Ascend - what an awesome product!

My posts have nt been very regular lately because life for me at the moment is flat chat and so the riding has taken a back seat. One thing i have kept up is the Ascend products. I sprinkle the Muscle Protein powder on my cereal for breakfast - this helps maintain the supply of protein to the muscles which finishes the repair process from the previous day of training or work (bricklaying). The Ascend line of protein products has allowed me to maintain my muscle strength during my break from training.

For the lead up to the 24 worlds i was using the Ascend protein to help with my recovery from the training load. The power test proved that it was helping as i hadn't punched out that much power in 7 years. You may then ask if i was in such awesome form from using the Ascend protein, what happened at the 24 Hour Worlds.

To put it simply the human body is not a machine. The Worlds was my 4th 24 hour event in less than 12 months. So apart from a knee injury my body simply would not allow itself to be destroyed. The body would still work well for shorter events and training, but this is still a far cry from racing a 24hour Mtb race at this level. The body knew what it was about to be put through and simply would not allow itself to be pushed as its reserves had not been fully replenished from been emptied out so many times in one year.

Having the Ascend protein is one of the only reason's i have been able to keep going at this level all year. The body just needs some rest from the 24 hours for 12months. I am looking at it as another opportunity to focus on some marathon racing and lots of team events at the upcoming 24 hour races - maybe even a couple of stage races. These races for me have always been used as lead up events to boost fitness but thid year i will focus on this race format.

So if you want to feel awesome on the bike - use Ascend products. Just remember it helps you recover faster so you can train harder and more frequently.

Team Giant win Chase the Sun Series.

Ok so i have had a break after the worlds. This is common practice for me to just walk away after a big build and have some time away from riding. I have been catching up with my family and work has been crazy since getting back. We seem to be getting somewhere now, finally finding a competent bricklayer to help us get through the work load.

After 3 weeks of zero riding i had to get straight into racing with Rd 4 of Chase the Sun on the weekend. This i was not expecting as i had gotten the dates wrong and thought i had a couple more weeks to get my legs rolling again. We had a great course set for the race using the entire Com games course with and add on of fire track and some minimal single track. I thought this was great as it had rained all week. The Com games track is hard waring and holds up well in the rain. This loop should be used if the weather is bad all the time. I think Full Gas are learning how to adjust according to the weather conditions so we can still have a great race no matter what conditions they are faced with.

I was up first pairing with Murry Spink again. I was surprised i actually came in a close second on the first lap. Murry quickly asserted his dominance sending me back out for a double with a small lead. I held pretty well just holding my place. Murry just never slowed down tapping out the 5 fastest laps for the day taking the pressure off me so i could just survive my laps, sucking up the cramping. In the end we won closely followed by Team Felt and the Torq Team in third. This finishing order worked out better than we thought and gave us enough points to take the series.

My advice to anyone else who is considering racing cold straight of a break. Don't do it. That night i was woken several times , my legs cramping refusing to relax. Anyway a few easier rides over the next couple of weeks before i look at some more races.

World 24 Domination

Willo at presentations shaking Champagne

Alexander and Willo's bike. This is the best bike man in the business. Our bikes were spotless and didn't miss a beat all race.

Willo with Meg just before he crossed the line to take the World 24 hour win.

Jason English crosses the line in 2nd place.

Mark Fenner crosses the line in 3rd place.

Craig Peacock taking his Age group tile for a 3rd consecutive year.

The race for me was over early but more on that latter. The whole team did incredibly well. In Elite Men we filled the first 4 places James Williamson(GIANT), Jason Englisnh(BMC), Mark Fenner(SPECIALIZED), Jeff Tooey(FELT). Katrin VanDerSpeigle finished 2nd in Elite Women,

Craig Peacock(SCOTT), Troy Bailey(BMC) bothe won their age group category. Also many other placings.

Myself in summary. Battling cramps from the beginning, then a clumsy fall straining my knee i was unable to get going pulling the pin at the 8 hour mark. It was a great experience to be their to see so many Aussy riders preform at their best in the most horrific conditions.

BE THE BEAR

24 Hours of Aderalin World Championships live at: Adrenalinlive.

Live 24 Worlds Coverage.

This will be Georges home for the race. Their are more Aussies in Elite than anyone else. We are all in a line up pit ally. Starting with Johnny Waddell, Myself, James Williamson, Jason English, Katrin Van Spiegal, Jeff Tooey and Mark Fenner. The other age group racers number another 20 in groups around the pit area. Tune in via the web and cheer us all home.

The live coverage of the race this year is at:

24hoursofadrenalin.com, World 24 Hour Championships, go into AdrenalinLive on the left.

Bike support and a new room mate.

The Start/Finish area is starting to shape up as the event approaches.

They were busy setting up the pit lanes for the solo riders.

The rain set in last night. It cleared by morning and is meant to stay away for the race.

I went for a scenic drive with George in the afternoon. This is a view over Canmore.

Here is a photo of George at a lake we visited today.

I was down at the local the Bicycle Cafe here in Canmore having my bikes checked out before the race. I meet up with Johnny Wadell who happened to be looking for a place to stay. Since we had a spare room he has joined us for the rest of our stay here in Canmore. Johnny is going for a solo only approach for the race. Should be interesting to see how it pans out for him.

Thanks to Giant i was contacted by a bike shop in Calgary (pedal head). Alexander there has agreed to look after Willo and my bikes for the race. This is fantastic and means i will sleep better now knowing the bikes will be well cared for during the race. To have them offer their time to look after our bikes is greatly appreciated and gives us extra motivation to preform.

Relaxing in Canmore, New Cycling Skins

Over the last few days we have been relaxing and taking in the sights. This is a view from a tee at the local golf course here in Canmore.

George and i went on a little hike. It followed a dried up river.

Went through a moss covered forest.

Past unusual landscapes.

Then arrived at a canyon that was a rock climbers paradise.

Along the way we dropped in on some local Bears, unfortunately they weren't home.

Today i was able to try out the new Long Bib cycling knicks from skins. This was my first use of these and i am impressed. They fit perfectly and you can really feel the compression, this feels empowering making my legs like coiled springs.

Practice today was done with Willo. The course was also different today as it had rained overnight making the technical sections very tricky and slipery. We were also lucky to see a Bear cub run across the track in front of us on the lower section of track. This is the bike after one lap of the course.

I went out the other morning just to test my Nightlightning lights. No problem all charging well.