Commitment Made

I have often dreamed of completing longer distance triathlons as I'm really not made for the short sprint events. So this year I finally decided to take the plunge and have committed to the Gold Coast Half Ironman Tri in October. To help make this happen I have joined Phoenix Triathlon and I can honestly say I have fallen on my feet joining this squad. A nicer bunch of people you could not hope to meet and they have all made me feel very welcome which is fantastic. As everyone knows joining a new group is often daunting so it was great to start making friends straightaway.

Quite a few of the athletes from the squad are off to the world championships for Sprint/Olympic Distance which are being held on the Gold Coast in September with others heading to Perth for the World Long Distance Champs. It's great having a variety of athletes as there is never a shortage of people to really push you hard when you need to be pushed hard. I have no doubts the way the squad is going they will produce some great results at the worlds.


Yes I know the aero bars are way up in the air but that is something that I am working on as my flexibility/core strength increases. At the moment it is comfortable and I can ride it for long periods of time which I personally believe is the most important at this stage of my training.

Tour de Tri

I've been meaning to post this for a while but have only just got the chance to get around to it so here goes.

This weekend is the Tour de Tri basically it's a 24 hour triathlon run in the same format as 24 hour MTB race in that you just keep going until the end or you have had enough (whichever occurs first). Some would ask why I would enter this event but there are 2 reasons. The first is my wife has decided that she will be doing the six hour Tour de Tri in a team with her friends and then volunteering for part of the event.

The second and most important reason is that I read Mark's Story. Mark is the head coach of Brisbane Triathlon Squad and I have known him since 1991. I read his story and after speaking with him he is still recovering from an event that occurred over 12 months ago and has had to have surgery to repair some of the injuries he caused to himself. Mark was one of the fittest people I have ever known for him to still be recovering says a lot to me about how hard he pushed himself for a cause he believes in.

To my mind the least I can do is participate. I have no desire to win the race just to be a part of a good cause and try and enjoy the weekend.

New Stead

I have been looking around for some time figuring out how I could buy a new bike. I was toying the idea of buying a frame and then slowly building it up. I've looked at a few frames and spoken with a few people trying to figure out a frame that would fit. For the last 5 years or so I have been riding a trusty old Giant TCR2. Can't complain the bike has done quite a few k's and served me well. However, clearly when I bought it, it is too long in top tube and as a result when it was fitted the stem length had to be reduced and a plus 17 degree angle one at that. No fault of the fitter (entirely my fault) I bought the bike second hand and he did the best with what he had to work with.

So after chucking around a few ideas I have been keeping my eyes open for something that would be suitable in terms of size as I seem to be a little too tall for a medium and way too small for a large frame normally. The seat height I run usually means I have a lot of bar to saddle drop and being inflexible like most cyclists I simply can't run too much drop.

I had decided that my next bike is most likely going to last at least 5 years as the trusty Giant has done and will be required for training, racing and generally mucking round with mates on bikes. I have always enjoyed the comfort of a carbon frame (sorry for all the 'steel is real' lovers out there) so was on the lookout for something full carbon again.

Groupset wise I was looking at 10 speed as most of wheels and groupsets are either SRAM or Shimano so wanted them to be compatible.

Anyway after reading the paper on the weekend I saw that my good mate Jeremy who owns The Ride Inn was having a massive sale on Ridley bikes. I have always liked the look of the Ridley and the fact they come from Belgium where the real hard men on cycling seem to come from. Plus they were ridden for a while by Silence Lotto and my 2 favourite riders Robbie McEwen and Cadel Evans. McEwen still rides the bikes as when he went to Katusha he managed to convince the team to look at the brand and then get them onboard as a supplier.

So after speaking to the wife she gave me approval to go and check out the bikes on sale. Off I trotted to see Jeremy and after measuring me up we figured I would fit on to the medium sized frame. That gave me a few options and I finally ended up with the 2009 Ridley Noah. The specs on this bike are well beyond what I ever thought I would ride.

It runs full Campagnolo Super Record 11 speed which is amazing to ride. After selecting the bike it was on to the fitting. Jeremy is very particular and the fit took a few hours. But after having ridden the bike a couple of times I give it the thumbs up. I'll post my first impressions soon but here are some photos for those who were waiting.

Has it really been that long since I posted last ?

Well I guess the net doesn't lie so it's been just over 2 months since I last posted. Oh well at least I personally think that's not too bad as I've been out doing other things and not sitting on my clacker in front of the keyboard.

I've been watching highlights of the Giro on Eurosports news and saw the protest by the riders about the dangerousness of the stage in Milan to the extent that they just stopped and explained to the crowd why they weren't racing.

I felt sorry for Danilo Di Luca the Maglia Rosa at the time as he was left as the race leader to attempt to explain to the crowd why they wouldn't 'race' the stage as such. Having read some reports I can understand why the riders refused to race.

However, I also saw an article from an organiser who pointed out that one of the attractions of the Giro is the sometimes unpredictable nature of the stages. Given the injuries that one rider suffered when he crashed there does need to be a balance. Whilst we can crash anytime we are riding the organisers should try to make it as safe as possible for everyone. I could understand if professionals who only have a relatively short life span at the top of the sport ask for us much safety as is reasonably achievable to ensure that they are not injured to the extent that they cannot return to the sport such as Saul Raisin. But as I said the attraction of the Giro is sometimes the nature in which the event is run i.e. never a dull moment.

I came across this article from Michael Barry of Team Highroad-Columbia. Quite an interesting read and gives it from a pro's perspective on the toughness of just one stage.

Sizzling Summer Series Round 4

I managed to get to the final round of the Sizzling Summer Series having missed rounds 2 and 3 due to other races. The field I raced in consisted of 82 riders which some may say is a lot but for mine if everyone in the bunch rides within their abilities there is no reason why the race can't be safe. Having said that, I was witness to some at times fairly ordinary bike handling for no real reason.

The race itself was enjoyable as I managed to get in a couple of breaks, which were pulled back and generally just mucked around chatting to mates. It was pretty clear it was going to come down to a bunch sprint as there were a couple of riders from different teams close on points and they both wanted the win. A small group got away with a few laps to go so as my team also has a sprinter I was pushed to the front to do my best. The group was pulled back with a lap and a half to go and in the bunch sprint my team mate grabbed fifth, he had also grabbed the prime earlier so it was a reasonably successful day all round.

I must congratulate the Logan Cycling Club as they ran a brilliant series. I know not everyone enjoys racing crits all the time but at least it is a solid series run on closed roads which we normally wouldn't get to race on.

The womens race was after ours and a good friend Nikki was racing. Nikki has recently returned from NZ and did her best to shake up the race and managed a solo breakaway for quite a few laps. Unfortunately, she was caught with half a lap or so to go but it was still awesome to watch her hurting herself so much doing her very best to stay away. Sometimes it is better to try and fail than finish safely in the bunch.....

Nikki chewing the bar tape

The Elite A mens race was the highlight of the afternoon for me with continual attacks throughout the race. The previous rounds had ended in bunch sprints, however, a breakaway finally managed to stay away. The breakaway was particularly strong as they managed to put time in to the field throughout the race. It started as initially 8 and then was down to 4 after one of the primes. The winner was Deon Locke who to me sitting on the sidelines appeared to be the strongest rider and certainly deserved his win. Deon must have been up for it as he turned up wearing his skin suit.

TRE-X Qld State Champs - 8 March

The finish and presentation area

Sunday 8 March brought with it the TRE-X (i.e off road triathlon) state champs at Slickers, Kurwongbah (just out of Brisbane). The crew from In2Adventure do a great job of running these events and the owners (Simon and Robyn Lazenby) are just awesome people who always have a smile on their face and are willing to listen. I have raced against Simon and Robyn a few times during the AR season and they always seem to be having fun no matter how long the day/race has been.

The week before had seen some serious rain around Brisbane with a Tropical Cyclone being out over the Northern parts of the state so it was a bit concerning that we were going to have another mud bath like the previous TRE-X Race. Fortunately whilst there was some water and mud throughout the course the single track was in great condition. The state champs consisted of a 1k swim 25k Mountain Bike and 10k Run.

The dam swim was uneventful other than watching my wife go past me like she had an outboard attached to her back and me wondering if I would be the last out of the water (I think I may have been as the organisers were already bringing in the swim course marker bouys as I was finishing the swim. Given it was a fresh water swim I struggle even more without the extra assistance provided by open/salt water swims.

The mountain bike course was a good mix of fire trails and single track. Coupled with a couple of decent climbs my legs knew that I had ridden some good ups. The single track was nice and I was able to pass quite a few on these sections and this probably seperates the very best (not me) and the solid off road triathletes. The bike leg also had a nice water crossing that could be hit almost at full speed so I'm hoping to get some photos from that as I was pinning it across that. The finish to the bike course wasn't much fun either as it involved riding up the side of a dam wall to transition. But hey that's what TRE-X is all about.

The run leg for me was the hardest as it involved running up 2 of the nastier climbs on the property. As it was a 2 long loop course that meant 4 good hills. The second climb was really tough as it went straight up the side of a ridge line. The burn in quads was awesome once I got to the top ;o)

The last loop of the run course was a flat one around the dam and back to the finish. It was one of the longer races I have done for a while but I had a great time. The most fun post race was had talking to mates around the finish area including Trav and Bec Hall who have recently invested in Race Elements some really great people who have some fantastic ideas about how to make a great company even better. The random prize draw is also an incentive for weekend warriors like me to see if I can pick up a prize.

I took a couple of photos with my dodgy camera phone to show the finish area and in particular the red van on the left of shot. It is one of the little mobile coffee vans and I don't think the lady stopped making drinks the whole 2 days the event was on (the Saturday had various types of mountain bike and cross country running races) and she looked even more exhausted than the competitors by the end of Sunday afternoon.

Luke Harrop Tri - Gold Coast March 1

Okay much to the disgust of my 'roadie' friends I have once again returned to dabbling in triathlon. I say "dabbling" as I have to fit these in with my wifes schedule, racing on the road, training to run marathons and doing the Tre-X series (and any other races/events that I think I might like to do). The Luke Harrop Tri is basically a memorial to one of Australia's developing triathletes who was tragically killed by a lady in a stolen car back in 2002. Luke was also the brother of Loretta Harrop one of Australia's greatest triathletes who you may remember getting run down in the last couple of hundred metres in the Olympics in 2004 by Kate Allen (another Australian) who was competing for Austria. A good indicator of the person that Loretta is was her first comment immediately post race when she was asked if she was disappointed in getting second and she replied that no she wasn't disappointed that she had done everything possible to win and could do no more. A great attitude. Luke was also at the time he was killed the boyfriend of Emma Snowsill (3 x World Champion and Olympic Champion) you can read all about it here.

Sun coming up over the broadwater and transition area

Anyway I'll get down off my high horse now. The race was a 750 swim 20k ride and 5 k run. As per normal I was totally smashed in the swim (note to self more swimming required) but once we were back on dry land I was in my element. The ride course is like most tri courses - totally flat. Triathletes seem to dislike hills.

Once the ride was done it was out for the run and by this stage it was incredibly hot around 34 degrees with no shade. My run was slower than I had hoped 21:20 but I had not really done any speed work for about 2 weeks due to a foot injury. It was an awesome day and also the test event for the World Age Group Championships which are happening on the same course in September.

As a side note whilst I was racking my bike in transition on the Saturday my mum and her partner Nev got talking to a couple of blokes who were sitting at the same table as them. Turns out these two fellas own and run this company. They started in custom made inline and speed/ice skates with their most famous Australian competitor being Steve Bradbury. Apparently a lot of speed skaters use cycling as their cross training and have been now getting RBC Sport to make their custom made cycling shoes for them. They are a Brisbane based company so if anyone in brisbane is looking for custom made shoes give them a call. I only know of 2 other companies that offer custom made cycling shoes being Rocket7 (in the US) and I think Biomac (in Europe) also offer the same.

A packed transition area

Sizzling Summer Series Race 1

Okay so it's been a while since I posted last but I do have lots of excuses. Anyway I managed to get to Race 1 of the Sizzling Summer Series held at Crestmead. A big thumbs up to the Logan Cycling Club for organising the series, the organisation was top notch. I raced Masters B which had a rather large field of 72. There was pluses and minuses with such a big field. The plus being the ability to sit in for the majority of the race. The minus being that some of the bike handling skills are questionable at best. As someone so succinctly pointed out during the race its probably preferable to learn to corner well before entering a massed start event.

The course is great as a crit track. Very safe, excellent surface - perhaps not the best for breakaways due to the high average speed.

The Ord Minnett team were by far and away the best organised of the teams including having earpiece radios. Unfortunately, I think the radios did them a disservice. The team was so strong that in my humble opinion if they had just kept attacking the whole race they would have been able to get a strong breakway going rather than waiting for a bunch sprint. Only my opinion of course but if they weren't going to chase then they would have got away.

Anyway as it turned out it was a bunch sprint. As I'm certainly no sprinter my job was to try and help my sprinter get to the front with a couple of laps to go and then let the rest if the team finish off. I was too busy just enjoying riding and when we got the 2 laps remaining board I was mucking around on the inside of the bunch while my srpinter was on the outside of the bunch. Given there was 72 riders I couldn't get to the outside to help. So I did the next best thing and got to the front and rode as hard as I could for as long as I could (not very hard or very long).

It ended up being a big bunch sprint and I didn't get to see the winner and had to leave straight after to get ready for work.

I miss the next 2 races due to other commitments but have entered the final race of the series.

Gorillas in the Mist (with apologies to the gorillas)

Today as part of training with Nikki and Steve it was to be 5 laps of Mount Coot-tha. I say was to be as we ended up with nearly as many flat tyres as we did laps. Nikki is off next week for the Womens tour of New Zealand and was after that one last hit out. It had been raining overnight here in Brisbane so it was guite foggy and almost like riding in some of the old footage of riding in the Tour through the fog and rain.

This was the best I could with manage my dodgy camera phone sorry ;o)

And yes I was at the back collecting the tickets for the autobus. After getting the third flat for the morning and quickly running out of tubes we decided 3 laps would have to do with maybe some more this afternoon. Both Nikki and Steve are riding strongly and its great to see the hard work they have put in really starting to pay off. Once Nikki realises how strong she is the world will be her oyster.

TRE-X Long Course

Due to the just about complete lack of Adventure Racing in SEQ this year I have found it necessary to branch out and look around for other activities (other than marathons/ultras) to keep me training hard. To that end I have spent most of the last couple of months training for the TRE-X Off road triathlons. I still do 'normal' triathlons however the TRE-X involve a dam swim, mountain bike and trail run. The Long Course race was 350/20/4 x 2 i.e we did everything twice.

As those of you who live in Brisbane would know we have not had a great deal of rain lately, however, overnight we had some fairly decent falls. So a mountain bike track that would have been hardpacked and quick turned in to a bit of a quagmire and very slick. I didn't have the benefit of pre-riding the course which was a mistake as I was only starting to get the course dialed on the 3rd and 4th laps. I also had some serious chain suck (anyone with suggestions how to stop this on a GF Cake let me know...) and had to middle ring some climbs when I would have liked to give the legs a rest for the 4 k trail run.

Picture of the drive train post race

Anyway it was great day out even though both bikes were filthy and I had to think about drivetrain wear at the moment. The highlight was seeing my wife on the bike course and then finishing just behind her. She has really embraced triathlon and is making great strides forward (excuse the pun) which makes me very proud of her.



The day is really well run by In2Adventure who are running the next event on 8th March at Slickers in Kurwongbah.

Even better on the Saturday they are running a whole heap of events including a 40XC race, Trail running and dirt crits. See here for more info. I'm not sponsored by these people in anyway, however, Simon and Robyn who own the company are 2 of the most genuine people you would ever meet and always interested in feedback and suggestions how they can improve the product.

Tour Down Under

What an absolutely brilliant trip ! I was in the very fortunate position that my sister in law had bought plane tickets for my wife and I to be at the TDU from Thursday to Sunday. I was even more fortunate in that one of my wife's good friends lives in Adelaide and had my bookings at some awesome restaurants and even mapped out an itinerary so that the ladies didn't haven't to watch cycling all day every day and managed to visit lots of wineries and purchase too much wine (which was an issue trying to get under the weight limit flying back).

We arrived on the Thursday morning (unfortunately 2 of our group were 'bumped' from the flight and had to fly via Canberra and then to Adelaide arriving late evening). A good lesson to check in on line and get to the airport early. From the airport we quickly dropped off our gear and headed straight to Port Elliott where we were able to see some of the race just before it headed up the last KOM for the day. Due to the wind the field had splintered in to a few different groups.

Friday was the opportunity to ride the same stage as the pro's but leaving at 6am. This meant getting up at 4am to be there in time to collect the ride jersey and register. The ride itself was quite interesting and totally different to anything we experience in Queensland. It wasn't an overly tough day, however, that's easy for me to say as a recreational cyclist, it would be a totally different proposition actually racing the stage as a pro after 3 days of racing before that. The ride was 155 k and very well organised. And it was amazing to be able to ride across the same finish line etc as the pros did a few hours later.

The finish at line Angaston

After enjoying something to eat at the finish we rode back toward the Maggie Bear farm (any foodies will know who she is) to meet my wife. On the way back we were able to watch the pros come through Nurioopta (a small town) a few k from the finish. There was a small group away but Rabobank were on the front smashing it out to presumably set things up for Graeme Brown. It didn't end up that way with Davis getting the win. Would have been a tough finish as well with the last k or so slightly uphill the whole way.

A couple of random shots of the field coming through Nurioopta

Okay its taken me this long to get this post up so I will leave it there for the time being. I have some more photos to add to the blog including some more descriptions of the last day crit. Needless to say the trip was so good we are already planning next years.

Gold Coast Ride

Another fun day on the bike with mates. Aaron and Steve were the two ride companions for today. Started at Southbank and headed south via the backroads to the Gold Coast. Saw some interesting sights including some people who insisted on riding up the wrong side of the road at us.

When we arrived at the Gold Coast we stopped at my mums place and ate way too much. Including some trifle she had made. I think she may have overdone the rum in the trifle as I think Aaron may have been slightly over the limit on the return journey.

On the return journey we found a new coffee shop on the Old Pacific Highway at Pimpama called Whistlestop. Can recommend it. Good service, excellent price and reasonable coffee.

The final few kilometres back to Aarons place were very hot as the temperature according to my watch was 40 degrees, meaning perfect preparation for next weeks ride at the Tour Down Under.

All up I ended up with 125 kilometres in the legs and some good company who kept me laughing the whole ride. Especially Aaron who whilst he was exhausted (had already ridden for over an hour before meeting us and ridden for 5 hours the day before) and at the back could still summon the energy to sprint for suburb signs.

The train trip back was an education for Steve and I on how todays youth think. Quite scary actually but that's another whole story itself.

The lads mid-ride on the way back

Found this photo of Aaron when we stopped back at his place from his first season of racing in 1986 - sorry for the quality but I only had my phone to take pics with - That's him in the green KOM jersey on the top step

NSW Border Ride

This was a ride that had been planned by some of my friends which made life easy. We started from Advancetown in the Gold Coast Hinterland rode up to the NSW Border down in to Chillingham. At this stage during the descent I was thinking to myself how long the descent had taken and therefore how long it would take to ride back up.

This is my attempt at a 'Panorama' shot on the Queensland/Nsw Border

From there the ride took in some nice rolling mainly backroads without too much traffic to Tyalgum where we stopped for refreshments. If you are ever in Tyalgum I can highly recommend this place http://www.flutterbies.com.au/

Even though we were by then 11 very smelly cyclists the staff could not do enough for us even putting together extra tables so we could all sit together. I can also highly recommend the real home made scones and jam, quality.

Some of the dark storm clouds which fortunately held off for us.

Excuse my fingers on the lens here but I was using my camera as we were rolling out up the valley.

Thought I would include this photo of my mate Steve's new stead. A Specialized Tarmac very light :o)

The return journey involved the climb back up to the NSW border - I have included my Polar print out to give an idea of the climb. The steepest bit which is supposed to be 20% is in the last kilometre of the climb which makes it even worse.

Proof of the steepness riding back up from NSW.

All in all it was a good day out with the rain holding off until we were coming back down from the border which made the quick descent back to Advancetown very interesting.

I have one more long ride planned before I depart Thursday week for the Tour Down Under where us gumbies are allowed to ride a stage in the morning before the pro's do. The stage is 155km and appears to be around 1000 metres of climbing.