New website

Hi all, it's time for an upgrade! I've been working on it for a while, but have put a lot of time into it the last few weeks and have finally got it up and running. Huge thanks to Gatey (Aaron Gate) for doing most of the work for me, appreciate it.

My blog will still be online, just won't be updated... The new website looks cooler, and is a lot more user friendly. Check it out!!

http://myronsimpson.com/

Aigle - Switzerland

Hi all, got a bit of time to spare while on training camp so thought I'd write a bit of an update! We have now been in Aigle for 8 days, and they have been full on from day one.

Aigle is the home of the UCI, International Cycling Union. They are the governing body that basically run cycling anywhere in the world. We are staying at Mon Sejour, they call it a hotel but I wouldn't go as far as saying that... There are a number of athletes that come from all over the world and are looking afterby the UCI. They train and race here, so I'd call it more of a sports hostel. We stay in small rooms with bunk beds, communal showers and bathrooms, but at the end of the day it has everything we need, and I'm not complaining! Breakfast is early, 6.45-8am. On the road training by 9am.

Our accommodation - Mon Sejour

We're on the 2nd level

View from front door on a nice afternoon

Aigle is surrounded by mountains, so we've been making the most of them. One of the climbs starts in Aigle, climbs up to Bois de Luan, is around 15km long at an average gradient of 9%, takes around an hour to climb. Perfect way to start a long ride... Every direction you look from our front door you can virtually climb a different hill. There is a 200m track at the UCI center which we have also been using once a week, along with some gym sessions a few times a week.

We've been training pretty hard, and doing not a lot else than training and recovering. Still getting my uni work done which is good. Another 9 days in Switzerland then back to Belgium for a bit of racing before heading to France to race Mi-Aout Bretagne, a 4 day tour on the West side of France.

Enjoying training and not having to worry about racing for once. But will be ready once we have to race again in France...

Cheers

A bit of R & R - Italia

Well after Tryptique, The Ras and Thuringen Rundfhart it was fair to say my body was ready for a bit of time to rest and recover... After Thuringen I had 8 days off the back, then jumped on a plane and flew to Fiorenzuola, Italy for the 6-Day Madison in Fiorenzuola. Coming off a break I have been doing a bit of learning, trying to get through the 6-days of racing with doing as little as possible, and its been good.

I haven't had any great results, but it's all about learning more about myself and madison racing. The most talked about event of the 6-days is the 100km Madison, which was on Thursday (night 4). 254 laps of a 397m track, unlike other track race's, all riders were allowed to grab bottles off someone in the middle of the track, and most took a gel or 2 during the race to keep energy levels up. It's fair to say I was probably equally mentally tired as I was physically at the end of that race! I am riding with an Italian rider, Piergiacomo Marcolina, who was called in to race late, the same day the 6-day started!

During madison

I've been happy with the week so far, always good to make some new mates and see a lot of the same faces from last year here. Following the 6-day, I'll have a few days to let the body recover again, and then off to Switzerland for a 3 and a half week training camp, back with the team again.

Ciao

Thuringen Rundfhart - Hump day

Well it's fair to say that the legs are a bit tired and aren't responding well to the hills here! Thankfully yesterday was "hump day", 4 days done and 3 to go...

Day 1 wasn't too bad, got to the finishing circuits, 3 laps of a 7km circuit, with a super steep 1km hill just after the finish line. I made it with the bunch until the hill, rode up it at my own pace, saving the legs for day 2 (the team time trial) and found a group of 6 riders.

Day 2 was a 22km Team Time Trial. A fast course with 2 short, sharp climbs which would hurt the legs! We were 2nd team off, and as we were driving to the race, it started to rain. It stopped about 40mins before we started, at the start/finish line. We started well, at the top of the 2nd hill, which was half way, the road was soaked... A big shower had just passed through before us. We crept through a S-Bend, left then right. The visor's in the aero helmets fogged up, spray off the road from the tyre in front of you. There was a lot of corners, which we lost a lot of time on. From when we rode, the wet roads dried out as the sun was out and there was a bit of wind. By the time Jayco-AIS rode, all the course, minus one descent was dry. Through the half way check-point, for us before the road was wet, we were only 6 seconds down on eventual winners, the Jayco Aussie boys. Sometimes things just don't go your way, and for us thats how it turned out.

Getting ready to warm up for TTT

Coming into 1km to go, 1km earlier and the road was wet...

Day 3 looked to be the easiest of the tour in the race manual book. 140km with one big climb about half way through the stage. Again my legs weren't good but I managed to get over the climb in the bunch, and started to sort out a bit of a lead out for Tom as we got nearer to the finish. With 5km to go there was a sharp left hander, I cooked it a bit, dived up the inside and hit the brakes a bit late. A German rider hit my back wheel, breaking a spoke. I had to stop and get a wheel change, then rolled into the finish a few minutes down. People say thats bike racing, but it was my fault and the next day before the race, I found the German rider and apologised, was no hard feelings. He also rode the Ras, where I talked to him on a few of the stages.

Sign on for day 4

Day 4 would be a tough day, with a big climb 30km into the race, and 3 big climbs in the last 35km of the race. Gatey is 3rd in the sprint jersey, and yesterday he picked up 2 points along the way which was good, slowly closing in on the leader of that jersey. I Got over the first climb, and then it was fairly easy until the last 3 climbs. We hit 108km, less than 35km to go, and the legs weren't good on the hill. Again I dropped back, riding my own pace, and found 5 other guys to ride with. 2 of the Jayco boys who had been riding the front for the yellow jersey, so I had someone to talk to. With less than 10km to go we caught a bigger bunch of around 15 riders, and us 20 riders rolled into the finish, 16mins 51seconds down. Live another day.

Groupetto day 4. I guessed we'd loose 16mins 50seconds, turns out we crossed the line 16mins 51second, thats why where are a few smiles on ours and the Aussie boys faces.

Today is an 11.7km uphill individual time trial, going to suffer but that seems like the norm this week!

Looking forward to my break next week... After today, 2 more days to see if we can get Gatey a few more points and possibly the jersey in the sprint jersey competition.

Sancho

Two wins in a fortnight

On Tuesday night me and Novie lined up for a fairly local race for us, Booischot Kermesse, around 10km from our house here in Belgium. It was my 3rd race since the Ras in Ireland, but to be honest I don't think my body had fully recovered, until this race in Booischot.

Was a 6pm start, a long time to wait around during the day, doing nothing.... 120km, 16 laps of 7.5km. A flat, fast course. Around 120-130 starters. Race started fast, nothing much managed to get away. I decided to sit near the back, if not last wheels sometimes (whoops) for the first 8 laps of the race. Saving the legs, doing as little work as possible. With 8 laps to go, a small group was away. Me and Novie moved to the front, I rode the front hard for about 500m. Strung out the group, thenalmost straight away, Novie went full gas, I followed, we pulled 1 big turn each, 2-up, and rode across about a 30second gap, in around 3km. We were hauling ass.... The group was about 7 riders, and they were surprised to see us there, out of no where! Unfortunately, they sat up and didn't want to work anymore. The bunch soon caught us.

It seemed nothing would stay away today, so I slowly drifted back through the bunch, saving the legs again. With 4 laps to go I started to move up again, I hadn't seen Novie for a while. He had a bit of bad luck. On a dodgy corner with cobbles, another rider lost their bottle. Novie had to dodge it, lost his line into the corner and ended up hitting the kerb on the exit of the corner and hit the deck. A few grazes on himself.

There was a few attacks getting near the end of the race, and just after we passed through the start/finish line with 2 lapsto go, a rider attacked, so I decided to follow. We quickly got a gap. I drilled it, swung off to let the other rider do a turn on the front, he was suffering a bit. To be honest he was slowing us down a bit, so I did majority of the work on the front. Probably 80%, sitting around 48-50kmh. 1 lap to go and we still had a gap, but behind us there was a group of 10 chasing, the bunch had split up big time.

1 lap to go, 2-up, about 10seconds to 10 chasers.

He asked me if we should wait for the chasing group, I said "nah f**k that, lets keep going" haha I was pretty keen. And confident I'd beat him in a 2-up sprint if it came down to it. A few km later and the group was about 5 seconds behind, so with 3-4km to go, we sat up and joined the chasing group of 10 riders. I sat on the back, for about 1km, recovered a bit, had a drink then got ready for the final 3km. There was a few attacks, but surprisingly not as many as I thought, and surprisingly my legs were still pretty good! With 1km to go, there was a right hander then a slight left hand bend all the way until the finish line. Out of the right hander, I was 3rd wheel. A rider attacked on the left side, I jumped across to his wheel. Left around 2-3 bike lengths, 500m to go and I was still in the same position. Waiting for the right time to jump past him, or jump onto a rider if they got the jump on me. 400m...... 300m..... I kicked, went past the front guy, finish line came into view, 200m.... still on the front, 150m.... I see a front wheel start to come on my left as I looked down, 100m..... I managed a slight kick again and put a bike length into 2nd place. 15m.... I threw my hands in the air, 2nd win in 2 weeks. Stoked.

Win in Booischot

Novie rolled in for 14th place. Next up we have have Thüringen Rundfahrt in Germany, a 7-day U23 Tour, one of the biggest U23 Race's in Europe each year, with the best U23 teams in the world. It's a bloody hard tour, with plenty of climbing. For us I think we'll have to target some stages, especially the Team Time Trial, and see how the week pans out!

Consists of:

- Stage 1 - 170km

- Stage 2 - 22km Team Time Trial

- Stage 3 - 143km

- Stage 4 - 142km

- Stage 5 - 11.7km Uphill Time Trial, eeeek...

- Stage 6 - 193km

- Stage 7 - 162km.

Sancho

An Post Ras - a quick rundown

I'll give a quick rundown of each stage, what happened and results. Might chuck a few pictures in there too. The Ras was an 8-day Tour, covering most of Ireland from Dublin down. 1247km, with rain, wind and even a bit of sun.

For reference, Dream = Marc Ryan, Gatey = Aaron Gate, Novie = Shane Archbold, Cam = Cam Karwowski

Stage 1 - Flat stage, all 5 of us were up the front with 10km to go, unfortunately race was stopped with 5km to go due to crash, basically it was a f**k up, Dream didn't see the front again after the race was started. We ended up being 1 man short for the sprint lead out, and Novie got 4th.

Stage 2 - Super windy day, Cam was in break, caught after main climb with 50km to go. Attacks went, I was in front group with Gatey, Novie rode across with yellow jersey in cross/head wind. with 30km to go, bunch was 22 riders, 5 riders attacked, including Novie and yellow jersey. Yellow got dropped, Novie gets 2nd in stage, moves into Yellow race leaders jersey. 2 riders from our group attacked in final km, I won bunch sprint for 7th.

Stage 3 - Break goes with Gatey in it, the rest of the boys can relax. Break stays away, Gatey gets 8th and moves into Under23 leaders jersey. Novie looses yellow to eventual tour winner, Gediminas Bagdonas. Me and Novie finished in 2nd group.

Stage 4 - Fairly cold, windy day. Over 3 hills, one category one climb. Race split on the climb, Novie and Gatey in front group. Bagdonas wins the bunch sprint over Novie. Me and Dream roll in groupetto, easy day for us.

Stage 5 - I was in front group of 6 riders, attacked the group with 3km to go and managed to hold on too win the stage by 4 seconds. (Big description of the stage below, in last post!)

Stage 6 - A big group went, with all of the top contenders. Gatey and Novie were in the front group, protecting Gatey's U23 Jersey, and Novie in the Points jersey, looking to take the lead over Bagdonas. But because Bagdonas was also in the yellow jersey, Novie wore the Sprint jersey most of the week, as he was 2nd rider in this competition (at the time). Novie finished 10th in uphill finish. I finished in big groupetto, I didn't have a general classification position to defend.

Stage 7 - Novie attacked with 7 other riders, at one stage getting 4 minutes on the peloton. An Post, the team of the yellow jersey, chased it down as Shane was now leader of the race (on the road, if the race was to stop when the lead group had 4mins, Novie would now be in the yellow jersey). I got set up for the sprint, getting 3rd in the front bunch, with one rider from the break away staying away. 4th place for me.

Stage 8 - The final day! We had to defend Gatey's U23 jersey, and also defend/extend Novie's lead in the Sprint jersey. We did just that, Novie got 2nd in the stage, that being his 3rd, 2nd place in a stage in the tour. We all finished in this front group, with Gatey successfully defending his jersey, and Novie securing his Sprint jersey.

So all in all a awesome week for us at the Ras. We won 2 jerseys, a stage, three 2nd places, two 4ths, and numerous top 10's!

Cheers to the BikeNZ support staff, couldn't have done it without you.

Next up - Thurigen Rundfhart U23 Tour in Germany, one of the biggest race's in Europe for U23 riders.

Cheers

Sancho

Solo victory! An Post Ras - Stage 5

Well, thought I'd update on some news while it's still fresh... I am currently riding the 8-Day An Post Ras Tour in Ireland, with the NZ track team. Has been a good week for the team so far, with a 4th, two 2nds, two 7ths and an 8th. Novie has spent everyday (apart from the first day) in a leaders jersey, and Aaron leads the U23 rider jersey for best young rider.

Stage 5, we didn't really have a race plan. Stay near the front and keep out of trouble. I did exactly that... Early on a break of 10 riders went, but a rider who was high up in the overall placings was in the break, so An Post, the team of the yellow jersey, rode hard and bought the break back. They were caught around 60km into the 156km stage. The pace slowed a bit, 2 riders attacked, 3 more attacked and I followed them. We got away, a 6 rider break.

We rolled well, with our lead getting up to 4mins at one points. The gap got down to around 2mins 30seconds, then 2mins. I thought we would definitely get caught. With 25km to go Lachlan Norris (Drapac) attacked at the top of the last climb, solo from our group. This gave us something to chase, meaning the bunch had to be working super hard to catch us. We caught him with around 5km to go, the bunch around 30seconds behind us.

The Rapha Condor rider attacked our group but we were onto him quickly. Lachlan Norris attacked again, I jumped across to him, he swung left, I went hard right in the right hand gutter, put my head down and I had a gap on the now 4 riders behind me. The bunch was 20seconds and closing... I had 3km to the finish, and plenty of gas left in the tank. The kilometers slowly but surely ticked down, 2km to go, I still had a 12second gap. 1km to go I had 10 seconds, 500m flag, 300m flag, and I knew I had the stage. I came around the final corner, 150m to the line, saw the finish line and threw my arms in the air. Soaked it up, the crowd was awesome for such a small town.

Solo win into Blarney

The bunch rolled in 4seconds behind me, probably 15kmh faster at the finish line, but it didn't matter! I was over the moon, first victory for me in 2011, first victory for the U23 Squad in Europe in 2011, (Gatey won the sprint Jersey in Tryptique Ardennes, but we didn't manage to get a stage win), and it was my biggest victory on the road for me to date.

The podium, 3 kiwi's in jerseys

Novie - Points Jersey

Gatey- U23 Leader

Me - Stage winner

We could also now finally have a shave! We made a deal, between us 4 boys, that we wouldn't shave until we won a race. To be honest, we all looked pretty filthy, none of us could grow a decent beard... Ha.

In our jerseys, facial hair before it came off...

So now we have 2 stages to go, Novie (Shane) is in the lead of the Points Classement Jersey, and Gatey (Aaron) is in the lead of the U23 Best Young Rider Jersey.

Thanks for reading, will update on the main points of the week, following the end of the race this Sunday.

I found some links to news articles on various websites, some video's and photo's.

Video on facebook of salute

Cyclingnews.com article

Irish News article

Irish Independent paper - video update as well!

Cheers

Myron

Tryptique Ardennes

Finally we got a good result! On the first of three days, Aaron made the front group of the 166km stage and managed to win the first "Rush" (intermediate) sprint and get 2nd in the second sprint on the stage, giving him 8 points, and the lead in the sprint jersey! I finished in the main bunch with Novie and Cam, about 3minutes down on the front group of around 28 riders.

Day 2 was a bit shorter, 127km with 6 Category 1 climbs, oh joy.... Early on, we had the job of riding the front, and not letting any groups get away before the first sprint on the road - at 20km. It was a fairly flat start to the stage, with a few rises, perfect for attacks... It was up to Wade Mangham and I to ride the front and keep the bunch together, while Cam and Novie would lead out Gatey for the intermediate sprint, to secure maximum points and extend his lead in the sprint jersey over the next rider which had 5 points. We were unsure if this rider would go for the sprint, as he was also in the KOM jersey.

We worked it perfectly, rode the front, didn't let any attacks get away, and it was up to Cam and Shane to take Gatey to the line for the sprint preme. With 300m we could see the flag for the sprint, and Novie jumped past us with Gatey on his wheel. Oddly enough, there was 2 lines on the road, which one was for the sprint preme? Shane won to the first line, and Gatey won to the second line.... Who got the points? Shane did. Turns out the actual line was the first one, so Novie got 5 points and Gatey 3, with the KOM jersey getting 3rd and 1 point. He sat on Gatey's wheel the last 5km but couldn't get over him. Main thing was, Gatey extended his lead in the Rush jersey. The rest of the stage went by, and I hung in there until the last climb of the day, and damn it was brutal! Less than 10km from the finish, roughly 2km long, with parts up around 15-20% steep! I rolled in around 5mins down on the front group, which contained Novie and Gatey was in the next group a few seconds back.

Shutting shit down on stage 2 - riding on front early on

Day 3 and we had a similar task, keep the bunch together, no attacks, but this time it was for 30km, and included a relatively long uphill drag. We finally got some shit weather, which was meant to arrive the day before but luckily for us, it didn't! The strategy was the same, for myself, Wade and Jason to close down attacks and keep the bunch together. We executed perfectly, all riding hard and working well together. For the last 10km before the sprint we were riding so hard and fast that the bunch decided to not attack us, and just let us do our job and ride the front.

Closing in on 300m to the sprint preme, which was at 31.5km, and Shane jumped past us, with Gatey on his wheel. Gatey won the sprint, Novie 2nd and again the KOM jersey 3rd. But for us it didn't matter, as Gatey was far enough ahead on points of the next rider that he had secured the jersey, a great feeling for myself and I'm sure the rest of the boys as well as the staff at the race. Knowing you have a job to do, and completing the task, feels awesome.

The rain continued to fall for another hour or so, before stopping, and then starting again! I had to put my rain jacket on just to keep me warm, as I was already soaked from the first 30km - there was no way I was going back to the car when I was riding the front, so had to just get wet! From here on in, my legs started to get more and more fatigued as the stage went on. The first 30km of the race really took its toll on my legs and by 70km I was riding in the convoy of team, just trying to hang in there. I then got a puncture and for me it was day over. I jumped in the van at the feed station and got warm again. Wade also joined me.

We drove to the finish line, and between Wade, Steve and myself we had a feeling that we may get a good result at the finish line... And we were right. 2 riders slipped off the front late in the race, they both ended up staying away, with 1 of them from Davo, stealing the show and taking yellow on the final stage! Next in was the bunch, and Novie stormed home to win the bunch uphill sprint, and get 3rd in the stage.

Gatey won the Rush (sprint) jersey, matched our kit in Black and White!

All in all it was a good and successful 3 days. We got a result, as well as some hard racing which we'll need as we head off to Ireland tomorrow for the 8-Day Ras tour, starting this Sunday.

Cheers for reading. Hopefully more to come of what happened in the Ardenness in Ireland....

Ardennes

Not toooo much has happened since our last race. Last weekend we spent 3 days training in the Ardennes, preparing for our 3 day tour this weekend - Tryptique Ardennes.

The tour starts tomorrow, and has plenty of climbs in it. Around us the terrain is rather flat, so was good to get down there and get some solid days in on the bike including plenty of hills! Personally I don't think I'll be up for a good result, but hopefully get through the 3 days with some good, hard racing in the legs, setting me up for the Ras in Ireland, then Thuringen Rundfahrt, 8 and 7 day tours.

I won't be updating during the race, as we are staying in a old Chateau, with bunk beds and terrible race food (put on by the race organisers), and most definitely no internet! Until then, catch ya later.

Frankfurt and Beveren races

Last Sunday we raced in Germany, the U23 race of the Pro Race Rund um den Finanzplatz Eschborn-Frankfurt. We had 140km, over a number of climbs, which before the race we didn't really know about.... We knew it had some climbs, but not as much as we raced over! The first big climb was 12km long, climbing up to 700m. Legs were alright up here, made it over in the bunch, but the climbs following were the ones that hurt me.

A number of shorter climbs and some bad positioning ended in me getting caught behind some guys and slowly watching the bunch ride away from me with around 60km to go. 1400m of climbing was a bit of a shock to the system! Gatey and Novie finished up in the front group, with Gatey getting 10th and Novie 28th. Both good results for the boys after a different build up coming off the Track Worlds in Holland.

On Wednesday we raced the Beveren Kermesse, the home town of Marc Ryan when he lives in Belgium. Dream won this race 2 years ago, and us boys were ready for a good result. It was 19laps of a fast 5km flat circuit. After 1 lap I followed a few Belgies as they attacked, and we slowly rode away from the bunch, a group of 8 of us. I was feeling pretty good, rolling through with them and keeping the pace up. The gap got out to 1 minute 15 seconds, with less than 40km to go. Then shortly after that, 4 guys literally came out of no where, riding across to the break in just over a lap. As soon as they hit our group, the pace went up a few kmh and it slowly got harder and harder, with 2 of the riders from the original break getting dropped.

With 4 laps to go, we could see the bunch only roughly 20 seconds behind, and some guys in the break were committed, and some weren't, making it difficult for the break to keep rolling. With 3 laps to go, one Belgie said to me "this is f***ing impossible, there's no way we'll stay away", I couldn't help but laugh... It was a funny moment. He said it as he was rolling over me, driving himself into the ground haha. 2 laps to go and the break were just behind, so I decided to attack the break, hoping 2-3 of the strong guys would follow and we might have another chance... Unfortunately for me it didn't happen like that! One guy slowly bought me back, I sat up and the bunch was only 5-10 seconds behind. I was Novie sitting about 6th wheel in the bunch, so as the bunch caught me, I put my head down again and drove them until they virtually caught the break, hopefully helping Novie.

My race and legs were over with around 7km to go, I rode to the start/finish line, put some clothes on and waited for the sprint on the next lap. I knew Novie was up the front, ready to get amongst it. 3 guys slipped off the front, he jumped across to them out of the last corner with just over 1km to go. As he caught them, he put his head down and decided to go straight past them with 500m to go and head for the line, as the bunch was also fast approaching. He drove it all the way to the line, only to be passed by 2 riders just before the finish, coming in for 3rd place. Our first podium in Europe this year, hopefully more to come!

Tomorrow we are off to the Ardennes for a 3 day training camp on some hills, preparing us for Tryptique Ardennais next weekend, a 3 day tour. Following Tryptique, we have 1 week until the 8-day An Post Ras tour starts in Ireland. Until then, happy mothers day for Sunday mum!

Cheers

Bever Kermesse

Yesterday me and Novie drove just over an hour with Stuey to a Kermesse on the other side of Gent. Super hot day, up over 25 degrees easy! 240 starters, quite possibly the best field of riders I have seen at a Kermesse in Belgium. 13 laps of a course just over 8km.

The organisers of the race were hopeless, race was delayed 15mins and no one knew which way we were even going... Haha. Novie and I rolled up to the line as it looked like everyone was there, we had 2mins to go and were on the front of the grid, perfect timing, by fluke... I followed a few riders, jumped in the first move of the race, got about 10 seconds but it got pulled back pretty quickly. Legs felt terrrrrrrrrible, so bad I was almost getting dropped on the uphill section of the course!

Slowly rode myself into the race, felt OK after about 80km and that was as good as the legs got... Was a pretty hard circuit, ended up doing over 600m of climbing in 116km, which in Belgium for a Kermesse is quite a lot! There was a group of around 14 riders that was away, but got pulled back with just over a lap to go. Then it seemed 4 riders attacked as soon as the other group went back into the peloton. With 1 lap to go Novie was about 30 wheels in front of me, so I put myself into the position to help him, and rode hard up the side of the bunch and went straight past him and to the front. I sat 3rd wheel for about 4km of the last lap, slowly getting closer to the front group of 4.

We raced up a hill, there was a right hander with about 3km to go and up the hill Novie was on my wheel, but still around 20-30 seconds down on the front group! A few riders came around me, I jumped and hit the corner about 4th wheel and rolled out of it and passed the riders in front of me. I knew it was roughly 2km until the finish, and I didn't want to go to early, but no one else committed to pulling the group back, nor did they commit to take the lead of the race for their sprinter. Novie was sitting on me, telling me what to do. Ease, pick it up a bit, move right, full gas up the next rise, etc etc. I rode the front for the last 2km, trying not to go too hard then I went about 90% up a rise, 1km from the finish. After this I ramped it up a bit more then opened the throttle and went full gas with about 600m to go.

I took Novie until about 150m to go, where there was an S-bend before rolling over the finish line. Unfortunately we were about 5 seconds off the front 4, but Novie finished it off, winning the bunch sprint coming in 5th place. I was happy to help Novie and do what seemed to be a good strong lead out, delivering him nicely to the line, not bad for 2 riders amongst 240 others!

Had a good day on the bike today, 202km, officially my longest training ride I've ever done! Jumped in a bunch for roughly 90km, 60 odd km before the bunch and 50 after, pretty happy with it! Tomorrow we're off to Leuven to meet Cycling Photographer legend Graham Watson to take some snaps of the team. Looking forward to that!

Loving summer, hope NZ isn't getting too cold....

Sancho

ZLM

An hour drive up to the start of the race in Holland, arrived at 11am with the race start at 12.30pm. We had 5 starters, Aaron Gate, Tom David, Shane Archbold, Cam Karwowski and myself. We had 6 starts but the other rider decided not to race the morning of the race. Novie (Shane) had done this race 2 years ago, and after 60km there was 4-5 groups on the road and it was bloody windy. On Saturday, we were flippin lucky and there was virtually no wind.... Websites predicted 2mph, and on the start line there was sweet f all!

It seemed to be the smallest of the 3 nations cups so far, with Italy not even starting a team. The route was 180km, went through a number of small bike paths, over a 2km cobble/pave section, over a 3km bridge onto arandom island, and back over a 5km bridge, heaps of open and exposed sections, a pretty interesting course. Again I say it, these have been the dodgiest race's I've ever done, seems as everyone is nervous and on edge! Make's for a lot of heavy breaking in the peloton, pile ups, crashes, and plenty of abuse... So much so, there was a crash in the neutral section!

For the other nations cups I knew there was hills, cobbles, crosswinds that I had to be at the front for. With no wind and a super fast course, it seemed like nothing was going to stay away and I was relatively safe sitting at the back of the group, out of the chaos in the peloton. Over the first bridge across a big section of water, it was a cross wind, left to right, and surely enough it ended up in the gutter! 150 riders, single file... If one rider can't hold the wheel, could mean a huge split in the group, and race over for a number of riders! This did happen, but the bridge and crosswind section wasn't long enough for the split to be anymore than 5seconds. I sat pretty comfortably behind a rider who wasn't so good at riding in the gutter, giving me plenty of draft which meant I could save the legs a bit compared to those riders riding out in the wind making it hard for themselves!

Throughout the race not too much happened, there were some short sections where some teams tried to put it in the gutter but nothing much happened because there wasn't enough wind. The race was to finish with two virtually square 10km circuits, and when we hit the circuits it was still a bunch of 110 riders. We had all 5 guys there, and leader on the road was Novie with me 2nd in charge. With around 50km to go, Novie went back to the car to get some bottles and have a chat to Stu. He came back to me and said the roles had reversed as he wasn't feeling super (it was his first big race after coming off his Silver medal at the Track World Champs in the Omnium in Holland 3 weeks ago, pretty quick turn around!).

Leading into the finishing circuits I sat on Novie to get near the front, as we knew with 160km in the legs and a bit of crosswind, the front group could get much smaller. We rolled through the finish line with 20km to go, just 2 of the finishing circuits. The race turned right and into a cross wind. Slovenia and France were on the front of the bunch driving it, trying to split the bunch, and thats just what happened! With 15km to go, Novie put himself in the wind for around 1.5km and rode as hard as he could to move up the bunch, as we saw it splitting in front of us. He rode past 30-40 riders, bloody impressive! In front of him was a gap of 20-30meters, and he had just done a huge turn, with some quick thinking, he put his hand out behind him, grabbed me and slung me across the gap, I motored across, hardly having to pedal! Novie had a go to try and get onto the 40 odd riders in front of him but I was virtually the last rider to make the front group, with 15km to go.

I sat in the front group for the next 10km, legs feeling good and with a bit of research before the race, I knew who to follow if it came down to a bunch sprint, which it was going too..... Everyone was a bit twitchy in the last 5km, fighting for wheels, following their team mates, knowing the finish is only a few turns away... I was the sole Kiwi in the front group of around 40 riders, thanks to Novie I got there relatively fresh. With 2km to go, some dickhead in front of me must have overlapped the wheel or something, and decided to eat shit and taste the tarmac... Unfortunately for me, I had no where to go and went into the back of 6-8 riders, straight over the top. Not going to lie, I was pretty fu**ed off... Another crash. I landed on a rider so had no damage to me, but my chance at my first big result of the season was over...

Bottom 10cm of bar, gone.....

Got up off the ground, put my chain on, but by this time the bunch was well gone! I cruised into the finish in 48th, just over a minute down, with a broken handle bar - note to self, don't run carbon handle bars. Luke Rowe from Great Britain won the race, he won it 2 years ago and was one of the guys I would have been following in the last km.... Ah well, thats bike racing. Hopefully I'll get some luck my way soon, as I know the legs are coming along alright after 3 solid races in the space of 7 days.

This week I'm back into the training after a few easy days following ZLM. Kermesse tomorrow which I'll try get amongst, and off to Gent next week for a 3 day block on the track.

Lastly gotta say how mint the weather in Belg has been, clear blue skies, easily up to 25degrees today. Seems Spring is better than Summer! Loving training in it, even better racing in the warmth.

Ciao,

Sancho

U23 Tour of Flanders & Cote Picardie

Leading up to the race I was pretty happy, training was good. Did close to 6hours on Wednesday, 2 easier days then the race was on Saturday! Weather was mint, sunny and a bit of wind... 22-23degrees, couldn't ask for more at this time of the year! We woke up early on Saturday, drove 1.5hours to Oudenaarde which is where the race started and finished.

Race start was 12.30pm, we met other team mates Tom David and Wade Manhgam at the race, along with myself, Jason Christie, Cameron Karwowski and Tom Findlay. Chris (our mechanic) had built us up some awesome wheels, 32spoke Mavic Reflex with Ultegra hubs.... Bullet proof. We had 17 climbs, 7 cobble sections and 3 cobbled climbs. Most normal wheels wouldn't be able to withstand the big cobbles in Belgium we were about to race over! In saying that, we missed the worst of the cobbles and the cobbled climbs that the Pro's raced over the weekend before!

The Molenberg, one of many hills in the race.

Race started, right from the go it was dodgy. Everyone was very twitchy, eager and wanting to be at the front. Before the first cobble at 11km, there was a huge stack! We knew where the 1st section was, I was 2nd rider into the cobbles behind an Italian.

First cobble section, 3km long, 1 Italian in front and 4 behind me!

Throughout the race I was happy with my positioning. Was first in the bunch up a number of the climbs. A group of 6 riders were off the front, but theynever got more than 2 and a half minutes. At 105km there was a feed station, flat, fast, 40-45kmh.

The Eikenberg

A stupid Mexican rider grabbed his feed bag and put it through his own front wheel, taking me and him down! I was pretty pissed off... I hit the deck hard, landed on my hip and had graze's on my hip, elbow and hand.

I said a few words to the Mexican, put my bike on top of the car and went to the finishing circuits to get cleaned up. Race over, but shit happens... Tom David and Tom Findlay rode well, with Tom David coming in 12th, andFindlay around 30th. It was a hard day out for all but it seemed we all enjoyed the experience and learnt a lot.

Had a few nightswhere sleep wasa bit difficult, a few days for the body to recover and prepare for the next Nations Cup race in France - La Cote Picardie. Drove 4hours to the region, North West of France on Tuesday. Arrived mid afternoon, got on our bikes and rode 2 laps of the finishing circuits. Was a pretty hard wee circuit, 2x 1.5km climbs with a couple of open/exposed flat sections. We stayed in a nice little French motel about 8km from the finishing circuits. Typical French dinner, baguette's, soup, then rice, pasta, a bit of tomato sauce and a small piece of steak.

The race went very close to the coast in some sections

Up the next morning for brekky, baguette with ham and cheese, muesli with fruit and yoghurt - tops. Drove anhour to the start of the race, pretty fresh day which never really warmed up! We had about 140k with a few short climbs, plenty of flat, open exposed roads and through heaps of little French Towns.

Course Route

The race rolled out at 12.45, and was scheduled for around 4hours 15mins to do the 176km race. We knew the wind direction and where some important crosswind sections in the race that could blow the race apart, and it happened sooner than we thought!

After 30mins of racing it was a dirty cross wind and everyone was in the right handgutter... Just as it was happening I jumped behind a big Latvian who took meclose to the front 40 riders, good timing! In front of me was around 30 riders in an echelon, then we started another echelon with 20 or so riders and dropped more than halfof the bunch behind us, and rode across to the front group... I almost thought it was race over to be honest! Only Tom Findlay and me were in the front group, we had roughly 20-30seconds on the 2nd half of the bunch behind us and it wasn't coming down... For a while I thought our group would stay away for whole race but after about 10km and 3-4 echelons on the road the bunch was back together again.

The bunch together

The wind for the rest of the race unfortunately wasn't strong enough to break up the bunch again. Around the 70km mark there was due to be some crosswinds, Cam, Tom Findlay, Wade and myself were all on the front and started rolling and putting it in the gutter, (wish we had some more pictures but can't find any!) but the wind wasn't strong enough and turned into a bit of a head cross wind. We rolled for about 10km but decided not much was happening and it was a bit of a waste of energy...

Just before we rolled the front.

Throughout the race there were plenty of crashes, I don't know what it is about these nations cups but they are some of the dodgiest races I've ever done!

Trying to stay at the front, fighting for position.

Quite possibly the dodgiest moment was when Tom Findlay, my own team mate, locked up, his back wheel came about 15cm off the ground and I veered off into the grass for about 200m trying to hold it up! Haha lucky he didn't take me down, my superior bike handling skills saved the day (not like at Flanders... eeek).

A group was away for most of the race but like in Flanders they never got anymore than 2-3minutes. As we got closer to the finishing circuits I tried to help a few of the other boys where I could. Realistically at the moment, coming off my broken collarbone a few months ago, I don't think I would make the front group at the end of 176km with 4 climbs in the last 35km, so when Wade and Tom Findlay asked me to take them to the front, I was more than happy to ride out in the wind for 1-2km to get them to the front, as cycling is as much a team sport as an individual sport. We know Findlay has good form at the moment, and always feel good to be part of a team that gets a good result.

We hit the finishing circuits, 2x18km laps in a bunch of around 130 riders. Down the finishing straight, a right hander and into a 1.5km hill. By this point my legs were pretty fatigued, and slowly got dropped up the hill and formed a group of around 10 riders to ride the last 30km with. I wanted to just finish the race so I could get some warm clothes on, felt like it dropped 3-5degrees in the last hour! Was around 11 degrees at the finish line... Brrr.

Sounds like the group got smaller on the last 2 laps, down to 50 riders, and the French rode the front for the last 5km and delivered one of their boys to the line to take the win on home soil, always nice. Findlay finished in the front group at 28th, with Tom David also in the front group rolling over the line in 45th. I finished in a small group around 12minutes down. To be honest I was happy to not crash, and actually finish a hard race and get the km's in the legs!

Next up is the next U23 Nations Cup, ZLM in Holland this Saturday. And after that will be a few easier days to let the body recover and get going again leading into some tours in May.

Sancho

First race down

Well first race in Belgium for us yesterday, a 111km Kermesse in Otergem. Was about an hours drive away, but the only race on that day and we need some racing in our legs before the U23 Nations Cups start next week - first one is U23 Tour of Flanders on Saturday 9th April (6 days).

Always a bit nervous for your first race of the season, a bit unsure how race form is and how you'll get through the race! There was 267 starters, the sun was out and there was a bit of wind. Pace was on from the start, 19 laps, around 6km a lap, 3 short hills - 1 cobbled, and a bit of crosswind. Long story short, the break went, Cam ended up in the 2nd group and I was in the main bunch which was behind Cam. Happy to get through the first race, the last 2 years in Belgium I haven't finished my first 2-3 races so I'm in a better place than 09' and 10'. I'm lighter, stronger, eating better and training better.

I'm looking forward to the season here, starting with our first big race, U23 Tour of Flanders. 170km over a number of cobbled climbs and a lot of the same course as the ProTour, Tour of Flanders which was on today, we watched it on TV, was an awesome race! Looking forward to it, learning and hopefully coming off the Nations Cups with some good race legs.

Course profile for U23 Flanders, 17 climbs eeek

Ciao

Europe 2011

Last week was super busy, trying to sort out new team bikes, time trial bike, visiting the doctor, chiropractor, massage therapist, photo shoots, packing, and a bit of time in the saddle too! Why so busy? Because I was leaving for Europe on Friday night. Seems I always manage to leave things until the last minute.....

The trip over wasn't too bad at all, AirNZ is always a treat to fly with, and both my bike boxes and my suit case arrived to Brussells when I did, so can't complain... The weather so far has been unreal, clear blue skies during the day, just a mild 2-3 degrees in the morning, takes a while for the day to warm up but its good once it does! Seems like Spring is almost better than Summer. Have settled into the house now, still waking up at weird hours of the morning.

Well into the training now, 3.5hours today and yesterday. First race is this Sunday, back into the Kermesse racing! Not expecting too much at all, should be interesting after the last race I did was Tour of Wellington where I crashed after stage 2 and broke my collarbone...

Looking forward to a good year. Will keep ya posted on the happenings throughout the 6 months we are in Europe.

Cheers

Myron

Road to recovery - Erg and Rocktape

Hey all, my apologies for being so undercover for a while, January was relatively quiet until I broke my collarbone at the Tour of Wellington. Since then I've been waiting, doing rehab, setting up a brace to ride the erg, and plenty of time on the erg!

Fortunately for me the break was no where near as bad as the last time I broke my collarbone. I fell on the left shoulder, (same side as Cape Town 2008) and the collarbone clean broke right next to where it broke last time. I had 10 days off the bike, started slowly on the erg with a harness, 2x a day.

Material sewn up, attached to bike tube. Success

I have Guddy (Tim Gudsell) to thank for this idea. Cheers Guddy

Through my twitter and facebook account, Tony from Rocktape got in touch with me to use their product to support my shoulder. I have used it before at the Melbourne World Cup, it worked well there and I was straight away keen to use it for my collarbone! We got talking, and now Rocktape is my newest sponsor, helping my recovery with my broken collarbone. Rocktape is great for heaps of different injuries, can be used to enhance performance by increasing bloodflow in the muscles! Huge thanks to Tony Stahl at Rocktape, check them out at www.rocktape.com.au .

Press release announcing our new partnership - http://rocktape.com.au/rocktape-welcomes-new-zealand-track-cyclist-myron-simpson/

So now, I don't have to use the harness, the Rocktape supports my shoulder while on the erg, and I have an appointment with the doctor this Thursday to hopefully get the all clear to go on the road! I've been pretty positive about it all, these things happen for a reason, whether we know it or not, and I have a good feeling I'm going to be back on the road by the end of the week.

Stabilisation strip around shoulder, decompression strip over collarbone

Whats next for me? Not 100% sure, going to see how the collarbone is, then go from there. All I know is that I WILL be going to Europe at end of March for a big season on the road...

Will update soon. Cheers