Dear Racing Kangaroos,

I would like to thank you for supplying me with my new Cervelo R3. I got mine late last Thursday and have done a few rides on it since. I raced a 40km handicap race on the weekend and the responsiveness and stiffness of the frame even compared to lest years model was incredible. I really loved how the front end of the bike in the headset felt a fair more noticeably stiffer then the previous years model. I Also love how nice and smooth the changes on the SRAM red system are and how comfortable the levers are for climbing.

Again Thank you for getting it to Inverell for me and a special thanks to the mechanic for putting it together,

Cheers
Blake :)

Bathurst Hill Climb and Criterium Championships

On the 9th and 10th of April an open was held in Bathurst. The Saturday contained the N.S.W Hill Climb championships in the morning followed by a criterium in the afternoon.

I warmed up for the hill climb and prepared with all the other riders. Each person went off and finally it came my time to start. About 2km into the race I dropped my chain causing it to jam and unfortunately ending my hopes of a top 15 finish as I had to pull out.

As the afternoons event came round I yet again prepared for another, very fast and hard race. The pace was on from the whistle and a lot of attacks and breaks went and formed. It wasn’t till the 4th lap in where Nathan Bradshaw and Aaron Alderton-Willmot causing the split which ended up in me being strung off the back of the bunch as I was sitting to far back in the bunch.

Sunday Morning come round and all Racing Kangaroos headed the 45km to Blayney for the beginning of the 70km B2B which begin at 10:00am. All the Racing Kangaroos U17m went off in wave 1 for what was going to be a very fast an aggressive B2B. About 40km into the race up the main climb of the day I got strung off the back loosing contact with the front bunch. A good chasing bunch formed bringing back many smaller bunch’s and good times on the main bunch.

Overall it was a fantastic weekend of racing and was really well organised. I learnt a lot about which factors I need to work in my racing. The team rode really smoothly and effectively especially for the first race of the season and I am looking forward to the next race with The Racing Kangaroos.

Bathurst Camp

The Sunday afternoon after the Bathurst Hill Climb weekend, a weeklong camp was held by cycling NSW. The camp involved many training rides, lectures and coverage on many important factors of cycling.

Each morning involved breakfast, followed by about 30 minutes of stretching and core work. We would then set out for our morning session of training which varied from strength edurance efforts, to time trial and interval training.

We learnt heaps during these, especially about wearing ample amount of clothing as many weren’t prepared for the Bathurst weather.

We would return for lunch at around 12 o’clock then prepare for the afternoons session which generally started about 2 o’clock. We would then head back home around 5 o’clock for showers and prepare for dinner at 6 o’clock.

Dinner was then followed by a lecture from the different coaches about things from riding in the wind, team tactics, the pathways through NSWIS and the AIS and talking in the media. Lectures usually finished around 8 – 8.30 which was then designated movie time. By this time though nearly all riders where well and truly ready for bed.

Overall the week was a fantastic experience and very eye opening towards the insight about a career as a pro cyclist. I felt very privileged to be able to attend the camp as I found it an incredibly valuable learning experience as well as motivating me hugely towards my cycling.