Stormy Weather..

The last few days have been spent trying to get over some speed bumps at the beginning of this crazy European adventure. From a solid 23hrs plane time and add another 10 or so hours of lay-over time I hit the wall pretty hard, coming down sick the last few days. Not that fun to be honest but hey, I can think of plenty of worse situations I could have been in. However I guess the timing is pretty good, being an easy week before the Marshall stack gets turned up to 11 heading up to Stelvio for a three week ‘standing on the brink of death’ road camp with the rest of the AIS crew. Ouch.

Ya know you’re in for some hills when the coach comes around and drops off a 27 block…

So it’s been damn good having Norris here after a few days on the Pat, I tried to piece together some burrito’s for dinner last night with a limited selection of ingredients found at the supermarket. Ain’t no Chipoltle but hey, I don’t think anything stacks up against that joint.

While it was all sunshine for some....

....it was sruggletown for others...

By day he's the Castlemaine Kid......by night he's FLASH NORRIS..lookout ladies..

Well there aint to much more to report here really..cept onwards and upwards…a friggin lot of

upwards..ciao..cw.

Lost And Found.

Gotta say pretty happy to be back here alive and in planned time today after my first ride out here. After hitting up the warehouse and sorting out my new road rig for the trip it was then a few scrawled road directions on a ripped off section of cardboard before pedaling off into the Italian sunshine in a balmy 27deg blue sky day. Only to return pretty soon after, with my bike built up with ‘euro brakes’ (right hand rear)..not the way it rolls down under folks. Rolling again it was a little stressful at first at the thought of getting completely lost never to be seen again until next week, but once I got my bearings it was happy dayz on some of the fastest rolling roads I’ve ridden. Needless to say the legs were piss after the flight yesterday but somehow that was a minor detail, soaking up the amazing culture and scenery this place has to offer. Pretty stoked to be here is an understatement. I must say too it was quite amusing to be passed by small pocket rocket cars here, compared to the monster trucks of the US.

Looks like I have some European connections already...sweet..

Today gave me a good chance to test out some new gear, with Louis Garneau coming on board as a new sponsor just before I left. Gotta say my new road kicks fit right into the whole Euro scene here, and are super stiff with a nice bling white carbon sole.

Well that’s all from me folks, time to cook some dinner and sort out some odds and ends. Norris arrives back tmw..stay tuned for more madness..lator Christophe..

Made It..

Well I'm sitting here in the stairwell of the AIS house here in Varese, 6am and feeling unusally fresh for this time of the morning. Pretty funny, the blogger program must recognise I'm in Italy cause all the page text is in Italian. Came in yesterday after a pretty good flight really, not to many drama's apart from the extended powernap at Kuala Lumpur airport waking a perfect 25minutes before take-off. Nice one. Plane food seemed to progress from terrible to tolerable as the flight went on, special mention to the biscuits in the orange packet from Amsterdam to Milan.

Still working out the whole time zone and jet lag deal, my 'quick nap' before dinner lasted until midnight, and I've already been up and about here since 5am. Pretty quiet here at the moment with the boys all out and about, Norris arrives back tmw which will be good. Looking forward to hitting the roads today and seeing what the hell is left in the legs after 20+ hours of flight time. For those interested, "Ghost Rider" on the plane and I'd give it 2 stars. Lator, Cw.

Counting Down

Well it's been a pretty full on week to say the least, flat out like a pancake (as one famous ginger would say..) in trying to get everything ready and organised for life on the road once more. Still just pinching myself to how well this year has turned out and some pretty great doors that have opened up already. So with not much more to say (still gotta finish packing) its see ya lator Ferny Creek and hello Europe with the big bird in the sky leaving tmw morning..stay tuned for more adventures..lator..cw.

Excitement On The Horizon..

So Shimano have thier hand in other pies with their whole line of fishing gear...Not to be outdone, today Eva pointed me in the direction where SRAM could be branching out to next...this is blacker than blackbox people...

Long As I Can See The Light..

..is the tune filling the ears right now on this monday night...bit of CCR gold that I managed to grab from Kat's collection. Anyone who has lets say..Good Charlotte in thier personal collection, send me a pic of you snapping it in half and I'll send you some Creedence to replace it...trust me.

So it's been pretty frantic and fun trying to catch up with everyone before I head off again this week, for those who I haven't I'm getting there!

Coops show's us the new pie eating technique developed since I've been away..lid first people..lid first..

Give it up for the Bronco's....a little bit of CO still stays with me..

The big bird in the sky leaves on Sunday and I'm pretty amped to go race my bike again halfway across the world again...except I dont think the Euro's are so big on burrito's...damn. Have to try and educate the boys... So Deer Valley NMBS was raced this weekend and it looked the goods..gotta say I was pretty pissed not being there still in the mix..hmmm pretty addictive this lifestyle...the brain forgets the pain pretty easily I guess. Have fun, cw.

Turn Up The Heat.

I dont think I can remember it ever being this cold in Ferny Creek right now...maybe being away I've just skipped that natural temperature transition from autumn to winter but i am freezing my ass off here right now. Like it's beard growing weather. Seriously I'd be going there. Yesterday I went for a walk, got halfway out the gate and came back for gloves...never done that before. So for the number crunchers out there the temps have been like 4-10C up here the last few days, and for those international site visitors that like 40-48F. I think. On the bike I pulled out the ultimate glove combination the other day. My warmest two in the collection on together. Never had to go that far before (worked hell sweet, these rad liners then some massive Thinsulate bad boys) but after many winters training here it's one combo I'd never needed. Not that im complaining, i actually like winter up here, kinda nice with all the fog about and stuff.

So I leave next Sunday 24th for Europe. Madd. Will be gone for 8.5weeks all up, getting back at the end of August. Hmm I guess the beard growing will have to wait till next winter. Oh yeah, go buy Ryan Adams CD "Gold"..it rips. lator y'all, cw.

Someone Wake Me Up..

Man it’s funny to be back home. Spent some time the last few days retracing some staple training routes up the Nongs here…in the freezing wet and cold…yep it’s winter and it hasn’t taken me long to learn it with single digit temperatures. Still there is something special about riding in cool crisp air that appeals to me.

Slowly starting to adjust to life back here..wont be for long I guess, something which hasn’t really hit me yet, but will soon enough I’m sure. I keep pinching myself making sure this year is really happening…lator cw.

...But Wait There's More!

Yep I'm back home and struggling through the haze that is jetlag right now. Perks of the job I say...and boy does it feel a little odd to be back here in da Nongs..my craving's for Chipoltle Burrito haven't stopped although I can still run PB&J's easily enough. And what type of mountain do I live on again? A small dirt mound I think...actually things are pretty nice around here at the moment. Went driving yesterday and winter has really set in, fog, grey skies and some autumn leaf action still lingering... Needless to say I haven't ridden yet, most likely will be with every jacket I own on but. So Eva showed me the whole Skype thing last nite..definitely a late starter but officially now on the program..especially when I could talk to Kat over breakfast this morning...sigh..

So there is more. Much more than I could ever expected right now. The season hasn't ended for me, getting the call up to head over to Europe and race the VTT (dubbe the 'off road Tour de France') in France with the National Team. Absolutely stoked is probably the smallest way I could describe it..I can't wait... So home here for the next coupla weeks, unpack, wash everything and off again to race my bike around the globe....awesome....lator, cw.

In The Line Of Fire.

Found this wading through the mass of photos I have from the trip...what wasn't captured was the heated argument between one of the press dudes and the Green afterwards...I mean wouldn't want to ruin anything through ignorance....pretty funny stuff...lator y'all, cw.

Lessons Learned On A Blue Sky Ride

Well this was it folks..the last race in the US before jumping aboard that big bird in the sky to take me away from the town, people and the lifestyle that I was loving over the past 6weeks. The Teva Mountain Games was cool. Super cool to be more exact. There was just crazy stuff going on everywhere in Vail village...from VW test drives, free chicken and Starbucks, kayak try-outs, rockclimbing walls and demo rides on Trek's..just to name a few. So needless to say i was pretty amped to make this last one count, and in the back of my mind avenge the start-line mechanical last weekend where i had some decent legs to play with.

The field was stacked..well with $2500US up for da big W, why the hell wouldn't you have a crack? There were some big names in there too, the altitude specialist J Henry was the hot favourite, alongside Trek hitters Rad R and T-Brown. Pretty cool to line up with mtb legend Ned Overend in the field too..still pinnin' at 51years old. Oh that Floyd guys was on the front row too...good work to the Green who stood behind him during his press interviews wearing his dopers suck shirt..needless to say a few people fired up...good old' Green..i mean what were they going to do..we flew out the next day! Oh yeah, the race. With three laps of a 7mile loop to do, climbing 1500ft per lap it was another day at altitude - starting at 8100ft I think- and was a good mix of techy singletrack, long climbs and fireroad.

Getting a good one off the start I was on Floyd's wheel up the first fireroad climb, till my dopers suck wrist bands reminded me of bigger, better and cleaner motivation than to stay here and i moved further up the pack to the quickly forming lead group. By this stage Rad (Trek/VW) was already laying the smack down hard with Jungle Jay (Tokyo Joes) in tow. Awesome. Coming into the first singletrack I was following the legend himself, big Ned, and couldn't help but thinking about just reading his book from the supercoach just before I left. With the legs and body on full peak the end of the first lap I settled in with Brian Smith and another mtb legend T-Brown, running 4th, 5th and 6th places. Maybe it was the excitement of who I was racing with or the fact that this was the last race in the US, but the legs were on thier game...big time. I was having my 'blue-sky-purple-patch-golden-rainbow-smiley-face' day. Second lap T-Brown and I had dropped Brian on the climb and things were going schweet as.

Sometimes little mistakes can make or break a race, so when I cleared a technical uphill switchback and TB didn't, I somehow gained a little gap...and went on the offensive straight away. With one lap remaining it was all or none to try and hold down fourth and what would be a career best result for sure. So when I caught and attacked a fading 3rd place right at the top of the climb it was game on for a loose but controlled (yeah that makes sense) descent into the finish. Things were looking great for a third place finish behind Henry and Rad Ross. But it ain't over till its over...and when I came pinning into the wrong start finish line chute, realising the mistake i made and had to go back around my third had turned quickly into fifth. I guess the easy thing would be to beat myself up over such a stupid mistake, but hey, mistakes are good if you learn from them...and I sure as hell did learn the hard way. Still, the positive was I knew the ride and legs I had for the 'unofficial' place and that the exciting thing...plus it was another US podium and paycheck..sweet as.

So that concludes the US tour of duty....and I had a ball..thanks to all those who supported us both from home and in the US...this guy is hooked. Cheers everyone...lator cw.

Dear Diary...I Dont Want To Go Home.

It has been an emotional and full on week..and unfortunately the last one here in the US before flying home. So where do I begin? Somewhere I guess is a good start. Last weekend was the second round of the MSC held at AngelFire, down south in New Mexico. Just a wicked place, such a tough and brutal race course at like 8500ft climbing to over 10,000ft...ouch. Technical as all hell too, and the descent was just incredible, super long and rough, definitely needed an arm muscle change at the feed zone. Is that in the UCI rules? So the legs had been feeling pretty decent all week, so when i snapped my chain off the start-line giving the likes of T-Brown, Rad Ross and Jay Henry minutes up the road really sucked. I mean I was like 10m from the startline. But you gotta deal with the cards you are dealt and I rode loose as hell for the next two hours, winning a two-up sprint for 10th place...definitely left me wondering though.

Short track the next day was a whole different ball game for sure. i can only seem to get one decent day at altitude before the legs pack up and leave. I got a decent start in the top ten and then boom...goodbye all body function...man i could hardly hold the bars on the decent. Every so often I would get like 5seconds of good feeling and then just feel like a sack of flour thrown into a lake again. 14th place at the end of the day with the engine lights on full red.

So Colorado has been super kind to me, I truly love this place..and I have been lucky enough to meet an incredible and beautiful girl here in Denver whom in only two weeks have shared so many wonderful moments.

Sadly I had to say a temporary goodbye this week with her flying to Virginia whilst we are down here in Vail before we fly home in two days. It still blows my mind that I have flown halfway around the world and found someone so special....you are incredible Kat.

So the last stop on the train line is here at Vail for the Teva Mountain Games. We came across this morning and what a damn rad event this is. A full festival of mountain based sports, so the whole weekend there is like kayaking, rock climbing, trail running, hill climb, slopestyle freeride events...just sweet as. Met up with the Smith crew today..check out the new Interlock frame design..fully sick, the arms rotate to open up the frame to change the lens out..madd.

Tomorrow the gun goes off at four pm, sick course, and a tough field including JHK and Trek/VW guns Rad Ross and Nick Martin. Oh yeah, apparently some guy by the name of Landis is racing..luckily I packed my dopers suck wristbands...hell yeah. Ok I'm out...lator, cw.