Four league races under the belt.. Time is rushing by! I rolled up in the with the pimp wagon Saturday evening and got myself organized. I slept much better this time (only being woken up once at 2:30am by some kids on the way home from the bar) and woke up refreshed. I had been training in a sleevless Blue Seventy wetsuit the last while and I brought it along just in case it would be a wetsuit swim although I had a near guarantee that it would be without so I had my Point Zero Three ready to roll. It ended up being a wetsuit swim at the water was 19.7 degrees (at 20 it is non) and so I had to give it a rip. I had a heck of a on the swim was just holding on the back of the main bunch. I thought I was in big trouble but managed to ride up no problem picking small groups up as I went. We had the lead group in sight but by this time our group had grown too large to be effective and everyone was sitting and it was impossible to get a proper echelon going… in hindsight, I should have attacked earlier and may have brought a few guys with and them we might have gotten somewhere… oh well.. we came into T2 just over a minute down on a lead group of 7. The top 3 were out of sight (true short distance snipers) and I ran with Hannes Utz (you know it baby!) for the first few kms and we distanced ourselves from the bunch and started picking off guys from the lead group. I had to let him go as the pace was just a tick too much but I manged to hold within about 20 sec and moved into 7th with 2 guys from the lead buch within striking distance in the last km.. man I had to rip it, cuz they could see me coming… The finish was on the Track and I still need about 15m on the boys. I could have just let it go but I had a flashback of my Calvin College Track and Field days and had to lauch a good kick. I managed to get by one of them for 6th but the little kiwi boy held me off with a final burst of his own and that was that. Our team came out looking good though, taking second to Hansgrohe team and moving into second in the rankings. One amazing fact about our team is that we have had the same 5 guys on the line every single race - pretty impressive and a nice show consistency all around.

So, back to Airstream and time to set up the bikes (or what was left of them). I had some Scottish punk rock on the menu today and had a constant crowd checking out the Planet X bikes and gear. I can’t count how many times I was asked if I brought the Airstream over from Canada… yep.. just drove er over guy! Anyway, fun had by all and I reaffirmed the strength and stability I showed last weekend as I think I ran even better and will certainly be at my best in Roth.. 2 weeks of taper and then show time!! I hope Herr Goehner is feeling as good as I am cuz I ain’t gonna be easy to catch!!
C U there!!!
Airstream pumpin!

Alright!!! lots of excitment to report.

As I mentioned in my last blog I have been having problems. I have been to chiro’s and physio’s non stop lately and it just didn’t seem to fix anything as my back would just go out of whack again a few hours later. So I made an appointment with my trusty witch doctor this week. He had mentioned before that I had a problem with my molars and needed some root canal or it would become a problem. He looked at my hips and back had never seen them so crooked. He (Joerg Brenn) did some witch doctor type tests and determined that my tooth indeed was having an adverse affect on my hip bones. I am the first one to skeptical on this type of thing but I am telling you, he gave me a shot of some homeopathic stuff and then adjusted my back and hips and I crossed my fingers. I showed up to the race this weekend and felt solid and I could already feel on the swim that I was going to have a good day… anyway, I think we are on the right track and will be working with Herr Witch Doctor until Roth.. then I will need some dental work done…. yaouch!!
Ok.. now we will continue with the race. I got out of the swim with the main bunch and worked my way to the front no probs. There was some young gun Kiwi kid out front and Mr. Farlow was in between him and my group. I tried to make an early attack to pick up Aaron but too many guys managed to go with it so I had to leave it for a while. A minute later the new Terminator on the bike Kienle rode up to group and the race (and the pace) was ON!! Having a teamate up front, I got to sit in and watch but sat a bit too fat back and missed it when Sebastian and his teammate attacked and bridged the gap to Aaron and the kiwi. I waited a bit for my chance and then went after them. I was at the foot of very hard climb that gets steeper as you go. I was on (having gotten away from the group) the back of the foursome by the middle of the hill but my legs were screaming bloody murder and 200m from the top I simply couldn’t hold them and faded. That was basically the race right there..those 4 guys got away said adios and took the 1-4 on the podium. I dropped back into the group but then broke away again later and then ran strong enough to hold out for 5th. Nothing to be too proud of, but like I always say, LBS is only a regional league but it no easy pickin’s.
Now, I also have to mention the Airstream tour… pix to come. Me Aaron rolled up to the race in Dave’s (the big boss from Planet X)’s Airstream. I mentioned in a previous blog that I went up to England to meet these guys (Dave and his evil Henchman Richard) and they had decided that it would be a cool idea if I drove around with his pimped out Airstream for a few months and then show off some sexy Planet X bikes at my events (as I have a lot scheduled) so I went for it (wouldn’t you?) and we chilled out after race to the soothing sounds of Billy Talent blaring, eating Kuchen and showing off the bikes. What else would you wanna do after a race??
So, anyway, Shady’s back and he’s gotta whole new bag o’ toys!! hahahaha lots more to come soon!!!

uh..
Man it gets a little hard to write a blog when every race somethings goes wrong… or simply when I am not racing well. I know the form is there and the good ones are ahead of me but I have been on the move a lot lately and a bit out of my routine. I think that missing the odd stretching and core strength session has left my back a little tight and knotted. Early this week i got a real shock in the lower back and had to book for a few sessions at the physio to get it straightened out. Today it went out at some point on the run and i was so siezed up I was reduced to a jog. I was going ok and had run up to ninth with a chance at moving up a few more spots.. but alas, i went backwards instead and finished 12th.
I will set my focus on getting my back in order in the next few weeks but am still optimistic about Roth. I know the legs are good and if I can get stable in the core I will be able to really go well.
I am really enjoy this season though as I have been able to meet so many new people, make some connections for my post racing career as well as taking part in some world class events in some great venues.
A couple of league races coming up the next two weekends, then a taper and Roth!!

As most of you know I put a small fundraiser together for a freind from Kenya having hard times. So little has already made such a big difference. Thanks again to all those who donated.

Chrispines message:

Dear Luke.
I hope that you are fine.
I am fine and we just planted. I bought the generator, a water tank , pipes and a sprinkler.
should the rains fail this time, i will not be worried as before.
I also plan to grow during the dry seasons as well.

Thanks for your support and that of your friends too. I will let you kmow how our farm does and will send you a few pics soon.
Nice time.
chrispine.

Planet X-ellent

I took a trip up to the British Isles this weekend to Planet X headquarters. They had some tents up at a massive Bike festival somewhere north of Birmingham and I decided to take the invite and hang out, do some events and then plan our little ‘airstream promo tour of germany’ which we will start in Kraichgau on June 14th. What a rowdy bunch of hard cores!! I decided to do the 100mile sportiv ride on the Saturday and then jumped in last minute on the Devil Bike race (which was on the Donnington Speedway F1 circuit). The 100 miller was an epic tour of the country side. I started pushing the pace with some the goers but at about 20miles the lead motorbike took and wrong turn and took us about 7km off course.. ok so it would be 104 mile, no probs. Then I rode myself back up to the front or near it but then missed another turn and found myself another 20km off course. I found my way back eventually and now had no problem navigating as there were riders strung out the rest of the way for me to overtake and follow. The middle section of the course was absolutely nuts!! We were sent throught these country lanes over some epic climbs and decents where you had to be really careful on as the roads were narrow and part gravel and up to around 20% grade. Well, i made it through and was welcomed back to the Planet X tent with outpours of laughter which was enhanced by me putting on my running shoes and going for a 15 min trot through the parking areas.
I had a nice sleep in a tent that night while 4 of the fellas ripped through 12 hour enduro relay. There was a lot of noise and commotion but it didn’t stir the dragster, he was out cold for a good 9 hrs and woke up to welcome the last rider in at 8 in the morning. I vegged around that morning and then decided to start in the road race as I was feeling alright. It wasn’t exactly the program Susanna had written for me, but 3 hrs ez, 3 hrs bike race.. what’s the diff!! It was a tough little circuit on the the F1 course which actually had a pretty touch hill each of the 4km laps. I went for a ripper already on the the 1st lap only to watch the pack come around me on the first climb. I hooked back in and thought long hard before trying that again as my legs were already screaming. After a few laps sitting in I was feeling better again so thought I would have another dig. I managed to get away this time and had a pretty decent gap. I didn’t actually know how long the race was so I asked after about 5 laps on my own and then they told me another 10minutes and then 10 more laps!! hahahahahaah … NOT FUNNY.. there was no way i was going to hold that and it was starting to look like I was going to get caught soon anyway by a couple of guys had broken away from the main group and were coming on quick. I sat up and then tried to get in with them, but they just left me… hahahahah.. what a loser triathlete.. I totally misjudged that they would actuall attack and was left on my own!! hahaahahahaha.. So anyway, the only option was to wait for the main group I wasn’t going to hold on for 3rd on my own. I sat in again for a while wondering if I would have anything left and watched a few guys break away. I started feeling ok and with 7 laps to go thought I would have another crack and pick the guys up who were away and see if I could hold on for 3rd. I did it and rode with 3 guys for a few laps. With 2 to go one of them had had enough and it was 2 of us fighting for 3rd place. He went for it with one lap to go and I just followed at a distance.. i didn’t want the pace to slow as i figured he would take me on the hill if he had any type of break. I knew I was stronger so I faked that I was trying to hold him and stayed about 10m back. Went by him going into the climb to the finish and went with everything. I haven’t felt that kind of extreme burn in a LONG time. I didn’t look back but could see his shadow moving up in the last 50m.. i found some power which surprized me and held him off for 3rd. I was small potatoes this race but was nonetheless pretty exciting as I hadn’t done a road race in about 4 yrs. I was a also a great training session as I haven’t felt that kind of burn in ages.
So it was an action packed weekend. Some other highlights were meeting the crazy Graham Obree as well as the only man to win the Tour de France, Giro and World Championship in one year, the great Stephen Roche. Last but not least was getting my pic taken on the podium with the sexy Polish Bikeradar model who wasn’t afraid to mention the fact that I was shaking…. Dave found that pretty funny, but I am telling you it was the adrenaline and the caffeine still pumping through my veins.
That was a long one, eh?.. was a loooong and crazy weekend so it deserves a long and crazy blog. pictures to come… Richard??