Stage One: Tour Of Gila.

Blown to bits. Really not much else to say really. Whether it was the 12hr drive the day before down to New Mexico, the 7000ft or whatever, I felt pretty darn lousy today in some ragged conditions. More friggin wind and mixed with some pretty warm temps and some hell fast racing with the big teams out to play. My lungs felt like they were full of razor blades, unable to take a solid breath and I spent the last half of the race swapping off in a small group of fellow shelled/blown/smoked riders. With so much wind and spring time it could some crap in the air that my body is not loving so much. Oh and to make it even more fun I spent 45km with no water. Love that glue mouth feeling. The last climb was brutal 9km and I was creepin hard..way hard.

So, well, tmw's another day, and hopefully I find whatever the hell I was missing today. Maybe it was n the sweet authentic Mexican we smashed for dinner earlier. Hello NRC big time stage racing...lator, cw.

Deer Trail Blowin' A Gale

So when I reported from last weeks race at the Springs I called it as the windiest race I've ever done. A week later scrap that cause last weekends hoe-down at Deer Trail was off it's trolley. From what seemed to be a fairly calm early morning with blue sky, the weather turned hard and fast with dark skies, mega wind gusts and a little hail / snow action to boot. Unfortunately this occurred while Kat was racing and while I was eating bagels in the car. Coupla hours later the cold temps and mega winds were still remaining but thankfully the snow/hail never came back.

Deer Trail was an odd course to say the least. Pretty much a series of 4 different dead straight out and back loops. And boy did the wind make it interesting, one section we were floating with a sweet taily and then we would be grovelling in the gutter from mega cross winds. With an odd course came an odd race, but the legs were feeling good and I found myself in a couple of early breaks that were brought back. Halfway through the race after one of the many u-turns the shite hit the fan into the head winds with a flurry of attacks from the stronger teams, namely Vitamin Cottage in their splendid purple and orange colours who had the most numbers in the bunch. With a strong break of 8 formed and away, we put our nose to the grindstone to maintain the gap with around 25km to go.

From all reports the last out and back loop was the worst, featuring a stack of rollers and to add to the fun a mega strong cross wind. And when I mean strong I was fully fighting the bike at times to keep it upright from the random gusts. Working in a pretty tight echelon over these rollers was tough and the group whittled down to 5, and unfortunately for me still included two Vitamin Cottage guys. The last 4km was an expected bun-fight, with Cottage basically working over the group as any good team would to take the big W. I grovelled like hell falling off the wheel with one km to go with my skinny frame no match for power of the rest of the guys in the group. Still it was my best finish to date and one of the few races I've done wearing that many friggin' clothes.

I actually got collected by one of these genuine tumbleweeds during my warm-up..just like the wild west..

All smiles pre rain/hail/snow..

Deer Trail, famous for being the home of the worlds first rodeo and some guys garage.

From Green To Gold!

Well just this morning I posted bout Treva moving into the Young Riders Jersey with the hope that he could potentially match a yellow jersey with that green....and 5hrs later it happens! The Aussies are killing it on Anzac Day over here!!

And Speaking Of Aussies Smashing It....

..up in Georgia...awesome work from Richie England just taking out stage 5! Hell Yeah!

Putting Mooroolbark On The Map

T-Lowe is rockin' some fine form on the road and on the pode at the moment in Georgia...should be a ripper of a stage up Brasstown tomorrow. I guess for an Australian the only colour that would go well with the green of the best young rider jersey would be..... a yellow one! Go rip it up shags...

The Wide Open Road

Yesterday I ventured the furthest into the mountains since I have been here. The weather was good with no snow threat and I headed out up through Golden Gate Canyon. What a killer road, bout 30kms of climbing, starting out at just over 6000ft and finishing at 9300ft. Yeah needless to say I was feeling it at the top that's for sure. I mean the road never got super steep but I was in the box with the lack of oxygen. I was just happy too not to freeze my ass off coming back down compared to some of the rides in the first few weeks of being here. Hopefully that white stuff from the sky is done for awhile now.

My new bike rocks. After being on it for a few weeks now I am more and more enjoying just how light and fast it is. It's taken hardly anytime at all to adjust to the position changes and it feels so good to lay the smack down when in the drops...as it should be. The thing is just so friggin' stiff that there is no power loss. The SRAM Force works flawlessly, plus the carbon parts looks badass with the black carbon frame...stealth to the mega people..

This weekend is another double header of racing, with Deer Trail RR on Sat then a crit up in Boulder on Sunday. For most guys it will be the last hit out before Tour Of The Gila, a sweet 5 day NRC stage race next week down in New Mexico and my first road trip with the team. One hell of a lot of climbing and altitude action down there apparently, hopefully the legs are up for it...lators...cw.

The Need For Speed.

Check out this bad boy we got yesterday...going to be a rad little motor pacing machine! Oh and useful for heading to the shops and so forth I suppose! Pretty funny getting on it for the first time. After years of being subject to sitting long and low on pedally bikes, to get on this and be so upright and short is hilarious. I even tried sitting on the passenger section of the seat just to stretch out! Best of all the brakes are set moto style, just like my bike so there will be no confusion with backwards brakes. Sweet!

Colorado Springs Classic.

Well a week between races and a week between posts...last weekend was a double header down south at Colorado Springs for some more fast racing action. I like the Springs and was looking forward to heading back down there after spending time there last year. First and foremost the view of this incredible mound of dirt looming over the city is just awesome..Pikes Peak, some 14,000ft up. Plus the mtb trails down here were some of the best I've ridden. Coming into the weekend I felt a slightly over done and perhaps in need of another recovery day to freshen up before turning the screws. It was a tough week of training and also dealing with radical weather changes from another midweek snow dump to some nicer warmth and sunshine. And wind. Holy smoke it had been blowing a gale all week, making training interesting with block head wind descents that seemed to take forever.


Sat was another late crit, a 6.00pm start which makes for a long day of hanging about and watching the 'Deadliest Catch' on the Discovery Channel. Damn those guys are madd. Although not quite the ruggedness of the Alaskan sea, the crit course was pretty gnarly in itself. A 18odeg hair pin turn, a sweeping down hill section and a short little kicker rise in dire need for some road work love. And super windy.

The field was strong once again, featuring a good smattering of the guys from the U23 Slipstream program...including some guys called Phinney and Summerhill who share some nice rainbow stripes and worlds medals respectively. Quality. With the prominence of so many different teams the style of racing crit is very tactical and calculated..and damn fast. I hung in there as best I could with some flat legs who were thinking it was more dinner time than race time. So pretty much a strong break went away featuring majority argyle colours. Other argyle-rs did a pretty good job of controlling the bunch and I scrapped home in the sprint for top 15.


Sunday morning the team was treated to a huge breakfast spread put on by Steve, the CO rep for Giant. After downing plenty of "mancakes", eggs, bacon and coffee the team was primed for the days road race. Plus getting a sneak peak of the new prototype TCR SL frame that High Road are riding at the moment was pretty cool...shame it was a medium-large! The race course was held out at the Air Force military base, and was the same one used for the 86' Worlds oh so many moons ago. Once again the wind was howling and made it hard to hold things steady coming from the side when it really whipped up. I don't think I've ever raced in anything like it. Even the portable toilets blew over by the end of the day.


With five laps to complete of a hilly course in such conditions it was pretty clear that it would be a race of smarts and survival. Rolling outta neutral and into a long open descent I was determined to stay in the front which proved a good move. The wind was unbelievable in this first section as we were hitting speeds of 85km/h plus trying to hold it steady. Within the first 5km already the carnage had begun. Coming off the decent in a right hand super quick sweeper I heard the nasty sounds of carbon snapping and guys hitting the tarmac behind me. Thankfully behind me. Apparently some guy collected the gutter when the road narrowed and it was not good news taking a few down with him, including two of our guys who escaped with broken bikes but thankfully no broken bones. Needless to say the next lap ambulance sighting was a little unsettling. With the winds so fierce there were guys getting shelled left right and centre every lap, more so in the cross winds on the flat than on the climbs we had to face. I keep to the front and managed to hang tough in the ever shrinking lead group over the next few laps, featuring once again scattered pro's from Slipsteam, Type 1, Toyota, Jelly Belly and Colavita amongst the local hitters. With two laps to go the attacks begun and all I could do is hold on as the guys who get paid to do this showed why they do, with a few escaping off the front. I held on with the front chase bunch and came home 15th. So another tough weekend of racing in the books and I'm just happy to get a solid result and keep all my skin...lator, cw.

This thing was promoting healthy living...yep.

PS- Hopefully lator today there will be a new addition to the garage..Kat is looking at a cool little transportational toy that should be a heap of fun...stay tuned...

Tokyo Joes Spring Criterium.

Yesterday it was time to open the US race season account with the Tokyo Joes Spring Criterium, held only 30min down the road in Golden. For those who have been reading these reports for awhile, you would know I spent many fun years racing with Yeti Cycles on the dirt, which are of course, hand made in right in that very town. So I found it quite funny to say the least that the weekend’s race circuit looped around the industrial circle where the actual factory is located. The crit course itself was very straight forward, a 1km non-technical loop with a nice little uphill finish. Honestly I had no expectations coming into the race, merely looking forward to opening the lungs and brushing the cobwebs out, but one thing I learned quickly is just how competitive racing in Colorado is. With scattered entries from riders in pro teams such as Slipstream, Health-Net / Maxxis, Bissell and Toyota-United, it was going to be a grand day out that was for sure. How could 5.30pm Sunday night be spent doing anything else other than going completely cross-eyed in pain with a bunch of other blokes in lycra?

Off the blocks this were looking good early, with the legs floating along as the flurry of attacks were brought back with the bunch keeping a tight leash on things. Staying up the front and out of trouble it was clear with a strong sprinkle of pro’s that these were the guys to watch, and the guys to follow into hopefully successful breaks. Around 15 laps in I somehow managed to slip away with a strong group, which featured some heavy hitters such as former Mob Cyclery rider now Slipstream-er Jason Donald, Frank Pipp (Health Net), a coupla Bissell boys and one other bloke with ‘Vogels’ written on the back of his jersey. Clearly I was batting way above my league but the legs were good and the motivation was high to stay there for as long as possible. Although the break was sticking at around 25sec from the bunch, the internal organization was a little messy with not everyone wanting to work. Still I lasted good majority of the race up there, before the constant aggressive riding from Pipp and Vogels split the break into two. Sure enough, the second group that included myself was soon swallowed up by the bunch. After a little time spent hiding to catch my breath I was determined to finish strong in the bunch kick, especially being slightly uphill to the line. Being in a fairly good position but lacking the sprinting firepower I ended the day in 17th, and more than happy with the day’s efforts. On the whole, our team rode strong and we featured in most break aways of the race.

Leading the break...

Where the magic happens...wonder what's cooking inside..?

Happy to see this guy after 75 times...

Kat and team-mate Jon fire up the grill for the first time during the week too...right on!

Well the sun is out and there is some warmth in the air. Looks like this week is going to be pretty good and one spent with out leg warmers, jackets and arctic-grade gloves....lator, cw.

The Eagle Has Landed!

Frame: 08' Giant TCR Advanced

Fork: Formula One Composite

Grouppo: SRAM Force

Bar: FSA Wing Pro Shallow Drop

Stem: FSA Al. 130mm

Seat: Fizik Arione

Pedals: Shimano Dura Ace

Wheels: Mavic Ksyrium SL

Tires: Maxxis Hors Catagorie (training) Columbiere (racing)

Needless to say I'm stoked how it turned out and is above and beyond anything I've ridden in the past. A big thanks to these guys for building it up, Giant Bicycles and also to George Mullen for the awesome fit. Speaking of stuff landing, a nice little snow storm blew in yesterday and left some cold icy stuff on the ground...forecast looks good for a sunny weekend and into next week which I'm looking forward to!

It has been a good morning so far, discovering the joys of streaming Triple J through the web, and hunting down some old J-Files and such...anyways, I'm off to take the new rig on its maiden voyage..lator.cw.

Red Rocking.

Ventured down to Morrison today on another mission to build the book of training loops. Pretty cool little town at the foothills, and the roads just go up from there...but not too far out is this place, is Red Rocks. Complete with this sweet outdoor amphitheatre...just amazing. And so to is the list of bands playing there this summer: REM, The Police, The Cure, Elvis Costello, Nine Inch Nails, Foo Fighters and Jack Johnson! But more importantly PJ have announced a short east coast tour...lets hope like hell they look after us mid west coasters too (and they're bringing the Kings along too)...fingers crossed people.

Check out how big the stage/seating is compared to that guy!

Definitely kept my eyes open for these fellas but was lucky not to come across them!

Forecast is for a mighty snow dump over night..could mean Kat could stay home from work and plus we get to head to the shop early and pick up my race rig...here's hopin'.

Small Scale Adventures.

Today I ventured out on my Pat Malone back to Lookout Mountain. This time on two wheels, more specifically Kat's Redline flat-bar road bike, pretty sweet little bike considering she got it for free and has kept my legs turning before my rig gets finished. Lookout Mtn sure is one sweet climb. Not super long at 4.3miles (just under 7kn) but the scenery as you head up is unreal. I guess I covered that in my last post, but riding it was even more awesome compared to sitting in the car. Despite the light snow yesterday, the weather today was blue skies and sunny...but cold...damn cold! Word is another few weeks and the temps will climb, so coming from the Aussie summer I'm definitely looking forward to that! Although from what I hear bout some crazy wind storms in the Nong's the week I left perhaps I got out just in time.

At the base of Lookout is the town of Golden, and I guess most famous in my book for being the town where Yeti Cycles are made. Didn't quite have the navigational devices to locate the factory but, well, tmw's another day living here in Colorado.....

Here's a shot I found of Danielson smackin' Lookout- 16.02 is the official record which is pretty darn slick I reckon, averaging around 25km/h!

The Before And After Edition

I just glanced at the clock on my computer..2.16am..still in Melbourne time. Better change that one as that's not so great for the head! It has been one hell of a week. As I expected it to be really. Jet-lag, timezone changes, adjusting to altitude (Denver is already a mile above sea level) and the big move. So Kat has left her one bedroom apartment and now we are living in a house out in Lakewood...which basically means a little further out of the city and closer to the mountains...awesome for training. So needless to say the days have been long and filled with the joy of packing / unpacking boxes. I'm pretty cracked with cardboard boxes that's for sure. I think we are pretty much there now and the house has taken shape really quickly. My primary job was to organise the garage and find a spot to put the 5 bikes that Kat owns - not including the sweet limited edition "New Belgium Beer" Felt cruiser she won a few years back...baby blue too...nice.

Speaking of bikes I got poked and prodded a coupla days ago for a professional bike positioning before my new team Giant is built. It was pretty awesome with a full video camera setup and a computrainer that measured power and pedalling efficiency through a computer. Basically we did a bunch of efforts and fiddled around with position till I got the optimum power output. Very worthwhile when you equate things by actually numbers, not just how "good it feels". We made some pretty significant changes I am pretty excited about this new position and hanging to get my bike in the next coupla days. Who woulda thought I'd ride a 130mm stem...but the numbers dont lie kids!

Yesterday was action packed. With a nice and sunny but chilly 13deg day Kat and I worked on building a new outdoor table and chairs plus the big one...a new BBQ grill! Definitely going to be getting some use outta this bad boy! That afternoon we also checked out a local circuit race that was going on and a few of the MOB guys were racing in. Finding it tough to just sit there and watch was a good sign that I am super motivated to start racing. That will happen this weekend with the plan hit up a local crit in Golden to open the account.


"Peeps" are these little marshmallow chickens that are randomly placed around Kat's office by staff..and the subject of high amusement when microwaved to oblivion...

On a side note Chuck Norris has a new website so go check that one out..those lads are killing it already with D-Mac taking a 3rd and Chuck a 16th in last weekends Swisspower...nice one fellas! And Vandy managed to have an off and break both carbon brake levers which is equally impressive in my book.

I'd have purple flames painted on my Nissan Pulsar too if I had one..

Colorado is one amazing place. Here we are up Lookout Mtn (a sweet 4.5mile climb that TD has the record) looking east towards Denver City...flat as a tack. But to the east behind us is the mega Rocky Mtns...unreal.

The Coors brewery from Lookout Mtn...this ones for you bro!

Two drawers full of tea..as it should be

Other than that I look outside the window as I type and I see this...snow time! Lator, cw.

Candle Burning

Jet lag sucks...but reading a copy of Velonews in real time is a damn good excuse for being up so darn late. Get my new rig on sat...madd. Went shopping at this sweet store today called "Big. Lots." Pretty self explanatory I thought..and highly amusing at the same time. The call is for snow tmw..or "White. Cold." if you like....lator, cw.

Alive And Kicking.

Flying into Denver marked my 6th international plane trip (not including Tasmania) and probably one of the most ordinary (if plane time is ever any good). I was the lucky guy who got the front row centre seat straight below the projector screen which was hell annoying trying to sleep and limited the leg room being a wall not seats to stretch the legs under. And when the guy next to me came on and proceeded to unpack his hand luggage with tissues, cough drops and throat lozenges I was even more pumped. Ah well, perks of the job, but in the end it really didn't matter. All that mattered that I was on my way back to the girl I love after 6.5mths and a full season of bike racing ahead of me. Things picked up on the last leg however, getting the window seat coming into stunning CO and landing with some light snow falling on the tarmac. And of course Kat waiting there! Yeah!
So with light snow it was quite the change coming from an Aussie summer, although the last week in town the weather was a little ordinary but not quite this cold! That was yesterday, and today is today, looking out the window there is sun on the peaks but still very very fresh.


First stop after the airport was perhaps the greatest food eatery this side of the universe- Chipoltle. For those who haven't heard me ramble on about this place before (or even seen the menu I swiped last year) it is a fast food burrito joint. American fast food I know what you are thinking, but this stuff is truly another level - quality tortillas, fresh salsa, rice, beans etc. makes for one sweet package kids. Damn.

Still enjoying the effects of jet lag, getting up a 3.30am last night was fun, although I don't feel too bad today. It will be a busy week however with Kat moving out of her apartment into a new house...but im so pumped to be back here. Lator..cw