Other online diaries:

Photo Galleries:

Categories:

• cycling - 43
• football - 4
• general - 22
• results - 2

Mon, 18 Sep 2006

Trip to Sydney. - 22:12
Rachel, Kirsten, Neil and myself visited Dangar Island again on the weekend, this time to formulate an offer for the place. We are still trying to work out exactly how much the house andland is worth and how much we can afford and offer.
Neil and I raced at the Southern Hemispehere Cup on Sunday. I got C grade and Neil moved himself from B to A. I thought C grade would be good, as I'm suffering with allergies, but it was a bit too slow.
So, about half way through I tried a breakaway, one other guy came with me and we had quite a break. Then, my front tyre started going down slowly. Bummer! The guy won in the end, even though he got caught. He broke away again on the final lap. I reckon we could have won if we stayed together. Neil got 3rd place in A grade, he broke away early with a bunch of other guys.
Results are here

[/cycling] link

Wed, 06 Sep 2006

Cootamundra Classic Weekend. - 23:24
Neil and I took a trip to Cootamundra for two days of open racing. Saturday was the tough Coota Classic, a 120km handicap race. I got a good mark and managed to blast into town with the main bunch of 80 or so. It was akin to a Tour de France sprint finish. I was following a good wheel for the last 10km or so. But I lost Charles GASCOYNE in the last few kilometres of the race. He was a really good wheel as Charles ended up coming equal first with Kevin NICHOLS. John Dukes did well, picking up a couple of primes in his first open. Neil suffered because of a lack of training and a dodgy apple pie. Tony was troubled by his leg a bit and Simon rode well to feature in the main bunch finish. Results are here
Sunday saw us line up for the Coota Recovery race, a 69km Handicap. Again I got a good mark, this time John Dukes was in the bunch with me. My buch rode strongly, indicated by the continual shedding of weaker riders off the back. We looked like we could win the race, I was in exactly the same position the year before when my bunch was caught in the last few undulations within a kilometre from the line. John CHAMBERLAIN from Coota was in that same break away bunch. So, when 5 of us got away in the hills on the last lap John organised us all to work together to get the win. John Dukes and I had the advantage, with both of us from Canberra, the Vikings and from the ACT Vets. We could work together. My idea was to attack early and win by myself. So I did; only a km or so from the line. But they caught me; my surprise tactic did not work. John had the advantage of sitting on the chase and came over to win the sprint. Results are here.

[/cycling] link

General Update. - 22:56
Rachel and I took a trip up to the central coast a few weeks back. Now Rachel would like to buy a house on Dangar Island, just off Brooklyn on the Hawkesbury. The Island has a cute little ferry service and the main Northern Train line is right there. So it's living in Sydney without living in Sydney. Check out some more info on the island here. I've put some of the house photos on a photo website.

Dangar

Sep 6, 2006 - 25 Photos

[/general] link

Sun, 03 Sep 2006

Fixed gear - 12:01
With a fixed gear, I choose how fast or slow I go by just pedalling. Riding can be sweet and completely silent. When I'm going well I'm always spinning. I am in touch, connected to the bike; I am a part of it. I pedal faster to go faster; I pedal slower to go slower. My brake is there just in case, maybe just to govern the speed on long downhills. I only have to use it in case. When I head downhill, as I spin faster and faster, I'm right on the edge of losing control, but never do.

[/cycling] link