man...its bad news when the pro's are in town over summer!....the other year I rolled up to le knicks ready to kick some arse.....1 minute to 7 a group rolls in containing, (amongest others) baden Cooke, matt Wilson, matt white, robbie Mcewen, stuey, & Henk Vogels.(all in town for the 'bay crits)....Hitchy swallows deeply....overhears robbie & the cookie monster having a lazy $100 on the outcome & $10 per suburb sign!....hitchy can't breathe by this stage. Hammer is down from the start.....ave 55km to the bottom of Olivers, hitchy hanging on for dear life.....HR 180 sitting on the whole way!....got shelled at Olivers, (me & 100 others!).....picked them up on the way back.....doing 60kph up thru Beauie (hitchy is dying at this stage)...then the word comes back that Robbie & Cookie are going 'double or nothing' on the last sprint!.......Hitchy blacked out at 70kph & thats when they decided to sprint!........Fark...I've never seen acceleration like that......I'm hanging by a thread at 70kph, cookie drops it into the 11 & disappears off the front with robbie in pursuit!........HRM's flashing "stop this or you will die...call 911 immediately".....
caught up with them later at 'Racer'...they were sitting around comparing HR's, power etcover a coffee.....I remember cookie saying that he'd maxxed at about 75% for the ride!!!!.....They were heading off to the 1/20....& invited me & a few others that had been yapping to them to come along.......I'm too smart for that (& too fat!)...some of the boys just shook there heads & groaned later when asked how they went!,

cheers,
.
hitchy


cheer

Aaah....Robbie stories.
I was on his wheel at the Windermere Classic in Dandy in his Rabo days, on the bell we were literally 3rd and 4th last wheel. He got 2nd behind Pate I think. Incredible.





BTW.....I was nowhere.......:D

Pate?...you been racing in some fine company Ed...Would i know you.?..PM me your name, I'm curious. I remember seeing him & danny clark in a wheelrace at northcote velodrome, They were both off scratch & everyone else in the final was 'behind' them on the start line, meaning, they were giving them all 250m start over 2000m.......Pate caught them all with 50m to go

PM on its way.

Patey was one of my heroes as a kid....saw him win the Austral from -10 then -20 a couple of years later!!!! The raging bull of Aussie track racing.....and a superstar on the Jap keirin circuit too.

Morning :D

That's why I go on and on about having an 11 tooth cog. :) It really surprises me when the Yanks argue that they don't need one at all. There was one guy who reckons he can ride at these speeds in a 52/13!! I calculated his rpm to be about 142! Dunno about you guys, but I can't sustain for very long.

I suppose if you're a great pedaler, but .....whatever.

G'day Aussies!

I just want to say "Thanks" to the Aussie who helped me out last month. I was in France on a tour with my bike to see the Tour de France. It was the day before the Alp d'Huez time trial, and several of us rode over to climb the Category 1 Col d'Glandon. It's a long climb (25 km or so), and about 8 km in it started to rain. I only had arm warmers and a lightweight shell, and as I pedaled through a tiny town I saw a sign warning of a 12% down grade ahead. As the rain was coming down harder, and as I knew I would have to climb back up that 12% grade to get back, and as there was a nice warm cafe nearby, I sat up on the bike and thought about turning around.

Just then, one of the Aussies on our tour rolled by. I told him I was thinking about bailing out because of the weather. His response, in typical cheery Aussie fashion was, "Hey, mate. I paid $4,000 (AU) for this trip...no way I'm turning back!" I thought about it for a bit, and said, "That's the spirit...onward and upwards!". I ended up climbing the Glandon, and later that day bagged Alp d'Huez too.

So, thanks to you all for that never quit Aussie spirit!

Yeah mate, nah mate, no worries mate :D

Tell Sally Robbins about that never quit, Aussie spirit.....

g'day,

yeah...whoever started this 'aussie spirit' should be hung...its giving us quitters & sooks a bad name!...I reserve the right to _____ & moan & quit if i want to!!!...(geez anyone would think I was a pom!)...


hitchy

errr they censored B.I.T.C.H out of my post**********?.....c'mon seppo's...its a female dog or a complaint......or maybe a moderator!


Hitchy

Thanks, appreciated...you will also find that Aussi's also have a habit of 'taking the p1ss' so expect a lot of that around here as well. :)

Hitchy, you're not going to scare me off with your stories!!...(although wattsy did take a deep breath when reading your recount, and puckered a little) I think going down will be fine, I suspect coming back may cause some stress. Anyhow, I'll see you at Le Nicks a little before 7.

It's your respect for your fellow man that I respect the most about you...

LOL...why thank you brother!......stop it I'm blushing!.....Now that this meeting of the mutual admiration society is over.......Don't stress about the 'hell ride', its not always 'that' hard......If you get shelled over olivers (most people are Ok till then), just hang about for 15 mins, (or start pedalling slowly back), till you see 'em come charging back...then jump on again. I doubt I'll get much past olivers anyway, (but I could show you Hitchy's patented short cut :D), I've got a full on weights session tomm nite...so i'm sure my legs will be feeling 'just peachy'

Hitchy

Sunbury Aquatic Centre mate?? See you there......I'll be the guy struggling under the standing military press.....:D

Ahhhh....The aquatic centre...the local version of the chinese torture chamber...yup, i'm a member!....hey wait a minute!....Military press.?....thats upper body, right?...as in 'above the waist' weights?
....& you call yourself a cyclist!..Get ye behind me satan!...skinny arms & 'stove in' chests are a fashion statements!....besides, unless I'm mistaken, i can't pedal with me arms or chest!

hitchy

Cycling days are a misty, hazy, nostalgic memory. From a racing weight of 72kgs (was as low as 69.5 in Holland.....veins across my stomach...sexy) to my current bulk of 106.4kg. 33.4 kilos in 5 years.

I brought one of my old jerseys into work to prove to guys what I used to wear.....guffaws all 'round.

Hitchy will refrain from guffawing & pointing out that it gets worse the 'other side o' 40. ......106kg?......Hitchy makes mental note not to let ed have a ride 0' the 486.......no weight limit prescribed ,but why take any chances.......Now where were we?........

See, here in lies my problem. Power in the legs and lungs is great, but my weight is also around 100kg's. I once raced motorcross and road trail bikes for a living and was also in the low 70's at that time.

so wheres the problem.......weight on the treadlie is only an issue if ya going up hills....solution?......carfully plan all rides to exclude any activity with 'vertical adjustment'!........sadly I too am 'gravitationally challenged', (although not to the point o' you fat bastards!....:D)......In the cycling world we compensate by referring to ourselves as 'sprinters'.......now, who's for size 16 bibs?

hitchy

Now I don't feel so bad; I've "ballooned" from 78kg to 87kg at 5'11.5"

Gee, Hitchy, you do like playing with fire! Which one are you referring to, by the way?

Moi????........mate, I is innocent o' all charges levied against me....I can't help it if certain moderators don't have a sense of humour!.....(cripes ya gotta watch what ya say with seppo's don't ya?....there a sensitive bunch!)

hitchy

Ppwwwttt, I read this and spat coffee over my monitor. I'd just like to state for the record that I don't know this person and affirm that Mods are ALL great and knowing...

the Scapin has climbed about 20 vertical feet since I got it......:D

You forget the <suck-up mode off>

Oh, and I also second wattsy's motion.