About Me

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Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand
I am a professional cyclist for Drapac Pro Cycling. An Australian registered Pro Continental team. My hometown is Dunedin in New Zealand. I also study business and event management. Racing my bike around the globe aiming to get to the highest level in the sport.

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

First 3 Days

I haven't had much time to update the blog but I will take the time to repost the odt articles I am writing.

Day 3 Invercargill to Bluff (138km)

25th on stage, 25th Overall
Leader Mike Northey, Node 4

Carnage is the best way to describe today’s stage. I had 2 punctures, the first at 15km then another at 50km which made it difficult chasing back on. There was a massive crash after Winton involving 40 riders which I just avoided. I was about 1cm from running over Hayden Roulston’s leg. On the run back to Bluff the wind was blowing strong seaside and there were more crashes and punctures. I avoided all of these but missed the move with Roulston and Heath Blackgrove. We then started the notoriously steep Bluff hill and it was tough. For the climb I had special low gearing but because of my puncture I had normal big gearing. Patrick Bevin (yellow jersey) and I climbed together in pursuit of the leaders but we could not close the gap finishing 3 minutes down. Next up is a double day of 148km, Riverton to Tuatapere first then onto Te Anau.



Day 2 Invercargill to Lumsden 160km
Stage Result 9th, Overall 46th at 23secondsStage winner and yellow jersey Patrick Bevin

The first road stage of the tour. We started inside the velodrome in Invercargill. After a fast start with many sprints the speed settled down when a breakaway was allowed off the front. The day had only light winds so everyone stayed together. The main contender’s teams chased all day, catching the break with 10km to go. The pace over 60 km/h to the finish with many close calls. With the help of my Olphert-Mackenzie Craik team mates I powered up the front to finish 9th.I was happy with this but know with better positioning I can go even better. During the stage I burnt through 10520 Kilojoules when added with normal body activity of 8700Kj equals 19220Kj or 15 big macs burgers. So before the next stage I need to replace all of this. Next up is 140km with the notoriously steep Bluff Hill, guaranteed to be hard.

Tour Dairy Day 1-Prolouge

The first day of the tour, months of preparation have come down to today the start of my biggest week of the year. The route takes in just under 1000km. We take in all the towns in Southland as well as Te Anau and Queesntown. Our team has 5 riders from the South Island with one from Wellington. Our support is a team manager, mechanic, cook and physio so we get well looked after. Today we had the first stage a lung busting 4km team time trial. Our team rode really strong in the wind to finish 12th out of 22. Last year's winning team Powernet took the win from Hayden Roulston's Calder Stelwart team in second which should just be the start of an exciting battle between thoose teams. Next up we have 160km from Invercargill to Lumsden which will suit me.


Monday, October 22, 2012

October Racing

Its been a busy last few weeks
Recent results in my last 2 races have been-

Nelson Benchmark Round 6 - 1st
Kelvin Hastie Memorial 130km- 1st
Oxford Benchmark Round 7 (final)- 8th with 1st U23 overall classification

They all went really well. In Nelson I managed to take the win, my first Benchmark series win.
It was a good race around a circuit with rolling hills. I got into a breakaway which worked well together to stay off the front. With 5km to go I attacked then Brad Tuhi came across and we worked together to the finish where I out sprinted him for the win.

 Final sprint in the rain


Reta Trotman also got up for the win so it was a great weekend for Cycling Otago Team. Especially after the stress of nearly not making the start with a change in rules from the organiser. Some Nelson imports were brought in as team mates and we set off the make a point which we did.






The next weekend I had the Kelvin Hastie Memorial Otago's biggest one day race.
Kelvin was a talented cyclist that won the first Tour of Southland.

I had a big week training so came into the race tired but on the day I felt great and managed to take the win with a solo attack with 1km to go.










Video of Kelvin Hastie finish


Next up was the final round of the Benchmark Series in Christchurch. I went into the race as the leading Under 23 rider and my aim was to secure this. I'm pleased to report I secured the title win an 8th place after 155km of racing. Big thanks to all the Cycling Otago team mates this year, especially Scott Thomas for the help in the last race. Also a huge thanks to Chris Henderson for helping organise everyone, paying for fuel and lending his van. Also to Ken Lasenby for being the race manager each race. Racing wouldn't be possible without these guys so a big thanks is in order.





Podium with Paul Jesson, NZ Tour de France cyclist and Paralympian medallist
Read about Paul Jesson here

Benchmark Home Series final winners. Benchmark Homes team classification, Me Under23 overall, Mark Spessot masters overall, Robin Reid men overall, Karen Fulton women overall

Scott and I in the bunch


Also thanks to Bruce Wilson Photography for the great photos check out his work here
https://www.facebook.com/brucewilsonphotographynz

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Baldwin St, Dunedin

The worlds steppest street is located in Dunedin.

I currentley have the fastest time on Strava, I don't normally put rides on strava but it can be a fun motivational tool. I rode all they way up too, no stopping to walk!
http://www.strava.com/segments/baldwin-street-686663


Monday, October 1, 2012

Off Season and Recent Races

Sorry about the absence of posts, I haven't had a lot to write about during the off season. But now racing is truly underway and I am on track for my two target events for the year.
The Tour of Southland 28th October-3rd November
Oceania Track Championships 28th November-2nd December

During the off season I made a number of changes to how I approach my cycling study and work.
The biggest being changing University to study at Massey via correspondence. This is because they are more flexible with changing exams and assignments. Last year it was very hard to finish the Tour of Southland and have an exam the next day. Also next year I am hoping to have a period of racing overseas so I will be able to continue with a couple of papers part time whilst racing.

Another change is that my Dad and I are now working in partnership with Matty Graham from Exponential Performance with my training. The main change is taking a more scientific approach to it.

Its been a busy last few weeks with racing all around the South Island. I have had some good results namely:
8th place 'Hell of the South' Benchmark Round

 "Hell of the South" Benchmark Homes Race

1st stage 1,4,5 and third overall in the Timaru Tour
 Winning stage 4 bunch sprint.

 Next up I had my favourite local race the R&R Tour. Racing is always tough but fun on my home roads. This year we were treated to some strong side winds which helped sort out the 'contenders from the pretenders' shall we say. I had a good time trial with second to Oceania champ Sam Horgan which was good with only 10 minute warm up (due to long pre-race briefing).

Stage 1 was really fun and I was feeling good. Near the end I escaped with Sam Horgan who I tried to drop off my slipstream to no avail and he duly out sprinted me for the win.

Stage 2 was not good. Missed a move by 2 riders including 2 from subway team. Things were miscalculated and what was meant to be an easy catch near the end turned out to be a long chase without a catch as everyone in the bunch ran out of legs. Well done to Sam and Tayla for that effort.

On Sunday stage 3 was a long one with everyone chasing each other the whole way. I was up the road for most of the race only for it all to come together with 2km to go.

The last stage was at North Taieri and I was feeling good so tried a few times to get away/ chase Sam Horgan. On the last lap I managed to join a small breakaway group which slipped off the front. It came down to a sprint finish and I started sprinting from a long way out but managed to take the win by a couple of bike lengths. In summer this finish is used for the old "Sam's Classic" weekly race so I've practiced a sprint there once a week in summer for the last 5 years! So I was happy to take the win after trying all weekend.

 Benchmark Podium

Last weekend I had the 5th Round of the Benchmark Homes Series which is the premier race series in the South Island and always has strong competitors. I managed to start a breakaway on the last lap which chased down the original breakaway. Dylan Kennett (Subway) and I caught the front with only 2km to race. Up the last hill James Williamson (Pure Black) attacked and got a gap with Tom Hubbard. I tried to close it but didn't quite have enough but still crossed the line third. To finish on the podium in one of these races was a goal of mine this year so I'm happy to have achieved it.


Coming up over the next 4 weekends I have-
Nelson Benchmark Round 6 this weekend
Kelvin Hastie Memorial 130km
Oxford Benchmark Round 7 (final)
Then on to the Tour of Southland