Tuesday 29 November 2011

Finding some form...

So, I'm finally starting to see a bit of form come back my way, it's reassuring to know that the fitter you are, the quicker it all comes back. Just as well I was as fit as I've ever been when I had the crash! I had a great race down at Hawthorn the other week. 4 man break with Floris from Drapac, and a couple of other blokes, we worked off the front for about 10 minutes before 2 laps to go and Floris turned it on. The win was his, so the rest of us played around and raced for second. I snuck into the front on the final corner, put my hands on the drops (thanks for the tip Roeland!) and let rip, somehow managing to get 2nd! First A Grade podium on the road, happy days. Last week I also had a succesful outing, winning a intermediate sprint, but I pulled out on the last lap after some bloke caught his saddle on my bars. No risks necessary!
Here's a video of the finish. 
A Grade Finish.

Tuesday 15 November 2011

Back into the swing of things...

So I had a refreshing break in Malaysia, perfect down time, yet realised that I had about 4.5 weeks till I race A-Grade Tour of Bright. Shit. Its possibly the toughest amateur cycling race in Oz, and I have a handful of weeks to train for it. Anyway, coach Jono has set me to work, and I've been smashing rides with him, Scott and Roeland in order to get some form back. 2 weeks in and I'm feeling good. Had an animated Hawthorn Crit last week where I ended up 5th in a small but relatively strong group. It was my first race in about 2 months; bloody painful, but it should get me some form pretty quickly I hope.

I also got an awesome new roadie thanks to Giant. I'm saving my pennies for Belgium, so its the Ultegra model, but it absolutely rips! My last TCR Advanced was the best roadie I've ridden, but the 2012 model trumps that again. Stiff, light and comfortable, such a cliche, but it's no joke here. Anyway, its an absolute beauty, and the Giant branded DT wheels are awesome.
Training setup with my new Garmin 800...
Arm is pretty much better but can be a tiny bit uncomfortable at times, just gotta pick my lines well! As a precaution I rock this rad extreme arm guard to make me look a little like terminator.
Ill put a pic up in my next post.
Now I'm home I'll be updating this more regularly as I get closer to leaving on a big jet plane to Belgium...
Cheers!