Racing, Crashing and a Team.

There has been abit going on since I last updated...
Firstly we had the NZ teams time trial champs, it was a 3 race weekend with the TTT being in the middle, first up was a 1hr Crit round central Hamilton, the legs were not so great but it was a nice leg opener, the following day was the TTT, our team was unchanged from the week before and we all rode pretty well, I was feeling pretty good and strong which was nice, we rode the flat 40km in 53min11sec and took the bronze which we were all pretty stoked about. The next day was a 100km race with afew lumps to mix it up, I had a great start when my speedo fell off in the first KM, I went back and picked it up, then had to chase back on for the next 10-15km, that really hurt so had to spend some time recovering, with about 20km to go we went up the hardest hill of the day and I made my move reaching the 3 leaders just at the top, it was pretty uneventful from there as we just rode to the finish for a sprint, I was beaten into 2nd place there...need to work on that sprinting! I was feeling good though and there was only 1 weel till southland.
Mid week I flew to Queenstown to meet up with my new team for next year, Pure Black Racing, we got alot of kit, the first of our bikes and some choice weather, this was a chance to do some team bonding, visit some cafe's and plan for next year so it was a pretty choice time, the new bike is really nice the kit fits superb and it's a good bunch of guys so some exciting times ahead for sure. I will start riding for them in the new year.
Then it was down to invercargill to join some friends in the Ascot Park Hotel team for the tour of southland, all the boys were well prepared and we were looking to take it to a fairly strong feild. The TTT prologue went to plan, we finished 7th reasonable close and the legs were good...that afternoon was the stage to bluff but unfortunatley I didn't get there, near the front of the peloton a rider hit a rock and lost control causing a nice pileup...I came off worst breaking my collar bone putting an end to my tour right there. That was a pretty painfull and dissapointing experience and 2 weeks later im just starting to turn the pedals again on an indoor trainer, it will be another 2-3 weeks before I can ride on the road so thats slightly frustrating but something that comes with the sport.
I stayed in southland for the week though and tried to enjoy what I could, one of the days the tour stays in TeAnau for the night, a tradition with the Ascot team is a boat cruise with BBQ dinner on the lake, that was by far the highlight of my trip, that place is just massive and untouched, pretty incredible!
So for now it's just 'Poco a Poco' and ill be up and going in no time, probably the tour de vinyards starting 1 jan.
Cheers for reading
Michael.

WCNI TTT

After an easy week of training(very easy) to recover from the mountain of km's I had done and also to get stuck into some solid efforts this week and the following there was the West Coat Nort Island Teams Trial Champs, a 40km race against the clock with 4 of us from the Stratford Club, with your time taken on the 3rd rider finished.
The team was Dad, Greg Marfell, Nick Sutton and myself, it was a windy day on a flat course, the 2 boys were abit tired from a race the day before but we were still planning to have dad as our 4th rider and not expecting to take him all the way...well that plan changed after about 3km when nick couldn't hold the pace, this meant we went into conservation mode just to get to the finish, there was some solid croswinds in the first 15km which can be abit sketchy when your riding deep section wheels...Dad rode well meaning we only had to ease the pace 2 or 3 times for him and we came home 55sec ahead of the next team so a successful day, 56mins for 40km on a very windy day isnt bad.
I was happy with how I felt and feeling ready to do some hard work with only 3 weeks untill the tour of southland, coming up is a club fun ride going over some choice roads on the 'Forgotton World Highway' starting in Taumarunui through to Stratford.
Should be a good bit of fun.
Mike.

RTM

We just had our local race in the weekend the 'Round The Mountain' We had 8 of us start in the scratch bunch and 65mins to make up on the first riders to leave, A solid effort on one of the hills in the first 20km saw us down to 6 which is how it was for the rest of the day, we all lapped very well and were pulling time back nicely catching B grade with 50km to go then C grade another 20km up the road, the other bunches were pretty split up and there was 1 lone rider left to catch as we left inglewood, we started playing around abit and 2 riders jumped clear and held us off to the line, i came through 4th and reasonably happy with my ride, still feeling a long way from any real form but felt like I was going strong, it had also been a pretty long week on the bike so the body will be pretty jaded,
So many positives I felt and with a rest week (still riding) then a couple of hard effort weeks i should be going a little better I hope.
There is a couple of Teams Time Trials over the next few weeks so I'm looking forward to them and will update as I go.
Cheers
Mike.

Ticking Over

The last few weeks things have been ticking along nicely, after abit of a rest, some time hunting, afew weeks to build back up slowly, a MTB fun ride/race then a club race i'm now starting to roll out some solid rides and had a reasonable race over the weekend.
The race was the Taupo to Napier and part of the National Points Series(NPS), it's a tough course with 2 longish climbs but 20km of flat to the finsih, the day gave a tail wind and things started pretty quickly, the breakaway for the day was formed almost immediately and seeing who was in it I made sure I was one of them, we had 7 riders but that was soon down to 5 as we pushed hard to establish the gap, I was really suffering but just pushed through as I knew we would eventually easy a little and also that I would ride myself into the race after a very heavy weeks training.
The first long climb of the day saw our break split up, I crested the climb 3rd but was unable to rejoin the front two, I held the gap pretty close up to and over the next climb and got pretty close at times over the other side, but 2 against 1 was always going to be tough, I held on for 3rd and came away satisfied with where I'm at, there is still alot of work to do but I feel it's all pointed in a good direction.
This week I'm hanging out in the Hawkes Bay for abit of sunshine, the weather in the Naki can be abit demoralising at times but ill be back in time for the Round the Mountain this coming saturday, another NPS race.
Cheers
Mike.

Re-focus

Well active recovery didn't do the trick, I went to some races and was just getting it handed to me. I was struggling to finish a race let alone be anywhere near the front!
It's not the first time I have been in this situation and I do try to learn from my experiences, the same thing happened a year ago and I tried to just ride myself out of it...I slowly improved but was still just miles from any sort of form and just wasted the 2nd half of the season.
So, do something different, I need a good rest...a proper rest, 2 weeks off and 6 weeks without a race, but by that time i would only have 2 weeks left in spain before the visa runs out, so it seemed obvious to get home asap. which is where im at now, Iv'e just had my 2 weeks off so now its time to try and get fast again for the end of the season here in NZ and possibly some races in Aus.
Next up will be the Taupo-Napier in mid september then plenty of races up until the focus race, the Tour of Southland, where we have assembled most of our winning team from the Tour of Wellington.
I have some mixed feelings about leaving Euro land early, but i know this is the only way to get anything out of the rest of the year. So I hope to be bringing some reports of some good results again soon!!
Thanks for reading.
Mike.

Resting!!

Well, the body has told me it's time to put the bike aside for a wee bit, and the team has been kind enough to let me sit out some less important races to get going properly again. I had 5 days off just over a week ago but after getting back into some training I was still feeling like i needed more rest, so im taking another few days off right now, and feeling alot better already.
Summer has fully hit here now which is making things a little uncomfortable with temps often sitting over 35degs, the boys and I went and checked out the 'running of the bulls' festival that going on at the mo but tried to keep our distance a little since the place looked like a disease fest, Also the Tour De France is all go which is great for afternoon entertainment.
Coming up... in a week n a half is my next race which is the start of a huge block of racing, so more of that as it rolls around and also more study, after getting through the first bit study ive done for awhile the 2nd lot has started up which has been quite good for gettting my spanish up to speed, although i find speaking still pretty tough I can understand a heap more week by week which makes life easier aswell as not feeling so guilty and just having a blank face all the time!!
Off to catch the tour now, cheers for reading.
Mike

Up and Down

Had afew races lately, Firstly was a race i did well in last year, the Vuelta Central Montanas de Asturias, It started well although i was feeling abit tired with a 2nd in a small bunch sprint, the 2nd day was marked with 2 big climbs but it just wasnt to be, i had 2 wheel changes, crashed in both the descents and just wasn't feeling on my game so i was pretty happy to get that stage out of the way! then next day was just a suffer fest and i pulled out after less than 1hr so was a pretty dissappointing tour in the end.
The next day was a classic race close to home but the body was again still suffering so i just sat in all day and rode it out.
The body is starting to feel like it's in need of a good rest at the mo so im having abit of down time but had to go to a race on saturday and also today, they both went pretty average as i just tried to look after myself and not hurt too much, something that the team director does not quite understand but never mind.
I have alot of tours coming up over the next month or 2 and would like to get some results! So it's abit of feet up, watch some movies and eat some ice-cream for the next week to hopefully restore abit of order to how i know i can ride.
Thanks for reading, will have to do a better report when time allows, internet is the house if failing so it's down at maccas for the free wifi and McFlurry's!!
Mike