As the light fades on Philadelphia we climb into bed with nerves already brewing. Tomorrow is one of the biggest days of the US season an you sure can feel it.
The team has had a good week building up to tomorrow, with the Base Camp Criterium on Thursday before heading down country to Philadelphia yesterday.
The has also been some sensational kiwi style cooking going on, as we have often struggled to find the right nutrients at restraunts. So the barby has been cranking, as the boys enjoys some comforts of home.
Well time for shut eye with an early start tomorrow. Look forward to writing about the results soon.
Cheers
Guddy
A good feeling....
Tour of Somerville 2011 Podium
Hi,
Just a quick update from here in Denville, New Jersey. It has been a full on few days after leaving Boulder’s cool dry air and now riding in the heat and humidity of the east coast.
Though the journey has already been made worth while, when yesterday I got to raise my hand in the air as I crossed the finish line first in the Tour of Somerville Criterium.
It was a great feeling as two days earlier in the Hills of Somerset Road Race I rolled in third as another team had numbers in the final break and I was unable to control them. This did however give me some confidence that the last months training in Boulder had done some good, and my form was on the rise.
So two days later my Pure Black Racing team mates and I knew what we had to do, and as a team we couldn’t have done it any better. We had numbers in all the breakaways, and especially when it counted. With 4 guys in the break of 18, we rode to our strengths and that is attack!. While Shem Rodgers and Scott Lyttle kept the pace high and the peloton off our heels, James Williamson and I covered other potential threats and planned our attack.
After a series of attacks I managed to break free just over a kilometer from the finish, with enough gap to take my first win on US soil. It was made even more special as my fiancee Sarah had made the trip across the country to see it too.
We have another Criterium on Thursday before the weeks big goal on Sunday the Liberty Classic in Philadelphia.
I will be back again soon with a preview to that.
Thank you all for your continued support it has been amazing, after what has seemed at times a very long arduous road to get to this win. I am sure it won’t be the last.
Cheers
Tim
Hello all…
First of all welcome to my new site, it has been a work in progress over the past months but the revamp was well needed to fit my new adventure.
So I write to you from my new home away from home for 2011, Boulder Colorado. It’s currently about 5 degrees outside with some light rain, that could turn to snow any minute now. The whole of the Pure Black Racing team are based here for the 2011 American racing season, and we are already reaping the benefits of living at altitude (1640m).
We arrived in America at the end of March to start competing straight away in California, and very quickly made a name for ourselves. We raced aggressively and it paid off with Roman Van Uden picking up the teams first international win in the Redlands Classic stage race. The team has continued to be prominent over the last month in races such as Sonny King Criterium, Tour of Gila, and Joe Martin Stage Race.
For me May will be a month of solid training preparing for the next block of racing, starting with the Liberty Classic in Philadelphia in early June followed by the Tour de Beauce in Canada.
I will endeavor to keep the site updated with my latest adventures, and now you can also follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and YouTube. So please check in whenever you can.
I want to thank you all for your continued support and following, it is much appreciated.
Cheers
Tim
A pic of the boys amped after a win at Redlands....
Hi all,
Just a quick one as I am about to go get kitted up for stage two of Tour of Wellington.
Yesterday Pure Black Racing did exactly what it set out to achieve, and that was “let the legs to the talking”.
Just getting to the start line of the Tour of Wellington was a hard task for Pure Black Racing, but the team did not let this get to them and kept the focus on the racing.
So with James in yellow, me in 3rd, and Scotty in 6th, we go into stage to confident and with a race to defend. Admirals hill be tough but with a strong all round we hope to hold of all the pure climbers.
Will be back again soon…
Cheers
Tim
Hi all, I know it’s been a while since I last posted, and there’s no excuses for that. But I hope you will forgive me as I’ve been working on some exciting news for 2011.
I have just signed on with New Zealand’s newest pro team Pure Black Racing!
You can check it out here at http://www.pureblackracing.com/
Tonight I will be racing the NZ criterium champs for Kiwivelo, but from Jan 1 at the Tour of Vineyards I will be dressed in black.
Thanks for all the support.
Tim
Here’s a great piece of writing from a guy who tried, and lived the dream.
http://bicycling.com/blogs/thebreakaway/2010/11/18/as-hard-as-i-could/
Hope you enjoy it.
I’ll be back soon.
Cheers
Tim