Hillbilly Kentucky

My first weekend of collegiate racing was certainly not what I was expecting, or wanting for that matter. We traveled down to Murray, Kentucky on Friday afternoon. Having never experienced a tornado before I was amazed at how strong they must be as I was looking out my window seeing tree after tree on the ground. I was told that in my next few months in the Midwest I was sure to see one. I have only ever seen them in the movies and didn’t ever think I would be living in area prone to them. We later discovered that the area had previously had an ice storm and then was hit by a tornado. Only in America.
My first race was a 100km relatively flat road race. To say it was miserable would be an understatement, it didn’t rise above 1C (33F) and was either raining, icing or snowing! It was certainly a lot colder then the other side of your pillow. Without going into too much detail Frank managed to make it into the 8-man winning break and finished 7th while Chev and Owen led me out for the bunch sprint, pretty sure my legs were frozen though and only managed 4th in the kick. I must apologize to Chev for calling him Stroot in the last few k’s which gives you an indication of the state of mind I was in. Saturday night we found ourselves in quite the hillbilly restaurant. As always Chev entertained the table and made it clear that he wasn’t here to “f*ck monkeys”!
With some more snow overnight it didn’t really put me in the mood to race bikes on Sunday. When we arrived and checked out the criterium course it didn’t make our motivation levels any higher. This crit course can only be explained by saying that it was a piece of art...800m long with 15 corners to a lap. I later worked out that over the duration of the race we would have cornered over 500 times.

Before the race Paddy told us we would all crash, and I knew he wasn’t joking. Myself and Paddy got off to a good start but it only took 3 laps before I witnessed Paddy’s1st of 3 crashes for the race. Two laps later, while I was still managing to hold the front group I came down on the same corner. The corner was wet, off camber, had a pot hole, was 180° and had a join between two sections of pavement! After that I couldn’t really get going again. Owen had the best race out of us and finished 6th. Chev, who was the only one NOT to crash finished 9th, the rest of us came in in the top 20. It was a truly remarkable crit and hope I never have to ride something like it again. Apparently it was entertaining to watch though so I’m happy some people enjoyed it. On the start line

So it begins...and continues

So you know its cold

My US racing campaign was launched today and although not much, if anything, went to plan today I’m still happy to get a run on the board. So today was a race called Froze Toes, the name says it all, it was -8 Celsius when I woke up. Without going into to much detail, mainly because I don’t have much to say we rode horribly as a team and gave ourselves no opportunity to win. No one is too worried though as we know it is only the first race. It gave me an opportunity to assess my form after a few weeks of no racing and I know I have got some good form at the moment, ready for the collegiate season to start next week.

The last couple of days, leading up to my first race I have been thinking that the last 4 or 5 years of training I have been doing on my bike are really coming down to the season I’m about to start in the US. When I first started racing I guess I had the same dream as every other boy growing up, to become a pro athlete. This is just one stepping stone on my way to hopefully realizing that dream. Without putting to much expectation upon myself I hope that the effort I have put it will pay off this season.

Myself and our giant teammate Justin

OK that’s deep enough for now, in other news although not as much as last semester, we have still been frequenting the main street of St. Chaz on some nights during the week. New team mate and suite mate Addison, more commonly referred to as weapon or weap weap for his unusually large head, has been having a bad influence on me and encouraging me to drink at every opportunity, never have to ask him twice to go to main st. He doesn’t stop moving.

Owen and Weapon


I should also mention another new teammate, Franics (Frank.) He could possibly be one of the most unusual guys I know. I don’t think there has been a meal at the cafeteria with him where there hasn’t been an argument. Last night it was why he doesn’t believe in txt messaging, as usual he was defeated. Being from texas may explain it though. But ‘we love ya frank.”

Will also thank my second family, the Pullnows. The Australian contingent was invited around for dinner not long ago and once again was spoilt with an outstanding meal. It was not long before Valentine’s day also so for a couple of us we actually received our first ever valentines presents thanks to Mrs Pullnow and Kate (KKron.) Justin also showed us his shotgun he owns so we had a bit of fun with that, see pics.



Now that I’m racing I’ll try and keep updated on how it is all going.

Seeing Clearly Now

Hi all, to say I haven’t done much since my last blog would be quite the understatement. Back on the 25th January I once again departed Sydney airport, this time knowing that instead of being away for only 4 months I wouldn’t be back until December. It’s going to be a long year away from home. I did make the most of my time back in Australia knowing that I wouldn’t be seeing most of the people for a while. Two hassle free flights later which I hear, according to seasoned traveler Crades, is hard to come by when traveling with bikes I arrived back in St. Louis. Looking out the plane window on the tarmac the snow was falling, much to the dismay of the always well organised and prepared Chev, who’s footwear was better suited to the 50C (90F) warmer day that we left Sydney on. Thongs may not have been the best idea. I miraculously managed to escape any sign of jet-leg which was an added bonus, some have said I somehow found a space-time intergalactic continuum hole on my way over.

I chose quite the time to return to the tropic climate of the mid-west. Apparently I didn’t miss one snowfall while back in Australia so whoever controls what happens up there decided he’d save it up until I returned. With three days of snow it made riding outside impossible but I wasn’t complaining. Its not everyday I get the opportunity to go sledding, run around like little boys on frozen ponds, have numerous snow fights (I must admit that my record is now up around 0-4 and one of these losses may or may not have involved belts and blood. Take of it what you may,) and of course, make snow angels. It actually dumped so much snow that class was cancelled on Wednesday, it made for an All-American “Snow-Day.”

Sexy?

Chev, Crades, Me

School is just the same as last semester so I’m not going to bore you with that. It appears Lindenwood survived J-Term without us Aussies around stirring things up (maybe only just but they got through) but rest assured, we are back to our usual best.

Bunch Ride

Summer Fun

I have only got one more week left in Australia before I head back to the freezing cold of St. Charles. As I don't think I have had a day below 30 degrees Celsius for a while and have recently been informed that it got to -17 last week in St. Charles it is sure to give my body a shock.

The last week has been pretty routine for me. I am currently staying at Fingal Bay with my family which is where I have holidayed every year of my life to date. My day usually involves rising out of bed, having a casual breakfast, getting on the bike each day for 3-4hrs of easy riding, heading to the beach and then not really much at all in the afternoons. It has been a very relaxing couple of weeks and have enjoyed the time I have spent with my family. When I return to the states I won't be returning until December so I am trying to spend as much time with them as I can while also catching up with friends from home who I also won't see this year. I guess if you want to live the dream there are a few compromises you have to make.

Kitted Up

Fingal Bay

Having said this I am excited to get back to the states and in particular to start racing on the road again. When I arrived in August last year the road season was winding down so I am looking forward to test my legs, at first at the collegiate level and then later on in the open events. I sat down with my coach last Friday to plan out my season and to work out where I will need to be going with all pistons firing and at other times where I will be able to take a few easy weeks and not worry too much about my form. I really look forward to the upcoming season and and feel that this year should be a very good one for me and most importantly for my development.

Until next time, ciao

Can't read Lyons

After reading Crades' blog I have succumbed to the fact that he is a blogging animal and doubt I will ever be able to match the regularity of his blogs (I'd say Camo might suggest Metamucil.) However, not to let you down, I will do my best to continue to update you on where this crazy life a lead is taking me. For almost the last two weeks I have been staying in the the southern state of Victoria. I travelled down to Melbourne with some of my best mates; Mat Camilleri, Chev and Paddy for our 2nd Annual Melbourne trip/Bay Crits festivities. After the best new years I had last year in Melbourne there were no questions that we were going to do it again. Once again it started with a great meal on Lygon St where I overhead someone at a table nearby being amazed that we each had a bottle of red wine each. Afetr our meal we headed once again to FIX nightclub but were disappointed to find that in the previous 12mths had turned into a restaurant. After being informed by the next club we approached that we needed to pre buy tickets, it was onto another club where we were once again informed that pre buying tickets would have been a great idea. As we walked away though we were followed by a bouncer who told us that if we follow him into an undercover car park, away from CCTV with cash he will miraculously find some tickets for us. It turned out to be well worth it and was a great night. So once again I declare that Melbourne is the best New Years City in most probably the world.

Australia's busiest highway / Playing golf on Christmas Eve

Dinner NYE with the boys

On the 2nd of January the Jayco Bay Criterium (a short road race on a circuit) Series began. I was lucky to get a good start position on the first day and was happy with a top 15 placing, out of 120 starters. Quite an improvement considering I only last 10min last year. The 2nd stage was on a much less technical course where it is very difficult to get dropped, this made it a very dangerous finish where most of the 120 starters were trying to get to the front in the last few laps. I somehow managed to get up the front and as I started my sprint on the left of the peloton I was pushed into the barricades at about 65kmhr. Needless to say I was left on the ground hoping no one would hit me, after analysing the damage I had sustained while laying on the ground I realised the worst of my injuries was probably skin of my elbow. I later discovered though I needed to get stitches and after 3 hours on a hospital bed came out with 8 stitches patching my elbow back together. The next 3 days of racing weren't too good with a mix of injuries/ shyness in the corners/ and being mentally affected by the crash not adding up to successful racing. The good news is that from the first two days of racing I do have some form which is a good indication for a strong season when I return to the US.

Dinner with the family / On the start line at Bay Crits

I experienced a few enjoyable days in Geelong and Melbourne with my family where they were impressed with their first experience with the Melbourne fashion/shopping scene and great dining on Lygon St. I am now relaxing at the our family's annual holiday in Fingal Bay where I will be for the next couple of weeks before returning to the US. Stay safe, Tim.