Monday, September 29, 2008
Season Finished
Hello again,
Sorry this has come late once again. Truth is, not much has been happening. I've been racing and going well but just nothing really to report on from the races. I had my last race of the season on Wednesday and said my goodbyes to everyone until next year. I have been offered a contract to stay on for another year which was good considering theres a lot of riders without contracts for next year with some of the continental teams not carrying on.
My next race will be the Tour of Southland in early November.
I hope I can pull something together there and finish the year on a good note.
Other than that I have just been finishing things up here until I return for the 2009 season.
Living in Vlaanderen sure has been good. Life has been so much easier and a lot more enjoyable.
I had my bike set-up done which uncovered a little something that was not quite right but made things difficult.
Now I look forward to coming home and catching up with everyone over the summer and getting back into the New Zealand way of racing. Some good times to be had.
I will endevour to update this reguarly while at home also so my european viewers will still know what I am up to.
Until the next post.
Ryan
Sorry this has come late once again. Truth is, not much has been happening. I've been racing and going well but just nothing really to report on from the races. I had my last race of the season on Wednesday and said my goodbyes to everyone until next year. I have been offered a contract to stay on for another year which was good considering theres a lot of riders without contracts for next year with some of the continental teams not carrying on.
My next race will be the Tour of Southland in early November.
I hope I can pull something together there and finish the year on a good note.
Other than that I have just been finishing things up here until I return for the 2009 season.
Living in Vlaanderen sure has been good. Life has been so much easier and a lot more enjoyable.
I had my bike set-up done which uncovered a little something that was not quite right but made things difficult.
Now I look forward to coming home and catching up with everyone over the summer and getting back into the New Zealand way of racing. Some good times to be had.
I will endevour to update this reguarly while at home also so my european viewers will still know what I am up to.
Until the next post.
Ryan
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Operation find some form!
Since my last update a lot has happened. 4th of August couldn't come fast enough and after 3 rides with a cast and it being all sweaty and yuck (and against doctors orders) i sat down one afternoon and peeled it off a week early! so far so good though.
Once that was off it was back into training i spent the first week in Vlaanderan with Clinton (Bill) and put in some pretty big days which included leaving straight after breaky and getting home when dinner was on the table! After that week we ventured back down to the ardennes where we have spent the last week 're-finding some condition' ready for the end of season objectives, it's probly fair to say that it's the most focused i have ever been for training, everyday was enjoyable at some point though. except for one day where we busted our balls into a headwind, and not just any headwind, for 4 hours. Was rather tired after that!
So tomorrow i leave again for the Vlaanderan region where i will be based for the rest of the season in a hope to hone my time trial for the world champs. I'm trying not to think about anything post worlds just yet but it's hard too when home is only 40 days away!
Training with Bill has defenatly been good though as we both have the same goal in mind so both riding on the same wave length has been super. After this week the condition is coming. I can feel it.
I have my first race back on Tuesday with the professionals, G.P de Zottegem. Bring on the flat roads of flanders again! (and the wind), some would say 'only in Belgium' and most of the time they are probly right!
Back soon with race report.
Hope everyone is doing well!
Ryan
Once that was off it was back into training i spent the first week in Vlaanderan with Clinton (Bill) and put in some pretty big days which included leaving straight after breaky and getting home when dinner was on the table! After that week we ventured back down to the ardennes where we have spent the last week 're-finding some condition' ready for the end of season objectives, it's probly fair to say that it's the most focused i have ever been for training, everyday was enjoyable at some point though. except for one day where we busted our balls into a headwind, and not just any headwind, for 4 hours. Was rather tired after that!
So tomorrow i leave again for the Vlaanderan region where i will be based for the rest of the season in a hope to hone my time trial for the world champs. I'm trying not to think about anything post worlds just yet but it's hard too when home is only 40 days away!
Training with Bill has defenatly been good though as we both have the same goal in mind so both riding on the same wave length has been super. After this week the condition is coming. I can feel it.
I have my first race back on Tuesday with the professionals, G.P de Zottegem. Bring on the flat roads of flanders again! (and the wind), some would say 'only in Belgium' and most of the time they are probly right!
Back soon with race report.
Hope everyone is doing well!
Ryan
Friday, July 25, 2008
And the Up's!!!
It's funny in a sport such as cycling how quickly bad things can turn into good things!
I have been bored out of my mind for 5 days straight now! but today came some good news!
Well 2 bits of good news!
1st bit, sylvain chavanel won todays stage of the tour de france!
it's nice when you see your hero's doing good!
2nd bit, most important! Wrist update.
It's not broken. I get the cast of on the 4th of August!
So that pretty much made my day!
So now i have to quickly get myself back into shape as i have binged a bit the last few nights,
i want say what i've been eating because it will bring my public image down! no just jokes, it's consisted of frites with mayonnaise and pizza, along with coke and lollies, and ice cream, and bakery goodness. I can't remembeer the last time i had something healthy, except for a salad 3 days ago!!
So tomorrow i guess i am back into it properly again.
Well that is my day and now i am excited to get the cast off,
surely has made me realise not to take each day for granted as now i have lost a fair chunk of worlds build up.
Well that is life and no point dwelling.
That is all for now!
Hope everyone is well.
Ryan
I have been bored out of my mind for 5 days straight now! but today came some good news!
Well 2 bits of good news!
1st bit, sylvain chavanel won todays stage of the tour de france!
it's nice when you see your hero's doing good!
2nd bit, most important! Wrist update.
It's not broken. I get the cast of on the 4th of August!
So that pretty much made my day!
So now i have to quickly get myself back into shape as i have binged a bit the last few nights,
i want say what i've been eating because it will bring my public image down! no just jokes, it's consisted of frites with mayonnaise and pizza, along with coke and lollies, and ice cream, and bakery goodness. I can't remembeer the last time i had something healthy, except for a salad 3 days ago!!
So tomorrow i guess i am back into it properly again.
Well that is my day and now i am excited to get the cast off,
surely has made me realise not to take each day for granted as now i have lost a fair chunk of worlds build up.
Well that is life and no point dwelling.
That is all for now!
Hope everyone is well.
Ryan
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Up's and Down's of Professional Sport
This is going to be a 2 part posting.
The first will be based around the up's of cycling.
The second will be based around the down's.
So we shall start with the good news and the positives,
A little story, Josh and I were getting some lunch in town while we waited for the bus to Liege on Wednesday afternoon when 2 guys on scooters pulled up. They looked at us and spoke fluent english, we didn't know what was happening really so i let Josh take over as he answered questions while this guy held a micro phone up. Turns out they were 2 radio host's from holland who had found a member of some rock band who lived in Louveigne on myspace (social network on the world wide web) and he thought he could possibly be the singer for this 'rock band'.
I'm not sure if he actually found this guy but it was quite funny all the same.
Josh took me to this 'huge' mall. So when we arrived i thought it looked familiar, when we got inside i realised i had been there before when i was here in 2006 with the junior team. Brought back a few memories.
The Tour de Liege started on Thursday in pouring rain which to this day has not stopped.
It was a very tricky and dangerous first stage but i still had some good legs after 10 days of solid training. A group got away and took 5 minutes and i got away on the finishing laps with a group of 10. So we had Jon up the front in a nice 7th and then me in a chase group with the rest of the team tucked in the peloton after what was a very windy wet day.
The next day started the same as the last ended, i now believe Logan's descripion of Belg, goes something like this "wake up rain, goto sleep rain, wake up rain, goto sleep rain, wake up overcast, goto sleep rain, wake up rain, goto sleep rain, wake up sunny, goto sleep rain" you get the idea. The day started out not bad in terms of physical feeling. but that soon changed as 40km into the stage i was finding it difficult to hold onto the handle bars and by the end of the stage i had ridden 100km in grupetto with 1 hand. The pain got worse.
This is where the bad news starts... that night was one of the most painful nights of my life. and that pain is still there as i type this. before the start of stage 3 i went and saw the race doctor who checked it and said it looks like a broken scaphoid. I was going to start the stage and see how it went anyway. Against her advice of corse! 30km into the stage and that was it, i was almost in tears with the pain of it and that night it was off to the hospital. X-rays were done and there is a little break in there, but because i left it for 3 days the break is harder to spot than if it was taken right after i did it. So now i am going to see the specialist tomorrow who will be able to determine what i can do from here and how bad the break is. I really am hoping for the best though as i don't really want to end the season here with another broken bone. It actually started after i crashed in the 1st stage of tour de luxembourg but i thought nothing of it and just went about work as normal, then that one set of cobbles really did most of the damage that was not already there. So i can take some of the blame for not questioning it sooner but i thought better of it. Could prove to be the wrong thing to do but that is just one of the up's and down's of sports. You live and you learn.
So now i am back home hoping for the best outcome when i go and see the specialist tomorrow morning.
....kinda fell asleep while i was writing this last night...
so we shall carry on, now i have seen the specialist and the news is not so good. Could be worse all the same though.
The scaphoid which was the suspected break is ok and looks normal but the problem is the bone next to it, i don't remember the name but it's long and kinda banana shaped. I have taken a big chip off the side of that. So now i have a cast for 6 weeks but depending on how fast or slow it heals could be 4 - 8 weeks. So that hurts the rest of the season a little bit but there is no point in dwelling. I just have to take the positives and thats professional sport for you.
So i think i will take a trip to germany and visit a mate there for a few days and then will come up with a new plan.
So for the next wee while, i will watch the Tour de France and do some touristy things to keep me sane and hopefully i heal fast.
Anyway thats enough for today, my hand is tired from typing.
Will keep you updated with how things pan out anyway..
Ryan
The first will be based around the up's of cycling.
The second will be based around the down's.
So we shall start with the good news and the positives,
A little story, Josh and I were getting some lunch in town while we waited for the bus to Liege on Wednesday afternoon when 2 guys on scooters pulled up. They looked at us and spoke fluent english, we didn't know what was happening really so i let Josh take over as he answered questions while this guy held a micro phone up. Turns out they were 2 radio host's from holland who had found a member of some rock band who lived in Louveigne on myspace (social network on the world wide web) and he thought he could possibly be the singer for this 'rock band'.
I'm not sure if he actually found this guy but it was quite funny all the same.
Josh took me to this 'huge' mall. So when we arrived i thought it looked familiar, when we got inside i realised i had been there before when i was here in 2006 with the junior team. Brought back a few memories.
The Tour de Liege started on Thursday in pouring rain which to this day has not stopped.
It was a very tricky and dangerous first stage but i still had some good legs after 10 days of solid training. A group got away and took 5 minutes and i got away on the finishing laps with a group of 10. So we had Jon up the front in a nice 7th and then me in a chase group with the rest of the team tucked in the peloton after what was a very windy wet day.
The next day started the same as the last ended, i now believe Logan's descripion of Belg, goes something like this "wake up rain, goto sleep rain, wake up rain, goto sleep rain, wake up overcast, goto sleep rain, wake up rain, goto sleep rain, wake up sunny, goto sleep rain" you get the idea. The day started out not bad in terms of physical feeling. but that soon changed as 40km into the stage i was finding it difficult to hold onto the handle bars and by the end of the stage i had ridden 100km in grupetto with 1 hand. The pain got worse.
This is where the bad news starts... that night was one of the most painful nights of my life. and that pain is still there as i type this. before the start of stage 3 i went and saw the race doctor who checked it and said it looks like a broken scaphoid. I was going to start the stage and see how it went anyway. Against her advice of corse! 30km into the stage and that was it, i was almost in tears with the pain of it and that night it was off to the hospital. X-rays were done and there is a little break in there, but because i left it for 3 days the break is harder to spot than if it was taken right after i did it. So now i am going to see the specialist tomorrow who will be able to determine what i can do from here and how bad the break is. I really am hoping for the best though as i don't really want to end the season here with another broken bone. It actually started after i crashed in the 1st stage of tour de luxembourg but i thought nothing of it and just went about work as normal, then that one set of cobbles really did most of the damage that was not already there. So i can take some of the blame for not questioning it sooner but i thought better of it. Could prove to be the wrong thing to do but that is just one of the up's and down's of sports. You live and you learn.
So now i am back home hoping for the best outcome when i go and see the specialist tomorrow morning.
....kinda fell asleep while i was writing this last night...
so we shall carry on, now i have seen the specialist and the news is not so good. Could be worse all the same though.
The scaphoid which was the suspected break is ok and looks normal but the problem is the bone next to it, i don't remember the name but it's long and kinda banana shaped. I have taken a big chip off the side of that. So now i have a cast for 6 weeks but depending on how fast or slow it heals could be 4 - 8 weeks. So that hurts the rest of the season a little bit but there is no point in dwelling. I just have to take the positives and thats professional sport for you.
So i think i will take a trip to germany and visit a mate there for a few days and then will come up with a new plan.
So for the next wee while, i will watch the Tour de France and do some touristy things to keep me sane and hopefully i heal fast.
Anyway thats enough for today, my hand is tired from typing.
Will keep you updated with how things pan out anyway..
Ryan
Friday, July 11, 2008
Right, about time i wrote on here.
I shall start where the last one left off. As you know last week was the Tour of Luxembourg and you now probly will know how that went thanks to dad being great and updating my blog for me while i rested up.
In the end i did hold my gc position on a rather difficult last day. Not so difficult route, actually it was probly the easiest stage of the tour with only hills in the first 60 and last 20km, it was more the fact i had to chase back on 3 times that made it difficult. Which led to me being not where i should have been which was at the front, so when i got back on after the 2nd puncture and coming into the finishing circuits, all hell was breaking loose on a 2km climb before a 2km decent to the finish. I managed to get myself out of trouble a wee bit and ride across to the front group but unfortuatly for me there was a group of 4 or 5 20 sec ahead so there goes any chance of a stage win.
So in the end i held 17th and 6th young rider but more importantly gained a lot of confidence from the week. Now in my head i'm good enough to win races here. This was reinforced at the finish when my director also said he's convinced i can win races here with a bit more time.
So after the tour i had Sunday with ma and pa before they carried on with their adventures. On Sunday we went caving 6km from my town which was quite cool. The New Zealand safety standards would have had a feild day though, It was much like Waitomo except you don't have to wear overalls, helmet or full covered shows. You kinda just stroll into the cave in shorts, shirt and jandals. We also went to a town that i raced through called La Roche, it's where the british and the germans came together in world war 2 which was an awesome town. Spent an hour or so wandering through a 3 storey Musem about the war, which had original cars and bmw motor bikes on display.
After they left early on Monday morning it was time for me to get back to business. As the 10 day between Tour of Luxembourg and Tour of Liege are very important as i recovered and built on the condition i had gained from the tour. I did a couple of easy days then tried to do a pro kermesse. Safe to say my whole team was the same as we were still very tired and ended after 100km, so instead went training for an hour and a bit. The last few days have been good for me and have kept me in pretty good shape. I know have a couple of longer days before Tour of Liege which starts on Thursday. This time it's 5 days long which i look foward to because each day at Tour of Luxembourg i was getting stronger and stronger and by the end was flying. So here's hoping the same will happen at Tour of Liege. The route is a lot more difficult with more climbs which is good for me so i hope i can make some good results there. Will even contest my first Time Trial in 7 months.
So i hope the 10 day turn-around period between the 2 tours brings me up well but physically i'm feeling the best i have since before i broke my back and my head's screwed on at the moment so i hope to make some good results in the next 2 weeks and beyond.
Other than that not much has been happening. You will know the Tour de France started on Saturday and the people here go crazy when that comes on. I was on tour when it started though so i have been finding it a bit difficult to get into it. Maybe when the race hits the mountains it will be better but at the moment it's all too predictable.
The other thing that has decided to come and have a play is the rain. Since the tour started last Wednesday we have only had 3 days without rain, 2 of those being in the tour itself. So it has made training a bit different having to put 5 layers of clothes on again, just like old times in the snow!
While i was with Mum and Dad i also picked up a tourist guide for Belgium so i have a few day trips planned out for when this next tour finishes. Things like go-karting and that sort of stuff!
Should make for some good times.
2 Months and 17 days till i come home too.
Not too long to go so i'm looking foward to getting amongst it while i'm still here.
As long as the rain plays with me and not against me.
Well it's time for me to bugger off and do some practice before the Tour de France comes on Television. Also it's nice weather to do some baking. YEAH I'VE CHANGED! I'm a chef now.
Will write something else later today.
Ryan
I shall start where the last one left off. As you know last week was the Tour of Luxembourg and you now probly will know how that went thanks to dad being great and updating my blog for me while i rested up.
In the end i did hold my gc position on a rather difficult last day. Not so difficult route, actually it was probly the easiest stage of the tour with only hills in the first 60 and last 20km, it was more the fact i had to chase back on 3 times that made it difficult. Which led to me being not where i should have been which was at the front, so when i got back on after the 2nd puncture and coming into the finishing circuits, all hell was breaking loose on a 2km climb before a 2km decent to the finish. I managed to get myself out of trouble a wee bit and ride across to the front group but unfortuatly for me there was a group of 4 or 5 20 sec ahead so there goes any chance of a stage win.
So in the end i held 17th and 6th young rider but more importantly gained a lot of confidence from the week. Now in my head i'm good enough to win races here. This was reinforced at the finish when my director also said he's convinced i can win races here with a bit more time.
So after the tour i had Sunday with ma and pa before they carried on with their adventures. On Sunday we went caving 6km from my town which was quite cool. The New Zealand safety standards would have had a feild day though, It was much like Waitomo except you don't have to wear overalls, helmet or full covered shows. You kinda just stroll into the cave in shorts, shirt and jandals. We also went to a town that i raced through called La Roche, it's where the british and the germans came together in world war 2 which was an awesome town. Spent an hour or so wandering through a 3 storey Musem about the war, which had original cars and bmw motor bikes on display.
After they left early on Monday morning it was time for me to get back to business. As the 10 day between Tour of Luxembourg and Tour of Liege are very important as i recovered and built on the condition i had gained from the tour. I did a couple of easy days then tried to do a pro kermesse. Safe to say my whole team was the same as we were still very tired and ended after 100km, so instead went training for an hour and a bit. The last few days have been good for me and have kept me in pretty good shape. I know have a couple of longer days before Tour of Liege which starts on Thursday. This time it's 5 days long which i look foward to because each day at Tour of Luxembourg i was getting stronger and stronger and by the end was flying. So here's hoping the same will happen at Tour of Liege. The route is a lot more difficult with more climbs which is good for me so i hope i can make some good results there. Will even contest my first Time Trial in 7 months.
So i hope the 10 day turn-around period between the 2 tours brings me up well but physically i'm feeling the best i have since before i broke my back and my head's screwed on at the moment so i hope to make some good results in the next 2 weeks and beyond.
Other than that not much has been happening. You will know the Tour de France started on Saturday and the people here go crazy when that comes on. I was on tour when it started though so i have been finding it a bit difficult to get into it. Maybe when the race hits the mountains it will be better but at the moment it's all too predictable.
The other thing that has decided to come and have a play is the rain. Since the tour started last Wednesday we have only had 3 days without rain, 2 of those being in the tour itself. So it has made training a bit different having to put 5 layers of clothes on again, just like old times in the snow!
While i was with Mum and Dad i also picked up a tourist guide for Belgium so i have a few day trips planned out for when this next tour finishes. Things like go-karting and that sort of stuff!
Should make for some good times.
2 Months and 17 days till i come home too.
Not too long to go so i'm looking foward to getting amongst it while i'm still here.
As long as the rain plays with me and not against me.
Well it's time for me to bugger off and do some practice before the Tour de France comes on Television. Also it's nice weather to do some baking. YEAH I'VE CHANGED! I'm a chef now.
Will write something else later today.
Ryan
Sunday, July 6, 2008
Tour de Provence du Luxembourg - Stage 4
Hi All,
I was hoping to see the final results for this stage before posting anything on Ryan's blog but they aren't available yet.
Stage 4 for Ryan had a few ups and down with him dropping his chain at the start of a climb and then having to chase back on and then also having 2 punctures. But he finished strongly and we think he was about 15th on the stage with most of the remaining riders finishing together.
So, we are assuming he has stayed where he was ion GC, 17th overall and 6th in the young rider classification. A great effort from him and he still looked very good at the finish.
We now leave Ryan in Belgium for a couple of days in Paris and a couple of days in England before returning to NZ.
Ryan's next race is a pro kermesse on Tuesday and the probably the Tour of Liese starting on 17th. It was great to meet most of his teammates and the team management and see how it all works over here. They certainly know how to run a race and the people are so relaxed about being held up on the roads as the race goes through.
Paul
I was hoping to see the final results for this stage before posting anything on Ryan's blog but they aren't available yet.
Stage 4 for Ryan had a few ups and down with him dropping his chain at the start of a climb and then having to chase back on and then also having 2 punctures. But he finished strongly and we think he was about 15th on the stage with most of the remaining riders finishing together.
So, we are assuming he has stayed where he was ion GC, 17th overall and 6th in the young rider classification. A great effort from him and he still looked very good at the finish.
We now leave Ryan in Belgium for a couple of days in Paris and a couple of days in England before returning to NZ.
Ryan's next race is a pro kermesse on Tuesday and the probably the Tour of Liese starting on 17th. It was great to meet most of his teammates and the team management and see how it all works over here. They certainly know how to run a race and the people are so relaxed about being held up on the roads as the race goes through.
Paul
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