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.