Croco Classic

The idea of riding 1200 km over 10 days in the northern outback of Australia with a bunch of euoro roadies and sketchy aussie animals sounded like a grand adventure. It was. I am now 12 days past the race and the body is finally starting to come around again.

Stage 1 I felt like a sack of burnt mashed potatoes. Staying at a backpackers hostal the night before and getting 1 hr of sleep due to drunk backpacker drama wasn't a nobel prize winning decision. At the start line I slept for 1 hr. We then raced for 1.5 hrs, had a 2 hr intermission due to course problems and then raced for another 3 to the finish. It was alot like La Ruta day one, jungle, mud, hills, but only 75% as tough. I probably would've finished back with the mchappy meal sized belgium roadies but my 1.5 hr nap at intermission got the legs firing just in time for the last climb of the day and a 3rd place finish.

After a 11 hr sleep, stage 2 I woke feeling like a bag of potatoes. We had a hard 45 min climb through the jungle to start the day. Last yrs winner, Urs Hubar (Switzerland) and Bart Brentgens attacked the hill like a couple of rabid dingos. I turned my pain threshold off and tried to think of happy thoughts as I hung on like a piece of dog dung on the back of there wheels. Once over the top we decsended into flatter Aussie outback country and the 3 of us road to the finish. Having 24hr diesel engine legs I had a .1 % chance of winning the stage. I tried attacking 1 km from the finish and made a perfect lead out for the other two. 3rd place.

During the night a hoard of Wallabies came into camp and made like a bunch of kindergarten kids causing havoc all over camp knocking over stoves, chewing on tents and one nibbled on my tire. I thought nothing of it as there was no damage but 80 km into the 157 km stage 3 I flatted on a open road while riding with the 3 other leaders. Gongshow commence. The stage was flat for the next 50 km into a head wind making it important to be with a pack so I took the wheel off, shook it hoping the tubeless tire sealant would seel the hole and then started chasing back to the leaders. psstttt. super slow leak. on top of the next hill I took the wheel off again to put a tube in only to look up to see a savage farm dog charging at me from 400 m away. *#&$. I popped the 10 psi wheel back on the bike and sprinted down the hill to a safer zone to repair the flat. by the time there was air in the tire again I was in 8th and road the last 60 km to the finish alone into a headwind. Lost about 30 minutes. At night in the 70 person outback village the local HillyBilly Goats band came out to entertain. Prefect way to end a gonger of day.

Stage 4. The road racing begins as the stages get flat. First 90 km our lead pack of 11 guys ride easy. With only 1 km until a 50 km finish on a highway begins we ride over a rocky patch and both my tires implode. psstt. psttt. two flats. Tabernack. Another 50 km ride alone into a wind until the mchappy meal roadies catch up and we ride in for 15th or so position.

Stage 5-8. Roadie stages on flat, corrugated outback roads in 32-40 degree heat. Scenery is pretty cool for a Canadian and watching the roadies crash in the small creek gullys kept me entertained. Stage 8 ended with a big climb in Cooktown to a viewpoint over the ocean and cool breezes. Highlight of the race. After spending the last 3 stages leading out the other riders to the finish line for the sprint I got some payback on the climb and finished 2nd.

Stage 9. Flat roadie stage. The race organizers had been giving away Boomerangs to the stage winners each night and this was my last chance to get one. I used up some energy from next season to try and get the W but came up 4 ft short in the sprint to a rider who had been sitting in the pack for the last 7 days. Danm roadie tactics.

Stage 10. 37 km TT in the jungle along the coast. Alot like Costa Rica only no monkeys. Finished 4th on day and 5th overall.

The next 4 days were spent cruising around being a tourist. 30 of us from the race went out to the Great Barrier Reef 2 days after the race. We looked like a bunch of hungover college students with at least 15 of us sleeping at any given moment. The other asian tourists on the boat gave us disgusted looks all day as they updated there twitter acounts and made chronological diaries of the Reef tour.

Riding the Croc Trophy was like riding over mexican speed bumps in a sauna with someone blowing dust into your face for 10 days. It was pretty neat. I would come back to try it again as its nothing like we have over here in Canada. Overall the biking was ok, but the 10 day camping trip that went with the race and the days after in Cairns make it trip worth returning for. After all if I was back in Canada in October I probably wouldn't be riding my bike around this much!

After a week trying to get over my croc trophy hangover in Australia I made my way over to NZL to visit my Kiwi buddies Jeff and Karen who I met in Canada last yr. Jeff, also my pit manager from 24 hr Worlds, and I tried hitting up a 80 km race in the NZL mtns last weekend. That story is currently in the press and is not too be missed!

Crocodile Trophy

Australia is a country of just 22 million people but it has 11 of the worlds 15 most venomous snakes, oceans full of jellyfish and sharks making them unswimmable for certain months as well as countless number of spiders and other creepy crawlers. Yesterday I made the 3 hr flight to Northern Australia to the tourist town of Cairns where the 10 day Crocodile Trophy SR will start tomorrow. I have been sweating bucket's since I got here as the 30 degree temps and max humidity are rivaling that of coastal Costa Rica. This place is creepy crawler central. Apparently all the bodies of water in the area are off limits to swimming due to crocs and jellyfish. I assumed all the croc warnings were like the bear warnings in Canada and more of a joke than anything. Nope, Croc warnings are for real as they apparently munch on tourists all the time! The next days few days of acclimatization could be rough without access to water.

24hrs was a tough race which drained the tank. After 8 days of recovery in Sydney the system warning lights have gone off. Thanks Jon Odam for taking me into your home for the week!

Racing in The Croc Trophy is going to be full tilt as it is 90% european with the likes of Bart Brentgens (Olympic Gold medalist), Urs Huber (Croc winner last yr) , Jaan Kirsippu (4 tour de France stage wins) and the European Marathon champion Allan Oras making the trip from euro land. I'm planning on holding back a bit and letting the crocs get the first few racers and then hopefully taking over from there.

Check out race updates at www.crocodile-trophy.com

24 Hr Worlds

The days leading up to the 24 hr Worlds were pretty gongshowish as my buddy Jeff Collins (Kiwi) and I ran around Canberra picking up food etc for the race and setting up our Pit area out at race site. Prepping for a 24 hr race is a challenge in Canada, and that's when we are able to load my truck with everything including a kitchen sink and drive 3 hrs to Canmore for the race. Making this happen half way around the World is another story. We had some help from the other Canadians down here, our home stay (Darro Stinson), and big help from the Kona boys who showed up with tents and mechanics.

Race day:

11:45 am- lemans start! I go from front row to a mid pack position over a 300 m run.
11:47am- On the bike, the legs feel unreal and I ride up to the lead group, look at the boys and then hammer away up the hill.

I was pretty nervous heading into the race as I had never been in a field of 400 riders and most of the Aussies seemed pretty serious. I figured the best way to deal with the emotions was to go on the offensive. This worked for the first 5 laps as the chase pack of 7 riders began to blow up one by one. The British national champ and a few of the top Australian's bit on my attack and blew them selves up and essentially out of the race. The only problem was the defending champion, Jason English was one step ahead of me and hung back, not pitting at all, eventually catching me on the 6th lap still with good legs. Over the next few laps he would take 3 mins out of me a lap and soon had a 20 min lead.

I was riding hard but at the same time a little pre-occupied with all the crazy animals hopping around the course. One lap I came barrelling around a corner into a posse of 7 kangaroos, I almost wet my pants as I skidded out of control towards them. A little later I apparently just missed running over a black snake which slid out of the way just in time and then lunged at the British rider behind me. I was in zombie mode at the time and didn't know anything had happened until talking to the Brit after the race. In the night a baby kangaroo (or wallaby?) lept onto the course just ft ahead of me and then back into the woods. He was a lucky little bastard as by that time in the night I was RUI (riding under the influence) of copius amounts of caffeine, adrenaline and over exerction and wouldn't have the reflex's to avoid him.

Going into the night things were rolling smoothly with Jeff keeping things together in the pit and the legs still pushing over. On lap 13 the gongshows began as I double flatted, had co2's blow up, ran out of tubes etc... 20 minutes later I got air back in my tires and made it back to pit row where I was now sitting in 4 th position.

For the next 10 hrs I had an epic battle going between 2 Aussies (Andy and Scott) for 2nd position. Jason kept his lead and managed to pull off a successful defense of his 2009 title. The guy is a true champ and deserved the win as he out witted us all with his yrs of 24hr experience. I'm not sure if he was the fittest guy in the race but he was the most focused and best prepared rider there.

The 3 of us battling for 3rd couldn't gap each other and by the last couple laps we were working our way back up to a xc race pace. This was retarded to be riding this hard after 22 hrs on the bikes but we were all stubborn like a bunch of mexican mules. With 3 laps to go Andy made a move and gained 5 minutes on us. I was suffering like a guy who had been on his bike for 22hrs but I figured Andy would have to slow down at some point and that maybe just maybe there was a little bit of adrenaline left in the tank to fuel another quick lap.

Lucky for me there was a few drops of adrenaline left which surged me through the last lap, passing Andy mid way, and into a 2nd place finish! At the finish line the adrenaline switched off and I went from feeling invincible to a 85 yr old man with arthritis in about 15 minutes.

The post race party/ awards ceremony down at the university was about as exciting as a layover at an aiprort. By 10pm the place was cleared out with just the crazy single speeder dudes hanging around. Those guys are a different breed.

The day after the race was a right off. I fell down a set of stairs and then decided to sit still for the rest of the day to prevent any further mishaps. The day after that Jeff and I forced ourselves to get organized and head over to Sydney as he had to catch a flight back to New Zealand. Huge Thank You Jeff for taking the time and effort to come over and support me for 24!

A 24hr race is a team event as it is the Pit crews which keep us riders going through the night and I had some of the best help there. Big thanks to my Dads friend Darro Stinson for giving Jeff and I a place to stay for the week and loaning us a car, Ben (kona rep), Team Canada (Erin and Kelly you guys were great, Kate Scallion, Leighton for the calming influence and everybody else that kept things rolling for me!

I was to follow Jeff over to NZL today for a tour of the North Island but after the 24 race was over I received an invite to race in the 10 day Crocodile Trophy through Australians Northern Outback. Probably not the best idea but how do you pass up on 10 days of ripping around with some of the fastest euros on the planet through crocodile and kangaroo infested landscapes. Not to mention a trip to the Great Barrier reef afterwards? Some days I wish I knew how to say no. Sorry body, I promise you a proper rest either when you quit working during the Croc Trophy or once the last day is over. Sorry bike but you will be ignored for a long time after this one is over.

Off to be a City slicker and check out some Opera house.

24 Ready to Go!

There is a wombat digging holes in the course, divebombing magpies and rumours of a skitzofrantic kangaroo around the pit area. The Aussies have guranteed themselves a 1-2-3 placing on the podium and are doing there share of trashtalking. Not sure what is going to play out down here but us Canadians are ready to get this thing rolling!

The toughest part of 24hr events are the days leading up to them. Nerviousness, preps, etc... Once the bike wheels are rolling its all cool. For the first 6 hrs its a bike race and then its survival for the next 18. I figure the 6 hr bike race should go pretty good and after that I have my fingers crossed.

Rumour has it live updates will be on the race website at http://www.corc24hour.com.au/

www.24wsc/ may also work.

Off to work.

The Other Side of the Road

September was spent overtraining myself to the point of resembling a hungover drug addict on East Hastings st in Vancouver, recovering for a couple days and then repeating. It seems alot easier to overtrain oneself after an already long race season then it is at the start. After I wrecked myself really good the last time I opted to go to the backcountry with my Dad, brother (Dustin), 7 horses and a dog for 5 days to get away from the bike.

Day 1 one we left the highway and hit snow 7 km into the ride. Soon after we spent 4 hrs cutting deadfall off the trail. We eventually rode into camp under a full moon through 6 inches of snow. 5 days later through wintery conditions, cutting out 20 yr old trails and wading through rivers we reached the highway again. Dustin and Dad went home, I hopped in the truck and drove across the countryside, hopped on a 34 hr flight to Australia and am now hanging around with Kangaroos. Thank you Lilla and all the boys at Freewheel Cycle for helping me get organized for the trip!

Being in Australia is like being in Canada. The only difference is that everyone drives around on the wrong side of the road. That is sketchy. So are the Kangaroos. And divebombing magpies. Everything else is great. Sunny days. Hospitable people. And the accents are cool. The customs officers are pretty rad as well. I heard they were pretty stingent with checking through luggage for foreign food etc. The officer checking my luggage must of been a biker himself as he rolled me through the line. Pretty stoked as I wasn't sure how my unlabled bags of seeds, buckwheat, random pills and green powders was going to go over.

With the 24 hr Worlds coming up Saturday I am trying to keep the biking under control to prevent any further burnouts before the race. There will be ample opportunities for that over the weekend.

I will update my blog once I figure out where live updates of the race will be available. Last yr it was at http://www.24wsc.com/.

Leading up the the race 24 hr Twitter updates are at. www.24wsc.com/twenty4-tweets.

I rode out to the course for a couple laps yesterday. There is going to be carnage. Gap jumps on a 24 hr course won't mix well with lethargic bikers in the middle of the night. Other then that the course is pretty tame. 2 big climbs, 2 fast rocky decents and roo's all over the place.

The race starts 12 pm Saturday over here, when translated in Australian, that is equivalent to 6 pm Friday evening Pacific time in Canada. Not sure how that works but as it sits now I got ripped out of a day of my life which I will only ever reclaim once I return to Canadian soil.

Right now there is a small problem with Jet lag. Off to deal with that. aka 10 hr + sleep.