Need a Cup of Concrete

Get comfortable and grap a cup of tea, this update is pretty likely to turn into one of the longest novels you've ever attempted to read.

Well since last time I've had a few hiccups to be honest. The achilles proble I was suffering with turned out to be a strain due to the tightness in my calves. After spending my life savings on physio I got put right but not in time for Southland which was pretty gutting. Still headed down and helped the team out here n there just helping them out with recovery and filling up the van with my main man octane etc. Looked like your typical hard man's Southland tour from what I saw. Wish Icould have been right in there. Check out this photo of our van on the last day.

For those of you that don't know the van was pimped out with polka dots because one of my team mate's Jo Chapman won the Polka dot jersey (King of the Mountains). Jo also manged a 2nd place on a stage and Gatey pulled a 3rd on a stage so it was a pretty successful tour for the team. Even tour rookie Tom Francis got his share of TV time.

About this time I got a new job as a bulding labourer for Cornerstone Construction which keeps the cash rolling in but does stop me training as much as I'd like to. So a few weeks after Southland I started the slow buildup again, this time on the new rig thanks to EMC, Zipp and Sram. Check it:

So to test out my new baby I went down to the final round of benchmark in Chch. The race wasn't overly fats and the team raced smart and we ended up with most of our team up the road. Brendon Sharratt was the star of our team finishing about 5th or 6th, taking second overall. For me, I did what I could for the team before disappearing out the ass because of my lack of fitness.

Unfortunately before the race, I kicked a piece of glass which went through my shoe and cut my toe. I thought it was sweet and hard manned it but after a few days it was getting pretty sore so I paid a visit to old Dr Jolly who reckoned there wasn't still glass in it but it was full of some luscious succulent puss which meant it was pretty infected. So onto the anibiotics and not being able to wear shoes meant more time off the rig.

Finally finished the antibiotics today and have knocked up a couple of rides lately so the fitness is coming back...hopefully in time to get some form for Vineyards and Elites. Fingers crossed that there's no more unexpecteds in the next few weeks.

Running out of sharns.
Peace  

 

Land of The Long White Cloud

The blog updates seem to be becoming a rare occasion these days. I also here (thanks to Kieran Hambrook) that the language isn't acceptable so I'll tone that down too just for you bro.

Well I finished up my track season in the US of A with Madison cup, which I'm not gonna lie, hurt pretty bad. The night contained two madisons (the second being 120 laps of a 333m track) as well as the other solo races. I pulled off a second and a 4th on the night which I was pretty happy about.

As I strarted to find my legs in the last month of track racing, it converted beautifully to my crit racing. Although I didn't pull any good results in the crits, I did start picking up a lot of primes which helped pay the grocery bill each week. One crit I did had primes every second lap! Unfortunately I didn't realise the primes became more and more throughout the race and spent far too much energy off the front early on chasing smaller primes. Still came away with a bit of cash in pocket so can't complain there.

Unfortunately the track legs didn't serve me so well when it came to stage racing. I attempted to ride Green Mountain Stage Race up in Vermont (near the Canadian border) in my final week of being in the US. Unfrotunately I was strong enough to make the breaks and drive them on the flats but when I hit the hills I suffered like a dog. And believe me, this was not the flattest of tours! Stage two finished up a 20% climb onto Apalanche Gap where (according to the race manual) we had to be careful of moose.

To add a little more excitement to my final few weeks in the US, hurricane Irene decided she'd pay us a visit. But she wasn't so angry when she got to kutztown. We had some pretty gnarly flooding etc but apart from that it was actually pretty good.

So I decided I'd fly out of the New York on September 11 weekend (the 10th Anniversary too) so securtiy was pretty tight but I still managed to get my Blow Gun into the country which I was stoked about. About 24 hours later I landed in Nelson Airport and caught the flu that arvo. The weather was cold but amazingly clear skies!

So I just want to thanks everyone who helped me out in the states. First off Marty Nothestein who sorted out accommodation and a trackbike, the Mente's for letting us crash whenever and use their pool when temperatures were enough to cook a roast in, the Noonan's for putting me up for the final few weeks and finally all the poeple I had some good times with.

Anyway, when I ogt back to NZ, I took a week off before smacking up some base k's again. Unfortunately into my second week of base I strted aching around the achilles area of my foot. So for the last week I've been trying to sort that out so haven't been getting the lead up that I really need for Southland in 3 weeks! But I've been to physio and reckon I know what's goin on so hopefully will be back on the bike ASAP.

I attempted to ride benchmark round 3 in Cust on Saturday. Unfortunately the fott was aching a bit and on top of that I punctured 50km in and wasn't allowed to use the convoy to get back on to the pelo so that was race over. On my ride back to the startline I got attacked by some angry magpie too. Thinking I might take my blow gun for the benchy round. But it was still good to meet up with my team L & M Group Racing before Southland.

That's it form me.
Chur

Getting There

So I just wrote a novel and my laptop decided it delete the second half of my blog. Faaaaaaark.

Well times ticking away here in little old Kutztown and I'm starting to realise my time here's running out so I've been trying to make the most of my time over here.

Last week I took a day off to bus into NYC with kiwi rider Sophie Williamson and her host sister Sarah Miller. Was a pretty sweet day but definitely could do with another day in the city. We managed a squiz at Times Square and a trip up the Empire State Building (which became a bit of a mission), as well as hitting up the shops. I know you'll all be proud of me for coming out of the multi-storey m&m store without buying a single M&M.




Apart from the New York trip we've had a few other get togethers. A few weeks ago was "Fitzy Day" named after the Famous Pete Fitzpatrick who was here a few years ago. It was a good night out and made some good memories.

And of course I have ridden my bicycle on the odd occasion. I've started to get a few results under my belt lately which is a pretty good feeling. Last weekend I took out the Pennsylvania State Road Championships after riding away on an 84 mile course with one other guy. It was good having my teammate (Tom Francis from Wanganui) ripping the legs of everyone early on in the race.

Speaking of young Tom, we had a bit of drama on the track recently when Tom attempted a track race which resulted in a trip to hospital after the first race. Luckily all was good apart from an aching shoulder and ,minor concussion.

I've been taking up opportunities on the track also. I have now raced kierens, madisons and last night even gave tandemonium a crack which resulted in a bit of cash injection which was nice. My teammate Dougie was the captian (guy on the front) and i was the stoker (on the back). Dougie was a hammer and managed to make it look like I knew what I was doing. We pulled off a 3rd in the sprints (which was also USA Tandem nationals) and a 2nd in the scratch picking up a few primes along the way. So we both came away satisifed with a bit of coin in pocket.

I've also started to find my track legs lately which is a good feeling. I've started picking up primes which helps way the grocery bill. But I still haven't come away with a win on the track yet. I came close last night in the 10 lap scratch but unfortunately  inexperience got the better of me and I finished 4th. But every loss is another lesson learnt.

So that pretty much sums up the last month of blog updates that I should have done.

Also wanna make a shoutout 2 k-rex and GB. If you haven't heard, Kieran got taken out by a car in France and has a broken collarbone so get better big boy. And George is riding for pro team Radioshack for the rest of the year as a stagiare so hopefully a pro contract isn't far away. On that note, I will happily take that Livestrong Trek off your hands when you get the contract GB.
Hope the extended blog didn't bring you all to the verge of suicide.
Cheers
TA



UP 2

Been a bit slack on the old blog updates lately and old Scotty Daymon told me 2 sort my shit and get some photos up so this post is dedicated to him.
So I've nearly been here a month now so getting used to all the changes now. But I still haven't found my legs which is f***n frustrating. Every ride I do I either feel flat or fatigued. I don't know if it's cos all the intensity work leaves me smashed or cos of the heat and humidity or changes in diet. I was really keen to come over and pull off a few results and make a bit of coin but it just hasn't really happened which is disappointing. I still have a few months to find my legs so I'm hoping it all comes right soon.
But anyway, enough of that. I've done a fair few crits and track races now as well as an 80mile road race. My team-mate Dougie has been doing pretty well. He makes a bit of prizemoney and is one of the top. endurance riders on the track. Yound kiwi rider Dion Smith came to stay for the last week and hit up a few races with us, pulling of a 4th in the Iron Hill Classic. Simon Van Velthooven, one of NZ's top sprinters is also over riding at the track at the moment. He was crowned the fastest man on wheels on Saturday night after winnig both the kieren and the 2km scrath.
Off the bike it's been pretty cruisey just chilling by the pool or laxing out at home. The flat now has kiwis, canadians, polish, americans and a guy from trinny.
Anyway, that's enough yarns for now. Here's a couple of  photo's especially 4 u Scotty boy.

A Few Local Photos

Dollar Tree is off the chain. U can pretty much get anything for a dollar.

This is the haunted downstairs of our place. The boys r shit scared of the ghost that lives down there.

Our place

The Kitchen

Main Street

My Room

T.A The Trackie...And More

Well what can I say, been in Kutztown, PA, USA for just over a week now. I've raced track twice and did one crit in NYC.
When I arrived in Kutztown I was pretty sure I was immune 2 jetlag  I commad on my bed for a few hours. My flat isn't the flashed of places but thanks to Canny and the boys who painted it a beautiful shade of green last year. The boys downstairs get the AC but i just  roll the fan most nights cos the temperatures usually in the high 20's as well as the humidity. Pretty sure the flat is haunted downstairs so no1 ventures downstairs at night. I'm staying with a bunch of trackies. One canadain, 2 americans plus 2 trinidad guys who turned up last night. They all seem 2 b good sorts which is sweet.
Up theroad is the Mente's place where my teammate dougie's staying. They are awesome people who say i can swim or just hang out here whenever. So I've been mincing round there a fair bit.

Friday night was my first track race. I went into it shit scared! But it was alright, didn't get any results but I thought it was mint. The class of riders is off the chain! Some big names in American cycling are racing the series which goes until late August. The guys that run the track just flicked me a few bits and pieces and eventually I put it all together to make a track bike. Had another crack at track on Tuesday but was feeling poked after the mornings ride so it wasn't pretty.

As for the road I'm starting to get my bearings but the network of roads is insane. So many quiet roads in every direction! I've got lost a few times but that's all good, just means extra k's trying to find my way home. Raced the Harlem Skyscraper Classic on Sunday which involved 2 crits which were pretty unique. One a points race and one an elimination race. In the points race i was feeling ok but not strong enough to get away. Dougie finished 4th. In the elimination race I got caught out and eliminated pretty early on but Dougie took an impressive solo win and a good sized cheque which paid for dinner in the city which was a nice way to lax out at the end of the week.

So it's all happening here. Track twice a week, road races on weekends, as well as a bunch ride and club crit during the week.

Cheers
Thomas the Tank (My USA name) which reminds me, I hear hodge's new nick name is Spaghetti...mean.

Splashed out and bought a camera the other day so will hopefully get some photos of track and the township soon. 

Lady Luck Fails to Attend Taranaki Tour 2011

So I hit up Taranaki Tour over Queens Birthday weekend in the hope of pulling off a good result to prove to myself that I'm ready for the States. But in the end I was the 2nd to last finisher about one hour and five mins off the pace.
Have to say it was a pretty gnarly tour. Stage one included 100kmph gusts which took a few riders out. Unfortunately I was dropped in the first 10km so spent the rest of the stage sitting on the back of B grade. There was no way I was gonna have a DNF by my name on day one. I lost about 35mins and don't really know what happened. I thought it might have just been from the food poisoning I had the day before but I didn't get much better throughout the tour. That afternoon we were supposed to have a TT but it got a bit dodgey with the wind so they decided to scrap it.
Stage 2 I had nothing to loose so just kept attacking early on. I was in a chase group when I punctured, had to sit up and wait for the wheel wagon following the bunch. They were motorpacing me back on when I punctured a second time. I got a wheel change and then decided to sit up and save myself for the next stage.
So that afternoon I rode away again but felt like a rats ass the whole time. Once I was caught I stayed in the bunch for a few k's before dropping off again. Determined not to get a DNF I just kept rolling along. These stages were pretty slippery becuase of all the rain and by the end of the day there were a few people paying the ambulances a visit.
On the final stage I was feeling shit again but thought fuck it and just attacked anyway and got into the break. We got out to about 2 mins but about a lap later they dropped me and the bunch picked me up. I didn't last in the bunch either so I managed to get a 100% success rate at finishing out the ass on every stage...mint.
So there you have it. I got smoked. I know I had the power in the legs but just couldn't transfer it to the road.
Hopefully I have some better yarns to tell when I get to the States next week.
Cheers

Club Nats...F**k

Well what can I say, shit happened. After having a bit of trouble getting a flight up to Wanganui I finally made it on Friday Evening. Saturday morning I hit up the course with the Tasman boys and James Early. I was stoked with the course with some sharp little climbs as well as a good exposed area which I was hoping would be hard with a bit of cross wind.

Spent Saturday arvo soaking in a few racing vibes during the masters and under 19's races.
Rolled on up on Sunday morning feeling both mentally and physically pumped for the 7 lap 154 km race. I was pretty keen to win the Under 23 title for my grandad who passed away a couple of weeks ago. The race started off pretty good for me. A break rolled away early on with only one Under 23 in it (Matt Wheatcroft).
The break got out to about 2 minutes but Subway got forced to chase after Sam Horgan punctured in the break. Another rider who I thought might be a threat (Darcy Ellerm-Norton) Rode across solo which was perfect as both riders would have wasted big energy in the break. About lap 4 Paul Odlin attacked up one of the climbs with Dillon Bennet on his wheel. About 3/4 of the way up D-Buzz couldn't hold Odlin's wheel and I knew he was gonna be suffering on the climbs later on so I made sure I passed him looking strong to demoralise him. The form was there and the climbing legs were there so I knew I was definitely up for the podium.
However, on the 5th lap we had an echelon formed in the crosswind just passed the finish line when a guy on the front of the bunch decided he'd chop the whole echelon. The first few riders managed to get away with a few touched wheels but then someone about 3 wheels behind him stacked it and a few of us went straight over the top. Luckily I ended up in the grass and only twisted my bars and knocked the brakes around a bit. So I got up straight away and chased hard but the bunch was pumping along. I was solo and was never going to bring back the bunch without a motor pace so my race was over. I hard-manned the last 3 laps anyway in the hope some under 23's would blow up and I could pull of a Top 5 or something. In the end I lost 9 minutes to the bunch and finished 6th in Under 23.
So I'm pretty guttered really but that's all part of cycling I guess. At least I know the form was there so I should be flying in the States. And I'm pretty stoked the bike and myself are all good apart from a bit of a knock I took to the left shoulder. But that should be ok in a few days hopefully.
Just want to thank Cassie's Nana and Ash for putting me up for the night. Chris Nick's for sorting out my accommodation on the other nights and prepping me up for Nat's.
Cheers
T.A

Tour De Lakes Results and Photos

 

Yea boi, that's me, 6th wheel up a climb!

Shot taken on the final climb of stage 6 during my solo break.

Results can be found at:

http://www.cyclingsouth.org.nz/index.php?pageLoad=272

Yarns From Queenstown

Over the easter break I hit up the Tour de Lakes in Queenstown. It was a 4 day tour with 6 stages and a prologue.

Prologue:
The prologue was a 5km time trial in Cromwell on the Friday. No TT bikes were allowed which worked to my advantage as I'm too poor to buy a TT bike. I felt pretty good in the TT even though there was a headwind and I finished 6th, 15 seconds behind the leader, David Rowlands (an unknown but very underrated rider!)

Stage One:
The following day comprised of two 80k stages. I rode aggressive from start to finish of stage one. I was in nearly every break and made every split. At one stage I was away solo and Gordy bridged across to me. I took a hard turn on the front and said, "come on Gordy let's go" and he replied, "shit, i am going!" Felt pretty stoked. But in the end, all this aggression proved pointless as the field didn't split until the final 10km. This happened after the field had split but come together just at the bottom of the KOM climb with 10km to go. Chris Nicholson rolled off the front just before the start of the climb. By the top of the climb he was joined by James Early and I was part of a 4 man chase group (including the yellow jersey and Gordy) followed by what was left of the rest of the bunch. In the end Crusty took the stage with Early taking second and Gordy just rolled me for 3rd. This put Crusty in yellow and polka dot.

Stage 2:
By the time the the afternoon stage started, the wind had picked up bigtime meaning our ride from five rivers to Manapouri was going to be predominantly cross wind. As soon as the stage started i felt cracked. I don't know what happened cos i felt fine at the end of stage one. But because of the wind I couldn't just rest up so I kept lapping just to get my share of shelter. After 30km I had fully hit the wall and dropped off losing 20mins to the bunch. A bit guttered but gotta say a big congrats to Zenevich who took the stage solo by being an aggressive little bastard.

Stage 3:
Stage 3 was a 20km TT but I just used it to spin the legs so I could rip shit up in the afternoon. Gordy smashed it into the headwind rolling Chris Nics by 1:20 taking yellow.

Stage 4:
Stage four was that afternoon from Te Anau back to five rivers. I could feel the form back so did a fair bit of work for Chris (as we'd agreed to go halves in any prize money and my G.C chances were out the window anyway) before we hit the KOM hill bout halfway through. I was on the front leading up to the hill and stayed on the front setting a hard pace till about 3 quarters when Chris shouted out for me to slow down as I not only split the field into small groups but dropped Chris in the process (yea that's right, T.A's climbing legs are back!). So I pulled off and Gordy attacked with Rowlands. Unfortunatley as I sat up to wait for Christ I went to change down into the little ring but lost my chain. I didn' have the momentum to get it back on so had to get off to do it. By this time most of the bunch had passed me but I got up and boosted it as fast as I could. Eventually a group of dropped riders formed and after about 15km we managed to chase down the chase group (as Gordy and Rowlands were still away). When we caught the chase group I could straight on the front and got everyone rolling to bring back the break. We had  a fir bit of crosswind which made it a smashfest but I gave it 110% and blew in the last km. We were still about 30 seconds off the break at the end but I felt smashed after averginh 48.7kmh for the stage.

Stage 5:
The final day included two stages approximately 45km long. The morning stage went from Queenstown to Glenorchy which had a few good rollers in it. In the end Darcy Norton won the stage after he was let roll because he wasn't a threat to G.C. I once again finished in the chase Group.

Stage 6:
Stage 6 went back along the smae road except that it finished up a 1.6km steep climb known as Moke Lake. I was pretty keen to get a decent result so decided this would be my stage. Early on I made it into a break of 6 but we were brought back because there was double points up for grabs on the primes so everyone was keen to keep the bunch together. So after the KOM climb I started havind a few dabs off the front but these were all covered straight away. On my 3rd attempt they let me roll and I put a bit of a gap between me and the bunch getting out to around 40 seconds. I could feel the fatigue from the earlier stages but I pushed on. Unfortunately I was caught by a few riders within the final km of the final climb so only finished 6th on the stage which was pretty disappointing. Gordy won the Tour with Chris pulling off a third.

Overall it was a pretty sick tour. Would love to do it again but hopefully will be overseas by this time next year. It was pretty sweet hangin with the backpackers at Hippo Lodge (who were keen to get me to knock back a few rum n cokes in the evenings) and as always there were a few shits n gigs during the weekend.

Chur


 

Heartbreak of Brunner

After a few sketchy moments (for both Tasman Glass vehicles) the team all made it safe and sound to our Greymouth motel on Saturday night. Weather was looking pretty good so I thought it might hold off for the race. But being Grewymouth, it went to shit. The race was pretty cold and wet but a big thanks to Aaron from Tasman Glass for providing a Tineli rainamn to every Tasman Glass rider before the race. So anyway, only Dave and I were there to ride the elite grade while the former human stick, and DK rode down a grade to help out Aaron, Scotty and Muzza.

So Dave and I rolled up to the start line and decided we'd check out the finish cos I'd heard it was a bit sketchy. So we checked it out and went to cross the tracks when Dave nearly stacked it cos of the wet. I was backing myself for the race as I know I'm riding strong at the moment. But when the race started the pace wasn't too shabby and I had nothing In the legs. They didn't fire until about the 30k mark which had me worried so I sat in while Dave occupied the front of the race. Unfortunately that was my mistake as I only saw a couple of riders up the road when there were actually about 7.

About this time some shitkicker had a go at me for "using my brakes to much" and was swearing his head off so I gave him a lil piece of my mind. (In the end I think the guy lost 15 mins to the bunch). Finally when my legs came right the break was pulling away up to a time of over 3 mins. By then we were screwed, all the teams had riders in the break except for us. So i pulled laps and put in a few small attacks in to keep the bunch moving but noone was commiting to a chase so there was nothing left to ride for. In the last 20km I kept making moves trying to see if anyone would come but I was running out of steam and ended up having to settle for bunch time.

It was hard to see riders get into the break that I know I can beat so it was a pretty disappointing result really but I think every time I lose I end up taking away more experience and learning better lessons than if I win so in that aspect it's all gonna count long term.

Anyway, this is turning into a bit of a novel. Check out the results here.
http://tiktok.biz/list/aroundbrunner/2011/elite/

Peace out

Race Time and Graperide Rundown

Today i got the chance to finally give the legs a test run after a couple of months of some solid base k's. Didn't really know how the form would be as it's been up and down like a roller coaster for the last few weeks. Winning a club race and one week and out the ass the next. Also got my bike setup recently which took a while to get used to.
Anyways, departed Nelson around 5am this morning which was a bit of a shock 2 the system after slaving away at the packhouse late last night. Was a bit chilly at the race start but it gave me a good excuse to rock around in the Tasman Glass Jacket. The attacks started rolling as soon as the neutral vehicle and the team worked well getting a rider into every dangerous looking move. Tad even spent a few k's off the front solo. The race started breaking up a bit about 5km before picton. A break of 10-15 formed including both Dave and myself. The pace didn't pick up until around the Anikiwa turnoff but we lost a few riders along the way (unfortunately including Dave). This put me in a tough situation trying to ride against 2 Subway riders and 3 or 4 Benchmark riders. Luckily when Subway started jumping after Havelock I managed to get away with them both and shock off the others. We kept the pace up till the 5km to go mark where Odlin and Horgan started 1,2ing me. I let Paul go and decided to try roll Sam for 2nd. Unfortunately I cocked up the finish a bit and had to settle for 3rd. Still stoked to finally pull off a result outside of Nelson club races.

Overall was a good day and had some good times including JK shredding Randy Simpsons undies to shreds. And nearly losing Caitlins bike off the back of the team car as well as Caitlin having a bit of a go at the lovely lady serving at the Taweway in Picotn...nice!

Hopefully I can hold this form for another month or so until club nats. Leading up to that I'll be doing the Brunner race and Tour De Lakes.

That's all for now
T.A

The Beginning

Finally I think I'm getting the hang of this whole blog thing. Thought it might be a good idea to follow the trend and set one up so you can follow my overseas ventures.

Well this year I'm going to be racing for Team New Zealand Pro Cycling in the States for about 3 months. Check out the team by clicking the "Team NZ Pro Cycling Image". So until I leave in June I'll be doing a few NZ races individually, for Tasman Wheelers and for Tasman Glass. On top of that I will be working part time to put a bit a bit of cash in pocket.

I can't thank the following people enough for the help I've recieved from them over the last few years. First of all I wanna thank Mike, Felix and Dean from Stoke Cycles for keeping the bike running like a dream and sorting me out with some sick riding kit!

Another big thanks to Aaron from Tasman Glass for sponsoring the Tasman Glass Cycling Team for the last couple of years. Stoked to be part of a team full of such a good bunch of guys.

And a big thanks to Brent Sturm from Ray White Richmond who has supported me on a number of occasions. He's just such a genuine good guy always willing to help people out. I'm sure these characteristics are reflected in his company.

And the final sponsor I want to thank is Pete Rickards from Plus Four Insurance Solutions. Totally awesome guy who's been a help to me both financially and through his mentoring abilities. It's awesome he's made opportunities a reality for me in the past.

Please support these people and their businesses as they have supported me. You can click on any of the icons to the right to be directed to their websites.

Also just want to thank the Malcolm Saunders and the rest of the Tasman Wheelers Club for the support as well as mum and dad for letting me stay at home board free...for now.

Well thats all for now. Will keep you posted on the coming seasons.
Peace
T.A