2012 Australian Masters Road Time Trial Championships - Breadalbane, October 3rd 2012

No tales or race commentary, just a huge thank-you to everyone who helped me on the journey to the 2012 Australian Masters Time Trial Championships in Breadalbane (NSW) last week. Winning my 4th consecutive title and setting the fastest time of the day involved a lot more than riding flat out for 30 minutes.




MMAS1 Results                       
1     Shane MILLER     Coburg CC            30:02.28
2     Stephen LANE     Coburg CC            31:49.57
3     Brad HANNAFORD   Sydney Uni Velo Club 32:37.97
4     Kenneth WEBSTER  Canberra CC          33:12.68
5     Alexander GALE   Sydney Uni Velo Club 33:37.16
6     Bradley DREW     Vikings CC           34:30.92
7     Matthew BROWN    Central Coast CC     35:38.04
8     Glenn HARRIS     Illawarra CC         38:06.82
Full Results - All Grades
Photo set from Tony Reeckman

• Team Kosdown - Our primary sponsor. Special mention to Chief Smurf, Kos Samaras for supporting our training and racing adventures week in - week out.
• Bike'n'Bean - The Specialized Shiv TT bike. The fastest chunk of carbon around. It looks pretty nice too.
• THULE Australia - Racks, luggage, and support to get us to races so far from home.
• Hydralyte Sports - Taking care of us for all things hydration.
• Coburg Cycling Club - The online support/promo and their summer TT series.
• Cycling NSW - For running a great show again for the Masters Nationals. The numbers and support they offer Masters racing is impressive.
• Cycling Victoria/Cycling Australia - For the online coverage of the Masters Championships via Twitter and Facebook. The CV ITT Series is great prep for championship events.
• Clubs who run and support TTs throughout the year - 2012 TT Calendar.
• Stuart Vaughan - Wheel expertise.
• Raoul Luescher (Luescher Teknik) - All things aero, all things carbon.
• Stephen Lane (Human Performance Technologies) - Cutting edge expertise, the lab tests, and for keeping me on my toes in TTs!
• Tony Reeckman - Our generous host at Château de Reeckman. He takes a great photo too! Watch out for his 2013 calendar soon. His 2012 one was was a sell-out.

Warm up - Front wheel selection made at the last minute when the wind dropped.
Photo (c) www.tonyreeckmanphotography.com

Show time!

Go time!

Cranking it at the start.
Photo (c) www.tonyreeckmanphotography.com

Photo (c) www.tonyreeckmanphotography.com

Final few hundred meters... chasing a sub 30min!
 Photo (c) www.tonyreeckmanphotography.com

Official looking podium shot....
Photo (c) www.tonyreeckmanphotography.com

Aero looking podium shot! :)
Photo (c) www.tonyreeckmanphotography.com

Post race interview #1 - Cycling NSW

Post race interview #2 - Goulburn Post.

Post race interview #3 - Wimmera Mail Times.

My travel buddy, or more officially, my fiancé... who knocked
2mins off her PB on the NSW TT course for 3rd in the WMAS1!

Cycling Australia - Rules for some, rules for others.

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.