And so it begins.....

Dylan has scored his first big win and did it in style at the Metropolitan Championships. The race was over 92km, four laps of a 23km circuit, over hilly country near Boonah. The bunch stayed pretty much together for the first three laps with one break getting up the road by 1min 30secs on lap two but Dylan and the boys closed it down and put some pressure on at the start of the final lap. Dylan's job for the team was to get one of the other guys in the team to the start of the climb on the last lap at the front of the bunch. Dylan did his job and they were about 30 seconds up at the foot of the hill just as a second rider came across the gap. Dylan then went and his team mate told him to go as he had nothing (he had spent some time training with the Budget team recently). The other guy blew up going over the top of the hill so Dylan just went with 20km's to go. A lot of the guys about 30 yrs old who could probably race A grade some days underestimated how hard Dylan is learning to go up a hill. After the race I was told the commissaire was going up and down the bunch telling them the time gap on the last lap and they said they were chasing as hard as they could. From here he soloed to victory. Final margin was about 50secs.


Brad Lawlor rode his heart out but he blew up on the last hill with quite a few others due to the pace at the front (A new bike will make a difference for sure). A lot of us know that feeling locally so it’s now other peoples turn to feel the pain. His team were also second and fifth so a good showing.

Weekend Racing

Local road racing on the weekend was at Calliope and was a handicap with the distance just shy of 60 k’s. The 3 main groups headed off 7 minutes apart and were a bit of a mixed bag in each group. I can only speak for the group that headed off chopping block but the ride was pretty much a paceline the whole way with an average of around 38. The group rode well and stayed together through thick and thin under the instruction of Matt who freely offered tips in his own unique fashionJ pretty sure without his coaching we all wouldn’t have finished together. At the end of the race the 7 minutes proved to be too much to close down for any group with only stragglers getting caught along the way. Lachie Ferguson came home with the goods after starting in the first group and I’m pretty sure they said Reggie came in second place. I’m still scratching my head a little as to some of the handicaps but I guess being the handicapper is no picnic at times.….   

Thursday Roll

I’m sure that everyone would agree that the group has started to look a lot smarter in the last couple of weeks since we slowed down the pace. The consistent speed has allowed people to relax and feel more confident to hold the wheel of the rider in front and as a result the group is a lot tighter.

Been a bit Slack...

I apologise I haven’t updated the blog for a while but I have discovered Xbox 360 and COD (Call of Duty) 


Noosa has come and gone now with a great weekend had by all riding some amazing roads through equally amazing country and plenty of coffee. Our weekend started with a ride to Coolum for a brew (in a bike lane the whole way! they are the things that exist down south where all the money we generate goes) which just happened to have the ocean right next to us for most of the way. Once there the biggest dilemma we had all weekend appeared -which coffee shop do we go to? Maccas won out because of the burgers  There were plenty of groups out riding but not as many as I would have thought.

Sunday morning and we rode to the start in the dark and along the way we passed the M1 team and shouted out to them, they were waiting at their pick up point for other riders and looking very cold. There were about 600 riding the 160k ride so there were a few bikes around. I won’t go into detail but the ride was awesome and the scenery something off postcards at times. When we got back we were greeted by the guys that had completed the 100k ride and they were pumped! Can’t say I was feeling ‘awesome’ as Craig and I had ridden by ourselves for the last hour at about what felt like a 36 average. The next morning we headed back to Coolum for another brew before making the long trek home.

I can definitely recommend putting that weekend in your diary as it’s a great weekend away riding on some great roads.

Ryan has made the trip back to Port to race Ironman 2012 and posted a great time in the process. 10:49 is almost and hour faster than last year and that is a bloody big improvement in 1 year in anybody’s books. Without the tide working against him in the swim, 2 stops on the bike and a wobbly moment at about 33k’s on the run I am sure the 10:30 time he was after would have been realised.

Dylan and Brad have been racing down south and up north at Mackay with mixed results - but they are improving with the exposure to racing with at the top riders in the state.

Tannum Sands Coffee Grinders gear is underway with a design out for viewing not far away!

Noosa Looms

Noosa is now only days away and is sure to be a great weekend for all those heading down. For me the Saturday coffee shop ride will be a highlight as there’s no pressure (other than to look really fast even if you’re not) and all the time in the world to enjoy some coffees and great roads with some friends. Roll on Friday!