Macic Story

Wheels on the bus go round and round....

2011-10-28T12:32:00.000-07:00

Taupiri Bay Bay of Islands

Hi Everybody,

Well this first week has been rather action packed been back in NZ
Went and spent a few days back in Auckland before heading on a road trip in a Bus up north with some of the family even got to the northern most part Cape Reinga and have got a picture up there then after getting back from that trip up north headed down to Invercargill for the Tour of Southland which starts tomorrow and in doing so managed to go to the southern most point on the South Island Stirling Point Bluff so hope you enjoy the photo's from around NZ, so this is the first time that I have been from the top of NZ to the very bottom in one week thats forsure.

Cheers
Chris

Me Driving the bus

Whangerei Heads Road

Cape Reinga top of the North Island

Stirling Point Bottom South Island

Jet Setting...

2011-10-16T10:56:00.001-07:00

ZELE PRO RACE WIN

Hi Everybody,
Well the last month has been a nice way to finish off the season in Belgium and getting back to NZ.

So here's a quick update of how it went, leaving off from the last update finished the season off mainly riding pro kermises which the first one was in Zwevegem and was held on a hard circuit and the wind was a big factor out of the 90 or so starters there was only 16 finishers me been amongst them finishing in 10th place.
I don't really want to mention about the next race as a person sprinted really unfarely and did not get disqaulified so I took my 11th 2nd place of the year.
So then there was 4 pro races and all of them rode strong but didn't eventuate in the end usually all been mass bunch sprints.
Now here is where the story gets good, Basically started the 2nd to last pro kermis of the season, Which is the East Flanders Closing race, which was a race held on a feely large circuit with quite alot of corners and a few big open roads and of course my friend the wind. The race started off very fast and after 2laps, 2 riders went clear and the built up a lead of 1min but was inevitable that they were brought back with 5 lap to go as the wind was to wearing then with 4laps to go a big split in the group happened and 34 riders went ahead and I was in it, so I jumped off the front and did a huge effort to get across and made it across with 5 others with 3 laps to go
then going into the last laps there was a few attacks and 1 rider was clear and had a lead of 15sec then with 4k to go he had a lead of 9sec and I could see that the bunch was going to be setting up for a 2nd place sprint so I attacked as hard as I could so no one could come with me and went in Pursuit bridging the gap just after the last corner with 800m and just started a flat out sprint flying straight past him to take the biggest win of my career wining my first Pro Kermis which was over the moon about.
Now as I it was my last week in Belgium had to do the packing and sorting out what needed to come back to NZ as have been away a little while in amongst the 3 last race which also went well in the last Pro Kermis finished 15th in the lead group and then took another kermis win in Deerlijk taking me to 7 wins for the season and then racing in the last kermis of the season finishing a creditable 12th place and staying out of trouble which was my main goal as was to be flying the next day.
So now have been back in NZ enjoying the awesome countryside doing some nice little rides to prepare for tour of southland with Share the Road team, which I am really looking forward to catching up with the other NZ riders and enjoying myself.

Cheers for reading

God Bless

Chris

Keep on going

2011-09-10T06:00:00.000-07:00

Me taken the dog for a walk at the beach.

Hi Everybody, been a little while since the last update, well since the last update have raced a fair amount and had a few rough patches with another little crash and doing a bit to much on the odd occasion now as I write this have 65 one day races in the legs that I have finished so definately my biggest year racing that I have ever done and love it despite the ups and downs.

To start off from last time back in the end of July had a we break off the bike 3days just to recovery from the latest block of racing highlight of that would of been going for a walk at the beach even despite not on such a good day.
So started off the following week back with a couple of nice easy rides and enjoyed riding on my birthday which happened to be one of the better days of the summer hence a nice photo of the windmill in Damme.
After that went and celebrated my 23rd birthday by going bowling with my friends in Gent which I enjoyed.

After my birthday that followed by another victory in Deerlijk this time as we rode out to the race didn't feel like I was going to have a good race, any way not a drop of rain in the 2hours riding out to the race then just as the race started the rain also and didn't stop the whole race and since there was alot of starters and corners it meant be at the front and stay out of trouble, but as I started near the back this was a little process and meanwhile a break of 3 riders had slipped away and had 20sec or so, so me seeming to find some legs attacked and rode a 2lap time trial accross to them by myself and extended the lead with them, but with 2laps to go it looked pretty grim that we would be able to stay away so once the bunch had nearly caught us put in a super effort which took us back out to 30sec so then it ended up been a 2 up sprint finish with me playing it cool and flying past to take the win in the last 100m.
Then the following day had a solid ride also finishing 5th in De Katte.
The following week add to the top ten's with another 3 finishes and the following week that lined up for the pro race in Huesden which managed a creditable 45th place finish.

On the 17th decided that I would go on a we expidition to SRM in Julich Germany and back which was a rather long and drawn out day on the trains but definately worth sorting out the problem with the srm and taken in some nice scenary as the train went back through the Ardennes. Unfortunately only had time to take one photo of this statue in Aachen.

So the following day had an awful race in Belzele probably due to all the travelling the day before pulled out after 1hour,
anyway managed to get a funny photo of this dog that just decided to make itself a new home in the back of the team car.

Now the following week was a bit to much started off on the Sunday with a 3rd place in Belzele then followed by another 3rd place in Balegem then 2nd place in Wippelgem winning me the classement for the 2 days then had one easy day followed by a pro kermis in Mere where had one of my strongest rides making every break and only getting caught in the last lap and still finished 49th in the bunch.
The following day was pretty to much and despite having reasonble legs with the 230+ks in the legs from the day before did a crit in Zirikzee in Holland and had a stupid crash cause of a bike malfunction going into a corner by chain came off and got jammed going into a corner so put a few more wounds on my left eblow and leg. So took the next few days feely easy but unfortunately the wound on the elbow was quite deep and gave me a little bit of a blood infection which wasn't so nice as raced another 2 pro kermises one in Geraardsbergen 63rd place and the other the following day in Kortemark 16th place despite my legs feeling like bricks that did not want to move really. So after that took it easy again for a few days then raced and finished 11th which wasn't such a good race as still not feeling better so had a few more easy days leading into another pro race in Izegem where I finished 26th and felt quite a bit better and the following day 8th in Assebroek.

So am looking forward to the closing part of the season racing mainly pro kermises and getting back home to NZ in October.

As for this pictures below are on the few good days riding I have had this summer training as the weather has been farely average this summer.

Statue in Terneuzen Holland looking out to sea.

One of the many canals of Brugge.

God Bless,
Take care,
Chris

RACE TO RACE

2011-07-29T03:20:00.000-07:00

Aalst Natour Criterium

Race to race the up's and the down's for this last month...

Well we can start off the story with some good news atleast that was the race in Drongen which was another podium finish with a 2nd place unfortunately was rather marked person after have strong rides with the pro's.
More good news on the 26th of June got my 3rd win of the season out of a bunch sprint where played the waiting game and came flying from the last wheel to take the race.
Then some bad news hence why there isn't any photo's of early July as raced in Kruishoutem on the 28th where I finished a respectable 4th place but after that my bag got stolen unfortunately it had my camera in it however very lucky my wallet was not in it.
Then anyway moved on and race the following day in Zerkegem which was not such a good day as all I could think about was my camera was gone anyway still finished 12th and had a enjoyable ride home with some mates.
Now into July here we go started off with a slightly bigger kermis on the 2nd in Melle where I finished 2nd also then had 2 pro kermises back to back the first one was in Sint Nicolaas and was on the 6th of july and due to not have enough to drink ended up with cramp in the sprint but still managed to hold on and finish 13th, so it was all about recovery which happened straight away as soon as I got off my bike so I could be in a resonable shape for the race the next day in Melle with the pro's again where I managed to have a strong race and end up riding away with 5 others with 2laps remaining and unfortunately didn't have enough left in the tank to sprint at the end as cramps were been my friend again so finished 5th.
So took it easy the next few days and race on the sunday in Kortemark once again I was heavily marked but that didn't stop me from getting up the road and I finished 2nd again an my team mate Mario Won.
Now here was the race of the season so far on the 12th of July in Vilvoorde-Houtem with the pro's.
I had alot of luck today my legs were feeling great and started off well made the break was last one across to it after 2laps of the circuit were completed anyway heading along the back the distinctive "CLUNK" noise happened straight into the 11 as my rear gear cable snapped with 130k remaining of the race, so since I was in the break a few things were on my mind on what I should do, weather to just pull out as it was a pro race after all and would not have so much hope in against them, then I thought no harm in asking if any of them had a spare bike I could borrow which they all replied no, so that when my determination came into play and just pust on with just one gear, so kept on riding for the first hour an half a 70-80 cadance until I worked out I had a little chain ring which was quite spinny, so with changing inbetween the 2 gears managed to stay in the break with 3laps remaining the bunch started attacking each other so made it very hard for me, so I just put it in the big ring and rode as hard as I could and with 2laps to go was in a smaller group of just 6 riders unfortunately it was a block headwind sprint which no gear was any good so ended up finishing a very creditable 5th do to the circumstances.
However the next few days could feel it and in the following little crit I raced could bearly push hard as my back and muscle were really sore so after alot of stretching and massage that problem was put to an end and started in another Pro race in Dentergem on the 18th which raced very strong again but only managed to finish just ahead of the bunch in 9th place, then race the following day and finished 15th and the next day had my first DNF of the season due to my wheel rubbing on my frame pulled out with 3laps remaining.
Enjoyed the next few days went out and watched the other NZ guy's Hayden, Marc and Sam race the pro kermis in Ninove which was nice to see them in amongst it and then went out and saw the fireworks display as part of the Gent Festival which was pretty good that the rain stayed away.
The following day went out for a long ride and met up with Marc, Hayden and Sam and rode for a 3hours before heading back home.
The following day raced in Sint Maria Lierde which was a hilly kermis with plently of little climbs so started the day off with a train ride to Aalst to sort out the problem with my wheel so got that fixed and rode from there to the race and then raced finished 3rd, and rode back home that was on Saturday so went for a nice easy long ride on Sunday.
On Monday th 25th it was another highlight of the season as started the Natour Criterium in Aalst which is the first one the tour riders ride so got to ride in amongst the likes of
Phillip Gilbert, Ivan Basso, and others which was a new experience and very fun due to the share amount of spectators, the atmosphere was unreal and finished 13th there the only thing was the time it finished was quite late like 9.45pm.
So after having a good nights sleep and waking up far later than usual got ready to race a Dienze again this time had more luck only just as broke my seat rails again on lap 3 and still ended up getting away with 1 other with 8laps remaining and managed to kick away to take my 4th victory of the season in the race last year I finished 2nd so was extra special to win this year.
The next day finished 13th in Dienze and raced feely average as brought a new seat and was to high and could really feel the different muscle operating after a few laps so thats all for now.

God Bless
Take Care
Chris

Photos below of win in Dienze

Steping up!

2011-06-15T23:22:00.000-07:00

Win in Oordegem 29/5

Okay better start from where I left off from which was loving to ride my bicycle and continue to do so.

So the following week after the races at Merelbeke there was a week where there was no mid week races so just got some nice site seeing in and had a good recovery week.
So then after not racing atleast once during that week felt really weird not racing in the middle of the week so any the recovery week must of done me a world of good as had a very solid race at Oordegem riding off from the start line and pretty much ended up felt so strong so with 5 laps to go went full gas up the little hill in the circuit and road off solo to the finish.
So had my usual rest day on Monday and went for a couple of nice easy rides before doing the another race in Oordegem unfortunately I was a very marked man now so did not make for an easy race, but still 2laps to go went
across to the break of 8 by myself but didn't have any legs for the sprint as caught them 1k from the finish. So finished 7th.
More easy rides before racing in Poesele where I ended up 4th as wasted alot of energy trying to get away the whole race.
Had a nice swim on my rest day at the local pools in Gent.
Some more quality time spent on the bike the following week with not so much great results 12th in Kluisbergen 7th in Oosterzele crit then 16th in a race on the Sunday in Sint Kornelis Horbeke.
As for the following week just took it feely easy leading into the Pro Races only racing on the Wednesday in Oosterzele which I finished 2nd. The following few days just took it easy as raced a Pro Kermis in Lede which was 168k 16 x 10.5k laps. As for how it unfolded was that started off with a break going early and getting caught half way meanwhile the rain came and made it extra technical on the cobbles and in the corners I stayed near the front out of trouble and made a few moves that looked promising but didn't stick so basically last lap came and I was a bit to far back and 6 guys rolled off including Marc Ryan fellow kiwi who had a good race. Any way another 4 pro's took off and were in between the peleton and the front group, so since I still had legs left I attacked soloed across to the group of 4 then on the slight rise dropped all of them as well and went on pursuit after the front 6 by myself any one of the riders slid out on a corner so I passed him and was about 100m off the back of the group when they started sprinting so finished a creditable 6th.
So just took it easy on Monday as had another pro race Ruddervoorde Koers 174k on Tuesday usually this is a bigger one with more pro's starting in that one anyway again had a solid race keeping in the front and even made a few splits happen where there was only 5 of us a one stage but didn't stick so the situation with 3laps to go, the group had regrouped and there was about 30 left out of the field of 134 so with 2 laps to go 4 riders went ahead but didn't think the odds of them staying away was very likely so didn't bother going with that move as look to be setting up for a bunch sprint to the line. Any way last lap came they still had 30sec and was going to be a sprint for 5th so 1.5k to go attacked and led into the last corners which would of been kaose otherwise so had 2nd wheel coming out of the last corner with 600m to go which was to soon to start sprint so waited ended up getting a bit boxed in and found away out passed 2 riders and then finished 9th so 5th in the bunch sprint so that was good for the morel known I can mix it up with the pro's with 2 top 10's in both races. So had a nice rest day today after 1000+ks on the bike last week... LOVE IT!!!!!

Lede Koers nice and wet

God Bless

Take care

Cheers

Chris Macic

I love to ride my bicycle........

2011-05-23T07:00:00.000-07:00

Me just about to do my first race with the new wheels in Handzame

Hi Everyone,

Quick update on what ive been up to the last few weeks, well pretty much say spent most of it racing and riding and have been really enjoying it.

Well we may as well start off from where we left off in the string of breaking things this time it was the bottom bracket and crank that decided to pack up.
So had to race the home race for Kingsnorth at Wondelgem on my noble training bike and after picking up a few primes managed to finish in a respectable 5th place. The next few days was spent doing some nice easy milelage before the following race in Sint Maria Aalter where had my race bike back working again with the SRM crank, so had a solid race there but unfortunately missed the break and ended up finishing 2nd in the bunch sprint putting me in 11th place which was a pretty good end to the week.

The following week was quite full on as well with plenty of races to choose from, so started the week off with a rest day followed by a light ride with a couple of the others from the team, to Breskens which is by the sea in Holland. The following day raced in De Haan which is also by the sea but in Belgium, anyway it turned out to be a fast race on fairly nice roads so stuck together until the last few laps where it split up and yes I was in the front group but unfortunately didn't managed to pull off the win and had to settle for a 2nd place as for the following race 2 days later in Vlamertinge I also finished 2nd.

As for this last week just been was pretty decent also with 3 races so started the week feely easy and treated myself to a new set of wheels, so went out the following day and tested them out with a nice light spin and yes they were good but wasn't the case for my legs. However the next day was race day and my legs were feeling good. After a few laps the race split up in the crosswind and I had made the front split once again altough didn't work out my way as in the last corner someone crashed into my front wheel lucky enough no harm was done and I managed to stay on my bike but unfortunately ruined my chances of sprinting so finish at the back of the group in 15th. Took the next few day easy and even found a bakery with my name on it so had to devour a rice-tart from it. So this last weekend had two races both at Merelbeke which I unfortunately missed the break both days and had to timetrial across solo both times which left me with not so good legs for the sprint finishing 8th the on the Saturday and 6th on the Sunday.
So Have spent the last two days enjoying the sunshine and having a rest to let the body recharge

God Bless, take care
Cheers
Chris

On the Podium

2011-04-30T05:00:00.000-07:00

Zelzate 17/4/2011

Hi Everybody,
I have had a rather interesting time these last few weeks....
Firstly may as well start off at the race in Evergem Belzele, was a mid week race with alot of starters which made it particularly hard on this circuit as was mostly narrow roads with a little wind thrown in there to make it a little harder. Any how that race wasn't to be ended up spending the last lap trying to catch a break which didn't happen as other riders didn't want to work so ended up 14th in the end. The next race was on Saturday which meant just takening it easy for the few days in between. Dikkebus was a race over to the west from where I am living altough I was feeling good made a mistake and ended up making a touch down giving myself some nice little grazes so thats enough said about that race onto the following race which was much better at Zelzate on Sunday.
Started the day unsure about racing so rode gently out to see how the wounds were while I was riding, so after a little 20k ride out to the race found that they weren't cause any major problems started the race.
It was a hard race in the respect of the wind on the main road and the number of corners, however I missed the split of riders and there was 5laps to go with nobody real working hard in the bunch to bring it back, so I took off by myself in pursuit of the front group which was not an easy feat, after 1lap chasing had come to within sight of them then with nearly caught them by the end of the second lap when the anouncer said that I was just behind them, they got round the corner and put the hammer down so I spent another lap time-trailing before finally catching them with just under 2laps to go so after that effort just sat on the back and waited they were all getting icthy on the last lap attacking each other and about 1k to go, I took off and nobody followed so came round the last 2 corners clear off the field and put my head down a sprinted all the way to the line where I took my first victory of the season.

The next few days spent recovering and letting the body heal up before racing on Thursday in Bellegem, which was a nice race on what would be considered a hilly circuit for a Belgium race, unfortunately there was alot of starters which made for alot of crashes which I managed to avoid this time however came to the 2nd to last time up the hill gave it all I had but couldn't managing to get across to the front group so ended up just rolling in with the main bunch. Anyway wasn't long till the next race in fact Saturday so just went for a nice easy few hours on Friday. Kalken on Saturaday was a nice race and had a 600m stretch of cobbles in it just to break things up. Anyway line up on the front and took off from the gun as my legs felt great, after a few laps went by a break of 10 riders was established and I was in it and picked up nearly all the primes on the end of the section of cobbles, but coming in to the last lap took it easy and was preparing for a solo effort on the cobbles to the finishline but before I got there disaster strikes as my front derailleur broke the chain came off and twisted up so had to watch the race disappear, so fixed the derailleur and went for an easy ride on Sunday.

So Monday is usually a rest day but not today in fact we had a race in Waddinxveen in Holland a Crit which was 50laps on a small circuit with 8 corners making it vital to stay in the front of the bunch anyway early on in the race picked up a super prime and a little prime before yet again my seat rails broke this time making a rocking chair with 30laps to go so I just stayed seated and used the gears a bit more to stop the seat from breaking completely any way with just 5laps to go had moved myself up to the front where a split happen with 5 of us away, so coming round the last corner in 3rd wheel shot past the guy in 2nd but could quite get the guy who won so with a broken seat not to shaby effort 2nd. So had a rest day Tuesday and race Wednesday in Herzele which again was a gaint field of 199 riders so spent most of the race in the break but unfortunately didn't stay away so ended up finishing in the bunch, as for the last two days have just taken it easy and enjoyed exploring some new roads. Today raced in Valdegem which was race that was pretty hard cause of the wind and feely tight circuit 5.5k 22 times so it turned out to be a bit of a race of attrition which suited me as never further back than about 10th place so think it was with 5 laps to go the last split which unfortunately missed it and had to do a little time trial to catch them and so on the last lap with 1k to go went for a solo effort as had Mario up there as well so the other guy had to chase me which he did and wasted his energy so Mario got the Victory and I settled for 3rd so was a nice way to end the week.

Anyway thats it for now.

God Bless
Chris

Back on the road again.

2011-04-10T23:06:00.000-07:00

Picture in Brugge off the ring road

Hi Everybody

Here is a quick update on how the last few months have been for me.

It has been a little bit of a roller coaster my life since the start to my 2011 road campgain. Firstly after getting back from the UK.

Nokereberg Ronde Van Vlaanderen

I Spent a week crook with a stomach bug, atleast managed to put that behind me and get back on the road. Then my wisdom tooth started playing up in end of February which ended up getting pulled out, fortunately that was a smooth extraction and was back on my bike 3days later.

After those little setbacks have had a good solid 4 weeks which has seen me start getting more consistent and stronger.
As for the weather has changed as spring is well in place now and is lovely riding along the seeing all the new spring life and the spring classic races, finally got to see Ronde Van Vlaanderen only wishing that I could be amongst it.

So all is in good keeping and looking forward to rest of the season.

God Bless
Chris

London Town

2011-02-06T08:15:00.001-08:00

Picture of me on bridge over the Thames in London

Hi Everybody

Well done alot since the last update, firstly New Years was celebrated in the Ardennes about 50kms south of where we were based as juniors for Worlds in 2006. This time however it was the complete oposite in regards to the temprature sitting around -1.
So had fun in the snow. As you can see to the left that this is a frozen pond where we were staying.
When I got back it from the Ardennes most of the snow had gone so was back into the training on the road and racing on the track on Saturdays where I was improving slighty on the results.

This picture on the right is infort of the Statue at Oostende on my first long ride of the year to the Sea of Belgium. Which I really enjoyed despite the dismal weather that day. That city in away was a little bit similar to those towns found scattered along the coast of NZ, Quite different to the other Belgium cities in the way they are layed out.

Towards the end of Janruary there was a light show in Gent which had different displays all over the city which was quite nice to see on the old buildings.

Last but not least was my speedy trip to the UK where went by car via Ferry from Dunkerque to Dover this is a picture of me at the back of the ship leaving the Dunkerque port. Once I got to Dover caught a train to London where caught up with Glen.
Spent the next day doing alot of walking around London which was an awesome experience to see what was around the city. Before catching a bus back to Gent which took 7 hours which was good to catchup on some much needed sleep.

God Bless

Chris

Christmas Time!!

2010-12-25T06:04:00.001-08:00

Me and my snow man on christmas day

Hi Everybody

Not so much has been happening since the last update altough definately the weather has got cooler. This picture on the right is a picture of the track bike that I have been doing all my training on for the last few months after breaking the previous one.
Altough have got out for a few road rides but generally quite sketchy riding on the winter roads here.
As for the track have done many laps in the last month mostly riding 1-3hours on the track/rollers which is not so scenic :(
Got a cold early December which took a few weeks to come right and took it easy.

As for this christmas been my first white christmas decided to get creative on christmas day and make a snow man for you all back in NZ.
The photo on the right is the church across the road on christmas morning with the lights still on.

Now am looking forward to this coming year.

God Bless
Chris

Round and round!!!!

2010-11-14T00:57:00.001-08:00

Tower Brugge

Hi Everybody
Been awhile since the last update. Had a week off the bike after the last race in October.
During that week went for 2 runs first one ran 8k then the next on did 11k so my legs got a we shock from that as haven't run since the triathalon I did back in March.
The following week started back riding this time on the track with a few easy rides on the road and tried a cyclo-x race as well, which found out that it was not for me, so will be spending the winter on the track.
So the last weeks of October were mainly spent at the track training altough did managed to get out for some rides on the weekend on the road which was quite pleasent riding through all the autumn leaves on the country roads of Belgium. Also in October found a church in Gent, so have been attending.

On the 5th of November the track bike didn't fear so well after a few sprints in a session on the track could here a creaking noise (not the first time iv'e heard this noise) Oh dear I thought to myself.
The sound didn't to good so I slowed down and to checked sure enough found a crack in the Stearing tube not just one either, two one in the top an one on the bottom so that was the end to that track session. So the next few days road on my road bike until sorted out another bike for the track.

Managed to sort out a track bike so got back training on the track and even got to ride on the Kuikpe 166m track which is wicked as its like a merry go round you fly through the laps really quick and alot more force going into the banking. So can't wait for the track racing to begin over here.

God Bless
Chris

Change of seasons

2010-10-11T06:58:00.000-07:00

Hello to all,

Well here is the update from the 27th of September,
27th Just went out for a nice easy spin in the wind.
28th Had a race in Sint Laureins where my string of wheel breaking continued this time heading out of a corner on the last lap ping goes a spoke in my front wheel as some guy thought it was nice to swing into my front wheel a few laps earlier. So therefore didn't think it would be safe contesting a mass sprint so tried to ride off which did split up the bunch but didn't let me escape that easily so end up finish 19th.
29th Went for a nice easy ride with a friend down to Oudenaarde where we had lunch before heading back to Gent.
30th This was a slighty bigger race in the size of the field nearly 120 starters. Also this course at Tielt was bigger than usual with 2 little climbs one which had a Clasification on which I ended up finishing second in. Coming into the last lap was kaose as was still a big bunch so managed to postion myself no to badly going through the tight technical section of the course before entering the town where moved up the bunch on the hill ready for the dash to the line unfortunately got a little boxed in but once got out went on my merry way to claim 9th place.
1st October just headed out for a gentle spin.
2nd Raced in Hoogelede which involved a we trip in the car to get to the race it was pissing with rain which made for slippery roads surprisingly only sore 1 crash in the race mid way through on a corner. Had a solid race and finish 6th in the mass sprint.
3rd Got up to not much caught up on the house chores.
4th Raced a Dienze Pettegem was a windy day on a short course unfortunately missed the break of 5 riders so just took it easy till the last lap where I powered away from the bunch to claim 6th again.
5th Easy ride
6th Lottenhulle another race in the wet unfortunately wasn't my day tried tough ending up 10th.
7/8 easy rides
9th Hoogelede the smallest field since ive been here only 24 starters but my legs did not want to be pedalling so hung on for half the race before calling it a day as knowing had another race tomorrow altough still finished 14th.
10th Raced in Deerlijk which was another big field with 113 starters so made for mayhem on the first few laps the pace was hot, which only left 2 groups in the race with about 15 in the front an 25 in the rear unfortunately for me I was in the rear, due to some more disasters with my wheels this time 1 spoke in my back wheel went at 3 laps in then 1 in my front a few laps later but still hung in there as the wheels were still managing to turn round. It all came back together then split with 4 laps to go and me been in the second split not surprising with wheels like that. Unfortunately on the last lap got a puncture so had to roll home in 21st place which was not bad considering all that had happened.
11th Took it easy went for a we look a the park where I took this picture above looking towards the Sint Petiers Station Gent.
12th Last race of the season in Hiest Op Den berg which was on the other side of Anterpwen unfortunately didn't go so well just finishing in main bunch 46th actually.

Hope you enjoyed the read

God Bless

Chris

OH DEARY ME!!

2010-09-26T03:50:00.001-07:00

Where in the world am I!!!!?

Well,well.well!!!
Crap is the one word that somes the last few weeks up altough could use alot of other words.

But here is a more detailed explanation of the last few weeks.

7th of September had a race in Hulste not to far from Kortrijk.
So since my legs were feeling like lead and the circuit having lots of corners made a not so nice race altough managed to come 9th.
8th just went for a nice easy ride in the lovely rain.
9th Some more riding in the rain, excitement of the day was a runner not looking were he was going I was riding in a cycle lane at 40k, he approached at 90 degrees to it, then just turned an ran straight into me not giving me anytime to do anything to avoid him, Man I felt sorry for him as bold him to the ground instantly but also crashing on top of him. Who does that. Lucky he was alright, just had minor blood nose out of it but could of easily been alot worse, An as for me just had a bit of a sore neck but managed to keep the scabs this time so I was happy enough.
10th Easy ride
11th Had a big day today been our last interclub race with this team Euroasia.
Anyway we got in the car an started off to the race, driving to the race I found out wasn't going to ride for Nippo team, So feeling pretty crap did a small warm up an got to the start line a bit angry, so after missing the main slit of the day was chasing but couldn't bridge the gap today, so a few people from the main bunch rolled off the front with 1lap to go an I just let them go an get a good 600m before I jumped across an caught them just before the finish an sprinted them finishing lucky 13th. So not to bad for a big race an having that news before the race.
12th Rest day off the bike went to a Catholic Church in Kortrijk which was very traditionally if I could say.
13th This was going to be a ripper of a day as woke up an yep had awesome legs like you get every now an again, It was good as it was a big race in Zwevegem had the Ameteur Belgium National champ on the start line as well as a heap of other good riders.
So on the first lap got in a break an drove it really hard which made it stick so there were about 20 of us in the front group. So the first 8 laps managed to pick up 3 sprint primes an was pulling away from the bunch on this little hill where the finishline was every lap.
That was all good that part of the race now here is where it turns to custard with 5 laps to go broke a spoke in my back wheel so I said to mechanic/bottle feeder need a back wheel ready next lap to swap, everyone in the group heard me say this so the raised the pace the following lap me put in my hardest gear already for a smooth wheel change, OH DEAR NO BACK WHEEL so had to wait for him to get one by this time the group had got to far away, Eventually managed to start my chase but only to find the wheel he gave me was only pump up half way so couldn't go round the corners very fast. So the following lap pulled in an got my wheel out of his car so now I had a decent wheel proceeded on my chase. Got some help from a commasaire motorpacing me to 500m off the back of the 2 group as the front group had split in 2 so when I caught them with 1 lap to go just rode straight past them an tried to get to the front of the race but couldn't do it so ended up 6th only to get relegated to 13th for the assistance I got from Motorpacing. Well all I can say is oh dear an some how managed to keep my cool after the race.
14th Some more good news, not- we had to shift back to Zwevegem and euroasia couldn't pay for food or race entry which is pefectic, so left me hanging. So just packed up an went for a nice easy ride up the cannal to Gent to get away from it all an say good bye to Martin my South African friend/team mate as he left to go back home.
15th Caught a train off to the otherside of Antwerpen to another biggish race similiar to the one on monday, I was glad to do this race as it was all on nice roads and had 1 big loop before going onto a smaller 7k finishing circuit unfortunately didn't go with the right move in the closing laps an ended up finish 29th. Lucky some others were going back to Kortrijk which saved me a long train ride home. Thanks guys.
16th Had a well deserved rest day.
17th Easy ride with few nice we sprints. Sorted out moving back to Gent.
18th Shifted back to Gent an did race in Nazereth which is not so far from Gent maybe 15k
This race was not so good as big open roads which did not work out so well as everybody was marking me. Still finished 9th tough
19th Another race in virtually the same place but better circuit and windy so the race blew apart within 3 laps leave a group of 12 riders out the front but some how managed to stuff this race up on the last corner again but didn't crash just had to slow down way to much which led to me ending up 10th.
20th Had another restday an did some baking this time a carrot cake.
21st Race but not to good pulled out after 5 laps as could feel sinus starting to come on.
22-now just taking is easy gone on gentle rides am just wanting to throw off this sinus. Will hopefully be back racing within another week but will take it easy.

As you can see why I didn't really want to update my blog as nothing good has really happened in these last few weeks.

God Bless

Chris

Fun Times or not

2010-09-07T00:34:00.000-07:00

Me at Lille at the massive markets

Hi Everybody

Had some good times an not so good this last week. 3 Top 10's in the last week an had a stupid we fall on some road works which ripped open scab on my leg.

Spent the last day of August just chilling had a nice restday.
Wednesday the first day of September it was like christmas for me. A nice we brown box arrived from NZ which contain all this useful stuff from back home.
SRM Crank finally back from repair in Germany.
Spray on suncream that doesn't get in your eyes :)
Marmite
Wrist splint that is bit better than the support have had.
Cream for eye to heal up better.
Once I got the Srm hooked up headed out for a nice 3hour ride on sum hills. To my favourite coffee stopping point in Brakel.
Here's the picture of the Roundabout at Brakel with Coffee Shop in background.
Thursday was a nice easy spin with a few sprints in prep for tomorrows race. Plus moved to Kortrijk Centrum to live with team director.
Friday I Raced in Beverien-Lei'e which was a bumpy race which my wrist didn't like to much an struggled to grab drink bottles at 50kmph. I came in 8th place so wasn't to bad considering.

Saturday had a nice easy ride 3hour spin on some hills except for the roadworks which I was going about walking pace an sliped on a mound of gravel which led to me ripping my scab open on my hip which was not so good. After dinner we headed off to France to the markets in Lille which are gigantic. Thousands of people were still walking round the streets.
Sunday Raced at Ruiselede which was a fast race as break went off the line an kept going until it stayed away till last lap where bunch caught up with 2k to go then then was a massive dash to the line where I came in 7th.
Monday had a awesome day just chilling an resting caught a train to Rosselare to sort some stuff out with the people at the hospital.
So all it all in not such a bad week.

GOD BLESS

Chris

Back Racing again

2010-08-31T09:05:00.000-07:00

Hi Everybody

Back racing again, last week had my first race back on Wednesday a 170k Interclub in Oudenburg which is sort of towards the coast to the left of Brugge. This race was a bit longer than the usual kermesse (Race).
So wasn't to bad apart from the rain towards the end an been a big bunch maybe around 170 riders making it very fast, on the last lap got caught behind a crash which made the bunch split up as for wrist seamed to of copped alright, was a little sore for the last 2laps an grabing bottles out of the feed station.
Ended up 55th about 20sec behind winner an was pretty happy just to finish an get that one behind me as needed to find out how I was going.
Took it easy on Thursday just went for a little spin in the morning then went an watched the Japanese Juniors do there final Kermesse.
On Friday packed up for the day an headed off across the border into Holland for a Criterium in Zierikzee which didn't go so well as had cobbles so pulled out after a few laps as didn't want to upset wrist. Got a nice Ice-Cream tough.
Spent the night in Gent then went for an easy spin back down the canal home on Saturday.
Sunday race was alot better as wrist is now strong enough to change gears from the hoods now the race was in Maria Aalter it was held in rather nasty conditions which was definately to my favour windy an hail/rain which split the race up quite nicely me ending up 3rd so pretty happy to be starting to get back to where I was before I crashed.
Monday had another race in Ooigem which didn't go so well as legs were cramping from about half way but still managed to sprint and get 10th.
Today just chilled out and had a nice well deserved rest day.

God Bless
Chris
Me just before the crit in Holland as you can see only got a little bit of road rash left on my leg.
An eye has healed up quite nicely.
Have still got wisdom tooth nudging its way through.

Making good Recovery!!!

2010-08-23T11:50:00.000-07:00

Zwevegem Windmill

Hi Everybody

This week has been takening it easy altough managed to get on bike pretty soon after getting out of hospital which has made it go alot faster.
Report from training this last week goes like this:
Wed rollers 30min day after getting out of hospital.
Thu rollers 1.5hours very fun stearing at the wall.
Fri got out on the road for 2.5hours nice an easy.
Sat nice long ride on the canaals then some hills for the last few nice scenery.
Sunday was similar
And as for today just chilled an went into the Centre of Kortrijk had a look round which was interesting.
As for the wounds they have mostly scabed over an a healing up nicely.
Today also had fun pulling the stitches out of my eyebrow as definately time for them to come out. Just got a little bit of bruising still an slight scab there. As you can see in picture

As for the wrist is recovering as well can do most stuff now ie opening jars, doors.

Pic from main Square Kortrijk

Hopefully be back doing some racing this week.

God Bless
Chris

Kerb always wins

2010-08-18T06:21:00.000-07:00

Me at start of first race for new team Eurasia.

Hi Everybody

This last week I haven't had much good luck altough did win a bike for sprint comp in Kermesse only bonus.

On the 13th didn't get up to much just went for a 2hour ride with the U19 guys

14th was race in Muelbeke unfortunately it decided to rain again as this was my first race with the new team was wanting it to go well so was conserving myself and then with 3laps to go some guy swung over and hook his rear skewer in my front wheel ripping 3 spokes out and ending my race the only bonus was that I didn't crash.
15th just took it easy an went for another 2hour spin.

16th Had a criterium in Moorslede, a short race on a 1.3k circuit which we did 51 times so as it was raining thought since my legs have been alright I would ride off by myself for the first 10laps before getting joinned by 4 other, which 1 only lasted 2laps with us then there was 4 an we worked well together staying at around 1min ahead of the main bunch most of the race I didn't know but there was a points comp which I happened to win, scoring myself a nice towny as you would call it over here. But the end of race wasn't so merry last lap I was on front an coming out of the second to last corner acelerated at maximum going for the win which didn't work out to well going into the last corner at just under 60ks which was 10ks faster than the other laps where hit the Zebra crossing an slid across the road then must of face planted the kerb. Which KO me for maybe 10min cause the next thing I remember was opening 1 eye again a been in an Ambulance heading for the Hospital.

Where they proceed to go through the medical proceedures, x rays an scans, cleaning out wounds on my legs an arms but not to bad have had alot worse very lucky indeed.
Which I must say were alot smoother than back in NZ. So once 8stitches were in my eyebrow I asked how many more an he said 2. Cause it was going into my right eye that had already had surgery to before could hardly feel the needle go in for the Local so when he was finished I said good job now hi Five, which he enjoyed the sense of humour. So spent the night in hospital an was cleared in the morning to go back home by this time I was starving luckly had a waffle an a bannana in my bag to save me.
So just takening it easy for the next few days until I start riding back on the road.
Here the pic of me happy enough 2days later.

God Bless
Chris

The Shift

2010-08-12T00:33:00.000-07:00

Picture of U19 Eurasia guys yesterday just before race.

Hi Everyone

The last few weeks since the 3rd its been a bit of kaose as with mechanical problems with bike parts not been strong enough then punctured. Made a move to Kortrijk Zwavegem yesterday, where I am based for the next few months racing for eurasia.

Whats been happening since the 3rd of August

4th August, was Race at Lockeren which had a few stretches of Cobbles, but didn't go so well as big chainring bent on the first lap, so was on left with one gear that wouldn't jump off. Lucky it was a 12 sprocket not an 11 so made good use of the race still continued in that gear for another lap as they were paying big Primes every lap from the second lap so got my 50euro prime then pulled out.

5th was not a bad day, managed to dodge the rain on 3hour ride out to bike shop to buy myself a late birthday present a new cycle computer.

6th Not to much easy spin.

7th Nice easy 4hour ride with team mate round the roads of Ouudenaade.

8th Finally another Race at Bottlelare this time didn't go so well either, punctured this time on the first lap so just rode home. As couldn't do much about that.

9th Raced in Erondegem which was a hilly race for Belgium 1000m climbing an cause it was hot an no wind lots of people were suffering from cramp including me by the last laps. Yippee this time made it past the 1st lap with out many problems. I ended 3rd as cramp got the better of me. So went for a nice Ride back home with Luke who took me on a scenic detour which involved catching a canaal boat across to the otherside of the Canaal to get on the bike path.

10th Raced in Lovendegem which was on a Small 5k circuit which we had a 1k stretch of cobbles down the finishing strait so made for an interesting race as it was windy an started to rain halfway through the race. To cut it short I won 5 primes and finish 7th.

1th The big move packed up all my stuff in the morning an Ken Hashikawa the manager of eurasia came an picked me up an dropped me off to where I will be staying for the next few months in Zwevegem, which is pretty close to Kortrijk. After unpack an getting introduced to the U19 Japanese guys im staying with went an watched them race which they didn't go so bad for the first race im sure they will improve been over here. Just before I went to bed the fulla's gave me a cool little gift an a Japanese lollipop which tasted a bit like a Mactintosh origanal flavour would be the closest to it in NZ.

Keep you posted
God Bless

Chris

What a week!!!!

2010-08-02T23:39:00.000-07:00

Hi Everybody

What a week 5 races in the last 7days an my birthday. Here's a pic of me up the road yesterday chucking a bottle off.

Start off with last wednesday the last race of the series at Dienze I was leading into this race but all turned to custard on me as legs were good but wheel wasn't so lets just leave it at that.
Thursday was slightly better with a 15th place in a race in Deerlijk.
Friday and Saturday just did some nice easy rides.

Sunday was my Birthday so of course had to have a pre race meal from the bakery today man it was delicous.
Race was at Knesselare which was a good 1hour ride up the cannal to get there.
I had a bad start to the race puncturing with in the 2nd lap so managed to get a wheel change and time trial back on which lucky for me was the peleton slowest lap of the race but in saying that there is no convoy so it was a solid effort.
Spent the next lap at the back, started moving through up to the front as saw it was starting to split up so got to the front and started to roll with team mate Mario to break the field up an sure enough that happen caught the front of the race.
Kept the pace on then that pack split down to 6 of us with 4laps to go so that stayed away 2 more went off the back so there was only down to 4 of us where they sort of Tag teamed me as 1 of the dirty belgies had paid the others out and I didn't know as they weren't racing like they usually would if they had done that.
So basically 2 of them went up the road an 1 just sat on me so I tried making him roll by letting the gap go out to maybe 300m with 2k to go but he just sat there so pulled it down to 50m with 750m to go then swung over he still would roll through. So left it to 500m where I went as fast a possible flying past the 2 guys with 20m to the line unfortunately the other guy who had a free ride rolled me by few cm.
So close yet so far away.
Tom sorry about the wheel that I borrowed after I punctured spoke loosened up during the race lucky it was only just hitting the brakes a real little bit unlike the other day.
Not to bad of a way to celebrate your birthday.
Had a nice we dinner that night to celebrate as well.

Now Monday was pretty good race as well ended up getting up the road at the start of lap 2 with a group of 4 of us but shortly was down to 3 then he punctured an I was just down to 2 where we were caught mid race by a group with 6 so there was 8 of us then that end up only been 5 going into the final lap so after going into the sprint led it out for team mate Mario as had arrangement with him. He Won I finished 5th and got 4 primes so was nice day at the office once again.

Well deserved rest day today.

God Bless

Chris

Legs get going

2010-07-27T12:22:00.000-07:00

Hi Everybody.
Update from last week is that we had a few major things happen like finishing 6th in dienze then 2nd today with a 12th place in Sundays race and 11th last tuesday, team had a night out and I watched the first post tour crit in Aaslt which pretty cool atmosphere.

On Tuesday 20th we had a race in Westkapalle which was up and towards the east of Brugge I didn't have to bad a race finishing 11th but good on my team mate Martin from South Africa taking the win from a bunch sprint.

Wednesday we had a the first race of a 3 race series in Dienze photo of me ready to race. Started the day with a nice we warm up ride to Dienze then raced and rode back home. Ended up 6th in a bunch sprint that invovled a nice we roundabout that you had to navigate your way through every lap an unfortunately got a we bit boxed in.

Thursday had a well deserved nice easy 2hour spin

Friday had a nice easy long ride over the roads of Flanders towards France loved getting lost an just riding, found a way back to Ghent eventually.

Saturday was nasty as it was raining in the morning and didn't really feel that inspired to ride so just went for a nice easy couple of hours in the afternoon once it had cleared up a bit.

Sunday had a horrible race in Nederzalm which is sort of more central Belgium we drove the course had a we little bump in the middle of the course but was predominently on small narrow nasty roads and hailed in one part of the race so made for lots of crashes which I managed to avoid 5 of them as was near the front of the race the whole time ended up 12th in the sprint as didn't want to lay my life on the line on the risky 7 corners leading into the finish.

Monday was due for a rest day as had a pretty full on week, I went to Aaslt an watched the first after tour crit which none other than Fabian won which was pretty much certian him or Pettachi were going to win.
As well picked myself up some new bits an pieces for my bike, so apart from alot of walking was a pretty cruisy day. Got this pic of them on the first lap before my camera battery died.

Tuesday 2nd Race of Series in Dienze. Well started off with a we ride out to dienze and legs were feeling pretty good. Got into the break on the second lap and stayed away until about lap 12 or so picked up 4 primes and as you can see wasn't hurting myself to much. Once the bunch finally caught us I just made it look like I was suffering as much as possible. On the last lap pretty much quite alot of breaks went until Mario my team mate got off up the road then about 500m later I decided to ditch everybody and ride across solo to him where we ended up taken 1st and 2nd me 2nd unfortunately couldn't out sprint him. However that does put me in top spot on the 3 day Classement tough leading into tomorrows last race so with a good rest tonight we will have to see what happens tomorrow.

God Bless
Chris

Settled into racing.

2010-07-19T00:50:00.000-07:00

Hi Everybody

Had a awesome week really, getting over that jetlag and settling into the way things run over here.
Raced twice since the last update.

2nd race i did was a Criterium Friday night. It was definately a step up from the crits back home, this was held on a circuit 1.6k long which had 3 corners which were definately far from flowing I would say, we did 46 laps which made for a good 150 sprints out of the corners ouch. However managed to pull a respectable 9th for my second race.

Saturday was planing on going for a nice 2hours, went out on my journey to get to the other side of Gent altough a few horrible Tram lines lay in between getting there so it all turned to custard when bang goes the back tyre as i cross the tramline which slashed my back tyre, oh deah least I didn't crash just made for a trip to the bike shop to get another tyre which was a change in direction on where I intended on going. On the way back cruised through a few cool old towns got a cool we pic from one of the we towns I rode through.

Sunday had the 3rd Race which was a race out of Borsbeke which was held on open roads and had 150 starters making for a fast race despite a nice little hill on the 9.1k circuit which we had to do 13 times. This was far from my best race but deffinately not my worst finishing 29th just in the prize money as they only payed top 30. Then we had a nice we ride back home.

Jazz Stage

Went out and had a look around the town as the Festival of Gent is on at the moment. Man there was alot of people out an about on the cannals and Streets, they had all kinds of things happening, from Jazz, skits, bands and maybe 6+ stages all round the centre of Gent. Was pretty cool evening though didn't understand a word they were saying.

Cannal

God bless
Chris

First Race in Belguim

2010-07-13T11:25:00.000-07:00

Hi everybody the last week has been a bit of kaos.

Left NZ on the 9th to depart on another stint racing in Belgium
Flew to Amsterdam via Kuala Lumpur which was a pretty good flight managed to get to sleep on the last flight. Once I got to Amsterdam had a nice we train ride to Gent where I am now racing for Kingsnorth Wheelers for the meanwhile.
As for the first race in Belgium was a we shock to the system as haven't raced for a few months so was pretty happy with blowing out the cob webs and just finishing this one.
Only up from now.

God bless
Chris

Race in Lyon

2008-09-11T10:15:00.000-07:00

Since the last update we headed up to Lyon for a hilly circuit race that did not go so well for us.
To start things off we had a nice supposed to be 4 1/2hour drive up to Lyon, which turned into a hell of a drive getting there eventually after been stuck in some major traffic jams on the auto-route so we ended up getting there to late to go for a ride. The next morning i thought it would be a good idea to go for a little ride in the morning and came across the race circuit so rode a lap of that and went back to tell everyone that we were going up a Col or otherwise a nasty 5k hill every lap. Anyway on the way back to the race accomodation happened to see a Mercedes flying down the rode with sparkz shooting everywhere as the front of it was all smashed up, as i progressed further up the rode i saw why as it had just side swiped this little car going the wrong way round a roundabout which meant that they had just oviously just stolen it and heading out for there morning joy ride something that i wasn't really expecting to see.
As for the race we got out there and everyone around in the other teams seamed to be 5ft midgets that go up hills super fast so after 2laps of getting dropped and chasing back on down the descent decided on the 3rd lap when i could hang with them to call it a day and the only one to finish out of us kiwi's was Mike who managed to roll in with the last bunch on the rode so it was a bit of disapointment for all that driving we did to this race and only last 1hour.
Atleast the drive back to Limoux wasn't so bad as we didn't get held up in any traffic jams.
This week have done a little bit of training on some more scenic roads around Limoux so been able to get a few pics of the Scenary around here which has been good.
Hopefully we get in this race on up near Borduex next tuesday so keep you posted on how it goes.

Later

NORTH OF FRANCE

2008-09-02T00:40:00.000-07:00

Hi Everybody

Just spent the last couple of weeks doing a couple of races in the North West of France
As Rond de Gard got canned, so we did not do any racing that weekend, then spent the next week doing some training leading into GP Plouay which was a circuit race and didn't go so well for me althogh managed to finish it.

We had some mission drives across france to get up north as we didn't stay up there in between the races.

So spent a couple of days recovering in Limoux before heading back up north to Cabri Tour which was based out of St Bruiec which is right up the ttop of France. The first stage was really hot, a break went early on which had Alex Meenhorst, Mike Torkler and Matt Silliars in it and it stayed away however it wasn't our day oviously as they all ended up crashing out of that bunch all at different parts of the race which left no one up there. The next day started out with a 11k tt which was pretty miserable and cold, as have no tt bike just rode a solid ride and ended up not doing to bad 18th at 53sec, so then it was a couple of hours rest before the last stage which was a 9.8k circuit which had a 3k climb up to the finish. After a couple of laps a break finally went and I managed to get in it so looked like it was going to be pretty good however the bunch pulled it back in with 2laps to go so I ended up getting dropped and just cruised a couple of laps to the finish. So we had a nice drive back down to Limoux however we only drove a couple of hours the day of the tour and drove the rest of the way the following day so that wasn't to bad.

This weekend we have a race around Lyon which is out to the east of the france and is generally hilly around there, so keep you posted on how it goes.

Later Chris

Tour des Pyrenees

2008-08-12T09:59:00.001-07:00

Hi everyone since my last update I have undertaken some major climbing in the Pyrenees which was very scenic.
The tour started on the 6th so that meant doing a traveling to Lourdes in the Pyrenees on the 5th of August.
It was about a 4hour drive up and then out to the west of France and had some pretty nice scenary for the last part of the drive.
6th was the first stage which started in Tarbes and finished in Loudenville 147k and like usual it was very aggressive with lots of attacks happening all day long. It had 3 major climbs in this stage Col Burg Cat 3, Col Le Hallia Cat 3 and then to finish it off Col d' Aspin Cat 1, which was the hardest climb but was well worth it as it had an awesome decent down to the finish where i finished in a bigger bunch out the back of the race.
Stage 2 St Laurent Neste to Val d' Azun, which was the longest day of the tour and the hilliest it was 168k and went over Col Cieutat cat 3, Col du Soulor Cat 1 and then a hill climb finish on Col de Couraduque Cat 1 which was rather suckfull as had no decent to look forward to.
Stage 3 Orlon-Jaca this stage saw us crossing the border into Spain we started the day with a Hors Cat climb otherwise the biggest mountian we went over in the tour. Col du Somport HC then had an awesome decent hitting 90kmph alot then we had 2 other climbs Puerto S.Juan de la Pena Cat 1 which had a nasty steep section at the top followed by a decent then Puerto Oroel Cat 3 which wasn't so bad and then a nice decent to the finish. After the stage we drove back to the race Accomodation or should I say ski resort which was rather nice, It even had Eurosport in English so we could watch the opening of the Olympics and undrstand what they were saying.
Stage 4 was a flat stage in comparison to the last 3 days it only had 2 climbs Alto de Alcubierre Cat 3 and Alto Lecinena Cat 3 and this stage was all in Spain which meant it was like a desert and rough roads unfortunately. I missed the break of 9 that road away in the first couple k of the race, so just sat in the bunch and waited for the bunch sprint where i ended up 7th so 17th in the stage. Then we had a marathon drive back to Limoux via the Pyrenees so atleast we had some pretty spectacular views and photos. So all I can say it was a nice tor for scenary but not really that friendly to the bigger riders like myself.
August 10th I just went for a 1 1/2 hour spin with Mike Torckler.
11th Did a 2hour tempo once the rain had gone.
12th Was a rest day so got around to updating this and doing some baking of training food for the next few weeks and just chilled. The next race is Ronde Gard which is on sunday then we are off up North to Plouay where we will spend a week or so up there doing Plouay on the 24th and then Cabri Tour the following weekend.

Catchya

Cours la Ville

2008-08-04T02:39:00.000-07:00

Hi Everybody
Finally got around to updating this blog.
As for the last 2 weeks they has flown past and where off to tackle the mission of Tour de Pryrenees (Mountains). Managed to get some decent training in down here in Limoux as know the roads down here a bit better than in Teilt.
After tour de Cruese i spent a couple of days just recovering and trying to catch up on some much needed sleep. By mid week i started a 5 days of pretty intense training which involved 3 x 13min hill reps, the next day was thursday and did a 2hour tempo, then Friday i got out and rode PORT DE PAIHERES which is an awesome mountain that took me about an hour to climb. Saturday was a prerace hit out and along drive up to the race which was in around Roanne on the east of France. The race was a 10laps of a 15k circuit which was basicacally straight up a climb then a descent, Brad did the best finishing a couple of minutes in front of Mike Torckler and Myself. Then we had a lovely 6hour drive back home. The following week was spent just recovering basically and on Friday it was my birthday so the Chicks put a birthday brunch on for me which was awesome of them and then the following day it was Matt Silliars birthday so i did some baking myself and made him a Cheese cake and yes it did turn out alright.
So thats all thats been happening in these last 2weeks.

Catchya
Chris

Tour Deux Sevres & Tour De Cruese

2008-07-18T00:39:00.000-07:00

Hi every body finally got back to a computer,
Tour Deux Sevres was the last race with the NZ track squad so everyone was in fine form being the lastr race.
To start the journey we had a 7hour drive down from Teilt-winge to where the race was north of Bordeux, so after sitting in the car for most of the day we had a team presentation followed by settling into the race accomodation at a school.
1st Stage for me ended up being a disaster losing 25min as when i zent back to get some fluid for everyone a team decided to put it in the guter which had me left out in the convoy which I ended up getting dropped from. How ever Hayden Roulston had a good race winning the stage and taking Yellow and the rest of the team finished in the main bunch.
2nd Stage was more bad luck once again went back to the car to get some bottles and ended up braking a spoke in my front wheel, Which i had to do another wheel change and ended up wasting heaps of energy chasing back on then ended up getting dropped with Wes and Jessie and ending up missing time cut by 54sec so that was a bummer. To say the least we did some solid riding on the front for Rolly to try hold the break from going out to much.
I was out of the tour so had a rest day, while Sam and Marc Ryan did as much suffering as possible to keep Rolly in good nick for the finish then the last day of the tour I went for 100k easy ride in the morning on the afternoons stage. The TT in the morning was 16k and Hayden extended his lead winning it by 20secs which was good then the afternoons stage for them was all about controlling the race not letting anything get to far away, which they did a superb job all finishing in the bunch with Hayden winning the Tour. Then we had some more driving we first had to drive to Bordeux to drop off all the track squad and gear before making the 4 1/2 hour drive down to Limoux to say the least it wasnt a very early night.

Now in Limoux went for a 2hour easy ride with a few sprints.
The next day was a 6hour drive up north to Tour De Cruese which had a 25k teams time trial that night which we rode on standard rode bikes and ended up doing a resonble time considering finshing 15th team then the next day was a 156k stage that was quite hilly i ended up finishing in the second bunch around 40th with Matt Sillars, Mike Torkler end up finishing in the main bunch ahead of us. This was then followed by a long drive back to Limoux.

Coming to the end with the trackies

2008-07-08T23:22:00.000-07:00

1st of July it was a cracker of a day real nice and hot, so i got on my bike and went for a long ride and caught up with Tom David before he heads to Junior Worlds.
2nd went for easy 2hour ride with Karl and then that afternnon Jessie, Marc, Brei, Sam, Pete and me all caught the train from Arschot into Antwerppe which is probably the biggest shopping city in belg so went and got myself some new jandals and had dinner which was pretty good, the train on the way back to Arscot took 2 hours and it only should of taken 45min as there was problems withthe railroad barriers so all the trains had to go slow so we ended up getting back at around 10.30pm not 9pm when we were thinking we would be back.
3rd did a 3hour ride with 2hours in the middle being a time trial which hurt a bit.
4th went for an easy ride with the guys.
5th Malle Kermesse/race this was 130k 13laps of 10k up by Gent. Marc Ryan ended up winning, i finished in 25th, sam 33rd and all the others had a solid ride as well. It was quite a hard race as it was wet and was a rather technical circuit with lots of turns which ment it was slippery while wet.
6th Rest Day just chilled out in Tielt did some study
7th was supposed to have done 5min efforts today but legs were to stuffed from the weekend and so i just cruised for a couple of hours.
8th Just went for an easy ride tried to dodge the rain but failed and ended up get one down pour drench me so that was nice. Made a Cake to celebrate Jessie's birthday with the others.
So the end of being with the track guys is coming up, with the last tour with them starting on Friday in the region about 2hours north of Bordeux. We are driving there on thursday as is about a seven hour drive then once the tour finishes im joining the rest of the U23 guys in Limoux which is another long drive. Going to miss being with the Team Pursuiters but on the other hand looking forward to the better roads/weather of Limoux.

Later
Chris

Hilly Race

2008-06-30T03:10:00.000-07:00

26th after going for a easy ride with Karl, we went into brussels to go shoping and dinner which was nice to get out for the afternoon.
27th was spent doing a 3hour ride, 2hours with Karl, Westley, Jessie, Brei and Sam, which was good then did a 30min tempo.
28th went for a ride with wes did a couple of sprints and a tempo along the bike path along the cannal which was fast with a tail wind.
29th we went into the ardennes for a race in the hills, I had a solid ride finishing 11th, the others rode good as well despite the hills Hayden Roulston ended up winning, Marc Ryan finishing 8th and Westley finished 19th so it was a pretty good days racing for the NZ team.
30th just chilled out and cruised highlight would be going to the super market and study.

Catchya

Halle Ingooiem

2008-06-26T04:52:00.000-07:00

Since last week iv'e been feeling alot better having got rid of the camplobactor. 17th and 18th of june were much the same just doing 2hour recovery rides.
19th was a shit day went out in the windy coditions which then turned to raining windy conditions, which i decided it would be better to do the rest of the tempo on the wind trainer after turning around and heading back I turned left into the road to get home but the wind caught me and ended up slipping over nothing ended up happening other than losing a little skin off my elbow and hip lucky I was going slow, the rest of the ride was finished doing the rest of the tempo on the trainner.
20th was 2 x 10min intervals on the trainner followed by a 2hour ride on the road.
21st was when the tour finally caught up with me had rather tight legs, went for a 4hour ride with a 30min tempo at 2 1/2hours it was an awsome day to be riding.
22nd went and drove to where to the race start and rode the course minus to climbs as we missed them as the directions weren't very clear it was a rather hard ride as it was into a head/head cross wind the whole way which made it a solid 3hours.

23rd was monday a rest day, so I just chilled out went to the track and watched/helped the boys do there training, on the way back got some new stuff for my bike from this massive bike shop in Aalst.
24th was just a pre race hit out ride so that involved a couple of sprints and a 10min tempo.
25th Race Day Halle Ingooiem this was a pretty big race on the scale of things it had 3 pro tour teams riding in it so was ready so give it stink which i did knocking it up at the starting getting in most of the early attacks and ended up paying the price later in the race, got to the finishing circuits in the peleton/bunch and getting shelled on this 1k climb since we had to do this climb 7 times I ended up getting dropped with a bunch on this climb and got pulled out of the race with 2 laps to go. So it was a solid 170k day.
The one impression I got from racing with the pro's is either its full gas or fully off.
26th was another recovery ride for 2hours

Later

Ronde l' Oise

2008-06-16T03:20:00.000-07:00

Hi Everybody

Monday was a rest day and started taken some better antibiotics for the guts. tuesday was a 2hour tempo ride then wednesday was easy an hour and half with Westley did a couple of sprints towards the end. Then it was into the Tour Ronde l' Oise which was based about 100k north of Paris which was a 3hour drive but took 4 cause of traffic. The stage started late at 3pm and was raining and misserable I ended up getting a puncture 60k in the stage which was a bummer then i was in the cars till we hit the hill at 70k then it was a 50k tt to the finish line. Had the craps again so that wasn't to pleasant in the morning of the 2nd stage was a 180k and had a few climbs in it then I got a puncture in the nutrual at the start so ended up starting at the back of the bunch, so I hung in the main bunch til the last cat 1 climb which i dropped and ended up finish in a little bunch. The Saturday was a douple day consisting of 2 100k stages which i started which the craps then ended up coming right for the afternoon and even managed to finish with the main bunch. The last day was my best day I had good legs and went in most the early attacks and even initiated an attack myself and then finally at about 60k a break went and i missed that one I tried bridging to it by myself but couldn't do the last 50m so ended up chilling in the bunch for the rest of the day and finished about 2min down in that stage. The funny thing was my legs wern't even sore so I must have been getting better as the tour progressed. This tour was pretty insane the average speed for the winner was around 44kph for 680k so it was solid mileage. Then we had a 3 hour drive back home to top it all off.
Monday I was back to the Doctor to get another stool sample tested to make sure ive got rid of the camplobatia. So the next race isn't for 10 days so looking forward to doing some quality training over the next week or so hopefully the weather will stay good for a while.

Catchya

On the Up

2008-06-09T00:12:00.000-07:00

Van Coningsloo was the race I did yesterday which went alright ended up 46th and Marc Ryan was the best finisishing 26th in the group ahead good on him and sam finished in main bunch with me. So that was good now to have finished a race. Now we got a 4 day tour starting this thursday in France then a big one day race UCI 1.1 which will have some pro teams which will be a bit of fun.

The report came back from the doctor yesterday as well as a dose of antibiotics to go with it as had Campylobacter the last couple of weeks, no wonder i was using the toilet rather excessively. This weeks training has just been getting back into it starting with an hour on the Zoldar race track on tuesday where there's this massive bunch that sits on around 48kmph which is insane people like keep coming into the bunch and dropping out after a lap or so but i was just riding by myself, Wed/thursday was 4 1/2hour rides down to Namur which has a bit better roads down there. Friday was a easy ride and set up the SRM which is pretty good then Saturday i did a 15min effort on the erg which was just to get my legs in shape for the race.

Cheers

Chris

Up,down what can i say...

2008-06-03T02:49:00.000-07:00

Hay everybody its been a bit of a rollercoaster after the last race i had a rest day then got stuck back into the trainning come tuesday was hard session on the erg then wednesday was a nice long ride in the ardennes with Karl the mechanic where i was based before junior worlds in 2006. Thursday was where it started going downhill for me which is not good firstly I rode in the rain then ended up crook later that night. Friday felt like crap but still got out for a light ride with Jessie. Saturday i was feeling a bit better and went for a ride with Westley, then ended up getting diorehahaha that night. Despite this raced on Sunday and of course didn't go all that well. Still had the craps then Monday came went to the doctor to see if they could help me which sent me away to pick up some probiotics to build up the good bateria in your gut so just chilled all day, altough managed to clean and fix the shower so all the boys don't have to bend down to fit under the shower anymore, as it has one of those stupid hoses that connect to a divertor off the bath which has a hose that wasn't long enough to reach up to where it need so i went out and got a couple of fittings to extend it while the boys were doing the weekly Grocery shop clean out. The next problem is the bloody toilet squelling as it fills up so that will be my next job atleast some of the plumbing fittings are the same as the ones back home.

God Bless

Getting back into it

2008-05-26T00:00:00.000-07:00

Now getting the ball rolling with regards to getting back and doing some quality training.
Did a few efforts during the week to try get me up to speed for the race in the week. As for the race it was pretty solid 170 starters and fast from the gun i managed to hang in there for around 3hours where i had bad cramp which made the decision to leave it for another week.

Also on thursday the guys wet to the movies at Leuven where i went for a look around the shops which was pretty cool it sort had to main streets and then off to the side where little cobble streets which had all the cafe's and restruants.

Catchya

Made It

2008-05-21T02:31:00.000-07:00

Got to the otherside of the world in one piece. Although a couple of us had some gear not make the flight to brussels it a ended up showing up the next day in Tielt Winge which is to the right of brussels and about 60k left of Liege
The training isn't to bad, you can find some little hills in amongst the rolling/flat terrain.
Ended up getting some type of bug which put me out for the first race with the team.
Feelin heaps better after getting rid of this bug.
Back riding and look forward to racing this coming Sunday.

Catchya

The New Rig

2008-04-23T14:14:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Scotty & Johnny got a new Pinarello Opera, which is alot lighter and not PINK.
Also won my first race on it in the weekend.