Ghent

Well I am in Ghent!

We are here for 3 days for a training camp on the track. It is my first time on the track since my crash....almost 6 months. Also it is my first time since then doing efforts. Safe to say I was not prepared at all for the intensity of efforts on the track! First day was pretty rough. Managed to come right today though luckily. Still not setting the world alight nor do I have my track legs back but riding into it! Glad to back into it. And most importantly my knee felt good during the efforts!

The track is black....that's a new one.

Tomorrow is the last day. Have some flying 2km efforts to do which should be good! Then back to good old Blauberg! 

Went out for dinner last night and had probably the biggest bowl of spag bol I have had in my life as well as it being up there with the best I have had in my life. Apart from Dad's of course!

That is a big bowl of pasta

Been working on something the last week or so. Decided to make a website! Will be much like my blog. It will have a specific 'blog' section as well as a bit about me, a gallery and a few other bits and bobs! Should be good when it is up and running! Hopefully I will get it up in the next couple weeks.

Until then you can keep up to date with stuff on here!

Cheers for reading.

WB

Shoot with Graham

As days in Belgium go, yesterday was a pretty good one.

The highlight of the day was of course getting to meet Graham Watson and have some photo's of the team and bikes taken. We rode to Leuven in the morning to meet him at midday. He trained up from Liege to meet with us. Turns out he is a good dude and really down to earth! He has a house in Nelson, NZ where he spends part of his year as well as have a Kiwi partner. 

We had a bit of a chat with him as a team when he arrived and then got into it! Was a pretty brief photo shoot. We found a big statue type thing in the middle of a big square in Leuven which was going to be the backdrop. We got a few shots of the whole team with all the bikes, then the team with only a couple of bikes and finally individual shots with us and our own bike

The main purpose of the shoot was to get some good pictures for our sponsors. Most importantly in this case was Trek Europe, hence the bikes in the shots. 

Was good to meet such a legend of the cycling community. 

Big thanks to Trek Europe, Skins, Rabobank, Sparc and BikeNZ!

When we get our hands on the pictures ourselves I will post them up on here so stay tuned! 

Cheers

WB

Belg Life.

There have not been many crazy happenings lately. Managed to settle into a nice wee rhythm here in Blauberg. 

The most important and exciting thing that has happened has been my knee slowly getting better. Been putting a lot of time into rehab, especially at the gym. Been visiting about 3-4 times a week and have noticed a big improvement already. Had lost a lot of strength since my last gym visit a couple of months ago. I will start looking at getting back into racing at the end of next week depending on how this week goes. 

We got some big races coming up. In just under month we will be racing Tryptique Ardennais which is a 3 day tour in Belgium which hopefully will be my first big race. Then at the end of May will be the Ras in Ireland. This is a pretty big tour which sounds crazy hard. Probably won't be doing this simply because I won't have enough form by then with the step back I have had with my turning bad. But through this time I will be training hard for Thuringen-Rundfahrt which will be one of the biggest targets for the team this year. 

Enough cycling talk for one blog I reckon. Here are some pictures from our day trip to Leuven yesterday. Leuven is the nearest big city to where we live. Pretty cool place. 

Everyone seems to be in their own little world in this one.. 

Artistic alley-way... 

Church 

Same church 

Cobble shot 

My friend Pablo the Baker-man 

Crazy Castle which was crazy.  

Just your typical dirty through-city canal 

Wasn't much to report in this blog post sorry! Cheers for reading though and hope you enjoyed.

Cheers

WB

Highs and lows.....Already

Well I finally managed to settle in to things here in Belgium. Sleeping pattern was on the fritz no more. Training was also starting to get back to normal with a few good sessions being put in.

Was feeling good and pretty excited for my first Kermesse which was last Saturday. The weather was perfect, it was about 22 degrees out and still. The race was a bout an hour away from where we live.

Cam, Myron and my bikes all ready to roll before the race.

 I rolled around the course when we got there - course was crazy - narrow roads, heaps of sharp corners, 200m uphill cobble section and 2 climbs, all in a 6km circuit. To add to the madness there were 267 starters. None of the boys had seen a Kermesse with this many starters before. Race was full tit from the gun. I spent the first 30mins working my way to the front. Was loving every minute of it. Dirty Belgies screaming at you in another language, people missing corners and just general madness. Was awesome.

However an hour into the race my knee started to hurt and as soon as i could feel it getting progressively worse i pulled the pin. Was pretty dark at the time because i was feeling good and would have loved to finish the race and see how i could have got on but in hindsight it was probably the smart thing to do.

After talking to my personal and team coaches we have decided that i will pull out of doing U23 Flanders and La Cote Picardie. Pretty hard decision to do this but definitely the right thing to do. It is a very long season and there are a lot of big and important races right throughout the season.

So for the next two weeks (During the nations cups) I will be undercover getting back into a routine of rehab type exercises as well as frequent visits to the gym while also training on the bike to keep the fitness up. Then I plan to be able to get back into a good hard training block to prepare for Tryptique Ardennais and the An Post Ras in Ireland, both of which are big tours.

Hopefully my next post will be all positive!

Cheers for reading.

Peace.

WB

Belgium.....Cold

It is a bit chilly!

After 38 hours of travelling I was pretty stoked to arrive in Belgium. Arrived into Brussels at about 7pm and had a 40km drive east to Blauberg! Didn't see much of it as we arrived because it was pitch black and I was a bit tweaked. Woke up in the morning to a veeeeery fresh Belgium morning. Amazing day though, sun was out and wind was non-existent. After I got out of bed I ate some porridge. The porridge was yum.

Cam cooking up some delectable delight no doubt 

We then drove to Holland for the last day of the UCI Track World Champs. Was some pretty mad racing. Then got to mingle with Theo Bos at the private Rabobank function which we were invited to as they are one of our key sponsors. Got back to Blauberg pretty late after that last night so was straight to bed to try battle the jet lag. It is messing me round a bit. Waking up at about 5 every morning and not able to get back to sleep. Should be good in a few days!

Here are some pictures of the house. Pretty choice wee set-up, got everything we need.

 

Went for our first ride today. Was pretty cold but again it was a sunny day with not much wind. Went for about 80km in the end. Training is pretty flat around here which isn't the best but got to make do with what you have got! Weather has been amazing since I arrived which apparently isn't really the norm for Belg.

We have a store right beside us which is convenient but a bigger supermarket just down the road which is better as it is a lot cheaper.

First race is a 120km Kermesse on Sunday which should be interesting. No idea how the form is. Then next Wednesday we have a 110km Kermesse around the finishing circuit for Scheldipris and race on it just before the pros come through to finish so that should be pretty sick.

Cheers

WB

Tour of Northland

Bit of an update...

Stage 1 – First win!

Today was a good day. It was my first win since my crash. The stage was about 90km with a few wee hills in it but nothing big. With about 40km to go I got away down a descent and was joined a few kms later by James Oram. We managed to hold on to a 30sec lead by the finish where I edged him out in the final. Was good to get the win but I could tell that the body took a bit of a hammering. First race back was a bit of a shock to the system. Had been doing miles leading up to it so was far from prepared for the intensity.

Stage 2 – 80km

Joke of a day. The stage was pretty hilly with a 13km climb about 20km from the finish. Defending yellow wasn’t ideal at all. Legs were average. Brad carter and Matt Gorter got away early on and had about a minute and a half at the bottom of the climb. On the first half of the climb there was a flurry of attacks which helped push the pace as James and I made sure we covered all we could. Then it settled into a pretty good rhythm and we managed to catch the two just before the top. Nick Lovegrove got away with 10km to go and was never seen again and got the stage. This was alright because he crashed and dnf’d the day before. There was quite literally a 700m long ‘wall’ 2km out from the finish. I tailed off by about 50m up here and then dropped my chain…..twice….then crashed on the descent trying to push it a bit hard to catch up…..so yeah, lost a bit of time.

Stage 3 – 90km

Shit stage. Flatted about 2km in just as the pace went nuts. Got back on but was feeling average and couldn’t do much all day. Felt alright coming into the finish which was up a wee rise. However I forgot to tighten my limiter screw which caused my chain to drop between my wheel and cassette the day before, so the exact same thing happen and lost even more time. Pretty depressing day really….lost my wallet for a few hours which was a bit stressful.

Stage 4 – 80km

Was amped for the stage today. Had heard from a few people that it was a pretty hard course. They were spot on with that little piece of information. 10km in thought I had found my legs enough to have a dig off the front. Attacked up what I thought was a wee rise…..turned a corner and realised it kept going up for another half a km….hurt a bit, but I managed to get a good gap. The next few kms I was solo until a wee group came across up a climb which Brad Carter attacked from straight away. Managed to hold on to his wheel and we got a reasonable gap. Got shut down pretty quick however. Brad went again as soon as we were caught and eventually went on to win the stage with a pretty impressive 75km solo effort. I had a dig up another hill a few kms later and was followed by Daniel Poole. We worked together well for the next 20km trying to bridge to Brad. Got a time check at 1.30 and sat up because we weren’t making any ground up. Brad must have been stomping! Had a wee dig with 1km to go and got off the front and rolled in behind the 3 boys up the road. So good day out!

Stage 4 Finish

Tour was a good bit of training before I head overseas with the BikeNZ U23 track endurance team for a season on the road.

Cheers for reading.

Big thanks to both sets of my grandparents as well as my parents for supporting my cycling since the very beginning. Would be bloody hard to make it in this sport without the support from these people!

WB

New Toy

So, 

My shiny new team bike arrived at the door on Saturday! The whole U23 NZ Track team will be racing and training on these during the European road season. From the one ride I have done on it I was very impressed. Stiff and responsive and has a bloody smooth to ride. 

New rig.

Big thanks to Trek Europe for sponsoring the team. 

Plans for me now are to head north for the Tour of Northland from the 17th to 20th. Sounds like a cool tour over 4 days with stages all about 100km long. Then it is back to Hamilton for one day to pack then home to Christchurch! Only for a few days though. Days which will be full on trying to get organised and packed for Belg! We catch the big bird out on the 25th. 

Not long after we get there we are into our work with a couple smaller races to find the legs then straight into the Nations Cup races! These are - U23 Tour of Flanders (Belgium) - La Cote Picardie (France) - ZLM Tour (Netherlands). They are all huge races and if I do have enough form to get a start in them, they'll be the hardest races I have done. 

Cheers

WB

Crash, sponsors and more km's

Yeah I ate some concrete.

Big bastard pot hole snuck up on me while I was reaching for a bottle. Sneaky pot hole. This was about 100km into a 180km day so with the crash included into that ride I was a little tired at the end of the day. Knocked up Te Awumutu racing during the ride as well which was pretty choice. The racing is awesome - hard from the gun and has a pretty nasty finish up a false flat. Managed to roll 2nd with Brad Carter being up the road.

Woke up rather stiff this morning but the sun was shining so it was time for pedal in the beautiful Waikato sunshine! Got a solid 100km in with Sean Joyce and discovered this wee beauty!

Also if you are ever in Te Awamutu and are wanting quite an amazing brew I do recommend dropping into Empire Cafe. Very good coffee indeed. And caramel slice....

In other more exciting news, the Bike NZ U23 programme has just got the news that Trek Europe will be on board as a bike sponspor for our 2011 season! So we will be rolling shiny new Treks which is choice!

Just over two and half weeks until we catch the big bird to Belgium so another solid week here in the Tron then it is off to Northland for the BDO Northland Tour then winging south to Chch for a few days at home with the family then no more NZ for 6 months! Going to miss the NZ winter...they do go good.

Cheers for reading...you don't really have to...quite optional.

WB

A rookies perspective on Track vs Road

Heaps of cats been asking why, if I'm in the NZ U23 Track team, are we heading to Europe for a full time schedule of road racing....

Two reasons:

1. The main goal of our programme is to develop us into road professionals. (With the ability to have access to us once from our Pro road team for track events such as the Olympics and World Champs)

2. Track Endurance requires fitness. Fitness you can only get from road racing and training. In a build up to a big event, track endurance riders will always have a heavy road racing schedule in the early stages of of their build up.....typically 3-4months out. You are essentially building a base in which you will be able to effectively add a month of hard track training to (which is where we in theory get the power and speed necessary to race track at the highest level). If you didn't have this fitness from the road racing and training there is no way you could do hard track training and expect to recover for back to back sessions.

So being a successful track endurance rider is hugely dependent on having a considerable base of road racing and training in your legs. HENCE the season of full time road racing in Europe!

The idea for the season is to essentially be "Engine Building" for the track events later in the year. While at the same time presenting us with the opportunities to make a considerable step forward towards our ultimate goal of becoming a Road Professional.  This year is special however as it is a pre Olympic year so the main goal of the season is to be firing in October when all the Track Endurance riders come together for a camp which is essentially the selection camp where a long list for 2012 London Olympics will be made.

Yeah good

Will

Bits and bobs from here and there.

Yeah Hey,

Thought, seeing as I only have three weeks until I catch the big bird to Euro land I should start up a wee blog for anyone who is interested in following my progress in my first International Road season. This entry will be a long one...but bare with me they won't be this long after this one.

Better update everyone on what has been happening in my life lately. Last October I fractured my Tibial Plateau racing on the track in Invercargill. Couldn't have been worse timing. I was a month out from southland and preparation was going rather well. A track carnival followed the Yunca Junior road tour which I thought I better do seeing as I was down there already. To cut a long story short I got my front wheel taken out and hit the deck pretty hard at about 55km/hr. Was pretty sore but didn't think it was as bad as it was. Invers radiologists (USELESS) told me it was just badly bruised. 

So off I went to the physio to begin treatment on an apparently bruised knee. A week later leg wasn't feeling mint at all. Luckily Dad is very good friends with Scott Thomson who used to own SporstMed and he fast tracked the whole thing and I was in for an MRI the next day (which revealed a bad fracture which would need surgery) and then in to hospital for the operation the day after that. 

    Surgery went well. They fixated the fracture with three screws and a plate. And thus begun the long journey back to being a cyclist again...

                                            That is the scar about 2 weeks post op. 

The first two months of rehab were by far the hardest and most painful. The main goal of this early rehab was to regain full flexion and extension. Shit it hurt. Physio would literally grab my leg and bend to where it couldn't bend anymore then get his bodyweight into it to force it to bend. Very thankful to all involved in those early days however because it has given me a fully functional 100% working leg!

Over the X-mas holidays I enjoyed shorter rides in the sun most days just easing back into it with a much heavier focus on off-the-bike exercises, mainly in the gym, to build back all the strength I had lost in the leg through lack of use during my 9 weeks on crutches.

About midway through January I got the go ahead to start ramping up the training on the bike and started to put in some longer rides and lift the intensity. Can't describe how mentally demoralizing it is not being able to sit above 200watts for more than an hour and a half. Safe to say I was weak as piss.

Took about a month of solid road training until I was able to race at a level high enough to keep up with A grade at club racing. Things were going perfectly - I was getting some form back and starting to feel like more of a cyclist. Then disaster struck once again (not as bad as last time, but still shit nonetheless). I got septic appendicitis...took a pretty big blow mentally from this because it put me into a hospital bed for a week which  pretty much took me back to square one in regards to building strength back up again. So once I was out it was straight back into the gym to build back everything I had lost (you can lose A LOT in a week lying down.)  

It is 3 week after getting discharged from hospital now and I have had a solid 450km week followed by another solid 700km week without any niggles whatsoever. So I am well and truly back on track and everything is going well for my arrival to Europe!

Hoping for another couple big weeks on the bike continuing to build the platform for the season ahead before finally racing the tour of Northland then winging it all the way to Blauberg, Belgium! I hear it is lovely there at this time of the year....or any time for that matter....should be an interesting season!

Would like to also say my heart is with all those affected by the earthquake in Christchurch. Especially those who have lost loved ones. It is a devastating thing to happen and what I saw of it before I left was pretty unreal. Stay strong! I know Canterbury will come through it bigger and better!

Cheers for reading and once again my other posts WILL NOT be this long just had to catch everyone up on shit that's been happening! I'll get better at formatting etc as time goes on too.

Chur

Will