A Little Place Called Bundy

When you compare the pros and cons of a seven hour stop-over in Brisbane airport, the cons seem to far outweigh the pros. However, one that certainly springs to mind is that it gives me the perfect opportunity to blog about my recent (and very spontaneous) adventure across the ditch. I was told less than a week in advance that I was invited by the Bundaberg Cycling Club to race at the McHugh Steel Cycling Spectacular along with a tribe of fellow...

Categories:

A Few Moments in the Mind of Me

One thing I have learned recently is not to take inspiration for granted. Along with socks, chamois cream and chain lube, for a long time I've underestimated the significance of having a sufficient supply of it. Another thing I've learnt is that inspiration should be treated in a way similar to that in which I tend to my corn crops on Hay Day, in that it needs to be carefully managed; use it all up at once, and it's gone. All you'll be left with...

Categories:

Southland's Wild Side

Through each of my previous five visits to Invercargill this year, I've had no more than a harmless breeze and a few light showers to cope with, so I assumed I was sufficiently prepared for what the Southern spring would throw at me. How wrong was I. My Southland venture began with the Yunca Junior Tour, the final event of the Junior National Points Series, and one that attracts some good numbers from all over the country, as well as the few Australians...

Categories:

Damn Those Limpets

It never ceases to amaze me how quickly one can lose form, particularly when it takes so long to gain it. Last year I made the imprudent decision to take a month's vacation from my bike, and consequently had to drag myself through four months or so of swinging on the back of the bunch, labouring my way up Takaka, and swallowing the shame of the pity claps when I came crawling to the finish, after most were packing up to go home. Needless to say, I felt two weeks off would suffice this year. I did feel a lot fitter after my break this year than...

Categories:

The Road Less Travelled

The dust is starting to settle on my blog and I think it's about time I brush it off. By now you might have noticed somewhat of a trend.. if I'm not content with how things have gone, I'm often dilatory in advising the world about it. Most likely because I'm subconsciously trying to avoid digressing on something that has been pushed so far back in my memory stores that I will have to search through primary school playground disputes and trips to Lollipop Land to find it. To be quite honest, I was severely disappointed with my performance at the...

Categories:

The Final Countdown

Here we are, in the home straight of our build up for the 2012 Junior World Track Championships. After a short-lived return home, and a few days to pedal the travel out of our legs, we arrived in the deep south today to begin the final two weeks of touch ups and amendments to our preparation. I found myself surprisingly unswayed by the dramatic change in temperature as I made yet another transition between seasons, and thankfully did not fall victim to the dreaded jet-lag, so I did not take long to adjust to home conditions and get back to turning...

Categories:

Getting Closer...

Time is flying by here! I have only five days till I'll be packing up my bags and beginning the journey home (however short a visit I'll be making there). I've had two good days of racing in the past week - the third was rained out, and replaced with the sort of erg session that draws one to tears - with track racing on Tuesday and the Lancaster Criterium on Saturday. The track racing got off to a hectic start, with my seat post clamp malfunctioning,...

Categories:

Sweet Home Pennsylvania

So far it's been a pretty awesome and enlightening experience. I haven't often needed to swerve around horse drawn carts trotting down the side of the road while racing at home, or freeze my drink bottles before each ride so that I might get around burning my tongue when I have a drink half an hour into it. Some of it has been challenging.. such as accustoming to the drone of the air-conditioner going full blast in my ear whilst I'm trying to sleep.. but that's all part of living in a new country, with new conditions, among new cultures. And the...

Categories:

You'll Find Us Chasing The Sun...

Time to blow the dust off my shorts and tees! Only one sleep left till I'm on my way to the US, where the side walks will not only be frost-free, but will give off sufficient heat to cook my breakfast. We had, overall, quite a successful week in Invercargill, despite some unwelcomed interruptions by illnesses and what-have-you. It's not always ideal to begin a training camp with four riders and come out of it with three, but unfortunately that's the way it went, and I'm sure our wounded soldier (Georgie) will be back on the front-line in...

Categories:

Much Too Close to Antarctica for Comfort

We all know that Invercargill can get pretty cold in winter. So cold in fact that one must wear at least two pairs of everything (with the exception of shorts) if they want any show of making it twenty minutes into a road ride and still have feeling in their extremities. I thought I was relatively prepared for it until I hit the Southland roads this afternoon, and had to slide my way across patches of ice on the road. Slick tyres made this that little bit more thrilling. As well as Racquel's very alarming, high-pitched shrieks. Big...

Categories:

Back On My Bike!

After a few niggly sessions on the massage table, my afflictions have been righted, at long last. I was relieved, but a little frustrated, to hear that my chest pain was coming from a twisted rib-cage and sternum which lead to a whole lot of other less-than-ideal consequences (insert various physiotherapy jargon terms here) which I was obviously zoned out to as it was being thrown at me. I apoligise for my vagueness. But the conclusion is that the problem is more or less solved. I decided, due to my do or die attitude at the time, to...

Categories:

And here's the sob session...

But not because I had to slave my way through the torturous few days of bike racing they call 'Le Tour de Taranaki', but in fact for the complete opposite reason. Which sounds like I am just extremely hard to please, but the fact is, I couldn't race, because the body is not up to it. And worse still, I'm not entirely sure why. Long story short, something is not right with my chest. Any serious problems with my heart have been ruled out, so the doc is guessing it's a virus thats causing a bit of havoc in my lungs. Either that or something mechanical....

Categories:

A Quick Summary (i.e only a small novel)

Where to start. It's difficult to find anything overly intriguing to share, with the weather quickly slipping its way into winter, and without any serious racing coming up. (with the exception of Taranaki Tour, which I am still in the denial stage about.) So far, the only thing keeping me sane on my painfully mundane solo rides is my trusty iPod and some muesli bars. However, the big push factor is, of course, the UCI Junior World Track Championships (hereby given the abbreviation 'J-Dubs) campaign, which is making its way closer and...

Categories:

Preamble

Well ahh, I thought I'd start a blog. I figured, seeing as I'm the chatterbox that I am, that I should have a few good yarns to spin about life. And so begins the Official Autobiography of Me. The ups, the downs, the adventures, and the insignificant-but-worth-mentioning musings which make up the life of a kiwi bike rider. Watch this spa...

Categories: