Potatoes

Well, that was a big week. I don't really know where to begin, it's been a pretty chaotic and up and down sort of week. I guess I'll start the day before leaving for Ireland; found a nice crack in my bike, not ideal. I managed to get a new frame that night which was lucky but what we had to do was strip the whole bike down and take all the componentry off it like the shifters, the derailleurs and cables and we were going to put all that stuff on to this new frame because this new frame had electronic gearing which means it has no cables to change gears, it's all electric so you push a little button to change gears and I ordered a bike at the beginning of the season with manual gearing cause it doesn't cost as much. So we stripped everything off both bikes and the next day (the day I was flying out) we started putting all my old stuff on to the new bike but as we were putting all my stuff on, we realised that the bike could old have the electronic gearing on it so we had to put everything back on again which was a bit frustrating. And we also realised that the frame was a little bit smaller in size. It was luckily still the same size length wise as my old bike but it was shorter vertically so the handle bars sat lower and there was more seat post sticking out of the frame which wasn't ideal but livable. 

So I wasn't off to the best of starts, I was just trying to get rid of all the bad luck early. And I think it worked cause it was all pretty smooth sailing from there. Got the train to the airport no worries and my flight was all good and got to the hotel in Ireland all geezy. I met all the staff and the riders that night at dinner and they were all good. Everyone was all chilled out and organised. With my teammates; I had really only met one of them before but I didn't really know anyone else. There was Luke Mudgway, (Mudgy) Nick Kergozou, (Kergy) Alex Frame (A Frame) and Marc Ryan (Dream).

Dream flew in from Italy the day before the race but everyone else had flown in from NZ the day before I got there so they were all pretty tired. The next day we all just chilled out and went for a cruisey as spin, I was a bit confused being back on the left hand side of the road but it came back to me fairly quick. That was about it really, we just chilled at the hotel after that cause everyone was pretty tired. But man! The hotel was awesome! It was a big flash 5 star hotel called the Dunboyne Castle. I was sharing a room with A Frame and we both had nice big double beds and this awesome TV that could connect to the internet so we just sat on Youtube all day pretty much. 

The next day we got to go into Dublin and have a wee look around. Once in Dublin, we hopped on a tour bus and had a gander at all the attractions in Ireland like the old churches and buildings which was pretty cool to see. It was also really nice to be in an English speaking country too. We finished the tour off at the famous Guinness Factory. It was mega busy in there but it was pretty cool the history behind it all. It's like Guinness is life in Ireland. It was cool to see the history behind it all and how it's made. The tour was made even better when we found out that at the end you get a complimentary Guinness at the top of the factory. It was pretty funny, they have a wall of celebrities that have visited and a picture of them drinking a Guinness and there's Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, The Queen then on the very far corner of the wall; Ian Jones. The Kiwis made it!

We got to the top and there was nearly a full 360 view of Dublin to look at while sipping back ye ol' Guinness. It was the first Guinness I'd ever had and what a way to have it. They served them in these cool looking pint glasses so Mudgy, Kergy and I washed them out and stuffed them into our jackets to take home. We made it back to the hotel with them but I'm gutted now cause I lost it! The day before the race we packed our bags and put them in one room cause we were coming back to the same hotel on the last day but I think I forgot to put it in my bag. Oh well, it still came in handy when I was hungry and had to eat muesli from it cause we had no bowls in our room. 

So yea, race day. I won't tell you the ins and outs of everyday otherwise this will become a bloody novel so I'll briefly sum up the days if I can remember them all.

Day 1: Confusing as hell. This stage was a 154,4 km and it was pretty up and down all day with rolling hills. There were so many attacks and always different people trying to get away. Eventually one big break got away after what felt like a million different attacks. But even after that break went, heaps more people kept riding away in really small groups. I got feed up and just attacked, bridged up to heap of different breaks and then we were joined by another group. I finished 28th, 4.57 mins down.

Day 2: Cold, wet and a little un-ideal ending. This stage was 137.2 km and it pissed with rain nearly all day and was pretty damn cold. Hailed a bit too. The final 25k was pretty sketchy. We were on a pretty narrow and rough road then there was quite a long and steepish hill. I managed to get over the top with the front guys and I tried to change into my bike chain ring for the downhill but my electronic gearing battery was starting to go flat and the first thing to stop working is the front derailleur so luckily I still had my back gears working. It was 10k to go from the top of the hill so I managed to keep in contact with the front guys but it sucked cause A Frame was up in the group too and he's a really good sprinter but I couldn't lead him out cause I couldn't change gears. He ended up coming 2nd behind fellow Kiwi, Aaron Gate who rides for an Irish team. I finised 20th and sat 22nd on GC

Day 3: Cold, wet and sketchy. This stage was 155.9 km and it started it off as an alright day but then it pissed with rain then it was nice then rain then nice then rain then a little hail then coming really really close to being part of a massive as crash then a little more rain and sun and then bunch time with A Frame claiming another 2nd place. I finished 28th and 19th on GC.

Day 4: Disappointing, windy and cool scenery. This stage was 155 km all the way along the coast. I was really disappointed with myself on this day because we were told that one of the teams were going to light it up in the cross wind at 25km in. But my mind seemed to be else where and when we hit the crosswind section I was too far back in the peloton and sure enough, one of the teams lit it up and the whole peloton split to pieces and I missed the front group. I finished 47th 8.31 min down and sat 30th overall. Gutted as.

Day 5: More rain, break and tailwind. This stage was 142.4 km and it was nearly all tail wind. I was pretty keen to get into the break after a disappointing day yesterday. One guy broke away in the cross tailwind section so I broke away too and bridged up to him. Then shortly after, we were joined by 15 other guys. A lot of the riders were high on GC and there were 4 guys from the very strong An Post team. There were a couple big teams that missed this split so everyone was really keen to ride super hard to stay away from the peloton. We started putting heaps of time into them and with about 25k to go I had a few digs to get away. I was hoping they would let me get away cause I was so far down on GC but it was pretty hard to get away. 3 guys managed to get away with 15k to go. I sat on the front trying to pull them back cause A Frame was in the break with me so I was trying bring everything back to try and get A Frame sussed for the sprint as he should normally win them. I sat on the front for 12 k and got no help from anyone. I couldn't quite pull them back but we were quite close. I lapped off with 3 k to go and A Frame drilled it on the front and managed to catch the very last guy of the break with a couple hundred meters before the line but the rest of the bunch sprinted over him at the end so he finished 10th. Aaron Gate, who was in that break at the end managed to win the stage again. I was just a bit off the back of the group and finished 16th and 16 seconds behind. That moved me back up to 15th on GC.

Day 6: Pretty chilled day until the end. This stage was 160.1 km and it was a pretty nice today. Me and A Frame pretty much chilled in the bunch all day until the final climb with 30km to go. There was a break up the road that stayed away. A Frame and I got over the climb with the front guys and finished 2.18 mins behind the break. I finished 23rd that stage and dropped down to 16th on GC.

Day 7: Warm but real average day. This stage was 142.4 km and I was trying really hard to get into the break but I think I tried a little too hard. It took 70km for the break to go which is a real long time. I was pretty knackered after trying to get in the break and with 7 days of racing in my legs. I then punctured which wasn't ideal but I managed to chase back on which was lucky because I punctured on the main climb and it was a cross wind all the way up it to it was pretty hard to chase back on and I had no team car to help me out because they were stuck in the convoy. I got back so all good. I just finished in the bunch in 38th place. The break stayed away so I went back a place to 17th on GC.

Day 8: Last day. This stage was 132.6 km and I was pretty tired. We wanted it to be a bunch sprint so we could get A Frame up for the win so I helped out by taking a few turns on the front near the end to try and real in the break. We had to do three 15k laps at the end that had a decent hill in it that was pretty hard. I managed to always stay in the front group and I helped A Frame get to the front with a couple hundred meters to go but 3 guys managed to stay away from the break by only 8 seconds. A Frame won the bunch kick and got 4th on the stage while I finished 25th and moved up a place to 16th in GC and 5th in U23 GC.

So all in all I really enjoyed my week in Ireland. Learnt a few things, met some cool people, saw some cool things and yea, really enjoyed. I'm gonna wrap this up quick cause it's long enough as it is. I'm off to France on Sunday for another race and yea. All jeezy.

I can't be bothered proof reading so hopefully everything makes sense and is spelt correctly.

Oh yea. If you look up on Youtube An Post Ras 2015 you can watch the highlights of each stage. I get a mention in there.

Thanks for reading

Nick 

Bout Bloody Time

Last week was alright aye. Not too much happened. I think I've fully recovered from my illness. I was doing a bit of panic training last week so I can be in shape for Ireland. I was doing over 100k rides pretty much every day and feeling really good and strong. It was bloody windy for the first few days of the week and on my 5 hour Tuesday ride it bucketed down with rain but we got blow dried shortly after. Riding in the exposed areas in the direct headwind I was struggling to do more than 25kph on a downhill. I was still feeling really motivated and really keen to keep riding though. On Wednesday I was invited to go to Zottegem and do a bunch ride with some of the Terra boys (the team I rode for last year). There's only one guy from last year riding for the team this year and also Ricky, my new roommate, is riding for them. It was windy as hell and there was constantly big black clouds rolling by so for the whole ride we were just riding to avoid the rain. At the very end of the ride, with 2k to go, it bucketed down again! Took us about 3 mins to get home from when it started raining and we were drenched. But ah well, it was nice to ride somewhere different and with some different people. Then yea, Thursday and Friday were just more big rides but this time under the fairly warm sun which was nice then Saturday Ricky and I grabbed a good old flat white in Roselare.
Then Sunday. Race day. My second kermesse of the season. I was really looking forward to it after getting 2nd at the last kermesse I did which was a few weeks ago. I had my tactics sussed and I trusted myself that my tactics would work. The break went pretty damn early, it doesn't often go this early. A group of guys rode off the front after about 12k and then a couple more guys attacked to try bridge across and then a couple more went but there was no reaction from the bunch. Normally someone would attack and then someone would jump on his wheel and then eventually the whole bunch would be on his wheel but no, not this time, they were just letting riders go. So I thought ok, I should probably bridge across cause there's some strong riders up there and no one's reacting back here so I bridged across. There was about 20 of us or so and we were all rolling through really well and riding pretty fast and that's basically how the entire race went. There were prems every lap that guys were sprinting for but I was like nope, I'm not gonna touch them cause I want to save my energy. Then yea, with about 8k to go, a rider that I hard marked to be pretty strong just casually rode off the front. I was kinda rolling through in the bunch and was at the front at the time and I turned around to see that I had a small gap on the bunch and everyone in there were just looking at each like you chase him, no you chase him, no YOU chase him. So I to kinda just casually rode off the front, caught up to the guy ahead and rode past him. He hopped on my wheel and then we turned a sharp corner and I turn around and he's not there anymore. Righto, I'll just do it myself then. Apparently after the race, Sean Joyce (who's a Kiwi and rode for Terra last year and was at the race and who's now the teammate of that guy) said that 'old mate' turned around when he was on my wheel and saw that the peloton was pretty close to catching us so he just gave up. Bet he's kicking himself now. So I just spent a lap and a half up the road by myself, picked up a prem with one lap to go and won the whole race pretty comfortably, had time to celebrate just before the finish. I was pretty stoked to finally win here, I knew it would happen soon enough. Happy that all the hard work and sacrifice is finally paying off and I reckon I could win a few more of these. So now I can tick one thing off my list and focus on my next goal.
So yea, really good week. Really looking forward to Ireland now as I think my form is looking alright. We'll see what happens there and I'll write my next blog when I get back on the 26th.

Bloody good
I'll leave a few pics below

Thanks for reading

Nick

Not My Week

Sorry for the late blog. I got home kinda late on Monday after our trip and I couldn't think of anything to write.
 So last week wasn't exactly the best week. I had my stomach virus last weekend and then a cold for the rest of the week. I just felt really drowsy and had a blocked nose and just felt plain old blah. I was only riding an hour each day because I really wanted to recover from this cold as soon as possible so I can gear up for Ireland and also have a good tour in France over the weekend. We left for France on Thursday morning and I was starting to come right but I wasn't really sure how I would go after not really riding my bike that much so I was planning on just riding the race and try finish it. After 7 hours of driving we finally made it. That night it started to piss with rain and it basically didn't stop. We had the first stage the next day and it was still raining and cold. I was still pretty eager and keen to race though despite everything. When we started my legs felt amazing. I thought maybe having a week of little riding did me some good so I thought stuff it, I'll go out on the attack. I managed to get in the break with 3 other guys on the wet and hilly course. Managed to pick up some KoM points as well. But after 80k, we got to the bottom of one of the climbs and the peloton had just caught us as well and my legs just turned to concrete. I felt knackered. My legs lost all power and everything in my body was tired and sore. I wasn't even close to being able to hang on to the bunch, they flew past me. I was riding by myself for a while and then a bunch of about 12 guys caught up to me. I rode with them or a while but up one of the climbs my legs had nothing in them and I couldn't hang on. A little further on there was a long downhill to the finish (but we still had 30km and 1 lap to go before we finished) and I froze going down there. I started getting the shakes. Our team car and camper van was just before the finish and I was like stuff this, I am so cold and tired and I doubt I will even make time cut. So I took the easy way out and called a quits, something I never like to do. But yea, who knows, if I had kept going I might have gotten more sick. I was pretty gutted to see that I would've made time cut because there was one guy who was behind me and he made time cut. So for the rest of the weekend I basically chilled with my Aussie mate who's in the team as he had some mechanical troubles on the first stage and didn't finish.
Onwards and upwards though. I feel a lot better now, still a slight runny nose but it's not bloked and I feel fresh. Had a good training today with 5 hours of hilly riding but man was it windy. Sometimes it was difficult to go faster than 20kph on the flat and it pissed with rain again.
Oh yea I also got a roommate on Monday. I'm back at the house I stayed at last year and I managed to get the double bed again booyah! It's quite funny seeing all the stuff we left from last year and even some stuff I left here my first year. Found some instant coffee that me and Zeno bought last year so I had a nice coffee this morning. Roommate is another Pom who's riding for Terra and he seems alright. It was nice to ride with someone today and someone just to yarn to.
So yea that's basically it from me. Gonna do a big training block this week and prepare for Ireland. Really looking forward to Ireland, hopefully it all goes well.

So yea

Thanks for reading

Nick