CRASHING SUCKS!

So i finally had my first crash for my US based road season. The worst thing about going a long time between crashes, is that you forget how much it hurts and how inconvenient it is. It was one of those silly crashes, no serious damage, but a large portion of skin from my left leg and butt cheek. I was actually talking into my radio when it happened....the bunch slowed down all of a sudden....but i didnt....ended up with my bars through someone else's back wheel and being dragged along the road for a while until he came to a stop. I was not too badly hurt, but so shocked that it had happened that i gave no response to his question "are you alright?". I just sat on the ground in disbelief.

It was a pity, more for the fact that with the crash went my good form that i had showed over the first 4 days of the tour. 2 top 5 positions, had Karl not cheated on stage 3, and i was climbing better than any time i can remember. But as is always the case with me, when my body comes into contact with the ground, my back decides to take a vacation and my power output drops about 40%. So that was the end of my good results for the tour. Fortunately for the team, Teddy stepped up and came in with 2 top 10 performances over the closing 3 days.....of which, all 7 were pretty much dominated by Menzies. He and his 'boys' had a week to remember with 4 out of 7 stages and a 5th, that wasnt allowed to stand. It was an impressive display...particularly from Karl, who is making up on lost time, in a big way.

Lining up for the start of a stage....i always seem tense....not sure why

It was hot work in Altoona.....here i have the jersey unzipped....for cooling purposes, but mainly just for the ladies!

Needless to say, even non-cycling fans will have seen the controversy that surrounded the Tour De France this year. It was such a disappointment that, for once, when it actually became a really good battle for the win, that it could all come toppling down again and make our profession look like a joke. If there is anything that i can hold my head high about, its that the large majority seem to believe that Cadel Evans is the only clean GC rider in the bunch. He put in a stella performance and i was proud to watch a fellow country man display all the guts and determination that Australian's are known for. As for the rest....i just hang my head in shame. But it is a continuous cycle....those who are clean and know of others who dope are just as guilty in the end and are going to watch the sport disintegrate around them if this "code of silence" in the pro peleton is not broken.

Any way...forget them....i am a clean bike rider, who does it for the right reasons and as sad as it is to watch my sport dragged through the mud....me and my team mates can only do the best we know how. I have decided that i will now look for my cycling idols in the female ranks. After my short stint with the female T-Mobile squad in July and seeing there haematocrit levels in the high 30's....i think that these are the only people who i can truly believe in. Down come the posters of Vino and others....and up go the pictures of Judith Arndt and Ina Tutenburg.....long live cycling and all that is good and pure about it.

So crit season is upon us. It is all that the next month comprises and i am doing my best to get my back right and my speed up. I will once again join forces with Emile and together we will try and chase an illusive win in one of the big money races that face us. Hopefully my next post includes some good news and my wallet includes 'mo money'. Cause in the words of 50cent....."get rich, or die tryin'"

Speak to you all soon....sorry about how American the last paragraph sounds...i promise im still Aussie....mate!