Hi folks,
Firstly like to apologise to those who dropped by in recent weeks & seen no change here!
I have just arrived back from a 3 week break in the US, spending most of the time in the land of the big trees, Oregon!......Found some really great trails, didn't do a heap a of riding as the main point of the exercise was to re-charge the batteries & get over those niggling injuries. Mission acomplished, "hopefully" on the later anyway.
Oh ye did I mention we found some really great trails!!!! more on that later, have some pretty pics for your viewing pleasure. Epix boys look no further, that's where it's at, the land of the big Redwood trees.
Prior to that was just working my fingers to the bone funding the trip.
Now it's time to get fit again & what better way to start than a roll around for 6hrs with 450 of my closest friends this Sunday at good old Lysterfield for round 2 of "Chase the Sun" see you there, if not be square. I'm lead to believe this event sold out weeks ago. So jump onto Round 3 & 4 because there will be no more, this year anyway.
Let the good times roll,
Troy
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
National Marathon Champs
Brutal & Beaut,
All rolled into one, Brutal climbs & Beaut descents.
Big Hill Events sure lived up to there name with this event, "Rohin, Director of Big Hill events" mentioned at the pre race dinner/riders briefing that he wanted to make this the toughest Marathon event in Oz & why wouldn't he, when they are putting on the national championship event.
For mine Rohin succeeded, It was damn tough!
I certainly didn't make things any easier for myself going in 3 & bit weeks off the bike since my injury from Terra, with 2 very short rides last week in desperation of regaining some fitness, hoping to carry my fitness over for that long was optimistic to say the least, halfway up the first climb I knew I was riding this course & not racing.
Must say I am a little disappointed on the fact of what might have been as Terra is the ideal lead up to this event, however that is racing & life as we know it sometimes.
In closing I am glad I finished & don't seemed to have aggravated the poplatius any further which was the main goal & one bonus was I did get to ride most of the day with my old mate Ash.:-)
Troy
All rolled into one, Brutal climbs & Beaut descents.
Big Hill Events sure lived up to there name with this event, "Rohin, Director of Big Hill events" mentioned at the pre race dinner/riders briefing that he wanted to make this the toughest Marathon event in Oz & why wouldn't he, when they are putting on the national championship event.
For mine Rohin succeeded, It was damn tough!
I certainly didn't make things any easier for myself going in 3 & bit weeks off the bike since my injury from Terra, with 2 very short rides last week in desperation of regaining some fitness, hoping to carry my fitness over for that long was optimistic to say the least, halfway up the first climb I knew I was riding this course & not racing.
Must say I am a little disappointed on the fact of what might have been as Terra is the ideal lead up to this event, however that is racing & life as we know it sometimes.
In closing I am glad I finished & don't seemed to have aggravated the poplatius any further which was the main goal & one bonus was I did get to ride most of the day with my old mate Ash.:-)
Troy
Monday, April 12, 2010
Update
Must apologize for the lack of posts of late & the delay of Terra report!
Have no other excuse than being extremely busy with life!
Willo's Funeral on Friday was a sad day indeed, however it was a great send off to a true legend of our sport with only positive words spoken.
So in brief on the racing front,Terra again didn't fail to deliver, was right up there on the epic experience front, not going to spill too many beans here as I have been working on a story which I was asked to write about the event by Willow, will stick my neck out to say that is was nothing short of emotional & amazing.
Therefore grab yourself a copy of the next issue of Enduro mag to read all about it!
Should also mention I've been working hard to get the body ready for the Nemisis National Marathon Champs since Terra as I tore the "Popliteus", a muscle band behind the knee.
Thanks to Dom from 1st Place Osteopathy I'm a 50 50 chance of being on the start line, Dom is a true cycle injury expert, has enormous passion for fixing you up & his main focus is getting you back on the bike ASAP.
Hopefully see you on the start line as it's shaping up to be a great event, by all reports quite the challenging course too.
Troy
Have no other excuse than being extremely busy with life!
Willo's Funeral on Friday was a sad day indeed, however it was a great send off to a true legend of our sport with only positive words spoken.
So in brief on the racing front,Terra again didn't fail to deliver, was right up there on the epic experience front, not going to spill too many beans here as I have been working on a story which I was asked to write about the event by Willow, will stick my neck out to say that is was nothing short of emotional & amazing.
Therefore grab yourself a copy of the next issue of Enduro mag to read all about it!
Should also mention I've been working hard to get the body ready for the Nemisis National Marathon Champs since Terra as I tore the "Popliteus", a muscle band behind the knee.
Thanks to Dom from 1st Place Osteopathy I'm a 50 50 chance of being on the start line, Dom is a true cycle injury expert, has enormous passion for fixing you up & his main focus is getting you back on the bike ASAP.
Hopefully see you on the start line as it's shaping up to be a great event, by all reports quite the challenging course too.
Troy
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Passing of a Champion Friend "Willo"
James "Willow" Williamson,
Jim was a true Champion Fella on & off the Bike, a great mate, always up for a spin, chat & a laugh.
I'm going to miss you buddy as I'm sure you'll be truly missed by many & my heart really goes out to Nikki & his family & of course Lewie.
Jim & I checking out our new threads at 08 Worlds Presentation.
Hope you all have a great Easter, Get out for a spin & think of Jim.
Troy
PS. Terra report coming your way soon & Good luck to all racing the 24 Nationals.
Jim was a true Champion Fella on & off the Bike, a great mate, always up for a spin, chat & a laugh.
I'm going to miss you buddy as I'm sure you'll be truly missed by many & my heart really goes out to Nikki & his family & of course Lewie.
Jim & I checking out our new threads at 08 Worlds Presentation.
Hope you all have a great Easter, Get out for a spin & think of Jim.
Troy
PS. Terra report coming your way soon & Good luck to all racing the 24 Nationals.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
TERRA AUSTRALIS 2010
I have just received confirmation that entries are in fact still open for TERRA AUSTRALIS, It runs from March 21st - 27th, this does fall into school & uni holidays for most & for you Elite boys out there, the pointy end of the field is looking a little light on due to Oceania's in NZ the weekend TERRA starts, with some decent cash on the line, 700km & approx 15,000m vertical of climbing all in the dirt, what more could you want!?
As mentioned in my previous post I'll be pairing up with the very much in form Phil Orr, (Ex elite XC racer & last years winner of the Vic Enduro Series), looks like We'll be going head to head with my ex BMC team mate Joel Donney(2007 U25 solo24hr Champ) who by all accounts will be riding for the TORQUE team with the very quick Steel Van Hoff, So should be game on :-)
Here I am having a laugh with one of the event organisers Iain, they are a great bunch of people who run this event & they really go the extra mile to ensure each every competitor has a great week, by the end you will feel like one of the family, don't get me wrong this is a challenging event on the bike, but rest assured plenty of laughs & good times shared off it.
So if you're up for a great week on & off the bike in the spectacular Victorian Highlands I highly recommend you check it out & get your Entry in.
Hope to see you there.
Troy
As mentioned in my previous post I'll be pairing up with the very much in form Phil Orr, (Ex elite XC racer & last years winner of the Vic Enduro Series), looks like We'll be going head to head with my ex BMC team mate Joel Donney(2007 U25 solo24hr Champ) who by all accounts will be riding for the TORQUE team with the very quick Steel Van Hoff, So should be game on :-)
Here I am having a laugh with one of the event organisers Iain, they are a great bunch of people who run this event & they really go the extra mile to ensure each every competitor has a great week, by the end you will feel like one of the family, don't get me wrong this is a challenging event on the bike, but rest assured plenty of laughs & good times shared off it.
So if you're up for a great week on & off the bike in the spectacular Victorian Highlands I highly recommend you check it out & get your Entry in.
Hope to see you there.
Troy
Vic Enduro Rnd 2 Mt Beauty
Any excuse is always a good excuse to head up to mt Beauty & what better one do you need than a state Rnd 6hr at the Big Hill Mtb park.
With the knowledge of super fun trails ahead makes the drive up the hume that little bit more bearable.
Personally I had a great race, feeling strong for the whole 6hrs finishing up 2nd to the very much in form Phil Orr, whom i rode the first two & a half hrs with until he turned the screws that little bit to far for me to sustain on the climbs, with young Scotty Chancellor right there ensuring I didn't slack off, taking 3rd just 40 seconds back after i launched my 6th or 7th attack on the 2nd last lap & finally make it stick.
Phil, Scotty & myself accepting the spoils,
I was happy to stick with Phil for as long as I did in the hilly Terrain as we will be riding TERRA AUSTALIS together, still have to sharpen things up in the next couple of weeks so i don't hold him up too much, Really looking forward to a great week in the Victorian Highlands, was certainly a highlight on the Calender last year.
I'm lead to believe entries are still open, so if you're up for a great week on & off the bike I highly recommend you get on board, for more details check out TERRA AUSTRAIS.
A big thanks again must go out to Andy at Kaos for helping to race prep the steed with a slight set up change, resulting in no Neck & Back pain :-) & of course to Stephen at Mtb Images for these great pics especially the one of me getting lite over the log bridge, it's a corker.
More on TERRA real soon.
Enjoy,
Troy
With the knowledge of super fun trails ahead makes the drive up the hume that little bit more bearable.
Personally I had a great race, feeling strong for the whole 6hrs finishing up 2nd to the very much in form Phil Orr, whom i rode the first two & a half hrs with until he turned the screws that little bit to far for me to sustain on the climbs, with young Scotty Chancellor right there ensuring I didn't slack off, taking 3rd just 40 seconds back after i launched my 6th or 7th attack on the 2nd last lap & finally make it stick.
Phil, Scotty & myself accepting the spoils,
I was happy to stick with Phil for as long as I did in the hilly Terrain as we will be riding TERRA AUSTALIS together, still have to sharpen things up in the next couple of weeks so i don't hold him up too much, Really looking forward to a great week in the Victorian Highlands, was certainly a highlight on the Calender last year.
I'm lead to believe entries are still open, so if you're up for a great week on & off the bike I highly recommend you get on board, for more details check out TERRA AUSTRAIS.
A big thanks again must go out to Andy at Kaos for helping to race prep the steed with a slight set up change, resulting in no Neck & Back pain :-) & of course to Stephen at Mtb Images for these great pics especially the one of me getting lite over the log bridge, it's a corker.
More on TERRA real soon.
Enjoy,
Troy
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Vic Enduro Rnd 1 You Yangs
Game on
The first race of the season is always a bit tricky to know were your form is compared to the rest of the campaigner's even more so due to the uncharacteristically flat nature of the course.
From the gun the hammer went down & stayed down, for those of you have been to the Full gas dirt crits underneath the west gate would understand, this was a full gas crit on steroids, with a 10k lap & 6 down in just 2hrs, that's crazy fast when you're ducking & weaving through trees in the loamy hard pack conditions.
4th wheel in the prologue keeping an eye on things with Rohin from the Total Rush team driving it early.
Five of us got away in an early break, two teams & two other solo riders being Phil Orr(Eventual winner) & Brad Davies(3rd) & myself, I had a feeling due to the nature of the course this could very well be a decisive break, so was eager to do my fair share of work to consolidate the break.
On the gas grabbing a bit of air time.
This would later prove to be the case with Rohin & Steve taking out the pairs & as mentioned Phil & Brad filling 1st & 3rd on the podium & big Joel Reid sneaking through in the later stages to take 2nd.
Still having fun in the bermed creek bed.
As for me around the two & a half hour mark I was starting to feel the effect of my earlier efforts & had to leave the boys in the break to it & settle into my own tempo & try to hang on to 3rd.
Stating to pay for the earlier efforts.......Ouch.
At around three & a half hours Joel had caught me & we did a lap or so together then my neck & back started to really stiffen up causing some major grief, I was left with no option if I was to finish the race other than to pit & seek treatment.
Fortunately for me Scott "scooter" Vercoe from IMPACT MASSAGE was set up with his table next door to the KAOS camp & hooked into my back & neck which enabled me to get out for a few more to finish the job off trouble free, however the half hour off the bike saw me end up down the list on the results page.
If you're in the need of a good massage I highly recommend heading down to see Scooter , he really knows his stuff & loves to ride himself so understands our ailments.
Definitely not all was lost, coming away from the race with some great intensity in the bank & the knowledge that the core definitely needs more work.
Well done Jac for taking out the women's.
A huge thanks must go out to Andy from KAOS for building an absolute weapon of a race bike, being the CLEANSKIN Titanium hard tail all XX'd up & some very blingy super light, super fast custom built wheels with DT Ceramic 190 hubs finished off beautifully with UNION Titanium spokes.
Also a big thanks to Stephen from Mtb Images for these great images.
Catch you on the bike, heading out for a roll with the KAOS crew down the beach, 6.30pm at the shop Tuesday's if you're keen & 7.00am Saturday's.
Enjoy,
Troy
Sunday, January 31, 2010
2 weeks in Adelaide for TDU & XC champs
TOUR DOWN UNDER 2010
Martin Kohler with the tour girls.(Not all about racing)
Whilst life has slowly been getting back to normal, if there is such a thing, let's just say now I'm home, I've been working hard to compute & recap the experience, as so much was condenced into the two weeks spent in Adelaide that it feels like I was away for months.
Anyway for fear of boring you with all the details I've decided to keep the text minimal by sharing my personal highlights of the tour & let my pictures with captions tell the rest of the storey.
Grab youself a cuppa, strap yourself in & enjoy the TOUR DOWN UNDER from the inside looking out on board with TEAM BMC & a bit of MTB NATIONALS just to keep it real:-)
Rolling down a pier at the beach with Cadel & the boys to check out the view after the racing was done.
Definate highlight was getting to know Cadel & a few of the boys on a personal level, mainly the Swiss lads being Martin Kohler (Swiss Junior Champ & Stage 1 Best young rider & sprinters jersey winner), Thomas Frei (Formerly of Astana), Karsten Kroon from the Netherlands(Very experienced pro,Started his Career with Rabobank then moved across to CSC which became Saxobank) & George Hincape (Needs no introduction, Tour veteran & former right hand man for Lance)
The one common thread I noticed amongst the team was a relaxed confidence without even a hint of arogance, there is such a great vibe throughout the whole team, I had a bit of a chat about this fact with Cadel, to quote him,
"I am the happiest I've been in my whole Cycling career due to the fact of being surrounded by such good people, right from the top being Andy Reis, (Co Owner & Sponsor of the team) he is such a cycling enthusiast with a huge passion for the sport which filters down right throughout the team"
It's no secret that when you're happy & motivated is when you produce your best & likewise for those around you, so keep an eye out for big things to come from the BMC PRO TEAM.
Enjoy the photos.
The boys having a laugh before final stage.
You'd be laughing too if your rig looked as good as one of these puppies.
Rolling out with the boys before final stage, the crit, even got to cut a couple of laps with them, mainly chatted to George about Mtb & how he needs to upgrade his XTR to Sram XX.
George & Thomas behind
Rolling around with the boys
Cummon George keep up :-)
Cadel chatting to the boys
Cadel Having a chat to the press.
You may recognise this guy.
Martin & I
Martin & John (Team Director)discussing tactics prior to race.
Karsten Kroon with his game face on.(Mauro Santambrogio behind)
The race is on.
City of churches.
Rabobank provokes the first break which Martin got across to.
Stay tuned more to come.
Troy
Martin Kohler with the tour girls.(Not all about racing)
Whilst life has slowly been getting back to normal, if there is such a thing, let's just say now I'm home, I've been working hard to compute & recap the experience, as so much was condenced into the two weeks spent in Adelaide that it feels like I was away for months.
Anyway for fear of boring you with all the details I've decided to keep the text minimal by sharing my personal highlights of the tour & let my pictures with captions tell the rest of the storey.
Grab youself a cuppa, strap yourself in & enjoy the TOUR DOWN UNDER from the inside looking out on board with TEAM BMC & a bit of MTB NATIONALS just to keep it real:-)
Rolling down a pier at the beach with Cadel & the boys to check out the view after the racing was done.
Definate highlight was getting to know Cadel & a few of the boys on a personal level, mainly the Swiss lads being Martin Kohler (Swiss Junior Champ & Stage 1 Best young rider & sprinters jersey winner), Thomas Frei (Formerly of Astana), Karsten Kroon from the Netherlands(Very experienced pro,Started his Career with Rabobank then moved across to CSC which became Saxobank) & George Hincape (Needs no introduction, Tour veteran & former right hand man for Lance)
The one common thread I noticed amongst the team was a relaxed confidence without even a hint of arogance, there is such a great vibe throughout the whole team, I had a bit of a chat about this fact with Cadel, to quote him,
"I am the happiest I've been in my whole Cycling career due to the fact of being surrounded by such good people, right from the top being Andy Reis, (Co Owner & Sponsor of the team) he is such a cycling enthusiast with a huge passion for the sport which filters down right throughout the team"
It's no secret that when you're happy & motivated is when you produce your best & likewise for those around you, so keep an eye out for big things to come from the BMC PRO TEAM.
Enjoy the photos.
The boys having a laugh before final stage.
You'd be laughing too if your rig looked as good as one of these puppies.
Rolling out with the boys before final stage, the crit, even got to cut a couple of laps with them, mainly chatted to George about Mtb & how he needs to upgrade his XTR to Sram XX.
George & Thomas behind
Rolling around with the boys
Cummon George keep up :-)
Cadel chatting to the boys
Cadel Having a chat to the press.
You may recognise this guy.
Martin & I
Martin & John (Team Director)discussing tactics prior to race.
Karsten Kroon with his game face on.(Mauro Santambrogio behind)
The race is on.
City of churches.
Rabobank provokes the first break which Martin got across to.
Stay tuned more to come.
Troy
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
TDU & XC champs
Hi folks I'm back!
Had an Amazing couple of weeks in Adelaide for the Tour down under & National XC champs, hanging out with some very big wigs of our sport & getting to know them as people which was just fantastic.
Have a trillion images to edit & some storey's to tell believe me, keep your eye out over the next few days as I having a feeling you may enjoy!
Well I certainly did & if I can do justice to even half of what I experienced, you should too.
Troy
Had an Amazing couple of weeks in Adelaide for the Tour down under & National XC champs, hanging out with some very big wigs of our sport & getting to know them as people which was just fantastic.
Have a trillion images to edit & some storey's to tell believe me, keep your eye out over the next few days as I having a feeling you may enjoy!
Well I certainly did & if I can do justice to even half of what I experienced, you should too.
Troy
Thursday, January 7, 2010
National XC Champs
Looks like I'll get a chance to race the National XC champs whilst down in Adelaide!
Managed to get a leave pass from the BMC camp to race in the Veteran class on Saturday morning & will also be racing the teams relay for FullGasPromtions on Thursday as my major commitments don't kick in until Sunday when the actual Tour starts.
Let the good times Roll!!!!
Troy
Managed to get a leave pass from the BMC camp to race in the Veteran class on Saturday morning & will also be racing the teams relay for FullGasPromtions on Thursday as my major commitments don't kick in until Sunday when the actual Tour starts.
Let the good times Roll!!!!
Troy
TOUR DOWN UNDER
Well folks,
It's official, "I'm excited" Not only am I heading down to check out the Tour Down Under, to see the likes of Lance & Cadel going at it with thousands of screaming fans.
I will actually be involved as Team assistant for BMC, what it actually involves I'm not really sure at this stage, however when I was asked, it took me all of about "3.5 seconds" to accept the job.
As I know more, so will you!
Troy
It's official, "I'm excited" Not only am I heading down to check out the Tour Down Under, to see the likes of Lance & Cadel going at it with thousands of screaming fans.
I will actually be involved as Team assistant for BMC, what it actually involves I'm not really sure at this stage, however when I was asked, it took me all of about "3.5 seconds" to accept the job.
As I know more, so will you!
Troy
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