Tales from the llama stable

Cycling Australia - Rules for some, rules for others.

2012-01-11T11:39:00.001+11:00

First up have a read of this: http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/greenedge-use-of-radio-questioned-in-australian-time-trial-championship

GreenEdge pressured Cycling Australia officials into changing the rules, reportedly only hours before an event. I don't buy into the timing. The team would have packed their race radios long before they'd left home base. This wasn't a last minute decision by GreenEdge after finding the now banned radios behind seat the team van from years past. This was a calculated and planned move. For reasons that nobody other than CA can explain, it worked.

"The result would not have changed". Bullshit. GreenEdge riders now had the potential to receive pacing strategy, time gaps, splits, road conditions, pumping music.... anything to distract from the pain helps. In a game of one-percenters this makes a difference.

I can't put a finger on which side is more evil. GreenEdge for the planning and pressuring of officials, or CA for actually caving into this pressure (then coming out with some pretty embarrassing comments about what the chain of events.)....?

After GreenEdge successfully pressured CA into a rule change. Was everyone informed? No. Did anyone else pre-plan this and pack their radios? No. Is this fair? No.

Cycling Australia Member Protection Policy states "....our support and implementation of the sport industry principles and values outlined in The Essence of Australian Sport - principles of fairness, respect, responsibility and safety." Read further into that document and you'll learn they've broken their own code of conduct. This is a serious mistake they've made.

A lot of focus is put into setting up pathways for juniors in the sport to develop into top riders. What example does this set for them off the bike if the shiny-new-everyone-loves-them Aussie team can pressure CA officials into getting their own way, disadvantaging their competitors in the process.

"Just a storm in a teacup". From the UCI down, enough tea parties already!

This isn't just about the little guys.... Adam Hansen (Lotto) was denied use of radio in this event.

Falls Creek - Base in the place!

2012-01-09T16:54:00.000+11:00

Over New Years we had another opportunity to get up to the high country for some pretty big kms. This time it was with Tri-Bal, a Melbourne based triathlete club, with coach Stu McKenzie dishing out the riding plans for the hardcore multisporters and us, the cycling ring-ins. I've done a few training camps over the years - this one was one of the best in regard to organisation and rider support. Daily ride plans, intervals/race pace segments, a follow car loaded with water and sugary drinks, and most importantly a ride leader, Stu, who kept us from being a wandering heard of individuals.

This week was tougher than the Tour of Bright, no question. After ToB I've only been ticking over easy kms without any lung busting intensity. My main objective for the week was to get some kms into the legs and get back into some harder efforts for the first time in a few weeks. It'd be interesting to see where my power numbers would be and to get a feel for how much form I'd lost by taking it easy for a few weeks.

Day 1: Falls - Tawonga - Falls. 5hrs. 121kms.
Day 2: Falls - Reverse Rosewhite - Bright - Tawonga - Falls. 6hrs. 180km
Day 3: Mt Beauty - Harrietville - Mt Beauty. 3hrs. 92km.
Day 4: Back of Falls. Easy Ride. 1.5hrs. 29kms
Day 5: Falls - Bright - Falls. 4.5hrs. 121kms.
Totals: 20hrs. 543km.

Highlights:
- Power numbers not being far off where I was leading up to ToB.
- Racing Nick Bensley (SoleDevotion), Casey Munro (Rapha), and Luke Bell (Pro Triathlete) up and over Rosewhite Gap.
- The scoffs I heard when I asked who I chased up both sides of Tawonga. Ironman legend Jason Shortis aka Shorto was the reply. He goes alright up a hill.
- Nailing the Strava segment for "Falls Descent" on Day 5.
- Having a support car with us all the time. Very pro. Very handy on hot days!
- Pizza at Max's Restaurant after day 5.
- Bakeries in Bright and Mt Beauty. Many coffees and many calories consumed.

Lowlights:
- Almost being taken out by a 4WD and a truck seconds later on the road into Bright.
- Making friends with a snake up Falls Creek.
- Cafe Velo in Bright. Service teething problems... again....
- Going home.

Picturelights:

Altitude pretzels

Von on the Falls hairpin.

Von doing it easy up the final 6kms.

Sunset at Falls.

Big day proof.

LegoLand

Kat, Me, Von, and Michelle messing around on the Falls Ski Cam.

Kat Lee taking her own sunset shots.

Von and Kat over the back of Falls. 15km of flat-ish roads out there I didn't know about.

Telstra tower at Falls. This thing is a MONSTER. Good 3G speeds up there!

Next Up:
- Keeping up the kms, the 'new' training, and working on the resume...
- Recovering from round #2 of dentistry/wallet drilling. (Still doesn't hurt as much as racing bikes).
- Heading over to Adelaide to catch the Tour down Under.

2011 - Year in Numbers....

2011-12-31T18:58:00.000+11:00

Final kms of 2011 - Falls Creek.

2011. Gone! Finished with 660km in the last week to nail the Rapha 500 Challenge. The Christmas pudding calorie stacking was put to very good use.

A pretty successful year on the bike. I've just rolled in from my last ride of the year here at Falls Creek. I'm happy to report zero broken bones for 2011....unless I attempt to hang some New Years decorations up and take a swan dive Molly Meldrum style.

A full run-down of race results can be found ^ up there under Cycling Bio. The ups, downs, highlights, and failures have been all documented in previous posts - so I'll keep this one short and interesting... maybe.

Racing:
Total Races: 80
Road: 13
Crit: 23
Time Trials: 35
Track Events: 9

Riding:
Hours: 562
Kms: 15,850
Calories: 377,036 (over 1,000 cheeseburgers!)

Results:
Podiums: 64
Wins: 54

TT Stats:
Total: 35
Podiums: 34
Wins: 33
TT Race kms: 764kms

I set out to win at least 10 TTs this year. I revised that to 20 pretty early in the season. Then I raced every TT I could get to. My power was pretty consistent for the whole year. Changes in equipment and better pacing were probably key factor for most results.

New Power PBs all around.... Yeah yeah, only tossers post power, I'm one of them. 72-74kgs depending on what time of year if anyone wants to load calc.exe and work out w/kg. I'm no pro, never will be, so you'll need to blow these out of the water to get paid to push pedals:

Max: 1465
10sec: 1249
30sec: 931
1min: 726
5mins: 465
10mins: 409
20mins: 392

All benchmarks to improve on for 2012. (Figures are average, not normalised.)

Clubs Competed With:

Alpine CC
Ballarat CC
Blackburn CC
Carnegie Caulfield CC
Castlemaine CC
Coburg CC
Cycling Australia
Cycling South Australia
Cycling Victoria
Footscray CC
Geelong CC
Hawthorn CC
Horsham Tri
Northern Combine
Southern Vets CC
StKilda CC
Wangaratta CC
Warragul CC
Yarra Tri
Sunbury CC

Blog Stats:
Visits: 13,759
Pageviews: 21,147

2012 - A new club, new goals, new races, and a new job. There is a lot happening in the world of IT security, so I'm keen to get back into it. After being horrified at someone assuming I worked in the cycling industry this weekend, I need to make it clear, never have been / never will be! http://au.linkedin.com/in/gplama enquire within!

Now - NYE time.... and a 7am start tomorrow for a hilly 140km.

Job done. See you next year!

My Specialized BG Fit Experience

2011-12-13T18:38:00.000+11:00

If I was offered a proper bike fit when I forked out $2,000 on my first road bike, I would not have purchased that particular bike. The fit was appalling. The frame was too big, the stem too long, and I had to adjust the seat height 2kms down the road. I didn't know any better at the time. It felt like a race bike and the 'expert' at the shop seemed to know what he was talking about. Why would he sell me something so expensive if it wasn't right? Yeah, naive as hell.

Fast forward six years - I've had a few bikes, had a few epic stacks, and still never been properly fitted to a bike. When Paul from Bike'n'Bean offered me a Specialized BG (Body Geometry) Fit I hesitated at first, it was only a week out from the Tour of Bright, but last week after Bright was done and dusted, I was onto it.

I do about 15,000kms a year with no niggles so I wasn't expecting any wholesale changes to my setup. I also didn't want the front end changed based on any 'comfort template' as I run a low front end to make it similar to being on the TT bike.

I was really surprised at how extensive the process was. Initial questions covering my riding (TT, road, crit, bank robbery getaways on BMX), injury history (collarbone snaps x3, busted hip), then I was measured up, laid flat, stretched, poked, and offered a cigarette afterwards. (ok, the last one didn't happen).

Of the things I can remember, the list and my results were:

Booty size - Sit on a squishy thing and measure the width of sit bones. 118mm.

Foot size / Arch support. 43. Medium arch (whatever that is?).

Touch your toes / Hip angle flex. Had good hip flexies, thanks TT bike!

One leg squats. Foot/ankle rolls in. Normal.

Leg stretch straight/knee bent. No ballerina but it was ok.

Arms up test (shoulders/back). Handy post collarbone snappages. All good there.

On the bike - cranks at bottom-top-forward angle. Measurements taken.

Pedal motion review. Circles, not squares. All good.

The bag of tricks

The funky BG Fit stem was left in the tool box as front end was skipped. The handlebar drop was noted and the angle of the hoods/bar was given the nod anyway. What we ended up with was a few minor changes to my cleats, moving the saddle back a little, and some comfy inserts in my shoes. Nothing major to report on, and as it is my 'off season' I can't report on any power numbers to see if the changes have made any noticeable difference. After a few 100km the shoes are comfy and it feels like the cleat is more centered on the pedal spindle - as for this resulting in more power, I'll know when I start cranking into intervals and TTs in 2012.

The bike looking like a young Forrest Gump with his leg braces on.

It was good to confirm what I had was pretty close to the recommendations. The ultimate combination would be a BG Fit in a wind tunnel, you'd get the best of both worlds then - the art of comfort and the science to help you win races.

Who would I recommend a BG FIt to?

Someone getting their first road bike. No question. It would be a valuable addition, and exactly why a bike company offer it.
Someone getting a new road bike that is different to their current setup. ie. Punter road bike upgrading to a race bike.
Half of Beach Rd. Including those odd riders who swing a leg wildly through each pedal stroke that takes out children on the adjacent walking path. (we've all seen Kneesy McSideways, admit it).

See, wild-stroke Kneesy needs a BG Fit!

I've no doubt we'll be seeing other market dominating major players (Giant, Trek, Huffy) offer something similar in their stores as a value add.

That was my take on things. Don't take my unbiased word for it though, head on over to Specialized for their fully biased marketing of their own service - Movie overview HERE in which they use a model representing the demographic they're targeting. A dude (sorry ladies). White as a ghost (doesn't ride much). Banged up arm (falls off when he does). The PDF on their site explains a little more. If Andy Schleck is giving it a really cheesy thumbs up with a creepy guy looking on, it must be good!

2011 Tour of Bright MMAS123

2011-12-05T16:59:00.001+11:00

The Tour of Bright is 'the tour of the year' for most club riders, it is a great event, a lot of riders put in months of preparation. It is an award winning event, literally. I'll be honest and say this year wasn't up to the high standards we've come to expect from previous years. The standard massive MMAS123 bunch meant riders crossing to the wrong side of the road to gain bunch position (none DSQ for this), non certified TT helmets across the grades, time penalties for riders being released too early for their TT, the meat of the race (the final 12kms of Mt Hotham) being excluded due to adverse conditions, then a MMAS123 GC contender being DSQ for accepting a wheel after getting a flat. Rules are rules, and taking care of rider well-being is understandable, but consistency of enforcement would be handy. How A Grade (60 riders) get neutral spares and MMAS123 (110 riders) do not doesn't make sense to me. Also ask someone who raced B Grade about their lead car not taking the correct road, causing a crash in bunch.......500m into the neutral zone....! Is the event too big? 500+ riders too many for them to organise? With all respect to the volunteers, things just were not up to scratch this year and I hope they take on board rider feedback.

The Rapha race numbers were a clear winner. Rego was straight forward and the same as all the other years, sign in, head up the back to get your showbag full of lollies, then grab an apple or two on the way out. The weather was spot on for racing all weekend, apart from being ball freezing cold at the top of Hotham. The timing system and instant results were as magic as always, as long as you knew where to put the timing chip on your bike (no instructions), and you cross referenced the number on the chip against your race number (both different) on the TT timing sheet. TT times were correct, so of course that was the most important thing for the weekend for me... :)

Showbag!

Stage 1 - Rosewhite loop.

One exploding wheel heard 2kms into the race, every move being chased down, riders scrambling for position on the wrong side of the road - a typical start of the race towards the first sprint point. The first 30kms were fast. Nothing was getting away from a 100+ strong bunch that had 4-5 well represented teams. With no wind it should have been in everyones interest to stay together, never to dropping a wheel until the race really started at Tawonga, 86km. Not the case.

Somewhere around the 36km mark a bunch of 15 or so riders were allowed off the front, I was sitting not too far back from the front keeping an eye on the move. One or two riders pinged off the front and bridged across. The gap was soon out to 200-300m, a few strong turns by a handful of riders could have closed this, but didn't. I launched from the bunch with Andy Van Slobbe (HCC) - we were set upon by the 6amers team, they pulled us back and didn't roll through to keep the pace up. I had another go at getting across to the break, chased again, sat on again. A rider in Giant kit tried to encourage the bunch to roll turns but not enough riders were willing to assist the cause. With the TT in the afternoon, I wasn't going to spend all my energy pulling the bunch along if nobody else was helping, nor was I going to keep attacking those on my heels hoping I'd get clear. At this point I was fair pissed off, so went back to the bunch and sat in. Yep, I missed the move, I tried to do something about it, and failed. I had the same shit luck as ~85 other riders who watched the race for Tour GC slip away at only 36kms into the race.

A few minutes later we were slowed down by the commissars as we passed the B Grade bunch before the Rosewhite climb. With the break being a much smaller group they would have sailed straight past them at speed. They were now out of sight. Two or three crashes were heard up the climb. There is no reason these should happen, I can only put it down to the large numbers and wide ranging abilities that get crammed into the single MMAS123 race. "4 Minutes" was the call at the top of Rosewhite. With a number of big GC hitters in the break and no organised chase this was the nail in the coffin for any GC aspirations, for all of us.

So a change of race plans from there, I sat back in the bunch to the base of Tawonga and then shut off the legs to save them for the TT. I rolled across the finish 8 minutes down on GC but a lot higher up than I expected. I rode up Tawonga chatting to a few others and still came in 35th! This really isn't fair on those who were honestly racing up that final climb and came in lower - I think it is time ToB Masters racing to progress to Masters A/B/C categories, exactly what they have for Elite/U19, for future races. This will also help spread out the bunch sizes and keep things a little safer on the open roads we're on.

Up the front in the battle for GC, Ciaran Jones (Giant) took a well deserved win. Good to see a rider like Ciaran with his arms in the air.

Stage 2 - Wandiligong ITT.

With fresh legs after Stage 1, I wasn't aiming to climb back up the GC ladder. I wanted to win the TT. 34th ITT for the year and everything went to plan. 20:42. Fastest time in MMAS123 by 32 seconds. Alex Morgan (VIS) in A Grade pipped me for the unspoken race for time of the day by 4 seconds, I won't mention his Giro Selector helmet giving him a slight non AUS/NZ certified advantage. :)

Naylor (O2) had a good ride, also sporting a Giro Selector TT helmet (and how?), with 21:14 for 2nd place and Seiper (Elders) in 3rd with 21:20.

Top 10 MMAS123 TT Results

1 425 MILLER Shane 20:42.72 - 45.49 Hawthorn Cycling Club

2 497 NAYLOR Andrew 21:14.96 0:32.24 44.34 St Kilda Cycling Club Inc

3 467 SIEPER Allan 21:20.15 0:37.43 44.16 Canberra Cycling Club

4 402 GALLAGHER Michael 21:30.36 0:47.64 43.81 Carnegie Caulfield CC

5 487 MASON Damian 21:44.03 1:01.31 43.35 Nowra Velo Club

6 406 BLACKBURN Stephen 21:45.12 1:02.40 43.31 Canberra Cycling Club

7 404 JONES Ciaran 21:48.21 1:05.49 43.21 Carnegie Caulfield CC

8 407 LYSTER Tully 21:49.57 1:06.85 43.16 Wangaratta Cycling Club Inc

9 443 GARDNER Alex 21:57.54 1:14.82 42.90 Manly Warringah CC

10 403 KAH Danny 22:10.78 1:28.06 42.48 Carnegie Caulfield CC

I was told after Stage 3 that due to the TT start holder, Mr Butterfingers, letting riders jump their start by 1 second, 8 riders were given +10seconds to their TT times. Michael Gallagher being one of them. Unlucky, he missed the break on stage 1 and this cost him a podium position for stage 2.

MMAS123 Stage 2 Podium. Naylor (2nd) was MIA.

Stage 3 - Mt Hotham, or, 3/4 of it.

Blue skies, sunshine, but a way too early start in the day meant the Hotham summit was still a refrigerator from an overnight cold blast (adverse conditions!). We were told the finish was now at the toll booth (46kms in), then we were told it was at the chain bay (not 46kms in!). A few people missed that second update, but I wasn't going to help spread the message - a flat run to the line should be an advantage for me.

Same as Stage 1 - Too many riders of all abilities taking it to the commissars and ripping up to the front on the wrong side of the road. In 2009 they were onto these jokers, Leigh 'Hollywood' being ejected from the race for only one infringement - This year riders had a get-out-of-jail-free pass all weekend...... The offenders were repeat offenders too, in team kit, sponsors kit, in kit representing a government sporting body, everyone saw them, everyone knew who they were. It really pissed off the rest of the bunch who were doing the right thing moving up only when gaps opened. Where the hell was the moto scout with his red card? If you're nudged over double whites for a few seconds, sure, this happens, but this wasn't the case.

At 10kms in, the O2 boys who were riding for Naylor (sitting 2nd on GC) all pulled over. Naylor had a flat. His shot at GC was looking to be over. The bunch speed dropped to 32km/h. O2 were back to the front in no time, minus one rider who'd given him a rear wheel since we didn't have the privilege of the SRAM motorbike or a spares car. Had he changed the tube himself it would have been his tour over.

At the fish farm 3km from Harrietville I rolled up to the front, rolled a turn or two, then put the hammer down. I was off the front and joined by the ever present Andy van Slobbe. I told him I wanted the sprint points (for shits and giggles more than anything else) so he let me roll across to collect those. In the wash up and count-back, this single sprint netted me 3rd overall in the Sprint King competition. With our 200m advantage we didn't get caught up in the bunch bottleneck as the road turned upwards. We sat up and latched onto the GC climbers as they stormed past. A select group of 15 was formed from 2kms onwards up the climb. A few popped at the Meg and a few just after it. Naylor was yo-yoing from the climbing bunch of 12 with Wade Wallace giving his all to support his team mate. The Canberra boys were setting the pace and allowed Michael Gallagher (VIS) and Alex Gardner to drift off the front. At the false flat I had a go at getting clear and across to them but after 1km the Canberra boys were on my wheel, and on a mission, taking their GC man to the line. The finish came a lot sooner than anyone really expected. With two riders up the road, and GC decided, it was a battle for the final podium position for the stage. 1km to go the pace lifted again. At 500m I jumped up towards the front. 250m to go and no sight of the finish I launched. Full gas around the corner, I was on the front and side-by-side with Ciaran Jones. We were met with a blocked road, some dodgy taped off area, and being told to go left. Chaos. We were sprinting but where the f'ck are we going!? I finally saw the timing mat and pointed towards it, just pipping Jones. There were people everywhere and no run-off area. At 50km/h+ this was crazy. People jumping everywhere out of our way telling us to slow down. How we didn't put a few people on their arses I don't know. I was both happy with the 3rd place and happy to have picked a line though the people in the madness. I hope there are finish line shots as I don't remember much of it.

Naylor had hung onto his 2nd spot on GC only to be told later someone had complained about his 'team assistance' to a race commissaire. Because of the wheel change and he was DSQ from the event. It was a shitty thing to have happen as a flat is just bad luck. The panic and chase back on was penalty enough. I saw him digging deep, I saw him crack, I saw him dig deeper and get back on. The Canberra boys were class and took the deserved win, but Naylor's ride was clearly deserving of the 2nd spot and maybe a $50 fine over getting tossed after the race?

Michael McRitchie got a nice art-sy shot of me coming into the finish of Stage 3.

Wrap Up

After a standard Stage 1 it was a pretty good weekend from then on. I've not said anything in this post that wasn't echoed by others at the post race coffee stops during race debriefs with mates. There is a general consensus that ToB MMAS should be A/B/C in the future for better racing for everyone (yep, teams too!).

The TT win was the goal and I was happy to have nailed it. The 3rd on Stage 3, 3rd in the Sprint King, and $100 prize money all up was icing on the cake. I didn't get a chance to take it to the climbers on Stage 1 so it was good to battle with them on Stage 3 and be at the pointy end. Had the final 10kms up Hotham been in the race the GC list would have been given a real shake.

It is no secret that road racing plays second fiddle to TTing for me. After this weekend I did come away wanting more of this style of racing. The comradery when suffering up a climb with the 'select few' is something you have to experience. Words of encouragement shared, a helpful push and a shove to help someone dropping a wheel (disguised as getting them out of your way, of course), the sighs of relief when the pace backs off just a little as you're on the limit. A friend becoming an enemy in a split second, then back to a friend once the clock stops.

I'll add more photos as they come in over the next few days...... stay tuned.. Now I'm off to unpack the car!

Full official results

Photos/Links/Info: https://www.facebook.com/CyclingVictoria

Photos: Tons of pro'tographers there on the weekend. Shoot me my shots and I'll link people to your site.

2011 Hanover ConnectEast Ride for Home (75km TTT with Team VIS)

2011-11-13T18:49:00.001+11:00

After a busy season of time trials I jumped at the chance to join Team VIS for the 75km Team Time Trial on EastLink. Alex Morgan was recruited as their Youth Ambassador so we had to bring good legs on the day to see if we could help him (and the team) get up for the win. With a maximum of 10 riders allowed, we only had the minimum - a team of 6. This meant we had to stick together for the full 75km. A last minute change saw Mitch Barry thrown into the deep end with us replacing Nick Aitken in the line up.

As Alex was an event ambassador, we had our own VIP area, and met the event organisers and sponsors. They were all full of smiles at how smooth the event was running (perfect weather too!) and they wanted to know a little more about our riding.

Team VIS: Alex Morgan, Liam Dove, Eric Sheppard, Jonathan Lovelock, Shane Miller, and Mitch Barry.

The benchmark time was 1:45:32, set last year by Croydon Cycleworks/Pick-a-Part, who were starting behind us on the start line today. The team I had my eye on was the Giant-Celtic boys, their team time trialling is second to none... but today we were hoping it would be second to us. We were all surprised to learn we'd be up against 42 other teams!

At around 6:35am we were the 9th team off. No warm up, that's what the first few kms are for. No team plan, no team order, we rolled out and stuck in the same formation for most of the ride. Our turn lengths varied depending on what form we were in, and kept that way through to 15km to go where Alex Morgan showed us why he has a set of world champion stripes. My position in our group was on Alex's wheel, I wish I could say I had an arm-chair ride watching him rip his turns, but it was anything but! The kid slices through the wind like it isn't there and I was having to crank out the watts just to hold his wheel.

Into the tunnels we blasted down at 80km/h each way then suffered up the two climbs. At 2km to go we could see the chasing Croydon Cycleworks/Pick-a-Part team coming out of the first tunnel. The time gap to us wasn't huge, or something we could calculate after 73kms of riding flat out, so we went all-out to the line, leaving nothing to chance.

1:36:46. 46.5km/h for the 75kms. The first hour was the fastest, just under 49km/h. We knocked around 9 minutes off the course record. 1st place. We soon all lined up on the podium and were interviewed by Monty and Crowie. Monty picked me out from the bunch as I had the least hair, and made sure the crowd of onlookers knew I was about twice the age of my team mates. Cheers Monty. :)

Simon Gerrans presented our medals and said to me "Must be that TT position mate", which cracked me up after crossing paths with him on Beach Rd the other day and me Tweeting about it.

Top 5 Teams:

1. Victorian Institute of Sport 1h36'46''

2. Croydon Cycleworks/Pick-a-Part 1h37'46''

3. Giant-Celtic/CCCC 1h37'47''

4. Elwood Canal Peloton 1h47'52''

5. PwC 1h50'12''

Full Results: http://www.rideforhome.com.au/Results.aspx

The TTT event on the empty freeway is an absolute must-do. Being part of the VIS team for the day and bringing home the win for them, was pretty cool. Maybe I can convince them to start a high performance Masters program?

Channel 9 were there, but their coverage of the event was only a few seconds on the news. The Age will have a lift-out on Tuesday that might have some happy snaps, for now you'll have to make do with mine....

How long was your...... warm up Jono?

Morgz likes his water.... wet!

The real voice of cycling - Keeno

Keeno and Geero

Malvern Star.... don't sponsor me so I won't say "Cool pic!"..

Team VIS roll out

Panorama. Bike-o-rama!

Melbourne Cup Weekend 2011 - Bright!

2011-11-02T22:22:00.000+11:00

I'm no horse racing fan, so when the chance came up for four days in Bright, I was on it faster than a jockey beating his wife. (aw c'mon, Google it, they're psycho little munchkins!)

I've been up to quite a few Bright training weekends with different groups, so I've come to expect most of them to be similar. Turns out I've been spoiled in the past.... Luckily I had a few others to ride with, the Garmin 800, PowerTap, and iPhone pumping tunes for company most of our rides.

Day 1 - Mt Buffalo. Rain, sun, fog, rain. Then a few laps of the TT course in the evening. Perfect!

Mt Buffalo. 1337m above sea level. leet!

Day 2 - We headed towards Falls, raced up Tawonga, got rained out at Bogong, turned back. Lunch in Mt Beauty and we were joined by the original mad-man himself, JayWoo, who rode with us back over Tawonga to Bright, on his fixie! Forever mad.

Ice coffee done right!

Day 3 - Rosewhite loop. No walk in the park as a few of the SKCC girls got on the front and drove the pace to Ovens. We passed a guy in Bike Hub kit who joined us. Turns out it was Wes, the owner of West End Bike Hub in Wangaratta. He knew who I was, as he also did the Wang CC 36km TT in early September. I picked his brain about the bike industry as he rode with us through to Mt Beauty/Tawonga gap turn off.

Alpine CC hold summer time trials on the Wandiligong course, the same as ToB stage 2. I thought it might be a bit over overkill bringing my TT bike, disc, and skinsuit. Was I bringing a gun to a knife fight? I'd put the word out on Twitter the week prior and it ended up being a solid turn out! Tully Lyster (State MMAS2 ITT champ), Ash Baines (Still in fine form from racing in Belgium) , James Boal (Search2Retain), the TFM-Celtic boys on their bling'ed up TT rigs, my Kosdown teammate Stephen Lane, and a handful of locals. Lucky I packed most of my go-fast bits! After 110kms in the hills in the morning, this TT turned into a perfect all-out Tour of Bright simulation!

Stephen Lane - Brought a Shiv to the knife fight......

Hold that dog... right... there.... thanks.

An open country road for the TT meant I had to dodge a tractor, a dog, and coming into the home straight I had to overtake a ute... at the exact same spot I encountered one in the 2008 ToB TT. I think that guy sits there in his car giving riders lead-outs to the line.... next time step on it Pop! The course was around 100m more than the official course, so the Strava segment time is a little quicker. Happy to go under 21 minutes, come race day and all the go-fast bits, that is the target!

Me dropping the ute.

Full Results: (Official results Alpine CC)

1. Shane Miller 20:57

2. Tully Lyster 21:30

3. James Boal 22:01

4. Ashley Baines 22:38

5. Gerard Donnelly 22:58

6. Boyd Friis 23:00

7. Stephen Lane 23:28

=8 Sean Wilkinson 23:42

=8 Allan Thrum 23:42

9. James Fox 24:31

10. Brendon Dean 24:32

11. Chris O'Brien 24:50

12. Laurie Lyster 25:24

13. Mark White 25:52

14. Mark McDoguall 26:27

33rd road TT for 2011, and 31st TT win for the year. The strike rate is still pretty good.

Day 4 - Hotham. Dead legs, sun shining, tunes cranking, pedal stomping. With Stephen Lane on my wheel I started out way too hard, then kept riding way too hard, all the way to the top. Tapped out a PB up there too. If I can keep that kind of form through to December I'll be happy.

The ascent was pretty good, but the descent was spectacular. I've learnt from the best by following JayWoo down a few big descents over the years, he would drop out of sight like a rock. I could never keep up with him. He knew every corner, every bump, and how to throw his bike around like it was on rails. At the time I could never match him, but with the map display on the Garmin 800 now showing the corners in pretty good detail - I'm getting close. So tunes pumping, sun shining, I chased the ghost of rides past down Hotham back into Harrietville.

YarraTri ITT 2011 Round #2 - Richmond. October 23rd, 2011.

2011-10-25T12:25:00.000+11:00

Huge numbers for round #2 of the 2011 YarraTri ITT/TTT series. The word is getting around that these guys put on a good show. Of the 92 on the ITT start list, 72 set a time, a pretty good turnout considering the time slot is up against both Glenvale and StKilda crits. As an event run by a tri club, on show were some non UCI legal setups and Giro Selector TT helmets that we road TTers are not allowed to play with.

This was my 32nd road TT for the year. After 45km solo off the front at the HCC Road Champs the day before, I wasn't sure if I'd be quick enough to nudge the course record. My minute man was Boyd Friis (TFM-Celtic) who was also on toasted legs after racing the Keith Esson Memorial Shepparton Classic the day before. My two minute man was a no show, and Stephen Lane (Kosdown) was my three minute man.... he's now back up to speed post his BawBaw off earlier in the year, so the three minute gap would be safe.

Stephen Lane - Ready to rip into the 25kms.

Waiting.... waiting... oh, and Aussie Champ hoops on the new skinsuit!

More waiting...

I put my head down and ticked over the laps, and dodged someones massive road-covering-chuck on the final lap. It ended up a pretty good ride, 33:26, shaving 23 seconds off the time I set back in May. Age group win and fastest time of the day.

Top 10 Overall:

1 Miller, Shane 6:35.6 6:38.8 6:45.0 6:44.9 6:41.8 33:26.33

2 Lane, Stephen 6:48.6 6:55.7 7:03.5 7:03.5 7:09.2 35:00.66

3 Cooper, Mitch 6:50.4 7:02.4 7:13.2 7:04.9 7:02.0 35:12.99

4 Lama, Martin 6:55.6 7:01.4 7:01.0 7:11.9 7:11.1 35:21.31

5 Donnelly, Gerrad 7:10.4 7:11.1 7:09.5 7:14.0 7:09.9 35:55.11

6 Van slobbe, Andy 7:15.1 7:11.6 7:16.3 7:11.6 7:01.3 35:56.15

7 Grainger, Nick 7:06.6 7:12.8 7:19.0 7:21.7 7:14.0 36:14.44

8 Walkington, Marcel 7:12.1 7:23.0 7:22.5 7:14.2 7:01.5 36:13.59

9 Thompson, Stephen 7:13.3 7:12.6 7:22.9 7:19.6 7:13.0 36:21.63

10 Friis, Boyd 7:10.0 7:11.6 7:20.2 7:25.5 7:17.1 36:24.71

Kosdown 1-2! After setting a goal of winning 10, that was my 30th road TT win for the year. It looks like the next TT will be a club TT with the Alpine CC on the Tour of Bright TT course this Monday. Then the only TT left will be Stage 2 at the Tour of Bright.... can't wait for that one.

The post race showbag was as good as always. A drink, protein bar, gel, City of Yarra towel, vouchers (and another mens hair voucher that is looking pretty safe). I kept clear of the free BBQ but helped myself to a few serves (handfuls) of free lollies.

M31-40 Podium. 1st Me. 2nd Stephen Lane. 3rd Handy Van (getting his rub on).

YarraTri Race Report: PDF Link

YarraTri Pics: HERE

Full Results / Age Categories: Your-Sports Timing Link

Hawthorn CC Road Championships 2011.

2011-10-24T13:06:00.001+11:00

HCC Road Champs on Saturday was the standard three laps of Lancefield (90kms). Typical Lancefield weather, cool, rain, then sunny. Only 11 riders in the 'main event', including two juniors from the club. Honestly, a very poor showing from a club of 150+ members. I don't buy into the weather/day/exams/rarara excuses. If you want to race, you'll race. When there are more people volunteering than racing - Time to survey the membership (which is in the works post Saturday).

After the Masters Nationals TT and a full week over in Adelaide, I entered this race with only one plan. Attack at Dons Rd on the first lap. If someone was on my wheel, good, we'd drop a few and work turns. If I could get up the road with a junior and they raced hard, I'd tow them to the line.

I've snagged Laurie Lovelock's photos of the day for the pictorial. The full album is over here: http://lovelock01.zenfolio.com/p699663513

First to attack for the day was Andy McGrath, stringing the bunch out early in the race. One of the BoomChika guys quickly chased, towing everyone along for the ride. As we approached Dons Rd I put the hammer down a few 100m out to string things along.

Stringing....

McGrath onto my plan... and on my wheel.

Still attacking on Dons Rd... my only plan for the day almost complete.

Young Blaise Bourke was the only rider from the bunch to launch across. He was soon on my wheel and we were pulling away from the bunch.

Break... bunch... hill....

With 75kms still to race, this break was a little ambitious... but just might pay off if we could work well for the next two laps. Into lap 2 we were still just in sight of the bunch, and now into the headwind section towards Cobaw. Blaise was soon in trouble. After pulling a turn on the front, I turn around to find out I'm alone.

Solo, 55kms to go. Bugger.

They're chasing. Bugger.

The rain started coming down as I kept going solo. I rolled through the start/finish into lap 3 with 70 seconds on the chasing bunch. 1/2 way to the Dons Rd turn they had me in sight. Up Dons Rd I knew they were within striking distance. If I was still solo at Newham I would have been in for a chance, but Andy van Slobbe had jumped from the bunch and was coming across solo.

I had the choice either to attack and try to stop him getting across, with the risk he'd go back to the bunch and everyone would chase... or wait and help him keep the gap from the chasing bunch. After 45kms solo I wanted company, so I waited. He got on my wheel and we opened up the gap on the bunch into Newham, then kept working turns to make sure we'd 1-2 the race.

In the box up the Rochford climb.

It was only 2-3kms out we knew we'd keep away from the bunch. My solo move for the day didn't work, but the late 1-2 plan did. When the Handy Van opened up a gap on me when pulling his final turn into McMasters Lane, I was done for the day. I rolled in watching him kick to the line taking the championship title. Nice work Handy! After almost getting mowed down by the bunch and ending up with nothing, I was more than happy with the Silver!

Handy Van - HCC Road Champ 2011

Big thanks to the officials, corner marshals, volunteers, and everyone who entered the race (support race too!). Without the race numbers these events won't run.

Links:
MyLaps Timing: http://www.mylaps.com/results/showrun.jsp?id=2117862
Cykel Events - Cheers to Rob for his work on the MyLaps stuff above.
HCC Website: www.hawthorncycling.org

1st Handy Van. 2nd Me. 3rd Jack French.

13th Australian Masters Games - MMAS1 Track TT and Pursuit

2011-10-17T21:05:00.001+11:00

Track... I do the pursuit because it isn't too different to a road time trial, and I do the kilo TT (or 750m in this event) for a bit of practice at the start gate and for a few laps at speed. I usually spend a bit of time training for track before the State and National Masters Championships. My pre-race prep this time around was 15 laps of the track the day before the competition. It'd be an interesting test to see what I could do off the back of road TTs and a few road races.

750m TT

5..4...3..2.... launch, go full retard on the pedals, finish. That is about it. Not much involved. The high rpm made for some interesting leg burn on the final lap..... lesson learned, do more high rpm work before racing track!

MMAS1 750m TT Resuts:

Gold - Shane Miller VIC 52.404

Silver - Justin Wyten SA 55.239

Bronze - Jermy Smith SA 55.471

MMAS1 Track TT Podium

Pretty surprised with the result! There is an easy few seconds up my sleeve if I worked on my starts and top end spin. I was beaten by John Eder (QLD) MMAS3 for fastest 750m of the day by 0.273 seconds.

Pursuit 3000m

This is more my thing. Only three in MMAS1 so there was a qualifier and a final. The qualifier went better than expected. I didn't look at the lap board, just the 1000m and 2000m splits on the big screen. I was well within the time to reach the Gold/Silver ride off so didn't have to completely bury myself. 3:34.056. Still a fair way off my PB, and a world away from David Stevens 3:24.951 at the recent Masters Worlds (MMAS3, phew!). A few things I can tweak for more speed - mostly my legs at a higher rpm!

The final was a few hours later and Justin Wyten who I was off against said he would race me for the first lap then save himself for his sprint events that were first up the next morning. I caught him in the final at 1000m. No splits in the results so we had nothing to compare our first lap times...

MMAS1 3000m Pursuit Resuts:

Gold - Shane Miller VIC
Silver - Justin Wyten SA
Bronze - David Ladd SA

It was a great week of racing over in Adelaide. The weather was perfect (rained for the TT and track day!), the city is friendly, and the racing was excellent. We also saw some of the best head-to-head racing in the Masters Women pursuits on the Friday afternoon. I also caught up with Gary Simpson Executive Officer from Cycling SA - who remembered me from the Langhorne Creek TT a few weeks back, good to be noticed away from home!

The show goes on - Hawthorn CC Road Championships this Saturday followed by the YarraTri TT in Richmond, TT #32 for the year! Bring it on!

Gold x5 - The whole set!

No prize money at championships - This is where I'm shopping soon.

13th Australian Masters Games - MMAS1 Criterium, Time Trial, Road Race.

2011-10-13T21:07:00.001+11:00

After the Masters Nationals the plan was go straight over to Adelaide to the Australian Masters Games for the cycling events. The Masters Games is held every 2 years, in '09 it was in Geelong - it hosts hundreds of sports, it is what I call, the Aussie Olympics for oldies.... The cycling events are overseen by Cycling SA, so it is real racing, no messing about!

Before we left Ballarat we stayed another night to watch team mate Shannon Johnson take out the MMAS1 crit title (he took the road race too!). Lucky we hung around, because after lunch that day I had a short stop over at the dentist, seems while winning the TT the day before I was able to do some tooth damage.... chewing the bars too much? Result: Root canal! A lovely surprise for 4:30pm on a Friday... one head drilling session down, two to go. It didn't hurt as much as a TT does, so the procedure isn't all that bad. I've asked the dentist to put in some ant+ compatible strain gauges in the tooth because it's going to cost as much as a new SRM.

Anyhows... onto the Masters Games road cycling events.... and at this point I must send a shout out to Thule for their sponsorship! Their equipment comes in very handy when transporting five bikes over here to SA!

Criterium - Victoria Park, Sunday, October 9th 2011.

A flat/open 1km circuit on the V8 Supercar start/finish through Victoria Park. Nowhere to hide, no hills for a selection to be made. Only 6 or so in MMAS1, a pretty thin field. Racing interstate means not really knowing who to watch, or how people will race. The pace was high on lap 1, I didn't know who to watch so I sat on. Lap 2 much the same.... I attacked early taking Corey Roberts with me. We were shut down in 400m. I went again, they chased but never really got back on, leaving me to dangle 10m off the front... so I went... this time no chase. 7mins into the race and I was away. Two laps later the chase got underway. I could see it unfold on the other side of the track. A rider or two shelled, 4 chasing, then 3, then 2. The tail wind down the front straight broke up the effort nicely, and I was still gaining 4-5 seconds a lap. At 35mins in I was within striking distance to lap the two front chasers. I caught them on the front straight and waited for the headwind back straight to get past them - at which point they jumped on my wheel..... I swung off and told them I wouldn't mess with their sprint for 2nd so they needed to battle it out honestly. They let me go again, with a few laps to go I put another few 100m into them. I had enough time to pull off a smartarse finish line move too, unplanned, and Von caught it on her phone. It was a perfect warm up session for the TT on Tuesday.

MMAS1 Medals:

Gold - Shane Miller VIC 0:41:25
Silver - Shawn Kasbergen SA
Bronze - Alan Leslie SA

MMAS1 Podium

David Heatly from Cycling-Inform was there on the sidelines watching, supporting, and giving me time gaps as I came past. He wrote up the race over on his site: http://www.cycling-inform.com/cycle-racing-tips/751-one-of-the-three-ways-to-win-a-bike-race

Time Trial - The Range 17km, Tuesday, October 10th 2011.

Four on the MMAS1 start list, two DNS. Not too happy about that... but it was a chance to battle Corey Roberts who I've ridden against a few times for Gold/Silver, and with all grades doing the same distance it was a chance for a shot at setting the best time of the day. I had a pretty good ride on the undulating course. The 3km climb to the finish was pretty epic. I took 1st in MMAS1, overall time of the day, but the Cycling SA officials weren't sure what the course record for The Range was... turns out I nailed that too! http://www.sa.cycling.org.au/?ID=37372

MMAS1 Medals:

Gold - Shane Miller VIC 22:32

Silver - Corey Roberts SA 25:43

Praying before the start....? No, just cold, and in need of a coffee!

"....Hold me closer tiny dancer
Count the headlights on the highway
Lay me down in sheets of linen
You had a busy day today...."

And I'm away....

MMAS1 Podium

Road Race - The Range, Wednesday, October 11th 2011.

8 rides in our small bunch for 5 laps of The Range (same route as the TT). A few familiar faces from the crit and some other riders I didn't know. David Steinhauser from Sunbury in TFM kit was the only other Victorian in our bunch. On lap 1 most of the bunch was rolling turns, most, not all... At 13km we hit the corner to the first climb and Corey Roberts put in a monster turn to soften people up, as soon as the road went upwards I got on the front and tapped out a hard tempo. At the top of the climb as we completed lap 1 we'd split the bunch. 4 off the front, Steinhauser chasing hard just off the back, the others not far behind. The four of us away were Alan Leslie, Corey Roberts, Shawn Kasbergen and I. All four of us had done the crit on Sunday so we had some idea who we were with.

Lap 2 up the hill Corey Roberts puts in a monster turn and puts us all in the red. The pace soon dropped as we all recovered over the top and got back into rolling turns. By this stage the follow car was on our tail and we were out of sight of the chasing Steinhauser. The pace was high, but with four of us I knew there had to be another selection at some point in the race.....

Lap 3 up the hill I sat on the back hoping for an easy ascent. It was! Phew. We just tapped up towards the top, at which point I was feeling good..... so I attacked. "up up up" was heard, so they knew I was on the go and chased. I had 40m, Leslie chasing solo from the other two. We still had 34kms to race so I backed off, waited for Leslie to get on my wheel, then drove hard for a few km. Roberts and Kasbergen were chasing together and making ground for a few kms before they appeared to break apart and chase solo.

Leslie took the Bronze in the crit and said to me he really wanted the Silver in the road race, so I told him, "Well, lets make it happen". He was in the hurt box early on, so I told him to sit on, have a drink, something to eat, and just do what he could. He was pulling good turns on the first lap and had ridden well up the hill when Roberts attacked, so I was more than happy to help him keep away from the chasers. Once we were out of sight of the chasers we settled into some pretty smooth turns... and having to dodge a black snake that was on the move across the road..!

It wasn't until we got to the final turn towards the last ascent that we knew we had the 1-2. Leslie said he wanted to see a finish line salute like the crit..... but anything could happen, chain snaps, puncture, he was still in for a shot at a deserved win if I wasn't at the finish. 2kms out I kicked away and looked back, Leslie waved me off with a smile. I gave him a thumbs up and ripped into the final climb. Leslie still chased well, out of the saddle, and only a few 100m off the back on the line. Roberts rolled across for the Bronze after about 30km chasing solo - hard as nails effort!

This road race was what the games were all about to me - Nothing too serious, but it was bloody tough racing, alliances formed, attacks thrown, each having different goals (Leslie wanting Silver was fine by me, that was something I could help with, had he wanted Gold it would have been a different story, heheh). I hope the guys who were shelled early on still got something out of the race too. I've tried to look up Leslie on Facebook/Twitter, no luck. If anyone has his details shoot them to me.

MMAS1 Medals:

Gold - Shane Miller VIC 2:13:29
Silver - Alan Leslie SA
Bronze - Corey Roberts SA

Split of four

"Juuusssttt the two of us.... we can make it if we try...."

Finish line... happy and stuffed!

MMAS1 Podium

2011 Australian Masters Road Time Trial Championships - Ballarat, October 6th 2011

2011-10-10T22:47:00.000+11:00

TT #30 for the year, and it is no secret that this is the TT I focus on the most. With no hip breaks or collarbone snaps getting in the way this year, everything fell into place nicely. There was a minor incident with a CA commissar in regard to my drink bottle, resulting in me requesting a review of the rules, me threatening to lodge a formal complaint, removing the drink bottle, then being allowed to mount it on the seat tube (but not the down tube). It was on the seat tube initially, so I smoothed things over with my new CA commissaire friend and everyone was happy. (the real story may contain more swears and death stares, but it all ended up well in the end).

I was the final rider of the day again this year. I wasn't keeping a track of the other results online while I warmed up, I wanted to stay clear of anything happening out on the course. But as I was rolling up to the start line I heard over the loud speaker someone had 23:50 as time of the day so far. That was set by a MMAS3 rider, so not in my category, but it was the benchmark for time of the day.

Cutting to the chase - I rode a 23:26 @47.6km/h average. I rolled back to the start to see if anyone had the results loaded up on their phones (electronic timing system was EXCELLENT!). Kipp Kaufmann (GM of Cycling Victoria) handed me his iPhone to check the results. 1st place MMAS1 and fastest time overall across all grades. Pretty happy with that. A few things I can take away from the ride to improve on - but I'll worry about those later on - for now I'll just kick back and enjoy the rest of the year racing knowing I nailed the one race I wanted to win for the last 12 months.

Many familiar faces at the presentations, officials and riders I'd competed against all over Victoria over the past few years. At the ceremony, I was also awarded the male rider of the day award by the City of Ballarat, a nice bottle of red, which mum was very happy with. I was interviewed by The Ballarat Courier and made the front and back pages, with a half page write up in the sports pages. I had my 5 minutes of famous!

MMAS1 TT Results:
1. MILLER, Shane        23:26.42              47.6 Hawthorn Cycling Club
2. JOHNSON, Benjamin    24:33.67 +1:07.25    45.4 Footscray Cycling Club Inc
3. MCCARROLL, Simon     24:38.87 +1:12.45    45.2 Peloton Sports Inc.
4. JOHNSON, Shannon     25:09.09 +1:42.66    44.3 Preston Cycling Club Inc
5. BONARIUS, Nathan     26:07.23 +2:40.81    42.7 Sydney Uni Velo Club
6. REGESTER, Robert     26:31.59 +3:05.17    42.0 Blackburn Cycling Club Inc
7. MATRAVOELGYI, Miklos 26:41.16 +3:14.74    41.8 Cats Cycling Club
8. SILVESTRI, David     26:53.89 +3:27.47    41.4 Ffast Cycle Club
9. JACKSON, Heath       28:33.97 +5:07.55    39.0 St Kilda Cycling Club Inc
DNF LANE, Stephen                                   Footscray Cycling Club Inc

Full Results: HERE
Leanne Cole has a whole swag of photos: HERE

I also want to give special mention to both Kipp Kaufmann and David Morgan for their work over the weekend. Kipp, GM of Cycling Victoria - Spending 5 days in Ballarat helping run the show, I saw him running around putting up marquees, driving a follow car, and word has it he spent Thursday night sweeping corners at the crit track for the following day. There is a legacy of disliking CSV (as it was known then) - I've had my say in the past too.. To see the GM out there hands-on helping out in Ballarat was fantastic. And what can I say about David 'Mr. Pink' Morgan that we don't already know? An absolute legend at what he does for us, the riders.... and you'd never guess what colour his drink was while he was standing at the bar with a smile on his face watching the presentations? Raspberry, which passes as pink if you ask me!

A lot of people to thank for their support in the lead up to this event:

Team Kosdown - Our main sponsor and our all our sub sponsors for their all their assistance.
Kos Samaras - The Chief Smurf behind the scenes of Team Kosdown. A top rider himself and a huge supporter of his riders.
Raoul Luescher - www.luescherteknik.com.au
Elizabeth Walker from Absolute BodyHealth Solutions for keeping my ageing and busted body in order.
Champion System for the skinsuit (mine with the Aus Champ bands is in the mail they tell me! Can't wait!)
Von - For putting up with my ever increasing focus on my 'hobby' of cycling.

Also at the Masters Nationals - Kosdown team mate Shannon Johnson took the win in the MMAS1 Crit and with the assistance of Stephen Lane he also took out the Road Race - Securing himself the MMAS1 Champion of Champions title and a clean sweep of the MMAS1 category for Kosdown. So we're a pretty happy bunch at the moment.

Ballarat Courier Write up: Miller battles winds to claim Australian Masters Cycling time trial

Huge thanks to Michael McRitchie for his Team Kosdown photos too!

Thinking very aero thoughts.....

Didn't have time to count the orange poles, but I didn't hit any!

"I don't drink, so mum will love this."

Three in a row... and I'm not stopping there!

Feeling very important.... <3 The Courier

Back page news! Woooooo!

I'm now over in Adelaide competing in five cycling events at the 13th Australian Masters Games. I did pretty well in the crit, I'll write that up tomorrow if I get a chance... but I've got to scoot and get the TT bike ready for TT #31 for the year tomorrow morning!

BBN: 1:20 Regional Hill Climb Championships. Oct 2nd 2011.

2011-10-04T22:40:00.001+11:00

A Grade Podium

I finally cracked the 14 minute mark up the 1:20 with a 13:49.23 on Sunday at the Blackburn CC regional hill climb championships. I've hovered around 14:30 for few years, then low 14's, now I've made the 13's.

29 TTs this year and this one has had the most responses, I guess everyone knows the 1:20 and has given it a crack at some point. I've put the ride up on Strava but that is a little dodgy with accuracy when it comes to held starts on the timing point, good old Cycle2Max is where its at: http://www.cycle2max.com/bike-hill-climb/1-20.aspx?id=548 A few times are not listed there, Trent Lowe's 13:02, Will Ford's mid 13... but that 1st place 12:48 I'm not sure on.. You'd make some serious cash from the sport of cycling if you could honestly rip that out unassisted.

I didn't get a chance to reflect on cracking that 14 minute mark on the climb until I rode it again on the way home. I rode it with a pretty big smile, passing a few punters in fluro Netti jackets on the way too. Even they love the climb! I don't remember too much about the race itself, it was all a bit of a focused blur. Riders zipping past on the way down, some yelling encouragement. As I passed Vaughan Bowman at 1km to go he yelled at me to put the hammer down for a 13:30. The power numbers showed I lifted there all the way to the line, so thanks for the encouragement Vaughan!

A Grade Top 10:
-------
  1    1    MILLER, SHANE           13:49.23  Hawthorn Citizens Youth Club              
  2  113    JONES, CIARAN           14:25.64  Carnegie Caulfield CC              
  3    7    MOWATT, JAMES           14:40.54  Carnegie Caulfield CC              
  4    5    KLAJNBLAT, JAKE         14:48.88  Carnegie Caulfield CC                
  5   12    SULLY, FERGUS           14:56.70  Blackburn Cycling Club Inc              
  6   10    MOREY, TRENT            14:56.88  Carnegie Caulfield CC             
  7   16    BIEN, NICHOLAS          15:00.20  Blackburn Cycling Club Inc               
  8   15    DENNIS, PETER           15:05.11  Hawthorn Citizens Youth Club              
  9    4    PARLEVLIET, CAMERON     15:10.17  Blackburn Cycling Club Inc                    
 10    3    BOWMAN, VAUGHAN         15:15.95  Carnegie Caulfield CC

Full Results: http://www.bbn.org.au/results/results111002.txt
Tons of photos by Michael McRitchie: http://gallery.me.com/mmcritchie#100072

Masters Nationals TT this Thursday in Ballarat. Then over to South Australia for the 2011 Australian Masters Games for a week. Then back in Melbourne for the HCC Road Champs, YarraTri TT, then Bright. Everything I've done over winter has been focused on these. No major hiccups on the way, no dramas, no excuses. Showtime!

Damian McDonald Memorial RR (inc. BBN Club Championships) 25th September 2011.

2011-09-26T20:40:00.000+10:00

Perfect weather at Eildon for the race on Sunday, not the 13 degrees and frost that was forecast. The main mens bunch included U19/U23/Elite/MMAS123, around 30 riders strong. The all-in contained a few races within the race. 1-2-3 to the line would take the memorial trophy honours, 1st Blackburn rider would be male Club Champion, and each age category would get envelopes. Lots to keep track of, much easier just trying to beat the guy next to you. :)

The start line looked a little more professional than most club championship races... 2x V Australia pros (Chris Winn and a team mate), recent Budget Forklifts signing Jason Spencer, Ashley Baines in his Euro pro team kit, a Serch2Retain rider from Wangaratta CC, and the rest of us - A stacked line up from the 6am-ers, two new Kosdown riders - Shannon Johnson, Stephen Lane, and me, some lightweight juniors, and a stack of others.

56kms flat, 6-7kms up a hill, then 32kms to the finish. The advertised and anticipated final 2km up the Eildon dam wall was scrapped on the day. The finish being located a few 100m through town on a flat side road. Not much action in the first 25kms. Cameron Parlevliet (U19/BBN/DeVer) launched the first major attack before we hit town to finish lap 1. A few minutes later he was out of sight. The three of us in Kosdown kit didn't mind, not our category (we were registered as MMAS123), and it was not our championship. V Australia had other ideas, sitting a rider on the front for a monster 10km+ turn to pull Parlevliet back to the bunch. Johnson (Kosdown) sat locked in 2nd wheel making sure the monster effort by V Australia didn't turn into a solo ride away from the bunch. Baines was soon on the attack too, hitching a sit on a 4WD+caravan that cautiously passed the bunch heading in the same direction, then jumping off the front solo once that move was shut down.

With Baines up the road when we hit the climb, Spencer attacked on the climb after a few minutes taking both V Australia and a few others with him. I was on the limit stomping over 400W, feeling too heavy, and not enough power to go with those guys.... I kept cranking and worked my way through a few riders and was chasing the leaders solo by a few 100m at the KOM. On the descent I was joined by two others - one I didn't know (racing Elite) and Vaughan Bowman (CCCC) who is old enough to be MMAS123 but I didn't know what he'd registered as. The leaders were now out of sight, so we started rolling solid turns to stop anyone getting back to us. The Serch2Retain rider was just off the back of us and didn't quite make it across as the three of us stepped it up for the 30km home.

We picked up a rider who dropped from the lead bunch at 25km to go. 10km to go Bowman started the fight. Putting the hammer down on a rise, dropping one rider off the back. At this point we weren't going to catch the leaders, and we weren't going to be caught... so game on. 5km to go we passed a V Australia rider who'd hit the deck after a touch of wheels with Baines. 1km to go I attacked, brought back. 500m to go I dug again and got a gap, keeping clear to the line.

I was 4th in Open Mens/overall and 1st in MMAS123. The large chase bunch was lead home by Johnson (Kosdown), Tully Lyster (Wang CC), and Lane (Kosdown). Three mates at the pointy end of that bunch! Nice!

Winn (V Australia) had taken the win/trophy, Spencer (Budget Forklifts) 2nd place and BBN Club Champion, and Baines in 3rd after a mad chase after stopping to secure his rear wheel into place once it was nudged by Winn's team mate.

Full results: HERE

Apart from not being able to keep up with the lead guys, it was a good day out and about. 56km road race, 7km hill climb, 32km team time trial. Perfect training for the next month and beyond which is stacked full of racing!

Post race stories....

Team Kosdown photo pose (Shannon, hands behind!)

Castlemaine CC Hill Climb TT - Mt Alexander, Sept 17th 2011.

2011-09-19T18:52:00.001+10:00

On Saturday Von, Stephen Lane, and I headed out to test our 'riding skyward' form on the 5km 7% climb of Mt Alexander with Castlemaine CC. It had been a while since I'd been up a hill that climbed for more than a few kms, so we were out there early and did a recon lap, scoping out the course - where it kicked up, corners, and the location of the finish. Even with minimal event promotion there were still around 20 riders lining up to set a time up the climb.

I've been putting out good power on flat and rolling TTs, this would be a good chance to see how the power was on the road bike when it was pointed upwards. It'd also be a good test against an old TT rival, and new team mate, Stephen Lane. He is 8kgs lighter than me and is at home in the hills. We'd done a rough calculation and I'd need to be putting out 40W more than him for a similar time (discounting a whole lot of other variables). The challenge was on!

Castlemaine CC had issued me #1 and had me starting last - chasing everyone. The first km was the fastest part of the course, so I saved the legs and effort until the road really kicked up. Just as it did I passed someone's lunch they'd painted the road with. We weren't racing for sheep stations, but it was worth enough for someone to lose their lunch over. (top effort whoever it was!). The power numbers were surprisingly good at the halfway mark where I started catching riders. Anyone I passed could hear me coming as I was breathing like a wounded animal, it didn't sound pretty but it was doing the job. Right turn at the top, all out to the line. 399W average for 15:37. Close enough to 400, so I'll round it up and claim to have finally cracked that one! Lane in 2nd place only 56 seconds down, HCC club mate Paul Ambry in 4th place with a new 20min power PB, and Von 1st woman and 6th overall.

Seniors Results:
1st Shane Miller       15.37
2nd Stephen Lane     16.34
3rd Paul Maltby        17.38
4th Paul Ambry         20.35
5th Luke Daly          21.37
6th Veronica Micich    23.15
7th Christian DeVrieze 23.20
8th Ian Revell         23.25
9th Shirley Amy        24.43
10th Daniel Jackson    28.24
11th Emma Waldron      29.41
12th Derek DeVrieze    34.05

Full Results and Castlemaine CC write up: Here

Thanks to Castlemaine CC for running the event. A great course to test ourselves, welcoming visiting riders, $6 entry fee, portable toilet provided, friendly officials, and accurate timing. The weather was a bonus - plenty of sunshine and just a touch of wind.

Still so much to improve on, so I'm back to working on the building blocks to keep those numbers jumping. Final lab 1hr lab session coming up this week, then a 100km epic hilly road race this Sunday with Blackburn, followed by a TT up the 1:20 the following week..... Always something to keep training for!

Ballarat Sebastopol CC 2011 TT Champs (Sept 10th 2011)

2011-09-13T16:42:00.001+10:00

"Looks like it'll be cold and windy".... a spot on prediction from last week for the 2011 BSCC Time Trial Championships. I did a lap of the course before the race and the new SRM was reading a little low, either that or my legs were not up to the task... Visitors off first, so the final warm up was short and I was off chasing the two riders in front of me.

The first 2-3kms were straight into the head wind, with a slight drizzle. My minute man was caught and released at about 2km, two minute man caught at around 6km in. I was now chasing the course lead car, with its orange light flashing on the roof. Regardless of the obvious EVENT IN PROGRESS..... a ute pulled out from a side road chopping in front of me. I had to get off the TT bars and into some four letter words of encouragement. My HR jumped a little higher at that point. After working out where the accelerator was, they were soon up the road and out of the way and I was cranking along again without fear of putting my head into a rear tailgate.

On the final corner before the 7km stretch to the line there was a rattle coming from my TT bars. Arm pad loose? Clunk clunk. Nope, whole right TT bar was loose! Just as I hit the headwind, just when I need a good grip to keep the bike straight. It wasn't terminal so I pushed on it rather than pulled back and it didn't rattle around too much, and most importantly it didn't fall off. The SRM still reading way too low for the effort I was putting in...... Never mind, it hurt just like the rest so power didn't matter. 24:35 and average speed over 47km/h. The legs were up to the task!

Senior Top 10
*Shane Miller     00:24:35 47.65
*Andrew Weightman 00:26:48 43.71
Grant Gilbert     00:27:41 42.32 (BSCC Senior ITT Champion)
Michael Pierce    00:28:02 41.78
Sam Turley        00:28:07 41.64
Ben Clark         00:28:50 40.62
Sam Edwards       00:29:53 39.19
*Paul Ambry       00:30:03 38.98
Neville Bilney    00:30:59 37.81
Will Stewart      00:32:31 36.02

*Rider from visiting club
Full Results and club report HERE

Paulie calibrating his sun dial watch before the start

I was a minute faster than last year, and after having the SRM slope checked we found out it was out about 10%.... hmm... but good to have that problem sorted. Time trial #28 coming up this Saturday with Castlemaine CC at Harcourt, 5kms up a hill. No TT bike, no disc, no TT helmet. Going old school and as light as possible.

I've heard some of my creative material is getting a run as coursework.... really? Apologies to anyone subjected to this, it isn't really how you should race. Always attack and never look back!

A controlled diet today means I'm back to RMIT tomorrow for another lab session...... another hour of unknown power (we're not allowed to see the numbers).

Random Visual

Bakery name lol.

Lama on Ice... and Wangaratta CC TT Sat 3rd Sept, 2011.

2011-09-05T19:27:00.000+10:00

Blue sky for ski school!

The only reason I did Outdoor Ed in high school was for the week long ski trips in year 10 and 11, making it 16 years since I'd been skiing.... and now I feel old. Anyhow, I lined up for beginner ski lessons at Mt Hotham on the weekend with Von (a seasoned snowboarder trying skiing for the first time) and a handful of other girls..... Our female instructor was quick to point me out as the only guy.... pressure! 2hrs of ski basics, it all came back pretty quick. My parallel ski turns during our 'snow plough' exercise was quickly doused by the instructor with "He isn't anything special girls".... Ouch! I had a quick flashback to a few years back when I was told by the then Hawthorn CC president I was "No Lance Armstrong" and didn't deserve a club jersey for the upcoming team event... Oh yeah, feeling the love. Fist first.

Two hours was soon up and we were onto the real stuff, chairlifts and blue runs. I never thought I'd pick it up this fast after so many years. It was like riding a bike, but nothing like it.... I was spent by 2pm. Food, sleep, more food. Next time I'll see what damage I can do on black runs. Bring it on!

I drove over to Glenrowan on Saturday for the 36km TT held by Wangaratta CC. 18km out, 18km back. Pretty flat and a hell of a wind blowing. The only other rider to arrive early was the flying mullet himself, Ray Jarratt (Cobram CC). He pointed me in the right direction of the course and I went for a quick re-con drive. It was along one of those small country roads that you have to half-wheel in the car to pass oncoming traffic..... which means flying stones... which means a cracked windscreen on the Subie. Fark!

Subie windscreen on crack.

15 starters for the TT. A pretty good turn out given the Junior Nationals were on just up the road in Dookie. The organisers put me off last, chasing Tully Lyster (MMAS2 Vic TT Champ). I had a good ride for the first 8kms where I caught Tully, but struggled to keep the power down knowing we still had 28kms to go. I didn't manage to pull away from Tully until after the turn. It was only at 10km to go I could get into the right rhythm again and lift the pace as I started passing a few riders. I hit the line in 47:18. Such a different level of focus required for the longer TT events.

Top 10 Overall:
1. Shane Miller 47min 18sec
2. Tully Lyster     49min 18sec
3. James Boal 50min 27sec
4. Rhys Lyster    51min 12sec
5. Christian McDonald 52min 16sec
6. Ray Jarrett    53min 07sec
7. Jake Morgan    55min 35sec
8. Tony Reeckman    59min 18sec
9. Laurie Lyster    59min 21sec
10. Zane Douglas 1h 1min 05sec

It was an Oppy 1-2 for Tully and I.
Pic by Tony Reeckman (http://www.tonyreeckmanphotography.com)

Tony Reeckman has the full results and his race report over on his site: Here

Excellent event by Wangaratta CC. Timing was spot on, course was perfect, and everyone was up for a chat. I met a few guys who are just getting into TTs and who are already talking about chasing more speed for the next event. After presentations I drove back to Mt Hotham, knocking 17 minutes off the GPS arrival time by chasing a little Mazda 3 all the way to to the top.

Race loot, aka fuel money.

Heaps of snow on the top bits of Hotham.

2011 time trial number 27 next Saturday in Ballarat over 20kms. Looks like it'll be cold and windy, standard conditions for Ballarat all year round.

Random Visual

Spotted on a Hotham shuttle bus - Windows Vista. Just lol.

2011 Cycling SA - Masters State Time Trial Championships. Langhorne Creek. August 27th 2011

2011-08-28T18:32:00.000+10:00

A family visit in Horsham on the way there and back, the opportunity to ride (and record) the TT and road race course we'll be racing on in October, nice weather, and some new go-fast bits to test out on a course similar to the Ballarat Masters Nationals TT, and 8 hour drive for a 20km race added up.

A few things happen when you cross the border into South Australia. 110km/hr speed limits, better roads, different brands of chocolate milk, and dead bodies are found in barrels.

I've been told by a trusted authority of 'some things cycling' on the Interwebs to cut the crap and get to the good stuff in my blog.... no promises, but I'll try...

Langhorne Creek 20km course is almost dead flat, good road surface, not too busy, and always has a bit of wind. My two re-con rides were fast outbound, and a bit of a slog back into the wind. MMAS1 had 9 starters, 4 more than the Victorian titles. I'd met Corey Roberts (MMAS1) at the Victorian Elite TT champs a few weeks ago, and caught up with him at the warm-up/check-in/bike-check stuff around.

Stuff around indeed. 9 or 10 Cycling SA officials standing around, making us wait 15-20 minutes to get our bikes checked. Rumours were floating around that our aero drink bottles were classified as a "fairing", and our bars would be measured to the pivot point of levers, not the end of the bar extension itself......Hmmmm. In the wash up, my equipment and measurements were "spot on the limit". Excellent, only 20 minutes of planned warm-up time lost.... Good to see them enforcing rules though. No checks done at the Vic Masters or Elite TT championships, and a few questionable setups were spied!

"All Masters 1 line up at 11am!"... They attempted to herd us into line. 9 minutes of waiting in line? No. I kept rolling around. Standing still for that long then going flat-out isn't pretty. 3 minutes to go I lined up, and was soon off. Out way too fast, hurting way too much, standard TT procedure! I caught my minute man at 6km, 2 minute man just after the turn around, and passed a few more back towards the finish. 24:35. 46.6km/h on the SRM. The first 12kms felt good, the final 8km were a slog. Enough for 1st place and the gold medal in MMAS1 and fastest time of the day. Second fastest of the day was SA rider Nick Wood setting 26:02 in MMAS2 for that win.

MMAS1 Results:
1 Shane Miller (Vic) 24:35
2 Josh Smith       27:57
3 Lee Stevens        28:16
4 Corey Roberts      28:43
5 Darren Searle      28:58
Full Results/Report/Photos (when posted by Cycling SA)

Official results for MMAS1/2/3.

MMAS1 Podium.
Josh Smith on the right takes the SA State Title (1st SA rider in MMAS1)

Very happy with the win. Very happy the same game-plan as I used last weekend worked. I set a new Langhorne Creek 20km course record by 2min47sec too. Enough of the good things, no progress will be made without looking at the things I failed in:

- Warm up. Rode the 20km course in the morning but I didn't factor time for bike check delays. Final warm up was too short.
- Pacing. Totally screwed it. I knew the course and conditions well. No excuses.
- Didn't crack the 400W average I'm chasing. Not far off. More specific work to get there.

My old man was in town for the presentations. He was headed towards Victor Harbor for the weekend and called past to say g'day. That was pretty cool to have him there at the presentations for a state event. After downing a different branded ice-coffee milk I took off over to Willunga for a lap of the Australian Masters Games TT/RR course we'd be riding in October. We have some nice hills around Melbourne but the rollers around Willunga are magnificent! Can't wait to get back in October for the week of racing.

Thanks list:

- Team Kosdown. Always behind me while cranking out TTs around the country.
- Champion Systems. The Speedsuit is the best skinsuit I've ever pulled on. Amazing kit.
- Raoul Luescher / Luescher Teknik. For slamming my TT bike stem last week. The shoes I'm prototyping are still winning, and there is no way I'd be cranking out those times without my wind tunnel session. Raoul's knowledge of training and performance is endless. It's motivating just talking to him about upcoming races and goals. His take on things is real. No short cuts, no bullsh*t. I'm privileged to have his support.
- Cycling SA. All the officials were up for a friendly chat and had a few questions about racing in Victoria.
- Chameleon Photography for the pics I've snagged from the Cycling SA site.

Random Stuff...

I proclaim Murray Bridge the fake grass nature strip capital of Australia. It's like they're in denial they live in a pretty dry part of the country (discounting that small river that runs through town). I don't know why they can't embrace some Greek-Doncaster style and just cement everything! It'd give the Commodore army more real estate to rip epic burn-outs on.... If the last two nights were anything to go by, this is another past time I'm sure Murray Bridge hosts the world championships for.

It's always a good sign when the accommodation has a start ramp installed.

100km zone. Doing 110km/h chasing a truck with a "100 speed limited" sign on it.

Highway weed dealers not so under-cover with that number plate!

Castlemaine CC TT - Newstead & SVCC Len Laycock Trophy - Somers. Aug 20th/21st 2011

2011-08-22T19:40:00.001+10:00

Castlemaine CC 20km club time trial at Newstead. I'd ridden the '08 Masters TT champs and a TT out there in '09 sometime, so I knew the course. The course is pretty flat with a few bumps in the middle section. There were around 15 juniors and 17 or so seniors, with fastest ranked riders off first... so I was off early. Nobody to chase. With no pressure at this event I had the chance to try something new. Go out harder. Push harder. Hang on. A new mindset more than anything else. Trusting that 20kms is over in less than 30 minutes and the legs would hold up if I asked a little more of them. If I blew up and couldn't turn the cranks any more, no problems, I'd know the limit.

A breakthrough TT. I tried something different and it worked. I clocked a 25:38. 1st place by a few minutes, I knocked 2 minutes off the club record, and only 16 seconds off David Pell's Open TT record on the course in 2010. A world away from my previous times on this course.

Full Results:

I've decided to go over to South Australia later this week for the SA State Masters TT Championships after all, so I'm keen to do exactly what I did at Newstead. If I can hold those numbers in that race, and through to the Masters Nationals I'll be going well. The plan is to lift a little more with the next six weeks of training, and chasing a few more one-percenters with equipment. For every check-box ticked chasing more speed there are two more added to my list. It is getting all very focused, serious, and expensive. But I'm still having a hell of a lot of fun maximising my performance potential (to borrow a term of someone who's helping me get there).

I wrote about Southern Vets allowing MMAS1 riders to compete the other week, so Sunday it was time to put the welcome mat to the test. Perfect weather for a 78km road race around a 8km circuit at Somers (on the coast, it is the mainland opposite Phillip Island). I had no idea what kind of racing to expect, or the numbers in each grade. Turns out SVCC are very popular! I'm not sure of the exact numbers but there would have been 30-40 riders in each grade (A-F). No problems with my rego, straight to A Grade and no issues with my Elite CA license.

Neutral to the first corner onto the circuit, a right turn, where I took a look back and saw a larger bunch than I expected in A Grade, then more easy tapping for a few minutes. Of the 40 or so in A Grade I'd only seen two riders I knew. Hopefully this meant nobody knew who I was either.... so at 5mins I took off. The bunch let me go before a solo bridge across to me by #25 in Hampton Cycles kit. The two of us swung turns and kept an eye on what the bunch wanted to do. Still 72kms from the finish, it would have been a long day, but anything is possible so I kept cranking. #25 soon dropped back and told me to go solo. Still waaaaaay too early I told him to just sit on and I'd ride. Less than 1/2 a lap later he'd recovered and started rolling turns. The bunch was hovering 300-400m back, never letting us get too far away.

At the 26km mark the bunch had reeled us in. Most of them still rolling through turns at the front even after the catch was made. After getting chased down I wasn't going to contribute to the work, I wanted an easy sit for a while! Over the next few minutes there were a number of attacks, all went nowhere as they were quickly shut down. Legs hurting now after the break and marking moves, the rest of them had to be hurting too? So I attacked. This time a small group made it across from the main bunch. Rolling turns at this point is vital for the move to stick, and when a few riders didn't pull through after two of us had just ripped our turns on the front, I wasn't happy. I didn't know who they were, or what they were doing, I didn't even look back, all I knew is that there were a few not pulling through and trying to make break stick. My vocal frustration was soon met with protest about MMAS1, first race, etc. I was expecting it, so no surprises there. While difficult to debate at high speed, there were a few words thrown, lessons learned, and apologies given. We were soon down to five and rolling turns escaping the main bunch.

The five of us cranked out the remaining 44kms, getting out of sight of the bunch for the last few laps. At 2kms to go I jumped from the break a few 100m from the top corner. I had a good gap by the corner and ripped into the final 1km which had a slight tail wind making it a quick run to the line. At 250m I was able to sit up and take in the win, my first scratch race in a few months, my first race with SVCC. The guys in the break battled it out to the line a few seconds later. I owe them all a coffee or two for their work!

After the race there were drinks, beers, and plenty of happy people standing around enjoying the sunshine. The whole show lived up to the standards everyone talks about with SVCC. I've asked SVCC for more information about Len Laycock too, I'll post it up on here. After winning his race I want to know about his cycling career.

A Grade Results:
1. Shane Miller
2. Stuart Cameron
3. Mark Thompson
Full Results

Lab Rat Update

Two familiarisation sessions done, tomorrow we get into the final (real) four 1hr TTs. I don't mind an indoor session, but not having my precious numbers to stare at is hell.

Rule #1. Be Aero. Always. Shannon Johnson and I at RMIT.

Vic Open ITT (Tour of Geelong/NRS) & BBN/DeVer Kew ITT (August 12th and 14th 2011).

2011-08-15T20:15:00.003+10:00

CV: Victorian Open ITT Championships (Tour of Geelong / NRS) Friday 12th August 2011.

139 on the Elite men start list last Friday, 119 showing up to post a time. Apart from the 550 riders across all grades at the Tour of Bright TT, this is one of the largest TT fields anywhere in the country. The 28km course was the roller-coaster we rode two years ago. The wind was blowing from the other direction this year so times were a lot slower this time around. I gave it everything I had, my numbers were good, and I was happy with the pacing.

I was 21st last year in Portarlington, 23rd on this course two years ago, on Friday I rolled in 10th. 40 seconds off a podium spot and 90 seconds off winner Edward Bissaker (Team Jayco - AIS). Bissaker, 14 years my junior, was 1 second behind me two years ago in 24th place.... so give me two years, AIS backing, and knock off 14 years and I'll see what I can do in 2013!

<p>&amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br /&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt; &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;gt;</p>

Yes that is about 5 minutes of my arse. The video was all shaken up, so I'm now up to speed in VirtualDub and anti-shake video processing filters. I liked what the video showed though. There isn't much going on in a TT, just yourself, the wind, and a few traffic cones to keep you honest.

The best part about a top 10 is popping up on a few more write ups, like the Genesys report: http://genesysprocycling.com.au/?p=1976

Top 10 Elite Men:
1 Edward Bissaker (Team Jayco – AIS)          38:26.2
2 Nathan Haas (Genesys Wealth Advisers)      +00:38.3
3 Kane Walker (Genesys Wealth Advisers)       00:49.7
4 Anthony Giacoppo (Genesys Wealth Advisers) 01:00.4
5 Mark Jamieson (Jayco 2XU)                   01:00.6
6 Campbell Flakemore (Genesys Wealth Advisers)01:06.1
7 Thomas Collier (Tineli Racing)    01:15.8
8 Nicholas Dougall (Jayco 2XU)                01:21.6
9 Taylor Gunman (Pure Black Racing)           01:24.8
10 Shane Miller (Hawthorn CC)          01:30.0

Full results: Cycling News Report/Results
Leanne Cole Pics

I rolled back down the hill to watch a few riders tackle the final climb, where the kids from the Ceres Primary School were cheering us on. They were out in force with cow bells, posters, and had a million questions all about why TT bikes have silly handlebars and covered in wheels.

Poster of the day. Awesome work kids!

Blackburn CC/Bikes De Ver Kew ITT (Series Final). Sunday 14th August 2011.

The final round for 2011 at Kew was held with the sun out, but damp roads, so no full speed cornering on the course. 12 entries in A Grade with 9 riders showing on the day. Tom Leaper (Croydon Cycleworks) was my 30 second man again. I caught Tom on the same section of the course as last round. Knowing he'd have to put 30 seconds into me on the final lap I got to back off just a little. Tom passed me at the turn as we started lap 2, but I was back in front by the bottom of the next corner. I pulled away and kept clear to the line. 100m to go I sat up and ticked over to the line. My splits were good, low 30 minute ride, and Von was there taking photos.

A Grade Results

1  MILLER, Shane    30:13.65   Hawthorn Cycling Club

2  KELLY, David     30:43.63   Carnegie Caulfield CC

3  LEAPER, Tom      30:56.19   Blackburn Cycling Club Inc

4  LAMA, Martin     32:06.41   Blackburn Cycling Club Inc

5  LANE, Stephen    32:36.87   Footscray Cycling Club Inc

6  JOHNSON, Shannon 32:49.31   Preston Cycling Club Inc

7  JONES, Ciaran    33:34.25   Carnegie Caulfield CC

8  HALE, Michael    33:42.19   Carnegie Caulfield CC

9  SAWFORD, Mal     34:35.75   Carnegie Caulfield CC

Full results

David Kelly (Total Rush) just nudging out Tom for 2nd spot. That win made it four from four in the Blackburn CC / Bikes De Ver series, and the overall aggregate win in Elite. A big thanks to Blackburn CC for running the show again this year. It is a stupidly tough course to test ourselves on, and that is the best part!

Another battle with Tom Leaper under way. Photo by Marisa Farrell

Event photos by Marisa Farrell: HERE

Current tally is 23 TTs for the year, 21 TT wins. Castlemaine CC are holding a TT this Saturday at Newstead (details here) so I'll be lining up there for #24. I'm looking forward to a few long flat kms on that course. I've also registered for the South Australian Masters State ITT Championships on the 27th, a fair distance and investment for a time trial, but it's a state level event, so I'm in! In the mean time, back to grinding away, on the road and in the lab, building for October which is going to be super busy on the bike.

Never!

Southern Vets CC give green light to MMAS1

2011-08-06T15:42:00.000+10:00

Great news for MMAS1 aged riders.

The Cycling Australia affiliated Southern Vets CC recently held a vote on the topic of allowing MMAS1 riders (30-34) to compete in their events. With more 'for' than 'against', we're finally in! This brings Southern Vets CC into line recognising all UCI/CA/CV Masters age group categories. Note: Membership of Southern Vets CC is still restricted to Vets aged riders (M35+, W30+).

I've been a campaigner for the MMAS1 category since its introduction a few years back. Putting up with all the "Junior Masters", "Go race Elite", "MMAS2+ only" waffle and carry-on. In a sport full of 'because this is how it has always been' rules, this is a significant decision, and one I hope my emails, posts, and nagging has been a part of! :)

This opens up a whole new world of weekly racing throughout the whole year for MMAS1 riders. If that is you, or will be in the future, keep an eye on their race fixture at http://www.southernvets.com.au/ and get behind their events!

Shannon Johnson - Superbikes to Super Biker.

2011-08-04T19:26:00.000+10:00

Every now and then new people pop up in this sport and are somehow immediately ahead of everyone else. Ex-rowers, runners, triathletes (who've seen the light). They turn the heads of seasoned racing cyclists who ask, "Who the hell is that motor? And what the hell are they doing?!". The motor reference is due to them coming from nowhere and ripping peoples legs off, and the questionable tactics usually due to the early part of the learning curve they're on.

Rewind back few months to the Cycling Victoria Masters Criterium titles in Castlemaine. I'd looked at the start list and didn't know any of the other MMAS1 riders, and being crammed in with the MMAS2 bunch I didn't know who to watch. I went on the attack all race, keeping an eye on who was still looking good after each effort. Rider #2 in black and blue Bike'n'Bean kit was always near the front and never in too much trouble. After only a few laps we got the bell, a late surge of riders into the final corners, someone going off the course, the nearest MMAS1 rider was right on my wheel as we crossed the line. It was rider #2 - Shannon Johnson from Preston CC. After only taking up the sport a few months prior, and only having a few summer crits under his belt, Shannon had a great race!

So where had Shannon come from? What sport? Superbikes. Two wheels, one motor, a lot more speed, and a lot more injuries than we get from cycling. Shannon isn't one to boast too much about his past achievements, but with the power of Google I've done my research on my new MMAS1 competitor. He'd raced motorbikes for over 20 years, professionally, and has an impressive list of titles. (check them out here in a recent interview: http://www.trackdaypro.com.au/sjay.html)

After the Masters Crit champs, Shannon went to Perth to compete in the UCI Masters Championships qualifier. Winning MMAS1 ITT, and coming a close third in the road race. These results qualified him for the UCI Masters World Championships in Belgium in September. Shannon has quickly learned that the sport of cycling doesn't always go to plan - a 4hr car trip to Port Fairy to find out the Vic 100km Champs had been cancelled that day, resulting in no riding and a 4hr return trip home won't be something he'll look back favourably on. But his drive to succeed in the sport at warp-speed has already paid off. His achievements in the lead up to Belgium include the CV Melbourne to Ballarat, 1st place in the MMAS1 State Road Race, and 3rd in MMAS1 State ITT. I'll steal his status update from Facebook to give an insight into what those results took:

"finish work at 10.30p, bed at 12.00a, up at 5.15a doing planning and paper work to try get to Belgium, 7.30a eat, 8.00a finally some fun get out for a ride for a few hours, 12.00p nana nap, 1.00p drive to work, Repeat....."

No short-cuts, just bloody hard work. Add to this family time, and possibly no job to return to after taking time off for Belgium, labelling this "commitment" doesn't do it justice.

I've since raced with Shannon at the 3 Day Tour, in a few TTs, and we've both suffered in the RMIT lab at the hands of Dr Stephen Lane. It's a welcome change being around another cyclist who respects the sport at all levels of competition, who is aiming high, and is doing everything to get there.

Shannon has sponsorships with Specialized Bicycle Company, Bike N Bean, and PowerBar-Musashi. Not a bad list for someone new to the sport. In the lead up to Belgium he is calling on anyone who wants to be a part of his journey to Belgium. To get behind Shannon and to follow his lead up to the UCI Masters World Championships in Belgium, head over to his Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/ShannonJohnsonAthlete and hit "Like".

(Shannon I know you'll read this, so I'll put a note down here - You might be chasing me in TTs, but I'm looking behind me and pedalling like mad keeping you off my wheel! Once you're on that start line in Belgium just do what you've done so far on the bike. You'll kick arse! All the best!).

CV 2011 Victorian Masters ITT Championships & Blackburn CC Kew ITT.

2011-07-31T19:43:00.003+10:00

CV 2011 Victorian Masters ITT Championships, Harcourt, 20km. Saturday July 30th 2011

Road time trials #20 and #21 for the year this weekend. After a VO2 lab test and a few race-pace intervals on Thursday the legs were not as fresh as I thought they'd be on Saturday afternoon for the Cycling Victoria State Masters TT championships. The course was undulating and a lot tougher than I expected. #1 on my back, and a good pacing plan made up for the tired legs. I caught my one and two minute men just before 7kms in, my three minute man at around 11km.

27:43. 1st place MMAS1 for the state title and fastest time of the day. This TT was the fourth and final round of the Cycling Victoria Masters TT series. Being 1st placed Masters rider in all four events secures that series for me too.

New TT frame, doing its thing. Photo by Leanne Cole Photography

MMAS1 Results.
1st - Shane Miller (Kosdown / Hawthorn CC)
2nd - Stephen Lane (Bike'n'Bean / Footscray CC)
3rd - Shannon Johnson (Bike'n'Bean / Preston CC)
Full Results Here

MMAS1 TT Podium (inside and out of the rain)

Leanne Cole's shots from the weekend are superb! http://leannecole.com.au/ MMAS TT Gallery

Blackburn CC / Bikes DeVer ITT. Kew, 20km. Sunday July 31st 2011

Yesterday was tough, but Kew always takes the cake for pain. On top of the standard pain of TTing today I had something fly into my helmet at 500m into the race and sting the crap out of my ear. I rode half way up the first hill trying to get the little bitey bugger off. At the top I felt the sting kick in, but I could also see my 30 second man, Tom Leaper (BBN) just up the road so that got more of my attention. I caught Leaper at Yarra St on the way back and he shadowed my wheel through to the turn around. I was going to swing my elbow and get him to pull a turn before I managed to shake him.

Lap 2 was 15 seconds slower but still on target for a sub 30 minute time. The SRM just ticked over to 29:00 at base of the last climb, so it was all out to finish within that minute. 29:55. Just made it. It took a few minutes to recover and for the pain of the Bitey McStingy to return. 1st place and 52 seconds clear of Leaper. 20th road TT win for the year.

A Grade Results.

1    1 MILLER, Shane          29:55.29     Hawthorn Citizens Youth Club
 2    2 LEAPER, TOM            30:48.01     Blackburn Cycling Club Inc
 3    3 LAMA, Martin           32:08.26     Blackburn Cycling Club Inc
 4    6 PARLEVLIET, Cameron    33:26.13     Blackburn Cycling Club Inc
 5    4 SPENCER, Jason         33:32.17     Blackburn Cycling Club Inc
 6    5 SHERWIN, Matt          34:27.66     Macedon Ranges CC
 7   71 SITTAMPALAM, Gavin     38:24.26     Blackburn Cycling Club Inc

Full Results Here

The Vic Open TT is in a few weeks down in Geelong where I'll try to better my 21st place from last year up against the large Tour of Geelong field. I'm not expecting to pull anything spectacular out of the bag. It'll be in the middle of training for the Masters Nationals, being a TT lab rat at RMIT, and trying to drop a few useless kgs. Just head down, get it done, see where I end up, then go find a coffee!

In other news I'm now sponsored by THULE (roof racks, rails, cargo carry etc). The team have put up a post about this on the Kosdown website. We've used their rails/bike mount on the Subaru for the last few years, so it was great to have them jump up and get behind me while zipping around in the car chasing racing!

Buninyong TTT - July 24th 2011.

2011-07-27T20:21:00.000+10:00

Sorry, no race report. Hawthorn CC Elite Team #1 - Unable to field a team to reach the start line on Sunday. DNS. All wasn't lost, I helped out SKCC. Read Grace's report HERE instead.

In the hotly contested Masters division, the TFM-Celtic boys had a few issues of their own, but hit the start line with four riders and went about defending their state TTT title. Nice work guys.

I'm back to the lab tomorrow for another V02 test and other human probing fun. I've signed up for a few weeks of lab-rat work on a bicycle. Being labelled a 'Time Trial Study' and the enticement of 1hr intervals indoors sounds like my kind of fun.

This Saturday is the Masters State ITT championships, which is the final round of the Cycling Victoria 2011 Masters IRTT Aggregate that I'm leading after three rounds. 20kms of all out for this one - they've given me #1 to wear too, always a motivator wearing that number.

Then back to Kew on Sunday for the third round of the DeVer ITT series, which I'm also in a good position in after wins in the first two rounds. I never think too much about Kew, it hurts way too much, every time.

Random Visual

Now I have a nutritionist now helping me fuel the motor, she wants to know all about what I eat.. So walking into a bakery in Stawell today and seeing this made me sad... and hungry! :)

FOUR types of lamingtons!!?? You cruel bastards!

Cycling Victoria & CCCC Phillip Island TT - June 16th 2011

2011-07-18T20:39:00.000+10:00

Not a lot of blog updates lately, but a lot happening. I'll start with the racing...12 months ago the CCCC Phillip Island TT was my first TT after my hip/collarbone/etc break. I had a good ride and hit a new power PB, but it wasn't good enough. I was beaten by 13 seconds by John Cain (TFM-Celtic). Between then and this weekend I'd been to the Monash Uni wind tunnel, spent more money on my setup, done a few more TTs..... I was ready to get my 13 second revenge!

This year the TT event was an Open run in conjunction with Cycling Victoria, so we were up against some of the young guns from the Victorian Institute of Sport and a few National Road Series team riders. Thankfully those quick kids didn't qualify for the Masters IRTT Series, which was our own race with a race, and there isn't much you can do about your competition in a TT. The clock is our main competition, not them.

With a late start time I did the rounds of the car park warm up area, catching up with all the familiar faces, getting in some pre-race trash talking. The sun was out and everyone was looking forward to getting out on the circuit.

My start time finally rolled around, 12:10pm and I was off. With the data from last year I knew what lap times I had to ride. Lap 1 went well, under 6 minutes and right on schedule. Once I knew where the wind was coming it was a lot easier to pace the course. 18kms in 23:21. Another power PB on the TT bike over that distance. Nothing like a tail wind and home straight to really leave everything on the race track, the last km was 460W.

I was aiming for a podium, but wasn't sure where I'd end up given the young guns rolling around on the day. I am very very happy with the win. I still have a long list of things to check-off the improvement list too, so I'm still super motivated to keep my head down and riding hard!

Results - A Grade.

1 MILLER, Shane       MMAS1 Hawthorn CC           23:21.08
2 SHEPPARD, Eric      M23    Carnegie-Caulfield CC 23:46.57
3 GALLAGHER, Michael ELITEM Carnegie-Caulfield CC 23:46.93
4 SMITH, Stuart       M23    Leongatha CC          24:08.16
5 DENNIS, Peter       ELITEM Hawthorn Citizens YC 24:08.50
6 SPENCER, Jason      ELITEM Blackburn CC          24:09.37
7 CAIN, John          ELITEM Carnegie-Caulfield CC 24:20.91
8 LAMA, Martin        MMAS3 Blackburn CC          24:40.99
9 KAH, Danny          MMAS3 Carnegie-Caulfield CC 24:53.40
10 CUMMINGS, Jack      JM19   Carnegie-Caulfield CC 24:55.68

Full Resutls (PDF)
Carnegie Caulfield CC Report and Photos
Jxpphotography Event Photos

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HTC Desire S - Brand Ambassador

If you've been following my Twitter you may have seen my post about this already. I was runner-up in a promo competition with HTC during the Tour de France. The winner getting a week long trip over to follow the final stages of the Tour. So close!!!!....... As a runner up, HTC have sent me a brand new HTC Desire S to use (and keep!) and some HTC Highroad kit... in return I've been writing up short snippets of things about the phone for their Facebook page. I'm up to 15 articles, and I think they've published them all so far! Check them out at https://www.facebook.com/HTCau?sk=app_251315594884338 if you want to see what I'm on about. Pretty cool experience being part of the marketing side of things. All honest write ups too, nothing up my sleeve. As an iPhone die-hard it's been good to see what the competition (Android) is up to.

Finally - The new TT frame has arrived!

I've been banging on about looking for new TT frame for a few months now. My current TT frame is a few years old, and the new ones have a few nifty 'aero' features that would knock a few seconds off my times. We spoke to a few frame distributors, resellers, etc, but nothing eventuated. With precision timing, our team sponsor Kosdown Printing has just stepped up their commitment to the team and with their help I'll now be ripping around on a new Malvern Star Oppy TT frame. Now I'm on the hunt for an ANT+ crank power meter... garage sale time to fund that one!

By the way, the team has put out the call for U23/Dev squad applications, more info on the team website.

More news in a few days when I finalise some paperwork.... but for now....

A Creepy Random Visual

Safety House Zone? Just make sure you've had a tetanus boost kids!

Gippsland ITT Champs & Blackburn CC Kew ITT (June 25-26th 2011)

2011-06-26T17:53:00.003+10:00

Guns and Time Trials - ACE!

Another two-up TT weekend, my 17th and 18th TT for the year. Gippsland ITT Championship titles at Cloverlea and Blackburn CC hosting Round #2 of the Bikes DeVer ITT Series at Kew. After a week of indoor intervals thanks to the rain, I'd be under done or well tapered. The weather gods were on our side again, with two days of sunshine and a little bit of wind.

Gippsland ITT Championships 2011 - June 25th 2011

Hosted by Warragul CC. Elite was three times around the 11.33kms around the Cloverlea circuit, 34kms all up. As an 'outsider' I was allowed entry but not allowed to contest the title (Gippsland clubs only). This was fair enough, I wish the state titles would run the same way.... The course was brilliant. A rolling hills section for a few kms, mixed with some long straight flat sections. It had something for everyone. Including the sweet organic smell of cow shit and small yappy dogs running on the road. Thankfully Mr Yappy got out of my way before being introduced to Mr High Pressure Tubular.

I was off 2nd off in Elite, #1 was 30 seconds ahead and caught and passed 900m in. My catch-and-release race strategy was thrown out the window early on with nobody up the road for the next 20kms until I started hitting the later starting Masters grades. Kane Walker (Genesys) was the only name I knew on the Elite start list. Nothing like a National Road Series rider 11 years my junior to make sure I kept my head down for the whole 34kms!

Three consistent laps, 46:07 44.2km/h, it was a quick course. I rode the fastest time of the day, with Kane Walker in 2nd with a 49:24 and taking the Gippsland Elite ITT title. Another great event by a country club, everyone was keen for a chat, trash talk, and a laugh. Apart from the cows, it was a nice part of the state I hadn't raced before.

Results - Elite (I'll update when they're published)
1. Shane Miller (Kosdown) 46:07
2. Kane Walker (Genesys) 49:24 - Gippsland Elite ITT Champion 2011
3. Jim Timmer-Arends 49:42
4. Simon Baxter 53:37

Blackburn CC Kew ITT (Bikes DeVer) - June 26th 2011

64 pre-entered so the numbers were good even though it was 'Cycling Sunday', clashing with the Preston Handicap (CV) and Melburn-Roobaix (FYXO). Tim White (HCC) was my main concern today. He was meant to start 30 seconds ahead of me, but made it to the start line a handful of seconds late, meaning I was closing on his wheel at the 5km turnaround. A northerly wind usually suits this course, but it was a little too gusty today, blowing us around and very wide on some of the corners. There isn't much more to recall, just pedal hard, hold on, and hope it ends soon!

Results - A Grade
1. Shane Miller (Kosdown) 30:18
2. Tim White (HCC)        31:49
3. Martin Lama (BBN)      32:15
4. Ciaran Jones (CCCC)    33:18
5. Cam Parlevliet (BBN)   33:19

Full results HERE

To answer James and Andrew who asked me today after the race, today was #17, and I'm still having fun!

Leanne Cole was at Kew taking some 'pain face' shots. Pic Link

Cycling Victoria and Geelong CC ITTs - Paraparap. June 18th 2011

2011-06-19T19:34:00.005+10:00

Pic (c) http://thebellevelo.tumblr.com

Round #2 of the 2011 Victorian Masters IRTT series was hosted by Geelong CC on Saturday in typical wintery conditions. Geelong CC run a number of time trials throughout the year that I've competed in before, so finding 'Paraparap' wasn't a problem, and I was familiar with the out-and-back (but not back to the starting point) Forest Rd course. 9:30am was the 28km Cycling Victoria Open ITT event, with a club holding a TT on the same course at 1:30pm. I originally thought the second TT was going to be a slightly shorter 20kms, but this wasn't the case. On the menu was 2x 28km. Thinking I'd bitten off more than I could chew, I'd put everything into the first one and see what was left for the second.

All familiar faces at the rego desk, Cycling Victoria officials from last weekend at the Three Day Tour, and also Shaun O'Callaghan. Last weekend Shaun was ripping it up in the 3DT, taking out the yellow jersey in C Grade, this week he was out at Paraparap doing his bit for the sport on the other side of the table. Great to see.

There was a little drizzle about on the course so the roads were damp. The wind was 30km/h westerly. This meant a 3km head wind, into a side-ish wind on the out and back section. John Cain (TFM-Celtic) was my target for the day at one minute up the road. A few of the Masters riders in contention for the four-race series were DNS which means a major shuffling of the series as riders have to compete in all four.

I was out of the gates at exactly 10:21am, into the headwind, and chasing TT arch rival John Cain. It took a while to get John in my sights. At around 8km I was pegging him back, slowly, all while getting covered in road filth from passing cars near the quarry entrance off Forest Rd. I was only a few lengths off his wheel at the 15.8km turnaround point. John took off like a rocket from the turnaround opening up a gap that would take me another 3-4km to close and pass him (thanks to the hills!). John pegged me at about 10 seconds up the road for the final 10kms. The final km is a quick run to the line. I clocked 38:49, a happy power number for a 28k-er, and a heart rate that proved I was working hard to keep John behind me!

We had to wait for the presentations to find out the final results. Andrew Weightman (Cycling-Inform) had just nudged out John at the Vets ITT Champs a few weeks ago for the Gold in the MMAS4 category. Results in - I took out the win, with Weightman in 2nd, again just ahead of Big John in 3rd. No stress from John though, I hear he will actually start training this week.

A Grade - Cycling Victoria Paraparap ITT

1. Shane Miller (Kosdown) 38:49
2. Andrew Weightman (Cycling-Inform) +1:08
3. John Cain (TFM-Celtic) +1:14
4. Martin Lama (BBN) +2:00

Full Results
Photo Gallery: By @thebellevelo

Geelong CC 28km ITT

Lunch eaten, bike cleaned, warm up v2.0 done, back to the start line. John Burtt and Rudy Schmidt running the show this time around, much less stress involved. No sheep stations up for grabs at a club TT, just glass trophies, the kind that remind me of what Nana Miller used to bring home from the Jeparit Golf Club when she had a good day out. Geelong CC riders also battling among themselves for aggregate points for the road season.

After a few laughs on the start line, and a generous gap of three minutes to my 'minute man', I was off again. The legs were feeling good for the first 5km but I backed off just a little as there was still another 23km to go. Filthy conditions again, wet road, and the wind was still blowing. 10kms in I finally caught my first rider, from the non-aero category. I can't hear a lot with the TT helmet on, but I do recall some interesting language describing the speed differential as I came past this guy. From there onwards riders were evenly spread up the road from both aero and non-aero categories. The final 5kms were the toughest of the day, slogging into the wind and seeing how close I could get to my earlier time of the day. Across the line with 39:31. 42 seconds slower, but only 6W down in power. Lots of interesting data to review and compare from the two events.

Results:

Aero Category
1. Shane Miller (Kosdown)   39:31
2. Stephane Vander Brugg   +06:50
3. Mick Sheehan           +08:51
4. Bob Gartlabnd               +08:56
5. Nick Lanham               +09:12

Non-Aero Category
1. Simon Masters (Geelong CC) 47:45
2. Daryl Suter                              +0:57
3. Erik Holt                                +01:43
4. William Key                          +01:54
5. Dennis Wright                       +02:17

Full results, write up, and pics over at Geelong CC.

John holding, Rudy keeping an eye on the cows.

Started two TTs with a clean bike. Finished two TTs with a filthy bike.

Next up, two more TTs next weekend. Gippsland TT champs on Saturday then back to Kew on Sunday for the 20km roller-coaster TT. 15 road TT wins clocked up in 2011, new goal is as many as I can keep doing. The secret (and not so secret) lists of things I need to upgrade/improve is growing after every event. The obsession continues....

Supporting the Supporters

Cycling Victoria - I'm thanking these guys a lot these days, but for good reason. Making the TT series a reality, having commissars show up early on weekends to run the events, pushing out results / write ups / and entry reminders on the Internet. All very handy.

Geelong CC - John, Rudy, Simon (webmaster), and everyone involved all day Saturday. Also for the free food from Bakers Delight, the BBQ, the accurate timing, and for always welcoming riders from other clubs to their events. I'll always be on the start list if I can get down that way when they're running a TT.

Paul Ambry - For sorting out a horror tubular tyre situation I was in. Tyre glued, race won on it. Ace!

Team Kosdown - In particular the team boss, Kos Samaras, who after putting in some long hours this week with a new team website launch, ended up with a broken collarbone today while racing a Vets crit race. All the best with the healing Kos!

Northern Combine 3 Day Tour 2011 - Post Tour Wrap

2011-06-16T14:59:00.003+10:00

Over for another year, already! Hot on the heels of the Queen of the Classics out at Balliang, the Three Day Tour around the Macedon Ranges was a huge success. If you were not shuffling around with sore legs on Tuesday morning, you would be in the minority (and you didn't go hard enough!). We've had a few days to rest and recover, and now it's back to training. The photographers have all uploaded their goods, blogs and race reports are popping up, and the anonymous forum posts about the tour are still not worth mentioning...

I thought I'd put together a list of the goods, the bads, and the links. Maybe you've seen the pics and read the blogs, but if not, enjoy!

The Good:
- The weather. Amazing.
- The racing. A Grade was hands down the best tour/GC racing I've competed in.
- Bunch sizes. 40 riders was perfect for the country roads we were on. No 100+ riders fighting for road, crossing white lines, etc. Bunch sprints/kicks were safe!
- The courses/routes. All challenging. The TT was a little short, but still proved to be a good battle. No major bergs either (Mt Macedon ascent next year!?)
- Event coverage/promotion by Cycling Victoria. My daily A Grade reports were popular (thanks for reading!)
- The atmosphere. Simon who was following Womens B Grade ringing a cow-bell as A Grade ripped past on Stage 3. Previous stage DNF riders out on course switching to spectator mode and cheering the bunches on. The photographers snapping away.
- The presentations. MC Mr Elliott did a great job, making all the typical 'dad' style gaffes....."HSC study".. Interviewing the sponsors before they handed out the prizes, and interviewing some of the riders too.
- Event sponsor, Griffyn, from No Limit Cycle Repairs dominated in the marketing/PR department all weekend. I spoke to him a few times, and I watched him fix bikes on the spot in no time at all - The guy had energy.
- Lisa walking around with a tub of lollies for D Grade... which I did a handful of damage to.... nom!

The Bad:
- Timing system issues in the TT and road stages. A number of contested placings ended up with interesting results, not just mine.
- No finish line cameras. Essential for disputes. Wireless chip theory is good, but visuals are a lot better.
- Results being published on another site before the official 3DT site. Many people couldn't find them. One site, one location, all the information. Stick sponsors names/images/links all over it, but distributing the info across sites meant people had to go on a click-hunt session.
- One of the sponsors missing at the presentations, awkward for them. 100+ racing cyclists in one room? A marketing/branding/PR opportunity missed guys!
- Three days isn't long enough. Lets race for a week! :)

The Links:
Photos by Brian Mangano - All Stages
Photos by Robert Groom - (Stage 4)
Photos by Ash Milne - (Stages 1,2,3)
Video by Kathryn Feldmaier - http://vimeo.com/25014573 (Linked to in my last post)
Blog by SoulDevotion: http://staytruecycling.blogspot.com/ (A Grade)
Blog by Brendan Bailey: http://thenewtimer.blogspot.com/ (A Grade)
Blog by Dave Anderson: http://gobravedave.wordpress.com/ (His weekly wrap ups are great.)
Blog by TDR Racing: http://tdr-melbourne.blogspot.com/ (C and D Grade)
Blog by Andy Christie: http://achristiecycling.blogspot.com/ (A Grade)

Three Day Tour Sponsors List: http://www.3daytour.org/sponsors.html

My Thanks:
- Everyone involved in running the show from start to finish. Lots of people behind the scenes, their work very much appreciated.
- Team Kosdown and our sponsors. The guys rode hard, rode smart, and the results followed. 2 stage wins, a 2nd, a 4th, and 2nd on GC. And 3rd in the KOM battle.
- Cycling Victoria again for their re-Tweets and Facebook link sharing of my race reports.
- The StKilda Womens Dev Squad - For finding great accommodation, and providing amusing stories from the Womens B Grade race over the weekend.
- Raoul from Luescher Teknik - The shoes are going strong! So is the carbon repaired frame I rode in stages 1,3,4.
- My Chiro, Dr. Elizabeth Walker at absolutebodyhealth.com.au... essential when riding a TT bike all the time.

So what's up next.....? Four time trials in the next two weeks. Back to pure TT training and forever chasing those one-percent advantages in between..... get on board, hold on!

55.2km/h ave on the stealth bike... 1st place Stage 2 ITT

Northern Combine 3 Day Tour 2011 - Day 3. The decider.

2011-06-13T22:01:00.009+10:00

The third day of sunshine today for Stage 4... Global warming a problem? No way. Burn more oil, this makes for perfect weather for racing bikes in winter.

First up Stage 2 report redux. Very late last night the numbers were crunched and TT times were posted for the TT and Stage 3. Phew... the show was back on the rails. I'd got the TT stage win and a few small gaps had opened up in the GC battle. Nick 'The Beard' Bensley (SoulDevotion) didn't have a bad TT after all with 6:31, and was now on our GC hit-list for Stage 4. Tim 'Chain Twister' White (Hawthorn) had ripped a 6:29 for 2nd place in the TT, but was an unfortunate DNS for Stage 4.

Stage 4 - Pastoria Loop x5 (100km)

80km on the #NC3dt website, 100km in the official program.... so it was 100km we'd be doing. I was only 4 seconds down on Nathan 'E Dog' Elliott (Search2Retain) for overall GC at the start of the day. In all honesty that is a huge margin against someone who's in form and flying up hills at the moment. I was looking to fight to hold that 2nd spot, and if the opportunity popped up, I'd have a dig at some bonus seconds if I was there at the end.

Roll out was somewhere out the road, we managed to get there on time and rolled off after being wished luck by Klaus 'The Godfather' Mueller (Cycling Australia). A ripping southerly wind again today, which ironed out the climbs nicely. All day we were pushed up the exposed/moonscape climb and over to the rolling hills on the back of the course. Kos 'The Smurf' Samaras (Kosdown) and Aaron 'Teh Kitteh' Christiansen (The Big Ring) were allowed up the road and were kept at a 25-45 second margin for a lap or two. The bunch was happy to let them sit there, team work-horses keeping the pace. After a dash for hill points, Andy 'KOM Kid' Christie (Lawson Homes) and Marc Loecherer (Italo) tip-toe away from the bunch and set off towards Samaras and Christiansen. The two pairs off the front in sight at all times. When they combined it was noted by the bunch and the pace driven higher by the assigned work-horses.

Christiansen was the first to drift back to the bunch before the next Bald Hill climb, with the other three getting reeled in over the next 15km with perfect precision. Not too fast, not too slow. The reel-in was done by Elliott's team mate, Tom 'Motor' Donald (Search2Retain), with a massive pull on the front. Christie was back in the bunch and no longer a threat to Elliott's GC. David 'Attacking' Abraham (Lawson Homes) who was well down on GC launched a few solo attempts off the front coming into the final lap. He was left to dangle, no chase was on, but he was swept up each time as the pace of the bunch lifted towards the final kms.

The bunch was together leading into the final rolling hills towards the final ascent of Bald Hill. Conor 'Way too many Wheatbix for breakfast' Murtagh (Quick Cycle) made life hard for us with a few punchy attacks off the front. At one point getting a gap with Elliott that had me and Gabe 'The guy who's name I now know' Carey (LSDSports) chasing, swinging elbows, and wishing someone else would help out. Shannon 'MotoGP' Johnson (Bike'n'Bean) and Luca 'GC protector' Giacomin (Kosdown) offered the assistance we were looking for and closed the two down.

The finish was only a km or so downhill from the Bald Hill KOM, so whoever made it over the top would contest the stage, and possibly GC. Just as we hit the base of the climb, Murtagh attacks. Elliott goes with him and jams it on the front. Only seven survive over the top.... six of them being the top six GC contenders! The pace was up on the run to the line. I sat at the rear of the group as a few attacks were quickly closed down. Line in sight, one last attack went, I can't recall who it was. Christie on his wheel, me third wheel on Christie. The sprint opens up. Bensley smoking it and hitting the front, I rip up the windy side on the rough-as-guts run to the line. Elliott on my right and closing. A drag race to the line. Bensley taking the win, I threw at the line and saw Elliott's yellow jersey beside me on the line.

No stage win for me and no riders between Elliott and I, so no change to our 1-2 on GC, Elliott taking the well deserved overall. I claim "second or third" to the claims judge, they asked if I wanted to contest it. Sure, why not. Nothing to lose. It'd only mean the difference between Elliot winning by a few seconds less. Christie listed as claiming 4th on the stage. Somehow in the wash-up I was given 4th..... I don't know how a close battle for 2nd ends up with 4th?.... did anyone get a finish line photo? Arh well, no change to my GC position and I'm bloody happy to have mixed it up so well with a field of quality riders over the 100km Stage 4.

Update 1: I got the photo! Stage 4 finish line.....

Bigger resolution version: Here. Thanks to http://robertgroom.com.au!

Update 2: Ripper finish line shot by Brian Mangano...

63km/h and 2m from the Stage 4 Finish Line. And I'm on the hoods!!?? Photo (c) Brian Mangano.

As I've mentioned in previous posts, Elliott is a good mate, and a bloody classy bike rider. He rides hard, rides smart, pulls monster turns in a break when it counts, and attacks like there is no tomorrow. I've spent the at least 7hrs this weekend either on his wheel, not sticking him in the gutter when he is on mine, and responding to his attacks. To see him in yellow from day one and keep it through to the end - in words he would use himself, "I rate that'.

A Grade Overall GC

1. Nathan ELLIOTT (Search2Retain) 7:01:52
2. Shane MILLER (Kosdown)              +10
3. Andy CHRISTIE (Lawson Homes)        +26
4. Nick BENSLEY (SoulDevotion)         +27
5. Gabriel CAREY (LSDSports)           +40
6. Conor MURTAGH (QuickCycle)          +57
7. Thomas DONALD (Search2Retain)     +1:01
8. Luca GIACOMIN (Kosdown)           +1:02
9. Dean SANFILIPPO (RapidoCycles)    +1:06
10. Trent WILLIAMS (Bikes Direct)     +1:29

Full Results HERE

I'll gather a list of photographer links and things over the coming days and post up. Heaps of happy snappers out there on course getting great shots in the sunshine, one being Kathryn Feldmaier who made the awesome video below. I make an appearance at 1:21, TT hurt box. Watch it in HD and full screen for best viewing.

Northern Combine 3 Day Tour 2011 - Day 2. Team Kosdown FTW!

2011-06-12T21:15:00.000+10:00

E Dog in yellow!

6:25am alarm, punching myself in the face putting arm warmers on, and a balmy 7 degrees outside - An almost perfect start to day 2 at the #NC3dt.

Stage 2 - 6k Time Trial
Everyone who'd glanced the route on CyclingProfiles thought it was downhill. Devil was in the detail, the actual scale indicated 30m drop over 6km. Even an unattended shopping trolley with ceramic bearings wouldn't ghost away from you on that kind of gradient. However the wind would ensure it'd leave one hell of a dint in your Datson 180B in the car park! 25-30km/h southerly wind, not too gusty, pushing us along the entire route. An atypical starting order, A Grade first in number order, not reverse number order. So we were off really early before the wind really started picking up.

Not much to report for a 6km TT - Peg that power number, then exceed it a little, then a bit more. I caught my 30 second man who was cranking on a road bike, no TT bars. No sign of Nathan Elliott (Search2Retain) who was my minute man. I was hoping to at least pull him back into sight, but with the tail wind and short distance, there wouldn't be much separating us anyway. I ended up with a 6:24, 421W, 55.2km/h average. I swung back around and Elliott's mum tells me the recorded time, 6:24, spot on! Elliott did a 6:30. So with his 10 second advantage at the start of the day, he would retain the yellow jersey for Stage 3, assuming nobody else came stomping in with a better time. No more results were spied from the officials, so we eagerly awaited what Nick Bensley (SoulDevotion) had done and some of those fast-spinning U19/U23 kids would rip out. Bensley wasn't too happy with his ride, somewhere around 7mins he thought when I had a chat with him. Official results will be more accurate than car park chatter - so we waited for those. And waited for those.... and waited for.... and waited.... and.... Oh look at the time, Stage 3 starts in 10 minutes.

There is talk of 'timing issues' for this stage. Mine was reported to me independently, and it was correct. I don't know the full detail. Maybe they sent riders off at the wrong times? Surely something that is sorted out with manual time keeping.... At the track there is the electronic system, plus three hand timers. A road TT being a little harder to administer with the finish being 6kms away.... but still... all too late now. Rumor has it the stage could be scrapped. I'll refrain from posting my opinion on that and what it means for GC and how it reflects on the entire tour..... no guesses I'd light it up with words that'd have that raggedy haired dude on SBS' Letters and Numbers consulting his monster dictionary for an epic offensive word-score!

A Grade - Time Trial Results

TBA. If the stage is scrapped I'll be asking for riders to submit their own times, honesty system, because the first rule of TTs is "TIME YOURSELF"....

Stage 3 - 70km Kyneton-Sutton Grange and back again.

SoulDevotion stomping! Bensely ripping it from the start. The TT friendly tail wind also became our friend for the first half of this stage. 41km/h+ average at a quick guess, with Bensley up the road on a solo mission from hell. Lots of friendly chatter in the bunch today, a few people had read my report from Stage 1, thanks to the promotion of it by Cycling Victoria. People seem to know who I am, I'm getting to know the other riders, and remembering names, such as the 'guy in LSDsports kit', Gabe. Handy to remember these things, who's who, etc. A Grade doesn't really suffer from any bitching and moaning I'm hearing from other grades, there is a level of respect we have for each other. No (intentional) wheel chopping, no (intentional) dodgy moves, no throwing people in the gutter and off the road. Just bloody hard racing 'when the shit goes down', and everyone looking out for each other. Potholes, cars up, cars back, all communicated well throughout the bunch. No psych outs, no shit talking, a few laughs here and there. The A Grade race results are all legs, lungs, luck, and a few tactics thrown in. Racing as it should be.

Back to the race.... A quicker than expected return trip as team work-horses got on the front for their protected riders. Bensely was soon back in sight. Tim White (Hawthorn) had a nasty mechanical on the way back, dropping his chain then somehow twisting it beyond a usable state. That was a loss, he's a fair unit with a good motor who'd kill it in the head wind. The hammer was down up the final climb around 12kms from the finish. A few attacks being launched but nothing getting away. Bensely was swept up after a huge solo effort, I had my fingers crossed for him, it would have been a gutsy ride had he survived. In amongst all the attacks and chasing 'the right' combination of riders split off the front. Three or four riders it looked like, with almost every team represented and no GC riders spotted in the mix. A few more were allowed to bridge across as the bunch watched, tapped away, and kept them just out of striking distance.

Elliott was a little nervous of the time gap and lifted the pace to minimise the finishing time as we came into the final few kms. The group up the road battled for line honours and the time bonuses on offer as the bunch scrambled for that coveted billionth place sprint (damn sprinters!), a lot of us sitting up and not risking the battle, a few crossing the center line for their run to the line..... Right where the officials were watching! We were told to keep rolling back into town. Um, what about claims....? Electronic timing should cover that...

So who won? Cam McKenzie from Team Kosdown. Hell yeah! Cam was taken out at Calder Park only a few weeks back, now he's back and ripping A Grade wins. He'd slipped into the break late in the race and hit them perfectly in the sprint. The smile on his face for the next hour was only matched by team boss Kos Samaras who'd seen it unfold from the chase bunch. The Milky Bars are on us! No change to GC that we're aware of. Tomorrow might shuffle a few things. Though having the TT results would shuffle things into correct order before that battle begins.

Klaus Mueller - Godfather, Cycling Australia.

A Grade Results - Stage 3 (from memory, I'll update when official results are out....)

1. Cam McKenzie (Kosdown)
2. Peter English (SoulDevotion) st
3. Tom Donald (Search2Retain) st
4. Gabe Carey (LSDsports) st

A Grade GC - After Stage 3

We don't know. Elliott in yellow we think.

Random Mechanicals.....

Too much power Tim!

Northern Combine 3 Day Tour 2011 - Day 1. Every E-Dog has his day.

2011-06-11T18:27:00.002+10:00

Sunny skies, stiff wind, and a great showing of 40 top Northern Combine riders this season at the start line of A Grade today. 90kms around the Lancefield loop, a route with a few memorable sections we've all been dropped on at one point in our cycling careers. Dons Rd, the Newham pincher, Rochford long-drag, and the epic downhill and super-fast few kms back into town. Today was no different, each of those sections determined who'd be fighting out at the end.

A nervous bunch at the start, all tapered, all ready to race. Everyone had an idea of what the teams would do, the solo riders would be in a position to benefit from that if they jumped on the right moves. Easy pace for the first few kms until Kosmos Samaras (Kosdown) puts down the first attack of the tour. Nobody responds and Samaras is dangling 400m up the road for a while. Andy Christie (Lawson Homes) is allowed to jump across, and another rider almost made it before drifting back. Ross Muller (Brunswick) was also allowed a shot at reaching the break but was brought back to the bunch on the road toward Rochford when the pace picked up.

There was 50 seconds gap to the two leaders as we started lap 2. Samaras and Christie were still in sight. The guys from SoulDevotion had not made the break but Nick Bensley and their boys were keen to keep the breakaway in sight. And that's exactly what they did. With the help of Shannon Johnson (Bike'n'Bean) they kept picking up the pace to keep the break in sight for most of the race. SoulDevotion are the kind of guys I like racing with. All happy for a chat, understand tactics, all race hard. Great way to represent their team and sponsors.

On the final lap the break were out of sight with over a minute advantage. The pace dropped on the head/side wind section of the course, I'd have put all my money on Samaras and Christie taking 1-2 with the bunch rolling in a few minutes down. Unfortunately there is always one thing that 'easy racing' means, it'll be followed by all out HELL. Elliott and Bensely attacked up Dons Rd towards Newham. I latched onto the move, but the bunch was soon back together. This hurt a few legs and when Tim White (Hawthorn) and Cam Clamp (Hawthorn) attacked again from the Newham corner the bunch was stripped down to only 15-20 riders. The pace was kept high towards Rochford. We could now see Samras and Christie up the road and we were pulling them back. The chase bunch was hectic, all trying to pull turns, a few wheel chops in the wind, lots of suffering. Elliott attacked at the base of the Rochford and strung out the field. This is best defined as 'when the shit went down'. This involves a lot of suffering, drool, and hanging on to the move with everything you've got. Elliott and Gabe Carey (LSDsports) gained a 20m advantage on what was left of the chase bunch. Bensley putting in a monster turn before I got on the front, telling him to get on! Crank crank crank, still nothing gained on Elliott and Carey. I swung my elbow at Bensley, nop, he was in the hurt box so I kept my head down. Elliott is too dangerous to let go. Conor Murtagh (QuickCycle) ripped past us, I dug into the reserves and went with him. We made it across to Elliott and co at the KOM point. Spent, but looking back the bunch had exploded. The hammer was down back into town as we swept up Samaras and Christie. So this was it. Lead group of 7-8 riders, 4 km to go, bunch spread back up the road. Time gaps were showing!

Myself and Elliott had 1-2'ed the Hell of the West last weekend, and as I've said in that report, he's a good mate. And a bloody good rider. He proved this to me again when he hit our lead group with a solo move off the front, 2kms to go. With #1 on his back, surely they wouldn't let him go? The chase was on, but put a TTer off the front with a massive tail wind, they'll ride "with the power of 10 men" (thanks to Phil Liggett for that quote). The bunch hesitated for a few seconds and Elliott wasn't going to be caught. Into the final corner there wasn't much in it, but it was a race for 2nd, Christie had held on and contributed to the Elliott chase and was about to lead through the corner before it came up faster than I thought.... "Shit... Inside!" to let him know I was carrying more speed than I expected, and he let me though. If I didn't jump them now I'd be leading them out for a sprint, so I kicked early and TTed towards Elliott. Team workhorse, Luca Giacomin (Kosdown) was in the mix at the end but was pulling away from them for a comfortable 2nd a few seconds behind the well deserved win by Elliott.

Hard-men effort of the day goes to Samaras and Christie for battling it out for almost 80kms together. Elliott taking the win was all class today. Only one team mate to help him out, making 'the race defining move' by hitting the bunch up Rochford, then hitting them again for a solo win. Awesome.

Tomorrow morning - The Time Trial. Bring it!

A Grade Results (unofficial, I'll update these when posted)

1. Nathan Elliott (Search2Retain)
2. Shane Miller (Kosdown) +3 sec
3. Andy Christie (Lawson Homes)
4. Luca Giacomin (Kosdown)

Random Visual

The place we're staying is ace. Massive old house, lots of exploring to do, and recovery sessions with my friends.....

Northern Combine 3 Day Tour 2011 - Day 0

2011-06-10T14:49:00.000+10:00

Team S. S. Minnow.

Hopefully I'll be in a position to report on the daily action from A Grade. Team Kosdown have a great line up this year, a few of us have the form to aim for a podium spot.... and after our win at the "Hell of the West" one day classic, we'll be closely watched by the other teams/riders. Snagging the win at the HoW has taken some pressure off me coming into the 3DT, no questions about form, it was enough to win last weekend, so should be good enough to mix it with the top hitters this weekend. If not, I'll switch to work-horse mode and go for a gallop in the TT.

There's a fair amount of luck involved in a four stage, three day race. And I may need it after the saddle at the Metros and rear spoke at the HoW..... There is a follow car with spares, but as a GC contender there isn't much hope of getting back on post a wheel change. This isn't the ProTour, and I'd expect the challengers to hit the front and hammer it if any contenders are sidelined. Anyone not considered a GC threat can slip up the road and gain a few seconds on the bunch too. Back in 2009 a 52 second lead by two riders on Stage 1 was enough to secure them both podium places. A rider who missed his TT start also soloed away for a 5min stage win in Stage 3 as well, with no impact on overall GC. Two examples of how a tour is a lot different to a one day race. Time bonuses down to 5th place means any bunch sprints on 1/2 roads will be dangerous as hell.

Stage 1 is around the well worn Lancefield loop tomorrow, hopefully something interesting will unfold. We're ready for anything and our plans could change in a second depending on how things end up. My main aim is to stay out of trouble, grab any opportunity that pops up, but my focus early on will be Stage 2, the Time Trial. 6kms isn't an ideal distance for a time trial, it will be over in a few minutes. I know what power I can hold over that distance, so the plan is simply to peg that number and fight it all the way. No tactics, equipment is sorted, position is sorted, no stress, just watch the Watts on the SRM. This will be my 14th time trial for the year, not including track pursuits, so the prep is automatic. (TTs #15 and #16 are in Geelong next weekend).

Carbo loading is done, blerk, after a quick 45mins on the Richmond boulevard on the TT bike.... where I had another encounter of the wheel-sucking kind. 1km from finishing my last interval Mr High-Helmet-BMC spots me approaching, but doesn't swing over to the left to let me pass. He swings wide, right in front of me, then gets out of the saddle to latch onto my wheel as I swerve to the wrong side of the road to pass him, or more accurately, to avoid hitting him. I'm not a rolling TAB, I've no idea why I attract so many rolling punters. Thanks for the motivation to crank that final section buddy!

3 Day Tour Info Links:

Official Website: http://www.3daytour.org/
Official Program: 3-Day-Tour-Tour-Program-2011.pdf (that isn't on the official website..........)
Somewhat Official Facebook Northern Combine Group: Facebook

I'll try tweet out anything of note, results, etc, if/when I can. But for now...... Let's race!

Lab Test Llama.......

2011-06-07T20:00:00.000+10:00

V02, Lactate Threshold, face masks, blood sampling, pain, all on an indoor bike. Fun? For the most part, yeah! I got into the sport of cycling later in life, wasting those early years of athletic potential tapping keyboards, learning about the Internets (yeah, before EVERYONE knew what it was), chasing IT industry certifications, all things that would lead me to a life of crime... I mean.. a professional career in IT security.

Riding bikes was initially a bit of fun, it became a little more serious when I started racing, then stepped up a notch when I started doing alright in a few races. There have been a few setbacks along the way, collarbones snapping like twigs (x3) and a hip that wasn't up to the task of holding together when slammed into the road.... but the upward trend has continued... Power is creeping up and I'm still hitting PB's on some old Cycle2Max climbs. Throw in an obsession with equipment, being wind tunnel 'tested', chasing TTs all over the place, racing and beating a few pro riders over summer in our local crits.... the question was always there, I wonder how far I could have taken this? (Note, past tense, I'm 33 in a few months, stop asking me if I'm going to ride the Tour mum!)

After competing against me in the recent YarraTri TT and again at the Kew TTs, Dr Stephen Lane from HPTech offered to get me into the lab to see what I was made of. (so to speak, no muscle biopsies yet, phew!) I've been offered a lab testing session a while back, but never went though with it. I didn't want to know my genetic limiters, I didn't want to be told I'd never make it, I'd have only obsessed about the test and trained specificity for it. Probably a good thing I didn't do it. But the timing of Stephen's offer was perfect. I've been racing well for the last 6 months, I'm in pretty good form, so why not? Hook me up to the system lets go!

We've all seen pictures of athletes in the lab. All hooked up, it's exactly what you'd expect. The mouthpiece isn't as bad as it looks, it is also your friend, it's the only way you'll suck in oxygen once the nose clip is on.

The test consisted of a warm up, then the power required to turn the cranks being stepped up every few minutes, through to exhaustion. The first few minutes are easy, the middle is hard work, the end is hell. I had the numbers on the screen next to me so could see the indicators of 'system overload' before my legs wouldn't cooperate any longer. Blood tests were done through every interval to check lactate levels. Usually when I finish an effort on the bike I look back and think "I could have lasted a little longer"... but not in this instance. That was all I had today. Totally spent.

"The numbers, what were your numbers!?!?!". Well I won't be riding the Tour, and mum, you're to blame! We gained some insight into why I'm doing well in time trials and races with repeated efforts (Kew Crits). That's all I'll give away for now. I have some data to go over, a few things I can add to my training schedule to maximize what I'm working with.

If you're keen to know your own limiters, I'd recommend getting into a lab and going through a little bit of pain. Head on over to the HPTech website and get in contact with Stephen if you're keen to get tested as part of his research projects.

Supporting the supporters!

Dr Stephen Lane from HPTech http://www.hptek.blogspot.com/ for the lab test and helping identify some areas I can work on.

Cycling Victoria - In particular Paul Lumsden their new Communications Manager. Paul has been reporting club races/results/photos via Twitter, Facebook, and the CV main page. I've sent Paul and Kipp a thanks already for this, but I wanted to point out their good work on here too, no doubt you've seen the increase in reports they're posting. This helps promote clubs, their events, the riders, and the sponsors of both. In turn, getting more people into competing and more people interested in following the sport (sponsors, etc).

Footscray Cycling Club ITT Championships 2011

2011-06-06T11:06:00.000+10:00

Footscray CC allowed members from other clubs to compete in their ITT championships on Sunday, so the alarm clock was set early, and I was headed out west, only a few kms away from where we'd raced Saturdays Hell of the West. Going over the West Gate Bridge, the massive flags were a good indicator of the wind, a killer north westerly... this would make for an interesting 40km TT!

This was my first Footscray CC event, and I think I've said before how much I enjoy club events. Here is why:

- Online pre-entry via the web for this TT.
- They sent out an SMS the day prior informing entrants of the start lists being posted.
- Map and start list printed and provided when signing in for race.
- Corner marshals, and marshals on blind hills to warn of oncoming traffic.
- Spot on accurate timing, and lap splits for A Grade (the only grade doing two laps).
- Prompt results, presentations, and awarding of medals across grades, and a sash to the club ITT champ.
- $15 entry fee and generous prize money was a bonus too.

As a visiting competitor I was warmly welcomed by their members and officials. Top stuff. So onto the race, summed up in a Time Trial Flowchart.....

Of course there is a lot more than that... I won't bore everyone with a blow by blow (did I mention the wind?) of solo riding..... back to dot points for the race summary:

- First 6.5km was into a head/side wind and up a gradual rise, topping out with a few pinch hills.
- The next 3.5km were downhill, into an epic cross wind. Passing cars meant being sandblasted.
- 10km-17km was done at 60km/h, front Zipp 404 singing loudly with the tailwind coming straight from Hell (of the west).
- A few kms of cross wind and lap 1 was complete.
- The wind picked up for lap 2. Many riders opting not to ride on their TT extensions.
- More sandblasting, falling bits of tree hitting me on the head.
- Visions of Raoul Luescher shaking his head whenever I wasn't holding proper TT form....
- Actually being scared for the first time in a while as a gust almost knocked me off the road at 55km/h.
- Finish line in sight, crank it, done! 56:05.

The cool down was a little eerie, we'd been fighting the wind for close to an hour, and all of a sudden everything was quiet.... the silence soon broken with people recounting their battle stories.

A Grade Results:

No. Name.              First Split. Final Time.
1. Shane Miller (Haw) 26:52:64     56:05:68
2. Adam Murchie       27:03:09     56:46:79 (Footscray ITT Champion 2011)
3. Ben Johnson        27:13:06     57:21:99
4. Lachie Doak        27:32:66     57:50:18
5. Daniel Hopper      27:57:04     58:36:39
6. Dom Dudkiewicz     28:26:43     59:50:02
7. Matt Bailey        28:55:68     60:46:31
8. Chris Pescott      30:17:37     63:19:68
9. Adam Trewin        31:25:59     66:04:79
10. Ben Douglas (Haw) 29:57:89     DNF (puncture)

Full results: http://www.footscraycc.com.au/uploads/media/ITT_05-06-11.pdf

$130 for 1st place, a nice surprise for an hour racing. I was aiming for 10 TT wins this year, my tally is currently sitting at 12. There are 20+ on the TT calendar through to the end of the year, so my current TT bike is on shaky ground. The urge to upgrade and keep putting everything into these next TTs is strong.... but this weekends prize money is already allocated to a chain, saddle, and a fixing broken spoke in a rear wheel (broken at Hell of the West, happy it held to the end!). Upgrades may be put on the back burner. As Lance once said, "Where the f'ck is my left nut!?"... no wait, wrong quote... "It's not about the bike". (much)

Northern Combine: Hell of the West - 2011

2011-06-04T22:48:00.003+10:00

The 'one day classic' of the Northern Combine road season. Run by Melton CC, the race is now a scratch race, and no longer finishes at the top of the epically steep berg that makes everyone switch cassettes for the day. This year featured 3km of dirt/gravel, a nasty side wind, and the epic berg ascent half way into the race. The actual location of Balliang is still somewhat of a mystery, with the GPS devices taking people a number of different ways, and dumping them somewhere within 10kms of the Balliang hall, making them stop on the side of the road and wait for a car with bikes mounted to go flying past at an authoritative-I-know-where-it-is 120km/h. We counted five or six GPS trusting victims as we made our way there.

A Grade got underway with 30 or so starters. In the pack were a mix of solo riders, NRS teams (John West, Search2Retain, LSDsports), and local teams (SoleDevotion, Bike Gallery, Fitzroy Revolution, Bikes Direct, Rapido, and Kosdown). A start line attack was instigated by a rider, the outcome of this move was outlined in the Road Race Flowchart I created the other day. A few km down the road Kos Samaras (Kosdown) goes solo up the road and dangles a few 100m off the front. More than 80kms from the finish line, nobody was too keen to spend energy chasing him down. Up over the first few hills, the 3km dirt section flew by..... literally... it flew by on our left.... the corner wasn't marshaled. Lindsay Tunbridge (Kosdown) drove the course before the race and knew we were lost. A bit of confusion hit the bunch as Samaras pulled up after hitting the main road. Yep, A Grade were off course, and a little confused.

Being up near the front I thought I'd take the initiative and organise a turn-around. We'd let Samaras get his 20 second advantage he had before we came to a halt, then we'd continue racing (and take the correct turn). Everyone ok with that? Yep.. no.. wait... we have a protest! A rider wasn't happy with giving Samaras back his 20 seconds advantage. I was busy being loud and trying to communicate to everyone what we'd do to correct the situation - but someone wasn't happy. I didn't quite get the reasoning but it was something to do with 20 seconds being different or harder now we turned back into a head wind. What? We had no time for a mediation session, I got fired up. Kos was up the road. So I called "race on", in words to that effect, and took off angry. We almost got a break going at that point too.... but we were all back together at the turn off to the dirt section. I passed the protesting rider on the dirt and let him know it wasn't my intention to piss anyone off, I just wanted to get back to racing, in the fairest way. All good, we were cool, and we were back on the (correct) course and racing.

Dirt section lived up to the hype, it was hell. Follow a wheel and hold on. The wind was coming from side on so there was no easy sit no matter where you were, and the rolling resistance of dirt isn't ideal. Nathan Elliott (Search2Retain) was chopped onto the shoulder... but he didn't stop there... he ventured out a good three meters ripping it agricultural style on 23mm tyres. We all thought he was heading for a front flip right into an Ambo ride home, but the wiley fox kept it upright, and somehow made it back to the road. Mad skills and a lot of luck! Then he had the nerve to hit the front and drive the speed..... and why not? It was his lucky day! We all suffered through with two or three riders getting dropped as we hit the safety of the bitumen.

The next 20kms were side-wind hell. A group of four getting away, one echelon chasing, and everyone at the back chewing their handlebars. It took the race smarts of two Kosdowners to start working a second echelon before things became a little easier on the legs (cheers guys!). We saw the front group of four split up and disband their breakaway efforts at the turn off the main road, 10kms before he main climb. The road leading to the climb was done at a pedestrian pace. A few riders making moves off the front, never far from view. One did manage to slip away, being caught well after the climb.

"The climb" was hell. But that isn't anything new, it's always hell. Elliott made it over first from the bunch, an LSDsports rider not far off, and I came rolling through on them both as we picked up the pace into the headwind. A Soul Devotion rider bridged across and we were soon on the 'other' side wind section of the course. This group of five should have been the break that stayed away. Not to be. A group of four or five were back on. The front bunch was now 10 riders at the 70km mark.

For the next 15kms it was attack, chase, bunch ride, repeat, frustrating as hell. A number of riders willing to attack, a number of riders willing to chase and sit. At one point I counter attacked myself twice just to make them chase over and over again. Elliott was active off the front a few times, along with a Trent Williams (Bikes Direct). Nothing staying away as the bunch looked like they wanted a sprint.

10kms to go people were dropping wheels mid bunch. Then they'd chase like mad when an acceleration went around them to close the gap. This happened three or four times and was putting everyone into the hurt box. 7km to go Elliott and I got off the front. No more hills, a tail wind after the next corner, and two riders who like a time trial. Perfect! We pulled some hefty turns as the bunch tried, once again, to pull us back. Luca Giacomin (Kodsown) bridged across to Elliott and I by himself but soon drifted back to the chasing bunch. The finish was now only 5kms up the road, the chase bunch drifting backwards at 100-150m and the gap was growing. At 1km to go we knew we had it. A 1-2 in any order is a result we'd be happy with.... but we're both racers, so no gifts! No cat and mouse, we'd sprint from wherever we were. At 800m to go I was on the front, 300m out Elliott starts the charge, pulling beside me then 1/2 a length in front. Side by side drag race! I slowly pulled him back then pull away and took the win. 20kms earlier I was ripping suicide attacks thinking the day would end up in a bunch sprint, not knowing it'd end up in a two up TT smash session with a good mate, and the win! Happy days!

Finish line salute going up! (Pic by Peter O'Callaghan)

A Grade Results:
1. Shane Miller (HCC/Kosdown)
2. Nathan Elliott (Brunswick/Search2Retain)
3. Trent Williams (Bikes Direct)
4. Dean Sanfilippo (Brunswick)

Full results HERE

Andrew Blake has a huge set of photos from the race up on Flickr - Capturing almost every rider up the hill, and finishing line shots. Have a look at them, fantastic shots: HERE

Yep, happy days!

Road Race Flowchart.....

2011-06-02T19:43:00.001+10:00

It's no secret I love a time trial, crit races are also fun on two wheels, but we're now into road season! In winter, racing cyclists are fed on a diet of long road races, aka scratch races. Where the only tactic is to finish in front of the people you start with. Simple? No. Road racing is complex, add in teams, mates, and seeking in-race revenge on that prick that pulled the field back to your wheel when you went up the road, it can get a little busy. I've come up with a very high-level flowchart of how road racing unfolds, not taken from any coaching book, not made up on the fly, but put together while twiddling my thumbs... in a road race.

This should explain the workings of what happens in a typical club/combine road race, with no focus on result, just lasting the distance. I've got a few more charts for crits, TTs, and commuting, they'll be posted up once I've verified the information they contain is UCI certified.

Supporting the supporters!

Another section I'll add to the blog when applicable, like the random visuals. I'll use this section to mention the people/products/companies who've recently helped me in some way or I've been involved with. The big players get a logo posted up on the right. I'm happy promoting those who get behind me.

BikeForce - Heath Jackson, Marketing Manager from BikeForce roped me into their latest TV ad shoot down in Altona. I was happy to rock up and help out, in my undercover-plain kit. You won't even notice me... except if they use the take where I missed the pedal at the start. Not pro! Thankfully it's a move away from their last memorable ad..... the 7am start was freezing but the breakfast and coffee after was superb!

I got my bike..... I got my bike...... v2.0 aarhhhhhh!!!! :)

Total Rush - Luke McKenzie read about my saddle snapping skills at the Metro champs and has offered me a loaner Specialized Romin saddle to try out for the next few weeks. I also saw the new Shiv TT bike while I was at Total Rush, it looks nice and quick.... but... it didn't follow me home, so I'm still hunting for one of these next-gen TT frames.....

Hell of the West should be a good saddle testing race.

Capilano Honey - Honey Shotz - Emma from Calpilano Marketing & PR is a reader of the blog and has sent me a box of 100(!) Honey Shotz energy gel-thingys. At 7g per shot they're a little inefficient to use on the bike (you need 4 of them for an equivalent carb-hit to a standard gel). But I've still managed to finish half a box of them - They're pure honey so they go well in hot drinks too! A 600g squeeze bottle would be better for in-race energy, if you can stomach that much honey at once. Bzzzzzzzzzz!

2011 Victorian Metro Road Race Championships MMAS1/2/3 - May 28th 2011

2011-05-29T20:36:00.003+10:00

Today's pooch screwer, my saddle.

These reports are getting popular so I have to watch what I say. Today at the Metro Championships I was approached by a rider who said "You called me a pooch screwer!". It took me a second to think where I'd have done such a thing..... oohhhhh... Castlemaine crit champs, final corner, 2nd wheel crash. Yep, that is how I explained his predicament in my write up. Thankfully it was all taken in good humor.... which was my intention. :)

Five MMAS1 riders in the combined MMAS1/2/3 bunch for the 2011 Victorian Metro Road Race Championships hosted by Castlemaine CC at Harcourt. 14 or so others in MMAS2 & 3. We were read our rights before the 56km race, the commissaire needed a little nudge in reminding everyone that each age group would be racing for a set of medals/state title. This tidbit of information must have been missed by some given the tactics we'd see out the road...

The first 5km roll out was at pedestrian pace. One attack. Everyone jumps on it. James Grant (SKCC, MMAS1) rolls to the front and puts the hammer down. I jump on, so does everyone else. Too early, everyone had fresh legs. Shorty after I hear (and feel) a CRACK from my bike. Shit. A quick check of everything, and the saddle feels a little softer than normal. Broken. Fizik Antares snapped right through the middle. Bastard. It didn't feel too bad, I could sit further back and it was ok, I could sit forward on the nose and that wasn't too bad either. So as long as the leather covering held the plastic bits onto the rails, I should be ok. I just had to get off the saddle when we hit any major bumps..... in-race arse injury risk management.

Of the few moves early on, nothing got away. Through the small rolling hills, the hammer was down, but the bunch was always together. We were on a go-slow at the 20km mark. Drink, eat, watch, wait. Andrew McGrath (HCC, MMAS1) and I on the front and the pace is still down. Since all my moves were marked, he may have a chance at getting away if nobody chases. I tell him to go - he goes, and GOES, and was soon out of sight! A few kms later a MMAS3 rider launches attack/chase, I'm on the front questioning what he's doing, a MMAS1 rider is no threat to his title.... did he miss the pre-race memo? I wasn't going to chase McGrath at this point, and I wouldn't be bringing the field up to his wheel if I did. I'd love to see him get the win if he pulled it off from this far out.

We were paced up the hills leading to the 40km mark climb by an awesome domestique (cheers Jase!). The pace was quick on a few climbs before the main climb of the day, sapping some of the energy from the bunch. Most riders still hanging in strong. At the turn towards the base of the main climb, I attempt an attack for a solo ride across to McGrath. A move that would be no threat to MMAS2/3 riders, but they missed the memo too, and chased me down right away.

At the base of the main climb we get "1 minute" to McGrath from a support car. He was now back in view up the road too. I go solo off the front up the climb, 16kms from home. If there was a point on the course where 'the shit goes down' it'll be on this climb. And the shit went down! The bunch shattered by the time I'd reached the top. Paul Mason (CCCC, MMAS2) and Harry Brennan (CCCC, MMAS3) bridged across to me at the top of the climb. We had a good 80m gap on the chasing bunch, who at this point, HAD to chase. There was a MMAS1 up the road, and a MMAS1,2,3 off the front of the main bunch. The combination was the most dangerous there could have been, we'd sweep up all the titles on offer regardless of how we finished if we stayed away.

We turned ourselves inside out to get over the never ending rolling hills for the next 8kms, in the process picking up McGrath who jumped on and helped keep the pace high, not a bad effort after being away for over 20kms solo. I kept an eye on the chasing bunch, they were making progress on us. Even more reason to rip long monster turns in the breakaway. The four of us lifted and pulled longer turns where we could, the gap started to grow nicely. Once we hit the main road and the fast downhill to the line for 3kms we knew we wouldn't get caught. No need to cat-and-mouse, we each had our own races to win. McGrath and I would decide the MMAS1 title. The hammer was still down as we flew into town for line honours, Mason makes the first move out of the saddle towards the line, quickly responded to by Brennan, McGrath opens the door for me to rip up the inside of them both, I take the sprint, and the Vic MMAS1 Metro Road Race title. McGrath 2nd in MMAS1, Mason 1st in MMAS2, Rider X 1st in MMAS3. Handshakes and smiles from all as we roll down. That final 15kms was all honest hard work with the unique situation of everyone being rewarded for the result. Three state titles, and McGrath more than happy with his 2nd place after his solo escape and digging deep to stay in the break.

The presentations by MC Shirley Amy (Castlemaine CC) were excellent. The first thing she explained was why the 'Metro' championships were out in the country. "Because nobody else put their hand up to have them". Can't argue with that, and the homemade cakes, cookies, and coffee were great!

MMAS1
1. Shane Miller (Kosdown/HCC)
2. Andrew McGrath (HCC)
3. Nick Youngs (CCCC)

MMAS2
1. Paul Mason (CCCC)
2. Stuart Cameron (SthVets)
3. James McArdle (Dirt Riders)

MMAS3
1. Harry Brennan (CCCC)
2. Miles Dacosta (Footscray)
3. Adrian Sinnatt (Blackburn)

Full official results HERE.

MMAS1 Podium..... 3rd missed the podium memo.

Leanne Cole caught a great shot of the break and the chase bunch: Breakaway!

Now.. onto fixing that saddle issue.....

This won't hold....

3x TT Weekend. May 21st/22nd 2011

2011-05-22T22:55:00.001+10:00

Three time trials, 64kms, in 23 hours. Wasn't as bad as it sounds, it was a blast. Last weekend 2xTT was good prep. I was hoping for a weekend where I could write up the events, no stories to tell, just racing and results. Hope was lost when lining up for the Northern Combine ITT registration. 15 people or so in the line, I noticed a hunstman spider looking half dead on the path we were standing on. "oh, spider...." side step *crunch*. Problem solved! I didn't want the little bastard crawling up my leg. Before I'd even scraped said spider off my foot, Jodie Bachelor (Cycling-Inform) lets out "SHANE! I was saving it!!!!" in a very-familiar-to-me nasty school teacher tone. Hmmmm. Well, not much I could do except shrug and let out "Kill or be killed!".... not helping the situation, but unless the thing was on a leash with a ball in its mouth - it wasn't a pet, it was public enemy #1.

Northern Combine ITT Championships 2011 - Balliang. 24km. May 21st 2011.

The Combine had previously played the hokie pokie with the MMAS1 category for the past few years, it was in, it was out, it was... whatever... I have an Elite license so can nominate either Masters or Elite for events. I nominated to race Elite this year. 19 on the Elite start list, 14 showed up. Perfect weather, low 20's, sunny, and a ripping northerly wind. The two riders I was watching were Nick Bensley (Sole Devotion) and Jake Sutherland (Total Rush). Bensely taking a 3rd at the recent Oceana TT champs in Shepparton, and 1st in the B Grade TT at the Canberra Tour. And Sutherland was last years winner, and always on form and up for a strong TT. There were a few other younger 'next generation' riders that have raced track for a few years and are capable of some quick times on the road too.

Being off last I was hearing all about the head wind on the way out and the super-fast return trip home from riders who were rolling in. They were right, it was a nasty headwind. The open road meant it wasn't too blustery, so it was head down and just crank into it. 12km out, 12km back, with the return trip being a lot faster. At about 8km I had a rider up the road that I was pegging back. I couldn't tell who it was until I was only a few seconds off their wheel at the turn, it was my minute man, Sutherland. Getting within striking distance at the turnaround was a good indication I was going well. I ripped out of the corner and had to back it off a little for the spin session home. 53/11 most of the way back. I sat 20-30m from Sutherland for a few kms and lifting again to pass him as we caught a few more riders. The road soon twisted to the right and became a little more tricky in the wind. One rider level pegging me for a few hundred meters, I was happy to have someone next to me, it was a good motivator to crank even harder.... but they were soon drifting backwards. 5kms to go, crank crank crank, wheels screaming at 55-60km/h at this point. Right turn and 400m to the line. 100m before I hit the line two oncoming cars swerve onto my side of the road. I became traffic director, with my hands and mouth as I crossed the line. "Caution Cyclists" signs up, people everywhere, oncoming rider, who drives into them? Top effort that. Finishing a TT is always a bit of chaos and agro at the best of times. Throw in some blind car drivers and it's all fun and games.

31:46 on the SRM. I rolled back to the line to check the times, David Morgan told me not to believe my own timing, as the official time was the only one they care about. He had a laugh then pointed to the 31:46 on the finishing sheet. Nice work! Spot on. Presentations were a little confusing as it included the handicap results (nominate your time pre-race, see if you can match it). I'd done enough to claim the fastest time of the day, and most importantly the Elite TT title, Bensley 2nd +51sec, Sutherland 3rd +1:20.

1 Shane MILLER      Hawthorn    31:46.22
2 Nick BENSLEY      St Kilda    32:37.51
3 Jacob SUTHERLAND Brunswick   33:06.90
4 Luca GIACOMIN     Brunswick   33:19.67
5 Dean SANFILIPPO   Brunswick   34:09.33
6 Shaun O'CALLAGHAN Brunswick   34:44.30
7 Mitch COOPER      Brunswick   35:17.64
8 Thomas DAPCICH    Brunswick   35:34.73
9 James BUTLER      Sunbury     36:38.30
10 Stephen LANE     St Kilda    37:08.81
Full Results HERE

Cycling Victoria - Yarra Boulevard TT. 20km. May 22nd 2011

This is an Open event and is part of the Masters ITT series. A seriously high level field on the start list. National Road Series teams, Drapac, Genesis, VIS, Search2Retain all represented. It'd be an interesting test to see where I was against pro riders, and the next-gen riders stepping up through the ranks. With dry roads and the northerly wind making the course fast, I expected sub 30 minute times from Darren Lapthorne (Drapac, 2006 National Road champ), Alex Morgan (VIS), and Steele van Hoff (Genesis).

Not much to report about the event itself. I hit the first turn at 5km 15 seconds faster than what I was aiming for. First lap 14:30. I could see I was up on both Lapthorne and Stuart Grimsey (both Drapac), and Masters Series rival, John Cain (TFM-Celtic). The others I didn't see to take note of the passing spot on the out and back course. Suffered like mad on the final climb, but that is always the case at Kew! 3rd for me, at an A Grade Open level event - has to be up there for one of my best results on the bike. Being 1st Masters rider gave me full points for Round #1 of that series too.

A Grade
 1    6 MORGAN, Alexander      29:26.97     Blackburn Cycling Club Inc
 2   12 VON, Steele            29:38.91     Chelsea & Peninsula C C
 3   98 MILLER, Shane          29:41.23     Hawthorn CC
 4    5 WATSON, Calvin         30:13.88     Carnegie Caulfield CC
 5   14 LEAPER, Tom            30:28.23     Blackburn Cycling Club Inc
 6    8 DOVE, Liam             30:33.07     Blackburn Cycling Club Inc
 7   10 WHITE, Timothy         30:48.03     Hawthorn CC
 8   16 GRIMSEY, Stuart        30:48.91     Blackburn Cycling Club Inc
 9   15 LAPTHORNE, Darren      31:12.97     Coburg Cycling Club Inc
10    9 CUMMINGS, Jack         31:13.29     Carnegie Caulfield CC

Full list published on Blackburn CC website: HERE

Serious race face. Comes before pain face.
Taped up bike. No more free ride advertising that brand....

Blackburn CC - Yarra Boulevard TT. 20km. May 22nd 2011

I'm still not sure why they run a second event, for 1/2 as much entry fee.... but 30 minutes after the CyclingVictoria TT a few of us lined up again for another 20km. There were a few riders in the mix who didn't do the first one, bringing fresh legs, they'd be the riders to watch. There were about 20 entries in A Grade and the start line was a little hectic. I was soon on my way, same plan of attack as before, just backing off a little as the legs were toasted. 5km turn around at 7:30. First lap 15 mins flat. Then the final lap was done with whatever was left. Power was 20W down from the first TT, but if it wasn't I'd be thinking I didn't go hard enough for that. I didn't crack under 30mins this time around, but a 30:17 was enough for the A Grade win and $50 envelope!

A Grade
 1  103 MILLER, Shane          30:17.60     Hawthorn CC
 2  102 LEAPER, Tom            31:32.13     Blackburn Cycling Club Inc
 3  109 PARLEVLIET, Cameron    32:32.54     Blackburn Cycling Club Inc
 4  108 COUSINS, Stephen       32:42.10     Blackburn Cycling Club Inc
 5  101 MORGAN, Alex           32:44.88     Blackburn Cycling Club Inc
 6  105 LAMA, Martin           32:47.91     Blackburn Cycling Club Inc
 7  185 BOWMAN, Vaughan        33:08.67     Carnegie Caulfield CC
 8  115 BOYDELL, Clement       33:20.85     Carnegie Caulfield CC
 9  113 KLAJNBLAT, Jake        33:34.29     Carnegie Caulfield CC
10  116 JOHNSON, Shannon       33:55.60     Preston Cycling Club Inc

Full list published on Blackburn CC website: HERE

Lunch money.... But I was only $20 up after $60 in entry fees

Leanne Cole has a ton of pics up on her site from both events. One of me here: http://www.leannecole.com.au/index.php?do=photocart&viewImage=160648&zoom=yes

And Jarrod at jxpphotography.com has a few up too: http://www.onlinepictureproof.com/jxp/albums/events/167337/browse/148/?w=625&h=525

Five TTs in the past 8 days. Four wins, one 3rd. A nice swag of results that I'm happy with. The 3rd at Open Elite level is on par with, if not better, than a club level win. Next weekend it's back to the road bike for the Metro Road Championships. I'm not sure of the history behind country/metro and why they're split. I'm no city kid, but Hawthorn CC is 'metro' so I'll ride that, oh, and it's held 2hrs away in the country. Confusing much? Yes.

Random Visual.

I had my spies keeping a close eye on my Masters competition. We gathered a number of shots of big John Cain. We found something! It looks like he has been practicing his aero facial expression all summer. Here are five different shots of JC at the start line...... with his new 'aero expression' locked into place.

2x TT weekend #1: Geelong CC & YarraTri ITTs. May 14th/15th 2011

2011-05-15T21:17:00.002+10:00

Who wears a TT helmet to the toilet? It was a bizarre sight today seeing the tail of an aero helmet on the floor sticking out from under the door as I went for a pre-race pee. I hope Aero McTurdy managed to get out of his skinsuit in time, he was obviously in a hurry!

First things first before tales of today, tails of yesterday.....

Geelong ITT - Sutherlands Creek. May 14th 2011.

Standard Melbourne rain/grey weather meant people were pulling the pin on the Northern Combine race, including the lift Von had lined up to Newham in the morning. A 2pm start in Geelong meant I could drop her there, if she could get a lift home. All sorted, and I was off on Tour de Victoria for the day. Newham was dry but insanely cold, 6 degrees on the car dash. The coffee shop was open. Newham must be an old gold digging area, and they're still at it, a coffee and small muffin set me back $8.70. I caught the riders fly past on lap 1 before trusting the TomTom iPhone App to get me to Geelong. The automated voice directions were somewhat amusing, "Right turn ahead, towards Jizzborne" (Gisborne).... but after 120kms and some small back roads later, it delivered me to the start line.

The ITT was stage 2 of the Geelong Club Tour, the race I was escorted from by ambulance last year. I would have done the tour again this year, but a clash with the YarraTri on Sunday meant I would only line up for the ITT stage. The Sutherlands Creek course has a slight rise all the way out, open and exposed to the wind, but nice roads. 30km/h side/tail wind for the outward leg made the hill a little less of a problem and was nullified on the way back as we flew down the hill. I caught my minute man Rudy Schmidt at 3km, and caught a few more along the way. The homeward leg was a blast, super fast even into the wind. Two John West riders came in sight up the road in the final km, passed one, but missed catching Blake Hose (my 2min man) by only a few meters.

I took the win for fastest time. Blake's ride secured him a comfortable gap that would eventually win him overall GC for his club tour. It was a great course and Geelong CC are always happy to have visiting riders, even for a single stage. Thanks Geelong CC!

A Grade Results: (Full tour results HERE)

1     Shane Miller* 21:58
2     Blake Hose    23:57
3     Nathan Goss     25:24
4     Peter Quibell* 25:32
5     Rudy Schmidt    25:59
6     Paul Nyko     26:22
7     Will Carlile    26:24
8     Liam McGarry    26:31
9     Steve Del Galo 27:05
10    Anthony Garnier 27:17
11    Ben Andrews     27:32
12    Tim Wilson      28:03
* Single stage entry only.

Blake Hose with me just missing out on the 2 minute catch....

YarraTri ITT - Richmond. May 15th 2011.

Home ground advantage at the local Richmond 'flat boulie' for 25kms (and 10 turnarounds). We had an 'encounter of the useless kind' when attempting to get to the start in the car thanks to a less than helpful Yarra City employed marshal. A detour through an unmarshaled intersection and we were on course.

55 riders in the ITT, and three or four teams in the Team TT. A large field for a discipline that most cyclists stay well clear of. Lots of bling on show in the car park, Zipp, Giant TT rigs, Specialized... but the intimidating visuals were soon replaced with crunching gears that were not indexed correctly. So everything was in balance. After a short warm up it was time to go. The setup they have is great, an MC on the mic reading out riders names and talking it up as we rolled to the line. People standing around watching always helps lift the effort by a few watts. My minute man was a DNS, but there were enough riders on the 5kms course to keep busy with. The south turnaround point seemed to be a little sooner than expected, on lap 1 I totally missed it and overshot it by 20-30m. No marshals at the turnaround, just a lonely orange pole with "Turnaround" stuck on it. Last year the course was well marshaled, this year, not so. No wayward cars on the course, just the odd bike path punter taking advantage of the closed road..... Their flapping fluro yellow rain jackets and flashing tail lights screamed "I'm in the way, so buzz past me really fast".... and I did. Just don't let these people near Bathurst in a car on race weekend, they'll take advantage of the closed road to get in a few laps there too.

The teams started directly after me, so I was keeping check on the passing points each lap. Team Total Rush were pegged level with me for the first two laps then I started pulling away in the later laps. (teams doing 6 laps not just the 5 we did). I still believe the course is better suited for ITT with all the turnarounds. There was great support from the sideline today too, a few cheers and claps as we passed people enjoying the show. The fastest part of the course was past the start/finish line so it was a blast ripping through there at full gas. Who doesn't love the sound of a disc wheel at speed?

The turns are the hardest part, just as you get into a rhythm you have to drop to 10km/h and get back up to speed again. The turns were wet and the south turn had moss on the road, so 'tip-toe' was the plan of attack there. Final lap came around quickly, one last turn and 2mins to the line leaving everything out on the road. 33:50... plus or minus a few seconds. The electronic timing system made a complete mess of lap 1 splits for most riders. Some riders have their times reported -1min, some -2, some spot on for lap 1. This shuffled things around a little when corrected, but rule #1 of TTs is to time yourself! (Lap times have now been corrected on the official results sheet)

Automated Results (Lap 1 times now correct as of 18th May)

Overall Top 10:

1 Miller, Shane    0:06:37 0:06:47 0:06:50 0:06:51 0:06:46 33:51.0   44.14
2 Lama, Martin     0:06:56 0:07:05 0:07:09 0:07:10 0:07:06 35:26.0   42.16
3 Chadderton, Nick 0:07:05 0:07:13 0:07:16 0:07:19 0:07:19 36:12.0   41.27
4 Areta, Jose    0:07:05 0:07:16 0:07:15 0:07:23 0:07:23 36:22.0   41.08
5 Harvey, Richard 0:07:27 0:07:21 0:07:27 0:07:25 0:07:25 37:05.0   40.29
6 Sewell, David    0:07:23 0:07:25 0:07:29 0:07:28 0:07:32 37:17.0   40.07
7 Brown, Lachlan   0:07:40 0:07:42 0:07:15 0:07:23 0:07:23 37:23.0   39.96
8 Banning, Steve   0:07:32 0:07:33 0:07:31 0:07:32 0:07:21 37:29.0   39.86
9 Lane, Stephen    0:07:18 0:07:40 0:07:39 0:07:40 0:07:35 37:52.0   39.45
10 Hanley, Harry    0:07:38 0:07:34 0:07:38 0:07:28 0:07:34 37:52.0   39.45

I was pretty happy with the splits and power numbers on the course. This time around there were presentations, medals, and a stack of free food. I demolished the lolly bananas and put a dent in the red frogs. A notable absentee was the coffee cart.... There were a number of cameras on course taking photos so they'll be out later this week sometime. The showbag of goodies was also a hit, gels, drinks, a towel, but I don't think I'll be using the 20% off voucher for the mens hairdressing place.

Zoom! But I've got homework do to on that position.

Overall win, new course record, and Male 31-40 Gold. Happy.

Official write up from YarraTri here.

Two from two. The power numbers were good for both events, about 5% up on where I was at the Ballarat Masters Nationals last year. Still more to squeeze out of my position and maybe a little out of the legs. I've hit the limit with the TT frame I'm riding now, can't get any lower with with its large head tube and the adjustable stem at maximum downward setting. The next-gen TT frames are nice, but probably unnecessary bling-overkill to train on. A Cervelo P3C should do the job, if anyone has one laying around..... or if anyone is in, or knows people in, the 'industry' who wants their frame between my legs while chasing TTs (and some big kms training on) let me know!

Three TTs next weekend, and five next month. Suit up, its business time!

NC: Calder Park Teams Race (Tom Probert) 7th May 2011

2011-05-09T16:11:00.007+10:00

I grew up with stories of trips to Calder Park to watch the car racing from my parents. "Yeah, we'd drive down watch the races (350km), drink, then drive home. Drunk. No idea how we survived."...... Stories from a time when drink driving wasn't illegal, it was a sport everyone participated in. Anyhow, this bogan bloodline does come in handy when riding through the western suburbs to get there. It feels a little bit like home and I have the same accent as the locals. Orrrite, onto the race tales....

Club Teams racing meant I was representing Hawthorn CC. A rare occurrence as I don't actually own any of their kit. This put me up against most of the Kosdown boys who were representing Coburg CC. An interesting scenario. Do I chase my team mates, or ride for my club, or a bit of both? It ended up being a bit of both as Coburg and Hawthorn always had someone up the front all day.

The first few laps were sketchy as hell as riders shuffled around. On lap two there was that nails-down-the-blackboard sound from somewhere behind me, riders down, bikes in bits. I only caught a glimpse but could see Cam McKenzie (Coburg) and another rider no longer on their bikes. I'm told that a rider in the bunch pulled a very dodgy move, riding into Cam, the result being him hitting the deck, fence, and his bike hard. Peter Ferrie (Coburg) saw the incident and took it up with the commissars after the race. They didn't see it so could only suggest he lodge a complaint/protest to the Combine - Peter is from the old-school bunch, so bypassed the officials and had a word directly to the rider involved. From all reports, it sounds like the rider will hold his line from now on. :)

Coming into the first sprint I was mid pack. I had no intention of having a go at the first sprint but after a ripple strip detour the road ahead opened up and I had a dig. 800m to the line with a few corners was an eternity. Olly Phillips was leading out Ross Muller (both Brunswick) and Ross rolled me by 1/2 a wheel on the line. 730W for 1:02 isn't enough to beat that lead-out and sprinter combo. Bugger. Still, I snagged some points for HCC.

The lap leading to the second sprint was much the same. A sketchy bunch. Again, no intention to challenge for it but out of the last corner I was the best positioned HCC rider so had a dig at sprint #2. No dice, only 5th or so and no points. The sprint had split the bunch so I kept the hammer down to see if we could force a break. I came past two or three guys who'd contested the sprint, with one of them swinging off wildly to the side and almost taking me out. Advice was given to said rider, starting with the letter F and 'thanks'. The bunch soon responded and no break was allowed up the road.

Somewhere between the second and third sprint the bunch split into two. HCC had more riders in the front bunch than the rear so I sat back and watched the gap grow. The rear bunch was happy to let me sit on the front and tap out a very slow pace. Every club was represented in the front group so it was pretty much race over for us. For every lap they let me sit on the front, the gap to the front group opened up more and more. A few young snappers came to the front every now and then, just as one started to attack us, I yelled to him "Mate, you've got the numbers up the road, don't do it"... he dropped back to the bunch and sat in. Honestly, I had no idea if he had the numbers up the road, but it saved me from having to chase the little bugger down.

In the closing laps the front group really backed off and Sunbury CC put a number of riders on the front of the chase bunch, closing the gap from 1/2 a lap to only a few hundred meters! One more lap and we'd have caught them. Normally I'd love to have contributed to the chase, pulling back the lead bunch and having a shot, but this was team racing and HCC still had the numbers in the front group. In the end we didn't catch them and I came 2nd in the bunch kick for a billion'th place, some unmarked Preston nugget took off early and I didn't get on his wheel.

Official results had Italo 1st, Brunswick 2nd, and Hawthorn 3rd. Not bad for us, we'd started with no plans, no tactics, and just raced as things unfolded. I had a nice tail wind for the 35kms home. A good day all round.

Next up things get busy! Five TTs over the next two weekends. Geelong, Richmond, Balliang, Kew, and Kew again as Blackburn and CyclingVictoria are holding two ITTs on the same day, same place, same course, same officials... one $40, the other $20. What is with that? You'd think they'd be able to run the one event and call it a day? Or give us an option of free entry to the second one if we're to suffer over that bugger of a course for another 20kms? But before that we've got the YarraTri ITT, $30 entry and we get electronic timing and a whole show bag of event sponsor goodies! Now that's how it's done. Bring it on!

(Thanks to Paul Williams for the Calder Park pic too. I'll put the photo credit with the pic itself once Blogger unravels its current problem with the editor)

Full Results

Random Visual....

Western suburbs... this is how they roll(ed).

Back to Bright 2011 - Hills and unofficial races!

2011-05-02T16:56:00.000+10:00

HCC setting the early pace.

The 8th running of the annual Back to Bright weekend was held this weekend with around 25 Hawthorn CC members and friends in attendance. Held over three days the rides normally include Mt Hotham, Rosewhite loop, then an unofficial/unsanctioned handicap race up Mt Buffalo on the last day. Many legendary things have emerged from the B2B weekends - dead animal sprints (bonus points for bunny-hopping it), animal sign sprints, and hill climb PBs just to name a few. Although the rides are long and the climbs are tough, the toughest part is listening to everyone try to talk down their performances all weekend for a generous handicap mark up Mt Buffalo. This year Calvin Tulloch had the unenvious task of chief handicapper. Even with the assistance of others and a database of previous Buffalo ascent times, he had a tough task ahead.

Day 1 - Hotham. We couldn't get up to Bright early enough on the Friday so we missed this. From all reports the weather was perfect and a number of riders knocked minutes off their PBs from previous attempts. We'd been streaming the royal wedding in the car on an iPhone and we were pleased to see everyone glued to the TV watching proceedings when we arrived. Telstra 3G is worth every cent, Optus 3G was nothing short of shitful in the country.

Day 2 - Rosewhite loop. Perfect weather again, even the arm warmers were off after a few kms. No fireworks as we hit the Rosewhite climb like in previous years, the bunch gently split as everyone tapped up at their own tempo. Everyone finishing within a few minutes, not showing their cards to the handicapper. I made sure I was well out of Calvin's sight before scrambling to the top. The pace into Mt Beauty always creeps up as people start thinking about the lunch stop. With the 7km Tawonga climb just out of town, there is a skill to eating enough food to get back to Bright, but not too much that it ends up as road art on the climb. The pace out of town was similar to that of the tortoise setting on a grandmas Gopher. Slowly slowly. The bunch shuffled as we hit the climb with Liz Hall on the front showing us how to climb. I hovered mid pack for the first few kms to scope out who was sandbagging and taking it easy before bridging back to the front markers, then going up the road for a few kms. I turned about 1/2 way up and dropped back through the riders to Von who was fading fast after a long day. This fade quickly turned into a Ricco like effort as she soon passed no less than four riders up the road, finishing only a few seconds down on Laurie Lovelock and Bertie. It was as if she'd had a hand on her back pushing her for the final 4kms up the climb. Amazing what a new bike can do! (and a push for 4kms). The decent was super-fast and thankfully uneventful (half of my left elbow and arse cheek is buried somewhere on that descent). Back into Bright for an epic eat-fest and Mt Buffalo handicap assignment. The homemade pasta was amazing, topped off with Tamara's Tim Tam tarts and ice-cream. If Satan and Hitler were a team on My Kitchen Rules, they'd make Tim Tam tarts for the judges, and win.

Von showing us her best cyclist shadow puppet. Nice one!

Lunch - Mt Beauty panorama....

Ceiling cat

Ceiling Calvin - Reading out Mt Buffalo handicaps.

Day 3 - Mt Buffalo Handicap. No entry fee, no race numbers, no politics, no hand-in-the-till from a governing body, no worries! Nowhere will you get a race where the atmosphere at the start line is so relaxed, and everyone is really in for a chance at the title. No sheep stations up for grabs, but the trophy is mighty impressive! Official time-keeper Matilda Vaughan, armed only with a Noika phone, start list, and pen had the show underway right on time. No delay, no interruptions. The jokes and jibes were quickly forgotten by each rider as they took off up the road for the 20km upward trek - once the clock started, it was serious business! As I lined up to start, 42 minutes after Frank (limit) took off up the road, Matilda jumped next to me on the start line for a photo. That made my day. This is why I love club level, or even social group run events. The people running the show know your race history, performances, ups and downs in the sport - over a number of years. Something that is completely lost at a higher level and a problem that isn't any closer to being solved. (*insert national grading system debate here*)

5...4...3....2.... STOMP and don't stop. That's about it. The Garmin/PowerTap was reporting good numbers at 85 rpm, so I kept it in that range. The first catch-and-release was around 23 minutes on the false flat section. Then riders were appearing up the road at regular intervals. The last ride up Buffalo I did in November I pulled the pin around the 30 minute mark, I had nothing in the legs. This time I had eaten well the night before and wasn't faltering from the rhythm I'd set at the start. I passed four riders between the switchback hairpin a few kms from the top and the KOM point - I thought I was in with a chance. No sign of the five riders up the road as I dropped down off the KOM towards the chalet turn. A car was soon on my tail and we were fighting for road space at 50km/h.... I won out when the road kicked up to the chalet. 53:35, fastest time, and 6th place in the handicap. I knocked 3 minutes off my Buffalo PB set in 2006 and hit a new high for power over 50mins. The ladies filled the podium with Manuella Marasco (Cycling-Inform) taking the overall win, Tim Tam Tamara Allen in 2nd, Von Micich (StKilda) 3rd. Full results below. (btw - these are spot-on accurate, professionally presented, and emailed out to all riders on the same day, how good is that! Matilda is a star!)

Our ever-present support car (ute) was a welcome sight at the top, packed with our warm gear for the descent. We finished the weekend with a ripping descent and roll back into Bright. A quick stop at the bakery, then a forgettable detour via a winery cellar door - where we were out-poshed by the menu and patrons, yet out-boganed by the mediocre service and night club pass-out tattoo on the waitress.... Anyone who says they didn't call into Maccas on the way back to Melbourne is lying!

Manuella - Winner 2011 Back to Bright Mt Buffalo Handicap

Ventou Victorian Corporate Criterium Series - Round #3. April 16th 2011

2011-04-16T22:58:00.000+10:00

The final crit of the three round series, and the final crit for the summer racing season. Today was hosted by Geelong CC at their purpose built tarmac roller-coaster, byo bike and it turns into a criterium course. More right hand turns than I've ever done in my life, 9 or 10 per lap depending on how you count it. Finally an opportunity to wear down the rubber on the right side of our tyres.

Clockwise racing action!

After the first two rounds, it came down to me having to finish within two riders of Tyler Spurrell (Croydon Cycleworks/Pick-a-Part), as long as we were within a few places of Luca Giacomin (Kosdown) who was sitting in third in the series individual points table. Spurrell brought in reinforcements this week with Tom Leaper and Matt Davis there to help out.

As a side note, Cykel Events were running the Macquarie Private Wealth Women's Team's Criterium today too. They had 19 entries with less than 2 weeks notice, all from their own event promotion. That is on par with the women's entry list for the NAB Showmans Crit last weekend in Castlemaine (CyclingVictoria Open event). For an event outside of Melbourne, that's not bad at all. Take note CyclingVictoria!

First things first, the prologue. 2.2kms or so, Steve Young (BikeHub) mentioned the fastest times they'd done in the past were around 3:00 with a bit more wind than today, so that was the ballpark to aim for. Thankfully I didn't hear any times before I stared, a few riders set some times below the 3 minute mark. The women were started with with guys, but unlike the proposed Tour of California TT debacle, there was a separate fastest prologue prize envelope for them, with equal money as the guys. As was the case with their crit prize pool too. Cykel Events on the ball with this, good stuff Rob!

I had a good warm up, and a great ride, making it three from three in the prologues, 2:50.470. With Leaper +5.080, Spurrell +8.358. Bloody happy with that given how different this course was to what we normally race on... did I mention the right hand turns?... The only thing I can compare it to is ripping the Eastern Freeway 'shared path' at full gas with all the tight twists and turns. The prologues are what sparked my interest in the series from the start, so it was nice to nail all three. Today's short pain feast was at an average of 494 Watts (from the PowerTap for those into numbers).

And to the race.... Marked again this week, I wasn't allowed to go anywhere off the front. Leaper, Davis, and Spurrell covering everything. The first few laps were fast enough for a few riders to drop off the back. Spurrell knew where he had to finish to win the series, so was watching my wheel closely. Three riders, Leaper, Giacomin and Young soon went up the road. All teams represented, so no reason to chase. Thinning out the riders between me and Spurrell helped my cause, a lot. Soon there were only four of us in the 'chase' bunch. Tunbridge and I (Kosdown), and Davis and Spurrell (Croydon). Neither of the teams had to chase the break, and nobody did. Tunbridge set the pace on the front, and tried a few attacks to see if we could shake the Croyden boys. Davis always bringing him back. I threw in a number of attacks too but Davis and Spurrell kept shutting it down. The three in the break had the race wrapped up. We'd be battling for 4th.

Doing the math mid-race, if Spurrell was first across the line from our bunch of four, and me last, we'd be equal on series points and I'd get the win on a count-back. So it was a leisurely day at the office, for the most part. I kept throwing in a few attacks, as we were still 'racing'... not that the speed we were doing indicated it. Just as I was about to launch an attack after Davis had chased hard to close down a move by Tunbridge, Tunbridge hit the deck (on Crash Corner!). We sat up to see if he was ok, only bark off, he was soon back on the bike and rolled straight to the front and kept working! His Lycra in tatters, 1/2 an arse cheek showing, missing some skin, and still riding for me, Lins you're a legend!

Towards the end Leaper attacked the break and lapped us, on a 2km course we were lapped! With the pace so low and no chasing, I guess these things happen. Leaper took the win, Giacomin 2nd, Young 3rd. Coming into bell lap, the pace was down, still.... Tunbridge who was dangling off the back after one last attack rejoined and again went straight to the front and set the tempo. Into the last corner I was third wheel, and it'd be a sprint for 4th. Tunbridge lead it out and perfectly positioned himself for me to launch to the line. I'd not gone up against Davis or Spurrell in a sprint, but I manged to hold them both off for 4th. 64km/h sprint and I almost cracked 1500W too, a max power PB, but nothing that'll help me in a TT, and something that'll drop off now we'll be dong long road kms. Davis 5th, Spurrell 6th. In the wash up, Davis' result denied Spurrell getting 2nd in the series, dropping him to 3rd with that one missing point. (He would have taken 2nd on a count-back being equal points with with Giacomin).

Series Individual Points:
1. Shane Miller (Kosdown) 77 points.
2. Luca Giacomin (Kosdown) 74 points.
3. Tyler Spurrell (Croydon Cycleworks/Pick-a-Part) 73 points.
4. Jason Laird (Kosdown) 51 points.

Series Team Points:
1. Team Kosdown. 254 points.
2. Croydon Cycleworks/Pick-a-Part. 230 points.
3. Boomchika. 164 points.
4. CSIRO. 122 points.

Full rider/team points listing: HERE

A big thanks to the hosting clubs, volunteers, and event sponsors throughout the series - but most importantly to Rob Carsen from Cykel Events who made this series a possibility and a success, at all levels. From turning a number of recreational riders into real racers, through to offering us seasoned racers some very challenging courses. The addition and show of support for the the Macquarie Private Wealth Women's Team's Criterium on such short notice was also fantastic. Whatever the next event Cykel run, I'm a sure starter.

Also the Kosdown boys rate a massive mention. They all did a perfect job riding for me in each race. It was great to see Luca on the podium with a 2nd today after his work for me in the past two races too. And while playing the team roles, they were all still at the pointy end of each race collecting team points for the overall title. Champions!

So that's it. Crit season '10/'11 is done. I've had a pretty good run in the crits over the past few months, had some wins, collected a swag of lunch money, ripped some legs off, had my legs ripped off, kept upright, and had a blast racing against such a range of riders from juniors, masters, ex-pros, and current pros - all who ride just as hard as each other with the only difference being position and luck in a race.

Bring on the road season? We'll see. Tired legs at the moment and its time to drop the pro dream and get back to the reality of IT security and saving a small part of the world from online organised crime again.... which almost sounds exciting at this point in time. Still, there is something still alluring about aiming for and being lucky enough to chalk up some race wins, these can't be forgotten with the flick of a power switch.

The calendar has a few more TTs this season, that'll give me reason to keep turning the pedals.

Links:

Prologue MyLaps times: HERE
Leanne Cole Photos: HERE

Random Visual:

This is an epic WTF. A goth baby doll, tied to the front of the truck that delivers flour to Bakers Delight. Who does that? And for the love of God WHY!?

Masters Victorian Crit Championships 2011 - MMAS1/2

2011-04-10T21:56:00.003+10:00

Updates: Scroll to the bottom for updates from this event after I wrote this....

A packed back-to-back schedule meant things quickly went pear shaped when a JW15 rider had a very serious accident on the final corner. No event medic on site (why not!?), 30mins for an ambulance from Bendigo (!!). Chopper soon at the local oval for transport to the Royal Childrens. In a separate incident, a lady dislocated her hip on the footpath and none of the three ambulances 100m away could respond to her due to some scheduling/job assignment/lock up/whofcukingknows.

For my event, there were 4 MMAS1 starters and 9 in MMAS2. Both M1/2 were combined but according to CV/CA Tech Reg 3.30.03 - When three or more competitors have entered an individual or teams championships the medallions shall be awarded as follows. 1st Gold, 2nd Silver, 3rd Bronze. We'd have a race within a race, right? Womens Masters was a mass start due to low numbers, and we'd just seen medals awarded to all represented age groups (10 riders, 5 age groups). But there was a twist for us.... It was pre-determined that M1/2 were racing for one set of medals, what? Disregarding their own governing rules? Inconsistent much? As riders we're accountable when we break the rules. Who is accountable here?

aaaannnddddd to the race... A midget crit, 16.7km. 25mins. Maybe they'll run the other half of the crit championships at a later date? Even our weekly summer Kew crits are 45-50mins long, on a tougher course. #1 on my back. Marked. Attack. Marked. Attack. Marked. Solo off for a few laps. Pulled back. The guys who came across dagged half the field, nice one! Attack. Marked. Attack... that's about it. Near bell lap two riders bridged back across to our front group and latched onto the back straight surge on the final lap. I missed an ideal launch spot and was 4th wheel into the final corner. Woolcock (HCC) was first around the bend, the rider on his wheel screwed the pooch and ended up in the fence, this allowed Woolcock to gain a few lengths as Robert Reid (3rd wheel into the corner) and I tried not to molest that invisible terrier too. Woolcock took the win by a few lengths. A deserved win with precision positioning tactics. Damn trackies! Reid was 2nd by a wheel, me in 3rd. The race was over way too quick. Getting '3', '2', then bell lap is the usual protocol for crits too. 50-60mins and 3-2-bell was good enough for the main events later in the day, not us?

Cycling Victoria and host club Castlemaine CC will probably claim a successful day of racing. It wasn't too bad, a fast race, a good hit-out. In my opinion, (yeah, hold on) in no way was it up to the standards I'd expect for a state level championship. Course safety issues, no medics, inconsistent medals, short races cut even shorter, two races at once on a 700m circuit (MMAS3 were on course with us)..... we were all a little let down on the day. I appreciate those who give their time to make these events happen, but there were just too many age groups to cater for. CCCC, StKilda, Hawthorn, Coburg, all run crits like clockwork all summer long. I hope next year we see the championships hosted by one of these clubs on a safe course we race all summer long...

Whining tales aside, thoughts are with the JW15 rider who fell today, her family, friends, and those who attended to her.

Results MMAS1/2
1st Cam Woolcock (ABOC/HCC) MMAS2
2nd Robert Reid (Latrobe City CC) MMAS2
3rd Shane Miller (Kosdown/HCC) MMAS1
4th Shannon Johnson (Bike'n'Bean/Preston CC) MMAS1

Update Tuesday 12th April: The official results initially omitted MMAS1. Cycling Victoria noted this and were on the case resolving the issue. Daniel from CV called me up today and apologised for the mistakes about the medal assignments and they would recall them and correctly issue MMAS1 and MMAS2 medals separately. Two hours later I had the MMAS1 Gold medal, but more importantly the state title.

The finish.

Totally won the sock height championships.

Ventou Victorian Corporate Criterium Series - Round #2. April 3rd 2011

2011-04-04T22:51:00.000+10:00

The third last crit for the summer. There is light at the end of the pain tunnel, but until then... head down, game on. This weekend Round #2 was at METEC (driving school) out in Kilsyth. 1.2kms looked a lot longer on Google Earth, it felt tiny when rolling around. Kind of like racing through an empty car park. It was a mind game with the fake intersections, double white lines, and stop signs we could ignore. Usually we're warned of the consequences if we disobey the road rules, kind of ironic we could totally ignore the standard rules at a driver education center. (But just to be clear - just in case any Herald Sun online comment submitters are reading. It was a closed private road).

The warmup consisted of taking note of the potholes and witches hats in the middle of the course and trying to clear my airways of a lingering head cold, somewhat unsuccessfully to the amusement of a team mate. The prologue was over quickly. I didn't see much of it, we had a head wind all the way down the back straight so it was eyes down and follow the lines for most of that. I almost over-cooked a corner 200m from the finish, a nice little scare to get the HR higher for the sprint to the line. I won the first battle of the day with 1:32.

Jason Laird (Kosdown) had missed the A Grade prologue time cut and was relegated to B Grade, but we had David Holt with us this week joining Luca Giacomin and I in the A race for Team Kosdown. Tyler Spurrell (Croydon Cycleworks/Pick-a-Part) had the assistance of a team mate and put him to work early in the race. We had Giacomin off the front for the first 10 minutes as Holt and I sat back and watched the chase. I bridged across to Giacomin and we worked turns for a few laps before being joined by Holt and Spurrel. Four in the break, three Kosdown. Spurrell was out numbered and was attacked non stop. He knew what was up, and was watching me get an easy ride while the other two attacked. With 15 minutes to go I attacked then cranked a few laps at pursuiting pace. Both Holt and Giacomin sitting on Spurrel then setting the tempo that allowed me to stay up the road. I kept clear and finished around one minute up the road.

The numbers were against Spurrell in the battle for 2nd. However, the kid took it to both Giacomin and Holt and ripped out an epic sprint for second place. Great stuff, and keeps his chances very much alive at the series too. So in two weeks, its the showdown in Geelong!

Straight to the car + heater = winter racing is here!

Spurrel ripping into our team sprinter for 2nd place

Lewwwwt!!

Pre-race press release: http://www.cykelevents.com.au/article/man-flu-vs-miller
Official race report: http://www.cykelevents.com.au/article/round-2-race-report
Photos: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=42639&id=164142666965571
Series points: http://www.cykelevents.com.au/page/vccs-points-total

As an excuse not to ride Baw Baw this weekend, I've entered the Vic Masters Crit Champs in Castlemaine. Looks like there are enough MMAS1 riders for our own championship too, but I'm expecting they'll shove us in with MMAS2/3/every/man/and/his/dog. Mixed grades and races within races, argh, same year in year out... but it'll be something to keep the legs ticking over until Round #3 of the Corporate Crits - where the lunch money is!

Random Visuals:

Gold in Sydney = special Leo's treat. Gone in seconds! Love this stuff.

$3.50 stripper kit in a $2 shop. Premium goods!
The 'Ages 14+' rating is also disturbing.

2011 Australian Masters Track Championships - My Kilo/TT and IP

2011-03-28T11:56:00.001+11:00

I made it to Sydney with the assistance of my iPhone playlist and a few good podcasts and went straight to the only safe place in Bankstown, the Travelodge that is part of the huge sports club. There are slot machines as far as the eye can see.... and it's pretty obvious who's winning - The facilities are very nice inside, with four or five restaurants and a dress code that I found out does not include Lyra when walking from the car park to the elevators. My adventure to find dinner that night was cut short after walking only one block from where I was staying. Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kew any more!

Wednesday cost $5 for use of Dunc Gray velodrome, not per hour, $5 for the whole day. After the session I rode over to Parramatta for lunch with Wayne Gebert who's now racing M2. After a few wrong turns, then a few more, I was back in the Bankstown bad-lands. Zero bike lanes around those parts and a potholes that would swallow cars whole.

Event 1. MMAS1 TT 1000m - All that glitters......

Only two MMAS1 entrants so we had rule 3.30 applied. In summary this means we have to ride a time within 105% of Australian Record time for Gold, 107% Silver, 110% for Bronze. Had just one more MMAS1 rider entered and posted ANY time, we'd have been competing against each other - not the ghost of some time set a few years back. Disappointing. I'm no kilo rider, I enter this event to get a gate start in competition, to hit the corners at race pace, and if I'm the best on the day, it's a bonus! A time under 1:07 was needed for the Gold. A big ask. I think it was lap 3 I caught other M1 rider and had to go around. Lap 4 felt good, but in the wash up it wasn't. 1:08.313. I had the win, and enough for the silver medal. Nobody went under 1:08 for the day. Even the monster motor of Andrew Gerber (M2/QLD) pulled out a 1:08.075 to win the M2 TT Gold. Everyone was a little off the pace compared to what we did at the Victorian champs a few weeks back. Slow track? Slow riders? Bit of both maybe...

So I won, but was awarded silver. Bugger. The presentation was a little uneventful, with people wondering how I'd set the fastest M1 time and was standing in 2nd place with silver.

Me and the TT gold medal winner.

Event 64. MMAS1 Individual Pursuit Qualifier/Final - Ice cold......

Not wanting to sit around all morning at the track, I estimated my start would be at about 11am. At 9:30am just as I'd hooked my bike on the rack from unpacking the car, I was called up to race. Opps. No warm up, no shoes on, no air in my tyres! Team Victoria got into action like an F1 pit crew and within 60 seconds I had my number pinned, tyres pumped, helmet on, and was in the starting gates! With three MMAS1 competitors I should be able to ride fast enough to get into the final, where I'd then have time to get my head into gear, a good warm up, then give it everything to see if I could go faster than the high 3:27 I set in Melbourne.

45 second count down starts. No idea how to pace myself cold. Go out hard? Go out easy and see what happens? We were then advised the third MMAS1 rider was a scratching and this was the FINAL. Ummm WTF!? 30 seconds before the start of the qualifier event they pull that on us? Were they serious? How about we hop off our bikes and go head to head in the final when it was scheduled at 2:30pm? No give from the officials. I politely let them know what I thought of that. No swears, just a very loud expression of disappointment. 5...4...3...2...1 Here we go.... Out of the gates, up to speed, helmet adjusted on one of the bends (too tight, issue resolved, back onto TT bars). 1:11 kilo... I could see I was up on the other guy by this stage so backed off a little before my cold legs blew me to bits. Tempo for the 2nd km. Caught and passed the rider at 3 to go. I got out of the saddle and cranked out a sprint to put the hammer down. Waaayyy too much in the tank and bad pacing, I did the last three laps flat out with whatever I had left. 3:33.027. A few seconds faster than I expected given the circumstances, but a few seconds slower than where I should have been with a warm up!

I found out later that rule 3.30 was applied to the pursuit as well, something we were not told before the event. Could this get any more stressful? What if I'd sat up after the catch? Luckily I had kept riding and come within 105% of the Australian Record, so I had Gold and the title.

Time to breathe out. It's over. Thank God.

I asked the officials if I could ride another pursuit when the MMAS1 final was scheduled to see if I could attempt to better my 3:27 in Melbourne which is still in the process of being approved (or not) as a record. No go on that either. So after 4kms of racing, that was it. With the TT/Kilo win/silver a few days prior and the rushed Pursuit qualifier that became a final, the podium ceremony for the pursuit was a relief more than anything. A bit bummed about missing an opportunity to have a real shot at a PB time. Next time.

Other random stuff....

Best legs of the meet - Julie Barnett (WMAS4). Amazing. Seriously I want legs like hers. So should everyone else.

Best unplanned dismount - 2nd place goes to all the riders who fell off their rollers trying to grab the moving fences for support, but 1st place goes to the MMAS5-6 rider who popped his rear tyre on the final bend in a match sprint, won the sprint, then surfed that bad boy sideways around the banking through to the inevitable stack and slide. Slow-mo-train-wreck spectating, we all knew he was going to stack, we just didn't know when. He fell to his right (the short distance way!) and only took off a little bit of skin.

Entry levels. Nowhere near what they were in Melbourne last year. MMAS2 is becoming thin on numbers as people move up into MMAS3. The typical old-school 'MMAS1 isn't a real category' attitude is ever present and is impacting entry numbers. Without change, old-school arrogance may win the battle. Less entries, less events, less interest in track. What was their point again?..

Sydney has some awesome purpose built crit courses. The one next to Dunc Grey (800m) is a bit of fun. Tom Leaper and I checked out the 2km circuit at Landsdale park. Smooth hotmix, banked corners, a few little hills, we had a blast there.

There were a few stand-out pursuit battles at the event, Martin Taube's win in the final against multiple world champion Graeme Allbon (a battle with more detail than I can write here!). Also Tom Leaper up against Andrew Gerber in M2 in both their qualifier and final. Gerber having just a little more in the final than Leaper, who had driven all the way to Sydney for just one event.

All up Sydney was good, but no match for the championships last year in Melbourne. For now, the track bike gets shoved aside for the winter, again, it'll resurface for the Australian Masters Games in Adelaide in mid October.

Random Visuals.... and a bit of messing around...

This giant sheep has.......

Giant balls.

Do you think they have a measuring tape for short shorts?

A street sign, or a chemistry exam?

Ghetto washing.

I found the Zoltar Speaks machine here. It was broken. I was only a day older in the morning.

One button press = two pancakes. A winning formula.

Any marine object requires only one thing......

The Kate Winslet Titanic flying scene recreation. Hold me Leo, hold me!

....and thanks to CSV (Now CV) for the shirt!

Ventou Victorian Corporate Criterium Series - Round #1. March 20th 2011

2011-03-21T10:16:00.000+11:00

Round #1 was at Kew. Home! Well almost, I'm not living like a hobo at the crit course just yet, but if it does get to that I'm sure to have some friendly company to keep me warm at night. After finding out there was a pre-race prologue (a baby time trial) I had to get a start. A few strings pulled and we had a Kosdown corporate team entered. Cykel who are running the series are trying to entice coffee shop/recreational riders to get their race on. We're not the target audience but with a few similar club cycling teams entered and splitting the fields into A, B, and C (if numbers permit) the racing would cater for everyone. A win-win for the promoter, their sponsors, and ours!

Prologue:

Initially it was going to be two laps, but this was changed on the day to 'fastest single lap'. With electronic timing (MyLaps) we had instant feedback on the competition. Tyler Spurrell (Croydon Cycleworks/Pick-a-Part) had his time of 1:21 knocked off top spot by Luca Giacomin (Kosdown) who set the new benchmark with 1:16 just before I rolled off. One lap rolling up to speed then all out. I kept it upright on the corner.... just... coasted some of the downhill... then aimed the bike somewhere towards the timing line and held on. 1:11:213. Got it, $50 for the win and a tub of Sukkie Hydration powdery stuff.

Full Results (MyLaps)

A Grade Crit:

Three Kosdown riders (Giacomin, Laird, me), lone wolf Tyler Spurrell, and riders from the Boomchika and Macquarie Racing teams. Not a large field, but these have proven to be the hardest to split at Kew. Three laps into the race Giacomin put in an attack, Spurrell let him get a few lengths away from the bunch. I jumped across to Giacomin, Spurrell chased. The bunch were enjoying the view of Dights Falls from the top of the hill and missed the move completely. The three of us pulled away and were soon out of sight. Our time gaps from the bunch were being yelled from the sidelines. 30 seconds up after 5 minutes. 1 minute up after 10 minutes. Laird was back in the bunch, Giacomin and I in the break, team racing working nicely! (and yes, this is a teams race, so its above board) At 15 minutes we lapped the bunch. Giacomin and Spurrell knew we had a safe margin and wanted to play it nice. I thought we had a chance at lapping them again - so when neither of them respond to my 'caaarrrrnn lets go' head flicking, I went off alone.

22mins +3 laps to go was a long way from home, but we had the upper hand. Spurrell was the one who had to chase. If he did, Giacomin would get an armchair ride and counter attack. After 15 minutes of solo TT and I had the bunch, and the two from the break in sight. Bunch caught again. Break caught. I kept it going and went clear. 'A 3' was shown a few laps later. 1:20 final lap (I knew Gus and the boys were watching the lap times so I had a real dig on the last one). Spurrell rolled Giacomin for 2nd, with Laird taking 4th.

Full Resutls (MyLaps) - Very cool data too!

HCC signed up 9 riders on temporary 3-race licenses on the day, win of the day for sure, and exactly what the event was all about. The next round is on April 3rd at Kilsyth. But for now, its all about Sydney!

Official Report

Pics:


Me sitting on....feeling like the historical marker racing these young kids! (14 year age gap in this shot, scary stuff)


Aero helmet cover spotted near the course.....someone's secret weapon for the prologue?

Loot!

Lots more pics up on Facebook.