Tommy Nankervis

Tour de France!

// November 13th, 2009 // No Comments » // A Day Down Under

Thanks to my friend Leigh for sending this video, it is a must watch!

Click here!

A group of owls is called a “parliament”.

Pumpkin Anyone?

// October 30th, 2009 // 1 Comment » // A Day Down Under

Howdy everyone! Once again I have returned to my useless ways, but you have to understand how hectic everything has been! I started this post in September, before we started the Franco-Belge race, and it has taken me until now to sit down at a computer long enough to complete the entry… Most of you will know by now, that I am pretty useless…!

So anyway, the brief look at the last month has been a bit like this:
Start packing, head off to the 4-day Franco-Belge, come home, finish packing, go over to the Horse races at Nico’s place, race our final race for the season in Europe, WIN my final race for the season in Europe(!), do the last little bit of packing and head off to the airport, spend a ridiculous amount of time in transit, get home, see Keally, head off to Ballarat to do the Sun Tour, hear that my good friend Frank Vandenbroucke died, finish the Sun Tour, then finish the season off and head down to Phillip Island for a break and some relaxing!

Still, relaxing is not entirely possible when I am still looking for a team for next year… If anyone has any ideas, or wants to help me find a team, please contact me! huckfactor@hotmail.com/+61 432 213 590.

There was no mention of internet anywhere there, as I have not been on it for more than 2 minutes at a time, until today, Halloween! Funny that, because the original meaning for this post was to show how crazy-big the pumpkins were I saw on the side of the road while training in Belgium, and as it turns out, Halloween and pumpkins make an appropriate fit! What a day; luck is on my side!

So, I don’t really know where to start with all of this stuff. It will probably take me the wohle of the Aussie Summer to get through it all, and as the action is wearing down, maybe I can elaborate on more of the things I mentioned above…

Franco-Belge was the biggest race of the season for our team, so it was nice to finish the year off with a bang. We were very lucky to get the start, and it was great to race against some of the biggest names in the sport.
Two days after the race finished, we headed off to our final race for the year, the Zele Pro Kermesse. Somehow, the rain started to fall, and I couldn’t believe my luck! For some reason I like the rain, I don’t know why, but I think it might have something to do with when I used to play footy when I was younger; playing in the rain and the mud was the best thing ever – so much so that for my seventh birthday, I had a football party, and Mum and Dad had organised a trailer load of dirt, and hosed it to make mud!
Anyway, the course was technical, with some cobbles, lots of corners, and some wind too. I was on my game all day, and when the rain started, I knew I was going to win. As it turned out, I slipped off into a 12-man break with about 5-7km to go. Greg van Avermaet (Silence Lotto) was the home town star, and when I saw him in the group, I knew it would be promising. I was lucky enough to have my team mate Matt Green in the group too. He did an awesome amount of work, and led the group into the last 500m for me. Nick Nuyens hit out early, and I just kept sprinting past him like it was the last thing I would ever do… And no-one was able to pass me! It was the greatest win of my life, and in typical Tommy Nankervis style, I did it at the last possible minute!
So far, the only photo I have is this one from the Belgian Newspaper. I will try to get a copy from them at some point.

The next day, Frank VDB came and drove me to the airport. It was the last time I would ever see him. I feel so lucky to have seen him before I left, but at the same time, I can’t really see that, because it is just so sad that he is gone. Franky was such a nice guy, and he had such a good heart. I am very lucky that I got to race on a team with one of the great riders the sport has ever seen. Just to give everyone an idea of VDB, one race in May, the team was off at a race in Ireland I think. We only had 5 guys left at the house, and there was a 1.1 in Holland. For a 1.1 the team needs to have 6 starters. Frank was sick, and not wanting to race, but he drove up to the race, just so that the rest of the team could race, and he started with his Winter gear on, and a map in his pocket. The only reason for his trip to Holland was so that the rest of the team could still do a race.


I will write more about Frank at a later date…

I also got to race in my second Sun Tour once I got home, and in the National Team for my first ever time. I would have liked to go a bit better, but in the end, I was kind of happy just to limp through it… It is pretty disappointing to start to finish my season off so well, with a win in the bag and everything, then to arrive back in Australia and not give such a good showing. There are a number of reasons for it, but that is just the way it goes…

So anyway, that is a small update. Please do let me know if you can help me with a team in any way. I will be back at the computer later in the week for another post hopefully!

Here is the rest of my update:

Anyone for a pumpkin?! Check out the size of these things! These next four photos are the original thing I meant to have for this post:

I saw this orange blob up in the distance, and at a closer look, found it to be a pumpkin! Check it out!
Pretty scary that 280kg was only enough for 4th place in the contest!

Makes the bike look small!

Here is another crazy thing about Belgium; the road signs. In the lower half of Belgium the cities all have their French and Flemish names listed. Often the names are not even similar!

I hope everyone is well.

According to the Gemological Institute of America, up until the 1730’s, India was the only source for diamonds in the world.

Derny Criterium!

// September 24th, 2009 // 5 Comments » // A Day Down Under

Not too much of an interesting post really, but a couple of interesting photos! The internet has been a bit of a no-go for me recently, hence the lack of posts. The wireless thingy on my computer stopped working, so when I wanted to use the internet, I had to wait till the other guys in the house weren’t online, and then plug my computer into the modem. I now have a wireless thingy to plug into my computer, but then I got some virus aswell, but that is all sorted now…

Anyway…

Check this bike out, it belongs to someone on a Belgian team who we race against. I don’t know anything more about him, but he has quite some paint-job on his bike!

My team mate Logan Hutchings and I did a Derny Criterium in Nantes, France a couple of weeks back. It was a fantastic experience, one of the best experiences I have had since I started cycling. Racing around the circuit, each of us behind our own Derny, I was just covered in goosebumps! It was just awesome. I had such a great time, and will jump at the opportunity to do one again anytime!
Nico made sure Logan and I got onto one of the derny bikes for a photo:

Always keen to steal the show, Nico Mattan was up to his trade-mark trick, riding backwards on my bike! After he finished the Tour de France each time he did it, he apparently would ride a lap of the Champs Elysees just like this, in his team uniform!

Outside the USA, Ireland is the largest software producing country in the world.