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...