Tour Down Under

I returned home from Adelaide yesterday and it sure was a big eleven days following the Tour Down Under. In the eleven days that I was away I rode 909km, I thought this was a big effort. For me the most memorable part was meeting some of the best riders in the world. I was able to rub shoulders with people such as Adam Hansen (Lotto Belisol), Richie Port (Sky Pro Cycling), Jurgen Roelandts (Lotto Belisol), Marcel Seiberg (Lotto Belisol), Cadel Evans (BMC), Calvin Watson (Trek Factory Racing), Jens Voit (Trek Factory Racing), Marcel Kittle (Giant Shimano) and that is only naming a few.


Adam Hansen who went on to win the King of the Mountains classification is a Cairns boy as well and after going to the tour for four years now, he now knows who I am. When I arrived home at the airport yesterday, Adam was there as well because he was visiting his mum. I was sitting down waiting for mum as she had gone to get the car and as I turned around I noticed Adam walking over to me. He said good luck for the next year and he also said, "I might see you at the end of the year, maybe we can train together?" I was absolutely over the moon! It may not happen but it was the fact that he suggested training together. These words made my Tour Down Under.

I think it was a fantastic week and the amount of riding that I got in made it even better. It was my biggest year at the Tour Down Under and during that week I had a block of four days where I rode 479km. The whole week was really good and I'll be back down there next year to do it all again.

Me with Adam Hansen and Jurgen Roelandts.

Riding in Adelaide

I must say yesterday was one of the best days I have ever had in Adelaide. We managed to get in contact with Adam Hansen who rides for a Belgium Pro Cycling Team, Lotto Belisol. He told us that he was going for a training ride with his team leaving at 9 o'clock. Before we were able to ride I had a Parkrun that my coach Jill suggested that I do. I ran that very well with a time of 18:17 and coming in 6th out of 168 runners. This makes it my best time this year.

We had to rush to get over to meet Adam only to find out that they were running late and didn't come out for an extra twenty minutes. We started off riding heading towards the hills and Dad told me to stick with them and meet up with him later. We rode up this amazing climb that kept going forever and I was able to sit comfortably on the back. Adam heard about my run that morning and discussed it Andre Greipel who is one of the best sprinters in the world. I thought that was a such an honour for them to be talking about me like that and how they thought it was so good. We reached a small town and the team wanted to do a quick lap of a section on stage two. I found out that it was going to be really quick. The undulating hills and short sharp descents absolutely burned my legs and I had trouble hanging on. Marcel Seiberg dropped off the back as well so I rode and had a chat with him which was good. It was such a good day at the office but I paid for it today.

This morning we woke up early and met some friends from back home and rode up into the hills. It was such a change from the other day when it was 41 degrees and this morning it was 11. My head really wanted to go hard but today, my legs were just shattered. I was so slow and found it hard holding the a half decent pace. Everyone beat me up to the top and I just thought that today was one of those days. When we reached the coffee shop, we sat down and shortly after the Women's Greenedge cycling team turned up to have coffee there as well. We then left there and went to the cycling expo where I got a photo with a world class sprinter Marcel Kittel and a photo walking alongside Cadel Evans. More riding is planned for this afternoon before the People's Choice Classic Crtierium begins is on tonight.

Marcel Kittel and myself this morning.

The Start of Adelaide

I have been in Adelaide for two days now training and preparing to watch the Tour Down Under which starts on Sunday evening. Yesterday when we arrived the temperature was about 41 degrees, but it did not feel that hot as I am used to having high humidity back home. We rode straight up into the hills where it seemed to be a lot cooler. It wasn't such a bad ride and we managed a quick 50km.

Today was hot but on a larger scale. It reached a maximum of 46 degrees and this was bad. It felt like the sun was burning through my skin. Luckily for us we found the best coffee shop in Adelaide and spent a majority of the day in there drinking coffee. We rode out to the beach where it was a lot cooler. At the end of the day when everyone wanted to go home I still had the urge to keep riding as we hadn't been that far and I wanted to ride up the hill which is around the corner. Dad decided that he wanted to come as well and before long he told me not to kill myself and then I didn't see him until the top. I had consumed a bottle of water before I had even begun the climb and we are staying only five kilometres from the base. Overall today we only rode about 60km but it felt like it was so much more. Tomorrow I am aiming to wake up early and get a ride done before it becomes too hot. Hopefully we'll be able to see some of the professional teams out riding as well. I am also hoping to give an update bout my training here on Sunday.

The view from the lookout we rode to yesterday.

Training over Christmas

I travelled down to the Sunshine Coast for Christmas and I was able to run almost everyday, as well as some ocean swims. Most of my running down there was long runs as I had only started training after my crash. I ran in a Parkrun event which is a 5km event and are all over the world. I managed to come 7th out of 208 competitors with a not too bad time of 18:47. While I was away I bought some new Nike Lunar Racers which are amazing shoes and a Nike+ GPS watch which is also fantastic.

My running legs have been getting stronger as I witnessed yesterday when I did my first hard session on the track for the year and was running about two seconds under my target times for each interval.

Today I went out and ran a nice 10km steady run, but it was extremely hot which made it hard. I had areas of flat spots where I couldn't get under 4:40 per kilometre and then about 6km into my run I was suddenly at 4:25 per km. I thought this was a bit strange but I guess that's running.

I am lucky enough to travel to Adelaide next week for the Tour Down Under, a cycling race which features many of the worlds best professional riders. It'll be one big week of riding and hopefully this year I wont encounter a crash. I think it will be tough but also very fun at the same time.

Running through Hervey Bay on our way back to Cairns