Stage 1 Update

Today was the first road stage to Lumsden. My plan was to stay out of trouble and in the bunch. At the start of the stage my positioning was about mid bunch and I was keen to move up, so I did and then attacked over the top to join a couple of others up the road. I though it would be a good idea to be out front and get a sprint prime. I won the one at 10km and also won two later on. After the prime win I found myself in a small group of nine out front and we quickly built up a lead. I had some wicked bad stomach cramps from I suspect my morning muesli. 50km later I recovered by had not been eating so started to cramp up. It was not good. I quickly had a couple of leppins and came good until 115km I had a bad calf clamp and sat up from the front group. I had a good 20mins to recover and stretch and eat before being caught by the peloton. Soon after the whole bunch split up and I was toast and in the third group on the road. The finish couldn't come soon enough as I was completely spent. Totals for today: I won three sprint primes and ended up third in sprint ace. A good day all around. Tune in to Cue T.v at 930 today on Freeveiw or Sky channel 110 to see me in action. I am in the blue top Olphert Contracting.

Southland Prolouge

To start things off we had a team time trial around Queens park in Invercargill. We had a team presentation and meet the sponsor of the team Daryl from Olphert Contracting. I started the team off down the chute, to the first corner. We finished up pretty slow with some of the guys struggling with holding wheels at the high speed. Tomorrows stage is 160km from the start in Invercargill to Lumsden. With 4 loops of a circuit to finish. I'm looking forward to it!

Tour of Southland

Its been a while since my last post and its been a busy period of training assessments and upcoming exams. I have my biggest race of the year the Tour of Southland next week. The race is 900km long over 7 days starting on the 30th of October. I am racing for Oliphert Contracting team with 5 others. Basically the race is a tour around the Southland district with stages to Gore, Bluff, Te Anau, Winton and Queestown. I have been training very hard over the last 10 weeks once I got over my previous crash injuries. A recent good result was my third place overall in the Taieri Tour,  I was pleased with this considering my limited race fitness.

Once the tour is finished I will be focusing on the Oceania Track Championships. Most likely focusing in on the Omnium and the Scratch race events.

As for next year I have several options I am exploring including some overseas racing and continuing my study.

Road Race and Crash

Today I had the road race. Things started good, I was really well organized with support and nutrition. I had a good position at the start of lap 1 but things got ugly as we approached the main hill, Lots of guys were bumping and I had a couple of close calls. Everyone wanted to be at the front me included. Then the worst possible thing happened I crashed after another rider cut in front of me. I had pretty average positioning about half way in the bunch. So I went down hard on my right knee and also banged right up my hip flexor quite bad. I have some cuts and swelling on the knee but structurally it is okay so things are all go for the track. The physio duo of Jess and Jane will be working with doc Steve from Green Island as I recover from this with some physio and exercises tomorrow. Also I broke the derailleur hanger on my bike which is why I couldn't continue after the crash, believe me I would have if It wasn't broken. Had a good walk on it to the dining hall tonight so things are looking okay it could be worse. Thanks for reading, Brad

Shenzhen Universaide

Velodrome
Universiade Logo
NZ Flag

I have made it to Shenzhen China and I am starting to settle in now. I had my first ride on the track today which was good. I have my first official sessions tomorrow on the track and road. I got to ride the last 1km of the road race which is tight with a couple of turns then wide open for 250m finnish straight. The finnish really suits me so I am hoping the couse isnt too hilly so I can get there. The village is massive with 10 14 story apartment blocks. The Chinese are very helpful and polite. The weather is very hot and I am pleased to say that I am not suffering too bad mostly because of the heat chamber training at Otago University. In the New Zealand team we have a great support team to help us with everything. Steve the team doctor is going to support me along with Martin the chef de mission at my races.

Race Schedule
12th Road Race 2pm 160km
16th Pursuit Qual and Round 1
17th Pursuit Final and Points Race Qual
18th Points Race Final