Big race up for the team this weekend with the running of the third World Cup race and one of the more famous classics for the Women. We will be heading down to Gent inBelgium for the De Ronde Van Vlannderen, or as everyone calls it 'Flanders' or the 'Tour of Flanders'.
This is gong to be huge, with men's race happening at the same time, spectators on the course are expected to reach numbers up to 50,000 which should be a real blast for the team riding, and this guy as well. We start almost the same time as the men, but they have 228km and think we are racing 120km or something. We ride on the exact course as the men for the last part of their race, so should be pretty crazy. We also ride the famous 'wall' which is where we clinched the race last year with a 1st and 2nd place from Mirjam and Suzanne L respectively. We are of course expecting a repeat on last year.
Spectating on this course is more of a race for the spectators than the riders, as it's one of those events where you can see the bunch many times. This year we hear there have been many people already practicing their routes they will be taking, with a count so far of being able to see the peloton 16 times!
Righto, must get to work to get a few wheels and bikes organised, below is the race site, start list and map of the race.
And of course you have to cut and paste as i still have to try and link the addresses.
http://www.rondevanvlaanderen.be/2006/nl/dames/index.html
http://www.rondevanvlaanderen.be/2006/nl/dames/deelnemers2006.html
http://www.rondevanvlaanderen.be/2006/nl/dames/kaart.html
31 March 2006
30 March 2006
Field Trip #1
Had a little trip to a secret location in the south of Holland today. We had to pick up a roof rack from the Rabobank Service Course today. And what a treat it was, these guys have some serious money to play with, and it was good to see they are not shy of spending it. The team have just shifted in to a larger building, at the end of last season, so it’s almost finished, a few small things to come, and it’s almost done.
Shaking with disbelief.
The Team runs a few different teams from this operation, all the bikes come through here for the UCI Pro Teams, Continental Team, Juniors and the National Dutch team uses the staff and trucks occasionally, so it’s a pretty big operation. Just walking into the room, (it was big) I was surrounded by wheels, the entire ceiling of the workshop was a sea of fruity wheels. I met the guys that run the place, a quick coffee and left my boss Jean-Paul to catch up. He raced for Rabobank for a few years, so was always hanging around the mechanics, so got to know them pretty well. I started wandering with my eyes hanging out of my head at every turn of the warehouse.
Wheelie wicked wound wheels. Wheelie!
The workshops roof, being small pays off again.
There was so many top end bikes, I have never seen anything even close to it. So many Colnago C50’s, C40’s, TT, prototypes, carbon, steel, alloy, you name it, they have it. All covered in Shimano Dura-ace, Italian bikes with Shimano, can’t beat it, so use it they reckon. And what a collection hanging, there new racking system was chock full of so many bikes, I could have got lost in there for hours and not been bored. Plus, they tell me that the two biggest trucks are on the road, packed full of bikes. The riders have bikes with them, and more at home, so add about the same again the boys reckon, then you get the idea of the size of this team. Then the wheels, everywhere, carbon hanging from every place imaginable, discs lying around the floor, tyres in every spare spot, all those tubulars. All that gluing, ye ha.
A 'Stand' of helmets, or is it a 'Whoop' of helmets? (the new Giro Advantage, if ya wondering)
A room for the clothing was jam packed with cool riding kit. Ready to stand on the Worlds podiums, and ready to slide down some of the Worlds nastiest roads ripping huge holes in it. Helmets, casual clothes, shoes, etc, piles that would put most wholesalers stocks to shame. And a great full food store, food for the stage races, hotels and vehicles, fully stocked, yummy. No gluten free bars though, damn it.
Nice shot, so pretty.
I was just wandering around thinking that we had a lot of work, but this was astounding the work involved with all this equipment, staring at me. They were a bit nervous of me taking pics, but said it was ok, as long as they don’t go in a magazine. Sweet, this is not a magazine, not even close. There are a few new things kicking around and they were not keen on their ideas getting out just yet, oh well, I’ll show you them later.
Wouldn't it be great if your garage looked like this.
Amazing what a budget of 12 million Euro’s buys you, it makes our way less than, 500 Euro’s look laughable, but hey, Women’s cycling has a long way to come yet. We get a lot more results than some of the men’s pro teams, even when our truck would easy fit into the back of any of their trucks. Our whole operation would not even touch the sides of the clothing room. Yep, what a great sight, might have to come back when the trucks are in, then I might be a bit more jealous.
Waiting for rubbish day.
12 million Euro budget, all those bikes, and the mechanics work bench looks like just like the rest of us, sweet.
Shaking with disbelief.
The Team runs a few different teams from this operation, all the bikes come through here for the UCI Pro Teams, Continental Team, Juniors and the National Dutch team uses the staff and trucks occasionally, so it’s a pretty big operation. Just walking into the room, (it was big) I was surrounded by wheels, the entire ceiling of the workshop was a sea of fruity wheels. I met the guys that run the place, a quick coffee and left my boss Jean-Paul to catch up. He raced for Rabobank for a few years, so was always hanging around the mechanics, so got to know them pretty well. I started wandering with my eyes hanging out of my head at every turn of the warehouse.
Wheelie wicked wound wheels. Wheelie!
The workshops roof, being small pays off again.
There was so many top end bikes, I have never seen anything even close to it. So many Colnago C50’s, C40’s, TT, prototypes, carbon, steel, alloy, you name it, they have it. All covered in Shimano Dura-ace, Italian bikes with Shimano, can’t beat it, so use it they reckon. And what a collection hanging, there new racking system was chock full of so many bikes, I could have got lost in there for hours and not been bored. Plus, they tell me that the two biggest trucks are on the road, packed full of bikes. The riders have bikes with them, and more at home, so add about the same again the boys reckon, then you get the idea of the size of this team. Then the wheels, everywhere, carbon hanging from every place imaginable, discs lying around the floor, tyres in every spare spot, all those tubulars. All that gluing, ye ha.
A 'Stand' of helmets, or is it a 'Whoop' of helmets? (the new Giro Advantage, if ya wondering)
A room for the clothing was jam packed with cool riding kit. Ready to stand on the Worlds podiums, and ready to slide down some of the Worlds nastiest roads ripping huge holes in it. Helmets, casual clothes, shoes, etc, piles that would put most wholesalers stocks to shame. And a great full food store, food for the stage races, hotels and vehicles, fully stocked, yummy. No gluten free bars though, damn it.
Nice shot, so pretty.
I was just wandering around thinking that we had a lot of work, but this was astounding the work involved with all this equipment, staring at me. They were a bit nervous of me taking pics, but said it was ok, as long as they don’t go in a magazine. Sweet, this is not a magazine, not even close. There are a few new things kicking around and they were not keen on their ideas getting out just yet, oh well, I’ll show you them later.
Wouldn't it be great if your garage looked like this.
Amazing what a budget of 12 million Euro’s buys you, it makes our way less than, 500 Euro’s look laughable, but hey, Women’s cycling has a long way to come yet. We get a lot more results than some of the men’s pro teams, even when our truck would easy fit into the back of any of their trucks. Our whole operation would not even touch the sides of the clothing room. Yep, what a great sight, might have to come back when the trucks are in, then I might be a bit more jealous.
Waiting for rubbish day.
12 million Euro budget, all those bikes, and the mechanics work bench looks like just like the rest of us, sweet.
29 March 2006
Few more random photos.
Another teams bike photo, for a change.
Nice old coffee machine at the Hotel, if only we had room in the car, it was going in my pocket.
Another shot of the lake, so peacful after traffic though Milano.
Not content with just bikes, Avanti branched out to making buses, a prototype spotted.
Stormy skies driving through Switzerland.
The Coppa dei Laghi, Italy
Before we left for the race in Italy, we headed into Belgium to help one of the girls with a TT she was racing. It was the University World Champs, with about thirty countries present, all of the other creeds of cycling were been contested as well, it was a big week for the students. Loes was contesting the TT at tenth seed, so we would not be around for the whole day, as Italy was beckoning.
Most of the students were watching as we arrived, as it was a pretty small event, and to have your own personal mechanic, team car and Director helping caused a stir with the kids. I got her bike sussed, one bike so it was pretty easy. We waited for the start, and watched some of the first seeds, and what bad positions most of them had. Some of them were so bad, I had to avert my eyes as the girls could not be comfortable, let alone be in a winning postion. Loes was off, and looking good right from the start. Two laps of 7km, and it was over almost before we started. Her ride was good, and she cleaned up with about a minute to spare. Another great win by one of the girls, some more world stripes, and a great day for the team.
Loes and Jean-Paul getting interviewed after the win.
We headed back to base, pretty happy for the few hours work, and I preceded to pack six bikes, 12 sets of wheels, tools, pumps, food and whatever else we needed for the race into the car. For a single days race it wasn’t worth taking the truck, and the car is pretty quick so it will save time. Driving through Germany is always a blast, at speeds up to 200km/hr cars still pass you like you are standing still. Traffic was not so bad so we arrived in Switzerland earlier than planned at about 1am. A short sleep, and away again in the morning, under grey skies and rain. It was not what I was looking forward too. But the drive through Switzerland was awesome, with steep mountains with precariously sitting houses. Some of the lakes we passed were kind of places you see on biscuit tin lids.
Love the food at the gas station, mmm sure beats potato chips.
Passing the border into Italy we stopped at a gas station, they always have the best coffee here, even in the gas stations. They put most of the worlds cafes to shame with the quality of food and coffee you can get, as well as a full tank of diesel. We drove into Italy a couple of hours, picked the girls up, and headed to the race start, a little town called Salo, on the lake front of Lake Garda. As we drove down the very steep and windy access road we sighted the lake, what a view, with the mountains in the background, and picturesque towns just about falling onto the lake. Racing starts at 9:30am so we worked till late to get everything done on time. But still had time for a quick drink when we finished, but there was a wine tasting on in the same hotel. The bartender was just dishing out the champagne, we couldn’t refuse, few hours later we decided we had to go, there was just too much wine left over, we could never finish it (not that we didn’t give it a try).
The beautiful lake, wished there was sun though.
The day started fine, not what I would have guessed, but who the hell knows what to expect when I wake up in a different country two or three times a week. I can’t even guess where the sun will rise or where north is, (and what day it is most of the time) let alone predict the weather.
Waiting for my master, do you like my new wheels?
The race start.
Racing started well, no probs, but doing everything was time consuming, filling bottles, organising the food for the bike, massaging the legs of the riders, my work is never done. The first 40 km were sweet, with little roads, twisting their way through little towns, we tried to attack though most of these, but were unsuccessful. A few larger roads where nothing happened, then the mountains started growing around us. Klass had left a little earlier to scout the course, check out the hills and feed the girls. He gave us a report of the big hill 85km into the race, and 10km long, ‘not that steep, easy’ was his report. We told the girls this and they thought sweet, but as we approached, the mountain was almost the opposite of what we told the girls. The climb split the field real quick, race radio was shit, so we could hear nothing, but managed to hear 4 riders out front. Soon we found out it was Mirjam and Suzanne L out the front with a couple of Italian climbers. Hearing nothing we could only hope they were alright as we were way back trying to get through the main part of the peloton. I spotted the girls at the top and did some time keeping, 40 secs to the second bunch, with 10 kms to go. The decent was wild, always a treat after a slow climb up, but with girls catching every corner you really have to watch it driving. Though old streets in towns with most of the locals out watching, it’s pretty cool, but all I can think of is the front of the race now. We got to with in 5k from the finish and we manage to pick up there was three left in the break, Mirjam had punctured on the way down, damn it. Neutral service fixed it for us as we were stuck in the middle of the race, Suzanne couldn’t keep the pressure up with out her teammate and the bunch caught her with 3km to go. A couple of corners and the race was done. 6th, 12th, 23rd , and a few other places. Not bad but could have been a great result for us.
Hey nice old church, Italian style
For most of the team it was the first real race, it was an exercise to see how their legs all were, and they were surprised at the result. Looking good as always, and feeling strong, the season was starting well. We left the girls at the hotel and packed up and hit the road. Leaving at 3pm we wanted to be home at midnight. And I just made it, 23:55 on the clock. Average speed was good, I love German autobahns, time just seems to pass you by.
Most of the students were watching as we arrived, as it was a pretty small event, and to have your own personal mechanic, team car and Director helping caused a stir with the kids. I got her bike sussed, one bike so it was pretty easy. We waited for the start, and watched some of the first seeds, and what bad positions most of them had. Some of them were so bad, I had to avert my eyes as the girls could not be comfortable, let alone be in a winning postion. Loes was off, and looking good right from the start. Two laps of 7km, and it was over almost before we started. Her ride was good, and she cleaned up with about a minute to spare. Another great win by one of the girls, some more world stripes, and a great day for the team.
Loes and Jean-Paul getting interviewed after the win.
We headed back to base, pretty happy for the few hours work, and I preceded to pack six bikes, 12 sets of wheels, tools, pumps, food and whatever else we needed for the race into the car. For a single days race it wasn’t worth taking the truck, and the car is pretty quick so it will save time. Driving through Germany is always a blast, at speeds up to 200km/hr cars still pass you like you are standing still. Traffic was not so bad so we arrived in Switzerland earlier than planned at about 1am. A short sleep, and away again in the morning, under grey skies and rain. It was not what I was looking forward too. But the drive through Switzerland was awesome, with steep mountains with precariously sitting houses. Some of the lakes we passed were kind of places you see on biscuit tin lids.
Love the food at the gas station, mmm sure beats potato chips.
Passing the border into Italy we stopped at a gas station, they always have the best coffee here, even in the gas stations. They put most of the worlds cafes to shame with the quality of food and coffee you can get, as well as a full tank of diesel. We drove into Italy a couple of hours, picked the girls up, and headed to the race start, a little town called Salo, on the lake front of Lake Garda. As we drove down the very steep and windy access road we sighted the lake, what a view, with the mountains in the background, and picturesque towns just about falling onto the lake. Racing starts at 9:30am so we worked till late to get everything done on time. But still had time for a quick drink when we finished, but there was a wine tasting on in the same hotel. The bartender was just dishing out the champagne, we couldn’t refuse, few hours later we decided we had to go, there was just too much wine left over, we could never finish it (not that we didn’t give it a try).
The beautiful lake, wished there was sun though.
The day started fine, not what I would have guessed, but who the hell knows what to expect when I wake up in a different country two or three times a week. I can’t even guess where the sun will rise or where north is, (and what day it is most of the time) let alone predict the weather.
Waiting for my master, do you like my new wheels?
The race start.
Racing started well, no probs, but doing everything was time consuming, filling bottles, organising the food for the bike, massaging the legs of the riders, my work is never done. The first 40 km were sweet, with little roads, twisting their way through little towns, we tried to attack though most of these, but were unsuccessful. A few larger roads where nothing happened, then the mountains started growing around us. Klass had left a little earlier to scout the course, check out the hills and feed the girls. He gave us a report of the big hill 85km into the race, and 10km long, ‘not that steep, easy’ was his report. We told the girls this and they thought sweet, but as we approached, the mountain was almost the opposite of what we told the girls. The climb split the field real quick, race radio was shit, so we could hear nothing, but managed to hear 4 riders out front. Soon we found out it was Mirjam and Suzanne L out the front with a couple of Italian climbers. Hearing nothing we could only hope they were alright as we were way back trying to get through the main part of the peloton. I spotted the girls at the top and did some time keeping, 40 secs to the second bunch, with 10 kms to go. The decent was wild, always a treat after a slow climb up, but with girls catching every corner you really have to watch it driving. Though old streets in towns with most of the locals out watching, it’s pretty cool, but all I can think of is the front of the race now. We got to with in 5k from the finish and we manage to pick up there was three left in the break, Mirjam had punctured on the way down, damn it. Neutral service fixed it for us as we were stuck in the middle of the race, Suzanne couldn’t keep the pressure up with out her teammate and the bunch caught her with 3km to go. A couple of corners and the race was done. 6th, 12th, 23rd , and a few other places. Not bad but could have been a great result for us.
Hey nice old church, Italian style
For most of the team it was the first real race, it was an exercise to see how their legs all were, and they were surprised at the result. Looking good as always, and feeling strong, the season was starting well. We left the girls at the hotel and packed up and hit the road. Leaving at 3pm we wanted to be home at midnight. And I just made it, 23:55 on the clock. Average speed was good, I love German autobahns, time just seems to pass you by.
27 March 2006
The Team presentation.
The Team Presentation is a crazy concept that seems to continue for no other reason that someone never bothered to ask, ‘why are we doing this, and who is it for’.
It’s a promotions man wet dream, all the press, all the team, all the bikes. Unfortunately it was our Promo Man’s first wet dream, as I could have (and anyone with half a brain) organised in a few minutes, a far more exciting, politically correct, and cool presentation. Do I sound a little bit pissed off? Well you are on the money, if strangulation was legal in The Netherlands, I would have been in for a treat, half the team would have been lining up after me, as well. A wise someone said ‘never work with children or animals’, well he was wrong, they are both fine to work with, it was our guy he was really talking about.
Nice and shiny
I am not going to go on about it for too long, but a few examples might make you think that it’s not all my pedantic and pathetic attention to small details, and obsessive professionalism working against me here. But come on, how hard can it be, you have a job, do it, think about your team, and what the public might be thinking on our grand public debut.
The picture takers.
The shot they didn't want, time to get serious now.
Just a couple here for you. Hey, lets introduce the girls, but instead using of some cool music, available in every ones CD cases or computers. He decides to choose a song that opens with the words ‘He’s a fine looking fellow, he’s got a belly that’s yellow’, By the time I stopped cringing, the rider is on the stage, so the very loud music stops dead. Hey, that fantastic looking woman (they got the spit and polish treatment again, this time they were looking awesome) is not a ‘Fellow’, she’s the best in her sport, in the best team in the world, her ‘belly is not yellow'…. Work it out. And to top that, when the international Girls were on stage, a change of song for the Dutch Girls. Not only did he manage to make the other girls on stage feel stink for where they were born (hey, some of our best and longest serving members were up there). He singled out the fact they were not the same as the girls to come. But to top that the song he spent weeks choosing to bring the Dutch girls out, it was better than the first song, ‘Born in the USA’ by whatever his name was, Bruce something. Loud, and very recognisable. They are Dutch, not USA born, got it yet.
Time for some individual shots, Madeline.
A presentation is just that, we present our team, riders, staff and all the equipment for the season. You will see many of these such photos and articles in most of the magazines, as all the teams go through the process. Hey it’s a good thing if done well. If the press love it, they give a good report, if the sponsors love it, they pay more next season, period. Don’t make us all look so stupid next time eh. We worked very hard for this day, well some of us did, most of the team travelled a long way for a few hours as well, make it good.
There I will stop, but this and another 20 other points, really wrecked my day, three days work prior, one day setting up, organising the pick up and delivery of 10 girls, four vehicles, five other staff, five bikes (so clean I ate my lunch off them), 10 wheels, equipment and lights, and the packing down, drop offs, deliveries etc etc. Next time I take control a little early on. Then we will see what a song and dance should look like.
It’s a promotions man wet dream, all the press, all the team, all the bikes. Unfortunately it was our Promo Man’s first wet dream, as I could have (and anyone with half a brain) organised in a few minutes, a far more exciting, politically correct, and cool presentation. Do I sound a little bit pissed off? Well you are on the money, if strangulation was legal in The Netherlands, I would have been in for a treat, half the team would have been lining up after me, as well. A wise someone said ‘never work with children or animals’, well he was wrong, they are both fine to work with, it was our guy he was really talking about.
Nice and shiny
I am not going to go on about it for too long, but a few examples might make you think that it’s not all my pedantic and pathetic attention to small details, and obsessive professionalism working against me here. But come on, how hard can it be, you have a job, do it, think about your team, and what the public might be thinking on our grand public debut.
The picture takers.
The shot they didn't want, time to get serious now.
Just a couple here for you. Hey, lets introduce the girls, but instead using of some cool music, available in every ones CD cases or computers. He decides to choose a song that opens with the words ‘He’s a fine looking fellow, he’s got a belly that’s yellow’, By the time I stopped cringing, the rider is on the stage, so the very loud music stops dead. Hey, that fantastic looking woman (they got the spit and polish treatment again, this time they were looking awesome) is not a ‘Fellow’, she’s the best in her sport, in the best team in the world, her ‘belly is not yellow'…. Work it out. And to top that, when the international Girls were on stage, a change of song for the Dutch Girls. Not only did he manage to make the other girls on stage feel stink for where they were born (hey, some of our best and longest serving members were up there). He singled out the fact they were not the same as the girls to come. But to top that the song he spent weeks choosing to bring the Dutch girls out, it was better than the first song, ‘Born in the USA’ by whatever his name was, Bruce something. Loud, and very recognisable. They are Dutch, not USA born, got it yet.
Time for some individual shots, Madeline.
A presentation is just that, we present our team, riders, staff and all the equipment for the season. You will see many of these such photos and articles in most of the magazines, as all the teams go through the process. Hey it’s a good thing if done well. If the press love it, they give a good report, if the sponsors love it, they pay more next season, period. Don’t make us all look so stupid next time eh. We worked very hard for this day, well some of us did, most of the team travelled a long way for a few hours as well, make it good.
There I will stop, but this and another 20 other points, really wrecked my day, three days work prior, one day setting up, organising the pick up and delivery of 10 girls, four vehicles, five other staff, five bikes (so clean I ate my lunch off them), 10 wheels, equipment and lights, and the packing down, drop offs, deliveries etc etc. Next time I take control a little early on. Then we will see what a song and dance should look like.
21 March 2006
New Race wheels.
I just set up some of our new race wheels today, some very nice carbon clinchers from Bontrager. Bit weird to see carbon used for regular tyres, but you got to go with the flow some times. They were used by a few pro teams, testing around the races in Europe last year, so I got to trust them. The sidewalls look pretty crazy, and I was not pumping the tyres up too fast, just in case.
Nice rear.
And front, love the spokes.
Called the XXX Carbon Team Clincher, these suckers are light at only 590gm for the front and a mere 790gm for the rear (those on Ksyriums, the rear is the same weight as your front). For a total of 1350gm a set, you might need to put some weight on your bike to keep them on the road.
Even the inside of the rim is pretty nice.
Complete with DT Aerolite spokes in Ferrari Red, these wheels look amazing, with the carbon hub glistening in the light, almost brought tears to my eyes. The only hubset that managed to actually make me cry was my Chris King Singlespeed MTB set (sorry, still got dirt under my finger nails). Nice light titanium skewers finished these off well. Will endeavor to weigh them up with a cassette and tyre on, just to make you want a set yourself. Hey at a nice price as well, only US$2699 (NZ$4255)
Let you how they ride next week, as I think I should test these out first. Can't let the girls try them out, just in case they don't ride too well. Could be a few days to test all five sets as well, oh well, someone has to do it.
Can you work out the differance between the two diagrams, I sat there for a while trying to work out what they were drawing, gave up, then found the lower sticker on another wheel. These wheels may cost a lot, but are still made by trained monkeys in Taiwan.
Nice rear.
And front, love the spokes.
Called the XXX Carbon Team Clincher, these suckers are light at only 590gm for the front and a mere 790gm for the rear (those on Ksyriums, the rear is the same weight as your front). For a total of 1350gm a set, you might need to put some weight on your bike to keep them on the road.
Even the inside of the rim is pretty nice.
Complete with DT Aerolite spokes in Ferrari Red, these wheels look amazing, with the carbon hub glistening in the light, almost brought tears to my eyes. The only hubset that managed to actually make me cry was my Chris King Singlespeed MTB set (sorry, still got dirt under my finger nails). Nice light titanium skewers finished these off well. Will endeavor to weigh them up with a cassette and tyre on, just to make you want a set yourself. Hey at a nice price as well, only US$2699 (NZ$4255)
Let you how they ride next week, as I think I should test these out first. Can't let the girls try them out, just in case they don't ride too well. Could be a few days to test all five sets as well, oh well, someone has to do it.
Can you work out the differance between the two diagrams, I sat there for a while trying to work out what they were drawing, gave up, then found the lower sticker on another wheel. These wheels may cost a lot, but are still made by trained monkeys in Taiwan.
20 March 2006
Another race, and a few more degrees warmer.
Had the second race for some of the team yesterday, in a nice little town about an hour away. Oud-Vossemeer was the town, right near the sea, we had four of the team racing, Sandra, Suzanne VV, Linda and Mirjam. The day was nice, no clouds, plenty of sun, a little bit of a cold wind blowing, thought I was seeing things when the cars dash was saying 7’c. Summer is on the way, I think, who knows what happens round here, I might have to look into it a bit more.
Suzanne VanVeen racing early on.
The race was a small circuit, almost 2km short, with a record field of 115 (max allowed on this course) things would be tight. In some places it was rather tight, chicanes, islands, dykes etc, and I was expecting the worse, hey it’s my job, and I love the stress. The race started on time, and the laps were short, 2.5 minutes or close to that, and wouldn’t you know it, three laps into the race, crash. Sandra pulled into the pits with a puncture on the front (you can have a lap out for a mechanical), well more like a huge split. We find out soon enough a cat ran out onto the course causing a few of the girls to go down, no damage to rider or bike, and things continued forward.
Sandra working hard.
The pits were just past the finish/start line, so we had a good view of all the sprints in the finish chute. About 30km into the 80km race, five of the girls made a good break, and managed to get a nice little lead of about 45 seconds. Then crash, a small kid had managed to squeeze through the barriers and proceeded to run across the road. The chasing peloton didn’t have a chance, and they hit him square on, bit like slow motion for me, as I see about five of the girls cartwheeling through the air. All the mechanics rushed to help, just in case any of our team members were hurt, lucky my girls were safe. Most of the others in the crash got up, the kid was not hurt to much, and was walking soon after ( a bit slower though). A couple of the other girls had to get taken for some x-rays, but otherwise the little midget was very lucky not to be worse off.
The officials had a few laps neutral, which gave the peloton time to gather the break group up, and they were all together. They decided to restart the race again after about 10 more laps, giving the five in the break the same gap they had before the accident. Kind of like greyhounds racing as they let the five off first (the rabits), racing their asses off, then the bunch was let off as well, to chase them down. 20 laps to go and the bunch didn’t manage to catch up, a sprint for the finish saw Mirjam miss out on the win (she had won it for the last two years) and ended up 3rd. Not bad really, considering the size of the field, and the dramas throughout the race.
Run rabbits.
Just as I was about to put the bikes on the car, and to get the hell out of there. I noticed a huge couple of cracks on the top tube of Sandra’s bike. It was amazing she didn’t notice for 70 or so km’s, as it was making a loud creaking noise just moving it slightly, so dangerous to be riding it for so long… photos coming later for this one, just got to talk to the manufacturer first.
Got the Team presentation on Tuesday, yay, more photos, then next weekend we are off to Italy for a new race. The Coppa dei Laghi will be run on the 25th. You can read a bit about it here, if your interested.
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2006/mar06/mar18news
And a map here.
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=photos/2006/news/mar06/coppa_dei_laghi/planimetria
No idea where it is, but will be checking my map soon, and more about the map later.
Suzanne VanVeen racing early on.
The race was a small circuit, almost 2km short, with a record field of 115 (max allowed on this course) things would be tight. In some places it was rather tight, chicanes, islands, dykes etc, and I was expecting the worse, hey it’s my job, and I love the stress. The race started on time, and the laps were short, 2.5 minutes or close to that, and wouldn’t you know it, three laps into the race, crash. Sandra pulled into the pits with a puncture on the front (you can have a lap out for a mechanical), well more like a huge split. We find out soon enough a cat ran out onto the course causing a few of the girls to go down, no damage to rider or bike, and things continued forward.
Sandra working hard.
The pits were just past the finish/start line, so we had a good view of all the sprints in the finish chute. About 30km into the 80km race, five of the girls made a good break, and managed to get a nice little lead of about 45 seconds. Then crash, a small kid had managed to squeeze through the barriers and proceeded to run across the road. The chasing peloton didn’t have a chance, and they hit him square on, bit like slow motion for me, as I see about five of the girls cartwheeling through the air. All the mechanics rushed to help, just in case any of our team members were hurt, lucky my girls were safe. Most of the others in the crash got up, the kid was not hurt to much, and was walking soon after ( a bit slower though). A couple of the other girls had to get taken for some x-rays, but otherwise the little midget was very lucky not to be worse off.
The officials had a few laps neutral, which gave the peloton time to gather the break group up, and they were all together. They decided to restart the race again after about 10 more laps, giving the five in the break the same gap they had before the accident. Kind of like greyhounds racing as they let the five off first (the rabits), racing their asses off, then the bunch was let off as well, to chase them down. 20 laps to go and the bunch didn’t manage to catch up, a sprint for the finish saw Mirjam miss out on the win (she had won it for the last two years) and ended up 3rd. Not bad really, considering the size of the field, and the dramas throughout the race.
Run rabbits.
Just as I was about to put the bikes on the car, and to get the hell out of there. I noticed a huge couple of cracks on the top tube of Sandra’s bike. It was amazing she didn’t notice for 70 or so km’s, as it was making a loud creaking noise just moving it slightly, so dangerous to be riding it for so long… photos coming later for this one, just got to talk to the manufacturer first.
Got the Team presentation on Tuesday, yay, more photos, then next weekend we are off to Italy for a new race. The Coppa dei Laghi will be run on the 25th. You can read a bit about it here, if your interested.
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2006/mar06/mar18news
And a map here.
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=photos/2006/news/mar06/coppa_dei_laghi/planimetria
No idea where it is, but will be checking my map soon, and more about the map later.
19 March 2006
Girls on film.
I awoke to a house full of girls, nothing unusual for me, but these were real girls, not boys who don’t won’t to ride for the day (sorry lads, but you know who you are). Today was the photo shoot and the team house was busting at the seams. I ended up sleeping outside, in a new room we built in the garage for the overflow the odd time throughout the year It seemed a lot quieter than in the house that night. We were expecting the entire team and all staff (except three) for portrait shots in our living room. Then a quick trip down the road for a few group shots, vehicle shots and some pics of the girls on their bikes.
Bit of spit and polish.
I managed to bump myself to first on the list, so was out of the house in a matter of minutes. Cleaning and polishing a few bikes seemed like more fun than watching a bunch of girls cleaning and polishing themselves. Hey, slap a riding kit and a helmet on, and throw a bike between their legs, and they look normal to me. Apply makeup and give them some bouffed out hair, and most of the girls don’t look right, and they certainly don’t look as though they feel very comfortable. Especially when watched by a bunch of guys that normally see them all hot and bothered, covered in road grime, sweat and spit, after a few hours on the road. I hardly recognised some of the girls, but hey, they all looked pretty good (got to say that, otherwise I get the bash, after they read this).
Linda, Susanne L, and Loes.
Most of the photo shoot was for the Team Presentation we are having next Tuesday. The photos will be included in the Team book, calendars and riders cards, that will be sold or given away during the year. Most of these will go to the team’s fans, which follow us around Europe for the girl’s signatures and photo opportunities. Most of them will go to collectors and various young riders that are inspired by the girls, and some to those who just love girls in lycra, riding bikes.
Nice and clean, look at them sparkle.
So after skiving off to the workshop for the morning, I got all the girls bikes ready for the team shots. We needed both cars filled with bikes, and each rider needed a bike to ride. The sun was up for the day, thank god, but it was still a cool 1’c outside. The photos required the girls in their summer riding gear, short pants, short sleeved shirts. For the men, jeans, and our long sleeved, polo neck, profleece jackets, sometimes it pays not to be one the riders and today was one of those days. I was freezing, just standing around waiting. The girls on the other hand were huddled in the cars, waiting for the last moment to get out and pose.
Nice and clean, look at them sparkle! Smile, and pretend not to be cold.
Don't hit the Photographer Linda.
We managed to get everything organised so the girls were not hanging out in the cold for long, from what I hear, they were mucked about in the cold for hours last year, so we didn’t want a repeat of that again. A few hundred shots later, we were heading home. I will introduce you to most of them in the coming weeks as I am working on all thier profiles as we speak (or as you read). Most of the shots are getting posted on the Team’s site next week after the presentation, but I’m going to be busy this week coming, so I will post my shots now, hope I don’t give too much away. Or get into too much trouble, oh well.
Bit of spit and polish.
I managed to bump myself to first on the list, so was out of the house in a matter of minutes. Cleaning and polishing a few bikes seemed like more fun than watching a bunch of girls cleaning and polishing themselves. Hey, slap a riding kit and a helmet on, and throw a bike between their legs, and they look normal to me. Apply makeup and give them some bouffed out hair, and most of the girls don’t look right, and they certainly don’t look as though they feel very comfortable. Especially when watched by a bunch of guys that normally see them all hot and bothered, covered in road grime, sweat and spit, after a few hours on the road. I hardly recognised some of the girls, but hey, they all looked pretty good (got to say that, otherwise I get the bash, after they read this).
Linda, Susanne L, and Loes.
Most of the photo shoot was for the Team Presentation we are having next Tuesday. The photos will be included in the Team book, calendars and riders cards, that will be sold or given away during the year. Most of these will go to the team’s fans, which follow us around Europe for the girl’s signatures and photo opportunities. Most of them will go to collectors and various young riders that are inspired by the girls, and some to those who just love girls in lycra, riding bikes.
Nice and clean, look at them sparkle.
So after skiving off to the workshop for the morning, I got all the girls bikes ready for the team shots. We needed both cars filled with bikes, and each rider needed a bike to ride. The sun was up for the day, thank god, but it was still a cool 1’c outside. The photos required the girls in their summer riding gear, short pants, short sleeved shirts. For the men, jeans, and our long sleeved, polo neck, profleece jackets, sometimes it pays not to be one the riders and today was one of those days. I was freezing, just standing around waiting. The girls on the other hand were huddled in the cars, waiting for the last moment to get out and pose.
Nice and clean, look at them sparkle! Smile, and pretend not to be cold.
Don't hit the Photographer Linda.
We managed to get everything organised so the girls were not hanging out in the cold for long, from what I hear, they were mucked about in the cold for hours last year, so we didn’t want a repeat of that again. A few hundred shots later, we were heading home. I will introduce you to most of them in the coming weeks as I am working on all thier profiles as we speak (or as you read). Most of the shots are getting posted on the Team’s site next week after the presentation, but I’m going to be busy this week coming, so I will post my shots now, hope I don’t give too much away. Or get into too much trouble, oh well.
16 March 2006
Cool Tools #3
This is more for the serious mechanic types out there, not really a tool for the home wrench, but don’t let me stop you though.
When the world turned to external Bottom Brackets and two and three piece cranks, the riders and the mechanics were very pleased. First up we had better performance, some claims of them being up to 40% stiffer. Which for the first time you ride them, sure feels like it. Less wear and tear on the bearings, which is true for sure. How many times have you changed your new external bearings, compared to the old style BB’s. Easier to change cranks, that’s for sure, a simple Allen key and a small plastic key and it’s out. Makes changing crank length, chainrings and cleaning a breeze. All of these improvements have made our life a happier place, whereas before changing cranks needed many tools, crank pullers, Allen keys, two hands and then it was luck you got some of them off sometimes.
Removing the bearings themselves, have become very easy, with one tool for many different brands of cranks, makes life easy. My only complaint is the damage that occurs from the ill fitting tools, from some of the big players in the tool companies. Most of the time when you slide the tool over the external spline you can feel the gaps between them both. Some tools are more than 1 or 2mm out, leaving unsightly marks on your nice Dura Ace, XTR, Truvative, FSA bottom brackets. Get one that’s a little tight and you might have to get that 2m length of pipe on to the tool to provide a little bit more leverage. And as for the tool Shimano provides itself, well nice of them to provide them free with most of their cranksets, but you can almost hear the BB screaming with fear as you wave the tool anywhere near them.
I have seen the light, or more importantly, have found the Cool Tool for the job. This beauty is from a very small company in Belgium, who’s name eludes me at the moment (but working on finding it). It’s made with such precision, it fits so perfectly over the spline that you hear air escaping from the seal between it and the BB. It’s spring loaded to provide even tension to both sides of the tool so that there is no way of it ever slipping and making any scratches at all on your nice new bling. The two handles can be turned in unison on each side of the BB to speed the job up. Whether you are removing or installing the BB in the bike, this tool is perfect for the job, never slips, never scratches and shifts even stubborn cups with ease.
I borrowed this tool from a local shop here in The Netherlands, seemed like everyone had seen it before. I used it for all 20 frames I was building, and was looking around for more jobs to use it on before I gave it back. It feels nice and heavy, like all good tools feel like, with manufacturing of all components to spectacular standards. Price, I think was pretty high, but worth it, about 650 euro (double that for NZ$) but will check up on it.
Sorry only one pic of it as most of the others were out of focus, as I only got the camera a week before.
When the world turned to external Bottom Brackets and two and three piece cranks, the riders and the mechanics were very pleased. First up we had better performance, some claims of them being up to 40% stiffer. Which for the first time you ride them, sure feels like it. Less wear and tear on the bearings, which is true for sure. How many times have you changed your new external bearings, compared to the old style BB’s. Easier to change cranks, that’s for sure, a simple Allen key and a small plastic key and it’s out. Makes changing crank length, chainrings and cleaning a breeze. All of these improvements have made our life a happier place, whereas before changing cranks needed many tools, crank pullers, Allen keys, two hands and then it was luck you got some of them off sometimes.
Removing the bearings themselves, have become very easy, with one tool for many different brands of cranks, makes life easy. My only complaint is the damage that occurs from the ill fitting tools, from some of the big players in the tool companies. Most of the time when you slide the tool over the external spline you can feel the gaps between them both. Some tools are more than 1 or 2mm out, leaving unsightly marks on your nice Dura Ace, XTR, Truvative, FSA bottom brackets. Get one that’s a little tight and you might have to get that 2m length of pipe on to the tool to provide a little bit more leverage. And as for the tool Shimano provides itself, well nice of them to provide them free with most of their cranksets, but you can almost hear the BB screaming with fear as you wave the tool anywhere near them.
I have seen the light, or more importantly, have found the Cool Tool for the job. This beauty is from a very small company in Belgium, who’s name eludes me at the moment (but working on finding it). It’s made with such precision, it fits so perfectly over the spline that you hear air escaping from the seal between it and the BB. It’s spring loaded to provide even tension to both sides of the tool so that there is no way of it ever slipping and making any scratches at all on your nice new bling. The two handles can be turned in unison on each side of the BB to speed the job up. Whether you are removing or installing the BB in the bike, this tool is perfect for the job, never slips, never scratches and shifts even stubborn cups with ease.
I borrowed this tool from a local shop here in The Netherlands, seemed like everyone had seen it before. I used it for all 20 frames I was building, and was looking around for more jobs to use it on before I gave it back. It feels nice and heavy, like all good tools feel like, with manufacturing of all components to spectacular standards. Price, I think was pretty high, but worth it, about 650 euro (double that for NZ$) but will check up on it.
Sorry only one pic of it as most of the others were out of focus, as I only got the camera a week before.
Het Volk, the first race.
The drive this week was a small one for the team, only 150km, we were there before we knew it. But as usual, the information regarding the whereabouts of the hotel we were staying in was rather ambiguous, or I was not listening at the time. We got lost for an hour or so until we navigated a few different highways back to where we were supposed to be. The afternoon was crisp, a cool 1’c when we arrived, and as usual the truck had to park in the coldest part of the hotel car park. A few bikes needed attention, as I had not seen them for a week or so. As soon as the sun was down, the temperature just plummeted, my three layers of merino and on layer of micro-fleece, toped off with a pro-fleece was not looking so silly now.
Klass our other Mechanic/Assistant Director from Sweden had arrived with his partner Suzanne, it was nice to catch up with them, as it had been a while. The last time we worked together was in Madrid for the worlds, when I was wrenching for their country, Sweden. Both of them had been down under racing in the Geelong tour and World cup in Australia, and in Wellington for the Tour and World cup race. They were still struggling with a bit of jetlag as they had only arrived back in Europe on Tuesday, a couple of nights at home then a two day drive to Belgium. Australia’s racing was not so good for them, but they had nothing but good things to say about NZ as usual. The racing was not so good for Suzanne, but you can’t expect to win every race, but without her own team, she found things difficult. They had nothing but praise for the increase in the level of cycling from the Kiwi girls. A huge increase change from the same time last year, might just be the impending Games or it might be we are finally starting to get our shit together. They thought Sarah was looking very strong as usual, but a little bit more gas than normal for this time of year. Hey, might be good news for a good swag of medals in the next week or so, remember you heard it here first.
I worked for a while into the evening, until I couldn’t feel my hands anymore, I normally start dropping my tools (which is normal for those of us with no opposing thumbs) when it gets too cold. When you pick tools up and they stick to your hands like your tongue sticks to the freezer wall, you know that it’s time to retire for the evening. A quick thaw, and a good feed and I was ready for the bar, opps I mean bed.
The night was very clear and the morning turned out wicked, clear, no rain, but really cold. I couldn’t help myself with checking up on the temperature, but was disappointed with only -3.5’c. During the night the temperature gets really low here, the morning may feel warm, but all the metal items in the truck stay cold for ages. Gets me every time I pick up a new wheel or tool, it’s better than three or four strong coffees in a row, certainly keeps you moving. A quick pump of about 36 tyres, a quick check over and lubrication on the odd bike, (normally the last ones I worked on the night before). And we hit the road, only about a 20km drive to the race start, excellent.
The weather was still hanging in, with the sun warming things up a bit, we had 1’c at midday, but it felt like about 5’c. Most of the girls were looking nervous, with the ‘first race of the season’ thoughts and emotions to deal with. We were right on time with the bikes, somehow we just manage to scrape through, but we always look like we are the most organised of all the teams we race against. There was lots of local teams here racing, only a few of the professional teams, so not too much competition for the day. I packed the car with all the spare bikes, wheels, tools and all the necessary equipment we would need, and we were off. We parked up the course a little, which gave me the perfect photo opportunity of the start. I waited for them to come through, getting myself lined up for that prize winning shot, but managed to turn my camera off instead of taking a series of fantastic pics. First time I have done that for a while, but I put it down to the fact that I couldn’t feel my fingers for the last two days, two small buttons can feel the same.
Finally we were racing, and a quick lap of the start town and we were of into the country. All the hills were in the first 50km, but for this part of Belgium, we were not expecting them to be too tall, and they weren’t, in fact it was hard to spot the first hill. The racing was fast the first couple of hours, we reached speeds of 65km/hr on some of the flats with a little bit of a tail wind. The race was only about 90km so there were many attacks in the last 45km and we were on top of all of them so no one got away. Nothing much else really happened, and drawing car number 5 we could not see a hell of lot of the front of the bunch. Coming into the last corner we had five of the top ten positions and it was going to be a bunch sprint. We missed out on first place but picked up a second with Mirjam and third with Tanja, not bad for the first race, but a win would have been nice.
Some of the girls went for a bit more training after the race, as it was not quite long enough for them, so I had to hang around for a while longer. Then it was back to base to do some cleaning of the bikes and cars, for tomorrow we have a photo session for the whole team. The Team house is full, so hope I still got a bed there when I get home. Photos start at 9am so the bikes have got to look sharp, as we will be using these shots for all the magazines, websites, posters and riders cards that they use throughout the year. Righto, back to work.
Klass our other Mechanic/Assistant Director from Sweden had arrived with his partner Suzanne, it was nice to catch up with them, as it had been a while. The last time we worked together was in Madrid for the worlds, when I was wrenching for their country, Sweden. Both of them had been down under racing in the Geelong tour and World cup in Australia, and in Wellington for the Tour and World cup race. They were still struggling with a bit of jetlag as they had only arrived back in Europe on Tuesday, a couple of nights at home then a two day drive to Belgium. Australia’s racing was not so good for them, but they had nothing but good things to say about NZ as usual. The racing was not so good for Suzanne, but you can’t expect to win every race, but without her own team, she found things difficult. They had nothing but praise for the increase in the level of cycling from the Kiwi girls. A huge increase change from the same time last year, might just be the impending Games or it might be we are finally starting to get our shit together. They thought Sarah was looking very strong as usual, but a little bit more gas than normal for this time of year. Hey, might be good news for a good swag of medals in the next week or so, remember you heard it here first.
I worked for a while into the evening, until I couldn’t feel my hands anymore, I normally start dropping my tools (which is normal for those of us with no opposing thumbs) when it gets too cold. When you pick tools up and they stick to your hands like your tongue sticks to the freezer wall, you know that it’s time to retire for the evening. A quick thaw, and a good feed and I was ready for the bar, opps I mean bed.
The night was very clear and the morning turned out wicked, clear, no rain, but really cold. I couldn’t help myself with checking up on the temperature, but was disappointed with only -3.5’c. During the night the temperature gets really low here, the morning may feel warm, but all the metal items in the truck stay cold for ages. Gets me every time I pick up a new wheel or tool, it’s better than three or four strong coffees in a row, certainly keeps you moving. A quick pump of about 36 tyres, a quick check over and lubrication on the odd bike, (normally the last ones I worked on the night before). And we hit the road, only about a 20km drive to the race start, excellent.
The weather was still hanging in, with the sun warming things up a bit, we had 1’c at midday, but it felt like about 5’c. Most of the girls were looking nervous, with the ‘first race of the season’ thoughts and emotions to deal with. We were right on time with the bikes, somehow we just manage to scrape through, but we always look like we are the most organised of all the teams we race against. There was lots of local teams here racing, only a few of the professional teams, so not too much competition for the day. I packed the car with all the spare bikes, wheels, tools and all the necessary equipment we would need, and we were off. We parked up the course a little, which gave me the perfect photo opportunity of the start. I waited for them to come through, getting myself lined up for that prize winning shot, but managed to turn my camera off instead of taking a series of fantastic pics. First time I have done that for a while, but I put it down to the fact that I couldn’t feel my fingers for the last two days, two small buttons can feel the same.
Finally we were racing, and a quick lap of the start town and we were of into the country. All the hills were in the first 50km, but for this part of Belgium, we were not expecting them to be too tall, and they weren’t, in fact it was hard to spot the first hill. The racing was fast the first couple of hours, we reached speeds of 65km/hr on some of the flats with a little bit of a tail wind. The race was only about 90km so there were many attacks in the last 45km and we were on top of all of them so no one got away. Nothing much else really happened, and drawing car number 5 we could not see a hell of lot of the front of the bunch. Coming into the last corner we had five of the top ten positions and it was going to be a bunch sprint. We missed out on first place but picked up a second with Mirjam and third with Tanja, not bad for the first race, but a win would have been nice.
Some of the girls went for a bit more training after the race, as it was not quite long enough for them, so I had to hang around for a while longer. Then it was back to base to do some cleaning of the bikes and cars, for tomorrow we have a photo session for the whole team. The Team house is full, so hope I still got a bed there when I get home. Photos start at 9am so the bikes have got to look sharp, as we will be using these shots for all the magazines, websites, posters and riders cards that they use throughout the year. Righto, back to work.
11 March 2006
Ready, set.
Just a very short note to give you a link to the race we are at this Sunday.
Sorry but there is no English option, but I'm sure you can find your way around the site. You will have to cut and paste these links as my blog skills have not quite got that part sussed yet.
The race
http://vrouwen.omloophetvolk.be/
The Start list
http://vrouwen.omloophetvolk.be/deelnemer.aspx
The race uses most of the same course that the men race, so it's a nice tough one for the start of the season. I found a nice picture of one of the climbs. It's a beauty, a few cobbles just to keep you honest.
http://www.cyclingnews.com/photos/2006/feb06/hetvolk06/index.php?id=CadamuroontheMuur
Right, time for some sleep, the last for a couple of days. Racing Sunday, then the team photo shoot on Monday, 9am sharp with all the bikes perfectly clean for the cameras. After the dirtiest race of the year, it might be an all nighter on Sunday to make the early deadline. The mechanics will be looking normal, tired, bloodshot eyes, dirty hands, blank smiles, grease on their clothes, sweet.
Also got a copy of the latest race calendar for the team, that also means my calendar as well I suppose.
Now to try and fit a few mountainbike races, some race spectatoring of major tours and a few classics, some sightseeing, a few Formula 1 races, and the odd day off, should be easy enough.
http://www.buitenpoort-flexpoint-team.nl/Kalender.htm
Oh yeah, the counter is working well. Glad to know that my work here is is not wasted. Almost 200 hits for the first week that it was counting, and I'm sure I was only responsible for 50 of them. Kind of make me feel like someone cares, so thanks for reading, and thanks for your feedback, without you it would only be my mother reading this ( well I hope she is). It helps keep me off the streets at night (they are far too cold anyway), and helps me give the impression that I am working hard over here.
My boredom last night was taken up with my new polling software, so click away, there will be some interesting results by the look of who's reading this blog. I'm sure that I can think of some great polls to come without too much trouble. I just happened to be looking, testing and voting late last night, and happened to be Viewer No 300, it felt great. So I thought I would share it with you, as I had no other photos for you today, later.
Sorry but there is no English option, but I'm sure you can find your way around the site. You will have to cut and paste these links as my blog skills have not quite got that part sussed yet.
The race
http://vrouwen.omloophetvolk.be/
The Start list
http://vrouwen.omloophetvolk.be/deelnemer.aspx
The race uses most of the same course that the men race, so it's a nice tough one for the start of the season. I found a nice picture of one of the climbs. It's a beauty, a few cobbles just to keep you honest.
http://www.cyclingnews.com/photos/2006/feb06/hetvolk06/index.php?id=CadamuroontheMuur
Right, time for some sleep, the last for a couple of days. Racing Sunday, then the team photo shoot on Monday, 9am sharp with all the bikes perfectly clean for the cameras. After the dirtiest race of the year, it might be an all nighter on Sunday to make the early deadline. The mechanics will be looking normal, tired, bloodshot eyes, dirty hands, blank smiles, grease on their clothes, sweet.
Also got a copy of the latest race calendar for the team, that also means my calendar as well I suppose.
Now to try and fit a few mountainbike races, some race spectatoring of major tours and a few classics, some sightseeing, a few Formula 1 races, and the odd day off, should be easy enough.
http://www.buitenpoort-flexpoint-team.nl/Kalender.htm
Oh yeah, the counter is working well. Glad to know that my work here is is not wasted. Almost 200 hits for the first week that it was counting, and I'm sure I was only responsible for 50 of them. Kind of make me feel like someone cares, so thanks for reading, and thanks for your feedback, without you it would only be my mother reading this ( well I hope she is). It helps keep me off the streets at night (they are far too cold anyway), and helps me give the impression that I am working hard over here.
My boredom last night was taken up with my new polling software, so click away, there will be some interesting results by the look of who's reading this blog. I'm sure that I can think of some great polls to come without too much trouble. I just happened to be looking, testing and voting late last night, and happened to be Viewer No 300, it felt great. So I thought I would share it with you, as I had no other photos for you today, later.
9 March 2006
Cool Tools #1 and #2.
To start with this new section I have a couple of goodies for you, well I have heaps waiting, but can’t give away all my secrets on the first date.
Speaking of first dates, finally a product for those of us blessed with something great between their legs. A great little tool from the folks at Selle Italia, for that extra protection, in size that fits all. I just received a couple of new saddles and just about threw this beauty out as it was hiding in the bottom of the box. Made from silicon rubber, so it stretches the extra mile, and best of all it’s reusable. But more on this later.
My number one tool for the last three weeks has been this fantastic new product from Park Tool Company. The UK-1, funny enough it stands for Utility Knife No:1. This time of the season I have had to unpack a whole load of stuff. That means opening many cartons, packages and small boxes. Seems like my UK-1 has not left my hand much since I got it. Feels nice and cool to the touch (for when summer starts) and looks very cool as well.
Made from some cool anodised alloy and stainless bits, this is one strong knife.
It does not give you the feeling that it’s going to close up on your pinkie at any stage. Cuts through a whole lot of stuff at once, for example, the outer carton, the inner packaging, three layers of plastic and a leather saddle covering, all in a single pass. Makes bike boxes flatter than pancakes in a matter of minutes. It can open a Dura-ace groupset before you can say ‘Campag is a bunch of old shite, why don’t they move into the future sometime soon’. It can ream the inside of a carbon steerer in seconds and open the huge block of Dutch gouda with consummate ease.
It folds up neatly, safe for the bottom of your tool box, or the bottom of your pocket. And if you’re a dick, you can also wear it on your belt, just between your cell phone and your bunch of unnecessarily large keys. It stays shut and has a nice, well operating lock to keep it open when in use.
But as usual, it was given to me with no instructions (yes I read instructions, and junk mail) so when It came to switching the blade, it was a bit of a mission. I pulled the little knobby thing apart, but no joy. And was just looking around for a 2mm Torx to undo the three screws, and I thought there must be another way. And there was, just push the button, and what do you know, the blade comes loose. Since then I have found some instructions, for next time. http://www.parktool.com/products/detail.asp?cat=19&item=UK-1 . And if I had to comment further, the Park Tool graphics are upside down, asthetics sometimes sell products like this, and it makes it hard to get a good photo.
Thanks to Frank from Marleen (Park Tool NZ) for the parting gift, it’s working well.
Now back to the great product from Selle Italia, made from silicon, for that extra protection. So put some fun between your legs, and never ride that saddle wet again. This tool is great, as it fits any saddle, sticks like glue and won’t blow off even when you are travelling at breakneck speeds in your car. Feels great to pull it out of it’s packet, almost a satin feel to the outside, a little bit grippy on the inside. I just pulled it on, from the front, and what do you know it stretched all the way back the end.
Stretching...
Love the look.
Underneath.
So for those wet days, which if you live in The Netherlands, is almost every day so far, this will work wonders for your saddle. Keep it nice and dry, for that first ten minutes of your ride, then forget about the wet ass, you know the deal from here. I pulled it on and off a few times, and every time it worked perfectly. Every now and then, you could pull it and reposition to get all the wrinkles out. I’m going to see if I can modify a couple of these for the shoes, perfect for bike washing. Good on you fellas, I love feeling protected, buy one, and relax on your next wet ride.
Speaking of first dates, finally a product for those of us blessed with something great between their legs. A great little tool from the folks at Selle Italia, for that extra protection, in size that fits all. I just received a couple of new saddles and just about threw this beauty out as it was hiding in the bottom of the box. Made from silicon rubber, so it stretches the extra mile, and best of all it’s reusable. But more on this later.
My number one tool for the last three weeks has been this fantastic new product from Park Tool Company. The UK-1, funny enough it stands for Utility Knife No:1. This time of the season I have had to unpack a whole load of stuff. That means opening many cartons, packages and small boxes. Seems like my UK-1 has not left my hand much since I got it. Feels nice and cool to the touch (for when summer starts) and looks very cool as well.
Made from some cool anodised alloy and stainless bits, this is one strong knife.
It does not give you the feeling that it’s going to close up on your pinkie at any stage. Cuts through a whole lot of stuff at once, for example, the outer carton, the inner packaging, three layers of plastic and a leather saddle covering, all in a single pass. Makes bike boxes flatter than pancakes in a matter of minutes. It can open a Dura-ace groupset before you can say ‘Campag is a bunch of old shite, why don’t they move into the future sometime soon’. It can ream the inside of a carbon steerer in seconds and open the huge block of Dutch gouda with consummate ease.
It folds up neatly, safe for the bottom of your tool box, or the bottom of your pocket. And if you’re a dick, you can also wear it on your belt, just between your cell phone and your bunch of unnecessarily large keys. It stays shut and has a nice, well operating lock to keep it open when in use.
But as usual, it was given to me with no instructions (yes I read instructions, and junk mail) so when It came to switching the blade, it was a bit of a mission. I pulled the little knobby thing apart, but no joy. And was just looking around for a 2mm Torx to undo the three screws, and I thought there must be another way. And there was, just push the button, and what do you know, the blade comes loose. Since then I have found some instructions, for next time. http://www.parktool.com/products/detail.asp?cat=19&item=UK-1 . And if I had to comment further, the Park Tool graphics are upside down, asthetics sometimes sell products like this, and it makes it hard to get a good photo.
Thanks to Frank from Marleen (Park Tool NZ) for the parting gift, it’s working well.
Now back to the great product from Selle Italia, made from silicon, for that extra protection. So put some fun between your legs, and never ride that saddle wet again. This tool is great, as it fits any saddle, sticks like glue and won’t blow off even when you are travelling at breakneck speeds in your car. Feels great to pull it out of it’s packet, almost a satin feel to the outside, a little bit grippy on the inside. I just pulled it on, from the front, and what do you know it stretched all the way back the end.
Stretching...
Love the look.
Underneath.So for those wet days, which if you live in The Netherlands, is almost every day so far, this will work wonders for your saddle. Keep it nice and dry, for that first ten minutes of your ride, then forget about the wet ass, you know the deal from here. I pulled it on and off a few times, and every time it worked perfectly. Every now and then, you could pull it and reposition to get all the wrinkles out. I’m going to see if I can modify a couple of these for the shoes, perfect for bike washing. Good on you fellas, I love feeling protected, buy one, and relax on your next wet ride.
8 March 2006
The first race (sort of).
On Sunday we had a couple of the girls racing in a local race, much like a club race you will all be familiar with. A nice little 7km circuit just over the border in Belgium, total distance 77km. We still had the girls bikes from the camp in Portugal, so we were just there to drop them off and provide a little support. Think both Sandra and Suzanne VonVane (our youngest rider) just wanted to give their legs a bit of a blast to see if they were race ready.
Suzanne (the other one) almost ready to start.
The day started pretty sweet, warm with nice clear skies, but within seconds from the start it started snowing. Like one minute clear and the moment the race organiser started mumbling stuff in the microphone, the snow started, pretty crazy, almost like our Auckland weather, one minute fine, the other minute shit. It didn't seem to phase anyone, they just put their heads down and were off.
We walked around some of the course to keep ourselves warm and to have a look at a few corners. By the time we had walked a few kms there was all four seasons thrown at us, snow, rain, sun, wind, it was great, I was very excited as usual, with all the snow variants. Wet, dry, fluffy etc, and knowing how hard riding in this stuff was, the girls just put their foots down and continued. They make them tough in this part of the world, in fact I was surprised more didn'’t pull out of the race, as we were freezing with about 20 layers on, under big jackets, or maybe it'’s just me been soft, I mean acclimatising to what'’s left of the winter.
Great day for a race.
The first break.
The Girls did well, SVV was in a break of four for half of the race, and Sandra stayed with another break of twenty for the other half. They were both pretty happy with their form, and still had smiles on their faces when they finished. But there were some pretty cold and dirty girls afterwards, and the bikes, what a mess.
That church again, just love the trees guarding it.
The team house is about to reach full capacity this weekend with our first major race of the year (with UCI points). Think we have 6 Girls staying with us, and the other two racing are local enough. I have spent the week, cleaning and organising the house in preparation for the onslaught (house work and me are not the best of friends normally). I turned what looked like a house your grandparents may have lived in, to a modern, funky house that the Girls can feel at home in. It gets real hard sometimes, living in Hotels, out of suitcases for most of the year, and it'’s real nice to have somewhere else in the world to call your other home. I did the best with all the donated furniture and goodies from everyone, sorry grandma, but the kids are taking over. I also picked up a pile of photos last night for the walls (thanks again Emile), just to give it the 'Team House' touch. A cool selection of some of my pics from last year and this year to make some cool montages on the walls. Should be good to see the looks on the girls faces as they enter the house, as they all know I have been working at it all week. We also have the team photo shoot on Monday, so we have a few more of the girls arriving for that. I just hope there is a more modern makeup artist this year, so the girls don't look as thought they just stepped out of the eighties with their buffed hair and bad makeup (sorry girls, but the truth hurts sometimes).
I stole a preview off www.cyclingnews.com , for the race on Sunday, but too many crazy names for me to spell unfortunately.
Omloop Het Volk for women
The first Omloop Het Volk (UCI 1.2) for women will be ridden this Sunday, March 12, between the Belgian towns of Deerlijk and Deinze. Despite its name, the parcours will be completely different to the men's Het Volk that was won by Philippe Gilbert just over a week ago. The total distance is 91 km, consisting of 46 km between Deerlijk and Deinze, then three 15 km finishing circuits. There are four climbs in the first half: Waregemseweg (km 18 and 32), Nokereberg (km 23), and Brugstraat (km 34), and one cobbled section: Herlegemstraat (km 29).
23 teams are expected to take part, making for a big field. Anita Valen (@Work Cycling Team), Mirjam Melchers-van Poppel and Susanne Ljungskog (Buitenpoort-Flexpoint), and Suzanne de Goede (AA-Drink) are the main favourites. Leontien Zijlaard-Van Moorsel will serve as race ambassador, to try to lift the low profile of women's racing in Flanders.
Leontien, if you have not heard of her before, is a bit of a Dutch icon in Women's racing, think she was World champ, National champ and Olyimpic winner, but will find out more for you later. Two of our girls are in the favourites, which is nice, and we have a strong team so should be interesting. My picks are Mirjam 1st and Susanne L 2nd, hey might as well have Linda in third place as well. Got to have faith in your own team.
Righto, must get out of bed now, still trying to get rid of the flu, not bird flu I hope. No snow outside, which is a good start to the day, and its not raining yet, ye ha.
Suzanne (the other one) almost ready to start.The day started pretty sweet, warm with nice clear skies, but within seconds from the start it started snowing. Like one minute clear and the moment the race organiser started mumbling stuff in the microphone, the snow started, pretty crazy, almost like our Auckland weather, one minute fine, the other minute shit. It didn't seem to phase anyone, they just put their heads down and were off.
We walked around some of the course to keep ourselves warm and to have a look at a few corners. By the time we had walked a few kms there was all four seasons thrown at us, snow, rain, sun, wind, it was great, I was very excited as usual, with all the snow variants. Wet, dry, fluffy etc, and knowing how hard riding in this stuff was, the girls just put their foots down and continued. They make them tough in this part of the world, in fact I was surprised more didn'’t pull out of the race, as we were freezing with about 20 layers on, under big jackets, or maybe it'’s just me been soft, I mean acclimatising to what'’s left of the winter.
Great day for a race.
The first break.The Girls did well, SVV was in a break of four for half of the race, and Sandra stayed with another break of twenty for the other half. They were both pretty happy with their form, and still had smiles on their faces when they finished. But there were some pretty cold and dirty girls afterwards, and the bikes, what a mess.
That church again, just love the trees guarding it.
The team house is about to reach full capacity this weekend with our first major race of the year (with UCI points). Think we have 6 Girls staying with us, and the other two racing are local enough. I have spent the week, cleaning and organising the house in preparation for the onslaught (house work and me are not the best of friends normally). I turned what looked like a house your grandparents may have lived in, to a modern, funky house that the Girls can feel at home in. It gets real hard sometimes, living in Hotels, out of suitcases for most of the year, and it'’s real nice to have somewhere else in the world to call your other home. I did the best with all the donated furniture and goodies from everyone, sorry grandma, but the kids are taking over. I also picked up a pile of photos last night for the walls (thanks again Emile), just to give it the 'Team House' touch. A cool selection of some of my pics from last year and this year to make some cool montages on the walls. Should be good to see the looks on the girls faces as they enter the house, as they all know I have been working at it all week. We also have the team photo shoot on Monday, so we have a few more of the girls arriving for that. I just hope there is a more modern makeup artist this year, so the girls don't look as thought they just stepped out of the eighties with their buffed hair and bad makeup (sorry girls, but the truth hurts sometimes).
I stole a preview off www.cyclingnews.com , for the race on Sunday, but too many crazy names for me to spell unfortunately.
Omloop Het Volk for women
The first Omloop Het Volk (UCI 1.2) for women will be ridden this Sunday, March 12, between the Belgian towns of Deerlijk and Deinze. Despite its name, the parcours will be completely different to the men's Het Volk that was won by Philippe Gilbert just over a week ago. The total distance is 91 km, consisting of 46 km between Deerlijk and Deinze, then three 15 km finishing circuits. There are four climbs in the first half: Waregemseweg (km 18 and 32), Nokereberg (km 23), and Brugstraat (km 34), and one cobbled section: Herlegemstraat (km 29).
23 teams are expected to take part, making for a big field. Anita Valen (@Work Cycling Team), Mirjam Melchers-van Poppel and Susanne Ljungskog (Buitenpoort-Flexpoint), and Suzanne de Goede (AA-Drink) are the main favourites. Leontien Zijlaard-Van Moorsel will serve as race ambassador, to try to lift the low profile of women's racing in Flanders.
Leontien, if you have not heard of her before, is a bit of a Dutch icon in Women's racing, think she was World champ, National champ and Olyimpic winner, but will find out more for you later. Two of our girls are in the favourites, which is nice, and we have a strong team so should be interesting. My picks are Mirjam 1st and Susanne L 2nd, hey might as well have Linda in third place as well. Got to have faith in your own team.
Righto, must get out of bed now, still trying to get rid of the flu, not bird flu I hope. No snow outside, which is a good start to the day, and its not raining yet, ye ha.
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