RESETTING

2016/2017/2018

Cycling,Travel,Muses,Lows,Highs... LIFE.

Phillipines (OFF SEASON)

Birthday Gala

1 month: Family/Beaches/Waterfalls/Food/Drink/Laughter, everything none bike related after 10 months combined winter training & race season, this was a nice respite. It gave me time to work on other side projects of mine. inJOlife my clothing brand which I developed in late 2016. A concept of merging together all aspects of utter freedom enjoyed from travel/riding/music/life!! and backing it with fair trade,organic sexy threads. Being away and having that clear head, allowed me to get into the zone and let the creative juices flow. Banging out design after design. Of which now are stocked in Active Health Club in Australia & available Internationally online via my E-shop.

https://www.seedshirt.de/shop/injolife

https://www.facebook.com/injolife.cc/

https://www.instagram.com/injolife/

Active Health Club

Australia

Soaking in the rays

2 months: Pre season training/ Group rides / Personal Training / Chilling with friends

Excerpt from local newspaper

and the most important, Family Time!!

Germany 

1 month: Early season races (Legs were surprisingly fresh for that early in the season, generally i'm a late bloomer.) Velodrome speed work/ Group rides/ Maintaining my German/ Meet & Greets.

Bruggen

Zusmarshausen

Den Haag ( Netherlands)

(LIVING SITUATIONS)

Now my permanent base after 2 years of several relocation's, such highlights have included: Squatting at my previous team managers bare bones of an unfinished apartment. House/Cat Sitting  (side note I am not much of cat man, so the high horse of a cat called Sushi put me through the runners but I'm glad to say the cat survived :P.)

Summer times in the studio

Living in a tiny 6 person shared apartment, featuring  to the right, a overly loud, cheating on her boyfriend university girl. Above me a run of the mill Geek, locked in his room yelling to his cyber-friends over Warcraft till god knows what time and of course the gracious landlord, Sir mister whistle 24/7. I was glad to upgrade then to a small Studio in the heart of the city, JACK POT!!.

Though this was only a 6 month short stay contract, so it wasn't long before the bags were packed for another ring around the roses. Which landed me to the final location, my apartment set aside for just the girl and I. pheww it was time to put up the legs and pour a bottle of red.

(RACING ANTICS)

Racing was good, no stand out results came out of the 2017 season but the legs were consistent .  I had a run of top 10's and  top 5's but that elusive podium remained that "elusive". It's never a overnight take away but I've been glad with the overall progression over the last years. New training schemes, Nutrition, Mental practices have seen huge improvements not only in efficiency on the bike but in every day life. It has left me with a broader sense of what my body best responds to, be that for physical gains or mental clarity. Frankly I'm just much happier on and off the bike. If your interested in also resetting yourself back to optimal self, start following RESET4FREE. A online source where I will be providing tips to hack your health.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpmWW26VTXIrw4a9RNLJYkQ
https://www.facebook.com/resetforfree/

https://www.instagram.com/resetforfree/?hl=en

Belgium

Good,bad and down right fun, cant expect much else from Belgium.There was a close run at the podium in Zwijndrecht, 5th!! I found myself from the get go in a 10km three man breakaway, this was brought back but was soon countered by a 80km, 7 man break which I evidently found myself in. The break worked well to stay away and it came down to the line, no gas left in the tank and a string of counter attacks within the later stages of the race, resulted in me coming 5th in the final dash for the line. close but no cigar!!

(MID YEAR RUNAROUNDS)

Besides the bike front. I worked back at Lola bikes & coffee/ Tozto bike rentals. A nice side gig for extra cash and keeping the barista & bike mechanic skills on point.

Another mid year crash, left a string of on/off bike appearances the rest of the season. That extra time though left me free to rekindle with old passions such as music. I picked up the trusty guitar & got back to gigging. That unbelievable freedom of expression & incomparable ability to touch others through music, I truly missed. As Summer came and went, so did the gigs. So in the spirit of music, I jumped into the world of Electronica. This allowed me to spend the majority of time in Studio and out of the cold. I quickly set aside a goal to sign onto a label. There was the natural steep learning curve, hours spent in Studio and countless rejections but lo and behold there came that contract. Although only a single release on a compilation album, it was better than unreleased work taking up space on my laptop and in my head. I go under the name "Drawn Sands"  check it on Spotify.

https://open.spotify.com/artist/0QW3ralSvvQmi5FEHNmTes

https://www.instagram.com/drawnsands/

https://www.facebook.com/drawnsands/

Singer Songwriter "James Captain":

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCR6CjXNyfQ18yYY7V1cIVqg

https://www.facebook.com/jamescaptainmusic/

https://www.instagram.com/jamescaptainmusic/

Australia (again)

2 months: This trip really came out of the blue. Some news of a health crisis within the family, led me to fly back to Oz. It coincided well though with giving notice to the Lola company. This was mainly due to running my course there. I had enjoyed the experiences and friends made but it was time for a change. The business would grow 2 fold & I was ready for another business venture, something under more of my own terms.

Out for a hike with the brother

While swapping out the Europe Winter with the Steamy Australian Summer, I was able to fix issues within my body that had hindered my 2017 season. The pieces came back together & I was able to enjoy riding/hiking/swimming/running basically anything I felt like in the small piece of Paradise called "Cairns".

I have now just recently returned to Europe. I look forward to diving into the new racing season & new job at My Hotel Bikes,  In charge of keeping Den Haag & Rotterdam Hotelbikes in check.

The Bakfiets Fleet

https://myhotelbike.com/

 inJOlife, RESET4FREE, Drawn Sands, James Captain and now Dutch school. A FULL house but I'm living it up!!

Are you?

A BALANCE OF WORK AND PLAY

Stormy weather, perfect lets go fat biking

Wow long and behold I'm back, after a long hiatus it's time to get this blog up to speed. Truly a year of ups and downs but really what year isn't. After my last blog post, my season has been on rocky ground, From what was coming to be a great season with  the legs finding fine form, a spanner was soon thrown in the works and saw all that building come crumbling down. A heavy crash whilst racing left me unable to walk almost 3 weeks and off the bike for 6. I am only now finally getting back into racing almost 3 months down the track. It wasn't just a physical battle but really a huge mental battle. Why do i do this? do I want to be left in a wheelchair or better yet worse in the sky? over and over in my head reasons to just stop. So finding the motivation to get back on the bike was hard, making things worse was the timing, right in the main part of my season...

THE CRASH:

Placing me smack down on the cold tarmac. Krommeie crit just above Amsterdam. A fast and technical course only 1k in total with stones + speed bumps ( in the corners) this was going to be spicy. "Let's do this" off the front hard charging. Countered by a break of 6. Damn missed it!! Ok lets bridge the gap, another rider and I, jump from the pack. Coming hot into the corner. BANG my tyre explodes,  Ah shit there comes that speed bump at 45k a hour. Ah shit there comes the ground......

Yep that's me doped up on Morphine after getting flipped from my bike and landing straight on my head and hip. From the initial pain and look of my watermelon sized hip, it was initially thought that I had a broken hip. Though after further scans and 2 days at the hospital. I was cleared YYEWWW no broken bones just carted out on a wheel chair and told I had some  weeks of bed time to deal with. 

THE DOWNTIME:

Following the crash, I made my way back to Germany as I needed full-time care and that just wasn't available here in Holland. I am most grateful to have my girlfriend who put up with all the complaining and moaning, bloody bed sheets and stinky wounds, gee what a handful I was.Though sure enough over time I got better, 3 weeks in I was walking again and almost 2 months later I was back in the saddle. In this time I still tried to move as much as possible even be that a  10-minute walk around the block or some extremely slow tentative yoga. Coming from exercising every day to being bed ridden, any bit of movement was like a gift from the gods.  Anke and I did a road trip to Switzerland as an excuse to get me out of the house. That was bliss, huge mountains and just  fresh air, a shame I still couldn't ride though.

But I needed that time to just stop, get my state of mind right and take a look at where I was and what I was doing, to be grateful for the opportunity.  I mean really I live in Europe in my new home Den Haag such a beautiful, happening city. I race my bike all around Europe and over the past months have been working as a Barista at Lola bikes and coffee and Totzo Den Haag which has been a great side note to my cycling.

There has been a lot of new friends made, beer drunken, Concerts raved at and just all round good times.

Some sneaky alley cat racing:

THE COMEBACK

Once I was back on the bandwagon I returned to Holland to try sort out some things. Upon returning I resumed work at the cafe and made small steps back into training. As all eager cyclists do I returned to racing much too fast, lining up for a  UCI 180k road race, sure enough, I was blown out the back quick smart. Really I had lost all speed and lacked base work. It was time to go back to basics. After a few more small criteriums I took a 2-week trip going through Belgium to do a few Kermesse's and touch base with the coach along with some stealthy wild camping. The weather was just too good to pass up the chance to camp and in Europe you never know when your next sun dose will be.

Monster crit, keeping active up front

Beverwijk crit

Deinze Belgium

Da Fest Germany (Milky Chance)

Afterwards, it was straight on to Ludwigsburg, Germany. Being back in Ludwigsburg was a perfect setting to get those base k's in the legs, finding no struggle to hit the road for 3-4hrs. It was unfortunately too Anke and I last week before handing the keys over from our apartment, our lease was up. 2 years done and dusted phew that went fasssstt.. it will surely be missed. Nonetheless, we soaked in as much as possible, visiting our favourite eateries,bars,parks, exploring and catching up with friends,it was a nice farewell. A quick race in Belgium and I was back on the road to Holland.

Lommel Belgium

Here is a picture of me at my last race in Belgium Lommel, I was stuck between the break and the peloton. The late break of 4 went 80k in,  I hesitated but eventually jumped after another rider though we were about 50m apart and 2k or so off the break.  Edging closer after chasing for 10k I was red lining, time trialling is definitely not one of my traits, with just 20m to the group, the rider in front of me made it and then the 5 picked up the pace and left me flying solo, I just couldn't go up a gear anymore. 30k still till the finish I had a good gap on the peloton so I tried my luck at taking it to the end but eventually got caught with 10k to go, my lights were out. Rolled in for 33rd in the bunch and the other guy who made the gap went on to win..... cruel sport. Although upsetting, it was a good tester of form and I'm happy that the legs are finally getting some fire back in them.

Just as I was putting the final touches on this post. I had a day off from the cafe yesterday and it was beautiful weather so I drove to Belgium again after 2 weeks to race in Temse Velle. Found myself in a 100k breakaway, with BMC and Cibel boys. Of the original 15 man break we reduced it to 10 after several attacks, it was awfully exhausting as nobody wanted to work together. Coming down to the last 10k I was drawing my last cards keeping up with all the counter attacks till I just couldn't hold anymore. I lost contact coupled with another rider and rode in for 8th. So was a little redemption after my last race in Belgium but at the same time frustrating.

Temse Belgium, leading the break

Now with only 2 months left of the season, I am just trying to recoup my season which was lost and cram as much racing in as I can hoping to finish with some nice results. Summer is fast disappearing, its already cooling down and starting to rain more often, was a shame there was no real Summer this year :( but as I said its Europe so you never know..

As for what's on the cards next that is totally up in the air at the moment. Tag along and just enjoy the ride ;) Thanks to all of you for your support and reading. It can get lonesome out on the road and I do miss knowing what is happening with all my friends and followers so leave me a message or comment, so I can do some reading too :)

A down under paradise

2016 well albeit 3 months in, excuse my late reporting !! with another season and a smoking fresh new team.
This year I'll be flying the colors for a Dutch-based team Restore Cycling another top competition team. So I will be privileged to try rub elbows with some of the pros for another season, hoping to make more of an impact.

So after the highs and lows of 2015. I spent a peaceful 6 weeks off the bike, extended a bit due to my crash out of last season. It was great downtime to get in touch with my social life and just kick back and think of something other than cycling. Amongst some weeks touring around Europe, I made a quick impulse decision to come back to my homeland Australia to spend my Winter training.

 It was quality time spent with family & friends whilst also being able to get a good solid training base in with no distractions of snow, rain and the whatever else the European winter throws at you.  Back down under I was usually found on the local group rides, down at the track, In the gym or just kicking it with friends.  Off the grind was usually spent working back  at Active Health clubs, for a little pocket change for the coming season.

Upon arriving back in Europe it was and still is a headspin, barely gathering the time to take a breath.

here's an example of what my schedule has been over the past weeks:

Arrived: Munich, Germany 3days
- Ludwigsburg, Stuttgart 4 days
- Holland 1 night, medical for cycling license
- Stuttgart 2 days
- Mallorca, Spain Team training camp. 7 days
- Stuttgart 4 days
- Belgium: Vollezele race. 2 days
- Holland - 3 week
- Germany - 1 week

So life on and off the bike has been, let us call it "turbulent".

Let's review:

Australia = 🚴🌞 🌴

Next stop Mallorca, Spain. Cyclist Heaven. 7 days spent with the team exploring the vast island from its rocky climbs to its coastal flats. It was a great block of training to feel out the legs and the new team. Although I was carrying a sickness over that period there was definitely some quality rides put in.

Spain: 🌄 ☕

LET IT ROLL>
12/03/16: Ronde van Zuid Holland 170k classic.74th/180 riders. The weather was bliss although a bit nippy, the sun made up for it. This would be my first introduction into Dutch racing best known for its winds, I was quite luckily though that it wasn't in full force. Besides a few rookie positioning errors and dodging crashes and road furniture, it was basically smooth sailing, coming down to a Bunch sprint which unfortunately the legs couldn't turn on the afterburners for. This was where the small positioning errors turn big and came to bite me in the ass. This happens when you have used all those little efforts making better positions or holding on in the echelons when you could be sheltered in the pack. Though all in all not a bad first Dutch race ;)

19/03/16 Rotterdam Championships Criterium. It was a frustrating 2nd. The legs were in fine form but once again the head was in the clouds. I missed the early break, then set sail trying to bridge solo, Realising too much energy was being spent I opted to go back to the peloton in which seemed to be working well.This was till I was caught and then, basically no one or less than I could count on one hand, were willing to do anything. With the break almost a half lap ahead, this was STUPID... It was just time to put the hammer down and drive the front not really the best way to save energy but there's no need to save energy if your not going for the podium. Eventually, as the gap shrunk the pack came to their senses and worked together to catch all but one of the breakaway members within 2 laps to go. The lone survivor managed to hold for the win, I came in 2nd with my team mate trailing behind for 3rd.

26/03/16: Ronde van Bruinisse. 33rd/120 riders.

short/tight/aggressive crit racing Dutch style. With a bustling field  of 120 fighting for position on the small cobbled town streets of Bruinisse, it was Hell stupid of me arriving at the start line late and starting dead at the back. On a 1500m short course, there wasn't much room for overtaking so  I basically used over half the race getting anywhere near the front again. Coming into 5 laps to go I had finally gotten back near the front but the candles were already burnt. The final gallop to the line saw me falling short in the middle of the peloton. So some good feelings in the legs but a lot of tactical work to be done.

Next race on the cards will see me racing back in Germany at schwarzbräupreis zusmarshausen. This was a race I competed in last year but was of no success, so ill be hoping to get some revenge. So till next time thanks for reading, hope everyone is enjoying the new year and are out on there bikes :). 

I wonder what its like to ride with one wheel...

This would have been the high of the season, but it soon turned into the lowest. I was in the breakaway group with 100 meters to the finish, I opened up my sprint coming off 5th wheel moving on the far left into first position with 20m to the line. Then suddenly BAM, another rider swoops from the right getting his bike caught in my  front wheel causing all my spokes to break and sending me over the handlebars superman style, landing head first.

Before the race getting ready with the roommates. who would of know a couple hours later I would be making friends with the ground.

And that was that, the official ending of my 2015 season. Although very disappointing it could have been a heck of a lot worse. For one I'm alive, I have no major injuries and I only walked away with a dislocated shoulder and a few cuts and bruises. That might sound a bit rough but ask anyone in the cycling world and that's a walk in the park. So now that I'm hogged down to my bed recovering,  I thought why not make my time useful and recap the last part of my season. Although because I've racked up more than 53 races this season I won't bore you or myself writing about them all instead we'll just stick with the ones worth a mention.

Progression!! is the most important thing for me and I felt I achieved that this season.The year started slow, as the weather was cold and the numbers in the peloton were high (150-200 riders). I was constantly finishing top 40 but nothing special. Moving into mid-season I was hovering more in the top 30´s but it wouldn't be till late season where I really found my legs.

In the break at Meerbeke

 'Meerbeke' was where I finally made the break and stayed in it. On a tough hilly course, it took its toll and I suffered in the later part of the race to come across the line 26th. Though not such a great result, it did give me the much-needed belief that I belonged up front in the breaks. From that race onwards I found myself more frequently in the winning breakaways.

Final lap in Mere trying to get away

Next race was at 'Laarne' where the rain gods let rip on us, making the cobbled course that much more difficult. Though feeling strong, I came away 13th. Following the good form, I raced 2 days later in 'Mere'. Keeping in good position all day I launched my attack on the last lap with 5k to go. Though would later be caught near the line to come 16th.

Overmere in the 2nd breakaway group. 20th

The biggest turn of events would have been when my roommate had suggested after several races of me suffering from cramps and me having tried several things that maybe my seat height was a bit too low. I thought ill just raise it a little and see what happens, cant do any harm. Then suddenly 6th my best result of the season. 

'Oordgem' a circuit course with a 2k cobbled climb over the finish line. I'm glad I even made this race as my roommate and I nearly missed it. Getting lost with the directions and riding an extra 15k to what we thought  originally was only 20k away. We were dead last to sign on, rushing to pin our numbers on we were soon on our way. I guess I let the Adrenaline get the best of  me and launched an attack 10k into the race. 

It started with only 2 of us, but we  were soon joined by a third rider. We worked well together staying away for a few laps before being reeled in by a chasing group of 10. This was a strong group and within a few laps we had established a couple minutes over the peloton. At around the same time the skies opened up making it even tougher but it was just what I wanted to try wittle down our group further.

Trying our luck at a 2 man break.

Knowing we wouldn't be caught by the peloton anymore and with some strong sprinters in our group. I knew the cobbled uphill finish wasn't going to suit me and that my best chance would to be launch again or better yet follow someone else's attempt.

We had a gap driving along with only 10k to go. Later we were joined by another rider  with 5k to go. We came over the climb for the 2nd last time and to his credit the 3rd rider that had caught us attacked the finish line hill going on to solo win the race. Final lap,  the 2 of us were still away coming to the line  holding a  slight gap on the chasing group,  the gallop for the line started, but the long cobble drag seemed to go forever.

closer, closer then with meters to the line we were caught  Can see from the finish line photo above I was shattered in the back of the photo gasping for air coming in 6th. my breakaway partner just got pipped for 3rd (hard to see him between the blue and black kit riders.)

So back to the bike fit issue. It had been a long time since I had my last bike fit but to me it hadn't felt too bad so I just rolled with it. We would later discover that my seat height was too low 2,5cms to low which was causing my hip angles to close and prevented proper blood flow through my entire pedal stroke. I wish I had noticed earlier but for people reading please know if you invest in a bike then invest in a bike fit its worth it.

Having raced almost back to back over that month, especially that week were I had raced 4 races already, the body was getting battered. It was time for some much-needed rest. Along with the excuse of my birthday, I headed back to Germany for some nice downtime.

Upon returning to Belgium, I raced in 'Hulste' the day after arriving. Even though I was still quite tired I had a few digs at getting away but really there wasn't much in the legs and rolled in for 17th. The following day I raced again, but the result is not even worth mentioning.

After a couple days rest, I felt fresh to race in 'Masseman'. The weather as I had been growing accustomed to was grim, BIG storm grim.

Masseman what a slush of a day. 7th

It kicked off fast sending the peloton to bits. I, unfortunately, missed the early break though it was later brought back. I had gassed  myself though helping to crawl it back in and that's of course when the counter attack of 4 went in the last 20k which I stupidly missed. After sipping a few breaths of air, I managed to get in a second break group of 4 to chase the leaders to within 30 seconds. Though it was all little too late and we had to settle for contesting for 5th where I came 7th.

While in the mood of having my eyes sandpapered with dirt, let's carry on to the next race. Sometimes you might get what you call luck when it starts raining while in the race. The opposite end of that is when it starts raining while on the line, definitely a mood killer. That was my next race 'Houthulst'

Shredded to bits a day for the tough man but I guess I wasn't so tough coming in for 24th. Though definitely some mental toughness was gained.

And that brings me around full circle to where I am now as my last race was where I layed fuming angry on the ground.  Now I'm back  in Germany taking it easy, I will have the next few weeks off to heal and enjoy my off season break. So I hope you readers have enjoyed following me over the season, It sure has been a long one but great experiences were had none the less.

I would like to say a big thank you to my family,loved ones,my coach and to Steve and Bree for their continued support. Having the faith in me to pursue what I love, I hope to reward them with success. And to all of you for your words of encouragement.

So after all my blabbing about racing ill stop and just leave you with some photos from over the season.

Out on attack

Training with the roomies

Exploring Koln, Germany

Tight corner

Watching 'The Hives' with Anke and Jasmin

2nd time seeing my favorite band 'Incubus'

Rockavria, Munich,Germany

Up front, perspective of amount of riders

Dance D-Vision, Zottegem, Belgium

Roomies at electro festival

Tobia from hometown Cairns visiting me in Ludwigsburg, Germany

Touring

Watching the hockey match with Jonas