Well, I’ve healed enough to get back to competition. This might have seemed obvious to anyone who has followed some of my climbing lately, which has been for an approaching goal. But the crash in December didn’t just hurt me, it spooked me. Descending, and even just cornering has caused flutters of anxiety in the…
Last Friday marked the tenth anniversary of Marco Pantani’s death. Amidst the various commemorations, one of the interesting things to emerge was a trailer for a new feature length documentary on ‘Il Pirata’. Directed by James Erskine, Pantani: The Accidental Death of a Cyclist, looks good as cycling documentaries go: Seeing this made me think…
Thoughts on the Edge 510. The short version: Pros: Excellent satellite accuracy with GPS + GLONASS. Much improved data transfer rates. Cons: The touch screen is clumsy. Inferior virtual partner function compared to the 500. The LCD requires permanent back lighting for 500-level contrast. Caloric measurement is less accurate. Power calibration is slower to set…
766,000 people can’t be wrong! That was the crowd figure announced at the final presentation for the Tour Down Under, for the whole event. Of course that must include counting the same people twice or we are approaching a thirtieth of Australia’s population – just at a bike race. Let’s assume most people who went…
An amazing day for us on Willunga Hill today, though not quite the result we were hoping for. We got to Willunga early and strolled along the climb which would define the day’s racing. The views down the valley were pretty special: Local landowners had put in some effort too: By the time the breakaway…
Day two for us at the Tour Down Under began under grey skies, and with the hint of a cooler day. En route to the markets once again for our days supplies we came across one team’s stenciling efforts: Arriving in Unley forty minutes before the start we got to see a little more rider…
Greetings from the city of churches! We got in to Adelaide last night, having missed the first two stages of the TDU, but with a plan of action for seeing the best of the next four stages. After some inspired food shopping at the Adelaide markets this morning (last week’s heatwave has made for some…
Just back from watching the Nationals Road Race with Katrina, Benny and Simon. After surviving some weird google navigation failures, which saw us dodging cows on back roads, we made it out to the course: We spent most of the day on the Mt Buninyong climb and around the top of the course. Katrina and…
Following on from my previous post, I’ve learned a few things in the post-crash recovery phase of the past few weeks. This post has a wound photo, so if you don’t want to see that, scroll up from the bottom to the ‘Keeping Focus’ subheading. Healing Wounds Despite the fracture, the most aggravating physical issue…
After being forced off the bike with injury for the first time, the past couple of weeks have been a learning experience. I’ve learned how to manage the post-crash experience, from insurance issues to wound management, to keeping focus on a return to riding. If you ride hard, you’re going to hit the floor at…
Allez Alain 