After the crits I decided to take a day off the bike in Amsterdam with Emma Mackie, a fellow Aussie. We decided that while in Amsterdam we should actually do something educational so we chose the Van Gough Museum and the house of Anne Frank.  This decision was followed by an hour trying to find the Van Gough Museum and figuring out the Tram system.  Nonetheless, it was a most pleasant hour as we travelled on trams and walked through Amsterdam seeing all of the beautiful buildings and parks.  We arrived at the Museum and had a good look at the artwork of Van Gough, which turned out to be a lot more diverse than I thought.  After the Museum we took an hour-long tour of Anne Frank’s house.  The house is actually devoid of any furniture, but has a lot of information about the Frank family and the war. The tour is really great and I’m sure it would have a big impact on all.

After all that education Emma and I decided we should head to the Red light district for a little more!  We walked across town and entered a whole other world of alcohol, drugs, weirdos, sex shops, sex cinemas and loads more strange sights.  We sat down at a pub and had a drink and people watched for a while.  It was a really funny time as we watched spaced out people, strange looking people and things and played spot the Aussie. After that we headed back to the station and caught the train back to Amersfoort and both talked about the great time we had had and how awesome Amsterdam was.  The Red light district is funny for obvious reasons but there is so much more there and you could easily spend many days there.

After our trip to Amsterdam I had a few days training in Amersfoort before going to the south of Holland for the Holland Hills race.  For the last couple of weeks I wondered how true the title of the race would be as I really doubted there to be any hills at all in Holland. Fortunately, as we travelled to the scene of the race, landscape slowly became bumpy and as we got closer, there they were – Hills! 

The next day I woke up and rode to the race start with the Aussie girls comprising my team.  There were two juniors who would compete at Junior Worlds a week later and four senior girls, including myself.  The race was 130 girls covering 130 km over 5 laps, 4 larger loops followed by a smaller loop.  It started and for the first lap everything stayed together.  It was clear that attacks would go during the race so front pack positioning was really important and trying to get past the AA Sports Drink team was also key.  AA Sports drink is a Dutch team and they were all over the race from the beginning, they shut down any attacks their riders weren’t in. They also attacked from the beginning to force breaks and pretty much controlled the race.

During the early stages of the second lap a break went.  I was positioned near the front of the peloton so I jumped across and got to the back of the group of 7 girls.  Once there, we all started working together and started putting time into the group.  Luckily there where two AA drinks riders in the lead group so the rest of the team where blocking and controlling the pack and any other would be attackers.  Our group continued working together and putting time into the peloton for the remainder of the race.  During the final lap, over a QOM (Queen of the Mountain) points climb two riders got away and I was left in a pack of six.  As we kept riding,  the teamwork started to flounder a little as girls started missing turns.  We got to the final climb which was ridiculously steep and it seemed to go on forever, it felt like the Mt O’Reilly Climb in Brisbane and I thought I would nearly topple over as I was going so slow.  Our group split and I was left with a Neurenburg rider to chase down two girls who had just dropped us.  After working together we caught the two girls into the final straight and we all sprinted for the up hill finish.  I placed 5th in the race, which was a great result in such a tough and well known race.

Emma and I in Amsterdam

Riding the Town Bike home after Amsterdam visit.

Racing at Holland Hills.

Thanks to Kimble for this video coverage of the Mt O'Reilly Challenge!

Click here to view it!

Since arriving in Holland, Id taken a week recovery to get over the two tours I’d just competed in; The Giro and Thuringen. I ended up pulling up really tired after the German tour so the week’s rest was great and sorely needed.  After an easy week I was finally keen for some more training and racing, so I started it off with one of the Dutch post tour crits (post Tour de France). 

These crits are wild and crazy, with around 100-130 female entrants riding on circuits of around 1km.  The track is bricked and cobbled and I’m pretty sure the organisers choose the roughest courses with the maximum numbers of corners throughout.  This makes the crits exceptionally technical and extremely fast as the girls race tough over here, attacking throughout the entire race, which is generally 50-60km. There’s plenty of team work played out too.  I did three of these crits while in Holland, with the first being a bit of a re entry into racing after my week off. It was the most painful race I have done in my life.  I was in the box the entire time and my legs were screaming.  I don’t even know where I placed at the end of that one but it was around 30th position… not a good memory and not a result worthy of adding to the CV!

The second criterium was much easier having adjusted to the experience from the first crit.  I felt pretty good this day, but I failed to make the first holding break.  Later in the race I attacked and got away with a group of four, we worked together to bring back the break and finally caught the lead girls with 3 laps to go.  At the end of the crit it came down to a sprint and I placed 9th which was pretty good. It was a great race and I had a lot of fun…obviously the result was descent but there were crowds skirting the entire racecourse.  Everyone was having a great time listening to music, drinking beer, eating hamburgers and frites and mayo.  It was a really social event and a lot of fun for everyone!

The third crit I competed in was probably a more typical Dutch race, insofar as it rained the entire time.  A total of 90 girls started the crit and I think about 15 girls finished.  The pace was on and in the second lap I got my wheels stuck in between some bricks and my bike skated along a lip in the brickwork of the road.  Somehow I managed to get out of the gutter and keep the bike up but I was spooked for the rest of the race.  The near miss, plus watching girls literally ride off the slippery roads into the barricades in every lap, was mega off putting and I figured that the risk of falling for prize money, the equivalent of around 50 Aussie dollars, just wasn’t worth it.  I pulled the pin on the race and went and drowned my sorrows with a disgusting cup of coffee (easily found in Holland) and a really great apple pie.

Dutch fans watching the Post Tour crits – yes they are clogs his wearing!

Getting ready for one of the crits.

Emma Mackie and I.

The Hartogs are my Dutch host family. One of the first things they told me on my arrival was that anything goes in Holland.   This was a pretty scary statement as I’d never been to Holland and my beginner’s knowledge really didn’t go past Clogs, Windmills, Canals, Dykes, Fries with Mayonnaise and Amsterdam and the red light district!!!   With all of those great things plus a bizarre host family to boot I really should have figured it would be a great country to live in. For a while anyway!

The Hartogs are extremely upbeat and it’s more than slightly possible that the father, Theo suffers a little from ADD. Either that or perhaps he just drinks a little too much coffee…. In the morning I would wake to a house filled with the aroma of coffee brewing and Theo would bound up to you, throw a few punches and roar `goede morgen’ (good morning) at the top of his lungs.  I had now officially woken up for the day and would sit down at the table and contemplate the 50 loaves of bread that would be eaten by the family in the next few days.  Bread is an absolute staple in this household and around 5 loaves are brought out for every meal. 

Breakfast is coffee and loaves with spreads and the odd bit of cheese and ham, which more than likely had been dropped on the floor prior to being served.  There are three cats running around the house and no sign of a vacuum cleaner but as my real Dad would say ‘you gotta challenge the immune system every now and then..!!!’ Hmm rather not thanks!  For breakfast we also enjoy Special K berry cereal, which was a sample cereal acquired free by one of the family members through a supermarket where he works.  I think there are around 20 000 packets of the stuff in the cellar and no doubt it will be enjoyed for many years to come.  I don’t know if its standard of Dutch family practice, but this one has an amazing ability and tolerance to eat the same food for nearly every meal. I don’t know how many years they’ve been doing it for but it had me cracked after the first couple of days.

After that great start to the day I would roll out the door for a ride and usually head for the hills!  If you’ve ever been to Holland you would understand that this statement is ridiculously tongue in cheek, as Holland is the flattest country you’ve ever seen.  For almost two weeks I did not see a hill and after training in the flat I truly questioned my ability to ever climb successfully again. 

Another amazing aspect of riding in Holland is the 7k phenomenon I seem to experience on every ride.  This phenomenon occurs just after a ride starts or even after what feels like 3 hours of riding time.  However long I may have been riding for though, I will look down at my computer and there it is, I’ve only ridden 7k’s…..it’s extremely cracking and I think it has something to do with the flatness and the monotony of the flat landscape.

Actually I am being rather sarcastic there as Holland is very beautiful.  My first impression of Holland was ‘gee this is like the ‘it’s a small world after all’ ride at Disneyland’…. things appear small and cute and you really feel as though you are in a fairy tale type country where everything is perfect.  When cycling around Holland you see beautiful cottages surrounded by colourful flowers, green forests, perfectly kept farms and paddocks filled with animals.  There are also lots of old style windmills, millions of people on town bikes, and canals with boats sailing up and down.  One of my favourite memories of Holland will be when Natalie Bates, Susan de Goede and I stopped for lunch in Leiden (my favourite city in Holland) at a café on one of the canals.  It was a beautiful warm, sunny day and there was lots of green grass around with willow trees hanging over the canal and lots of boats slowly sailing by with tanned, happy looking people on them.  It was really peaceful and I had a great lunch with good company.

After such great company it’s always a little overwhelming returning to the Hartogs.  I go home to a chain, (rollies) smoking mother who nearly solely survives on smokes, coffee and red wine.  Mmm, good balanced diet there!  There are also three boys, Urim the eldest, loves his cycling, Eva the middle son, and Tamoor the youngest who is otherwise known as ‘the player’ (luckily for us girls he nicknamed himself!!)  Also we have Imka the only daughter who has to put up with a house full of boys, god bless her!!

As crazy as the Hartogs are they are definitely a great family who would do anything for you. Their door is always open to anyone and their hearts are definitely in the right place.  They have helped to make my stay in Holland a fun and memorable experience by taking me to races and making my day to day life in Holland fun with their ability to laugh easily and not take life too seriously.  I have had loads of fun living with them and it’s always good to see how the other half live… 

Bad Hair Day in Amersfoort.

Home of the Hartogs 

Cycling in Holland

Leiden

23rd of August see's the latest night ride departing the shop car park at six pm sharp. Get along for this fast dark and fun night on your bike. Bring good lights and eat your carrots, we will be back into town about eight thirty pm. The weather at moment is fantastic and the nights are slowly diminishing so come along to what could be one of the last truly dark night rides.

This weeks shop ride will be the Nudgee Loop. We will depart at six thirty Saturday morning and ride the 45klm at a steady pace between 25-28klm/hr. We will be back into the city about eight o'clock and will stop at "Euro Cafe" for breakfast.

Come along its a great time of year to be riding.

I have to say that I am getting quite use to the glamorous lifestyle of an elite athlete, flitting around the world competing in European Cycling Tours and day races.  It’s the second 10 hour car trip I have taken in three weeks and both times it’s been in the back of the team bus with no air conditioning in 38 degree heat, sweating bullets.  I mean seriously how much more glamorous does it get!!! 

For this bus trip, we departed Italy at 5am and drove north through Switzerland and into Germany.  Switzerland was incredibly beautiful and from the van windows we could see magnificent mountaintops, green grass, clear blue skies and lakes, it was just amazing.  Eventually, after another 8 hours we arrived in Germany and booked into our five star hotel (not kidding, some luxury at last!!) and then jumped straight on the bike for a 1.5 hour ride.  It was great to get out for a ride and spin the legs after such a long trip. It was also a good chance to see the local area where we would race for the next 5 days.  The home region to the tour and the hotel was Thuringen, Germany.  There are plenty of villages and towns around, many of which are surrounded by fields of wheat and other grains.  It’s a really beautiful area with rolling hills, golden fields and these butterflies, which seem to fly around everywhere. 

Day one was a mixed bag.  The morning started with an incredible buffet breakfast before we headed off to the Amy Gillet memorial which was to be held at the site of the accident (Amy was the Australian killed on a training ride the day before this tour in 2005).  Because I really only got to know one of the girls involved in the accident, and only a year after it happened, it was a real privilege to go to the memorial as it turned out to be quite a small and personal service. The road was closed for the memorial service so I was amazed at the serenity as I walked up to the memorial site. Supposedly this road is normally quite busy and noisy. 

Because the weather was so flawless on this day, the site of the accident looked really beautiful. It was at the start of a forest and it was incredibly green and leafy and again the butterflies were flying around.  There was a large stone laid at the site of the accident, which was surrounded by freshly grown grass and flowers, which had been laid at the base of the stone.  The service was beautiful. It was led by a German priest and Margaret Hemsley, an Australian cycling team manager.  Amy Gillet’s friends, Natalie Bates and Olivia Gollen, made speeches and Amy’s mother also read an incredible letter she had written to Amy since her death.  Many other people laid flowers and wreaths. The service also involved a few songs, some prayers and a few other short speeches.  It was a really positive service and the strength shown by Amy’s friends and parents on such a tough day was nothing short of amazing.  It was impossible not to get emotional, as the service was so personal and touching.

After an emotional morning the second half of the day was spent preparing for the afternoon prologue.  The 3.8km prologue started on top of a high stage. Once I had warmed up and signed on I scaled the stage, jumped on my bike to be held up by a starter. I waited on my bike and watched the time count down and once `0’ appeared I rolled down a ridiculously steep ramp to start.  I was so relieved to make it down safely in one piece and keep my dignity for another day.  A fall would have been hugely embarrassing in front of a huge crowd. The remainder of the prologue was a flat, fast and technical with lots of corners. It was such a hot, dry day that I ended up doing some serious damage to my throat and leaving half my lung out on the course.  After finishing the prologue I had this massive pain in my throat, which took a few minutes to go, and then I coughed the rest of my lungs up for another few minutes before it settled down.  The good old pursuitor’s cough returned and persisted throughout the rest of the tour. The pursuitor’s cough is not a fun thing to have. Should you wish to experience it try doing a time trial going as hard as you can.  If you’re not coughing your guts up at the end of it, then you didn’t go hard enough.. Try again!  If successful you should have a deep, rough, painful cough, which lasts for few hours or more.

During the tour Germany was going through a massive heat wave and everyday we experienced temperatures around 38 degrees with dry, pressing air which made the racing even tougher.  After the prologue, day two was a 130km road race during which we spent most of our time going back to the car for bidons (water bottles). Despite the heat I had a great ride.  The finish was through a leafy, green valley and I positioned myself well into the finish and placed 9th. Our team sprinter, Jenny McPherson also took the sprinter’s jersey so all in all it was successful.

On day three we had a 122km road stage and it was another hot day.  Obviously the German spectators also thought it was hot as there were a few getting around in DT’s cheering us on from the sides of the road.  Yup, the male Germans love their meat hangers as well as their skimpy denim jean shorts (preferably worn with birkenstock sandals and socks) but I have to say it doesn’t do too much for me, particularly when I’m racing.  Meat hangers and denim hot pants aside, the Aussie team had quite an eventful day.  We rode well and did some good lead outs for our sprinter Jenny and gained some points towards the sprinters jersey.  Later in the race Jenny was to pull out as she could not keep water down and was dropped from the front pack.  The rest of the Aussie team continued to ride well until later in the race another team-mate, Candice, had a fall and had to be carted off to hospital with a broken collarbone.  The rest of the team and I finished up quite well and were happy with our rides and lead-outs for Jenny.

Day four was another 130km road stage and it started out nicely before heavy rain settled in just 2 km from the start.  The rain was so heavy it was hard to see due to water coming from above and the water flicking up off tyres.  It was a little freaky to be in a tight pack and it wasn’t long before someone came down, the fall happened right next to me and luckily the rider fell away from me and I stayed up, a few others weren’t so lucky. The rain continued for around another 30 minutes and then it stopped, I couldn’t have been happier.  The race resumed and people attempted break aways for the rest of the race.  The aussie girls and I put in some good attacks but nothing stuck. When the main breakaway occurred we were not in the lead pack so the race was pretty much over for the day. 

Day five was the double stager and I can tell you now that I hate double stage days!  I have done a few of these in the past and they never improve. It’s not so much doing two races in one day, it’s the waiting around in the hot with nothing to do and no showers between the stages!!  Very Glamorous!!…  In the morning we had an 18km time trial and again we started on the stage and rolled down the steep ramp.  This time the starter held me all wonky and again I was terrified of falling.  I made it down alive and onto the time trial course which was really great. The course had a bit of everything in it, cobbles, hills, descents, flat, wind, corners.  Unfortunately I didn’t make the most of the course and rode very ordinarily. I had these weird cramp pains in my stomach and my legs weren’t listening to my head, which was actually telling them to ‘go faster.’  I finally got to the end of the time trial and then spent the rest of the day hanging out in a town on camping stools in the heat before stage two started.  Stage two was a 72km road race and it was 4 laps over the time trial course.  It was a good race and aggressive attacks were going from the beginning. I rode better than in the morning, however on the last lap I positioned myself badly leading into the last steep climb and I could not work my way back to the lead pack.  I rolled in to the finish with a few girls 30 seconds or so down from the lead pack and couldn’t help but laugh at the Belgian team who were trying as hard as they could to break our pack apart and beat each other. The only thing they nearly succeeded in was bringing our pack down.

Day six was a tough 115km.  It went over one killer climb 3 times with the rest of the day undulating. I rode ok, but by this stage of the tour I was getting really tired and the pursuitor’s cough was still lingering which made things a little tough.  Attacks went from the beginning but I was in none of these and stayed with the main group. The best thing about the race today was the number of spectators on the ‘killer hill.’ It was amazing. People were everywhere and as we climbed, we were cheered, screamed at and had noise makers rattled in our ears.  It was amazingly inspirational and I actually understood how it must be for the male cyclists in the tour de france and other big races.  As the race went on rider after rider slipped off the back and the pack was getting small indeed.  I stayed with the main bunch though, did a reasonable sprint and finished top 20. 

Overall it was a great tour. It was tough with hilly terrain and long stages in extreme heat and this definitely showed at the end of each day on the results sheet when sometimes 10 or more riders would pull out each day.  By the end of day six only half the field had finished and a lot of good riders had been dropped.  I finished the tour in around 20th position, which I was happy with even though I never got in any breakaways, which was extremely disappointing.  It was great to finish another tour and I feel like a lot of things came together with teamwork and generally becoming a better and more confident rider.

The peloton

Leading onto Killer Hill

Denim shorts

Many of you may be aware that one of Lifecycle's favourite sons is heading south at the end of August. This is sad news for the Lifecycle family, but we are all very proud of his career change. He promises that he will still regularly be in touch with frequent visits back to Brissy for shop rides as well as helping keep the website up to date.

It is going to be hard to replace Luke with his extensive knowledge and experience as well as his unique sense of humour. However if you do know of anyone who might be interested in joining the Lifecycle family, please let us know. We welcome all applications from people who are trustworthy, friendly, and knowledgeable about the sport of cycling.

Give us a call at 07 3831-2611 if you know someone, or would like to know more.

Saturday 26th August will be our "Mt. O'Reilly King of the Mountain". 

Mt O'Reilly's rd. is situated in the Samford Downs and is without question the steepest hill in all of Brisbane. This the 4th Mt O'Reilly King Of the Mountain that we have held and at this stage only 5 riders have conquered the mountain.

Honour Roll

To join the prestigous honour roll you must ride to the top of Mt. O'Reilly's rd. without stopping. Less than 10% of people who try make it, so come on out and get amongst it!

We are leaving at 0545 on Saturday 26th August from the shop. We ride out to Samford and then straight up the mountain. Be back about 0810 to the city.

For more info about the past challenges see our web page here.

Miss Josie Loane

Mr Blair Stockwell

Major Dave Thomson

Mr Luke Stockwell

Mr Greg Ellis

Mr Jay Stockwell