Ok dudes, I have returned to being a slacker. Sorry. I have been running around trying to organise a heap of things, and have been too lazy in my spare time to put a new post up. I have been meaning to, because i have done a couple of really good races, and some cool photos too!

So two weeks ago, we raced the Southbank Criterium in Brisbane, which doubles as the National Criterium Championship. It is on a hotdog circuit, and is very hard and fast. We had a pretty hot day, but then it rained too, then dried out and was hot again.

On the warm up for the race, the motivation dropped a bit with the sight of rain:

The circuit on city roads, with lots of slow moving car traffic, with U-Turns at each end, with wet corners was an exciting thought… Sort of, but not really! Luckily the rain dried up for the start, and we started the race on a dry course. By the time the field had dwindled, the rain started again, and there were a few crashes, but nothing too bad. It dried up again, and we finished in the sunshine!

It is a really cool circuit, and the Southbank area of Brisbane is really amazing! Here is a photo of us racing through the buildings in Southbank, with me following the T-Mobile guy, Scott Davis.

The race was won by Baden Cooke, who won his first Champion’s Jersey on the road/crit circuit, to go with some track ones. He rode an awesome race, and just blew everyone away by the finish. Here he is chatting to his dad while his obviously better half shows off his medal!

Brisbane, Queensland is the home of XXXX beer, and here is the brewing headquarters:

There isn’t a whole lot of XXXX (pronounced “four X”) around Melbourne, and it definitely isn’t around the US, so i can’t really describe it to anyone. As for the name, well a few years ago i read somewhere that Queenslanders call their beer “XXXX” because they cant spell “BEER”! If anyone know if this is the reason, or if there is any other reason behind it, please let me know!

I was also lucky enough to ride past this “double-whammy” street sign, kangaroos and koalas in one! How about that? Bet you wont find one of them in Georgia!!!!
I thought this would be of interest seeing as this time last year i did a post on our interesting road signs here in Australia!

The week after Southbank, we raced the Surfers Paradise Grand Prix, on the Gold Coast. This race is ridiculously hard, and has four very tight corners, on a 950 metre circuit! I struggled a lot to get through this one, but i did make it. Retiring Jason “Bobby” Phillips won the race, deciding his 38 year old body has had enough of racing professionally. A great way to say goodbye!

We stayed in a nice high-rise apartment for the Surfers crit, and i think it was one of 2,000+ high-rise buildings along the Gold Coast! It is insane. Here is the view South from our apartment balcony, and it gives you a rough idea of how many tall buildings there are. The crazy thing is, there is an amazing beach just 500 metres away from all of them! No wonder they call it Surfer’s Paradise!

One of the other things they have in Surfers is the reverse bungee, Sling Shot. I am terrified of heights, and would never have done this if my mate Shane didn’t force me into it! Here is us before the start, and as you can see, i don’t really look too excited about it! We did it twice, not by my choice, and the second time was much worse than the first. We got the video of it too, and i look like i am going to be sick! Here is a video of the same thing we did, if you don’t know what i am talking about! I was just the same as the guy on the left!

Well, Queensland was a great time, and i got to do some great racing too. I am happy with where i am at, as i went better this year, and i haven’t done as much as i did last year. I have a few more weeks to get some good k’s in, before racing the Bay Crits, then the Nationals.

I had to have a thing cut out of my head this week, nothing serious, but better to be safe than sorry. If i can say one thing about that, wear sunscreen, and never let yourself get burnt. I am only 24, and already have to worry, the sun is just so strong down here in Australia. Oh well, cover up!

Keally arrives in 12 hours from right now, so i am off to bed, and very excited to see her in the morning!

Laters everyone…

One more thing, a HUGE thank you to everyone who wrote comments on my last post. It is really nice to know i get people reading it. It was great to see that even people i don’t know leave comments, and also great to hear from the regular comment writers, as well as some who haven’t commented too much lately! Thank you! 18 comments is a new record too for me!