Doping vet - All power to Garmin!

Wow. Look what happens when you get a life and stop hanging out on the forums. You miss all the news. Like Hilton McMurdo, the guy that smashed us at the 07 Masters World Track champs, getting busted for steroids. Good one Hilton. I kept wondering why I was getting referred hits from google on "Hilton McMurdo" and "positive drugs test". Obviously the info was leaked long before the announcement last week. I feel sorry for the people that travelled further than I did to compete against him. I guess that's good news for Marco Hellman (1st) , Kiwi Ray Dunstan (now 2nd) and Klaus from Denmark who goes up into 3rd. That was an epic pursuit between Ray and Klaus, but then there's another guy who never even made a ride-off because of Hilton. Sad isnt it that you feel you have to cheat, even as a vet. Link to the announcement.

The next thing I missed was the fact that Saris, the guys that make Power Tap are doing a version that is ANT + SPORT compatible with the Garmin GPS' models that read power. You'd have to be thinking along the lines of using a Garmin as it appears they are now compatible with the new Quarq, the Power Tap and the SRM. The Quarq started shipping last week, but I am guessing there will be a big waiting list, and their (Qranium) head unit is still in development.

I guess another thing I missed was that Garmin are now lead sponsors for Garmin/Chipotle. (That's pronounced chip-ote-lay, if you are a kiwi) what is supposedly the cleanest team in the peloton. There are some real nice-guys on this team. Julian Dean from NZ and the big Swede, Magnus Backstead, not to mention the seriously up and coming Tyler Phinney, teenage pursuit phenomenon from the US. The jury is still out on their uniforms tho.... maybe its true, cycling is the new golf, but does that mean we have to dress like them?

NZ Cross champs - Great Divide - Memorial ride

Now here's something worth getting out of bed for!!
The NZ cyclo-cross champs. I just spied the link on VORB, Sept 7th. Not that I have a cross bike, but its always appealed to me for some reason. There are a few guys at work that keeping bringing up the idea (mostly americans), and I have also heard cheap talk about a Welly series, after the fun we had doing the short-course MTB series.

Check out Simon Kennetts blog for his progress in the 4000km Great Divide race. He had a bad belly for a while, but has recovered enough to keep moving forward. He has been riding with some crazy english single-speed chick!

The last two weeks have been pretty sad for if you were a cyclist in Wellington. Two riders were killed on the one day. One of them a high ranking police officer who had worked his entire life to bring down the road toll. And another a guy who was in the wrong place when someone opened a car door into him, forcing off and into the path of a 4WD.

A memorial ride was organised last week and between 300 and 400 riders rode from parliament buildings to the roundabout in Petone where Steve Fitzgerald was killed. A full police escort meant we were able to ride 3 abreast to keep the delays to the other traffic to a minimum. It was a great turnout for a sad occasion.







Cyclist killed outside Upper Hutt college
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4589468a11.html

Top cop dies in crash (+video)
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4589991a6000.html

Paula Tesoriero

Paula Tesoriero is a name you may not have heard of before and I have to say, I could write all I know about Paula on the back of a postage stamp with a carpenters pencil, but I do know this, shes a lawyer, a vegan and an incredibly focused and professional athlete.

Paula is currently training in the warmer climate of Western Australia for an optimal build-up for her track cycling events at the Paralympics in August 2008.

Paula had some great results at the World Champs last year with silver medals in both the 500m TT and the 3000m Individual Pursuit. She also set a world record in the 500 metres TT at the Oceanias in Sydney in Feb 08. She races in the LC3 category.

Her coach Simon Crumpton has started a blog here so we can hopefully keep up with whats happening in Beijing.

Anyone wanting to support Paula by purchasing a T-shirt should get in touch with her husband Chris on this email address (on the T-shirt graphic).

http://en.beijing2008.cn/
http://www.paralympics.org.nz/
http://www.paralympic.org/release/Main_Sections_Menu/

Paula on the TV 09/07/08

Whats new?

Check out this exciting Paris Roubaix story from Clinton Avery. Clinton started life as a gear breaking MTBer, but his physical attributes scream "Classics rider". I met Clinton's mum at a coaching forum a while back. She wasnt happy that the roadie dogs had stolen her MTBing son away from her, but she must be very proud all the same. This is one hard core biking family. Video of the finish!

Once described as "Crazy Mountain biking hippies" the Kennett bros are always up for a new challenge. Someone planted a crazy idea in Simons brain called the Great Divide. A 4000km journey from Canada to Mexico. Simon has attacked this event with the kind of meticulous planning that surrounds all Kennett bro outings. Follow it on Simons blog here.

Ayup lights (08 roadie kit)

Here are some first impressions on the new ayup LED lights I got over a month ago. I am ashamed to admit that I have done only one off-road ride with them. The rest of the time they have been gainfully used like this:

• Hanging out the washing late at night.
• Blasting the neighbours retinas while he smugly sits in his spa pool late at night while I am out hanging out the damn washing!
• Blasting the retinas out of anyone silly enough to stick their head over the divider in my office.
• Using them for illuminating the engine bay in our car while changing the oil.
• Feeding the chickens late at night
  
• Commuting the 2kms back and forward from my work to my house!

So far the tiny 6 hour battery still hasnt run out of its 1st charge.

I have shown my roadie 08 kit (which is effectively just half of the MTB 08 kit), to 3 different guys at work, and they have all been impressed enough to buy kits, one the 08 MTB, one the 08 Enduro, and another guy a headband with a single set for running.

I think its the overall package that sells them. Incredibly light, simple robust construction, with long burn times and cheap pricing. The lithium ion polymer batteries are cheaper than anything I have seen before. All the bits are purchasable separately, but its probably cheaper to get one of their kits that seem to have about 2 spare of everything.

What are they like in the real world? My kit is awesome on the road, and pretty damn good off road, but I think for total confidence a full two-light kit would be the way to go for serious off-roading. Thats 1 set on the helmet, and 1 set on the bars.

I did notice in my only forary in the dirt that the light was very flat with no shadows, I am not sure if this is an LED thing, or because they were mounted on the helmet. I'd like to see how it compares to my workmate's two-light kits or try off -roading with the lights on the bar, its a 10 second job to change from helmet to bar.
More details here: http://www.ayup.com.au

Thinking of building your own LED light set, you could do worse than this link:
http://www.instructables.com/group/danpowerled

The Humpanator rules

Here is a photo of Wellington over 70 legend Garry Humpherson doing a very fast time at the Centre TT champs at Kahutara in the weekend.
He did a 61 minute 40km. Check out his aero position! (Photo credit to Ben Copsey)


This was him the week before with a 62 min 40km, check out the camel-bak. Attention to detail.

Some times from Garry's 40km TT palmares.
54     Garry Humpherson       1991     59-55
59     Garry Humpherson       1996     59-58
62     Garry Humpherson       1999     1-01-01
64     Garry Humpherson       2001     1-01-55          
65     Garry Humpherson       2002     59-06
66     Garry Humpherson       2003     1-00-14
67     Garry Humpherson       2004     1-02-18
68     Gary Humpherson        2005     1-02-22
70     Garry Humpherson       2007     1-04-48
71     Garry Humpherson       2008     1-02-24
71     Garry Humpherson       2008     1-01-09

Oceania champ!

Jordan has had another epic race last weekend. In only his 2nd Oceania MTB champs he has come away with a win. Towards the end of the race I was on the phone to his dad. Jordan had a lap to go and was in 3rd place about 50 seconds down.
His dad said "Anything could happen Jeff".
I know this well. MTB racing is like that. Its not over til its over.

The aussie who was in the lead exploded big time and Jord hunted down the kiwi in front, Alex McGregor. Alex was having one of his best races of the year on the challenging course but wasnt able to summon up enough to keep Jord behind him. Once again, Jordan did the fastest last lap of a kiwi in any class. Okay, they only did 4 laps compared to the pro-elites 6, but I am guessing they are doing twice the training Jordan is.

Unfortunately that will be Jordans last "international" appearance as an under 19 rider. This year he will be 18, so next year he will be 19, and have to race under 23 at the MTB worlds. A very big step up. Check out Jordans story here, the full XC results here and some abbreviated results below.

It sounds like Jordan's Wellingtonian clubmate Samara Sheppard had a very similar race, with Samara catching one of her Aussie opponents on the last lap. See Samara's blog here.

U19 Men
1 Jordan Blake (New Zealand)             1.26.19
2 Alex Mcgregor (New Zealand)               0.22
3 George Bennett (New Zealand)              1.30
4 Dirk Peters (New Zealand)                 1.41
5 Peter Braunsteins (Australia)             3.27
6 Kieran Hambrook (New Zealand)             3.42
7 Ash Hough (New Zealand)                   4.20
8 Scott Green (New Zealand)                 4.49
9 Luke Fetch (Australia)                    5.41
10 Patrick Avery (New Zealand)              6.11
11 David Johnston (Australia)               6.13
12 Brendan Johnston (Australia)            11.47
13 Mike Nuy (New Zealand)                  11.57
14 James Peacock (Australia)               19.52

karapoti 08

Jordan had a blinder at the "Poti" in the weekend. On a Santa-Cruz borrowed from his buddy Alex he came away with a 5th place overall and smashed the under 19 record by around 8 minutes. 2.26 is a time anyone who has done Karapoti would love to have in their palmares. The conditions were some of the best, if not the best we have ever seen, with a real lack of rain this summer. 2nd and 3rd places went to local riders Wayne Hiscock and Jord's VIC team mate Gavin mcCarthy. Gav has been on a roll this year, and its good to have such a high local standard for the younger riders to aspire to.

Next up is the Oceania champs in Nelson on the 14th of March. The aussie riders traditionally school the kiwis, but this year's national series and supporting races seem to have been laid out better to me, so maybe the kiwis will be in better form than in previous years?

The course is rumoured to be largely non-technical with wide trails and short climbs. In short, a bit of a roadies course. Fingers crossed the kiwi contingent can score some points against their trans-tasman cuzzies.

Hobbits hit out at Wellington

The National MTB champs were held in Wellington last weekend and my young protoge Jordan Blake genltley cranked it up to come away with a 3 minute win over his competition.

Jords plan to hang back at the start was made easier by Ash Houghs decision to go for it. In the heat and with the short grunty climbs it wasnt a sustainable plan for Ash. Jord metered out the power and did his fastest lap on the last lap. It was also the fastests last lap of the day, although the Under 19 boys only had to do 4 laps, and not the 5 that the pro-elite did.

Its an exciting time for the young riders in the under 19 class. Depending on the terrain any one of them can win. The central north island boys smash it up on their smooth bmx styled courses while the Wellington and Nelson riders seem to have an upper hand when it gets hilly.

The Karapoti Classic is the race on many of their minds this weekend, but a few weeks after that is the Oceania Champs, an important race for any team selection.

A few years ago the Town-Belt at Mt Vic was the scene of a fair bit of filming for the Lord of the Rings, as you can see in this photo. Saturday was definitely a day for the Hill climbing Hobbits.

Check out some more bloggings from Oli about the Champs. http://www.oli.co.nz

Full suspension 101

We had some awesome fun last weekend at the Wild Wellington 12/6 hour MTB race set in the Mt Vic Hills near Haitaitai.
We were racing in the "Legends class" . Thats over 40 years old each.
The Jville Cycles Legends team had 2 past national masters champs in the team, the current champ, and an Adventure Racing specalist in the form of Jerome Sheppard . Jerome is more famous by being related to his daughter Samara, who just happens to be Jville Cycle's most competitiive rider, and the NZ and Oceania XC champ in the womens under 19 class. This was a legit team of Jville riders. Actually, we may have been the first team of non ring-ins truth be known.

You would think we would have had a competitive chance, but its been a long time since Francis and myself have graced the podium at the national level, and there was a new batch of legends dealing to us in the form of Ian Paintin and his hand picked team.
After a while we decided that we were outclassed so the effort went into:
1. Having more fun - and
2. Doing some testing on the array of bikes that Francis from Jville Cycles had for us to try out. Its just so happened that we had pretty similar in-seam measurements, and we were all running Time pedals, except for Jerome.

I have to admit to being a bit of a hardtail person, and largely of the belief that full suspension, disc brakes and tubeless tyres are the efforts of bored marketing execs, and American MountainBike magazines trying to force new product on us.

The course was about 17 mins climbing and 3 mins descending for most of us, so on paper you would think it was a hands down hardtail course.
The uphill was nearly all smooth middle gear climbing though, so if you had a smooth spin, or a lock out on your rear shock, there was no bobbing happening anyway.

The first bike I tried, (other than my old 93 Litespeed hard-tail) was Francis's Jamis XCR full-susser. This is what he uses when he is in "race mode" and is also what our team-mate Trevor Woodward used to win the Master-2 national series, and one-off Champs this year. Trev had opted not to bring his one in, but had brought his Jamis hard tail and his Cannondale Rush Play-bike just for a laugh.

The ride on the Jamis XCR was my first time on a fully, and first time with discs all round. You can take anything I say with a grain of salt, as normally I cant tell the difference between my Mag 21s and my SIDS, but this bike felt pretty sharp. I no longer had to pick a line around the rough stuff, I just took a stab and bombed through it!

It felt a bit heavier on the climbs but then on the descents it was way less sketchy than my hard tail which was shod with the Michelin Jets, and the discs pulled me up in a real hurry. The modualtion on these discs (XTR I think? ) was pretty sweet to a v-brake user like myself.

I shot into the pits and recorded a time substanially faster than my hardtail's best time. This was a big surprise to me. I swung my leg over Francis's other bike, the 08 Commencal Meta and shot out for my next lap. The first tiny descent into the single track had me experiencing some serious over-braking. These brakes were powerful. Overkill in this situation for sure, but ideal in this bike's intended environment which is bombing the big stuff. This was a seriously fun machine. Even climbing felt very relaxed, and it always felt like I was running a gear lower than any of the other bikes. It may have been the more relaxed set-back position, I dont know, but it was by far the "funnest" bike. It had a 120mm fork on the front with 100mm at the rear end. My second lap was substantially slower on the Commencal, but thats probably mostly a lack of fitness. 2 laps was a long way with my current form. Francis pointed out that the way he had the Commnecal meta set up was not standard for such a play bike, but it seemed to be well balanced for what we were doing with it on the day.


Trev convinced me to give his alloy Cannondale Rush a thrash, so after I lowered the seat 12 inches I was away.This machine felt a bit ponderous to start with but the standout feature was the Lefty fork. It was so solid and really seemed to hold its line amazingly well. It seemed to be fast without feeling fast. I hated the crazy shifters that you change with the backs of your fingers, but Trev had bar-ends fitted so this made it easier to change up to an easier gear. The bar ends felt great actually, and it made me wish I still had them on my hard tail.

Something that Ricky Pincott said was worth noting. The Cannondale Lefty is very cheap to rebuild, unlike some other shocks which seem to be pretty expendable. So if you are not the kind of person that changes their bike every two years, then a lefty equipped bike might be a good investment.

When I got back onto my hard tail I suddenly wondered what had happend to my brakes. They were very average. The old hope disc front I had fitted seemed about as good as a poor v-brake.

As we got the track dialed in we found our favourite steeds. I eventually went back to my hard tail, Trev just got faster and faster on the Rush to get our fastest time by a long way, and Jerome just lapped it up with the Commencal. Francis stuck with the Jamis XCR , and the Salsa Juan Solo missed out on a ride from our crew, although I think one of the other teams may have given it a thrash? All in all a great days riding on a physically demanding but not technically challenging course. Very well oganised too.

World Masters Track Champs

Well. The trailer trash crew are back from their most excellent adventure in Bass Hill, Bankstown Sydney Australia. We met some really interesting people and raced at the highest level that crusties can race at and still be called crusties.
CyclingNews.com coverage.
World Track Masters website
All the photos below are by Neil Butler. More here.Thanks Neil.


For me the whole inspiration for the trip came after I was drafted into driving the PNP club bus down to the NZ nationals earlier in the year. A competitive time in the pursuit on the shiny new velodrome at ILT gave me some hope of a potential medal if I actually did some training for masters worlds. I looked for all the good advice I could find and started up my plans for world domination.

By the time we left, the Wellington contingent had grown to 4 more riders. 71 year old legend Garry Humpherson, NZ track medalist Sepp Hribar, Wellington IT/motor-bike entrepreneur Jono Guthrie, and ex go-kart driver Geoff Shaw!

I spied a hot lead on the fixedgearfever.com track racing forum, which told us where the closest accommodation was.

The accommodation was great, with Sepp winning the arm wrestle for the double bed, well we could see no sense in trying to beat him so he got it anyway. After a while it dawned on us that we were actually in a "trailer". A Jayco trailer. We werent snobs though, so as long as we had a a packet of pasta, some sausages and the bottle of duty free rum that Geoff bought for his sister, we were made. (Sorry Geoffs sister!!).

It was about 4 mins walk to the Mall which was largely frequented by the mostly lebanese locals. About 500,000 in Oz the taxi driver told me. I think he said there was still 5 million or so in Lebanon. One thing you certainly notice as a Kiwi in Bankstown, which is apparently one of the most ethnically diverse places in Oz, is that we have a pretty small variation of race in NZ. Caucasian and Polynesian with a some recent asianisation is about it. We were also about 14 mins walk to the Velodrome where we kept all our gear. Primo. The Veodrome had a bar/restaurant attached which was handy for team de-briefings : )

The only shopping we did outside of our local mall was to take the 907 bus to Bankstown, where we nearly got in trouble by forgetting to pay for our cafe meal. Unlike in NZ where you pay first, you pay after you have finished in Oz. I wondered why the woman was giving us the evils as we walked off. DOH! We never had a coffee that got even close to the standard you get in Wellington which was surprising.

We had 3 days to check out the track before we started racing on tuesday. On day 1 we got in as many laps as we could in our 90 minute session. The track had very short straights which lessened the g-forces on the bends, as the whole transition from straight to banking was very gradual. On day 2 the temperature had rocketed up to 33 degrees! This is good. A hot track is a fast track. I threw in a 7 lap effort to get a feel for the track speed. Mid 17 to hi 17 second laps seemed doable. I would go up 1 inch in my gearing. The next day we just got in some more track time before the racing started.

On the first race day records were being broken left right and centre with 33 degrees of heat (outside). I did my first ever 750metres (an old mans Kilo) and was surprised at how easy it was... obviously I needed more experience in killing myself over that distance. With only 3 laps there was no time to really put the body into distress. The US Elite mens kilo champ who just happens to be 41, was there, and he set a new world record for the 750 metres.

The next day was my favourite event, the pursuit.The temperature had dropped from 30's the previous days down to hi teens/low 20's. When I heard Jono calling my splits the news wasnt good. I wasnt even maintaining hi 17's. The track was slow and I finished up with a time 0.6 of a second slower than my PB, which I hadn't even trained for, at Invercargill.

I was confused. That time would have given me top 5 at the Manchester Worlds, I had trained damn hard, and gone 0.6 seconds slower. And I finished 12th!!! I knew was stronger than I was at ILT, because I have the power readings on my power tap to prove it.

What could I take out of the race?
1. ILT in Invercargill is a fast track, its also heated (it has to be).
2. Dunc Gray Velodrome in Sydney is fast too, when its hot, but not when its cold.
3. The Aussies are bloody fast. There were 6 of them in front of me. 5 of them who didn't go to Manchester for last years Masters track champs. Many of them did what were slow times for them as well. The masters riders in the UK are obviously not as fast as the Aussies, or in as big a numbers.

Would I have done anything differently? Nope. Just realised that the standard in OZ probably the highest in the world. Its not for nothing that there are so many Aussies in the Tour de France. Maybe the good weather helps them?

Watching NZ Champ Ray Dunstan pick up a bronze in my group was a buzz. Ray went so hard he started to black out and roll down into the grey area of the course. He managed to pull it together to win by a small margin. Ray is the regular southern man. You can complain about the weather in Wellington, but at least we dont have our water bottles freezing on an evening ride like they do down south. Ex pom Hilton McMurdo was in a league of his own. (failed drugs test). In what he told us was only his 2nd ever pursuit, he destroyed the field ahead of the world number two at this years TT champs, Marco Hellman. Hilton is a regular in many of the major tours in NZ,and Oz, and hes not just making up the numbers. He was also 3rd in the scratch race and 2nd in the points.

The next day was the scratch race which I had forgotten that I had even entered. This was full-on. Basically a high-speed short course (10km) sprint. We must have sat between 50 and 60kmh for most of it. It was the scariest thing you could do on a track bike in my view. Circulating at that speed with 24 riders in close formation with big muntas like Sepp, above you on the banking, bashing bars with other riders trying to move into your space. I got spat a a few times but managed to get back on each time and finish with the bunch which I was more than happy with, given my lack of sprinting ability. Sepp did bloody well to finish 5th. A completely different kind of pain to the pursuit. The interesting thing was that in the race, 18 of the 24 riders were Aussies. But it wasnt enough to stop the frenchman, Philipe Vernet, who we had our eye on, from winning the race. And the bugger didnt even warm up.... The rest of us had been on the rollers for the previous 10-30 minutes getting up to operating temperature. He just rolled straight out and lined up with the rest of us. Apparently it took us 13 mins to do the 10kms.

Check out the vid of the race here. Sepp is the big black blob in the NZ kit, I am the smaller red and black blob circulation in the last 1/3 most of the time.
Link to Video of our 45-59 Scratch race.

The last event for me was a late entry into the team sprint. We needed a combined age of 135 years for 3 riders. We had our team sorted but then our first rider was not available. Then and our second choice rider was told we couldnt use him in two events (he was also in another team), in case both teams qualified... Some chance. We roped in an old buddy of Garry Humphersons who was 60-something. Basically the slowest guy starts first, leads for a lap, peels right off, and number 2 leads then pulls off etc. By the time the last rider finishes he is really motoring. A bit of fun for 3 laps. We were 2nd to last I think with our spare 30 years!!!

All up it was an awesome trip, made more memorable by hanging out with the Welly guys and the other kiwis in the Kiwi "pits". I was also lucky to have my "fan-base" of 3 supporters cheering for us and videoing, taking photos and smuggling back excess bagage for us as well. The only thing the Masters track worlds is really missing out on is the spectators. We felt honoured to have a few. My brother and his daughter also called in to cheer us on at one stage too.

The high-light for me was to watch Garry Humpherson, one of the legends of Wellington and NZ cycling smash the world record, then win the gold medal in the 70+ pursuit. Garry is an inspiration to all of us, and the most modest guy you could ever meet.

Thanks to all the people that helped us with gear and advice in NZ and Oz.
Mark Humphries, frame and groupset.
Ben Copsey, rollers and tyres
Simon Crumpton, powertap track wheel, booties and tyres
Kathleen David and Neil, Bob and Amey (fan-base) for support and videoing/camera work.
jvillecycles.com for awesome support

Here are some links.
Garry world champs ride on YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNP9DtC6O1E

Garry on his home made bike with radical aero-bars

Sepp racing Claus

More of Neils pix

Link to video of our 45-59 Scratch race


Male - 45 to 49 750m Time Trial Final

1 Philippe Vernet (Fra) 0.51.27 (52.66 km/h)
2 Peter Barnard (Aus) 0.51.42
3 Ivor Reid (GBr) 0.51.99
4 Michael Popplewell (Aus) 0.52.79
5 Paul Jackson (Aus) 0.53.08
6 Gerard Oconnell (Aus) 0.53.10
7 Stephane Le Beau (Can) 0.53.83
8 Dominique Sioul (Fra) 0.53.97
9 Sepp Hribar (NZl) 0.54.15
10 Byron Tucker (Aus) 0.54.16
11 Gary Mandy (Aus) 0.54.34
12 Brent Kay (USA) 0.54.47
13 Warren Bennett (Aus) 0.54.60
14 Ian Atkin (Aus) 0.55.08
15 Clint Mcdonell (Aus) 0.55.41
16 David Mann (USA) 0.55.61
17 Mark Arnold (Aus) 0.55.85
18 Jeff Lyall (NZl) 0.55.98
19 Matthew Guggisberg (Aus) 0.56.41
20 Andrea Neri (Ita) 0.56.78
21 Wayne Kreunen (RSA) 0.57.04
22 Wal Mullany (Aus) 0.57.30
23 Craig Taylor (Aus) 0.57.33
24 Claus Christiansen (Den) 0.57.45
25 James Van Gelder (Aus) 0.57.52
26 Glen Heuvel (RSA) 0.57.59
27 Phillip Mcneill (Aus) 0.58.04
28 Robert Thompson (Aus) 0.58.42
29 Stephen Joyce (Aus) 0.59.05
30 Raymond Gorrell (Aus) 0.59.38
31 Peter Holley (Aus) 0.59.52
32 David Russell (Aus) 1.01.00
33 Geoffrey Shaw (NZl) 1.02.00


Male - 45 to 49 Pursuit- qualifying

1 188 Hilton MCMURDO Busted for steroids 3:27.616
2 174 Marco HELLMAN USA USA19610507 50.34 3:34.561
3 168 Claus CHRISTIANSEN DEN DEN19600331 49.22 3: 39.423
4 170 Ray DUNSTAN NZL NZL19600930 49.11 3:39.917
5 187 Clint MCDONELL AUS AUS19600630 49.09 3:39.991
6 201 Stephane Le BEAU CAN CAN19590616 48.76 3:41.489
7 208 Peter VERHOEVEN AUS AUS19590508 48.54 3:42.494
8 203 Craig TAYLOR AUS AUS19610114 48.48 3:42.759
9 167 Nicholas CHADDERTON AUS AUS19610531 48.43 3:42.996
10 205 Byron TUCKER AUS AUS19610305 48.27 3:43.752
11 180 Brent KAY USA USA19620302 48.21 3:44.003
12 183 Jeff LYALL NZL NZL19611027 48.05 3:44.751
13 206 Robert UPTON AUS AUS19591225 47.76 3:46.135
14 165 Warren BENNETT AUS AUS19590905 47.41 3:47.817
15 162 Mark ARNOLD AUS AUS19600810 47.08 3:49.408
16 177 Sepp HRIBAR NZL NZL19610611 47.07 3:49.427
17 212 Vicente Florio ZORIC ARG ARG19590805 46.90 3:50.280
18 185 David MANN USA USA19600121 46.01 3:54.755
19 182 Niels-Henrik LAUGESEN AUS AUS19620807 45.04 3:59.775
20 207 James VAN GELDER AUS AUS19610202 43.48 4:08.394
21 204 Robert THOMPSON AUS AUS19590218 43.06 4:10.836
22 176 Peter HOLLEY AUS AUS19580603 42.96 4:11.394
23 198 David RUSSELL AUS AUS19611020 42.83 4:12.180
24 199 Geoffrey SHAW NZL NZL19580428 40.08 4:29.441
25 210 David WHISH AUS AUS19581016 39.05 4:36.562
DSQ 192 Andrea NERI ITA ITA19590107 DSQ

Male - 45 to 49 Scratch race.

1 Philippe Vernet (Fra)
2 Roberto Mattei (Ita)
3 Hilton Mcmurdo (Aus) Busted for steroids
4 Byron Tucker (Aus)
5 Sepp Hribar (NZl)
6 Warren Bennett (Aus)
7 Stephane Le Beau (Can)
8 Clint Mcdonell (Aus)
9 Claus Christiansen (Den)
10 Ricardo Pereyra (Arg)
11 Mark Harris (Aus)
12 Vicente Florio Zoric (Arg)
13 Craig Taylor (Aus)
14 Jeff Lyall (NZl)
15 Robert Upton (Aus)
16 Mark Arnold (Aus)
17 Geoffrey Willmot (Aus)
DNF Matthew Guggisberg (Aus)
DNF Glen Heuvel (RSA)
DNF Peter Holley (Aus)
DNF Stephen Joyce (Aus)
DNF Phillip Mcneill (Aus)
DNF Geoffrey Shaw (NZl)
DNF Peter Verhoeven (Aus)

Results Summary of NZ Riders World Track World Masters

MEDAL WINNERS

Megan BLATCHFORD-PECK
Gold Medal - Female - 30 to 44 5km Scratch Race Final
Silver Medal - Female - 40 to 49 2000m Individual Pursuit 2.44.896
Silver Medal - Female - 40 to 44 Sprint Final
Bronze Medal - Female - 40 to 44 500m Time Trial 39.457

Ray DUNSTAN
Bronze Medal - Male - 45 to 49 3000m Individual Pursuit 3:42.020 (Now silver)

Garry HUMPHERSON
Gold Medal - Male - 70+ 2000m Individual Pursuit Final 2:40.892
World Record (unofficial) - Male - 70+ 2000m Individual Pursuit Qualification - 1st 2:40.847
Bronze Medal - Male - 70+ 10km Points
Male - 70+ 5km Scratch Race Final 8th

Sue REDMAN
Bronze Medal - Female - 55+ 500m Time Trial Final 42.483
Bronze Medal – Female - 55+ 2000m Individual Pursuit Final 2:52.239

OTHER RESULTS

Jamie BATE
Male - 30 to 34 200m Sprint Qualification 5th 11.604

Owen DUFFY
Male - 70+ 2000m Individual Pursuit Qualification 8th 3:13.903
Male - 70+ 200m Sprint Qualification – 13th 15.885
Male - 70+ 500m Time Trial Final 14th 45.407

David GEE
Male - 65 to 69 5km Scratch Race Final - 6th
Male - 60 to 69 10km Points Race Final 12th

Sepp HRIBAR
Male - 45 to 49 10km Scratch Race Final 5th
Male - 45 to 49 200m Sprint Qualification 6th 11.779
Male - 45 to 49 750m Time Trial Final 9th 54.154
Male - 45 to 49 3000m Individual Pursuit Qualification 16th 3:49.427

Jeff LYALL
Male - 45 to 49 3000m Individual Pursuit Qualification 12th 3:44.751
Male - 45 to 49 10km Scratch Race Final – 14th
Male - 45 to 49 750m Time Trial Final 18th 55.975

Kelvin MCANULTY
Male - 55 to 59 500m Time Trial Final 24th 40.742
Male - 55 to 59 2000m Individual Pursuit Qualification 16th 2:58.776

Kevin MCCOMB
Male - 60 to 64 500m Time Trial Final 7th 39.013
Male - 60 to 64 5km Scratch Race Final – 14th
Male - 60 to 64 200m Sprint Qualification – 7th 13.071

Paul NEEDHAM
Male - 40 to 44 3000m Individual Pursuit Qualification 10th 3:43.288

Geoffrey SHAW
Male - 45 to 49 200m Sprint Qualification 22nd 13.140
Male - 45 to 49 3000m Individual Pursuit Qualification 24th 4:29.441
Male - 45 to 49 750m Time Trial Final 33rd 1:01.966

Stewart THOMAS
Male - 35 to 39 200m Sprint Qualification 10th 11.855
Male - 35 to 39 1000m Time Trial Final 11th 1:13.393

Grant WILSON
Male - 40 to 44 3000m Individual Pursuit Qualification 24th 4:10.193
Male - 40 to 44 200m Sprint Qualification 27th 12.553
Male - 40 to 44 750m Time Trial Final 35th 58.020

TEAM SPRINT
23rd Kelvin MCANULTY Grant WILSON Stewart THOMAS 55.925
25th Jeff LYALL, Sepp HRIBAR, David GEE 58.300
27th Geoffrey SHAW, Jonathan GUTHRIE, Garry HUMPHERSON 58.885

Report 2 from Sydney Masters Worlds

Male - 45 to 49 10km scratch race final

This race was a hell of a lot of fun. For a relative novice like me, bumping elbows at 50-60 kmh has its own kind of buzz.
I must have got spat at least twice but managed to bridge back again.
It was a completely different kind of pain from the pursuit. This race was stacked.
Of the 24 riders, 18 were Aussies! All the more interesting was that we could see Philippe Vernet from where Sepp and I were warming up on the rollers. He did not do ANY warm-up. While we circled in the call-up area he was still veged out on the seats.
It didnt stop him from appearing to win with ease.

1 Philippe Vernet (Fra)
2 Roberto Mattei (Ita)
3 Hilton Mcmurdo (Aus)
4 Byron Tucker (Aus)
5 Sepp Hribar (NZl)
6 Warren Bennett (Aus)
7 Stephane Le Beau (Can)
8 Clint Mcdonell (Aus)
9 Claus Christiansen (Den)
10 Ricardo Pereyra (Arg)
11 Mark Harris (Aus)
12 Vicente Florio Zoric (Arg)
13 Craig Taylor (Aus)
14 Jeff Lyall (NZl)
15 Robert Upton (Aus)
16 Mark Arnold (Aus)
17 Geoffrey Willmot (Aus)
DNF Matthew Guggisberg (Aus)
DNF Glen Heuvel (RSA)
DNF Peter Holley (Aus)
DNF Stephen Joyce (Aus)
DNF Phillip Mcneill (Aus)
DNF Geoffrey Shaw (NZl)
DNF Peter Verhoeven (Aus)

Male - 45 to 49 3000m Individual Pursuit Qualification

This was the event I came over for. The 3000 metres pursuit.
With only one pursuit indoors under my belt I was hoping to break my record of 3.44.
I trained hard, by comparison to my eariler attempt for which I had 1 weeks notice.
It wasnt to be. The track cooled down after the first day and the speed just did not seem to be there.
One thing it brings home to me is the fact that the ILT Velodrome in Invercargill is actually damn fast. ILT is artifically heated, which it needs to be, if you know anything about the weather down there! Dunc Gray has an amazing eco-friendly heating system that is energy efficient but there is likely more variation in the track temperature and speeds. Taking this into account, Hilton McMurdos time is just amazing.
World number 2 road time triallist Marco Hellman was there soley for the pursuit and also had a standout time.
The understated Claus from Denmark had to ride off against kiwi Ray Dunstan and Ray pushed it so hard that the tunnel vision had him dropping down the track at one stage, but he managed to pull it off getting the bronze, 1 second ahead of Claus.

The pursuiting highlight for me was seeing my clubmate Garry Humpherson smash the world record and win the gold in the 70 + mens pursuit. Gary had a childhood injury that left one of his legs shorter and half the size of his other leg, but at the age of 65 he was still doing sub-60 40km TTs.
He also made his own revolutionary aero-bars that look like they belong on a tractor and has been known to scrounge bits for his bike out of the recycling station.
He also made his own frame by chopping down a road bike.
Here is Garry's pursuit on Youtube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNP9DtC6O1E


1 188 Hilton MCMURDO AUS AUS19620202 52.02 3:27.616
2 174 Marco HELLMAN USA USA19610507 50.34 3:34.561
3 168 Claus CHRISTIANSEN DEN DEN19600331 49.22 3:39.423
4 170 Ray DUNSTAN NZL NZL19600930 49.11 3:39.917
5 187 Clint MCDONELL AUS AUS19600630 49.09 3:39.991
6 201 Stephane Le BEAU CAN CAN19590616 48.76 3:41.489
7 208 Peter VERHOEVEN AUS AUS19590508 48.54 3:42.494
8 203 Craig TAYLOR AUS AUS19610114 48.48 3:42.759
9 167 Nicholas CHADDERTON AUS AUS19610531 48.43 3:42.996
10 205 Byron TUCKER AUS AUS19610305 48.27 3:43.752
11 180 Brent KAY USA USA19620302 48.21 3:44.003
12 183 Jeff LYALL NZL NZL19611027 48.05 3:44.751
13 206 Robert UPTON AUS AUS19591225 47.76 3:46.135
14 165 Warren BENNETT AUS AUS19590905 47.41 3:47.817
15 162 Mark ARNOLD AUS AUS19600810 47.08 3:49.408
16 177 Sepp HRIBAR NZL NZL19610611 47.07 3:49.427
17 212 Vicente Florio ZORIC ARG ARG19590805 46.90 3:50.280
18 185 David MANN USA USA19600121 46.01 3:54.755
19 182 Niels-Henrik LAUGESEN AUS AUS19620807 45.04 3:59.775
20 207 James VAN GELDER AUS AUS19610202 43.48 4:08.394
21 204 Robert THOMPSON AUS AUS19590218 43.06 4:10.836
22 176 Peter HOLLEY AUS AUS19580603 42.96 4:11.394
23 198 David RUSSELL AUS AUS19611020 42.83 4:12.180
24 199 Geoffrey SHAW NZL NZL19580428 40.08 4:29.441
25 210 David WHISH AUS AUS19581016 39.05 4:36.562
DSQ 192 Andrea NERI ITA ITA19590107 DSQ

Report 1 from Sydney Masters Worlds

We are having a great time in sydney, was bloody hot yesterday.
Got the first event out of the way but looking forward to the real race later today.
We are staying in what are effectively "trailers" I think? Little boxes made by a company called Jayco.

Suits a bunch of 3 smelly guys, just not something you would pull on the Mrs.
The cool thing about an event like this, is that altho there are people who are acting like there whole entire life is depending on winning their event, there are still heaps of other really cool and laid back people who are really into enjoying meeting the people from other countries as well.

Male - 45 to 49 750m Time Trial Final

1 Philippe Vernet (Fra) 0.51.27 (52.66 km/h)
2 Peter Barnard (Aus) 0.51.42
3 Ivor Reid (GBr) 0.51.99
4 Michael Popplewell (Aus) 0.52.79
5 Paul Jackson (Aus) 0.53.08
6 Gerard Oconnell (Aus) 0.53.10
7 Stephane Le Beau (Can) 0.53.83
8 Dominique Sioul (Fra) 0.53.97
9 Sepp Hribar (NZl) 0.54.15
10 Byron Tucker (Aus) 0.54.16
11 Gary Mandy (Aus) 0.54.34
12 Brent Kay (USA) 0.54.47
13 Warren Bennett (Aus) 0.54.60
14 Ian Atkin (Aus) 0.55.08
15 Clint Mcdonell (Aus) 0.55.41
16 David Mann (USA) 0.55.61
17 Mark Arnold (Aus) 0.55.85
18 Jeff Lyall (NZl) 0.55.98
19 Matthew Guggisberg (Aus) 0.56.41
20 Andrea Neri (Ita) 0.56.78
21 Wayne Kreunen (RSA) 0.57.04
22 Wal Mullany (Aus) 0.57.30
23 Craig Taylor (Aus) 0.57.33
24 Claus Christiansen (Den) 0.57.45
25 James Van Gelder (Aus) 0.57.52
26 Glen Heuvel (RSA) 0.57.59
27 Phillip Mcneill (Aus) 0.58.04
28 Robert Thompson (Aus) 0.58.42
29 Stephen Joyce (Aus) 0.59.05
30 Raymond Gorrell (Aus) 0.59.38
31 Peter Holley (Aus) 0.59.52
32 David Russell (Aus) 1.01.00
33 Geoffrey Shaw (NZl) 1.02.00

Team talk from mascot...

Mint-sauce gave me a pep talk. After the Allblacks untimely exit from the World Cup, its up to me to restore the pride in our country. No pressure....

Mint-sauce is still on the good stuff. No grass yet, just bottled milk. I tasted it and I got quite a liking for it after a while. I thinks its got collostrum in it? I am sure its made me feel stronger! I mean look what it does for her!!! (Link here) .

Sheep are people too ya know!

Dont you hate it the way all people can think of when you say you live in NZ, is how many sheep we have? I mean, crikey, theres more to us than that!

Oh yeah. Check the latest member of our family. I call him mint sauce but my daughter calls him pepper.

Hours of fun.. Podcast city arizona

This is the coolest site I have come across in ages
Competitor Radio
Downloads for your PC or MP3 player...

These are a few of the podcasts I have listened to.
Greg Lemond talking about winning the tour clean.
Lemond Interview
Betsy Andreu, on LA!
http://www.competitorradio.com/details.php?show=154
Bob Roll, gonzo cool dude..
http://www.competitorradio.com/details.php?show=7
Bob Roll, on Phloyd
http://www.competitorradio.com/details.php?show=8
Chris McCormack. Winningest triathlete across all distances... except the Ironman
http://www.competitorradio.com/details.php?show=11
David Walshe, on LA
http://www.competitorradio.com/details.php?show=150
Faris Al Sultan, hawaii ironman winner
http://www.competitorradio.com/details.php?show=63
Greg Welch, Iron-tri dude, now has a built in defribulator!
http://www.competitorradio.com/details.php?show=22

The hills are alive...

We discovered this new hill in Wellington the other day, in Wadestown, "Weld St" . Dang it was steep... you cant tell from the photos, but I felt ill riding up it, as short as it was. The last photo is from out near Makara beach. Much less steep, and more scenic.

Assembling kit for Oz masters world track champs

I got an axle kit from HED, to convert this old screw-on clustered disc into a fixed wheel for the track. It worked a treat! It was easy as to set up. I havent tried it out yet, the velodrome is probably a bit slippery at the moment. Hmmm bugger.... have just found a flaw with the HED kit. It only has the one set of threads, and there is not much room for a lock-ring.... which means I cant use the clever Miche styled carrier system I just bought. You can slip a very thin lock-ring on if you are using standard cogs, but its threaded the same way anyway, so its just for decoration. A trick for young players.

My buddy Humpy has lent me his Raceline Record with Miche crankset, so that should be a bit faster than my old "Pex" . A couple of new chains and some bars and I should be rocking.

I will put a negative rise stem on to improve my cda. Its easier than making more watts. I have an idea on what kind of watts I will need to be competitive, and its another 70 watts over what I estimate I made at the nationals. I am not sure how easy it is to grow another 70 watts for 3kms but I will be monitoring my progress closely with the power tap.

New toy just arrived...

Power tap Pro.
Looks a bit like an SL, but its not.
Compare
The Saris guys are amazing. They certainly stand by their product. Awesome to know this when you live thousands of miles away from their HQ. These babies look totally different inside to the old yellow model pro. It has little hearing aid type batteries instead of the bigger half AA sized ones.


The weight is very similar to the old yellow pro though, despite the shiney carbon : ) - well, it was on my kitchen scale.

THE HUMANS ARE DEAD (I poked one.. it was dead)

This is the Flight of the Conchords. NZ's 4th most popular Folk Comedy Duo. Currently screening on HBO.