Australian National Championships.

It hurt. A lot. With a big field on an cold to increasingly warm to frickin' hot day, 130 odd lycra clad bandits hit the roads of Bunninyong, just outside of Ballarat for the green and gold stripey jersey. It was game on from the gun, with attacks on the first climb which eventually lead to a breakaway group gaining 4 minutes midway into the race. To be honest I felt pretty ordinary from the get-go. Whether the legs were still tired from the Bay Crits or not open enough I wasn't sure. After getting through the first half of the race it pretty much was just a matter of holding on over the 3.2km climb every lap. Guys were getting shelled pretty much every time around, and on the tenth lap the rubber band snapped for me, simply no longer having the h.p to stick with the peloton who by that stage the front guys were drilling it to bring back the break. And that was it. Nationals done and my name went alongside the DNF's in a day where only 45 of the 130 finished. Yeow. But at the end of the day I did enjoy it to be honest. Being my first road Nationals I was pretty amazed by the amount of spectators and logistics of the thing. Plus it was a pretty exciting finish to watch too with McDonald schooling two ProTour guys to the lower steps of the box. Hats off to Drapac/Porsche who ruled the day, put guys on the front to bring the break back and then put a red jersey on top of the podium. I'm sure a big night for them is in store.

Thanks for those who shouted, the bro for the feeds and the old girl for putting up with my music on the drive out there! Was able to catch up with some cool people I hadn't seen in quite sometime, including Big Mak sporting some of the finest choppers I have seen in a long while. Check out his blog, always worth a look. Speaking of facial hair to the extreme D-Mac took the championship on that one, sporting a very fine lumberjack/Ned Kelly beard. Very rugged my friend! Cheers y'all....cw