Howdy everyone,

Happy Mother’s Day to my wonderful Mum, the best Mum in the world, and also to all of the other Mums/Moms out there.

After getting through the South East crit series last week, and getting in fifteen race days in 21 days, i decided to have a bit of time off the bike, and it was great! The racing was really good, although the body was definitely feeling it after doing the hardest tour i have ever done, followed by a bunch of crits, just five days later, and crashing hard on day one! It was great to do all the racing, but i was in desperate need of a few RDO’s after that!

Keally finished up her exams on Tuesday, so we packed up and headed for Hilton Head, South Carolina straight after she was done. Her grandparents (Patty and Harry) live down there, so it was nice to have a place to stay, on the water, and on the golf course!

We kicked off the drive by stopping at a road-side food stand, and bought some very “Southern”, boiled peanuts. They are actually pretty good, but they give you a bucket that is just way too big, and there are no smaller sizes!

The first lagoon i saw at Hilton Head, had an alligator in it! I threw some pine cones at it, and it started heading towards me, so i thought i should jump back in the car. It is pretty amazing how people live with these lagoons in their backyards, and alligators live in the lagoons!
The day after i saw my first alligator, in the same lagoon was this baby one. I am not sure if it were real or not, or if it were a decoy the big alligator set up to try and trap me, but i did get close enough to get this cool photo of it!

We stayed just near Harbor Town, which is in Sea Pines resort, and this place was super fancy and nice! The harbour had a heap of really flash boats docked there, and just on the other side was a golf course too. The lighthouse in the background is a bit of a land mark on Hilton Head Island.

On the way to the beach, we passed a “bikes for hire” place, with a few beach cruisers, just a few!

Sitting on the back porch at Keally’s grandparents, we were able to look down the 14th hole of Long Cove Country Club, and i thought this made for a good photo, as we prepared to watch the sun set; a manhattan with dip, looking down the fairway… You could do worse!

In the evenings we were able to play a hole, which was literally out the back door. Here i am showing off my style; take note of the hat, true golfing style!

This is the view of Keally’s grandparent’s house from the green, it is about 50 meters away.

Here is my beautiful girlfriend showing her technique with the golf sticks! She is also kicking the golf hat for the good of the photo. This is the 15th tee, and in the background you can see Patty and Harry’s place, and the lagoon by their house. There are no alligators living in this lagoon, i am told. If there were, i would have stayed somewhere else!

At the dock across the road, Harry has some crab nets, and here are a couple of the day’s takings. They will be cleaned up and cooked into some pretty nice crab thingy.

We had a great time down at Hilton Head, and it was great to have a couple of days off. I am now back into full training for Philly week, and the crits that are on in the week before that.

Something else interesting i did on the weekend, was return to my roots, and get on the track for a race! I guess most of the people who know me know that i got into cycling through the track, and i am so grateful for my track background. I began racing at the Carnegie track in Melbourne when i was fourteen (i think, maybe thirteen), and it really helped develop me as a cyclist. Racing here in the States, in the crowded bunches, and in the super fast crits has been made easier for me due to my track racing background. Track helps develop a good pedaling action, and general skills required in all areas of cycling.

The racing i did on the weekend was at East Point Velodrome, in the ghetto, and it was the bumpiest track i have ever been on! The festival of speed race that was on didn’t quite get to complete the program, as it got rained out, which was unfortunate, but the organisers put on a great race program, and hopefully i can get back there for the next one.

Well anyway dudes, i am off to bed. Hi to Mum and Dad, now that they have arrived back in Oz, after their holiday. Hope everyone is well.

Laters…