Thursday, February 22, 2007

FINDING MY ROAD LEGS

After some post nationals wind down i have now put together some solid days on the road, in an attempt to rediscover what it is to be a road rider. Over the last week i have had 4 days of 5hrs or more and and finally starting to see the end of the problems that have plagued during the past 4 months and all but destroyed my chances for Track Worlds. While i still have some events remaining on the track before i depart for my overseas adventure, i am now fully focussed on entering the USA in peak condition so that i can get in on some of the action that my team has now begun in the Tour of Discovery......sorry i mean the Tour of California.

That little quip was in reference to the fact that one of my new team mates, Ben Jaques-Maynes, who tore up the prolouge and came in 3rd, would have had the honour of pulling on the leaders jersey, were it not for a commisaires decision to change the UCI's rules and say if you crash in the last 9km then no bother.....just dordle in and we will give you bunch time. Which Leipheimer did and was again rewarded the yellow jersey......sure it was bad luck, but how many of us have bad luck stories??? i got a few......

Anyway, im starting to feel good and miss the road racing that im watching unfold in the USA. My team mates have mixed great racing with some nasty crashes, food poisening and some sore and tired bodies, but they look to be holding their own in a stacked field. From me to them....NICE WORK.....Keep it up.

Mean while, back in my neck of the woods, my sister decided to celebrate her 22nd birthday yesterday by starting a fire with her hair starightener, than mum and i had to exstinguish after the smoke alarm woke me up. Needless to say, after the smoke had cleared and mum had recovered from slipping on our slate floor during the comotion, it became an amusing little story that will be remembered for years to come.

Next week i head to bright for a 3 day intense training camp with just myself. Some 30km climbs and lots of rolling, dead roads lay ahead of me....and im actually looking forward to it. Im really starting to enjoy my training again and becoming very motivated to make my mark in the USA this year, which will hopefully lead to increased opportunities in the coming years with our growing team at Priority Health. Before that however, i will again kit up for the Club Teams Championships this Sunday, to represent Blackburn CC in the teams pursuit. It has been a couple of years since i was last available and we should head in with a good chance for gold....as we have won the previous 3 times that i rode......

Keep on trucking everyone and ill speak to you again soon.

Rich

Thursday, February 15, 2007

FINISHING ON A HIGH

It has been some time since my last update. Although i have been a busy boy, it was more by design than an attempt at being lazy. I wanted everyone who visited my site to see the post related to Scott. I dont want this to be an issue that fades into the back ground and then is forgotten about. I want to try, in some small way, to make a difference. Alas....my efforts have not worked so far, with another Australian Cyclist in hospital after being hit by his friend driving a car after a night of celebration.....will we ever learn??? My thoughts go out to Mat Rex and his family.

Now for a quick catch up.....I spent my first Christmas away from home and was up in Sydney with Kate's family. They do a good job of making me feel like i belong, so i enjoyed it very much, despite missing seeing my parents and sister while opening the pressies.

New years....i was asleep before midnight.....

yada....yada....yada... bay crits were good, two top 10's and a crash...standard stuff really.

I have just finished, what will most likely be my final nationals campaign. It was far more successful then i could have imagined after the lead up that i have had. I raced 3 times and had 2 great rides and 1 i was disappointed with. But finally....finally i was able to win back the National Teams pursuit crown. It is one that over the last 3 years i have wanted back and has now added a third national title to my resume.


here is a pic of me driving the team during the final. Despite being unable to wear aero helmets, we only missed the championship time by 0.3 seconds.....i felt a little ripped off.




The night before i was able to lead my team mate to a victory in the scratch race. It was something i wanted to do after he missed selection on to the national squad despite riding a 4:26 in the individual pusuit and taking the silver medal. He deserved a spot after that and i was happy to help him achieve that goal after ruining my chances in LA (at the world cup).
me saying goodbye to the track....look at how full the seats are....i think my parents were the only ones there.
So my track career is starting to wind down.....which will come as music to the ears of my road manager i think, who has been waiting for me to start getting to the USA earlier. The one thing i will always take with me is to know that the last time i took the boards at the nationals, that it was a successful outing. The Vicotiran team dominated the competition and came out well on top in the overall standings. It has been great to be a part of this team for the past 6 years. I leave this part of my career with many fond memories and am now looking forward to the challenges that the road will provide for me over the next few years.

So whats next??? I have now gone into full road mode. Although i still have a couple of track events left for the season, they will not come at the peril of my road preparation for Tour of Georgia and what then follows.
Kate goes into camp soon to prepare for the World Track champs, where i will be track side to support her and watch her win her first World Championship. Despite a nasty fall and shoulder injury, she has been working very hard of late and will be hard to beat with the preparation that we have been doing over the past few months. Im excited to see how it all pans out for her this year in preparation for the Olympics in 08. She dominated the Bay Crit series here in Jan and that was only at 80%....i think she will be scary to come up against at worlds.
MENZIES....what can i say....let the first mention of him for the year be......what a freak!!! No one can stop this man.
DONT FORGET....TAKE CARE OF EACH OTHER ON THE ROAD.....IF WE DONT THEN WHO WILL.
LATER