Archive for August, 2011
Didn't even know this pic had been taken
Here’s the link to the live tracker – should show my live power, heartrate, and speed.
http://ec2.tourofutah.com/tourtracker/
With a very tough two last days should be fun to watch.
Cheers
Tim
Part of Stage 2's final 3man breakaway
It has been an absolutely grueling start to the 2011 Tour of Utah, from the lung busting uphill prologue, to the searing in heat and relentless parcours of the first two road stages.
The elements here are play a big part in the race, it has 30+ everyday with no moisture in the air and 1500m of altitude. If it gets to you early in the day it can end your race, so hydration and generally conserving energy is important.
For me I have enjoyed my race so far, a little disappointed with the prologue as I held back little much early on predicting the thin air would catch me out though I finished a lot stronger than expected. Day 2 I rode in support of our GC man for this tour Chady, and was happy with my form on the climb being able to follow the pace set by the Columbian team leading the race for most of the stage. Then yesterday I had crack at my first breakaway of the tour, with 80km I attacked hard out of the bunch with 2 others and we established a lead of over 2min. It was always a long shot but a change in the wind in the last 30km ended our day making it too hard to hold of the peloton. Plus some serious cramp which was an even less pleasant surprise.
Though the Kiwi’s here have had been having some good success with Jack Bauer taking out yesterdays stage surprising the sprinters with a late attack, and one of PBR’s own Roman Van Uden picked up the sprint jersey claiming points out on the road.
Today it’s off to the race track, for a 15km TT before the road get really tough again this weekend with the queen stage on Sunday.
Back soon
Cheers
Tim
ToU Prolouge course, site of the 2002 Winter Olympics bobsled.
Me cooling off during stage 1
Would like to say a huge thanks to Brian at Veloimages.com for letting use these photos.
So here we are at the 2010 Tour of Utah, 6 months on from our arrival in USA for PBR it has been a real journey for all involved. There have been many good times, and some not so. Though the challenges that have been thrown at this fresh team so far this year have been what has shaped the team into such a strong unit.
This is and will be where the strength lies in PBR, “The Team”. That starts from the ground up, to all those back in NZ who believed in us, to the mechanics and soigners who work tirelessly, management in constant discussion with potential sponsors, and the riders who have bonded and grown together to form an impenetrable force on the road. It was never going to be an easy task, to pave a new path for New Zealand cycling but the belief and willingness from all involved has made it possible . Now the ship has been launched the only thing holding it back is it’s own momentum, and I can tell you this is like an avalanche there is no slowing down now.
The Tour of Utah presents a new step for PBR, it will be an exciting and challenge one that will test us all to our limits. For the younger members of the team it will be the first time they have ever lined up against competition like this, and to add the that it is also one of the toughest Tours in the world. Mountain stages at altitude! Not everyones cup of tea, there will be some soul searching and suffering for sure though it’s here we really find out what we are capable of.
Today we start with a lung busting 2.1km prologue in Park City, the host of the 2002 Winter Olympics. At 2100m of altitude the air is quite thin so just share power will not cut it, by 2minutes into the effort your body will nearly be out of oxygen, this is where that something extra comes in.
I have missed a few steps over last month but endeavor to catch up over the week, so I do hope you enjoy reading my updates. Follow me on here, twitter, facebook, and fickr to get the full insight.
When I manage to find my lungs again after the prologue I’ll fill you in.
Cheers
Tim