The Christmas Special Hell Ride... WINNER!

Welcome to the blog of official 2006 Christmas Special Hell Ride winner, Tommy Nankervis!

What a proud day it was for me too, i am just ecstatic to have won my first Christmas Special, and i hope it is the first of many!

The winner's trophy; there is a lot of hard work behind this, but, it has all been worthwhile!

The week started with a few good training rides, and a descent day on Thursday in the 42 degree celsius heat! I am sure that if i didn't win, the big 200km Thursday in the heat would have been the excuse! That, or the fact my lead out man, Jez Hunt, decided he preferred the comfort of his bed over the wintery morning training (or should i say 'racing') ride!

The winner's flowers!

There were only about 40 people who braved the wet morning weather to do the Christmas Special, but it was good to see the bunch continued to grow as the ride (race) went along. As the finish drew nearer, it became obvious that Greg Henderson was going to be the man to beat, and the pressure was on for me to keep the title this side of the Tasman Sea! I had my lead out train of Anthony Smith, Dan Moore, Matty Wilson, and former title holder Leroy DeLuca do a fantastic job, and got me close enough to the finish to allow me to stay out of trouble and give the sprint of my life. Hendy pulled up alongside me early, and we drag raced for a long way, until i was able to pull clear for the win! I reckon it was the greatest day of my cycling career thus far (although i do have big ambitions)!

Hendy and I were jamming it to the line, and reached 69km/h in the kick, which is quick i think. I would just like to take this opportunity to thank my lead out team, my sponsors, all the riders who attended, and last but not least, my mate Luke, who told Hendy the finish line was the "60 sign" and not the big green one (100m later), as that may have helped out heaps i reckon!!!! Good job Lukey!

After the win, i rewarded myself with some pancakes and maple syrup!

So just to re-cap, little Pete came in third, T-Mobile's Greg Henderson was second, and i took the honours! Ha ha! Sorry Hendy, i just need to talk it up a bit!

Early morning training up the 1:20 climb, or Mountain Hwy, up to Sassafras. It is probably the most popular climb in Melbourne, and hundreds of people would ride up this climb each week. It is 7km long, with a constant gradient, which is great for training. Jez is the rider in the photo, and i had to zoom out, as he reckons his legs aren't ripped enough yet for a close up! In two or three weeks, we are going to put a leg comparison photo up for a reader poll!

Training on Thursday, on the way home from Sorrento. This is a great ride with beach views the whole time. We were also unlucky to have a really smoky day again, which made the views limited, like of the hills we are about to ride to. They are usually crystal clear from this spot, and it is really pretty, still, it looks nice!

Up on the hills in the picture from before. There are a heap of really nice looking houses, with great views out over the bay. Just to the left of the picture, a cliff drops down to the water, which, as well as providing great views, doubles as a cool place to do bombs off into the water!

My good mate Isaac headed off to India this week for a five week holiday, and you can see he is pretty excited about what is ahead of him!

Everything he is taking fits into this bag! I am looking forward to hearing some great stories of his trip.

Thankyou to all of the readers who left comments this week, i appreciate it! It is nice to know people have an interest in what is going on. If anyone has anything they want me to write about, just let me know - there is not a lot going on, so i am happy to write about anything really!

If people want to write in and tell me what they know of the history of the Christmas Special Hell Ride, and the past winners, we can try and create an "honour roll". Someone left a comment in the last post about there being only 27 winners or so in its history, however, i believe DeLuca has won a hand-full, so that really makes the club a bit more exclusive!

Anyway, i just want to wish everyone all the best for a very Merry Christmas, and i hope Santa Claus/Father Christmas visits everyone!

Merry Christmas... Laters...

Finally.....

... A WIN!
It was only a local Carnegie Caulfield Cycling Club, Glenvale criterium, but all the same, it was a win, and it was my first since i left for the States in February (not including my heat in Athens Twilight CompuTrainer)! I shouldn't really say 'only', as it is the best weekly criterium you will find in Australia, and every week of racing always brings a great field. I can probably talk it up, as there were a few World Champions, heaps of National Champions, and a ProTour rider in the field, and it was the hardest Glenvale i think i have done, so yeah... Wicked!





My last race in Priority Health gear, and i notched up a win! That's T-Mobile rider, and winner of Readding and Philly, Greg Henderson in second, and my Priority Health team-mate Richard England in third! I think i got lucky coming into the last corner - the dudes in front of me baulked coming around the corner, just as i was taking off up the inside, so i guess they lost their run, just as i was starting mine. I will still take it!

It was a seven man sprint, after we had lapped the field, then attacked the hell out of each other for the next twenty minutes, so i hope my form will continue to improve, and i can be going good for the Bay criterium series in the New Year!

This tradition started a couple of years ago, when i used to win all the time! Ha ha! I think the last shot i did like this i had thirteen fingers up (with Deano helping out)? Still wearing the best gloves in the world -TUFF!

It's a pretty common sight in Melbourne to see a heap of bikes stacked up outside a cafe, anywhere in the vacinity of Beach Road. Here is birthday boy Johnny Clarke getting ready to hit the "frog'n" after his birthday brekky today! Happy Birthday champ!

Johnny's SouthAustralia.com/AIS Bianchi, with the wicked-cool looking top tube paint job, complete with kangaroos in the desert sunset. The cutlery set in the background is not meant to be there, it is just where his bike happened to be when the photo was taken!

Jez and i stopped for our twenty seventh (we lost count after five - lucky i am riding for Jittery Joe's coffee in 2007), strong skinny latte of the morning, and i decided it was just the perfect photo opportunity to again show off how lucky we are to be training in Melbourne's summer! Sorry about carrying on, Teddy! This cafe is actually 'on' the beach, you can see the sand and water right there! I guess today was just the perfect day really, weather wise.

Jez and i have been doing a bit of training together, and we are both finding that we are becoming VERY fast! You should have seen the Hell Ride lead out on Saturday, i think i wound it up to about 70+ km/h - although each time we talk about it, it gets faster - it was so fast, only Jez could hold the wheel, and by the time he took over, it was too late for anyone to pass him!

This coming weekend is the 'Christmas Special', so everyone is encouraged to come down and try their best to claim the most prestigious Hell Ride of the year. Saturday morning is the "Big One" - in form riders include Hilton Clarke, Simon Clarke, Jez Hunt, possibly "The Bus" Wilksch if he can get up early enough, myself (obviously!), and watch for the early move from Johnny Clarke. I would probably put my money on Jez if i lead out, or me, if Jez leads out! Hopefully Hendy doesn't show up, cos he's really fast too! Also, if "Leroy" DeLuca makes an appearance again, he will be in with a shot.

For those who are more likely to opt for being spectators, we will arrive back into Black Rock at about 8.30 - possibly early this week with the honour at stake, and the chance of a much higher pace!

"Me and my bike!" Jez did an article in a European magazine, and had to pose with his bike, so we thought it would be a bit of fun to do a re-enactment! Comparing the two photos, you can see that i am clearly not the seasoned pro here! I am struggling to hold back a laugh, or cheesy grin, while Jez has the focussed, model-like pose! You can also see that my attire is not up to scratch, with my wind-vest puffed up, making me look fat, and my sleeves rolled up (i say to minimise tan-lines), but they should have been down for the photo! Also, my bike is on a funny angle (Tyrone!), and doesn't give the reader the chance to see the bike in all its glory.

This is what a seasoned pro looks like for a photo shoot ("seasoned" is a nice way of saying "old"!)! Jeremy Hunt rides for ProTour team Unibet.com and knows how to strike a pose! The former Great Britain National Champion will have a red hot go at all the classics this year, and if he continues his sprinting form, will probably be up for a win or two!

Clearly i have learnt from this experience, and what you will find, is that next time i have to pose for a ("me and my bike") photo, i will look the goods, and be ready to step it up to Jez's level! The thing that i find important though, is that i am more ripped and muscular than Jez, even though he claims to be the winner there, so if you don't mind, please begin a bit of a poll in the comments section saying who is more ripped!

Ok dudes, have a good one, and hopefully i get an update in before Christmas. Make sure y'all leave comments!

Laters dudes...

National Crit Title, Queensland, Phillip Island, Bushfires...

G'day y'all,

Again i am entering back into my slacking ways, but i have good reason... again! After the National Criterium Championship, I was staying in a place with no internet for a few days, and then was really busy when i returned to Melbourne. The criterium was very fast, and i think at one stage i managed to get my heart rate one beat below my threshold for about 30 seconds!
I did feel good though, and am happy with my form this early into my training for 2007. I ended up ninth, although the results didn't say so - i can assure you i was though!


Robbie McEwen knew who was the best wheel to follow... I did find that i was always in a good position, and even though i was hurting bad, i felt good. I think i am ready to try and win a Bay Crit or three! Hahaha, hopefully i can finish more than one this year!
Just sneaking into the edge of the photo, turn one of the two-turn championship circuit. Hot dog style circuits are very common in Australia, possibly because it makes road closures eaasier, and the crowd can see more of the race too.
Brisbane from the Storey Bridge... Pretty nice location for a city!
Coolum Beach on a somewhat wintery day, even though it was still almost 30 degrees celsius. Training on the Sunshine Coast is great, riding alongside beaches all day. After the Crit in Brisbane, i headed up North to stay with my good mate Chris at Alexandra Headland. I have been up there for the last five or six years i think. I love it up there, it is such a nice place, and the people all live a great lifestyle.

These canals are all over Queensland, and people have their houses backed, or fronted, right onto them. Most of them are able to dock their boats in their own backyard, and have their own jetty and all. Pretty snazzy!

This is the hill up to Chris's house, which comes up from the Alexandra Headlands beach. It is really steep, and just last week, a French tourist decided he wanted to ride down on his skateboard at 3 am. He must have been drunk or something, but he got super speed wobbles, crashed, and unfortunately died. It is just a short hill, maybe 150 metres maximum, but on the bike you can free-wheel to about 65km/h, to give you an idea of how steep it is!

Out of the blue i bumped into my good mate Matty while out training, and we rode and checked out one of Australia's most amazing beaches, Noosa. It really is quite stunning. I should also add that Matty is probably the greatest guy a person could ever meet.

Bli Bli Castle. Thought i should take a photo of this to remind everyone that "a man's home is his castle". Good movie!

A view of the ocean from the Southern side of Phillip Island, looking out to Seal Rocks. This is a very calm day for this side of the Island, and yet it still looks pretty wild! I don't think i would really want to go swimming down there! When i got back from Queensland, i headed down to Phillip Island to pick up my sister Lisa and her friend, who had been holidaying at our house down there. It was my first time down there in over a year and a half. I love Phillip Island, its just a pity i don't get to spend as much time down there as i would like.

I got to go for my first surf in two years on Thursday, and it was pretty evident i haven't lost any of my style! It was great to get out in the water again, and i really enjoyed having a surf, even though my arms were getting tired so quickly from the paddling!

Two days after my day trip to the Island, i was back there again, this time with my mates James, and Ryan, to see the V8's. There was a really cool street party on the Saturday night, which i was too tired to enjoy, but all the same, good to see the Phillip Island night life again. The V8 Supercars final round was held at the Phillip Island Grand Prix circuit, and it was nice to see them race for my first time. Here are the cars on the starting grid getting ready for action. We had a bike race on here once, and it was a really good circuit for the bikes too.

The bushfires have been ripping through country Victoria, and a good part of Australia for that matter. It is "bushfire season", and the droughts we have been having make for a pretty scary time here right now. Hopefully they can all be put out, or we get some rain or something. It is just so dry and windy, and that makes for a horrible combination when it comes to bushfires.

This is normally a really clear view on the way down to Phillip Island. The smoke from the fires nearly 200 km away has come all the way down to Phillip Island, as well as the Melbourne city, just to give you an idea of how bad the situation is right now. It also means for really bad air to breathe, and helps give ripper hay fever allergy symptoms!

In other news, my sister Lisa has just got her ENTER score back, and got 92.90, which is the ranking for the state or something. Its pretty confusing really, but basically it just means she is kick arse smart, and got a score she deserved after a year of very hard work.

On the training front, the K's are rolling over, and i am felling super strong and fast! It must be the hot weather or something... Check out what my mate Teddy has to train in over in the States! I am working on a few new things with my training at the minute, and i really don't think i have ever felt this strong or fast in a long time!

Anyway dudes, don't forget to write comments, and i hope y'all are well!

Laters dudes...