Saturday, September 22, 2012

China 2 stage 5

Bombed out big time today. I had been so so confident going into todays 18km individual TT and this in the end proved to be my downfall. I ultimately finished 5th on the day and dropped to 4th on GC and am very very disappointed in wasting such a golden opportunity.

I had everything mapped out and plan in place to ride the exact time and speed I felt would be enough to win the stage and the race. In the end it would have been more than enough but unfortunately it was not me who performed it. Stefan shumacher defended his lead by proving he was the strongest man in the race of truth and winning todays TT.

For me all went perfect in my preperation and I arrived on the start line supremely confident. My warmup which I have completed so many times before went perfect and I was ready to rock and role. I started great and it all felt so easy. I was immediately a couple of kmph above the speed I planned and was having to hold back my enthusiasm to keep a lit on blowing my engine. I could immediately see that I was gaining quickly on the 2 riders ahead of me and assumed I was most likely putting time into my greatest rival shumacher in the process. In the absence of race radios our team director and I had devised a plan using the car horn to keep me updated on shumacher relative to me. Pretty simle, 1 honk was I was pulling away and 2 honks he was closing. Just as I started to settle into a perfect rythm and confident I was flying into the race lead I got a 2 honk when I had been exppecting 1. This immediately changed my mindset and confidence and while I could still clearly see I was closing on the 2 riders ahead of me to the tune of taking 20seconds out of them in the first 8km, shumacher was not following my script and was surprisingly closing. This was where the wheels feel completely off. Instead of relaxing into my comfortable fast rhythm I was now on edge and pushing the fraction harder than I knew or wanted to and was no longer racing my race. The 2 honks continued and I started to concede that if he was closing I had to except he was stronger and simply start to conserve in a bid to hold my own position of 2nd on GC. This seemed a relatively easy task considering I had taken 20-25 seconds out of the 2 riders directly behind me within the first 10km.

By half way I was completely puzzled and no longer racing my own race. I knew I was going quick but was demoralized that shumacher was apparently closing in on me. With the u turn it gave me a chance to see for myself exactly how close to me he was. To my surprize I was 15 seconds ahead by my rough calculation however It was a pretty accurate calculation give or take a few seconds. So now I was really confused and could understand why chris kept telling me I was down when I was clearly up at that stage. After this the wheels continued to fall off as the fatigue of pushing slightly harder than I knew I was capable of in the first half was beginning to take its tole. It not easy pushing a rd bike at 50kmph on the flat rd and 15min into the race I had averaged around 450 watts so I was certainly at my limit of capacity for an effort like this and to be able to pull it off I not only needed my body to be in perfect shape but most importantly my head which had gone from concentrating on what I was doing to thinking about everything else around me that I had stupidly allowed myself to worry about.

I pushed on and started rapidly loosing power and speed. I was now down around 46kmph and nudging closer to 45's and 44's instead of the 50's I knew I had to maintain to win. Still I maintained a big advantage over the riders ahead of me while chris kept honking his horn 2 times to remind me shumacher was coming. This was starting to really bug me as I had seen with my own eyes that it was not the case however as I was starting to suffer I assumed now he most probably was closing fast. At 5km to go I had my expert teammate in timing joris balit from switzerland!! To do some time checks and let me know where I was at at what I believed would be the most crucial part of the TT, the final 5km run to the line. I knew joris would be spot on with his time checks so I was confident I could believe in time check. As I passed he let me know I was 15 seconds up which I knew was about the amount of time I was ahead of the riders ahead so figured he was just telling me that but it turns out he was telling me I still had 15 seconds on shumacher which he had calculated with the use of a friend a km down the rd helping out. Talk about swiss precision!! As expected joris had not let me down but by this point I had well and truly let myself down and joris said he could see it in my face. He could not understand why I looked so defeated and did all he could to enthuse me as I went past but it was 2 late. He had seen me pedaling so perfectly as it felt in the first half when I passed him but now where I needed to hit the turbo I was dropping the anchor and visibly coming to a grinding holt.

At this point with 5km to go I was fastest by 15 seconds and in the virtual lead of the tour by 10seconds but I had already lost the race to what turned out to be my biggest rival, myself. If I had been more alert and focused on joris's time check which I knew I could trust and realized I was infact in this position as planned who knows how I would have approached that final 5km. I am pretty sure knowing your winning the tour would have a bit of a mental impact on you and boost which at this moment I desperately needed. In this case however there was to be no miracle. The wheels had well and truly fallen off. I continued to loose power and lose speed coming to the realization that I pushed to my limit and believing i was being still beaten by a stronger rider and was in survival mode. Even though it was not actually the situation and I was actually still on track to achieve exactly what I had set out to do 5km before this thought was long gone. As I slowed my rivals all sped up as I knew I needed to do to win the race. In the all 3 riders, the 2 infront and schumacher behind would take between 25-45 seconds out of me in the final few km and I was all of a sudden dropping completely off the podium into 4th and had blown a golden opportunity.

I reflected a lot and knew it was all my own undoing. I had made the fatal error of taking the focus of myself when I knew all was going perfectly with myself but allowed the honking of a horn to completely change my focus in the race. In chris's defense he said they found it difficult to take time splits of trees looking a minute behind them in the rear view mirror. He said they were doing there best but not really sure exactly what was going on. In reality it was dum of me to even suggest using such system and even dumber allowing it to dictate how I raced considering I felt I had a full proof plan anyway. I was confident I could win the race and did not need any more information than that. I needed to simply execute what I knew I was capable and when things got tuff which they do for eveyone use some mental strength to stay within my own body and push through and execute my plan. I have blown a great opportunity to win a race in the circumstances I always dreamed I could win one. Start the final day TT in a perfect position and ride into the jersey. It was my first chance to make the dream come true and I let it slip. I simply choked in every sense of the world.

It is days like today that remind you how important it is to be not only be physically at your peak but mentally aswell. Whenever I have done my best races or sporting performances it has always been after using a sports psychologist which are hugely under rated or arriving at an event with a clear mental plan and not allowing any outside distractions to waver me from my path. Today this focus alluded me and the result was disastrous, it brings me to the very simple conclusion. No matter how good I think I am or confident in my condition I have to ensure I am 100% mentally on the money as well. I am not and have never been the athlete that can rock up to any old event and use natural talent to dominate a field. The simply explanation is because I don't have any natural talent. I have only ever performed at the highest level and achieved my best performances when I have perfectly prepared for an event, both physical and mental. I don't have a switch I can flick. Any results I will ever garner will come from a specific period of training and preparation and its as simple as that. I am sad it taken another spectacular failure on my behalf to reinforce a fact that I certainly knew deep down but just another little reminder that we are always learning! Its ok to make mistakes, we all do!! The most important thing is what you learn from it and do differently in the future to ensure it does not happen again.

Cjw
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Friday, September 21, 2012

China 2 stage 4

Same same but different was the order of today. Same race plan as previous days with same expected outcomes. And as it has often turned out in this race that is exactly what transpired. A break got away a little earlier than normal which gobbled up all the intermediate sprints preventing our "sprint machine" anwa manan from adding to his tally of points in the sprint competition. The stage was by far the slowest and easiest of the tour which meant a more chaotic sprint than normal was on the cards. This is a by product of a peleton full of fresh legs and all of sudden every tom dick and charlie fancy them as a sprinter and riders go absolutely everywhere. Its at these moments I simply take no risks and sit up and ensure I don't lose time and maintain my position on GC. The crazy sprint rendered me useless in aiding our "sprint machine" and "bundy bullet" in the final km however the craziness of it all meant that after a few more riders than they were comfortable with bumping into and off them they also aborted the mission and were simply happy to finish the stage with all skin intact. With that anwa lost his blue jersey however in his true flare and exuberant nature declared it "no problem mate" in his finest aussie accent and plans to have it back by the time the race wraps up on sunday.

So the day has finally arrived that I have been waiting for with anxious anticipation. A 18.2km test against the clock which will most likely decide the winner of the tour of china 2. I feel good and have had the luxury of saving as much energy as possible for the race of truth so will see what happens.

Time for a little shut eye

Cjw
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Thursday, September 20, 2012

China 2 stage 3

Stage 3 of china is done and dusted and by dusted I mean that quite literally dusted!! Head to toe in fact. I can not remember ever having not only my hair turned a light grey brown but also my feet. Yes the dust here or whatever they have in the air has a unique ability to not only get all over you but also infiltrate your shoes and socks!!

Back to the racing and we had again some simple objectives for what has been a very simple race thus far. Firstly was to set up our "speed machine" from malaysia anwa manan for the intermediate sprints should the group be together. Anwa Is perhaps my favorite team mate I have ever had, just having him around cheers everybody up. While he could be describe as a little lazy by many I beg to differ!! He is just a true blue through and through sprinter. He want waste a single lick of energy he does not need to such as you will often need to knock on his door for about 10minutes until you either wake him up or he has decided that you must really need him so he will raise himself from his royal rest and greet you at the door!! He is without a doubt a great character and one guy I love racing with! In malaysia anwa is a serious sporting star thanks to being the only malaysian to ever win a stage of there national tour, le tour de lankawi which he achieved in 2010. Why is this significant well I will explain. He is the regarded as the fastest and greatest rider from malaysia. Here in the tour of china there is also his old team from malaysia whom are determined at every turn to try and steel the kings thrown. Where he goes they follow!! Look in tour of china 1, one day anwa 4, another malaysian 5, anwa 30 another malaysian 31st and so it goes through out each stage it is so funny to watch!!

So back to the race and having anwa fighting for the blue sprinting jersey which he now leads has many benefits. Firstly it gets our super hero up on the stage every day and him a chance to try his charm on the podium girls. Secondly by him going for all the intermediate sprints also means taking time bonus's. This is where it has an extra benefit for us as with me 2nd on GC we don't really want anybody putting any time into me before the penultimate day TT. So with anwa sprinting away that means all his little buddies from malaysia also are going hell for leather for the intermediate sprints and swallow up all the time bonus's!! Its great, anwa is the star and maintains his malaysian superiority and I can stay in 2nd on GC!

Our other plan today was to set anwa up for the sprint at the finish which finished 4th in, oh and you guessed it a malaysian safely tucked onto his wheel in 5th!! but after winning an intermediate sprint he took the lead in the points classification so great day all round. I remain in 2nd so another rd stage tomorrow where I expect much of the same and the race of truth arrives on saturday with the 20km individual TT which will most likely decide the winner of the 2012 Tour of China 2.

this race has also been containing a much more challenging component than the race itself, that been long driving transfers before and after stages and also on designated days of racing which we have had 2 off this week. On both occasions spending 7hrs in the car. And that is where I wright from at this moment, a 250km transfer which we have been informed will take 4hrs despite the fact we have a full police escort and 6 lane wide HWY all to ourselves. Like everything here in china, it makes EVERYTHING EXCESSIVE. Anyways best get back to work directing our mechanic risto whom is driving of picking our way through the convoy so we win the race after the race!! The one to the best spot in the bike mechanics work area!!

Cjw
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Sunday, September 16, 2012

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The chinese bob sleigh team!!
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Correction

Today my time was 7:40 not 6:40!! Oops if only
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My Dad

Other exciting news from the wurf cycling stable is that my dad today raced the world masters qualification event on the great ocean rd in victoria. In his age category which I regret to inform I have no idea what it was!! He placed a steller 16th out of 300 placing him easily inside the top 10% required in his category to qualify for 2013 world masters rd race in a yet to be announced location. Dad is very similar to me in his approach to cycling, a well suited engine which unfortunately gets used perhaps a little to much in training and consequently turning up to races and not seeing the same results as on the training track!! Fortunately this week which is coincidental as I experienced this aslo, we both came down with the flu and have had to go easy easy to be right for our respective events held today. Surprize surprize we both rocked up fresh as daisies and both performed at a level that is probably our better race performance we have ever done. Could be a good lesson in that!!

Anyway I am very proud of dad's achievement although it comes as no surprize he is going so well so soon after taking up cycling. Firstly he is fiercely competitive with his daily routine consisting of training before cross referencing his session with mine to see where he is at!! This is followed hrs of research on diet, equipment, race courses, training and often uncovering any information on my fellow competitors which he may deem to be usefull info for me. So not only is he a die hard for his own success but like he as always been he a great support and continued driver behind ensuring I get the most out of myself and keeping me armed with as much info and knowledge as possible to achieve it. Unfortunately he lives in queensland while I spend my time in tasmania so we can't train together but that is probably lucky as I am sure we would destroy each other constantly pushing ourselves that little bit further!! He is the perfect training buddy and dude to have in your corner so I am real pleased he has taken an interest in the sport I love and also now enjoying the success's of all his hard work and unrivaled dedication. He is an endless support in so many ways and it is great sharing the journey 1st hand with him.

I am sure with dads qualification for the world masters that his training and daily research will go to a whole new level as he looks to uncover all the 1%'s possible. I am just very fortunate that he does all this hard work for me and look forward to learning daily what he uncovers. Great stuff dad, look forward to seeing you take on the world in 2013. Now I need to get my backside into gear and get back on that national team to maintain the family standard!! Pressure is on!!

Cjw
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china 2 stage 1

The 2nd part of our adventures in china kicked of today with The Tour of China 2. The race was not due to begin until the 18th however yesterday afternoon race organisers decided that 4 days between the races was to much rest and figured it would be a great idea to hold a 6.2km prologue today to kick things of before we have another day off tomorrow to drive 600km and continue the race as planned on the 18th from where ever it is we end up after the rd trip tomorrow!

To be honest i am glad they did through in this extra day as 6.2km of a dead flat circuit and 1 corner, i.e. a turn around so we could go back the way we went out, was about as perfect a stage as possible for me. Perfect in as much as it was not techniqual and also the effort is about as close as it is ever going to be to do the 2km rowing ergometer test i used to love so much from my days in the national rowing team. I have done so many of these efforts that at one time in my youth, dad would make me complete this test every 2nd day for about 2 years!! surfice to say i was pretty confident i would do a solid ride as possible, i was pretty much on auto pilot. This experience however proved to be my downfall as on the rowing machine the fear is always going out to hard and blowing up. When you run out of power on a rowing machine you litterally stop counting down the meters as there is no other element than yourself to keep the machine cranking. For this reason i had over the years of many failed perfromances on the machine developed a full proof strategy in my final years in rowing which rarely saw me fail to attain a PB.

This approach was starting pretty solid for about 100m and pulling 1:28 per 500m splits for this time before i would gradually let the pace rise to my cruising speed of 1:33-1:34 by the time i had rowed 300m. from there i would hold this split easily at first before it would start to get harder to maintain in the final 1000m. From here i would really grit my teeth and fight to hold more 1:33's the 1:34's until i got to the final 300m where i would start to go hell for leather counting it down in 10 stroke increments with the aim of again pulling 1:28's in the final 100m. If all goes to the script as it usually did i would finish up with 6:11-6:12 and be either at the top or very close to it depending on how hard my mate mighty mike mc bryde decided pull on the handle.

Back to today and this full proof plan i felt like i was armed with all the knowledge and perfect plan i could have. Again this proved to be a backfire. I had decided that i could average between 460-480 watts depending on how well my legs felt and needed to be at this pace after my initial 10second accelleration up to speed. This was error 1!! after 10seconds i was only at 51kmph which ended up being merely 1kmph slower than i averaged for the entire effort. Once in my crove hovering around 450 watts i felt great and wanted to push hard but kept saying hold back hold back!! mistake number 2!! at the turnaround at halfway i was barely puffing and thought perfect as i had decided from 3km i would start to build gradually to the line. This was mistake 3, i built nice and gradually very carefull not to push to hard and explode and i did this. With 1km to go i was touching on 480-500 watts and still feeling fresh as i began to wind to the line and finished with a perfect average power as predicted bang on 475 watts. Where i had gone horibly wrong was not thinking like a cyclist and realising it is much easier to push a little harder and reach a higher speed where it is then easy to maintain with less power by tapping out a rythm to hold the speed. It is much had to increase speed with a steady power and you simply get bogged on where you have accellerated to. So while i did exactly as planned i also lost the race bace 3seconds to stefan schumacher and finished in 2nd place again, just like in tour of japan prologue behind my team mate will clark. I am sertain that had i have used a cycling brain as apposed to my useless rowing one when racing a bike, i could have ridden my bike much quicker. Anyway i did not and basically playing it safe meant i was never racing to win but simply not to lose. In the end i was the only loser!!

Fortunately we have an individual Time Trial of 18kn on the second last day so i have the chance to make a mends and this time race like a man and see what happens. Will certainly approach the stage with the attitude that it is better to fly and die than never fly at all!! Will see what happens on saturday!

data

Distance/Time: 6.2km/6'40"
Speed ave: 49.5kmph
Watts Ave/Max: 478/890watts
Heart Rate Ave/Max: 188/201
Cadance Ave: 100

cjw

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

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A classic example of our team director showing his competitive spirit in the race to the hotel for the best bike washing position!
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China 1 stage 5

Yet another day of chaos here in the tour of china. With a 6 lane rectangle pancake flat wet rd circuit of 11km x 10 laps there was always 3 things certain!! Ridiculously fast speed, massive crashes, and a crazy chaotic bunch sprint.

All duly transpired which was good on one hand for us as our plan remained unchanged with setting up the sprint for the bundy bullet aaron kemps, and defend the "great chinese rider" jersey for xu gang. Unfortunately the bundy bullet hit the deck in a big pile with 25km remaining which also stopped me in my tracks, fortunately I remained of the tarmac!! On a positive I spent nearly half the race riding full bannanas on the front to keep the field together so was happy to have finished a stage feeling like I had been run over by a truck which is a feeling I actually enjoy. The post race coke always taste's so much better when you have ridden yourself into the ground!! The crash took the edge of aaron so he did not get involved in the chaotic bunch sprint but xu gang successfully defended his "great chinese rider" jersey so that was a big objective met. After the race was stage 2 which involved a 300km transfer to the start city for tomorrow's final stage. These are always a bit of a hoot as its the team managers turn to race each other up the hwy in a bid to get to the hotel 1st so respective team mechanics can get the best possy to work on the bikes!! Yes everything associated with a bike race is a RACE!! That's what happen when the ex bike riders become staff members you end up with a big big group of competitive dudes. So the jostling for position on the hwy at 150kmph was that terrifying that I put on the neck pillow on and went to sleep with the hope that I would wake up safely at the hotel. Arrived safely and found my room which seemed to be a bit stuffy, like it was not use much. I pulled back the curtains and low and behold a bat flew out!! That is unique!! I can honestly say I have never had a bat hide out in my hotel room curtain in all my world travels!!

The adventure continues!!

Race data
Distance: 115km
Time: 2hrs 18min
Speed: 51kmph
Heart rate ave/max: 150/195bpm
Power ave/max: 310/943 watts
Energy burnt: 2427kcal

Cjw
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Tuesday, September 11, 2012

China 1 stage 4

It was a slippery dippery day here at the tour of china. As I have mentioned before the Rds are not the cleanest in the world with oil, dust, rocks and any other type of general waste that spills from what would be described as poorly serviced vehicles!! Basically it is a film of filth that combined with a light shower of rain becomes an ice skating ring.

On a positive we had a basic plan for the day to keep the peleton together for bunch sprint hoping our bundy bullet could pulverize the other opposition in the bunch gallop. A nice little break went and I planted myself on the front with a few riders from other teams to keep all under control and most importantly keep every body at a safe speed around the slippery corners. All went according to plan and with 5km to the finish the field was all together and the bunch sprint was set up. Only problem we had was now negotiating the final series of corners in the final 2km. Aaron was in perfect shape however once we hit the corners our japanese kamikaze's decided it was crash or win and hit the corners at full speed. Not surprisingly the results were mixed for them with half crashing but half surviving and ultimately winning the stage as crashes and confusion meant they were alone ahead with a pile of chaos behind so congratulations to them, take the risk and be rewarded for it. Our boys were not so aggressive and consequently a few fell while the rest of us were happy to get to the finish and live to fights another day with all our skin intact. Once again never a dull moment racing in china!!!

Cjw 

Distance: 100km
Time: 2hrs 5min
Speed ave: 49kmph
Power ave/max: 285/1070 watts
Heart rate ave/max: 125/185bpm
Energy burnt: 2000kcal

Sunday, September 9, 2012

China 1 stage 3

Stage 3 is in the books and ultimately was to the script. A small climb midway dropped a few out the back but still the stage ended in a big dangerous group sprint. The most excitement for me happened on the drive to the start as our mini van fell behind the police escort. Our chinese driver put all his local driving skills into action leaving one thumb permanently planted on the horn using the other fingers for steering and one to change gears. We spent about 20min driving between the footpath, medium strip, bike lane and occasionally ventured into a regular lane!! In the end I could not look, light colors where ignored and after the mad chase we regained contact with the race convoy and my heart rate was able to drop below 200 finally. Funnily enough it never even got that high in the race!!

As for the race no break ever went. I did my best to form a small selection on the climb attacking what felt like 1000 times but could never break the clutches of the field. There was always s head wind and this meant someone could always chase and give others a draft before they then chased and so on and so on for all those on the wheel behind. It just was not happening for me today. To rub insult into injury when I finally broke clear and got a reasonable gap, perhaps 20 seconds, the helicopter decided he should get a close up and got lower and lower until just hovering infront of me which not only almost blew me into the nearest rice paddock but also back to the chasing bunch and instantly my lead was gone and the bunch sprint eventually transpired. There were a few to many crazies in the group for me so I just sat safely out of trouble and happy to wait for another day to go for glory.

Our chinese strongman xu gang retained his lead in the "great chinese rider" competition so all good. The "bundy bullet" our spinter aaron had an easy day in the back groups and will have fresh legs for the next sprint stage we tackle so all in all still going well for the champion system boys here in tour of china 1.

Power data again was high and I am really happy with how I am feeling so will keep attacking!!

Distance 124km
Time: 2hrs 40min, 45kmph average
Average/max power: 322/1062watts
Heart rate average/max: 147/188Bpm
Energy burnt: 3000kcal

Cjw
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Saturday, September 8, 2012

China 1 stage 2

another good day here in china for the champ systems lads. The "bundy bullet" (aka aaron kemps from bundaberg QLD) bolted to a great 2nd place in the bunch gallop and our chinese strong man Xu gang maintained his lead in the "great chinese rider competition". Yes that's right, it is not simply the best chinese rider but the GREAT chinese rider!! Never a dull moment in the chinese races.

The race itself went as expected and finished in a bunch sprint. Was 10 x 10km laps and our mission was simply to be involved in any breakaways and ensure the bundy bullet and xu gang were safe and sound in the bunch to save the little legs for when the heat was on in the final km. It was pissing with rain and with the chinese rds not renowned for there cleanliness meant that is was as slippery as a ky jelly and filthy as a pig in mud. Must admit it did not smell much better either. I don't like being in the peleton when its raining, to nervous and dangerous so I did what I always do and attacked as much as possible and fought for the front spots at the odd occasion that I was stuck in the bunch. There were about 300hundred breakaway attempts but none got more than a few seconds away so the constant intensity meant we did the 100km in exactly 2hrs so was short and very sharp. The bundy bullet then came ever so close to the big win so we will all be extra motivated to help him get there in the upcoming stages and of course maintain a strong defense of the "Great Chinese Rider" jersey with xu gang.

Race data again promising and backed up how I feel, very good!!

Distance: 100km
Time: 2hrs
Speed ave: 50kmph
Average/Max power: 347/1044watts (a result of my ants in my pants attacking all day)
Average/Max Heart Rate: 150/195
Energy burnt: 2332Kcal

Cjw

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Friday, September 7, 2012

Tour of china 1 Day 1

Back in china!! And like most of the chinese races it will be another novel adventure. It had been planned to be a 16 day tour however international cycling regulations have meant that the event has been broken down to wait for it!!! Tour of china 1 and Tour of china 2!! The courses of each race have changed about 300 times in the past week so taking it day by day could not be a more fitting way of approaching the event. Roughly it has been broken into two 6-7 days tours with a couple of rest/travel days in between. On the paper we have at the moment it would seem it is as flat as pancake with china 1 characterized by a team time trial and china 2 set to be decided in a penultimate day individual TT. Suffice to say I will be focusing all my efforts on the 2nd tour and specifically the TT.

Being a race in china it will be a very important appointment for our champion system outfit. Following the strong team showing in qinghai lake we are determined to continue the momentum and ideally see if we can finally crack a big win for the season. Certainly plenty of enthusiasm within the 6 dudes we have assembled here.

So stage 1 of china 1 kicked off today with the Team TT and we had a modest showing finishing 5th on the stage. I love these events as it is as close to a rowing race that you can get on a bike. You all start together and you winning time is given by the 5th rider across the finish line. So basically if you ride as an individual and blow your team mates up the result will be terrible. The idea is to stay as smooth as possible and keep everybody together for as long as possible. I have always been a bit of a talker and not surprisingly in my rowing days I would often do the race calls and make the odd encouragement call. I have adopted the same role in the team TT's so as each rider swings off the front having done there turn and is floating back beside the group for a short breather is give them a quick encouragement and pat on the back just as a reminder that we are all in this together and hopfully, all be it for a brief second take there mind of the pain of the effort. It is an event that I really get excited about, I love any excuse to chat!!

By far it was the best TTT we have done this year as far as pacing and working together goes so I was very pleased with that. Our fast man and rd captain aaron kemps did an awesome job setting the pace and our chinese strongman xu gang and myself did our bit to pull as long as possible to give the rest of the guys as fresh as possible. It was the most un technical course I have ever completed, 10km out, around a traffic island and 10km back. Tailwind out and you guessed it block headwind back so was pretty straight forward. The plan was to go out smooth with the wind and then on the return leg xu gang and I would pull longer and harder as the others had a better recovery sitting on the wheel into the wind. We were doing 57-60kmph with wind and on the way back 46-47kmph into the wind. I was doing between 500-550 watts during my pulls to maintain this speed on the way back which indicates how solid the head breeze was. All in all we paced it great and had plenty in the tank for the return into the wind so a good start for the champ system lads as we kick of our september adventure in china.

So onto my data for the day and I am pretty pleased with it and have some added motivation for the race ahead after analyzing it.

TTT data
Distance: 20km
Time: 23:55
Speed Av: 50.3kmph
Av/Max heart rate: 174/195
Av/max power: 407/1050watts
1min power: 540watts (average length of my turn on the front of our team champion system chew chew train!!)
Av Cadence: 100RPM
Energy burnt: 580KCal

Cjw
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