Well a few days have passed since I last wrote. I’m still feeling frustrated with no real riding and only resting which is something i dont do well at all! I havent been the best patient either.. sorry…. Just putting that out there

The scan didnt show any major tear though, which i guess is a good thing due to the fact that no surgery is required. There was fluid around the capsule though which means something was pulled or tweaked, possibly from that good old tug on my leg and the chopping and changing of saddles.

Ive just got to take it day by day and follow the advice from the doctors. Ill keep resting it, icing it and take it from there.

I did just get off the rollers. I felt like a monkey shagging an ink whale though lol! I rode 15mins, my first ride all week. Well lets be honest, I didnt even hit 3 figures on my SRM, so it was a roll if anything, far from a ride! I have to test it just to see how it feels over the weekend and if I dont pull up sore tomorrow morning then thats a good sign. Naturally all my attention was on the hip where I had the pain. It didnt feel 100%, but walking around after the roll I dont feel worse. thats got to be a good thing.

Im hoping that after a few more days taking it easy ill be back on the road again this week.. Im now flying to europe on the 13th with my partner so thats something that is certain. It will be nice to get to europe and set up our base once again in Girona.

Thanks for the support.. Hoping good news is going to follow soon!

Ciao
roly

well a lot has happened since the end of the tour down under.. i finished the race feeling really positive and excited. i was confident i was heading in the right direction, and looking forward to the upcoming tour of qatar.

i should be packed up right now, ready for the next race of the season.. instead im not!

tomorrow i go in for a MRI scan on my hip joint.. i havent ridden for a few days due to a problem that i think i picked up over in adelaide. its hard to say exactly what caused it but ive been in a whole world of hurt the last few days. mentally aswell as physically.

i think the chopping and changing of saddles probably irritated my hip joint. just with the different saddles. one being slightly different to the other etc. then after willunga i got the masseuse to release my hip joint by pulling on my leg while up on the table.. i get this done often as it feels good after a rub. this time though, i am sure it was slightly too hard.. not his fault by any means, but i knew straight away that it was a hard pull. i got off the table, and felt ok.. no dramas, but the next day i just felt a little heavy and sore in the hip and groin area.

i still finished the race with no real issues, had monday off traveling and tuesday and wednesday i just rode very light.. it was my first hard ride back on the thursday that i knew something was not good at all. i had huge amounts of pain in my groin.. hip and my glute.. the pain started off in my groin, and ended up feeling like a sciatic nerve injury. something id never felt before.. its not a typical cycling injury which is making me go insane. just the unknown is whats making me feel a tad down. ive ridden once since, and it was unbearable.

today i seen deb robinson, the all black doctor and tomorrow im in at 11am for a mri scan to see whats really going on.. deb seems to think its a hip related issue, but the hips are so complex that only a scan will really reveal what the problem is and how we go about getting me back doing what i love.

i should know the outcome tomorrow afternoon.. then its on to the next phase of planning the comeback.. then focusing on each day as it comes. doing nothing at this time of year isnt easy though. i wont lie.. especially when there is only one thing i should be doing and thats riding, and racing in europe.

im trying to stay positive! as negative as i may sound.. easy come easy go right?! everything happens for a reason is also something else i live my life by. which i always tend to follow up pretty quicky with ‘im not sure of the reason’!

the team have been very supportive though which is a really nice feeling.. its hard enough being injured, even harder having pressure to come back.. they know i was good at camp, and good in down under… so missing one race wont change alot. my goal is to be back in the saddle asap, but for now i need rest so that when i come back im 100% ready to rock.

ill update more in the next few days after we have a diagnosis and a plan! the years still long, and as a few have put it, its better now than later…

thanks for reading,
roly

well another edition of the tour down under is now done and dusted…  im happy its over, and happy to be sitting on a plane right now heading back to the best place in the world..  christchurch!  it was another epic race, with great weather too.  the atmosphere in amongst the race was just unreal.  if you cant afford the trip to the tour de france, i strongly recommend you make the trip to adelaide next year.  its the closest thing you’ll get to the tdf, and its wine country!  so many kiwis made the trip over this year and it was great to see.  i just want to say a BIG thank you for all the support.

the last stage today didn’t start how i had hoped..  i was really wanting a nice easy relaxed roll off the line, a few laughs, get some more sun on our ridiculous looking tan lines, and then ‘maybe’ we could just increase the pace from 20km/hr to 30km/hr.. NOPE! dreams are free!  it was on from the gun.. full full gas.  i think we had over 50km/hr average for the first 45kms, which is unreal considering there was quite a lot of corners… at the finish on a course with 7 corners we had an average of 46km/hr….  

i felt good, but not great, this was probably more mental than anything being the last stage…  this stage for me was one that didn’t really interest me.  its for the pure sprinters.  its pretty dangerous too and the last thing i wanted was to be spending the week all banged up before i head to europe..  i just helped the team as much as i could then sat back and watched the finale take place… 

the big gorilla (greipel) won again today..  he is super impressive and so powerful.  honestly his calves are as big as my quads.  he aint fat, he is ripped but man he has some muscle. hence why heading up hill he tends to go backwards at a great rate of knots!  his team did a great job today.  they rode perfectly.  you hardly seen them all race, but with 2 laps to go you started to see their train forming hoping to set their man up for the win.  you again seen a stellar lead out from hendy to set andre up.  hendy is a super fast sprinter himself but leading out he is one of the best in the world..  if he sprinted himself he could run a top 3, but that just shows how strong andre is having hendy at last man..  when hendy does his job right, which he does 99.9% of the time, andre is sure to win.  unless the wee pocket rocket cav is there with his train.  then its a real fight!  its like big man vs wee man lol!

lets talk about watts aye….. i was in the lift with my old team mate from last year, mark renshaw.  he run 2nd today and he said he could do nothing better to beat andre.  he was just sprinting full gas on andres wheel and doing
 1550 watts, which is huge for his weight.  so im guessing andre was hitting somewhere around 1700-1800w.  pretty phenomenal!  watts are always interesting.  i think cav’s max is only around 1400w.  but cause he is so low he goes very fast.  andre is much bigger than cav and has to produce upwards of 1700w at the end of a race to beat him.   so highest watts doesn’t necessarily mean you will win.  you have to have a cool head to win first, a good team and of course the big B word..  belief!

for our team it was a very successful week.  we won the teams classification and tiago was on the podium in 3rd place.  jan bakelandts was 6th.  benatti had some top 5s in the sprints, and the team was just a very strong well drilled unit.  very often do you see the whole team in front at the top of a climb, and up willunga we did that.  it was a special feeling..  and although i felt sick at the top of the climb hearing jens say ‘@#$% boys, its time to go to work’  it was awesome to see the peleton go from 140 riders down to 20!  and we still had 6 guys there.  

the willunga stage for me was a very important stage mentally.  although im not in top form, i got up the climb with the best guys, i was super strong after it, and now as i sit here and reflect a little i am really confident that my form is right where it should be.  its a strange feeling thinking that im not in top form but yet in this stage i felt better than what i felt when i was flying last year.  im not sure what that means but heres hoping its a good sign!

right so now im half way home..  i am back in chch for 10 days before heading to qatar on my way to europe..  goal for the next week is to firstly, recover and then get a good block of training in so that im ready for the dirty x winds that will greet us in qatar..

i get a feeling its going to be a good year..  heres hoping!  thanks for reading and again, thanks for all the support.

see you
roly

well today the race was electric.. so many people, so much pressure within the peleton and i think the riders put on a real show for the public in the finale.. radioshack-nissan-trek played a massive role in the last 40kms of the race today, and it was great to be apart of it.

everyone knew that the race would only really begin when we hit the base of willunga climb for the first time.. but it wasn’t all easy up to that point. you could feel the pressure, it was unreal. the wind put everyone on the edge of their seats and you had to always be ready incase a team went hard in the side wind sections of the race..

as it turned out, all the stress and nervousness was for nothing, although there was a large number of riders out the back after the side tail wind section.. come the base of the climb the first time it was a full peleton ready to rip the race apart. there was a nasty crash just before it with a uniSA rider. he hit the deck hard, face first. man it looked bad so i hope he was ok. what this did though was clear the way for me to get right to the front before the base of the climb, and thats where i stayed..

being heavier than the climbers its always going to be hard to get up the top of the climb in the position we were told we HAD to be.. but i along with my whole team were there.. which was unreal seeing we have 3 climbers here, and 4 guys that go ok on climbs, but aren’t mountain goats.. i actually felt super on the climb and in the meeting this morning the plan was to have everyone get over it, then we go to work..

i think there was 40 guys over the top and it was really windy up there. with no descent it was hard to recover, even harder with the plan now ready to go ahead. the goal was simple. have numbers. then put the whole of the front group into the gutter with only our team getting shelter.. so off we went, and slowly one by one the front group went from 40 odd, right down to 20. having 6 in the front group of 20 was pretty unreal. we seen yesterday that the team was strong, but this was just confirmation that we are all at a good level so early in the year.

i cant even describe the feeling of going uphill full gas, to then not have a downhill to recover! we had 7km of flat and crosswinds before any freewheeling was to begin. by that stage the field was in shreds, and the plan was going 100% to what we talked about..

jens was flying.. jesse was too.. i was good but not great, but after the downhill i felt super.. i just needed that bit of recovery to get back into the groove of things.. our number 1 was so far back at one stage i had to go back and get him.. i then brought him back up to the front, and started working again.. but he is so small and too nice, so let other riders muscle him out of that position.. generally, when your team is on the front your leader gets the first free wheel to stay out of the wind.. but when its cross winds its dog eat dog and you have to really be aggressive to stay near the front.. before i knew it, it was hard in the gutter again and i looked back and tiago was really struggling.. again at the back. grrrrrrrrrr…. so off i went again. brought him back up just before the base of the climb and then he and our other 2 climbers went to work..

tiago was 3rd today.. which is a great result.. he is here on no racing, unlike most of the aussies.. valverde won, in his first race back for 2 years after serving a doping ban…. he has trained full gas for 2 years though so he was always going to be one to watch.. plus the fact that before he was suspended he was the number 1 guy in the world for many years in a row..

after we placed our guys in the right position myself, jens and jesse swung off… and cruised up the climb taking in all the atmosphere.. it was unreal.. and had a real tdf feel to it.. it was dangerous actually, but you just feed off it and it makes you ride harder.. there was so much support for us though, so many kiwis out there which was so cool to hear..

right thats enough from me… heres hoping half the peleton is out on the booze tonight so we get a easy stage tomorrow.. but i doubt it.. its going to be fast and we will look after tiago to conserve his 3rd overall.. and we will try and get benatti up for the win in the final stage..

then its home time and i cant wait.. it will be a short stop though, so ill be spending as much time with my partner, claire, and my wee boy moses.. and of course ill be training my ass off to capitalize on this block of racing so that my form continues to rise..

will update tomorrow.. again thanks for the support. you guys rock….

see you
roly

tough wee stage here today, and this time it started how 90% of pro races typically start.. full gas.. with the race going uphill for 9km from the start it was always going to make the legs scream just a bit… and they did!

i don’t think the break went away till after about 30kms.. your probably reading this asking, why wouldn’t i know when it went away? simple really! im not in top form, far from it so all i was looking for was the wheel in front of me due to the speed we were going and the top of the dirty climb.. this is how we normally race in europe, and as hard as it is i actually prefer it. im a rider that needs to go hard and suffer before my legs actually come good. today the legs were great and its given me great confidence that my form is tracking along a good upward curve.

at times during the tour I’ve had to remind myself that im here on only basic training. im fit, but im nowhere near the level i was last year. the reason I’ve done this is to allow the racing to lift me up a level without too much stress.. all looking towards being in top shape for the classics which start mid march. so far during the race i thought maybe i should have come here with a heap of intervals under my belt, but thats only my ego talking! so today for me answered any self doubt that had been floating around in my mind cause i felt really strong..

it was hard today and pretty hot. up and down all day with a nasty climb with 20kms to go.. the teams with the climbers really hit the bottom of the climb hard. they went full gas to try and unload some of the sprinters before tomorrows uphill finish. i decided to just ease myself into the climb, and not go so far into the red that i would blow a fuse…. it turned out to be a good choice. i felt super on the climb and was within myself and at the top there was massive splits in the peleton.. there was only 40 guys at the top, and i was in there along with 5 other teammates.. so we had 6 there, which was pretty impressive and shows the teams strength…

coming into the finish we did the lead out to the best we could.. its always hard not having a lead out train like i have had in the past but we just about got benatti up for the win.. he finished 2nd today which was great to see. i felt as if i didn’t have that real top end power that i would normally have but like I’ve said before it will come when i train that system.. still it was a good day for the team, and personally a good day for thy head!

tomorrow is the day we have all been waiting for. last year we had 2 laps up wilunga hill, and finished in wilunga at the foot of the climb. tomorrow we have 2 laps up the climb, but we finish on top which is going to decide who could win this race.. still the sprinters have the advantage right now, and have time bonuses up their sleeve so that means the pace up the climb the first time is going to be hot… it has to be to get rid of the sprinters. my goal is to survive the first time up there, then put my teammates into position to win this race.. it will be an exciting day out and the atmosphere is going to be unreal.. it was last year, and now with it finishing on top its going to be even bigger..

so tune in tomorrow night with what i hope is great news.. its going to be a hard day, but i reckon our guys have the legs to win tomorrow, and maybe win the race..

thanks for reading, and to those here in adelaide a big thanks for all the support!

ciao
roly

well the stage today was one that was full of nothing but STRESS… basically all day it was stressful due to the wind, and doing a lot of riding close to the coast. everyone was nervous that there was going to be cross wind, and there was but just not quite enough of it. there were times when the peleton split up, but then there were some trees etc that gave everyone cover so the field come back together.

i had a much better day, legs felt 100x better than the day before too. so even though we never got a result i was a much happier chap knowing that the old me is somewhere inside my body, and i am guessing ill just get better from here on.. well im hoping anyway!

it was only 130kms today, so a very short stage… but like i said. stressful. we had to always be ready, at the front or not far from the front.. the last few stages we have really relaxed during the start of the stage, something much different to the last few years, but today we only relaxed for about 5kms. then it was stress city, and all for nothing! i guess its best to be ready cause you never know what could happen, but it really takes it out of you being on the edge for 3 or so hours.. coming into the finish it was pretty sketchy with roundabouts, traffic islands and then every rider wanting to be on the front..

we were all well placed, then i got really hit hard and ended up to far back to help our sprinter. its just like that some days. if you get knocked around, you lose momentum, and its hard to come back.. there was so many near crashes, and sometimes i wonder what on earth the race organizers are thinking having real technical finishes just due to the safety aspects of the race.. but again thats cycling..

we all survived and no one had any real trouble. we had jan from our team in the break today and he picked up 4s in time bonuses which moves him up close to the overall lead… it now gives us 3 cards to play so all is good for us heading into the last few days of the tour, and most importantly, the big stage that finishes a top of wilunga hill.

today we have the same distance of 130kms to ride.. it has a hard start, then a tough wee climb with 20kms to go… it will be interesting to see what happens, and the last climb could be a real launch pad for a few riders to attack.. we will have our climbers ready to go should that happen. it doesn’t look like a decisive stage but this is a crazy world we live in, and we have to be ready…

a bit of a boring report today… only bit of laughing material will come yet again from jens.. he commented after the stage that when he and stuey ogrady were riding on the front with 10k to go they just about had 80yrs between them.. pretty unreal, and just hearing the way jens tell the story is even better.. we are all like kids listening to his stories at the dinner table.. great way to pass the time..

right, ill update after the stage.. would be really nice to give you all some good news.. either about myself (that will come this year trust me!) or about one of my teammates.. we do have a shot to win this race, and what i seen the other day from one of our riders says to me that he has the legs to rip the race apart… time will tell!

cheer for reading…
ciao

Well this time last year i was sitting in the hilton where this race is based thinking man, i could rip this race apart cause my legs felt that good… one year on im sitting here thinking man im suffering like a pig!

today in down under i suffered.. this could be for a few reasons but at the end of the day, my legs today were like dead weights that did not wanna come out and play at all.. no matter what i did i felt as if i was on day 20 of a grand tour.. heavy, lactate and just that feeling every cyclist hates! at the end of the day i just have to say it was a bad day, and know it could have been worse.. tomorrow is a new day and im now focusing on that.

ive been having trouble with my saddle for a few weeks now.. i just cant find one that fits me well so that i can roll the hips and get the full power out like i used to get with my old team.. when you change teams you change equipment.. i had to change the saddle the day before the race so im really battling the old head and heart which is not helping the legs… i will find one soon though, i know that, but for now this is a bit of a problem.. to most of you your probably thinking thats its just a saddle, no big deal.. but when you actually live on this thing, it does have to fit you like a glove.. if it doesn’t, you have problems.. under carriage problems! lets just say the thought of me sitting on a saddle right now makes me wanna cry cause im pretty sore.. nothing a good nights sleep and another change of saddles wont fix though!

right now I’ve had a whinge its on to the race.. we were blessed with 30 degrees today, and it felt cold at the start compared to yesterday.. a break went early, with only 2 riders in it.. so again the peleton went on holiday mode.. chatting, laughing and just letting the 2 up front go out to about 11mins. everyone knew the finishing circuit was hard BUT this time, the sole rider in the front (one guy sat up) won.. silly move by the guy that sat up! he had 7mins going into the last 19km lap, and he won by 1min.. pretty amazing, and it went to a guy called will clarke. super nice guy, and i guess it gave the peleton a real wake up call..

our team had a good day.. we had 4 guys in the front group today and our two classification riders were safe up there so all is good.. the real day for them is on saturday, up williunga hill, so for them now its all about saving energy so that when the road goes uphill they have the power and the reserves to win this race.

tomorrow we have what is typically a sprint stage.. we did this stage 2 years ago. it has a nasty start with 5kms uphill and then it finishes in victor harbour.. last time it was major x winds going into the last 10k, and our team rode perhaps the best we have ever rode.. my teammate won, i played a big role and we were all buzzing after it.. would be nice to do the same tomorrow..

so for now im sitting here saying all my prayers hoping the legs actually decide to join me in this race.. haha.. im sure they will eventually… onwards and upwards..

thanks for reading..
roly

what a scorcher of a day we had today.. I’ve ridden in some crazy climates, both hot and cold but today was the hottest day I’ve ever experienced on a bike.. at one stage half way through the stage i seen 50 degrees on my srm… definitely not riding weather if you ask me!

we had a dirty head wind all day today. with the stage being only 150k we should have easily been done and dusted in 3.5hrs.. but due to the wind we were on the bike for close to 5hrs.. at one point we had an average of 24k/hr! you could hear the moans within the peleton i can tell you… not due to the length of time on the bike, but just knowing that we were all going to look like raisins by the time we had finished!

i joked with graeme brown today when we were all checking the temperature that if it hit 50 we would climb off.. that was when it was 40 degrees.. none of us thought it would hit 50 though, and i guess the joke was on us cause none of us could actually stop.. by the time we had finished the majority of the peleton looked as if we had been dragged through a salt factory. the tops were basically white, and even if your not a typical salter in warm weather, you had salt on your top and shorts today!

right now for the race.. with the head wind we had, any break that went up the road could basically take as much time as they wanted to because they were always going to come back.. sure enough 5 brave riders attacked sometime after the start and went straight out to 5mins. what this did to the peleton was put everyone to sleep. everyone knew it would be too hard out there. one with the heat, and also the head wind.. it wasn’t all as easy as it sounds with us all dozing off in the peleton.. there was a section of cross wind after 40kms and garmin put it in the gutter. the bunch split into 5 groups. no one really knew how serious garmin were. with still 100k of the race to go, it would be tough to keep going… if they did it would have been perfect with us as we had 5 riders in the front group of 20 riders… they obviously reconsidered a short while later and we all sat up and the bunch re grouped..

the front of the race by this stage had over 10mins and were going pretty strong.. with about 40kms to go the teams got organized and started to chase the group in front. in about 15k the break went from being 10min in front to under 5min.. which meant they were totally fried! which then meant the peleton knew they wouldn’t last so it was back into sleepy mode before the final push to the line..

we had our sprinter to look after today. daniele benatti.. i had to place him in a good position heading towards the line.. with the head wind quite strong though, timing was everything.. there was some real nervous riders out there today. some freaking idiots too! hendy hit the deck early in the race, and coming into the finish he crashed again.. i was so lucky i was on the front when the crash happened. jesse pulled both myself and benatti into the top 20 and i took benatti to the front with 1k to go.. it was too early, but it turned out to be a good move with the crash happening just as i swung off..

benatti run 5th today… which was a pretty good effort with no real lead out train.. he isn’t in top form either so to be right up there means his form is improving and gives us all confidence heading into day 2 of the tour..

funny story today.. those who know jens voight from our team will know he has been around the block many times before.. he is very respected within the peleton, probably more due to being the only pro cyclist with 6 kids! 6!!!! he is also 40yrs old, and still ticking! one of the young guys from the AIS team was itching to attack at the start.. jens was next to him and he said to jens that he really wanted to attack.. after a few grandad jens words, the young fella rolled back a bit, then he was off! jens was telling the story after the stage and it was hilarious.. all the young guy needed was a few jens words of encouragement and he was gone… he is probably cursing at him now though, but hats off to him for having a crack..

right as for myself. i felt good.. nothing super but enough to say that my form is right where it should be in my first race of the year. it was tough with the heat though, ill admit that! i was in the front group when it split so i was happy with that.. to be honest when we all sat up i was relieved.. cause it would have been a very long day otherwise..

tomorrow we have really tough stage finishing in stirling.. it was tough last year with us only doing 2 laps of the tough course.. this year we do 3 laps and we do it after being fried for 5hrs today.. im looking forward to it, but right now im looking forward to shutting my eyes and sleeping..

ill update tomorrow as to how it goes.. cheers for the support out there, its so great to hear kiwis on the side of the road!

ciao
roly

well its been a long time since I’ve updated this site.. but now the season has started ill be updating after each race with my thoughts and how my season is going. 2012 is going to be a big year, i have a plan and as of now all is ticking along very well.

firstly, thanks for the messages of support i get through the website.. i really appreciate all the support, and knowing that support is out there makes life as a pro cyclist that much easier!

as most of you know this 2012 season i am with a new team.. its a super team this year, with two of the biggest teams in the sport combining to form Radios hack-Nissan-Trek. so far I’ve been really impressed. its got a nice feel to it and the typical egos you often see in this sport are basically non existent within this team.. everyone is respected and supported which is only going to help us throughout the season to get the results we know this team is capable of.

tonight kicked off the first race of the year for the pro peleton in a hotly contested 50km criterium. the atmosphere was unreal, and there were a lot of kiwis out on the course. its so great to see so many kiwis making the trip over to what is the closest thing you’ll get to the tour de france outside of europe.. adelaide is an amazing place too, nice weather, nice people and a very well organized race. everyone is happy here, and our team are all in good spirits.

i felt pretty good in the race tonight. although i was barely seen! we had a pretty relaxed race though with no real goals in place other than having a bit of a blow out. staying safe and just getting through the race. the real race begins on tuesday and tonight wasn’t counted towards the main race. you seen tonight the big gorilla winning after hendy led him out.. andre is a super guy, friendly and down to earth too.. he has some power in those legs of his i can tell you! hence his nickname ‘the gorilla’! big congrats to him and his team on their win!

this year im not in the same form as i was a year ago.. last year i had just won nationals and was absolutely flying. i come to tour down under in perhaps the best form of my life but it cost me later in the year.. this year I’ve taken more time just riding and getting the miles in. my real goals are mid march through till paris-roubaix and to be good here means you cant be in super shape right now. still im going well, and have had a good steady off season, and my body will just get better and better throughout this race. i actually enjoyed my training the last month.. i enjoyed more time relaxing too and this is all going to help when i flick the switch so to speak!

we have some guys here in our team who are really flying. linus is flying, skinny and has a real shot at winning this race.. i told him yesterday to not even think about taking the leaders jersey till the 2nd last day though! we also have tiago who is in similar form, and we have daniele bennati our sprinter who is keen to have a crack at a few sprint stages. my goal will be to support the team.. i have no pressure here and my real goal is to come out of this race with better form.. and just keep tracking towards my real goals.

so ill be updating after each stage so stay tuned to hear about how the race is going, how im feeling and anything that makes us laugh you guys will all hear about..

thanks for reading,
ciao
roly

Well where do i start! life was going great… i was ready to fire on the big day to the crown range but man did that all change in a hurry not to long after the stage finished into te-anau.

I had a bit of trouble after china with pain in around the kidney area. but thought nothing of it as it passed pretty quick… then during the tour i was making that many toilet stops during the stages, fatiguing my great team who would stop with me, and pace me back that i just stopped drinking so much on the bike… then following the stage into te-anau, i got a massage on my lower back, and stomach.. within an hour my hopes of winning title number 5 were basically gone!! i was in a world of hurt, hot and cold flushes and i just knew that i was not well.. i couldnt even get off the bed i was that ill, but kept thinking that with a good nights rest ill be sweet! very wishful thinking, trust me!

i slept terribly and woke up at 4am.. just in so much pain.. so the doctor was called and he thought it was kidney stones so i just banged in as many pain killers as im allowed and hoped for the best… these got me to the start, and 30k up the road, but i was 150km short! it was such a bad way to end, being in yellow knowing i was in the form of my life, and also knowing that i really hadnt done any major effort in the tour to date, as i was just waiting…. but i was gutted.

before you knew it i was in the back of an ambulance with morphine running freely, not to mention the laughing gas! I had great company too, with ian smallman also in there with a broken collarbone, but i can honestly say that we both had the best ambulance ride ive ever had, and asked the driver to do a few laps around invercargill!

i can look back now and laugh about the ambo ride, but i was so disappointed to stop in this way.. not just for me, more so my team, supporters and our great sponsor calder-stewart.. they pumped alot into our team, and we wanted to repay them with yellow. we had an awesome crew down there and i really felt for all of them more than myself.. but thats life, and sometimes even when everything is going as planned it doesnt quite work out.. still though, i can walk away from the race knowing that with that form i just know it would have been a super week.. but theres always next year!

Its always hard when there is one leader in a team and he either fails to deliver or he pulls out like i did.. it sort of takes the wind out of the sail so to speak.. one minute we know exactly when and where to pounce, confident in the team, then the next the team is left with no leader.. it was real hard for the boys, and i felt so guilty leaving them. but they kept going, and tried with the tired legs they already had from working for me to do something in the tour.. its the way every team roles though. you seen it this year in the tdf when wiggans went out, also kloden and levi… its tough on everyone..

now a big hats off to josh atkins.. i mentioned him in a post a while back saying he was a super talent and he failed to disappoint.. what a great win, and for him personally this will propel him onto even bigger and better things… he has been at the top right through the ranks, but as he moved up to the elite grade i think he had become a little disillusioned with where he was heading.. so for him, this win has come at the perfect time, and im real happy for him..
i call him jagerbomb kid… he can explain why! a great kid and again a super future lies ahead for him.

I think the tour this year was a real race.. the longer stages as tough as they were, were welcomed by everyone.. for me now this race sits as one of the harder races in the southern hemisphere and its great to see bruce and co moving with the times..

as for me, im feeling alot better now.. wouldnt mind a couple of cans of that laughing gas sitting here though! ive been on antibiotics now since i stopped and i am already feeling better. now i will just recover before really focusing on what lies ahead.. i do the oceania games, and all going well will do the cali world track cup.. initially i was really down about everything, as to be expected but now the old spring is back in my step and im ready for the next lot of goals.

thanks so much for all the support. i cant thank you enough. i had so many messages on facebook, txts and calls. i couldnt reply to everyone but you guys really rock..

onwards and UPWARDS!