finally a post

Well im sitting here pretty bored and realised I hadnt had an update for a seriously long time so here goes. This week has not been so great. Getting back from a wee break in paris to catch the last stage of the tour de france I arrived to no bike. It seems it was stolen from our garage while I was away so to be honest im pretty pissed. I've now gotta wait for a few days for some peices to arrive so i can rebuild my trek so i have a bike I can ride for the rest of the season. So a few more days off which im not so pleased about with only 8 weeks left in Belgian I'd like to make the most of the time.

On a positive note it has given me abit of time to get a couple of massey assignments completed so i guess its not all bad.

I've done afew races since I last posted but its quite a stretch for my memory to think back so i'll just put a report for the races I can remeber. The most recent race I can remember is the Tour De Province Luxembourg. This is a 4 stage tour with each stage around 150k on a fairly hilly terrain. This was my first tour so I was interested to see how I would go. The first stage started with a tempreture of 30 odd degrees so we were all expecting a hot hard day, the stage started with 5k flat before hitting a 15k climb. Ths climb wasnt super steep but as we hit the top we were hit by heavy rain and hail. I was struggling a wee bit due to allergies restricting my ability to breathe and got dropped with a biggish group 1k from the top but luckly we got back on, on the descent. I just settled in the bunch not feeling the greatest then at 100k the grupetto formed of around 40 riders and I was happy to get in this group and get to the finish. It had been hailing all day since 15k so we were all cold and happy to finish.

The 2nd stage was another hilly circut with 3 finishing circuts with a 1k climb to the finish. This stage was constant rain all day and for most of the stage I sat in the bunch fairly comfortable. We then hit the first time up the finish climb after 110k I ended up in the 2nd group and it stayed like this to the finish. I was feeling really good on this stage and I think had I had better positioning I would have been in the front group but thats just life I guess.

The 3rd stage is where it went pear shaped, It was all up or down for the first 40k and my gears wernt working so all i could ride was my biggest gear. This wasnt so great on the climbs and I ended up dropped and out of the race so not a great end to the tour.

Thats really the only race I can rember despite racing a few others. I will try update more often now. My excuse is that my computer blew up so I couldnt.

Josh