Hi there,

Well we are one stage away from securing the first ever tour of beijing with my team mate tony martin still in the leaders jersey…

I Havent been able to update the website due to staying out in the bronx here in china… Man it feels so good to be back in our first hotel, this is like the ritz compared to where we have been trust me! from bugs in the room, to stains on the bed, this first hotel was the topic of conversation inside the peleton here in stage 4!

ok so the last few stages have come and gone and we are still leading and should take this victory with tony.. but as they say, its never over till you cross the line so tomorrow is still an important day, even though its pan flat and only 120kms.. but it will be on for sure!

Ive done alot of work the last few days on the front, and ive really enjoyed it… Tony is a machine, and deserves to be in the lead after his stellar time trial.. he confirmed as to why he is the current world tt champion, and that is why we all committed to one goal here, to win the race with him…

Ive been feeling good.. i had a good tt, slightly misjudging my effort.. i was motoring the first 5k, was really going, but the last 4k into the headwind i lacked a little power.. but still i was relatively happy with my ride… stage one i rode all day, and same with stage 2.. i was flying on stage 2 and really felt good after the stage knowing we played a big role on the hardest stage keeping the break at bay and tony in the lead… today i had a day off the front, hoping to help leigh in the finish…. easier said than done.. i was floating in the finish, but never got a run. it was so frustrating just rolling along at 60k/hr at what felt like 30w, and being boxed in… but thats cycling for you.. sometime a gap appears, sometimes it doesnt.. but still i had the gas to set him up so i was happy with today.

so tomorrow we have 120kms… pan flat as i said earlier and its the final stage.. we will aim to control this race right from the start, and do so all the way to the finish. im real motivated to just pull all day too.. its quite funny pulling.. you really find your tempo and even though your out there all day, when the fresh legs come into the line for the finale, you actually match them all the same, and pull off together.. im not sure what it is, or whether everyone has this feeling, but i do anyway..

then its home for one night before jetting of to the metropolis of invercargill for the track camp.. yes im going to track camp, and i cant wait… it will be interesting to see how i am going, but as of right now everything is pointing in the right direction..

ok ive talked enough, heres hoping for a great day tomorrow, and then a day shopping in china before leaving here monday afo.. cant wait to get home, and be back with the boys…

thanks for reading again…

cheers
roly

Hi guys

Well, im back where it all started really.. the good feelings from the 2008 Olympics are still fresh in my mind, and amazingly, the city looks identical to how i remember it…  I had a great time here in beijing back then, and we are staying 100m from the olympic village so its hard not to think about what happened in 2008.  I was real surprised to see the olympic village exactly like it was.. I dont know but for some reason i just thought it would be run down, and not looking like it was… but its been looked after well, which is pretty cool to see..  cant imagine dehli being the same!

So far we are living the life of the rich and famous.. Every rider flew either first or business to the event, and we are staying in a stealth hotel too, so its pretty cool.. I guess for china, there is there chance to secure this race for the future, hence why we arent bunking it like we were at the olympics!  Asia is where alot of money is, and i think as the next few years progress you will see more and more pro tour races going to countries outside of the norm..

Being back with the team is always a laugh, and even more so at this time of the year.  some guys are motivated, some guys would have rather not touched their bike till today.  I am pretty focused, as my season really picks up now with some important events coming up.. its going to be a busy time, but all good..

we have all been out to the silk markets buying up large… (all real stuff of course haha).  funny moment was leigh howard getting home showing off his new porsche design watch, only to have the back fall out of it a few moments later… haha, man did we laugh… 1 year warranty apparently.. yeah right!  I was hoping it was gonna fall to bits on the stage at the team presentation last night, but his newly replaced bell and ross held up like a real mccoy!

The race kicks off today with a time trial over 11kms.  Its flat, and on standard roadies so im really looking forward to that.. then we kick off the tour with the first stage being 140kms. I think the peleton is pretty happy with the length of stages here, the longest being 190kms.  But it is a pro tour race, meaning, no matter how the peleton are feeling mentally or physically, when there is important points on the line, the racing will kick into gear and be super intense as it usually is.

My future is now secure.. both A and B and im really happy with what is going to happen.. its the best of both worlds really so all has worked out how i intended.. i just cant announce it yet… sorry!  But pretty soon all will be revealed.

Anyway..  Ill update as the race progresses..  thanks for reading and i appreciate all the support i get from you guys..

Ciao, Roly

Hey guys,

Sorry for the lack of updates! But honestly, not much has been happening re my goings on. But ive got to say its great being home, holding my boy, seeing how fast he is now riding his bike, so awesome to be a dad for a bit before im off again….

This sunday i fly to china for the tour of beijing.. Which will be my last race with HTC Highroad.. Im really looking forward to seeing Beijing again, to see what its like post olympics. Last time i was there it was amazing, but this time around who knows… Knowing the future really lies in countries like china, im sure it will be a great event. And it’ll be great to be back with the boys for one last hit out.

My body feels great, im in good form and had a really solid 2 weeks of training here in NZ. It still amazes me how banged up CHCH is after all the earthquakes though. Quite sad really. You soon learn the roads not to ride on trust me, and at the end of a hard ride you feel every bloody bump so choosing the good roads is key to arriving home happy!

I had a crash yesterday, and was very lucky.. Jas Allen and I were out in the hills for a ride, had just finished a set of intervals and were heading down into governors bay. The tight hairpin had shingle on it, which i missed, but thought id do the good deed and point it out.. massive fail! short story, lost control of the front wheel, somersaulted and ended up in the ditch… it was crazy! then on the flat we got hit hard by one magpie.. so angry, even dressed in black and white he still bombed us, and we were in the middle of an effort! can laugh about it now, but i wont be venturing out there anytime soon!

The road worlds have just finished and the young kiwis rode great.. some good results by many which is fantastic for new zealand cycling. The elite boys will be gutted to be caught behind that crash though… All that hard work they did preparing months in advance went down the drain.. Thats worlds for you, you have to have a bit of luck on your side but i was gutted to read they were all caught behind that crash, as this course suited them more than ever.

Cav won the race which you all probably know. with the course being flatter than normal, he was a favourite to win. But being a favourite means nothing at worlds.. you need luck, you need good legs, and you need to be calm to get through the 265kms in record speed. it makes you realize how good a rider cav actually is.. what a career he has had so far, and as to the future, who knows what he will achieve… Another teammate gossy was 2nd, which is pretty amazing result considering he had very little racing building up to the worlds… HTC actually won 4 titles, something no other team has ever done too, so its been a huge year for the team so far…

Right as for me, my future, all will be known pretty soon.. i know part B, im just waiting to firm up part A, then i will be able to confirm to you all as to what ill be doing in 2012.. until then though, ill let the gossip hags kept the rumours flowing! pretty entertaining stuff!

Ill update from china when i arrive and right throughout the tour ill be doing updates so keep following..

cheers for the support and messages.. i appreciate all you guys/gals have to say..

ciao
roly

Hi guys,

well im half way through packing 90kg worth of stuff, into 50kg, and it isnt working.. in fact its doing my head in so its break time, and time for an update on how the race went for me yesterday…

I had a great race.. super in fact, i was really good all day, never really suffered so much that i was in the box but it was seriously one of the toughest and fastest races ive done..

The course was a tough one. we had 17 laps of a 12km circuit, similar to what we had in quebec. 2 hills in it, one being 2kms long at like 5%, the other was a 400m climb which was a bit steeper.. so a super hard course and 3000m of climbing.

I really wanted to have a go today, but to be honest, i felt like i was in the field of the world champs, with everyone in their prime.. It was intense.. nervous due to the nature of the course. alot of corners, and it was ridden at a furious pace.. so much so that the last 2 laps were probably not that interesting to watch cause quite a large group all arrived together. everyone was tired, and everyone was of the same opinion as me, being, it was a hard day in the office.

Im not into bashing numbers around re wattages etc, but in the last race i think i did.. only due to the fact that i was blown away with the numbers.. today i averaged 369w normalized power for 5.5hrs of racing.. which just shows how good you have to be to win one of these races. Hats off to the guys that did win, they totally deserved it!

i really come away from these 2 races in great spirits. i still feel i missed a chance in quebec, but i did what i thought was right at the time and launched earlier, rather than not at all.. and in montreal my sensations were again there, just didnt have the 1% extra to be in front of ‘there’ to be in line for the win.. however im really happy that my first stint at altitude has had this effect on me. of course you still have to train, eat right, relax but i think that its something i will do in the future more. i really feel the benefits, but now the gurus say that you tend to not feel so flash for a week, then you start to come up to where you were and beyond so im really looking forward to that..

I hear and read a few rumours regarding what im doing next year.. you got to laugh at some, but you got to admire what others say too! i cant say just yet what is happening cause i myself still dont know. But all will be revealed in the near future, and at this stage it looks exciting and im looking forward to having the contracts signed and sealed so i can let you all know what my plans are for 2012 and beyond.

again thanks so much for all your support… im in the air tomorrow, with the tail of the plane dragging all my gear along the ground.. well i hope so anyway! im really excited to be heading home.. which is christchurch, the city that has taken a real bashing of late.. its still where my heart is, and always will be and i cant wait to wrap my arms around my wee man moses…

then its back to business….

will update as to my next movements in the next few days.

ciao ciao
roly

Hi there,

Super hard day in the office today with a normalized power of 350w! I was super all day, course was really hard, and it was hot which made things tough for everyone.. But i was really happy with my race, some ifs and buts but still, i know the feelings i have now are that good that good must be coming right!

We had 16 laps of 12kms.. two climbs each lap, one long drag up to the finish.. the first of the climbs was steep, really steep, which i freaking hate! so really tried to limit my losses here, and i put all my eggs in one basket late in the race, attacking out of the depleted peleton in a group of 5 hoping to get up the bloody thing, from the break, knowing that behind there would be the winning move..

I was close! i was 100m from the top giving it everything when i was caught, but i just didnt have it to go with the 7-8 riders that went away to form the race winning move with 15k to go.. I really pulled the break hard, too hard maybe but it was my only chance to get up there. It would have been easier if the break all had the same idea as me, but for some reason they werent keen.. svein tuft and i were on the same page, with the others not really doing much which resulted in us being caught on the climb.. which resulted in all of us out the dung hole! lol

But my initial thoughts coming off a long altitude block that i know have extra capacity.. i feel that when im at threshold, it doesnt feel like threshold, and i can sit there, or higher even with no problem.. this is what altitude training is meant to do, increase all your levels and so far im pleased with how im feeling.. i know my body, its really good right now. i need a bit of luck sunday, maybe a bit of patience, self belief and have another go… sunday has more climbing with 4000m being covered. but i think the climbs more suited to my style of riding.. anyway, i feel i can go in to it with confidence. they say that post altitude you can feel really good for 4-5 days, then you go into a rebuild phase where your not good for a week to 10 days, then your back on the up again, to levels higher than ever before..

so i guess sunday will be day number 5! hope that lasts till the race is done. lol.. the peleton looked today as if they had done a classic.. dusty, hot sweaty riders everywhere.. there will be some tired legs on sunday.. i feel that will suit me more so bring on the recovery time is all i can say!

Again today you seen a super phillipe gilbert.. he is absolutely flying, and winning easily against the best riders in the world.. Its amazing to see it, and today he basically did it all by himself with little help from his team. which is even more impressive… he won easy, was playing with them and has to be favourite number one for me for the upcoming world champs..

anyway, ill leave it there.. one more race to go then on a 5 day journey via usa, uk, spain, then finally home.. im really excited to come home and see my boy, but one race to go, and i wanna make it count!

thanks for reading.. go the ABS, proud to be a kiwi right now..

cheers
roly

Hi there,

Well the RWC has kicked off and we are one step closer than anyone else so thats got to be a good thing right! I was up early this am, and was happy to catch the last half of the game, although i had to painfully listen to the irish commentators. they were slamming the all blacks, going on about who was winning the second half etc.. im sorry but the last time i knew rugby was 80m long! not 40! Still awesome to see the ABs with runs on the board. Felt proud seeing them out there, and the fans were going mad..

right, some news from here. Today is race day.. 200km, over a testing course.. Im now back at sea level and i feel good. real good. im just going to go with the flow today, with no pressure, follow and see what happens when push comes to shove in the final stages of the race.. we do laps of a circuit here, its much like a typical worlds circuit so it will be a real battle royale.

its a pro tour event so the majority of major riders are here, and with the world champs on the horizon its going to be a real good indication as to how a few might go in denmark later this month.

For me though it comes 2 days after coming down from altitude. my first thoughts are that i have more of a threshold, or more capacity at threshold.. but its hard to really tell. typically you feel good for 4 days, then go down for about a week, then really start firing up to a month later. so again, im unsure how i feel, but today will give me a good idea.

I really am motivated though. there is something about racing on a circuit that drives me too.. the atmosphere, the fans.. its going to be good… im 2 races away from heading home and i would love that dream day when everything un folds as you imagine it too..

anyway, ill update tomorrow with how the race went.. hope you dont all have headaches tomorrow either, the world cup is gonna be long. lol.. cant wait to get home and soak it all up.

thanks for reading and ill be updating soon.

roly

Hi there,

Just a quick update as to whats been happening in my part of the world..

As you know im in boulder, colorado.. and im loving it.. The riding is amazing, the city super cool and the weather is as good as you could possibly ask for.. ive been training well, and im feeling great after my set up with andy pruitt.. he really is a guru, and i wish i knew him earlier in my career.. better late than never though right!

The other day i went into his lab, to do oxygen assisted efforts.. basically this means, sea level or as close as im going to get to sea level efforts with an oxygen mask… heres me thinking, oh this is going to be easy, i was totally wrong! the last time i had an oxygen mask on was in the back of the ambulance after my tumble coming down the port hills… so it reminded me of pain, before i even did the first effort!

i was just doing 30s efforts, at high power, high revs.. i was a tad tired heading in after a solid ride the day before but it was still a great session. im back to the lab tomorrow, fresh though after a nice relaxing day here in the states, so im looking forward to that!

I leave here next tuesday and head to canada for the 2 pro tour one day races.. then unfortunately for me, i fly through america on sept 11! i didnt even think about it to be honest, and im not sure what to do! extra security in america is one thing considering its the worst country to ever go through anyway… And the extra terror alert just announced now by the states is going to mean everyone will be looking left and right all being slightly on edge.. but what can ya do! then the 13th i leave spain for nz, arriving the 15th..

I cant wait to get home to see my boy… Its never easy being away from him, but skype does help ease the pain.. so i expect the wee champ to be in full flight when he sees me.. itll be great..

anyway. 2 great races coming up. i feel good, so im hoping for some good rides. im really motivated and want to finish the season well, so here we go!

will update after my first race.. thanks for reading and hope all is well with you guys.

see you
roly