Brad Europe 2016 and Season so far.

Europe and elsewhere. Warning: it isn't all pretty. 
Photos also down the bottom.

What a roller coaster of a start of my Europe campaign.

So far I have done four races with Drapac Pro Cycling.

• Castilla Leon- 3 Days
• Tour of Azerbaijan- 5 days
• Tour of Iran- 4 days of 6
• Gullegem Koerse in Belgium

Each race I have done has taught me a lot about tactics and different styles of racing specific to each country I have raced in. It is a new level of racing and the key thing I have discovered above everything else in the last few months is the importance of being as adaptable as possible.

With each race comes many stories that the results sheet could not possibly reveal.

Summary of Events
First Race
Castilla E Leon: After only about a week since first arriving in Europe and only just recovered from jetlag, I had a relatively good day one and day three of the tour in Spain with a bad day two. Held good positioning and learnt how good the world tour team Movistar is heading to the Giro.

After Castilla I got a very bad chest infection for a week. This has continued to linger on under the surface throughout the whole trip so far.

• At the start of Azerbaijan I was healthy and wanted to ride the legs into it after not much riding after Castilla.
• I crashed hard on day 3 in Azerbaijan.
• After Azerbaijan Visa Delays, all night travel my chest infection is back with a vengeance.
• Iran went good for the first 4 days of the tour. Team mate Peter Koning won a stage and roode a good GC all week. My chest infection was ok during the days but would get bad at night.
• Iran Day 4 I put in a massive ride to breakaway but that evening started to feel really hot. Had a high fever and temperature and was hit by a gastro bug.
• Iran Day 5 pulled the Pin and didn't start.
• Can't hold down any food for next 4 days with very bad gastro problems, the chest infection or and crap in my lungs persists.
• I am finally back into training the last 5 days and feeling much better.
• I rode Gullegem Koerse and had a blast, love Belgian style technical racing. Great to be back feeling good with a 30th place result from 180 starters.

More Details
Azerbaijan
Enjoyable high level race with challenging courses and a good variety. The race started in the capital Baku near the caspian sea, surrounded by desert with gas and oil fields beneath. The race then travelled into the mountains which were quite similar to New Zealand and a welcome break from Baku.
The racing itself was hectic and semi-organised. The team had some bad luck that hampered results including punctures and crashes.
Including my crash...
I had been protecting our leaders up front just 2-3 wheels from the lead in the wind for an extended period of time before a key dangerous downhill. I was getting fatigued after sitting in the wind and when everyone jumped 200m out from the descent the leaders also stalled. I went for one last gas it around the side of them and got clipped by a rider passing me. I should have just sat behind the leaders as I was going backwards, but I do have the ability even when under the pump to do a last gas anaerobic effort so it's hard to analyse but definitely 50% my fault.

I hit the ground hard and was very stiff the next two days. Main injuries were to my left hip and elbow with bruising. Nothing broken though!

Iran
Very interesting experience traveling to a place not many would often visit. I learnt a lot about the country and the people. Some good some bad with plenty of interesting events.
We had a 12am midnight flight to Iran. With all the Visa issues I didn't get to sleep until 4am. Later this week in Tabriz I started to feel the chest infection and cold coming back. The race went relatively good for the first few days. I enjoyed the cross winds especially. My team mate Peter Koning won a stage and was in Yellow for two days which I helped defend.

Ultimately on day 4 I woke up with a sore guts. A sign of things to come. On the bike I actually pulled of a ripper of a stage. I rode across to the break that was at 7mins with the infamous Stefan Schumacher (remember his TDF fame...) we went full gas for 60km to make the front. I stayed there for 40km more then got dropped on the Cat 1 climb. I eased up and waiting for my team mate Peter and what would be left of the race. When I got caught there were 6 Iranians swapping off hard with Peter only 20sec back. I dropped back and a couple of track turns later he was on. It was a good stage. I was not prepared for the night ahead. 

After the finish I started to feel very weird not just the usual tiredness from a big day. I developed a fever at first very cold and then I was very hot through the night. I had some rice and jelly for dinner...it was all I could stomach. I could barely have the energy to walk. I had a high fever all night and spent most of it on the toilet. The Gastro problems absolutely floored me. it really knocked me out. I was better the next day but very drained and had to endure 6 hours on a bus to stage finish and then to the finish. I still had some fever but it was much less. Over the next week I got a little by little better but all in had gastro problems for 6 days. Travelling back through airports was hard and I was in very bad shape and couldn't really eat anything.

Gradually I got better once back in Belgium. The chest infection lingered on but also eventually disappeared.

Back on track Gullegem Koerse
I have had a good 4 day block here in Belgium training with team mate Will Clarke. It took me a couple days but gradually my strength returned. 

Yesterday I lined out at the Gullegem Koerse know as the World champs of Kermesse. A good race for my first race in Belgium.  All the big names where there. Fabian Cancellara, Tom Boonen, Andre Greipel along with fellow kiwi Greg Henderson. The distance was 180k with laps of 10km. I loved every minute of it. This style of racing suits me down to the ground. The plan originally was to do 2 hrs then pull out to freshen up for Korea. But a race is a race and I was feeling good so stayed in.

It was a fast race 46kmh average. I felt comfortable throughout. I started at the back quite a bit at times in first quarter but also rode off the front a couple times. I enjoyed watching the big guys and seeing what they do and how they position. Every lap I got better and by the end the last two laps I was top 30 for most of it. The race was won by Greg Van Avermaet from BMC. It was a great hit out for me before Korea and an enjoyable race.

University Study
Throughout my time on Pat's Veg and now Drapac Pro Cycling university has been a key part of my life. I am approaching the end of my studies and am looking forward to the rest of my year with a little less stress and challenge. Challenges have included stable wifi connectivity as a major difficulty, as well as my illnesses and constant time travelling, especially at all odd hours. I am very pleased to say I have managed it all, even through some difficult times.


Upcoming Schedule
On Thursday I leave for the 8 day Tour of Korea before returning for Halle Ingooigem, on 22 June. I have trained on the circuit for this and is sort of a local race for me. Looking forward to being on the up health wise and getting stuck into the upcoming racing.



Big thanks to Drapac Pro Cycling and Pat's Veg for all the support in my career so far and giving me the resources to compete at this level.

To all my supporters back home, huge thanks for helping me get this far. I couldn't be doing it without you. 


Thanks for reading.

Cheers,
Brad

USA First 3 Weeks including first wins

To start I had a very busy June moving houses, studying for exams, training and then the big trip to the USA.

Exams

I received some great exam results with confirmation that I have passed my last University papers and now have enough points to graduate in December. This is a pretty big part of my last 3 years and is great to finish.

Cycling in the USA

I am currently living in Kutztown, Pennsylvania, USA its about 2 hours west of New York.
Here there is a world class track league at the Valley Preferred Cycling Centre in Trexlertown (15km away) with racing every Tuesday (Pro-Am) and Friday (Professionals).

First Win- UCI Scratch race Festival of Speed

So far I have been doing very well. I won my first race on the track and it was a major one. It was a UCI Scratch race during the first weekend I was here. It was the main endurance event of the Festival of Speed and has international ranking points attached to it. I won with an attack 7 laps to go. The previous night we had a 80 lap points race and 100 lap madison. It was hitting the ground running with hard and fast races and I suffered in the heat a bit.

Then on Tuesday night 1st July I won the Omnium overall that night.

Racing took a break for 4th of July Independence Day celebrations so I took the oppourtunity to go to New York and see my girlfirend Holly currently at Camp America there. NYC was awesome did some of the usual sights including Central Park.

Bear Creek Mountain Resort

Wall Street

Last week Tuesday track racing was rained off. On the Friday I placed second overall that night to fellow kiwi sprinter Jeremy Presbury. Much of the racing was quite short which didn't suit me but is great speed training all round.


















 

1st Road Criterium Win (video link below)

 

Photo from L&M Racing

 

 

 

 

 

Historic Marietta Criterium Pro Finish YouTube Video

On Saturday I took the opportunity to travel to a race 65miles away called the Historic Marietta Criterium with a couple guys from Kutztown. It was 35miles, quite long in the heat, however I felt strong and came away with the win and a few primes too. Another Kiwi Grayson finished well in third. The race was sponsored by a few craft breweries so we came away with a few beers too.

Tonight I have another weekly track night followed by Keystone Cup this Friday and maybe some Crits on the weekend if I can get to them.

Thanks for reading.
Brad

NZ Season wrap up

So far this season has been my most successful to date.
This is a pretty massive post but hopefully sums everything up well.

Here is a selection of races I have taken part in.

I started with the Tour of Southland in November with the Powernet team.
They were fantastic sponsors, looking after everything for the week.
My best result was 2nd after an all day break on stage 3.

 Breakaway time, Just before I went off the front for the last 20km.






I then went to China for a couple of tours there.
Tour of Fozhou UCI 2.2
Tour of Poyang Lake

I had a great time over in China with a great group of guys from Norway on the Unaas People 4 You team.
I could write a few blogs on the crazy time over there. 

Thanks to Emil Unaas for inviting me over for Poyang.
Also thanks to Daniel Curruthers for inviting me for the first tour.

In between times I hung out in Hong Kong which is a pretty chaotic city. Loved it though.

Best result 3rd on Mountain Stage in Tour of Poyang lake

 

Not really sure how I got up on a mountain stage but what ever. Sprinters can climb!

L-R Me, Olav, Jonas, Herman, Sander, Turmold

 
 On the front with the boys, drink time before the climb.


After I came back I got pretty sick for a week, due to pollution and lots of traveling.

 Then it was onto Elite Road National Champs. The last couple of weeks trained through some pretty bad weather but made it through.

On the day it was a tough race. I got dropped with cramp on the second last time up the climb then got pulled out whilst actually 5th under 23. Go figure.

I then refocused on the track to make a push for Track nationals.

On the way there I won the 84th Gore to Invercargill race
 


Over the next 6 weeks I did some hard yards in training. Not many long rides but still good for 2nd in the first Benchmark Homes race that I won the year before. Sprint finish again this year.





The week later at the new Avantidrome in Cambridge I managed to come out with my first national senior title in the scratch race.

 

In the Madison with Jase Allen

I then had a big base building 2 weeks for the upcoming domestic races.

Results were as follows.

1st Place R&R Sport Tour

 

3rd place Benchmark 2 Hokitika


 After Hoki with Alex team mate that won and the Colombia Strava sensation Carlos

Tour de Lakes 2nd place on GC by 1 sec to Alex McGregor.

I rode a very good tour as evidenced by the stage placings below. I rode one of the best races I have ever ridden in the last stage shutting down everyone from breaking away only to just miss the win after Alex put in a better climb to the finish. Another ride I was very pleased about was the Time Trial where I won by 3seconds from Alex. I put more emphasis on this in training and it was nice to get a result.

1st Sprint Ace, 1st Prologue, 2nd Stage 1, 1st Stage 3 Time Trial, 3rd Stage 4, 1st Stage 5, 3rd Stage 6

 



Bit stuffed on the final climb.

Club National Championships, 1st Under 23 Road Race, 2nd U23 Time Trial
I had a pretty bad time trial. Never really felt good.
More than made up for it with Gold in the road race. I went out front in the break making everyone work behind then recovered and made a few moves once caught. I then won with a pretty good sprint. Was second overall in the race to my team mate Alex up the road taking the elite men title ( I was under 23).



Benchark Round 3 Hanmer Springs to Kaikoura. 4th Place
After this round I am now in the series lead.




Big thanks to everyone that has helped me have this awesome season. Firstly Holly for putting up with me training and racing all the time. To Dad at Spincity Cycles for all the work on my bikes he does and advice that I sometimes follow... Also to all my extended family and friends for their support.
Big thanks my team Calder Stewart and Bruce for organising everything in the Benchmark series.
Also thanks to training partner and team mate Carlos for all his help in training and racing.


Now its time for a break before I am heading over to the USA for some racing.
In other news I will also finish my commerce degree at Otago University after this semester, finally!

Thanks for reading.
Brad

Japan!

Konnichiwa!
I got selected for a New Zealand national team to travel to Japan for the Odaiba Cycle Festival.
It was held on the weekend of 3rd and 4th August.

I raced in a U23 criterium (circuit race) , 1 lap time trial and elite criterium in that order.

The Saturday U23 criterium was very hard. I just cooked and over heated in the 30-35deg temperatures after coming from our winter. That afternoon Lauren Ellis won the women's race from an awesome break.

On Sunday morning the time trial went better it was short and sweet and only 800m. I took the win after a good start and good turn.

On Sunday afternoon was the main event the elite men's criterium. The weather was again very hot.
To combat it we had ice cold towels and water during warm up.
Before the race I put soaked my top in the ice bucket and by lap 6 in the race it was dry!

I felt much better during the race and had strong legs. There were many crashes with riders dive bombing the hair pin corner. The last lap was dangerous but I stayed right at the front and made my move around the big sweeper corner with 350m to go. I hit the last corner 1st and powered up the uphill drag to the line to hold 1st place.

Big thanks to our Japanese hosts for a fantastic event. Everything ran smoothly and was well organised.
Other highlights on the trip was a night cruise on Tokyo Harbour. And also a tour around the Tokyo on Monday where we got to go up Tokyo Tower.

Taking the win!

Outside Disneyland

Winter

I'll start by going through the end of Autumn and start of winter which I had the unfortune of 3 bad things all at once.
Got sick for 3 weeks with flu.
Then as I was on way back up had a massive crash and couldn't ride for 4 weeks
To top it off it was time to get my wisdom teeth out another 2 weeks out.

During all this I had the second benchmark in Nelson where I was still injured from crash and pulled out after 80km.
Then before wisdom op I finished 4th in Benchmark Elite Series Kaikoura, no idea how as I had done no riding at all!

U23 Jersey on Podium (looking after it as Toms in Elite Jersey)

So I had some decent time off the bike and lost a huge amount of fitness.
I started back during June with some base miles and some cross racing!

Cross was really fun, I wasn't very competitive though. Lost heaps of time on the super technical circuits.

Whoopsie

Benchamrk Homes Series Round 1

What a start to the series. I managed to take the win in a sprint finish after 159km of racing. I was unsure of the form after taking a break after track natonals and O-week at university. Even during the race a didn't feel that flash but I came right in the finale.

Big thanks to the whole team for working for me during the race, and especially Andrew from Fitlab for organising the team and also personally doing 50km on the front to chase the break!

The race started fast with plenty of attacks but settled down after a break of 4 got away. Andrew and Brodie then set about keeping it in check until the other teams started to chase hard. I went with a few attacks after the break was caught. The slog up Germain Rd had the pressure on and most guys were in the red. Jacob, Grayson and I worked hard here to keep it together. Which it did, setting it up nicely for a sprint finish. My speedo wasnt working the whole race so i was unsure of how far to go but I got a strong sense we were close as everyone was twitchy and the pace high. With a km to go I put the gas on coming up the right side of bunch to move from 20th to 5th at the last courner. A couple of guys went and Cam Karwowski them opening up the sprint early. Brad Tuhi was on his wheel and I his as I started my sprint. I went through a gap in the middle of them to power to the finish first.
I also get the bonus of leading the series now.

The next round is in Nelson 7th of April. Before that I have the Tour de Lakes in Queenstown.
All heading towards club road nationals on 18th-21st of April.

Copyright and Thanks to Bruce Wilson Photography for the photos.

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.