Hi there,

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