real fast food swap and chain clean and got on my way. after a few sections of single track for about 10km the big climbs got underway. At this stage I was on my own, but I managed to catch one or two people at the start, eventually Jason McAvoy (I think, Onyabike rider on an old XTC?) caught me an we passed two other guys and I tried to open a gap, but he got away when I stopped at the feed station. After the feed station an epic battle between me and some guy in white and yellow jersey began. I was smashing the hills, he was smashing the downhills. He got away, but at about 5km to go I caught him and 4 other guys including Mark Fenner who was walking, and I eventually beat the orange and white guy and the last real climb of the race.
I managed to do the whole race without hitting the wall, but It showed where I'm weak. I was losing a lot of time on the descents and I just don't know how to eat when I'm racing.

So now I have a few weeks to recover before the You Yangs Yowie and the Scott 24hr, so I might do a road race o sunday I try and do some hill climbs and bunch rides next week. Thats all for now, Ill get back to you when someting cool happens.

2 weeks away!!!!

He's fired up and ready for some malpractice, the Angry Doctor is only 2 weeks away. The highlight of my racing calender is the Angry Doctor, and I'm feeling pretty good coming into it. This is the most enjoyable of any race I have done, the scenery is beautiful, its challenging, there is some really fun single track and its always an adventure. The preparation has gone to plan after a 3 week break due to illness, but I'm still on track. Last week was meant to be a peak training week, but school got in the way and as it turns out, I didn't stretch my legs once. Did some hill climb reps and a mtb ride on the weekend though. A few short intense rides this week and then a week of recovery before the race and I should be in good shape.

At this stage I think I will be in form for the yowie on October the 3rd as school will be very relaxed after that. This is another race I'm really looking forward to, every photo Ive seen looks really fun. I'm making a few plans for next year in terms of racing. I'm thinking of doing a few of the enduro races in the Nationals Series next year with a focus on the Otway Odyssey, a race Ive wanted to do for years now. I might consider doing the BMC Mountains to Beach, or more likely the Terra Australis but that depends on getting money.

So that's all for now, keep on rolling.

On the road again.

Well, not so much the road as the single track. That's right, the man flu has passed after a week of miserable suffering. Yesterday morning was the most perfect winters morning you could ask for, calm, warm and sunny. So I went for a little roll to to enjoy the delightful surrounds of O'connor Ridge. It took me a little while to get going, and I was coughing a bit, but by the end I was feeling great, a nice peaceful adventure out of the house was just what I needed to get me going again. But it was just a warm up, this morning me Tom and Ben headed out on a mtb epic from O'connor Ridge to Stromlo and back. The ridge was a blast, and it was great to ride around black mountain as well. When we got to Stromlo the clouds were getting dark and there were a couple of drops of rain. By half way though the ride, the rocks were getting slippery and the track was as gripy as you will ever see them at Stromlo, but it never developed more than that. It ended up being an easy 3.5 hours in the saddle, so I'm still doing OK.

In other news, a parcel from CRC arrived on Friday afternoon full of answers to my cycling problems. I pulled apart my rear wheel today, after picking up some spokes I will rebuild that. I'm also going to service my front hub as well, so that I don't need to replace that any time soon. The bike is going into the shop on Tuesday to get a new BB and wont come back with the small chain ring (I'm going 2x9) then Finlay a new cassette, chain middle chainring and tyres are going on.

So thats all for now, hopefully in a week I will be back on track and feeling PUMPED!!!!!

Another excuse

Yep another excuse for why I have been for maybe 4 or 5 rides in the last 3 weeks. Very little sleep has now resulted in me getting fully sick, and not in the usually way. Seems to be just a cold, but its painful, can't breath all that fantastically and my nose is like a tap. I'm really disappointed though, I was planning to race the Iron Mike, a pretty big race that I did pretty well in last year and one of the biggest road races during winter. I was planning on racing the ACT road champs this weekend as well, but I'm going to need a remarkable recovery to consider doing that now. I want to make the epic trip to the end of Boboyan Road and back by the end of winter/before the Angry Doctor but times running out for that as well, but its still possible. In case I haven't mentioned I'm confirmed for the Angry Doctor, followed 2 weeks later by the You Yangs Yowie then the Scott 24hr a week later. Even if I'm not all that fit, I'm really looking forward to the Yowie, looks like a really fun track. If any of you guy(s)/girl(s) reading this are familiar with the You Yangs and particularly the Yowie track, please let me know what I'm in for. Is it a lot of single track or fire road? and what are the climbs like? steep and hard or long slogs?

So I'm off for more tea and sleep, hope you enjoyed my uneventful update.

Tour de Holidays comes to an end.

After 3 and a half very lazy weeks, the Tour de Holidays has come to an end. That's right, back to bloody school today for some not so great times. But lets go back to the happier days of the holidays. Last week didn't see the potential epicness that it could have, but finished the Tour with a bang. After a Wednesday morning bunch ride which I think I did very well in, riding at the front in the climbs, there was a days rest before the final stage. Canberra to Goulburn to Moss Vale to Nowra, a 220km battle against the Hume highways gravely shoulder and constant ups and downs, variable but reasonably strong winds and some mind blowing hills. The ride to Goulburn (100km ish) was pretty flat and sunny with dad helping me with a bit of pacing. After Goulburn, the road started to go up and down a bit more, but not any real climbs, but some pretty bad road surfaces. It wouldn't have been so bad except that it was only the shoulder/cycle lane which had a crappy surface, the rest of the road had buttery smooth hot mix which I couldn't ride on because of all the traffic. Riding through the southern highlands wasn't much better and the friendly folk in Moss Vale really motivated me to move on and finish the ride. I knew I had the descent into the Kangaroo Valley followed by a climb and another descent, but had no idea what I was in for. Droping down the Dividing Range into Kangaroo Valley on the smoothest of smooth hot mix roads with so many corners was the only thing in the world that could make me smile like that after such a long day. What followed was a 5km climb up an amazingly steep hill. It hurt more than anything, and I'd had it but I was determined to make it to Nowra as fast as I could. My music stopping halfway up didn't help either, but rolling down the other side made it all worth it. They sure know how to build a mountain road in the Kangaroo Valley!

So although the Tour de Holidays did see a few too many rest days, a lot has been gained, in both training and great cycling memories, and I now have an extra 897km in the legs (that's right I mapped out each ride on bikely).

What now I hear you all chant? Well this week is a bit of a rest/stay up watching the last week of the Tour de France week. Ill probably do the Hour of Power in the morning and then maybe a road race on the weekend. Then I will start focusing my training on speed and power, with hill climbs and hard bunch rides in abundance and a long endurance ride on the weekends. I think my endurance is pretty good right now, but if I want to keep up with the elites riders, I need to be a lot faster than I am now.

So that's all for now, good luck to Andy Schleck but Contador is going to win, and keep on rolling.

Tour de Holidays

Well there have been a few more crack stages and some not so cracker stages. A trek up to Burra and back last Tuesday saw some nice climbing and high speeds due to a strong tail wind on the way home. A pretty good ride at about 3 hours I think. The following day was a very unmotivated Cotter Uriara loop, which was briefly interrupted by some exploring of Mountain Creek Road, but was rudely interrupted by a very buckled wheel due to a broken spoke. It ended up being a very slow and hungry 4 hour ride as great care was taken not to further buckle said wheel. Last Friday saw the return of the always inspirational Honeysuckle Creek ride, a 110km ride with an 8km climb reaching gradients of 20% and a 400m altitude gain. Probably my favourite ride due to good roads the whole way, with opportunities for high speeds, and a cracker of a climb that really lets you enjoy the high mountains, and finishes in the most peacefull surroundings.

Yesterday I raced the CORC club race, and wasn't really feeling like it, and after the first lap decided to stop racing and just rolled the last lap. I had a bit of a recovery ride today out to Stromlo and back. Wednesday is likely to see a long awaited return to Corin Forrest and potentially Corin Dam itself. There is also speculation of an EPIC 200km ride to farewell the Tour de Holidays.

But for now, I'm going to have some dinner.

TDH - Stage 2

Stage 2, the first to have more than 1 rider, was held on Saturday Afternoon. The race was a 3 hour mountain bike race held at Sparrow Hill and a pretty average track.

I started in the second row behind the likes of Shaun Lewis, Nathan Haas and Jeremy Ross, and shortly after the start gun went off, some keen guy on his fully rigid steel bike with a bag of bottles on his bar crashed causing a bit of a split in the field, but I managed to get around. It was a cracker of a start, harder than any XC race that I have done in a long time, but it got pretty easy once we hit the single track. Someone up front had a good start and held about 10 of us up in the first half of the first lap, opening a big gap between us and the lead group. Eventually I got past them all and was cruising on my own. I was lapping mostly on my own and managed to catch a few guys. At about the 2 hour mark I was blasting around, nailing every corner passing riders not feeling any pain and enjoying myself, but what goes up must come down. Half way through my second last lap I'd had it and wasn't racing anymore. I had a small crash and lost the legs were getting a bit tired, I could have done one more lap as I came in 30 seconds before 3 hours, but I couldn't be bothered. I finished in 13th place overall and 2nd in under 19s. Michael Baker who got 2nd overall blitzed it, I never knew he could ride well for any long races, but he showed us all there's more to him than the sprint machine we see at Nationals. It was a good race, I didn't expect to do very well, and its the first time I've raced that hard for 3 hours and my lap times were pretty good I thought.

There hasn't been as much riding as I'd like, I worked a lot last week and smashed it at the gym so didn't feel like riding much. Was going to ride to Burra and back this morning a nice 80km ride, but pretty tired from work, a big weekend and it was windy outside as well. In the long run its probably best I rest today I smash it tomorow rather then train while really tired for the next 3 weeks. So Ill get back to you in a few days after some more work at the gym, the ride to Burra and a bunch ride or two.

Tour de Holidays - Stage 1

Nick Wilson would like to introduce the worlds 4th grand Tour of cycling: the Tour de Holidays, a 26 day tour around Canberra to make up for lots of lost training.

First day of holidays, woke up with plans of an epic ride up to Honeysuckle Creek, but it was very very foggy, then it started raining and I had second thoughts. The clear sky in the distance made me think it may clear up, so I got ready and headed out. I decided to do a different safer rider on a route I found yesterday. I went out along the Federal Hwy and then the Old Federal Hwy and turned left at Gundaroo Bungendoor Road, which takes you a few kms south the Gundaroo. Here I turned left again back to Sutton and then back into a clear sunny Canberra. It was such a nice ride. No cars, nice roads, trees, very peaceful. I pushed myself pretty hard most of the way as well, by the time I got home I was stuffed for the first time in a long time.

So after stage one of the Tour de Holidays the Nick Wilson is in Yellow, Green, Polka dot, and White. Stage s will see some early morning hill climb reps on Black Mountain, followed by some long ride on Friday for stage 3, before an unusual 3 hour dirt based race at Sparrow Hill. Sunday will be a rest day.

Fun times are ahead.. almost

Thats right folks, holidays are almost here. So Schools been pretty busy, its been wet and cold and I may not have been for as many rides as I'd like. But as of next Tuesday, ill be on holidays for three and a half weeks. I only have to tests left, no classes, which gives me a bit more room to fit training in and study over the next few days. So what have I got planned I hear you say? Well it all starts this weekend with a cracker Fantastic Honeysuckle Tour. Most likely on my own Ill ride up to Honeysuckle Creek for some beautiful native bush, steep climbing and total chillaxing. its about 100km there and back from my place and not too hard except the 20% gradient climb. There will be a Federal hwy return tomorrow and a Bunch ride on Saturday as well as a warm up. Next week I might try to do something Ive wanted to do for a long time, end of Boboyan road and back. I checked it out the other night, it will be about a 50km return with some killer climbs including Fitzs Gap. Highest point is about 1200m. This is something Ive wanted to do for sooo long and Im ready to do it now. There are a few other rides I might do as well: the traditional Corin Dam (but will actually go to the dam this time), Googong Dam, Bungendoor/Captains Flat and many more rural delights. The big one will be a ride to the coast at the end of the holidays hopefully. From home looking close to 200km I think, but will need to check first.

Alto of this is part of my 2009 goal of riding every road in the ACT and the Canberra Region. Excluding dirt roads, which may still be used and Urban Roads as that's just shit boring, who cares about Something Street in Belcompton? There are a lot of areas that I still need to cover in the north of Canberra around Hall and also south east areas between Queanbeyan and Tharwa.

On the racing and training news, raced a club round at Kowen on the weekend. Pretty mush the worst track Ive ever been on, just stupid. Either worn out bumpy rooted old 24hr tracks, or some nice freshly cut ruts that Paul Cole wanted us to set in a bit more. I pulled out after 3 laps, as I wasn't racing anyone or having fun, so what was the point? I'm starting to see some results from my training at the gym, I can really accelerate now and I can really smash it up climbs now.

So thats all for now, Ill get be back after my Funtastic weekend of rides and two more exams.

The partys over

Its the end of may, and that only means one thing, I start training again now. Ive had a rest from real training for about a month and been enjoying my 18ness a bit. As ive probably already mentioned, Im now training to peak in September for some marathons the and the Scott24hr. My plan is to focus on endruance util mid July when ill be doing 200km rides on the weekends, at the same time Ill also work on my climbing which has never been the same since I started training for last summers national series. After this month and a half period, I will start working more on strength and thresholds. At this time I will also start doing longer XC rides on various terrain so that I really feel comfortable on my bike and can come into these races in the very best condition, ready to handle it all. My main gaol out of this is to get to a point where I have the endurance and knowledge to race a marathon with out hitting the wall midway through, and to build up my speed on easier sections where I usualy get dropped. I think with this amount of effort going into these races, I will really be at a level where I can start racing with bakc end of the elite guys.

Since I last posted nothing much has really happened, I got 15th in a club XC race in Senior men which I was pretty happy with considering the size and quality of the feild. Tha also means my forks are finaly fixed and going great. I think ive finaly got my roadie going well, gears are working the bakc wheel has been true for a record amount of time and pretty stiff and its generaly feeling good.

So thats all for now, Ill probably bust out some big rides next weekend and let you know how that goes. Catchya Gangstas!

Not so good

...was the Canberra Tour, not that it was really a tour for me, more a classic. Stage one went from stromlo to Uriara Crossing up to Condor Creek and back and then all that again. I decided to just race for the KOM points and not worry about GC. so we were off and it wasn't too bad, but pretty uncomfortable riding at the back of the bunch. After smashing myself to catchup with the leaders coming out of the Uriara Crossing, I moved up a bit towoards the front. We turned around at Condor Creek and then the second KOM points were about 1km away. There was a break away of about 3 or 4 riders out the front, but I thought it was worth getting 1 point so half way up the hill I made an acceleration and opened up a good 50m gap pretty fast and cruised down the other side waiting to be caught again. Me and pete did a few turns to try and catch the break away again, but as we came up the 3 sisters, I just couldnt handle the pase and got droped back a fair bit. I battled on and eventualy got caught by a group behind me and we caught the leaders at the end of the lap. However, coming out of Uriara Crossing again, I got held back again at the back of the bunch and couldnt catch up this time. I strugled along the flase flat for a bit, but Id had it and turned back. I dont know what was going on, I was just tired and my legs just felt terrible. I felt like I had already done 100km the day before and hadnt streched or somthing. It was a very dissapointing weekend not to have finished my first big road race.

Im getting my forks fixed at the moment, Ive given up on the warrenty as its probably going to cost as much sending them over as is to get them fixed here. But it will mean I can race the next Club XC race at my fav...MAJURA!!!!! So Ill see you all then.

Average

is how Im feeling after the 6+6 and a big weekend in Sydney. Been too tired to ride in the mornings, and its to windy during the day for riding, which is when Id usualy go for am XC ride, but I have no forks. So as you can see, things have been a bit lazy. Because I got my forks from America, the warrenty can't be covered in Australia which means Im probably not going to have forks for a few weeks now, which is pretty annoying because it means I cant race at stromlo on the weekend.

I start school next week and I have a nee trainign plan:
Monday - Rest
Tuesday - Cotter/Uriara in the monring and gym in the arvo
Wednsday - Bunch ride or hill climbs or intervals (somthing hard but short)
Thursday - Gym, maybe XC ride
Friday - Cruisy ride or XC ride
Saturday - Bunch ride plus hills or race
Sunday - Long endurance ride or long XC ride or race

This means I get some long rides in on Sunday and tuesday with a rest in between, and the other days I do more strength training, or recovery.

Next race is the Canberra Tour which im looking forward to. Not sure what my stratergy will be, but Im going to try and take out the KOM points, and I guess Ill see where I stand throughout the race and make a decision based on that. Then Ill have a break for 3 weeks during may and start some base training to peak in September.

Not so 24, but totaly solo

Well firstly, we got 3rd at the Mont the other week. We were leading, but i broke my chain and had to wait till someone came past with a chainbreaker to get it fixed. Then tom got held up for about 10 mins after someone broke their leg and finaly I was 5 mins late for an transition. So we came thrid by 20 mins and lost about 25 due to mistakes, 15 of which were mine.





But who cares about the mont, The 24hour solo champs were on over the weekend. I was racing the 6+6 hr in under 18s. There were 3 of us plus about 10 others in open. At the start i was about 3rd wheel for a little while until about halfway when i went off on my own and finished the lap first. I stayed in front for the rest of the day opening up a 20 min gap between me and 2nd place. However, I noticed my forks were really stiff and my wrists were killing me. I stoped to let some air out of my forks, but it didnt change anything. I asked the BMC guys (the use the same forks) and they said ask the bike shop. Shane from bike culture said this happens with these forks some times, I wasnt in the mood for details, and said to finish the day and put some new forks on for the last 6 hours. I couldnt handle the bumps down the hills and lost 5 mins. On sunday I got off to a slow start and after about 3 laps Taylor Charlton (2nd place) had halved the gap to 7.5 mins. I stepped on the gas and after about 3 more laps I had gained 90 seconds and was starting to get confident that he wasnt going to keep the pace up all day. Soon it was up to 15 minutes and with only 2 hours to go I knew I had the win. I kept on lapping but I was getting pretty tired and slowed down to about 35 min laps. But I had moved to a 20 min+ gap. the last 3 laps were tough, I had no energy and was pretty sick of riding the same track. But the last lap I just cruised around ticking off each section that I wouldnt have to ride over again any time soon. I finished with a smile on my face and 17 mins ahead of Taylor and about 3 laps up on Chris Cady. Its not a huge race like nationals, but its the biggets race Ive ever won on my own and it was bloody tough. Its given me a big confidence boost and taught me alot about racing longer events.

Well im on holidays now for 2 weeks so plenty of training. Next races are the next club race and then the Canberra Tour. After that, I have no races (other than club and road) until the Angry Doctor, So might chill out for a bit and start to build up for some big races in Spring.

Slow Days

Last two weeks have been a bit on the slow and lazy side. Ive been pretty tired and not feeling all that good on the bike. Sunday was a shocker of a ride. I decided to ride to the top of Corrin dam and back. I flet ok going up the hill, but when i got to the bottom, I had had it, and still had about 50km to go. i dordeled home feelign sore and miserable. There have been a few rides like this lately, hopfuly it will pass soon.

There have been a few change to the XC bike. Ive out some new Mantiou R7 MRD forks on t which I havnt been able to use too much, but they feel pretty good so far. With the lock out on, they are rock hard, and they are 320g lighter than my old forks. I just need to get a bracket for my stupid 180mm brakes. Ive also re built my hub with new cones, axle and bearings. I think I did a pretty good job, but the cups are pretty worn and I can feel a new hub coming on in 6 months.

On the race front, ive got the mont coming up this weekend, kinda looking forward to it, but Im not looking forward to haveing only a week to recover before the solo nationals. However, It would seem Im racing on my own in the under 18s 6+6hr, so I probably wont need to be super fit. After that Im taking a bit of a break and going to syndey, before the Canberra Tour. My first big road race.

So thats all for now, Ill tell you how the mont went on monday.

No time means no blogs

This is why this is my first blog in a few weeks. Whats been happening? well the earliest 'event' that i haven't talked about was the ride to goulburn. A few weeks ago (the long weekend) me, pete, nath, dave and andy C began an epic ride to goulburn and back via the old federal hwy. At lake George we met a Hungarian rider called Tomash (I probably spelt it wrong, but you get the idea), apparently he does huge rides each weekend and he came along with us for the day after he caught us at LakeG. It was a rough ride going out with a gentle inclination up to goulburn, some very long gravely shoulder lanes and a slight head wind. After a stop at the Greengrocer bike store and cafe (which was a little overrated i thought, maybe I was expecting too much) we made our way back, with a nice tail wind, we averaged 45km/h coming back. By the time we got to the old Federal hwy again I was pretty buggered, but in hind sight, I think it was more in my head than anything, but I still managed to get home after 200km+.

Last Sunday saw the return of Nicholas Wilson to the CORC Club XC series after missing the last 3 races. I raced A grade to maintain my second place in the series. I was off to a good start in 2nd/3rd place, but I missed a corner and had to let 3 people past. I got back to 4th place and led 5th place for 2 laps, when I decided to make a move in a section I was good at, But coming of the top of a fats climb, I clipped my pedal into a tree stump and went over the bars, and i had been dropped. I tried to catch up, but mentaly, I was beaten when Tom Walter passed me. I decided to finish the race just for the points, but ended up getting bumped down to 3rd overall.

So that's all for now, will get back to you all in a few days.

A month late?

The last two or so weeks I have been feeling really good. Like the fittest Ive ever been. Ive been doing relay well in the road crits and the bakery bunch, and on sunday I did 110km+ and felt fine for the whole ride and for the rest of the day. So I feel like Ive peaked a month late for Nationals. But to tell you the truth I dont think my fitness held me back at nationals, it was my skill and a flat tyre.

But moving on, Ive started ACTAS now. Its been pretty good, alot of focus on core strength and Ive come away feeling sore all over after it, but in a good way. I think this will relay help me from getting a tired back, and keep my upper body strong through races. Only problem is I have had to cut back my already short single shift at work.

On sunday, Nicks Annual Fantastic Tour of Honysuckle Creek took place, it was me pete and andy c. It was a beautiful morning and we just cruised out to Naas and then I smashed my self up the hill enjoying a nice long steep climb in the beautiful Namadgi National Park. We stopped up the top and had a munch before coming back down probably the fastest Ive ever gone. That hill is so stupidly steep, I couldn't brake hard enough into the corners, I was having so much fun. Coming back through Tuggeranong and then along Adelaide Ave, we started a team time trial back and I felt great, just powering along.

On the race front, the marathon champs have bee canceled so my next big race is the 24hr solo championships. I will race the under 18s 6+6 hour. I'm keen to do better than last year and hopefully win. I think Ive had a lot more experience, and I'm alot fitter now so I will do well this year. After that, Ill train for the the Canberra Tour. A 2 day road race around Canberra and then at the end of may, Capital Punishment, a 100km mtb race from Sparrow hill to Stromlo.

So that's all for now, catch you all later.

$40 laps

Ill get to the weekend in just a second, But first to last weeks road crit. It was just me and Dave racing last week and not the biggest feild but enough riders for a proper race. 3 riders got away at the start and despite some half assed attempts from a few riders, the bunch didnt catch them. with three laps to go, i got on daves wheel with the intention of staying there until the end. It almost fell apart when someone tried to pass me on the inside of a corner when I was already on the edge of the road with about 4 riders on the outside, our bars and arms were clashing and there was alot of yelling, but we all made it through. By the tme we got to the sprint I had droped of daves wheel but was still at the front of the bunch. I was behind the guy that alomost knocked me of earlier, and couldnt get around him, but ended up taking 8th place, which is the first time I have placed.

Now to the sydney 24hr. It was decided that I would do the first lap which I guess I was cool with. I lined up at the start and it was raining and the track looked muddy. I got a good start and was even leading for a little while and came through as the first ride rider in our catagory. The track was bloody fun. Started with a very steep techy climb then a long fire road section and then some wicked muddy switch backs through a swamp followed by a scary drop down a rocky, slippery gully. the rest of the track was a bit boring for this kind of race but the two bits of single track were bloody fun, worthy of a national round next season perhaps. so by 7pm we were leading by 3 laps but our bikes were fucked and riding at night was going to be a bit full on so we stopped. Luckily, shortly after the race director decided to stop the race until 7am the next day. We started the next day 1 lap up and opened it up to 2 laps by the end of the race. To give you an idea of how bad it was out there though, by my first night lap I needed new front brake pads, in that 1 lap, I managed to almost completly wear them out in a 10km (25 min) lap. But It was a fun weekend anyway and we arnt too tired to ride either. I would like to say thanks to JetBlack for sponsoring us and helping bring down the price of a very expensive race.

Tonight I start the ACTAS program and I dont think I have nayraces for a little while now, so Ill let you all know when somthing cool happens.

Nick

Hot hilly fun

So until this weekend Ive been doing the usualy rides, dirt/road crit, scottsman etc. But yesterday me pete, dave, dapre, nath, ian and dad (sort of) went for a ride to Lake George. it was up early (again) meeting at dickson. we cruised up the federal hwy until the turn off to the old federal hwy. Ive never been a huge fan of the old federal hwy but ive only ever done the first couple of Kms to the top of the first hill, after that it was beautiful. Nice fast smooth road, lots of trees, no cars and some pretty ok climbs and lots of triathletes for some reason. we cruised along having a great time until we got to lake george. we stoped and had a chat and decided that we would just come back the way we came rather than via bungendoor or somthing. The ride back was just as fun, smaching it along the smooth flowing roads.

This morning I decided to ride to the cotter up to the top of the Condor Creek climb back to the cotter and then home via coppins crossing. I didnt remeber how hot it was outside and hoe long the ride was without coppins crossing, which was eventualy cut out. It was another fun ride. I puched myself pretty hard up the bigger climbs and got through about 4 700ml bottles of water. I smashed my self and by the time i passed stromlo on my way home Id had it, i just cruised home feeling very hot, sweaty, and hungry. In total Ive done about 7 hours of riding this weekend, which is a pretty good start to my endurance training.

This week, ive got the road crit on wednsday, the thursday im punishing everyone by setting the track for the dirt crit (a one lap ride to the top of the pines and back), and then the sydney 24hr on the weekend.

A new era.

So national champs was on sunday morning. I had spent a week practising the track, getting mentaly prepared, getting the bike ready and just preparing for probably the most important race i have done so far. I got an ok start in the sense that i was moving around with the front riders and feeling pretty comfortable (not in pain tryign to hold the pace). I got droped a bit before the single track but i knew i would catch them again as they slowed down to enter it (which i did) i raced this young gun up the hill and passed him with ease at the end and held him of down most of the berm track. I was feelign good and looking for the next riders to pass, i was probably in 10th place when i felt my back tyre start to slide all over the place... I had a flat tyre. i had to ride on a few corners before i found a good spot to stop and tried to fix it but had to stop a second because i was way too scatered to change a tyre with gloves on. it was changed in no time but my CO2 canister didnt fill it up rpoperly so i had to ride to the feed station and pump the rest in there. i continued to race on but i had lost alot of places, and time. I ended up coming in 18th which i felt pretty un happy with. I think i could have been mixing it with the top 7 or 8 had i not got that stupid puncture, but we will never know that.

It was a pretty crazy race though, Michael Baker won in his first year in U19s, Brenda Johnston got 2nd (i think he might have crashed), Trenton Day got 7th and there were a whole heap of new zealanders throughout the feild. To sum it up, the feild was very big, very close and some people had a great day, others had a shit day.

So this is the end of my XCO days now. I will still race nationals a bit, but my focus is on marathons now. Im looking forward to my training and racing now. the training is more relaxed, enjoyable and flexible. Im hoping my first race will be the Australian Championships in which I will race the u18s 69km (haha) race. And i will then try and win open in the Capital Punishment race here in Canberra. WhenI can get in a position where travel is less of a problem (sponsorship, money) I will start racing alot of marathons in spring and autum.

So im of for now, hit me up if you want to ride, and peace out.

Lats minute prep

Its a bit less than a week from National Champs. Ive done a fair bit of training in the last two weeks. On the road there has been a bit of everything, racing, intervals, and fast hilly bunch rides. Monday was my last road ride and I did intervals up the Federal Hwy, I was a bit tired so I couldnt push my self to the limit, but I felt pretty fast anyway. Ive stoped road traing so that my legs can recover a bit for the weekend, and feel fresh and ready to hammer it. As for the mountin bike, Ive been to stromlo a few times now, mainly just practising the world cup climb and berm track. Im pretty fast on both now. Tomorow im going to go and get everything down perfect. I havnt been able to get up the first pinch of the world cup climb, but im riding virtualy on slicks which makes it pretty hard. I feel pretty fast on most of the track until Break out, the fast track with a few switchbacks at the start followed by flying straight down to the backup car park with lots of of camber corners. It is just such a slipery track and I cant get through the coreners fast enough, hopefuly some aggresive tyres and a cleaner dustyer track will help me out a little bit. Ive been riding the caurse with my borther and Brad Morton (sp) a bit which has helped because I now know where Im slow and fast, where i should be attacking.

My plan is to go out tomrow morning and try and get every thing down. Then thursday night, go out and race the short track and do a lap of the track with racing tyres on and then ride out to stromlo on the roadie on sat morning to help dad in his race. The saturday mornign ride is to just keep my legs moving and keep them loose and streched.

Ive now got a new middle chain ring, cassette and chain so I should have plenty of power. Im looking forward to the race, im trying to get myself in a good mind set. My best perfomances have been when im in a good mood but a bit aggresive, so i guess im just going to listen to some tunes and get angry while I warm up...hahaha.

So unless somthing happens between now and then, ill see you all in a weekish.

Hot Damn Boys!!!

Look what arrived today

So after a pretty average road race on the false flat at Uriara this morning (I got droped half way and DNFed), me and dad poped by Cycle City to pick up my new frame all ready to go. Its an 08 model Carbon FLX 5000 frame so its a little different to my old one. Its got a scratch guard on the drive side of the chain stay and different shapes around the place. Feels pretty much the same as my old bike though (as you would expect). Hasnt been for a ride yet, but will be seeing the likes of the Stromlo World Cup track sometime tomrow morning.

Im trying to sell the forks so I can buy some R7s which will be followed by XO shifters and rear mech.

Too much road (the dirt is calling)

I have some fantastic news (for me anyway) after waiting ages to hear from Merida about my frame, they came back and said they wont cover it because its accidental. They did however offer a frame for $700ish. This was not good enough, we talked to the guys from Merida (not the bike shop) and explained how well the bike had been treated and the agreed to replace it. They reckon I will have the bike by the weekend, but I don't know about (I really hope I do though). This leaves me with 2 weeks to nail the nationals course (not as long as the month i had planed on).

Besides the fact the nationals are only 2 and half weeks away, I need another bike so I'm not always on the roadie. As much as I like road riding, my bike is a piece of shit. Its only 8 speed which isn't too bad, but sometimes I wish i had more choice when I just cant find my rhythm. The drive train is pretty worn out, and is getting pretty sloppy. But the back wheel is the biggest problem, the hub spins around about 5 or 6 times and stops (with a good spin), and I the worst rim you have ever seen. It takes about 2 maybe 3 rides before it buckles again. I am constantly truing it. Then theres the the tyre I put on it, I got the tyre in October and it is already very very flat and getting a lot of punctures. How many you ask? Tuesday, a flat while chasing the Hour of Power, fixed that on Wednesday, as we were leaving another flat, so we replaced the tube, then another flat on the way to the crit, then this morning, another flat about 300m from home.

But I'm still in a good mood for riding, I just want to go out and hammer myself. I don't think I can do well at nationals, but I think 5th is very possible. But Im realy looking forward to starting my enduro training.

Thats all for now, Ill get back to you once ive been out for a ride on the frame.

New Years!

The shit has hit the fan! A few days before xmas i was cleaning my xc bike before the Mt Taylor hill climb which I was realy looking forward to, when I decided to change my chain stay protector, and what do i find as Im washing the dust away? A great big hole at the bottom of chain stay. So the old Flx 3000 went straight to a Merida dealer where I was informed that it was most likely caused by the derailleur swining up or something. The guy from the shop has been mega helpfull, but has said he cant see them covering it by warenty. If they dont, there will be a bit of arguing on my part. I believe that the bike was well handled, and used for its intended use, yet this happened. All the parts on the bike are stock. So I havnt been doing much training as a result of the festive season and what not and all and all feeling a bit shity about nationals. Im going to continue to train for nationals since I could mabey actualy do ok, though its not looking good at this stage. The thing is, I just dont like racing XCO competitavly that much. Its fun at a club level, but when you need to do well its just too full on for me. Also, training for it is so boring, its all intervals and hill climb reps for less than 2 hours. I just want to hit the road for a few hours and climb some big hills and enjoy it.

Im realy looking forward to training for marathons again. Just going out with the intention of going some place with no intended route and finding something new. Hammering through a full on head wind to get that corner in the distance where i know i will be flying along, riding so far away from home that Im ontop of a hill where I can see all of canberra or some beautiful wildlife or riding for so long with little food that a wobble home in a numb trance. Thats what I love about riding, thats what makes me a happy chap.

On the other hand, If I were to do well in nationals I would be a very very happy chappy. So Im just going to get up early each morning (before the wind) and ride as hard as i can for one or two hours, hope that I have a new frame in the next week or so and see what happens.

In some other cycling news, Andy has managed to get us (my brother pete, andy, dave and myself) on the Jet Black team for the Sydney 24hr in febuary. The race is on the Hawksbry (sp?) river so we can swim between laps which will feel great. After the 08 scott 24hr, Im actualy looking forward to this, Ive learnt how to handle all nighters now so I will probably have a good race.

So thats all for now, I will get back to you all when I find out more about my frame.