Mid way through the climb...
the view from the top....
Swiss border..
The photo above was at the start of the climbs...............
Monday, July 26, 2010
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Gallarate
I was going to put some photos up on here from todays ride from gallarate, but unfortunately due to a delay on the slow internets behalf the transfer of the photos is not possible. So maybe tomorrow. Anyhow, we took off from a small town outside of Varese for what was meant to be a three hour easy ride. After 25km of climbing, and 2000m of vertical ascending and 4 hours later..the local guru Fabio (our guide from Busto tri club) had taken us too far.
Our unsuspecting crew took off at 7:30 thinking nothing more than an easy 3hr spin, a couple of sites to see and maybe a coffee stop to take in the scenery and magical aroma of Italy. But after a few good recordings of Betten commentating fantasy tour de france with a peleton of 5 people (you wont see the video...the file is too big) and a couple of funny comments from Fabs we were well on our way. At the 2hr mark we thought we had conquered the mountains and were on our way home, but unfortunately fabios wit and lack of english skills caused a fatal error in communication and found us at the bottom of a 10km climb with nothing but a banquet of powerbars and powergels which had to be rationed out. This was besides Fabio...who actually did bring about 70 gels, 7 powerbars...and obscurely enough.....200mls of water (no kidding) to last him four hours. Does this guy have a hump on his back, he is as good at maintaining fluid loss as a camal stuck in the Sahara.
Our next encounter came at the three hour mark and the top of the mountain. A small group of riders came past us and notabely one man or should i say Yeti of some sort took to the front on a scott. We were screaming back into town holding onto dear life as theyeti was busting out the average 2000watts and 80km/hr with no helmet and a shitload of hair...not only on his head. This guy didnt even shave his legs...the hair was covering his shoes. After half an hour the invinsibility of the Yeti was starting to disapear and the eargerness of Fabio was starting to set in as he was eather wanting to get home..or wanting to get home for some more water. At this stage Boxy cracked the shits due to the fact that the description of the ride was 3hrs easy. During this time he bottled up his emotions which were sure to come out in no time. Without warning, a couple of minutes later, a firey box shot out the the pack devastating the Yeti and fellow companions (litterally shattering them..they were gone..forever.) After a 3km (at least) attack from boxy there was a very exclusive crew left in Drew and myself. Notably absences were Fabio (who obviously was severely dehydrated from lack of fluid or sugar low from the 70 gels he ingested) and the yeti who were never too be seen.
Too cut a long story short....it was a cruzy ride home after that.
Photos tomorrow....maybe.
Jamie
Our unsuspecting crew took off at 7:30 thinking nothing more than an easy 3hr spin, a couple of sites to see and maybe a coffee stop to take in the scenery and magical aroma of Italy. But after a few good recordings of Betten commentating fantasy tour de france with a peleton of 5 people (you wont see the video...the file is too big) and a couple of funny comments from Fabs we were well on our way. At the 2hr mark we thought we had conquered the mountains and were on our way home, but unfortunately fabios wit and lack of english skills caused a fatal error in communication and found us at the bottom of a 10km climb with nothing but a banquet of powerbars and powergels which had to be rationed out. This was besides Fabio...who actually did bring about 70 gels, 7 powerbars...and obscurely enough.....200mls of water (no kidding) to last him four hours. Does this guy have a hump on his back, he is as good at maintaining fluid loss as a camal stuck in the Sahara.
Our next encounter came at the three hour mark and the top of the mountain. A small group of riders came past us and notabely one man or should i say Yeti of some sort took to the front on a scott. We were screaming back into town holding onto dear life as theyeti was busting out the average 2000watts and 80km/hr with no helmet and a shitload of hair...not only on his head. This guy didnt even shave his legs...the hair was covering his shoes. After half an hour the invinsibility of the Yeti was starting to disapear and the eargerness of Fabio was starting to set in as he was eather wanting to get home..or wanting to get home for some more water. At this stage Boxy cracked the shits due to the fact that the description of the ride was 3hrs easy. During this time he bottled up his emotions which were sure to come out in no time. Without warning, a couple of minutes later, a firey box shot out the the pack devastating the Yeti and fellow companions (litterally shattering them..they were gone..forever.) After a 3km (at least) attack from boxy there was a very exclusive crew left in Drew and myself. Notably absences were Fabio (who obviously was severely dehydrated from lack of fluid or sugar low from the 70 gels he ingested) and the yeti who were never too be seen.
Too cut a long story short....it was a cruzy ride home after that.
Photos tomorrow....maybe.
Jamie
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Busto
Well after two posts to start with i fell right off the blogging bandwagon and into the depth of oblivion. I never thought i would get out until todays pace run in busto with burgerman. This run inspried me to reignite the flame and jump right back on the wagon i was originally on....for 2 posts.
This time i will hopefully update my blog frequently to keep everyone updated. Providing i have time as the wait between meals at the d120 hotel can chew into some serious blogging time.
Its been a few races since my last blog. In fact three; World Uni games, Madrid dextro and Holten world cup. In summary, i was happy with one and the other two felt like a bit of a constant battle with myself throughout the race.
World Uni games was my first crack at a race which i was reasonably happy with considering id only been overseas for a week. Finished up a solid 9th but could never really get going.
Madrid was my first Dextro race and i was pretty exited for this one. After an ordinary swim and what was probably the single most brutal few laps of a bike leg that i have ever been invloved in, i got myself (somehow) back into the race...and made the most of it. On the 5th lap a breakway formed with 3 of us and that stayed away till the end other than 7 other bridging across. The run felt much like a brisk walk but for some reason was holding my own ok. The run felt very similar to Mooloolaba in that everyone looked to be feeling the same way...rubbish. In the end i finished up in 20th spot...the result doesnt sound incredible..which it isnt by any means, but it felt like a pretty solid debut for my first dextro.
Getting ever closer to the now was Holten World Cup a week ago. In between Madrid and holten i travelled back to aus for my exams for about 3 weeks. I have never had such a cold 3 weeks in all my life. I was glad to get back to Europe as any longer and i think i would have been shown the exit door. Anyhow, Holten is a pretty cool place..very small and reminds me a lot of Ballarat...minus the heat. Race day was extremely warm, 37 degrees apparently during the race. It definately felt it. After another quite ordinary swim i jumped on the bike around 2nd group. We had about 15 seconds to make up and as i was battling with the firey hot road i looked across to see a rider that had passed me like i was standing still...which turned out to be Colucci who basically single handedly rode us back up to the group. After that it was just about sitting near the front and conserving energy. When you dont have much energy to conserve in the first place where does that leave you?......well it left me quite tired coming into T2 but still had quite a good possi coming in. I took off and what felt like a stampede of runners went straight passed me. I tried to tell myself that those guys are going out too hard, some of them were which meant i saw them later on the race..but most werent. I ran ok but in general i stung out quite a bit. I finished in 20th place which i was pretty disapointed with.
And that brings me to good old Busto Arsizio..where im training the house down in preperation for Tizzie world cup in a few weeks. The weather here has been perfect thus far. It has taken a while to find some good running but i think ive finally found the towns calling on quite a busy trail/track that i havent found the end of yet. Will probably write in tomorrow with more of an update on Busto.
Ciao
This time i will hopefully update my blog frequently to keep everyone updated. Providing i have time as the wait between meals at the d120 hotel can chew into some serious blogging time.
Its been a few races since my last blog. In fact three; World Uni games, Madrid dextro and Holten world cup. In summary, i was happy with one and the other two felt like a bit of a constant battle with myself throughout the race.
World Uni games was my first crack at a race which i was reasonably happy with considering id only been overseas for a week. Finished up a solid 9th but could never really get going.
Madrid was my first Dextro race and i was pretty exited for this one. After an ordinary swim and what was probably the single most brutal few laps of a bike leg that i have ever been invloved in, i got myself (somehow) back into the race...and made the most of it. On the 5th lap a breakway formed with 3 of us and that stayed away till the end other than 7 other bridging across. The run felt much like a brisk walk but for some reason was holding my own ok. The run felt very similar to Mooloolaba in that everyone looked to be feeling the same way...rubbish. In the end i finished up in 20th spot...the result doesnt sound incredible..which it isnt by any means, but it felt like a pretty solid debut for my first dextro.
Getting ever closer to the now was Holten World Cup a week ago. In between Madrid and holten i travelled back to aus for my exams for about 3 weeks. I have never had such a cold 3 weeks in all my life. I was glad to get back to Europe as any longer and i think i would have been shown the exit door. Anyhow, Holten is a pretty cool place..very small and reminds me a lot of Ballarat...minus the heat. Race day was extremely warm, 37 degrees apparently during the race. It definately felt it. After another quite ordinary swim i jumped on the bike around 2nd group. We had about 15 seconds to make up and as i was battling with the firey hot road i looked across to see a rider that had passed me like i was standing still...which turned out to be Colucci who basically single handedly rode us back up to the group. After that it was just about sitting near the front and conserving energy. When you dont have much energy to conserve in the first place where does that leave you?......well it left me quite tired coming into T2 but still had quite a good possi coming in. I took off and what felt like a stampede of runners went straight passed me. I tried to tell myself that those guys are going out too hard, some of them were which meant i saw them later on the race..but most werent. I ran ok but in general i stung out quite a bit. I finished in 20th place which i was pretty disapointed with.
And that brings me to good old Busto Arsizio..where im training the house down in preperation for Tizzie world cup in a few weeks. The weather here has been perfect thus far. It has taken a while to find some good running but i think ive finally found the towns calling on quite a busy trail/track that i havent found the end of yet. Will probably write in tomorrow with more of an update on Busto.
Ciao
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Up in the air.
Beeen a long few days of flying. Flew from Melbourne to Sydney, Bangkok, London, Brussels and then finally to Lyon. I am currently in Aix Les Bain which is about an hour away from Lyon. Its an amazing place. Went for a ride this afternoon behind the motorbike and the scenery along the lake is unbelievable. When i get a chance ill post some pictures up. Although the scenery, food and atmosphere has been fantastic my body today has been struggling a bit due to the flying but hopefully another good nights sleep and ill be back on track.
The weather here is a massive change from back in Melbourne. Went from almost snowing down there to sunny warm conditions. Im not going to want to come home at this rate. Unfortunately im only away for two weeks so i can get back for exams but after that is another long stint. I certainly wont be complaining if we are sent back to the Aix thats for sure! Most people o have spoken to have never heard of Aix but if you ever get a change i recommend going. The lake that runs along the side of the mountains is an incredible thing to see!
Another two days and im off to Valencia in Spain for the world Uni games. It looks like its going to be a fantastic race. Another amazing city to take in all the scenery while going round the course.
Will keep you guys updated....
The weather here is a massive change from back in Melbourne. Went from almost snowing down there to sunny warm conditions. Im not going to want to come home at this rate. Unfortunately im only away for two weeks so i can get back for exams but after that is another long stint. I certainly wont be complaining if we are sent back to the Aix thats for sure! Most people o have spoken to have never heard of Aix but if you ever get a change i recommend going. The lake that runs along the side of the mountains is an incredible thing to see!
Another two days and im off to Valencia in Spain for the world Uni games. It looks like its going to be a fantastic race. Another amazing city to take in all the scenery while going round the course.
Will keep you guys updated....
Thursday, May 13, 2010
The start of something new.
I have been wanting to start a blog for a while...i just havent really had the time..or the direction to start one. Until yesterday.
Theres been a few things which have triggered me to start a blog including the fact i will be overseas in a few weeks commencing my racing season over in europe. So will be an easy way of communication and keeping people updated. But i dont want a blog just for the purpose of my sport of triathlon. I want to discuss a broader range of things; Travel, sporting events, Uni and life in general, basically everything and anything of interest. Hopefully....or maybe the topic i cover will become i bit more narrow down the track...
Anyway, this is my first post...which at the present time is basically adressing a brick wall!
Theres been a few things which have triggered me to start a blog including the fact i will be overseas in a few weeks commencing my racing season over in europe. So will be an easy way of communication and keeping people updated. But i dont want a blog just for the purpose of my sport of triathlon. I want to discuss a broader range of things; Travel, sporting events, Uni and life in general, basically everything and anything of interest. Hopefully....or maybe the topic i cover will become i bit more narrow down the track...
Anyway, this is my first post...which at the present time is basically adressing a brick wall!
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