Archive for the ‘Latest News’ Category
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
The team sporting their new red socks supporting the Sir Peter Blake Trust
Boys out training
Hi all,
So here we are again, on the eve of a travel day to our next race the Tour de Toona. Back to the east coast we go, now I’ll be honest and say I’m still struggling to come to terms with the size of this country. Europe is just so easy to get around, crossing countries in an hour flight, though here it takes all day just to get half way across the beast.
Tour de Beauce didn’t end quite as well as it started for us, but it was a good week and we were pleased with our performance as a team. Scotty Lyttle managed to secure the King of the Mountains which he had held all week, though we both faded in the GC the team showed how strong it can be when it has a jersey to defend and impressed a lot of other teams while doing so.
After our return from Beauce we all took a fairly easy week, as the return to altitude still took its toll. So we enjoyed some easy rides, swims in the creek as temperatures soared into the high 30′s, and some sensational bbq’s here at Beacon Court. Just quietly we also discovered you can buy Steinlager Pure here for less than you can in NZ, go figure…..
The last week I have probably put in some of the best training I’ve done all year, we have spent a fair bit of time up high in the mountains suffering on the thin air and done the shorter efforts required to attack this American racing.
All going well this will culminate in some good results over the next few weeks. Will keep you posted.
Cheers
Tim
Hi there,
Well once again I have the pleasure of writing about Pure Black Racing’s success. Today we pulled off something that doesn’t happen to often at this level of cycling, a 1, 2 from a big break away. My team mate Scott Lyttle took the line honors in Stage 1 of The Tour de Beauce and I rolled in just on his wheel for second. Can’t get much better than that.
The team in general was coming off a high from the Philadelphia Classic last week, the boys stepped up their game and took on some of the best in the world, though my day ended a little lower. Lining out the peloton on the last lap over Lemon Hill things were looking good for the finish as only 20 odd riders remained from the 200 starters. For me it wasn’t to be, after riding an almost perfect 259km of 260 hardly seeing a breathe of wind I was brought down in a big crash with 900m to go, along with my team mate Mike Northey. James Williamson however managed to avoid the carnage and finished an impressive 6th.
Initially I struggled with the disappointment, but the last couple of years have taught me how to deal with these situations a lot better. I processed the situation, found the positives that I could and moved on, and what better way than a mini break that I had already planned with my fiancee to New York. It was a first for both of us, and most of the time it was a great way to take my mind off things except when I tried to sit of lie down as I had done a fairly good job of skinning my bum and hips hitting the tarmac at 60kph.
So Tour de Beauce now becomes another challenge for Pure Black Racing, already a success but still a race to win. If there is one thing we do have in our favor that is our TEAM. You may have already noticed, and if not you will now this team is all about the team. We attack at any opportunity, but we have each others back all the time. It is amazing what a good atmosphere and a little self belief can do.
Will report again soon, thanks for reading.
Tim