Australia Day

Hey y'all,

I have re-entered my slack ways and haven't put out an update in a while, but here it is! Updates will be a bit more regular from now on, as i am about to head back to the States, and i will have more interesting things to talk about!

The two exciting things that have happened in the last weeks has been Australia Day, on the 26th, and my 24th birthday, on the 21st! I have now officially entered my mid-twenties, which is a bit of a concern for me, because now i sound old when i tell people my age! My birthday was on a Sunday, and it was a very lazy day for me, short ride in the morning, lounging around all day, watching telly, and then a dinner at home with the family. Not bad to just do nothing all day!
Here i am with my youngest brother Sean, with the birthday cake complete with the Melbourne Demons footballer cake decorations - every Nankervis birthday has the Dees football players on the cake, they take priority over the candles!
Dad, the ultimate handyman, has pulled up the floor in our family room, as we are about to get polished floor boards through the back room and hall way. I was a great help while all of this work was going on...!
With the Australian Open tennis championship finishing over the weekend, and watching the guru Roger Federer play, Sean and i thought we had better go and have a game. I thought it was going to be easy, after watching all the best players in the world, and how they do it, but man, i have no idea how they do it?! Sean was trash talking me all the way down to the St Pat's tennis club, telling me how i wasn't going to win a game, or point! What followed was an absolute white-wash, i won 6-0! Sean said i did to him what Federer did to Andy Roddick, but that couldn't be right, as he is Federer! I must say that i had the most fun and laughing playing tennis, that i have had in a long time! I guess i will play again next Australian Open...
Lisa and her friends have been making the most of their holidays, after completing high school. This is a typical lazy evening, bumming around watching movies. Actually, i am making that up, they have been busy as anything, going out, going away, working, and had just got back from being volunteers at a week-long camp, hence the early night!

As you can see, there has not a whole lot been happening for the moment! Actually, one thing that has happened, is all the boys have left for the year. I have lost my training partners, and now have to go it alone, well, for another week only. Matty, Jez and Cookie have left for the Unibet team presentation and training camp, while Hilton has gone to training camp, and Jonny has left for the Tour de Langkawi. I had a great Summer of training with the guys, and have continued to learn heaps from them all. I am definitely going to miss the fun training rides with Jez, who i did most of my training with. We had a ball. and really pushed each other in all of our sprint training, even though i won all the time! HAHA!!!!

On Sunday, Jonny took me out on his commando loop training ride, and man, if that's not one of the hardest training rides i have done in the hills, i don't know what is! I think we rode up every hill, and i was knackered by the end. No wonder he is so strong!

With all the training i have been doing, i have started to get ripped in the legs, so i took a photo of them and sent it to Todd. He then edited his head onto the photo, and sent it back to me!

Well that's all for now, and i plan on getting another update up before i head off next Wednesday. I am also selling my bike, so if anyone is interested, email me at the email you can find on the home page of my blog.

Laters...

New Years and Bay Crits...

Howdy y'all!

I have been back in my slacking ways, so there hasn't been much in the way of updates lately. I have been on the run a bit, and busy, so i haven't found the patience to sit down and load photos, and type.

The first thing that i should report on, is to let you know i got second in the New Years Eve special Hell Ride! I did a lead out for Hendy, just so he didn't have his confidence shattered before departing to Mallorca for the T-Mobile training camp.

Here is a picture of the Hell Ride as it heads off in the morning from Black Rock. The picture doesn't really show the bunch too well, but i did my best considering i was riding, and wanted to stay upright, as well as avoid looking like a tourist - i am not really the type who takes a lot of photos! The USA National criterium champion is showing off his colours here in the front of the picture, complete with his new Champion's Jersey!


Here is another shot of the Hell Ride, a bit clearer, but doesn't show how many riders there are on the ride. Hiltz is again hogging the photo, and trying to show off his jersey!


Cafe Racer is pretty much the most popular cafe for cyclists i have ever come across. This picture doesn't really show how many bikes are usually parked out the front of Racer, there are still a heap behind me. Every morning of the week there are hundreds of cyclists and other locals enjoying the great coffee here.

For the Jayco Bay Criterium Series, the Aussie Jittery Joe's riders, Trent Wilson, Jeff Hopkins, Cody Stevenson, and myself, joined Mark Renshaw (Credit Agricole) to ride for the Skilled composite team. We have one other Aussie in Jittery Joe's, Chris Jongewaard, who didn't race the Bay Crits.

The picture above was taken on Stage Three, the Geelong Waterfront crit, where we got on the front and brought back the break, in order to set our team leader Mark Renshaw up for the win. I am leading our Jittery Joe's sprinter Hop into the turn. If i must say so, i reckon we did a pretty good job on the front, and Hop was going like a machine! Unfortunately he crashed out after someone decided to take a dive in front of him - last year's winner of this stage, and my team mate of last year, Rich England. It was a bit of a bummer for Jeff, as he was riding into form, and ended up having to watch the rest of the series from the side lines with a badly sprained wrist.

I am pretty pumped about seeing the team line up like this over in the States this year. This was one of our first races together, and we are already getting it happening pretty well!
All our hard work to get our man, and series leader, up for the win was destroyed when Robbie McEwen stole the win from us! Mark, in the yellow jersey, came very close to rolling Robbie on the line, but second was enough to keep him in the lead on the GC. It would have been awesome if he had won, seeing as we were actually able to help him in this stage, and i must give a big thankyou to the great journalist for the Bay Series, Mal Sawford, who even gave me a mention in the race report for Stage Three...!

Mark beat Sun Tour winner Simon Gerrans in Stage Two, at Portarlington. This circuit is a killer, and i think only about eleven dudes made it around. The win saw Renshaw take the leader's jersey from Stage One winner Jonny Clarke. It was nice of Mark to do so in front of his team mates too, as we were all sitting back in the tent after our early exits from the stage!

Mark went on to win the Overall by a huge amount, and was never really threatened all week. It was nice to be part of a successful team this year, and to be able to ride with a ProTour rider too.

After the series was over, we donned the suits and headed out to the gala dinner, a Bay Crits' tradition. It is always funny to see all the guys we usually only see in lycra, dressing up in suits, and the best dressed was a hands down winner; Jeff Hopkins! He chose the three piece suit for the occasion. Above we are modelling our outfits while hanging off one of the metal statues in Swanston Street in the city. The statue is about to go to work, and wasn't impressed with our behaviour! I should add that while i may look like i was drinking here, i only had one light beer (Australian light beer) for the night, so don't get the idea that i am a party boy or anything!

Get a load of this! If you thought the previous photo showed Hop striking up a bit of a pose, then have a go at this one! Does anyone have a cigar for him? This shot was taken using the candlelight mode of the camera, and really accentuates the lighting and vibe of the place. The lense used was a ......... ! I have no idea actually. I can tell you though, i am looking forward to many more fun times as the year rolls on, and am really excited to be spending the year with my new team mates.

I will shoot out a new update in a few days of the National Road Race Championships held at Buninyong, but for now, get the comments happening!

Happy New Year everyone, even if i am two weeks late!

Laters...