superweek final day

well the final day turned out to be a tough one. 100km on a short rough tight cornered circuit. i was still stuffed from my efforts from the day before, so i basically fell into formation for the race and hung on, it definitely not the way i like to race but my legs gave me no choice. of oer 100 starters only 42 finished and i ended up about 37th. we averaged about 46km/h.

i have had an awesome time here at superweek it has been an excellent racing experience.
i am very tired and ready for recovery time.

got the Charlotte criteriums next weekend.

downer criterium

today's crit was only 90km with a four thousand dollar prime with 10laps to go in the 80 lap race. the bunch went nuts. i had a great days racing felt really strong but when it came down to the crunch and lining up for the sprint with 3 to go i didn't back myself to go for it. i was happy with my strength but not the end result. i made a few break aways that didn't stick and i missed the one of 7guys that almost lapped the field.

final day tomorrow.

kenosha criterium

well Todays crit was a wide open 4 corner circuit. It was a fast 100laps of 1km. I made many attempts for breaks but ended up missing the key one of 7 which lapped the field. i was disappointed there are only two exciting days of superweek left.

Green Bay 100km crit

well today's ride was not too great it was a wide open flat 4 corner circuit. I had mechanical issues from the start which I wasn't able to use the sram pit to sort it. So I just had to keep going and do the best I could. I wasn't able to push it too hard coming out of the corners or attack. I was pretty gutted. I finished about 50th probably after a crash in the final lap held a lot of people up.

I have a day off tomorrow, then the final three days of Superweek.

Cedarburg 100km crit

A four corner circuit with a climb on the second straight, it was a fast hard crit I tried to get away a couple of time early on but it wasn't going to happen. I ended up losing one of my bottles out of the cage on a nice size pot hole only a couple of laps in so it was 1 bottle for me for the next 90km in the warmth of a sunny afternoon, not a lot of fun! I was seeing stars at the end.

The circuit was quite dodgy and a break of three riders got a gap and managed to stay away. I managed to get 22nd from the bunch sprint.

I didn't feel the best today, but there are some of the best days of racing coming up.

Evanston 100km crit

It was a 2 hour drive down towards Chicago for the Evanston criterium, the second to last NRC race of the superweek series. I was feeling great after a rest day. The coarse was a figure eight shape with plenty of man hole covers and pot holes.

For the first time I managed to get a start position close to the front. This was short lived after i punctured only 5 laps into the race, when you are given a spare wheel at sram race support pit you have to merge into the last third of the field after the free lap. I moved in comfortably and back up to the front quite easily within a couple of laps. I am now feeling more comfortable in the bunch then ever.

Initially there were a lot of attempts at breaks but the pace was high enough and the field was fresh enough nothing stuck. I made a few solo breaks trying to get across to some threatening breaks.

Two riders eventually managed to get clear of the field, then laps later a group of 3 got away, when they got out to about 15 seconds i jumped across and help start chasing the leaders, we were soon caught by 2 other riders before catching the leading two riders. the break was now 8 riders strong including Adam Bergmen (Colavita), Peter Dawson (South Australia), Viktor Rapinski (navigators). We were clear enough from the field to not have to worry. Coming into the closing three laps the attacks started, I held back waiting for the sprint. With half a lap to go Haydens Team mate attacked with half a lap to go when i was on the front. I was expecting the others to follow but it never happened and i got stuck there till a late chase started. Coming out of the final turn I started sprinting from the back. I came past and managed to hold on to 2nd place and fast catching Adam. We averaged over 45km/h for the day.

I am very happy with my achievement and now have a great confidence boost for the final week of racing.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/road.php?id=road/2007/jul07/superweek07/superweek0711

Green lake 100km crit

This was a more difficult crit as i was quite tired from the previous nights racing. The figure eight course was just over 1km. There was a short hill going up towards the finish. The field was smaller but strong, the pace was on from the gun. A break went with 5 guys and lapped the field then coming up to the finishing laps there was another break of 3 riders away. I took a flyer with about four laps to go I didn't have anyone go with me which made it difficult to stay away, I got caught with half a lap to go. throughout the whole race people were popping in ones and twos the bunch was the smallest it has been towards the end of the race. i was pleased with ow i went but im still looking for a top result.

Day off tomorrow then another crit down towards Chicago, its going to be a great race

Shorewood 100km crit

This was another NRC race today with a great field of over 120 riders. A four corner circuit with one straight riddled with pot holes and raised man hole covers. I Felt great again today, i missed the break away of 10 riders that went in the first quarter of the race. The pace was high averaging around 47 km/h for the race. There were a few bad crashes but i managed to keep myself safe. It was a really exciting race. I'm not sure exactly where i came but it was somewhere in the top 40.

Looking forward to tomorrows criterium another 100km on a nice short circuit.

Botanical Garden road race

This stage was 90km of a short 3.6 km rolling circuit with one short steep climb to the finish. We were a couple of men down today, Bennett and myself were the only ones starting. The Rock racing professional team turned up 8 men strong. t\The plan was to look after ourselves for what looked like it would be a bunch finish. I basically just sat in and tried to keep myself fresh for the finish rather then try and attack. A break of 7 riders managed to get clear towards the end of the race I was sure it wasn't going to stick but it did. Bennett put in a great effort to get away in the closing laps but got pulled back not far from the finish. I felt excellent today but just didn't have the greatest positioning for the finish, I was on the end of the rock racing train with about 2 km to go but got majorly swarmed coming in a to a tight section of the coarse before the finishing climb. I am very happy with how I am going just need some results to show it. Next race is Thursday a 100km short circuit crit.

Saw fellow Kiwi Dale Tye help her team to their first NRC win today.

Alpine Valley (NRC) road race

The stage was 165km on a 15km circuit, the course had about 3 wall climbs in it which did not suit me at all. Brandon was going well and he missed the split in the groups so Bennett and myself worked our butts off to try get him back in. We cooked ourselves in doing so but we left Brandon with about 100m to shut down. Only a few km later we came across Brandon on the side of the road crashed out. He had hit wheels with the guy in front and he went down hard breaking his collar bone. The team is gutted because Brandon's strength as a rider and leader. Brandon is hoping to go in to surgery as soon has he can and make a speedy recovery.

Frankie had an awesome ride making the break away and working very hard he came 5th, very impressive.

superweek #2

Another 100km crit in blue island Chicago.

The coarse was a 4corner 1 mile circuit. There was a good breeze out but nothing to worry about. I decided to go on the attack today as i was feeling great. On my second attempt at a breakaway at 16km in i managed to get a break that stuck with three other riders. We got a lead out to 1 minute and almost had the bunch within sight, I was pretty sure that we were going to be able to take the lap, but the commentators kept on putting primes in for the bunch so it would speed them up and also put in multiple 100 dollar primes to split us up.

Three other riders bridged across with about 20 laps to go. At this stage there were riders from 5 different nations in the break. The break eventually got caught with 8 laps to go, i was stuffed. the counter attacks went which eventually won and i just hung in the bunch till the finish.

I was really happy with how i rode, a little disappointed we didn't make the lap but made a good go of it. I spent a total of more then 65km off the front.

Rest day tomorrow and first road race on Monday.

superweek day 1

Well today was the first super week race in Beverly hill on the out skirts of Chicago. 100km of a 1.6km crit circuit.

The race didn't have the numbers that i was hope but it was hard all the same as the coarse was on the side of a hill. a break went early with 2 of my team mates, it eventually lapped the field. I really liked the coarse, i didn't seem to have any problems, there was a lot of slowing with long accelerations along the straights coming out of dodgy corners. i felt awesome and was disappointed that i missed the break as the coarse suited me and i had surprisingly good legs. Bennett and Brandon both took a lap which meant it was my job to set them up for the finish, we picked up 3 top 20 placings.

looking forward to tomorrows stage, another 100km crit.

Jackson Hole Wyoming

I am on vacation now in Jackson Hole for 5 days, it is awesome here. The town sits at about 6000 feet altitude, its making for an interesting visit. I did a local race today just for a bit of fun, it was a 12 mile time trial with the last 6 miles going up the side of the mountain. I went hard going into the bottom of the climb and then tempo up. The altitude makes it difficult to push yourself as your lungs start to run out before your legs do and once you are in oxygen dept you have to back off a lot more for your system to get back on top of things. I ended up finishing fifth with a time of 41.46. It was a great day finished off with a bit of fly fishing.

Super week is starting on the 13th of this month, I'm feeling a lot healthier and looking forward to the great racing.

Grandview 45mile crit

well after trying to get healthy for the whole week being mucked around with bronchitis. there was a great local race on and i couldn't miss it, even though i had been on antibiotics for two days and not really getting any better i wanted to start. I started the race with the intention of racing for the rest of the team and lasting as long as i could whilst still making sure i don't push myself to far with being sick.

well i rode at the front of the field practically the whole race chasing down attacks and working with team mates, i was not expecting to last long as i felt pretty bad all day. the criterium was on the side of a hill which made it a tough coarse that would have suited me if i was in good form. i ended up making the break away with 10 other guys which eventually shattered, and i was so spent i just couldnt shut down any more gaps and ended up dropping off the break in the closing couple of laps with 2 other guys, i had an excellent day and surprised myself, finishing 9th and team mates in 2nd and 5th.

next race for me is super week and im looking forward to getting better and getting more racing.

New Clips from the last stage

part 1 springfield http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1v22KTjxgeQ

part 2 springfield http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCe_Cvc-JrI

part 3 springfield http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gGNsNUh5ng