If You Don't Feel Like Working...

http://www.theroaddiaries.com/

Enjoy...cw

Slot Car Madness!

Whilst rearranging the living room last nite we hit a little snag. Namely the cable for the 'cable'

not being a long as it needed to be for the new TV position. Amongst further investigation of the source coming from the fireplace, we struck gold. A slot car racing set hiding away in a sneaky storage corner, left over from the previous owners! We wasted no time too assemble the bad boy and began to satisfy our need for speed and the start of callouses on our thumbs. Training time could be spent trackside this week....speed work right?

Big Yellow Taxi...

..Is unfortunately the song I had stuck in my head whilst training today. Kinda lame but sometimes there is not much you can do about it! I'm guessing it won't last very long after the bro sent me the new Cog record in the mail today. I heart Cog. That sure was a nice thing to come home to today, so thanks Roy. So I've landed back safe and sound from last weeks Wisconsin adventure. In the wash up my best day of Superweek came on the day where my legs were feeling the worst. Scraped in for an 18th place at Whitnall Park. Plans to improve again on that for the last few days weren't as easy as hoped. With a break of 5 lapping the field in Racine things didn't work out so well there.

We had some awesome host housing for the week. Daryl and Christine thanks for putting up a rowdy bunch of bike riders for a week. Needless to say I smahsed "Even Flow" on Guitar Hero.


Just how far back is the numbers on the start line?

My final race of the series was Downer's Ave, downtown Milwaukee. A maximum capacity field of 200 showed up and on a less than one mile circuit it was a recipe for some fun and games. Patience was the name of my game, but when primes are handed out left, right and centre it was a matter of hanging on too. Speaking of primes I have to mention the "Super-Prime" that went off with 13 laps to go....$7000 was up for grabs and fell into the hands of Rock Racing, which would equate to around the cost of 7 pairs of their jeans I hear. As for me I was looking for another top 20 finish when on the final time down the back straight a crash occurred three or four wheels in front. Squeezed into the gutter and wary of a still airborne bicycle my finish line chances were dashed there and then. That's bike racing sometimes. The final thing I want to mention about Downers was just how cool the crowd was. Every house featured a party on the front lawn, and no sooner had I crossed the line a cup of beer was thrust into my hands....nice.

No denying it, Rock always make thier prescence felt...rumoured Pro-Conti next year?

This is a really cool pic Kat took during the race and the same straight that somehow cause the last lap pileup.

It was nice to fly back to Denver for the first time this season, rather than face another 16hr haul. Things were even better when in a daze from my accent the check in lady forgot to charge the excess for my bike and also a second bag.

On a final note the Tour was rad this year. I loved watching every stage. Highlight for me was Gerrans win, an absolute cracker of a stage. Cadel was close, but hats off to Sastre who took the bull by the horns on Alpe D'Huez and had dip which paid off. Hope everyone back home enjoyed it as much as I did...thanks for reading..cw.

Speed Racer

It's been awhile since my last post..apologies! I'm now in Wisconsin, three days into the final week of Superweek. Things have been a little up and down so far, with the racing some of the fastest and toughest I have experienced this year. Monday was not a bad stage in some rolling hills, cept I suffered from two days of travel legs which gave me a pretty average finish. The best thing about Superweek is that it's like a stage race with no GC or time...if you have a poor day it doesn't mean anything on the startline the next day.

Last night was my first introduction to 100km crits. Waaaay fast and frantic with Rock and Kelly laying down the hurt. Speaking of laying down I managed to find a nice grassy nature-strip landing spot after Switters dropped in front of me and sent me straight into orbit. I lucky escaped unhurt. Mid way through the race I played with fire at the front for a bit, only to burn myself out in the last 15 laps, running on fumes.

Yesterday the legs were shot to pieces, yet somehow I made some moves at the right time and cracked the top 20 with an 18th place and put something in the sky-rocket. Racing again tonight will be tough I'm sure, hopefully I can crack the single digits before flying home to CO on Sunday.

Winston's Pick Of The Week!

Just saw "The Dark Knight". Go see it. Bloody brilliant. 2.5hrs of intensity training. Lators..cw

Three's A Charm.

I think plenty of people would like to spit right back in the Cobra's face after this mornings news. We saw him dance away effortlessly towards two stage wins, almost...unbelievably so. And then this morning he gets popped for EPO. The third positive dope test in the Tour this year. Fantastic. All we can do is keep weeding these low life scum out. Ride fair, ride clean.

Java Days Spent Racing Away.

The weeks are rolling on with plenty of riding, racing and coffee consumed. The Colorado State Criterium Champs went well last Sunday, and suddenly there is the slight possibility of the F-word on the upcoming horizon. Form. 25th was the finish-line result, okay, but during the race I was somehow able to snare three separate primes with some new found sprinting ability. Kinda nice to explore some new avenues in this wacky game called bike racing. This week will see the gas right off the pedal before leaving for Superweek on Sat. From all reports it should be a stack of fun and a week of hard racing.

So not much is on for me this week..rest, rest and rest. Lucky the Tour is on. Lator, Winston.

PS- Thanks for the last post comments people, I sometimes wonder if people read this thing anymore!

Rocky Mounts Crit.

Today we rode like a team and the results showed. With Julian in the break the rest of us worked tirelessly to chase down any moves and it worked out brilliantly with J-Dog getting up for 4th. Then came the bunch sprint and we put everyone on the front the last 4 laps setting tempo. It was rad to see the blue and white train on the front, truly a team effort and the first time we collectively showed ourselves. I was lucky enough to be the protected sprinter as Affunti wound out on the final lap, leaving Ian Holt-a-saurus Rex to lead me out. He smashed it like a true champ and left me with around 100m to go. I busted out the best Cavendish impression and took it out for 10th. Sure it wasn't the win, but the positive was just how well we rode as a team, by far the best effort this season and it was awesome to be a part of. Plus it a little confidence couldn't have come at a better time too, CO State Criterium Championships tmw and then Superweek in a couple of weeks. Bring It. cw

Pump Up The Voltage.

Spied it in the tour three days ago....nice.

This Is Colorado Racing.

You gotta smile when you turn up to a local Sunday crit here in CO and you get a field of 90 riders....and is stacked to the mega with big time pros. By stacked I mean guys there by the name of Danielson, Stevic, Day, White, Garcia, Donald, Blackgrove, Zaijeck...I mean the list goes on! Needless to say the racing was frickin' hard as hell on the most technical course I have ridden this year. Somehow we came out with an average of 44km/h over a seven corner course (some less than 90deg) and it was one for the bike handlers that's for sure. Somehow despite feeling crappy most of the race I think I came out having a pretty good day. I mean easily two thirds of the field got shelled and I finished 23rd with the chase group after Toyota made a clean sweep. Somebody give that team a replacement title sponsor next year...I'm sure you won't be disappointed!


In other news I made it to a Rockies game last night. Man it was schweet. We totally schooled the Marlins. Saw two broken bats, a dummy spit helmet/bat/glove throw and some mega home runs. Baseball is fun kids.

And thats about it. The Tour rules, especially watching it while eating breakfast not like the early hours in the morning back home in Oz. It is wet today and I am tired out. Some rollers, good food and some more sleep I think. Lators..cw.

Back On The Wagon.

It has been a great week back training. 4th place crit finish on Tuesday and two solid days in the mountains pumping out the watts in the CO sunshine. Sometimes I really believe that you can lose sight of the quality of training you do until you come back from a break and are fresh. Motivation is high, legs are good and hopefully I can make the second half of the season better than the first. Cheers everyone...cw.