Sunday MTB ride

Nightlightning Digital Blast. You to could have this much light. Imagine how quick you could go at night. Early morning is a great time to practice your night riding skills. This works grate for me as the family are still tucked away in bed.


I meet up with Jeff who is always up for an early ride along the Yarra trails.



Jeff rounding the trails out the back of Westerfold's Park.




Jeff and myself heading home from a great spin along some perfect trails in the heart of Melbourne

Hell Ride

The bunch strung out. Is that Ash?


Skins popping up everywhere.



The bunch traveling through Frankston.

Had a sleep in this morning and just did the Hell Ride. This keeps the intensity up so the body doesn't forget. It seems a few roadies have started taking Ascend after noticing my form improve. I am expecting some improvements from certain riders by the time i get back from overseas.

Rest+Recovery

Well it has been a quiet week on the bike only getting out for a short MTB ride on Wednesday and short road ride Thursday. It was decided Sunday that i would have a rest week as i was starting to feel flat, tired and developing signs of sickness. Thursday i tested the legs a little and the time off has worked a treat.

Mitchell and Emma

Mitchell learning to feed himself dinner.


Emma having a bath. The only time she isn't eating.



MTB skills with dad.




The drop off.

Perfect landing. Better skills than dad at 19 months old.

I am taking some much needed recovery time before a short intense training block before tapering for the 24 World Championships. This means very little ridding and a lot more rest. I've been spending more time with the family and have posted some photos of the kids.

Giant 2009 Launch

Check out the new Giant road range at cyclingnews . I recon the bikes look mean. The new 2009 Durace looks like XTR and gives the bikes that tough mean look.

Sunday i had someone to ride with

Sam riding up to Joel to try to explain how to ride together.


Sam at Sky High.

The view from Sky high.

Sunday i rode with the boys. It was a farewell ride for Rohin and Ivan before they head over to Europe. It was an interesting ride with plenty of hard riding. The thing is MTB riders can't ride together at all even when we are rolling easy (see top photo). You would think that with such experienced MTB riders they could ride some of the way together, no. I suppose riding together is a roady thing and probably explains why i ride solo for 24 hours.

It was a good ride and i wish them a safe and successfully journey.

I think after the last few day's i need some rest. Key indicator is i am getting night sweats. This is a sure sign that i am pushing myself to the limit. 2 days of rest should freshen me up enough to resume training.

Rain, Wind and Fog.

Passing through Olinda at 4am on Saturday.


Going up the Tourist Rd in the nongs. Fog and Rain makes zero visibility.

Emma woke up at about 4:30am on Friday so i feed her and instead of going back to bed jumped on the trainer for an hour before work. After work i saw Phil at Rosanna Remedial Massage. Because of the volume and intensity of my training at the moment it is essential for recovery to get a massage every week. The more you do the more important this is.

Saturday morning i woke to the sound of rain. At this stage of preparation you can't be lazy and stay in bed you just put on your rain jacket and go for your planned ride. I went over the Dandynongs and down to the Hell ride meeting Andrew Bell along the way. It seems he is always out when it is raining.

To my surprise there was about 40 show up for the Hell ride. With a South westerly blowing and the rain this was going to be a tough loop. I was right the pace was high and everyone was strung out single file in the gutter. Just to make it hard on myself i rolled the 53/11 for the 2 hour loop.

The only minor incident happened about half way round when going through a set of shops in the pissing rain at 50km/h, bloke of the year stepped out onto the pedestrian crossing in front of the bunch. Yes he was on a pedestrian crossing but he wouldn't have done it if it were a truck. At 50km/h in the rain it is impossible to stop a bike. This guy did it deliberately and you think he would think twice after what happened last year. Why do something that can cause not only yourself harm but others.

At the end i had clocked 200+km in 7 hours. It was another ride that prepares you for anything.

Wednesday. New Skins and Nightlightning's new battery cases.

Nightlighning's new battery cases.




Skins new cycling range.




Jim seting off after his fall down to the Yarra river.


Jim climbing back up from the Yarra river.

I managed to get out with the boys for the Wednesday night ride along the Yarra. It was very entertaining with the pace been pushed up the front and some of us having difficulty staying on the trails. I headed home early as somebody was playing up at home. This didn't bother me as i didn't want to long a ride as the morning trainer session was a beauty.

Latest edition of Enduro is out and in it are the new cycling range from SKINS.
These will be available for everyone in July. Stay tuned for a full report on feel and effectiveness.



Also Nightlightning now have battery bags that fit snugly to you handlebars. I was using one last night and was very happy with it. They are simple and easy to use but most importantly there is no chance it would come lose and flop around.

Tuesday 17th June.

I was up early and on the trainer before work today. It seems to be coming together now. With a rest day yesterday the legs recovered better than ever. Tuesday's sessions are usually tough as i normally haven't recovered fully from the weekend. All the data feedback was telling me it was like i was fully recovered. It's a good sign when you start to recover fast. You must be careful though not to over cook yourself when this starts happening as sometimes there is a delayed affect.

On the home front Mitchell is back to his usual self, full of beans and ruining a muck. Emma is sleeping longer between feeds. This is great because Kate and i are getting a better sleep. Kate has had the all clear from the obstetrician and can resume her gym and running again. She walks with both Mitchell and Emma in the pram and Fraser our dog for over an hour each day.

We also finalized our house plans for Bright today and they will be ready for town planing shortly. We are both starting to get excited about finally having our own place.

Mark Fenner is now in Canmor and sending us back info on the course and weather condition ect. You can log onto his blog at http://www.ftptraining.wordpress.com/

A Day in the Dandynongs

The Elbow. One of the tougher climbs in the nongs.

Where Puffing Billy crosses the road on the way to Emerald

Heading up the wall.

Kallista Road - tough climb and very slippery this time of year.

On the way to Emerald

The beginning of the Elbow

With Mitchell on the mend and Emma behaving i was able to back up yesterdays ride with a strength and endurance ride in the Dandynongs. I love riding in the nongs - you can tell why by the pictures. The roads are alot quieter this time of year - unlike in the summer when you get all the day trippers.

Long Ride

After a reasonable night i set off on my ride at 3:30am. I was a bit over dressed but i would rather be warm than cold. I did a little test this morning and pushed a solid gear up the Tourist Road to the top of Mt Dandynong. This was a good result and made the rest of the ride easy. From their i went down to the Hell ride where i rolled the 53/11 to build the strength in my legs.

As i got back into the city i realized i had some missed calls from Kate and gave her a call. Mitchell had developed a rash on his feet and hands and was off to the doctors. This meant i had to be home pronto. It turns out he has hand, foot and mouth virus and it will take a week or so to clear up. Hopefully he is getting through the worst of it otherwise it will be a long week.

This also means he has to miss his cousins 1st birthday party on Sunday. I am sure they will make up for this in the future.

In the end i got a 7 hour ride in (200km) at a good tempo. Will be backing this up in the hills Sunday.

NO SLEEP

Mitchell had a horror of a last night - he cried all night and there was nothing we could do to comfort him. THe only one in the house that got a good nights sleep was Emma. He was so upset because he has a mouth full of ulcers which are causing him considerable pain. The doctor said that it would probably get worse before it gets better and all we can do for him is keep his fluids up, use babyt panadol and bonjella - if we can get it into his mouth. Looks like we are all going to get the perfect sleep deprivation training.

With the rain arriving this afternoon i managed to get a 2 hour trainer session in. After my massage yesterday the legs were back and i was happy the quality of this session. If things aren't too crazy tonight i will be off on my weekly long ride early tomorrow morning. I have got all the winter wet weather gear set out as i am expecting it will be cold and wet.

Tip: When riding in the cold and rain you need the following items: two pairs of gloves, fleecy wintex jacket, rain jacket, fleecy lined long nicks, booties, scull cap and most important of all one pair of wool socks as they will keep your feet warm when they get wet. Also it is a good idea to take extra food with you as the cold makes you hungry.

Thursday 12th June.

I had a day off the bike on Tuesday and got plenty of work done. We were suppose to be trying out some more bricklayers this week, however with a short week and the wrong type of work on it will have to wait another week.

Wednesday i was up at 4am and on the trainer for a couple of hours. Legs felt like lead so will book in for a massage at Rosanna Remedial. When i got home from work i took Mitchell outside to ride his bike while i did a Kettle bell session just. This was to make sure the whole body was completely hammered before another rest day.

Just as well today was a day off from training as Mitchell had to be picked up from crashe with a slight temperature. Hope this disappears as fast as it arrived as we don't need a repeat of what happened a couple of weeks ago. I was still fortunate enough to get my massage which i needed to keep the training up. If i do get sleep tonight i will be on the trainer before work so i get a good solid 3 days in a row before some recovery.

Another thing we have on the go is our Bright house plans. We should be finalizing the design tomorrow so they can be prepared for town planing while I'm away. Then when i get back the pressure will be on to get the house built.

Nightlightning light sale.

Nightlightning has 4 iBlaasts discounted $50. The package has helmet mount, 2.2ah 3hour battery, and the iBlaast light unit which puts out 720lumas. Total weight including battery is 350garms.This normally would cost $550 but is yours delivered for $500. If you are interested contact myself or Nightlighthing.

Monday morning and i had found some friends to ride with. Jeff was to break in his new road bike (Giant TCR zero) and there is no better way to do it than the Kinglake, Yarra Glen loop.


Out on the road on our way to Kinglake.

Jeff hoeing into a mushroom pie at Yarra Glen after we rolled a pace line from Kinglake.

Arriving home at 11:30am i had clocked up 18 hours in 3 days+ a gym session Sunday night. The Ascend is doing its trick as i felt my best on Monday.

Saturday morning i set off to find someone to ride with. Yes it was early and raining but i still was optimistic.






I rode to the top of Mt Dandynong but did not find anybody else. From here i rode to Frankston and saw but a few unenthusiastic riders. I went back along the beach into the city all alone.






By the time i made it to Croydon my flash looking bike looked exhausted and filthy. So after 8 hours of riding 220km my bike and i were still alone.








The next day we headed into the Dandynongs to see who we could find. After about 3 hours i saw Joel Reed on his MTB carving the trails an the side of the road. Here was Joel having a ball on the MTB and myself on the road bike climbing hills, i think this is why i was on my own.

Wednesday 4th May.

Nothing wrong with the strength of Shimano XTR, it held firm as the hanger snapped.

After a couple of days catching up on sleep i was looking forward to the fatties Wednesday night ride. This ride ended 15mins into it when a stick snapped my derailleur hanger. Faced with no option i called Kate to pick me up. So instead of having a fun ride with my mates i was back to the grind of the mag trainer dripping sweat and all alone.

One thing on my mind lately is that the 24 hour world champs are drawing near(27th July). I am starting to feel the pressure not from sponsors or others but the pressure we place upon ourselves to perform. The next 5 weeks are critical in terms of preparation. It is vital to cross the T's and dot the I's. Over the years i have found that this final training period is critical to your success. There is no shortcuts over this period before tapering. You either do the work or suffer the consequences. I have to take each day as it comes not knowing what life will throw at me next. I know what i have to do to put the finishing touches on my fitness, i just have to do it. That is the pressure the work must be done now. This last training period always puts incredible strain on family life. With a good plan, an understanding and supportive family it can be done. Luckily i have both.

Emma's back. Monday 2nd June

Last night Emma returned to good health and has been sent home. Both Kate and i are rapped and look forward to a nights sleep at home.

Sunday was a day that will remain in my mind as a reminder of what you can do when the going gets tough. All week both Kate and i have had little or disturbed sleep and where pretty exhausted by Sunday morning. Kate was looking after Emma who was picking up and i was to race Chase the Sun. Luckily both Kate and i have fabulous family support that looks after us in our times of need. Without their support we could not do what we do and greatly appreciate all you do for us .

I was teamed up with fellow Giant rider Murray Spink again who was in no mood to race either after battling a nasty cold for the last 2 weeks. Because i had to get back to the hospital i was racing the first 3 hours and Murray the 2nd 3 hours.

My mind was on other things when the race started. With a few techniques i have developed over the last couple of years i was able to clear my head and settle into a rhythm. After the first lap i was with the leaders only to be gaped slightly on the next lap by the torq and felt teams. Just before the end of the first lap Scotty had a mechanical and i was back into 2nd. With Adrian Jackson for company we worked together for the next 3 hours to maintain our position. I handed over to Murry and AJ continued on his solo inhalation.

I left straight away making my way into the hospital to see Emma and Kate. Emma had been improving as the day went on and it was looking like she would be discharged tomorrow morning. I gave Murray a call at 4pm to find our how the race ended. He had managed to hold second unable to catch the Torq team of Luke and James.

Second is good enough after what we had been through and the way we had to race the event. In fact i am rapped. We are looking good for the series and with all the top competition it makes it an exciting challenge.