Lance's Comeback

Whatever you make of it, Lance Armstrong's comeback is everywhere. The only headlines in the cycling world at the moment seem to be about Lance. On the cover of Cyclesport (3 issues in a row), Velonews, Vanity Fair, Twitter. Yep, total media saturation.

His enthusiasm for sharing his life through new media is fascinating. Check out these images of Lance by Elizabeth Kreutz. Click on 'Lance's Comeback' on the index menu. 

DZ Nuts

Dave Zabriskie has launched a series of ads on YouTube promoting his new chamois cream. He's a funny guy...

2up Time Trial

Had a great ride with Joe Cooper at the Inter-club 40km 2up time trial in the Wairarapa yesterday. The TT started from outside Kahutara School. 

Didn't have much of a warm-up, which is probably why I felt so bad for the first 8km. Having an off day riding a team time trial is a recipe for suffering. Combine that with the horrible feeling of letting down your team mate(s) and it makes for a very unpleasant experience!

Luckily I started to come right after the first turn, approximately 8km in. There was a long tailwind stretch to the second turn and I started getting into a good rhythm. The occasional glance at the speedo saw the speed in the mid to high 40's with the odd blip over 50kph. Joe had a big smile on his face and shouted out "37 minutes, we're looking good" as we circled the cone for the homeward stretch.

Joe was on fire, taking big, long turns – he rides so smoothly and at such a high cadence that it looks effortless. Watch out for him at the elite nationals time trial in early January!

With about 10km to go, Joe started to hit the afterburners. I watched in amazement as the speedo crept up 45... 46... 48kph, into a light headwind! It took everything I had just to come over Joe's wheel and give him brief periods of rest.

Crossed the finish line with a time of 52:21 (average speed 45.85kph). We were both over the moon!

Stopped in Martinborough for a couple of celebratory coffees on the way home. Great day on the bike and a pleasure to ride with Joe.

Full results here.

Road Nationals

Headed up to the Road Nationals in Wanganui on Friday and stayed with Craig Lawn in a small cottage very close to the race circuit. 

Didn't arrive until about 8pm (the night before the race) and Lawny was just tucking into a large ice cream. 

Lawny has the best pre-race diet of anyone I know. It's either a large takeaway pizza or a family meal from Burger King. He washes this down with 4 RTD's (pre-mixed alcoholic drinks) and a big ice cream for dessert.

Meanwhile, I had my tuna calzone with mineral water and a power bar for dessert. Lawny says it's been his pre-race meal routine for years and he doesn't like to deviate from it.

It definitely works - he won the race! 

Lawny went up the road by himself halfway through lap 2 (4 laps total), I bridged up to him on the main climb and after taking a big pause to recover we got into our familiar 2 man TT formation. 

A group of 4 bridged up to us on the 3rd lap - we dropped all bar one on the next climb. Last lap - the wheels were starting to fall off (started feeling the early signs of cramp). Encouraged by the 2:58 time check we pushed on. 

Our break away companion (Ben) was soft pedalling when coming through for turns throughout most of the race. So, approaching the finish, I had a word to Lawny and we decided to leave Ben on the front from about a 1km out. 

I positioned myself onto Ben's wheel, Lawny sitting on the back. 200m out and Lawny jumped... went after him and finished 2nd! Really happy with the result and Lawny was chuffed with the win.

Tribute video to Lawny courtesy of Dan Warren below.