Congratulations Brad & Eryka!

As much as I might emphasise my trip to the tour, the real reason for this trip has been the marriage of Brad and Eryka.  A little over 12 months ago now, Brad proposed to Eryka while I was on my last holiday here in California visiting them, and while they may not realise it, I probably started planning my trip before they started to plan their wedding!

Owing to a bit of a head cold (and the fact that it's now 1.30 am) I won't provide a blow by blow description of events, but I'll leave you with a couple more photos of the happy couple.

The happy couple and their salads.  Judging by the salad here, tomato must be as rare and expensive like bananas are at home, and rocket must be plentiful, still good though (the salad, Eryka, and I guess even Brad).

I have a photo of Eryka and I like this, but at that point in the night she was a self confessed "hot mess", so for her benefit I'll leave it out.  Brad reckoned I looked like a muppet in my green shirt, I reckon I totally owned it.

I don't know who's idea it was  to have a photo booth at the wedding for guests  to take photos of themselves, but it was a good one, unless you're posing with 4 different pairs of glasses, have them laid out on the seat next to you to facilitate a quick swap between shots, then without warning 4 of your friends storm the booth and sit on them (thanks guys), no damage thankfully.

P.S:  Eryka, don't be jealous that I'm heading to France for le Tour and you're not, it's not like a Caribbean honeymoon is some sort of booby prize, but remember that this trip would probably not even be happening if it wasn't for you guys.  Mazel tov!

Sunny California

I'm not going to brag too much about how good the weather is in Southern California compared to Melbourne right now, because quite frankly, it's the least I expect from the climate here (and I expect it year round!), I will however brag about managing to get 6 hours or so in on the bike in the 4 days I've been here, which is not bad considering 1 day was spent at disneyland, and another outlet mall shopping (which is really hard when I have to adhere to pitiful european airline baggage limits during the latter part of my trip, and the exchange rate is so enticing).  Those 6 hours without arm warmers, leg warmers, tights, long sleeve jerseys or winter jackets have sharpened the tan lines to their former summer glory, and not only that, I'm also getting in some important km's before the fun really begins in a few weeks.

Today's ride was a leisurely jaunt down to La Jolla and back along the Pacific Ocean, with some gentle rolling hills and a decent climb up to Torrey Pines (home to the championship golf course of the same name).




The one thing however that always baffles me about riding in California, and I think I'm qualified to ask the question given the amount of riding I've done here, is why drivers here seem so poorly skilled, aggressive or both when you're on the road in a car, but when riding a bike, everyone seems patient, careful and courteous towards you?  Maybe it's a side effect of a litigious society, where drivers are scared to get sued for injuring a comparatively vulnerable road user? maybe drivers here are better skilled after all? maybe it's the overtly courteous society? maybe the absence of mandatory helmet laws make drivers more careful around cyclists (there's data somewhere to back that up, google it)? maybe drivers here are just accustomed to sitting in traffic and understand sitting behind a cyclist for 15 seconds waiting to pass isn't going to make them later than they already are?

What I reckon it could be, is that some of the people riding bikes here (and I won't call them cyclists, because riding a beach cruiser the wrong way down an on road bike lane does not make someone riding a bike a cyclist) are so poorly skilled at riding bikes, every cyclist gets a wide berth?  I would go so far as to say I have seen as many people riding beach cruisers the wrong way down a road than I have seen riding the right way, and it's not a trivial number either, it's a lot!  I still believe that even given Melbourne's crap roads, crap drivers and crap weather, it's still got the best cycling culture of any city I've ever visited, but is it too much to ask to import a little of this Californian patience and understanding towards cycling they've got going on over here (a bit of the weather wouldn't go astray either)?

The first 48 (or 72, curse you international date line) hours

I'm going to try to make this a short post since it's past my bedtime if I want to eliminate this jetlag business, but we'll see how that one flies,shall we?

I'll start by asserting that working 14 hours, flying 14 hours, then spending 12 hours at Disneyland (I wish it was 14 hours), all in a 48 hour period, is not the most intelligent thing I've ever done, but it'll probably be the closest I get to ever seeing a theme park through the eyes of a drunk person (there is certainly no chance that the remaining 8 hours could be attributed to sleep, the real figure there might be 4 hours, including what I got on the plane).  I can however add to the list of places I've slept to the Haunted Mansion ride, Pirates of the Caribbean, The Little Mermaid ride (don't judge me, there was no line and you would've done it too), and whilst standing up watching the World of Color water and light show at California Adventure - twice (OK, maybe 3 times, but I assure you the show is spectacular, even the people without sleep deprivation induced psychosis enjoyed it).

It wouldn't be a trip to Disneyland without the obligatory posed roller coaster photos, which I've decide to use props for this time around (although props were a little thin on the ground to begin with, and didn't become more plentiful as the day wore on, but I've still got another day to go back there next week, so I'll be going back prepared).

Drink Bottle

iPhone

Self Portrait

OK, so maybe I took this photo a little earlier than the photo the ride took, but you try synching the two up...

Totally running out of ideas here, upside down sunglasses, but it was worth it to ruin the shot for the girl who looked like she was posing for the photo she would've sent to casting agents around LA 

I can also thoroughly recommend riding Space Mountain (a roller coaster that runs through what is, save for a few lighting effects, total darkness) wearing sunglasses, the darker the better.  I got off it dizzier than when I got off the teacups, which might be a lie, since we totally slayed the teacups! I'm pretty sure we spun that pastel yellow sucker so fast we were generating lift.

That'll do for now.  Keep your eyes out for my ride updates in the top right corner of the blog

Dirty Deeds CX Prologue

If you follow me on twitter or are friends with me on facebook, then you probably already know how my first foray in to cyclocross went last week.  As you can see from the photo above, it wasn't exactly a graceful debut, but I can safely say that was the low point of the night for me (although for some people, it may have been a highlight), and it got a lot better from there.

Based on how much mud I was covered in after the warm up, I either spent more time out on the course than most others, or I was riding the course harder than everyone else (or at least the muddy sections).  Everything I have ever read about riding through mud or sand or even over cobbles suggested that if I could keep my cadence up then I was far more likely to keep it upright, so I took that approach to the warm up and had no troubles with the mud pit, the gigantic cesspool between turn 3 and 4 of the velodrome, and the sand trap the organisers had so thoughtfully placed at about the middle of the circuit.  The mud and puddle initially didn't require much in the way of taking a specific line through the obstacle since the whole course was getting cut up, and in relation to the sand trap, the mud at least wasn't that deep (although the puddle certainly got deeper, and definitely got muddier).

My plan of attack for the sand trap was to pick a rut already made through the sand, carry as much speed as I could in to it, keep my weight off the handlebars and legs spinning.  It worked great during the warm up, and I'm glad I saw a video online earlier in the day with the tip about staying light on the bars because the only time I ever felt sketchy through the sand was when I had my weight forward, so it was a bit of a mental challenge to constantly correct that.  When it came time for the first race however, the sand trap got raked over and all the ruts that had appeared during the warmup disappeared for the race, which in itself might not have been a big issue, however the man raking the pit had taken it upon himself to rake obstacles INTO the obstacle, in the form of 3 taller mounds the width of the track, I also got to the sand trap in second position not far off the lead, so the combination of the extra obstacles and the lack of ruts to aim at (and maybe a bit too much weight forward) lead to the exact moment you can see above.

While it didn't end my race, it ended any hop I had of a high finish.  It must have taken me a minute or 2 just to figure out why my front wheel no longer wanted to turn (right shifter was pointing the wrong direction pulling my front brake tight), so once I'd performed a bit of "percussive maintenance" I was up and going again, albeit in dead last and probably 30 seconds or more off 2nd last.  With a clear track in front of and behind me I had nothing to lose so I went at it like practise, only I went harder on the velodrome than I had during practise (I had been using the concrete to recover from the efforts through the mud and over hurdles).  Before too long I started to pick off other riders, particularly through the mud, sand and over the hurdles,and after the 5 laps I reckon I finished respectably in the middle of the pack.

My crash and subsequent strong finish left me with a bit of a tricky predicament for the second race, which was a handicap based loosely on the honour system and finishing position in the first race.  Now with my crash in the first race I reckon I finished around 13th or 14th of 23 riders, but the way I was catching and passing other riders I reckon I was good for top 5 had I not wound up rubber side skyward.  Since there wasn't much on offer for the win, there wasn't much point to sandbagging it and taking off early based on my finish in the previous race, so I left around 7th or 8th last.

The first time through the sand trap I decided to run through it rather than hope there was adequate ruts caused by the first half of the field (and old mate with the rake was up to his old tricks again).  Maybe it was because I didn't crash, but it felt every bit as fast as riding through it (maybe my dismounts/remounts are sweet, but maybe I'm kidding myself).  Again, I spent most of the race picking up slower riders, and it wasn't until the bell lap that anybody actually passed me.  That could've been because there were some legitimately quick riders in the race, but I'd certainly eased up a bit on the velodrome after seeing 2 riders ahead of me slip on the now very slick and muddy concrete almost in unison.  I finished up around 5th, which as I'd imagined after the first race, was probably indicative of where I belonged.

All told, it was a great nights racing.  I'm pretty sure I've never raced in front of that many people, and the atmosphere was fantastic!  If I rocked up to a criterium in a skinsuit and crashed on the first lap I don't think I'd be able to show my face again, but in cyclocross it's just part of racing and keeping the crowd entertained.  Congratulations to all those who took part, and in particular the organisers, who in a few years from now we can all credit with introducing Cyclocross to the Australian cycling scene.
More info on the Dirty Deeds series can be found here http://dirtydeedscx.blogspot.com/  The next race is at Darebin Parklands on June 19th.

New Blog, now with umlauts!

Well it's not so much a new blog as it is a new location.  I've shifted over to blogger so you can see what I'm up to with the widgets over on the right (wordpress was hating fun), plus, it's not like I updated the old blog that much when I wasn't travelling.

I've got a little bit going on in the next few months: cyclocross season, a trip to the US and of course le Tour, so stay tuned

Summer Racing Update (The B-Grade Part)

One of my core reasons for getting back on top of the old blog is to keep you all updated on my racing progress.  In years gone by there hasn’t been much to keep anyone updated about, for the most part I’ve nearly always been pack fodder for whatever grade of racing I’m in, but this season something has clicked.  I’ve dropped 8 or 9 kg, my threshold power has gone up, my resulting power to weight ratio is better than ever, and most importantly, I’ve been getting results on the road.

 

Since work commitments restrict my road racing campaign year in year out, my focus has always been the criterium season (focus might be the wrong word, because until this season, I wouldn’t say I focused on any one aspect of racing, I just rode my bike).  In September of 2009 I bought myself a power meter to train with, which at least bought a bit of meaning to the riding I was doing, but it’s taken a good 12 months to reap the benefits.  In July of 2010 I also built a pretty kick ass crit bike, so when the summer criterium season began, I was all out of excuses, and it was time to start getting a return on my investments.

 

I started the season with a “training” ride in A grade down at St Kilda since inclement weather had delayed the start to the Footscray CC season.  My plan was only to enter B grade, but since I’d only finished work at 4am the previous morning, along with some prodding from some of the Footscray boys, I slept in for another hour and went around in A grade instead.  To my surprise, I survived for more than half the race, which I was pretty happy with since I deliberately sat on the back so as not to get in anybodies way, and there are often some seriously heavy hitters that get around down there on a Sunday morning.

 

From that I took a good deal of confidence in to the first Footscray CC B grade race, which I won pretty convincingly, even if I do say so myself.  I had a plan to follow one of the older sprinters wheels in the later part of the race, since they always seem to find a way through traffic, so when I found Colin Morris’s wheel, I stuck to it like glue, but he decided to have a crack with 2 laps to go, so where he went, I went.  On the bell lap, the 2 of us got a bit tangled with the A grade finish and I lost a bit of momentum as a result.  The way I saw it, I had to give it everything there and then, and when I went, Colin couldn’t come too and I soloed to the finish 100m clear of the chasing bunch.

 

The second race was very nearly a carbon copy of the first.  With a couple of laps to go I found Colin’s wheel, and was set to go until someone else decided they wanted Colin’s wheel as well.  Shoulders, then elbows were exchanged before I clipped the wheel in front and hit the deck, taking a good sized chunk out of my left knee, and a few other riders with me.   The grazed knee didn’t hold me back for too long, but it did take a few weeks to get some confidence back, but when it did, I found myself to be a marked rider, and wasn’t given much leeway by the B grade bunch, which was frustrating to say the least.

[caption id="attachment_116" align="alignleft" width="223" caption="This is what the knee looked like AFTER I'd cleaned it up (and after I'd ridden for an hour home from the race)"][/caption]

 

The first week of December bought the Tour Of Bright, which again, I was talked into by some of the Footscray CC boys (I’m looking at you Treloar), but my racing preparation had been hampered somewhat by my crash and the rubbish weather Melbourne experienced during November, particularly on Thursday nights and Saturday mornings which washed out races.  The last crit before Bright looked like being rained out too, but through some kind of luck we got a start, and with half an hour constituting a race, and dark clouds looming, I attacked from the get go to ensure I got a workout in.  I got tangled with A grade for a few laps until the B grade bunch got going and bought me back, and an break of 3 went up the road not long after.  With rain looking imminent, and having recovered from my first effort, I bridged across to the leaders and we were never caught.  I picked the wrong line down the straight for the sprint and my back wheel got airborne 3 times which spoiled my chance for the win, but I wound up with a well deserved 2^nd.

 

The Tour of Bright deserves a post of it’s own, but that’s probably not gonna happen.  To summarise, it was my first open road race, the first stage race I’d competed in for 3 years and the first road race I’d entered in more than 6 months.  It was far and away the largest bunch I’d ever ridden in (over 110 starters), and there was over 3000 meters of vertical ascent over the 2 road stages.  Just finishing was my goal, finishing in the top half of the field I felt was some kind of achievement.

 

Weather again meant there was very little racing between the Tour of Bright and the Footscray CC Christmas classic, even then the Christmas Classic itself was rescheduled after the original date was rained out.  I hadn’t tried anything in the previous race since I had targeted the Christmas Classic and didn’t want to wind up in A grade ahead of it (sandbagger), and I had some mates already up the road, but I knew my form was good leading in to the race, and I intended on making it my last B grade race regardless of the result.

 

I had a very clear plan of launching an early attack just to see who in the bunch was going to react, followed by a more venomous attack at around the 30 minute mark that was going to break the back of the bunch.  As it happened, I never had to fire the first shot, as there was no shortage of attacks in the opening laps, but what was obvious was that the international rider, Meng, was the strongest in the bunch and was willing to chase anything and everything down.  The constant attacks and ensuing chases were taking their toll on the bunch, and even after only 5 or 10 minutes, the bunch was being strung out and riders were dropping wheels right left and centre.  It was obvious to me that the shelter of the middle of the bunch wasn’t the place to be with all the loose riding going on, so I moved up and couldn’t help myself when attacks went, following the breaks or jumping across the gaps as they appeared.  With Meng being hell bent on bringing back the breaks, I knew many of the attacks weren’t going to stick, but when Meng attacked himself, I had no option but to go with him.  Meng and I spent the remaining 40 minutes of the race off the front, building a half lap gap to the chasing peleton.  I gifted the race to Meng, since he was clearly the stronger of the two of us, and he had done the lion’s share of the work to build our breakaway, and even though I hadn’t left B grade on top, I was happy enough with the 2^nd step of the podium and the fashion in which I earned it.

 

Welcome Back

Having not touched this blog for quite some time, I figured now was as good a time as any to get it going again.  I’m not really one for new years resolutions, but I have kind of resolved to try and stay up to date with the blog in 2011 (once a week can’t be all that hard).  There will be a flurry of activity to begin with, but hopefully I can settle in to some sort of routine as the summer wears on.