Team Cinelli – Down Under!
// March 13th, 2009 // A Day Down Under
Well there is heaps to report in on with me. I am in Belgium now, to spend the year racing for Team Cinelli – Down Under! Everything happened in a very short amount of time, and since I was down in Portarlington for the Oceanias, things have just been a blur. After some help from team mechanic Mark, I booked a flight, and just days later was on the plane for Brussels, was meeting the new team mates, having team presentation, and then racing in the Three Days of West Flanders! What a great experience! Three days of West Flanders was awesome. Day one was very tough, and just my third ride on the new bike. It took a bit of getting used to, and some sore muscles, but by day two I started to come around a bit. Day three, and we rode up the famous (or infamous) Kemmelberg – what an experience that was! I was in the main front group over that, and it didn’t matter that my legs were screaming like they never have before, I was just covered in goosebumps thinking about all the legends of the sport that have just smashed it over that climb before!
So enough about racing stuff, here is the cool stuff. I have a couple of photos for now, but plenty more to come. For starters, at the team presentation, our famous team director Nico Mattan told us about this small bus we would have for the races. Well, this is it, a full RV!
One of our team sponsors is this bad-ass clothing sponsor. Here my team mate Nick Mitchell, a Brad McGee look-a-like, and I decided to pose in our pimping real fur Winter coats. They couldn’t have come at a better time either, as it is freezing over here!
Here are a couple of pictures of the nearby town, Leuven. It is quite stunning with the old buildings and architecture. It is just a short ride away, and definitely worth a regular visit because it is so nice to look at.
Amazing buildings like these ones are just everywhere. Belgium has so many nice buildings, and their houses are really nice too. I really love this place, and I have only been here just over a week!
We have a small town just a short ride away, and it is great for a coffee shop ride. This is the first ride I did here in Belgium, and took this picture so you can get a glimpse of the great Cinelli Bikes we are riding for this season. I will do a more detailed update on all of our equipment in the next couple of posts.
I am basically done on my write-up on track cycling, but just waiting on a couple of comments from some of our club’s riders before it is complete. It should be up in the coming days. For now, I hope you have a bit of an idea of what I am up to, and you can be sure the updates will be happening a lot more frequently from now on! I am already doing a ton of racing, and can be sure there is plenty of blogging ammo for the coming months!
Despite being over 27 times smaller, Norway’s total coastline is longer than the USA’s.
13 Responses to “Team Cinelli – Down Under!”
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- Owen said: Glad to hear from you again, Tommy. We need to ge...
- Sandra said: Loved the text and the photos. Congrats on the win...
- Jim said: Really glad to see you are riding AND back to writ...
- LSD snr said: Great to see you back on the air! Keep it going no...
- Chris said: Slacko... All the best!!...
- Oldie Dave said: Tommy, Great to read and see photos of your exp...
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Tommy! Congrats on the new ride. Crush it in Europe bro. Belgium racing, nothing like it. Have fun!
I hate to tell you this, but your wrong. You forgot to include Alaska, Hawaii. Which then we are twice the coastal length. America, is always bigger and better then the rest.
Tommy, I was totally confidant your dedicated training and quality work in OZ races, would pay off! Wishing you and your teammates all the best of success, in Europe.
Seattle is “warming” up after a very long cold winter, but my Trek has been good to me riding around the beautiful terrain that surrounds Seattle. Miss ya and we pray for your success in Europe with Cinelli Team Down Under! Keep the shiny side up!
There are twice as many kangaroos in Australia as people!
Oldie Dave
Good on ya Tommy! Great to hear things have worked out for you…..
I’m so jealous of you Tommy. I’m thinking of quitting my job and moving to Belgium. Of course I wouldn’t get to rock out with a pro team. I would just race local and pretend I’m important. Hope to see you in 2010.
Just got back home from the trip to Athens. New guys all seem good and are very enthusiastic.
Hope you have a great time in the bike racing capital of the world. Keep all of us informed.
Way to go! We are very proud/happy/excited for you! Best of luck!
It is great to hear what it is like in Belgium, especially at this time of year as it gets SO cold up there! Good luck Tommy and I hope the races go well.
U look like an Inuit. I’m desperately waiting to see the flying Cinelli on the blog. Do you really wear purple? Nice. Does it get warm at all in Belgium – temperature range would be emormously valuable information to drop into conversations. Is it true that more Belgium chocolates are exported to Ethiopia than anywhere else? And, you don’t wear black socks with the purple do you?
Tommy.. glad to see your over here mate. send us an email of where your staying and what races you have coming up. might come and check it out if your in my area.
Hi Tommy,
Congratulations to you mate! I always knew you had the engine! Racing in Belgium would suit you and your abilities perfectly. I hope Nico Mattan treats you well.
By the way, let me know if you need any help with Biomech or Physiological stuff.
Cheers,
Brian
Hey Tommy,
Great post, it looks real nice and u sound very happy, good luck with your races.
Cat & Smit
Tommy, Congratulations mate, on your 19th place finish on March 15, 191 K, at Omloop va het Waasland-Kemseke Belgium! Do all the races have names like this? Saw some nice photos on line of the race, over the cobblestones, towns lined with spectators, interesting architecture!
The people watching the race look more seriou than the racers! Wishing a podium finish soon, I have no doubt it will be soon! Keep the shiny side up!
All the best from Seattle!