Sunday, January 18, 2009

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

Thursday, January 8, 2009

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.
 
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