Sorry it has been so long since my last update, it has been an extremely busy summer and also some what successful too....
First of all was the Oceania Games. This went pretty well, I ended up with my first Oceania Medal winning myself a Bronze in the Madison along side Aaron Gate ( Picture below )
After the Madison I rode as part of a New Zealand team for a 4km Team Pursuit against the Elite Team Pursuit. We rode a 4.07 (4minutes 7seconds) while the Elite Boys rode a NZ Record of 3.58. 2-3years ago 4.07 would have been one of the fastest rides NZ has ever done, so it looks as though we are on the right track following the Elite Team Pursuit.
After Oceania's I headed over to New Caledonia to race in the 4 Day International Madison. I rode the Madison with my partner Aaron Gate, we have done a few Madison's together now! There was 3-4 race's a night, and the overall winners of the Madison would be determined from the main event of each night, a 100-140lap Madison of a bumpy, outdoor 333m track. After the 4 nights of racing Aaron and I finished up 2nd behind a swiss duo, and I was 2nd best rider overall from the 4 nights of racing.
New Caledonia Madison Podium - Night 2
After New Cali I was chosen to head to Melbourne for Revolution 6 and Australian Madison Nationals. Revolution 6 was a big night of racing on Hisense Velodrome, Melbourne with many top international riders invited to entertain a big crowd. They blacked out the velodrome, had the spot light on riders riding around, big flames for entertainment, was an awesome thing to be a part of! Our highlight of the night was beating Australia's top team in a flying Madison. The kiwi's there were Shane Archbold, Tom Scully, Aaron Gate and myself.
Melbourne Revolution
The following night we raced at another indoor velodrome in Melbourne for the Australian Madison Nationals against one of the best fields in Australia for a Madison ever. It included 5 Professional road cyclists and a number of current and previous world champions, as well as us Kiwi's. Aaron and I had no plan for the race, laps were taken by Cameron Meyer/Glenn O'Shea and also by James Langedyk/Sean Finning. Late in the race with 40 laps to go Aaron and I slipped off the front and no one chased us! So we put the hammer down and lapped the field which slotted us into 3rd place which we held and we were stoaked about!
Australian Madison Nationals - Dec 2009 - Bronze
After the trip to Australia I was home for Christmas and New Year and had a good time catching up with friends and family over this period... But don't worry I kept the training up over christmas!
Next post will be about the start of 2010....
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