Its been a wee while since my last post.
I last wrote when I was in Boulder, training in the heat of summer whilst sipping coffee and watching the Tour de France. Sounds good? It was.
Suddenly I was on a big plane heading south. But towards Australia for the Tour of Gippsland and the Tour of Geelong. Gippsland was my first race since Mt Hood so I was well trained but missing that slight edge you get from lots of racing. Gippsland was my blow out tour. With plenty of hard work and aggressive riding once Benny had given us a kick up the ass for missing the race winning move one day.
From there we spent 10days in Geelong trying to recover and get set for the next tour. During the 10days free we had Alex had arranged for us to visit some local school to talk about cycling. Seemed like a bit of bit. I can easily chat away with adults but with 5 year olds, I FROZE! however it was all good fun.
The greatest thing about the Tour of Geelong was there was only one day where we raced 2 stages, where as Tour of Gippsland was full of "double days". After what we as a team felt like was a disappointment at Gippsland We were set on starting the tour on the right foot, and with James Oram and Dion Smith joining the squad with fresh legs we wanted to make a bigger splash than we did previously.
Before the tour started we did a fair bit of course recce (recon) so we could have a structured approach to the tour. Where to best spend our energy over the 5days depending on our goals. We were looking for a good General Classification placing and to win a Classification Jersey.
Right from day 1 Alex was in the Sprint ace after an aggressive racing style which also earned him the most aggressive rider of the day award.
A hill top finish in the afternoon and we were sure the field was going to split like it had in the past, however this year was the exception as we rolled into the finish on top of a 2km climb in a bunch.
The next day was another simple crit looking after alex and helping him to build his lead on the Sprint Ace Classification. It was a hard day in the wind leading him out but we got the job day. Now we had to recover for the "race of truth" or the time trial the next day which was surely going to separate the field and set up the General Classification.
For me the TT day was a great day in the books. The result of finishing 9th wasn't exactly what I wanted but I was pleased with how I had ridden the tt course and still pulled off a good result. This had finally moved me into a definite 7th overall in the tour with 2 days remaining.
The tt was a big day, so the 140km Road race afterwards was a huge challenge but I held on over all the big climbs to finish in the front group of 18 riders after 140 people started and 70 withdrew from the race. That wee effort and fight had bumped my up to 6th on the overall standings.
The day was another crit, and being only 3 secs from 5th on GC it was my job to try get a few time bonus sprints during the race. It took alot of effort and a few risks but it all paid off and I was able to jump up to 5th on the Overall standings thanks to the help from my team mates.
All up the tour was a great success for a "under dog" team racing against a strong field who live and breathe for these Aussie tours. Alex finished the tour in the Sprint Ace jersey and the overall Most Aggressive rider also.
Now I am back home. trying to decide my next move and when to point myself in the right direction.
The Goals are being set and its bloody good to be home. Making the most of a few days easy and eating alot of Kwi food thats always a treat. But I will be back into it in no time and looking to make a bit of noise this summer.
Fingers Crossed.
Photos to follow.
T
