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