Ein Abenteuer in Neuseeland

Zaun Party!

2012-01-28T00:28:00.001Z

Unser Haus hat jetzt ein Zaun! Wir sind noch nicht eingezogen aber wir brauchen bestimmt etwas sicher um dem Haus. Wir haben kein angst von Einbrecher, nein, wir müssen was machen um unserem Kind zu behalten!

Nach einem Tag haben wir ein komplettes Zaun gebaut. Es war richtig viel Arbeit aber wir sind sehr stolz dass wir so viel geschafft haben. Die Biers nachher haben uns gut geschmeckt...

Ein herzlichen Dank an die Familie Garvie und Nicole, sie haben für uns ein tolle Leistung gemacht.

Weltberühmt in Wellington

2012-01-11T17:38:00.000Z

Wairarapa

2011-12-30T23:53:00.003Z

Weihnachten wäre nicht Weihnachten ohne ein oder zwei Rad Ausfahrten in die Wairarapa. Meine schwiege Familie urlauben oft bei der Wairarapa Küste, Nord Ost von Wellington und es gibt immer Zeit Rad zu fahren.

In meine Meinung, die Region ist einer die schönste in Neuseeland. Sie hat eine einzigartige Landschaft. Man sieht viele Hügeln, die getrocknet vom Summer sind, Wiesen mit Schaffen und classiche Heimstätten.

Aber es ist die Bäume die mir so beeindruckend sind. Pohutakawas, Oaks und Beaches - Riesig, majestätisch und reich mit Farben - sind überall gesprenkelt.

Für Radfahren ist die Wairarapa genial. Es gibt wenige Autos und gute Streckenmöglichkeiten aber die Straßen sind oft richtig uneben. Für Weihnachten, kann man nichts mehr anfragen.

Back on track

2011-12-15T09:48:00.000Z

Am Dienstag habe ich mein Track Bike gerannt. Das war für mich kein kleine Ding. Ich habe in 2002 nach Neuseeland umgesiedelt und das Rad war eingepackt und in einem Keller nachgeräumt. Damals hat es mir schon fast 10 Jahre gehört. Auf dieses Rad habe ich in dutzende Statsmeisterschaften Wettbewerben teilgenommen, bin ich auf Grass Fahrbahnen gefahren und habe ich zwei Universitätenmeisterschaften gewonnen.

Vor Dienstag, das letztes Mal, das ich auf dieses Rad gesetzt habe, war ich 25 Jahre Alt und habe ich gerade das "10 Miler" Rennen bei der Welwyn Radbahn Liga gewonnen. Das 10 Miler war (und ist noch) das Hauptrennen der Liga und obwohl ich in der Liga 14 Jahren teilgenommen habe, habe ich nie das 10 Miler gewonnen. Das war mein letztes Chance und ich habe sie genommen. Ein Mannschaftskollege hat mir viel geholfen und ich erinnere mich die Endspurt wenn er "Go Nick Go!" geschrien hat.

Ich habe keine Rennen am Dienstag gewonnen aber es war eine Ehre dieses Rad wieder zu fahren und ich bin zufrieden dass es nicht mehr in einem Keller ist.

Einer von diese Containers hat unsere Sachen drin

2011-12-09T21:47:00.001Z

Radsport...

2011-12-05T22:01:00.001Z

Laykold Cup auf Hataitai Velodrome

Der Weihnachstman rennt auch.

Keirin Endsprint gegen Hannah Latta - sie ist wirklich schnell!

Hannah gewinnt.

Argh!

2011-12-03T09:24:00.001Z

Habe heute bei dem Laykold Cup auf die Wellington Radbahn gerennt. Überall ist der Tag für mich gut gelaufen. Habe ein Rennen gewonnen, und in andere Rennen war ich Zweite, Vierte und Fünfte. Das letzte Rennen war der Laykold Cup und inkludiert war ein Trophie nur für Masters: das Stayers Cup. Ich war sehr motiviert und in die andere Rennen war ich der schnellste von der Master Rennfahrers.

Leider auf die letzte von 30 Runden habe ich eine Fehler gemacht und war zu weit hinter die andere Masters, wenn der Endsprint begonnen hat. Mit zu viel zu tun in 300m habe ich nur Zweiter erreicht. Ärgerlich - ich sollte das gewonnen!

Aber so ist Radrennen. Wenn man mit seinem Kopf rennt, kann man starkerer Fahrer schlagen. Der Gewinner hat ein echt intelligente Rennen gerennt.

Es kommt andere Rennen, habe jetzt noch mehr Motivation...

Verruckt

2011-12-02T09:33:00.001Z

Ich bin derzeit Press Officer für Team Gallagher, vier verrückte Jungs die von Australian nach Neuseeland rudern. Über die letzte vier Tagen war das Wetter so schlimm, müssen sie in ihrer Kabinen bleiben. Die Kabinen sind sehr klein und unbequem. Das heißt, wenn du Frühstück ißt oder TV schaust, die Team Gallagher Crew liegen in kleine Boxen weil ihre Boot tanzt in Wellen vier Metre hoch.

Respekt. Aber man müss auch nicht vergessen, sie haben für diese Situation gewahlt!

Radbahn

2011-11-20T09:11:00.001Z

Hataitai velodrome

Ich habe radfahren auf ein Radbahn viel vermisst. Geil dass es eines nur 1km von unserem Haus gibt... auf geht's!

Los Geht's!

2011-11-20T08:02:00.001Z

Oriental Bay

Wir sind fast drei Wochen in Wellington, Neuseeland angekommen und es ist mir schwer zu glauben dass wir nicht auf Urlaub sind, sonst sind wir in unserer neuer Heimat.

Aber die Reise ist nur gerade begonnen. Katie war in Wellington geboren aber sie hat hier für 10 Jahren nicht gewohnt. Ich kenne Wellington fast gar nicht. Deshalb müssen wir eigentlich eine Nische finden.

Es ist nicht easy, um alles neu zu starten. Wir haben das schon mehrmals gemacht und ich geniesse diese 'Setupzeit' nicht wirklich. Ich bin ungeduldig und möchte eine Routine... sofort!

Das kommt hoffentlich über die nächste Monate - Updates zu folgen...

Pride

2011-10-28T21:03:00.001Z

I have always been proud of my Austrian roots. Proud to shout for the Austrians while watching Ski Sunday, proud to tell my friends of holidays back to my Mum's village in the Pinzgau and proud to have family ties to such a beautiful country.

After more than five years living here, I'm more proud than ever. Proud to have learnt the language properly and proud to have made a good life for me and my family.

On the eve of my departure for a new life in New Zealand, I am proud to have called Austria my home and to call myself half-Austrian.

So, from now on, this blog will become a Kiwi Adventure, but I intend to post primarily auf Deutsch. Since it took five painful years to learn the language, I need an outlet to practise, and this is it.

Auf Wiedersehen!

Awesome nights in the Beisl

2011-10-26T09:13:00.000Z

A by no means complete rundown of the most awesome nights spent in Fuschl's best nightspot.

The time we me and Bill played against two gay skinheads at trivial pursuit in German.. and won.
Bill was convinced they were gay, but I wasn't so sure. Then again, the only questions they could answer were about Doris Day or Liberace. They didn't stand a chance against us though and we sealed the win getting a tricky question about Kurt Waldheim right.

The time Fuschl's local pornagraphic film-maker popped by, got outrageously drunk and insulted Americans for relying on credit cards.
Weird, weird night. The guy was a total asshole, telling everyone how he had traveled all over the world but thought the US was stupid because they had too many Mastercards. Apparently this was because he was unable to sell his smutty movies there. Highlight was when he yelled out a list of all the places he'd been: "I've been to Vancouver, San Francisco, Los Angeles..." then Werner (a mulletted Beisl regular) said, "I've been to St. Gilgen!"

The time we tried to ride a unicycle up and down the road outside.
Don't remember much from this night, whose unicycle it was or who suggested we have a go, but I do remember Bill being adamant he could do it. I think he managed about three pedal turns.

The time Bill did handstand pushups against the door.
More Bill. On this occasion, after being challenged by Ingrid, he proved his manliness to all by first doing one armed pushups, then jumpy-style pushups with claps in between. Finally, he pulled a handstand leaning against the door for balance, and did about three pushups, going quite red in the face in the process.

Any time that I won darts cricket with a full house.
Cleaning up on darts cricket is truly a satisfying experience. Though not the most prolific winner, during the spell between finishing my first beer and ordering a third I'm usually on fire. The tactics are simple: knock out the 19s, 17s, 16s and 15s first, load up on points then try and polish the rest of the board off. That 'thunk' when you hit the final bulls eye makes any evening out well worthwhile.

Our leaving do - unprecedented levels of loud drunkeness.
A packed pub, with regular faces and Beisl rookies alike, this was a great night. I wore Lederhosen, and felt suitably proud. The time capsule that is the Beisl was in full effect. Before we knew it, the funny little cuckoo clock thing in the corner peeped 4am, Natalie and Flo were yelling their heads off and Felix was dozing in the corner. Good times indeed, terrible times for many the next day.

A huge thanks to Martina, Beisl owner and bartender for the past five years, and possessor of the finest cockney London accent South of the English Channel. You couldn't ask for a better hangout and nobody pours a Stiegl like Martina. Since she too is moving on shortly, it really does feel like the end of an era. The place will not be the same without her.

If I've missed any epic nights out, leave a comment or mail me!

Leaving Fuschl

2011-10-20T19:08:00.000Z

The view from the balcony - nothing short of stunning.

A strange feeling, but our flat is emptied, cleaned and Fuschl am See is no longer our little village.

Three and a half years, dozens of swims in the lake, countless jogs through the Ellmautal, a few hundred litres of beers consumed in the Beisl and numerous walks with Angus in the pram - and later without - along the lakeside.

In short, it's been an amazing time. As the Austrians say "Ein Auge weint, das andere lacht." Basically we're crying with one eye but laughing with the other. Sad to leave, happy for new things.

We definitely didn't become locals in the time we were there. Small villages in Austria are no different than anywhere else and it's not always easy to integrate. But we met some lovely people, whose friendship made us feel extremely welcome. Were we Fuschlers? No, but then our landlord's wife was from a farm four kilometres away, and even she wasn't considered a local.

Interestingly many of the locals who showed total indifference while we lived there knew that we were moving, and asked us about it during our last days there.

Fuschl is one of the most beautiful place in the world, we'll never forget it. Especially not after our epic Abschiedsfeier...

Dankeschön.

Die geilste Straßen des Salzburgerland, Teil 1

2011-09-27T12:19:00.000Z

Wenn man Radfahrer ist, man liebt nicht nur das Rad, sonst auch die Straßen. Was macht eine Asphalt Streife besser als einander? Keine Ahnung, aber unten finden Sie der erster Teil von eine unendliche Serie, worein ich meine favoriten Straßen in meiner Umgebung, Salzburgerland, beschreibe. Die sind nicht die schönste oder am meisten befahren, sonst Straßen die ich eigentlich geniesse.

Der Strubklamm

Wahrscheinlich die beste Radpendelstrecke aller Zeit. Für zwei Sommers bin ich dreimal in der Woche von unsere Haus in Hallein nach mein Arbeitsplatz in Fuschl radgefahren.

Nach 15km, bin ich oft in die Strubklamm abgebogen. Die Wegstrecke nach Fuschl ist kurzer wenn man durch die Strubklamm fährt, aber es dauert ein bisschen länger, weil es mehr hügelig ist.

Von der Wiestalstraße, die Strubklamm läuft berg auf, aber gemütlich und kurvenreich. Kurz danach, bekommt man ein schöne Blick über den Wiestalstausee und im Hintergrund, der Watzmann, Deutschlands drittgrößte Berg.

Nach zwei Kilometer erreicht man die Spitze und die Straße verengte sich. Man fährt zwischen zwei Steinwände und plötzlich, auf die rechten Seite, man sieht nur Luft. Es gibt eine tiefe Klamm, aber man sieht nicht der Fluss unten.

Die Straße ist jetzt eben, und wenn es ein schönes Tag ist, die Sonne blinkt durch die Bäume. Man sieht direkt in der Klamm - er ist sehr dramatisch. Höher Felswände stürzen ins Tal und kleine Bäume und Büsche halten von enge Schelfe fest.

Um eine Kurve findet man ein Tunnel. Groß genug nur für ein Auto, er ist nicht mehr als ein Loch durch eine Steinwand. Keine Lichte sind drinnen aber dankbar, er ist nur 20m lang.

Ein leichte Abfahrt folget und man ist bald neben einem Stausee. Man findet ein Kreuzung und kann entweder Links bergauf nach Faistenau fahren oder geradeaus der Hintersee vorbei fahren.

Ein Klassiker.

Strubklamm

Der Tunnel

Der Klamm

A winter's worth of central heating arrives...

2011-09-24T20:21:00.001Z

...by tractor!

Herbstmüdigkeit

2011-09-19T19:34:00.001Z

It's the end of summer and the locals are inflicted with yet another disease caused by weather, astrological occurrences or seasons.

Herbstmüdigkeit is similar to Mondayitis in that its sufferers generally mope about complaining of being tired. Difference is that Herbstmüdigkeit translates to "Autumn tiredness" and can only be contracted in September and October.

Other heinous ailments Austrians seem to get an awful lot are insomnia due to a full moon and head aches from warm southerly winds (Föhn). According to my colleague there also such a thing as Vorjahrmüdigkeit - spring tiredness.

This site gives some useful tips on how to cope with it, including having a warm, then cold shower and using "light therapy".

I know that living somewhere where the seasons are highly contrasting can affect your moods and I guess over time people looked for explanations and descriptions for their emotions. But the way some people talk about it, it's as though it's a serious medical affliction. Bollocks, I say.

Trans Tasman Rowing Challenge Interviews

2011-09-07T20:52:00.000Z

I was very proud to have been asked to write team profiles for the Trans Tasman Rowing Challenge which is due to start in October. The first, with James Blake, has been published on the team's website, but here's the full article:

James Blake: A Need for Adventure

At 26-years-old, James Blake is a young man in search of adventure. Based in Dunedin and studying Masters in Science Communication and Natural History film-making, Blake has already competed in the Sydney to Hobart yacht race, but believes the Trans Tasman Row will be “a challenging expedition” that will push him to his limits.

Blake grew up in the UK having moved there at age 12 and competed regularly for the school’s rowing team from the age of 14.

“I was at school in Dorset, in the South of England, when I started rowing. I remember a lot of early training sessions and some not-very-nice English weather. I really enjoyed the racing side of it. The training was alright, but the actual racing, when you’re set against another boat on the water, I really loved.”

“We didn’t win much but I competed at the Henley rowing regatta on the Thames. I gave up rowing at 18 when I left school so it’s been good to get out on the water again!”

Sailing became a big part of Blake’s life and it became clear that Blake inherited his famous father Peter’s spirit for adventure.

James Blake

“He had a huge influence on my life. He made me realise that you should just go and do what you want to do. He started out from a small house in Bayswater as just a little boy sailing around but he achieved so much just by doing what he wanted.”

“I love the sea and I don’t think I could be away from it. I think that came from growing up around my father. He had an enthusiasm for getting out there and trying things and putting yourself in situations you’re not used to, and I think people can really learn from that.”

True to this philosophy, in 2010 he competed in the Sydney Hobart race, finding a place on yacht at the last minute.

“I was over in Sydney and found a spot on the boat the day before the race started. Someone had put a drill through their hand and so I jumped on board.”

“It was a 90 foot racing boat, full race spec, full canting keel, and we were steaming. Unfortunately two guys went over board which was quite scary. It took about 20 minutes to get back to them and they didn’t have any safety equipment on them whatsoever.”

“The reason they went overboard was because of a huge squall that hit us and we actually lost sight of them for a while. Then after we got them, six of us spent about eight hours bailing the boat out - otherwise we would have sunk.”

Since returning to New Zealand to study, Blake says he feels closer to his homeland than ever. “Before I came to Dunedin I thought I was more English but now that I’m over here, I’m definitely becoming more and more Kiwi which I am definitely enjoying.”

Blake currently lives in Dunedin and life primarily consists of training and studies towards becoming a filmmaker.

“I’m putting a lot of time in on the ergometer at the moment, slowly building up and I’m also getting out on the water in a single-scull boat. We have a training schedule designed by Andrew McCowan that I’m sticking pretty close to plus weights three times a week. I need to put on some weight right now but that is proving quite hard.“

So why does the Trans-Tasman project interest him?

“Nigel Cherrie, the project manager, got in touch with me as he knew I was a cameraman and had a bit of sailing experience. It sounded like a challenging expedition that would push me, plus would be great to film.”

As well as pet projects, Blake was involved in shooting a wildlife documentary called Dophins of Shark Bay. He hopes to record all the highs and lows of the Trans Tasman row and make regular uploads to the project website.

“I’d like to bring a Canon 5D onto the boat as well as four GoPro cameras, and probably a handy cam too. I want to capture it in a way that’s never been done before. We’re in quite a unique position as others who have gone across the Tasman haven’t had a cameraman on board.”

“I’ll be putting together quick clips each day and sending them via satellite for the website. It will be quite a struggle to edit and send something back - it will require a lot of concentration. But with the training we will practise all that and I think it will be doable.”

Blake is the driving force behind the Trans-Tasman row’s Coral Reef project, which aims to raise awareness and funding for Borneo’s coral gardeners to help rebuild depleted reefs.

“I studied Environmental Science at university and wanted to know more once I finished so I traveled off to Borneo, Indonesia and the Philippines to see for myself what was going on.”

“I spent about a month there getting to know the coral gardeners who are attempting to rebuild the coral reefs which are being destroyed by dynamite fishing, overfishing and coral bleaching (caused by temperature rises).”

“Everyday the gardeners collect little clippings of coral and replant them into artificial reefs. We want to raise money for them to build a bigger reef to use. I plan to take it into schools too and use it as an educational tool. We can show the reef being rebuilt, send photos to the schools to progress and relate what is being done back to the wider system.”

“The oceans are under a lot of stress and we’re a country that relies on them. We need to be taking care of the oceans whether it’s on our doorstep or on the other side of the world - it’s all connected and that’s what we want to show.”

Summer = alm

2011-08-31T20:31:00.001Z

Austria, mountains, sun, bratwurst, beer and good company make a perfect summer's day.

Hochkönig

2011-08-21T19:24:00.002Z

After five years of wanting to get on the top of this one, my Dad and I climbed the Hochkönig yesterday.

And what a mountain. It reigns high over the Pongau/ Pinzgau regions, the many peaks making up its massiv viewable from dozens of directions. At 2941m it's not the biggest, but since we've skied below it for years and it can be seen from Mum and Dad's kitchen window, it has to be done.

So we started up from the Arthurhaus above Mühlbach at 5:45am, a pretty standard start time in Austria if you're going to climb something. Admittedly the hike up is not the hardest, but it's long and you spend virtually all of the time clambering over loose stones or rocks. In total we racked up 1700m in altitude gain, but there are little ups and downs along the whole track that wear you down.

Intrepid explorer

Stunning morning, view direction Bischofshofen

Sun

View into the valley with Torsaüle on left

We got to the summit at just after 11am. The hut, das Matrashaus, is perched right on the highest point. A shelter has been at that spot since 1898, serving hot food and drink and accommodation to anyone needing it. It's quite incredible, that after hiking over five hours in high Alpine terrain, there's a mini-hotel at the most extreme end of it. The Austrian's sure know how to make the most of their mountains.

Obligatory shot

View from the top

Unfortunately, the summit was just at cloud base so the view wasn't amazing. It was cold too, with a blasting wind that required thermals, beanies and windproof jackets. But we inhaled a couple of sandwiches, then went inside for a coffee and cake. Dad ordered his regular pea soup with a frankfurter dropped in it.

The descent felt longer and harder than the uphill. It took nearly five hours due to all the rocks, scree and ups and downs. Just before getting back to the car park we guzzled a Radler at the Mitterbergalm - Radlers were invented for such occasions, I'm sure. We got back to the car after 11hours of walking.

Torsaüle

A big thanks is due to my old man for this. We've been saying for years we must do it, and finally we have. It was a great personal achievement but a team effort and wouldn't have been possible or worth it without my Dad being there too (and in fact my Mum who kindly babysitted Angus while we were sweating it out).

Fuschlseelauf

2011-08-11T11:50:00.000Z

Am August 28, findet in Fuschl wieder der Fuschlseelauf statt. Das heißt eine Runde um See, 12km und hoffentlich schöne Wetter.

Ich habe ein bisschen für zooom mit der Veranstaltung gearbeitet. Sie sind ganz ehrliche Leute und machen diese Rennen nur für die Publikum, nicht für sich selbe.

Fuschlsee

Aber sie brauchen jetzt Teilnehmer. Wer Jogging mag und Zeit hat, soll sich hier anmelden.

Tag der Blasmusik

2011-08-07T17:17:00.001Z

Apparently 6:45am on a Sunday is the perfect time for the village band to start playing and marching around. I know I've blogged about it before but it still fascinates and annoys us in equal measure every year.

Guten Morgen

Ezra's Press Release

2011-07-04T19:23:00.000Z

It's nice to write stuff for people who really appreciate it. Ezra Philips, a bike courier from Auckland who was on the road while I was still riding, is off to the Bike Messengers World Championships. Again. It's the fifth time he's scraped together funds and saved his pennies to make the trip, and I'm glad he asked me to put together and send out a press release for him.

Ezra Philips and his weapon of choice

PRESS RELEASE JULY 4, 2011.

PHILLIPS TO REPRESENT NEW ZEALAND FOR FIFTH TIME AT CYCLE MESSENGER WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS IN POLAND

Ezra Phillips will represent New Zealand for a fifth time at the Cycle Messenger World Championships (CMWC), which begins in Warsaw, Poland on July 28.

The 29-year-old from Tauranga will be one of five New Zealanders competing against 2000 messengers from around the world in various disciplines during the five-day event. Phillips is aiming for a podium position in the sprint races, competitions that involve short sharp efforts usually from a standing start.

He, and the other Kiwis - Angus Edmond, Jenna Makgill, Gary-Max Hampton and Leon Skiba - will also take part in the Main Race, a competition that simulates daily bicycle courier life. Riders must pick up and deliver packages to different locations around a closed circuit as fast as possible.

“Just qualifying for the finals is tough,” says Phillips, “but I have been training hard and am confident I will put in a good show.”

“The CMWC are very competitive but are also about celebrating worldwide messenger culture and sharing a common passion.”

Phillips works for City Dox Couriers in Auckland and has been a bicycle messenger for eight years, during which time he has clocked up a total of 120,000km.

“I have been riding my bike my whole life - my girlfriend claims to have seen me pedalling in my sleep!”

Phillips first competed at the CMWC in 2006 in Sydney, Australia, but achieved his best results the following year in Dublin, Ireland when he won a CBD race, was second in the uphill sprints and came eighth in a 1km drag race.

In 2008, in Toronto, Canada, Phillips won a side event race and in 2009 in Tokyo, Japan, he reached the semi-finals of the sprint competition. Phillips is well known on the growing local street racing and fixed gear scene, regularly scoring top three positions.

“My trips to CMWCs are all self-funded with help from my sponsors, Cathay Pacific, Customs Solutions and Pane & Vino restaurant.”

The 19th annual Cycle Messengers World Championships begin on July 28, 2011 in Warsaw, Poland. More information can be found at www.warsawcarkillers.org.

Flug

2011-06-22T19:29:00.003Z

I had the privilege of flying in a Pilatus Porter from Salzburg to Bozen in Italy and back yesterday. We flew low over the mountains, in what is really quite a small plane. The weather was clear and the view spectacular.

At times we were below mountain summits, other times we skimmed what felt like a few dozen metres above them. I could see people hiking or mountain biking, and in the valley towards Bozen, pretty much into people's bedrooms, we were that low.

The Alps are really one of the most stunning places in the world.

What really struck me was the roads. The Alps are rugged, wild and astoundingly beautiful but there are roads everywhere, snaking over hills and winding through valleys. It made me realise: there are a tonne of incredible roads that are just screaming to be ridden that I haven't even been near to.

One day, I hope I have the time and means to ride just a few of them.

I went crazy with my mobile phone camera, some of them turned out OK.

Fucking Road Trip

2011-05-30T20:30:00.002Z

It's taken five years, but we finally got round to visiting Fucking in Oberösterreich. Yes, hilarity ensued as we searched out the Fucking school, the Fucking shop and anything else Fucking-related.

Disappointingly the place consists of about 12 houses and one hairdressers which isn't called the Fucking Hairdressers. However, we were content with a few photos of the sign before we headed off to Tittmoning in Germany for lunch.

Fucking.

No Fucking.

Salzburg Halbmarathon: nass aber Erfolgreich

2011-05-17T19:17:00.001Z

Die Strecke ist flach, die Landschaft schön aber das Wetter spielt wieder nicht mit. Ja, ich bin wieder bei dem Salzburg Halbmarathon gelaufen und ein zweites Jahr regnet es und die Temperatur hat nur neun Grad erreicht.

In 2010 habe ich eine Zeit von 1:30.29 geschafft. Diese extra 29 Sekunden haben mich sehr geärgert und ich war dieses Mal resolut, dass ich unter 1:30 laufen würde.

Das Wetter passt nicht für einen schnellen Lauf, aber die Worte von meinem alten Chef klingen noch in meinen Ohren. "Harden the fu#k up Nickers," hat er mir oft gesagt. Deshalb habe ich den Regen einfach vergessen und mein Bestes gegeben. Ich wollte ein Tempo von 4.15 pro Kilometer halten und um mich besser zu konzentrieren, habe ich die Gesamtzeit jeden Kilometer in meinem Kopf kalkuliert.

Letzte Kilometer: Gas geben!

Nach sieben Kilometern war ich 30 Sekunden vor meinem Zeitplan. Das Gefühl war echt gut und ich war sehr motiviert. Insbesondere habe ich viele andere Läufer überholt aber es gab viele mehr vor mir die es zu überholen gab! Bei der 17km Marke war mein Tempo noch gut aber die Beine haben Weh getan - laufen auf Asphalt ist sicher nicht gut für die Knie und Oberschenkel!

Die Bedingungen haben viele Zuschauer abgeschreckt, aber während der letzten Kilometer durch die Altstadt, waren viele Leute dabei und ich bin ins Ziel mit einer Zeit von 1:27.43 gesprintet. Ich bin sehr stolz mit diesem Ergebnis, und besonders mit meinem Platz: 114. von 1900 Läufern, und 29. Platz in meiner Altersklasse.

Leider war meine Frau sehr enttäuscht. Sie hatte sich für den Genusslauf angemeldet und wollte mit unserem Sohn im Kinderwagen teilnehmen. Aber am Start hat sie eine Reifenpanne im Wagen gefunden. Sehr frustriert, musste sie wieder nach Hause fahren.

Sprint ins Ziel, super Gefühl!

Red means go

2011-05-06T18:30:00.000Z

It says a lot about the village where I live when one of the most interesting things to happen of late is a set of roadworks and temporary traffic light system on the junction in front of our flat.

Three mulletted blokes turned up yesterday to have fag breaks interspersed with occasional digging up of paving stones. They deemed that the 20m or so of road that was taken out of action needed a three-way traffic light system and now everyone has to watch the mullet men smoke for five minutes while they wait for the lights to change.

On the up side however, there's actually a bit of traffic stuck in the village. After years not riding between cars or having any red lights to go through, this is all a tiny bit exciting.

Roadworks, mullets and traffic lights!

GoPro Outtakes

2011-04-27T11:51:00.000Z

It seems like every other skier/biker/bloke going to the shops has a GoPro stuck on their head - the marketing guys at that company must be doing an awesome job.

I know there are tonnes of great videos made with them, but there must be double the amount of crap footage shot too.

Here's a short supercut of the director and cameraman grabbing our company's GoPro during a recent promo-video shoot.

Helmet law ANGER!

2011-04-19T19:23:00.002Z

Well, after yet another heated discussion about the need or lack of need for mandatory helmet laws, I figured it would be a good idea to put my views on virtual paper once and for all. This has been a cause for ranting for years, and my wife is sick of hearing about it, so in the future instead of venting to the next poor soul who mentions it, I'll refer them here and try and move on.

Firstly, I'm not against wearing helmets, I just don't believe you should be forced to wear one. Telling old ladies cycling 500m to the shops at 10km/h they have to now wear a helmet will most likely result in them not cycling anymore. But if you are cycling along a busy road in rush hour, it's probably a good idea to stick one on.

I did stumble upon this article from Australia's ABC news which quoted one Professor Chris Rissel who sums up perfectly what I'm trying to argue:

Associate Professor Chris Rissel, from Sydney University's School of Public Health, says the greatest drop in head injuries was in the 80s - before the laws were introduced - because of road safety campaigns and speed controls.

He says the number of head injuries has remained steady since then, creating a case to overturn the helmet law.

"What it does is it puts people off cycling and makes people think that cycling's a dangerous activity, even though it's a really healthy thing to do and it increases people's physical activity," he said.

"And you're seeing things like in the Melbourne bike hire scheme - it's not working as well as it has in the rest of the world because people don't walk around with a helmet just in case.

"You've got helmets creating a barrier to cycling, particularly spontaneous, short-trip cycling.

"People who ride short trips down to the shops, or ride in parks or just going along quiet streets. Their risks are very, very low."

Essentially - education not legislation. That's it. Finito.

Letter from Europe: Is Failure More Desirable Than Success For London 2012?

2011-04-14T20:00:00.002Z

Possibly the last Letter from Europe opinion piece, to appear in the next V02max Magazine. Currently, time isn't on my side so I'm going to take a break from doing it for the time being.

As London approaches the one year to go mark for the 2012 Olympic Games, the over-riding feeling one gets from reading the British papers is that it’s going to be a flop. But upon closer inspection, it seems more likely that in fact the papers are eagerly waiting, perhaps even hoping for a flop.

Failure is as much celebrated in Britain as winning. It’s a national joke that the English football team haven’t won a major tournament since 1966, and until recently, it wasn’t a proper summer unless England lost a test match cricket series.

But for the Olympics, the press seem to be rooting out any signs of failure. A straw poll of the 10 most recent London 2012-related stories at the time of writing showed that the Daily Telegraph website published five stories that painted the Games in a negative light. Just three stories were about sport, four were about legal wrangling and political strife. The remaining three were factual reports about organisation announcements and activities.

The mountain bike course is completed already

It was worse over at The Guardian. Six out of 10 stories were of a negative nature and just one was about actual sport. Things improved at the website of the official broadcaster, the BBC where four out of 10 stories were negative and four items featured sports news.

Maybe it was a bad week to pick. Much coverage was given to arguments about funding, who receives the profits the Games might generate and the complaints and protests about which football club should get the stadium once the Games are over.

At least the London Olympic Games Organising Committee (LOGOG) can find positive stories to talk about. During the same period, their website news reported on the progress in the athletes’ village, that the mountain bike course was finished and that there would be a wide range of ticket options for disabled people. Out of the surveyed 10 stories they carried no less than three paralympic-related items. The Telegraph had one paralympic news item but the Guardian and BBC failed to find anything worth writing about in disabled sports.

It’s not just the press having a go at the Games. A BBC Radio 4 comedy called What Went Wrong with the Olympics aired in late 2010. Set in 2014, the spoof current affairs programme examined the “fiasco that was the London Olympics” which had actually taken place in 2013 since the city hadn’t been ready on time.

Satirist Hugh Dennis recently complained that the stadium being built on time meant that he and other comedians had nothing to joke about. Currently being shown on BBC4 is a TV satirical, mock fly-on-the-wall documentary entitled Twenty Twelve. The show follows the organisers’ various exploits such as trying to figure out how London’s traffic will flow during the Games by creating gridlock, or getting locked inside their offices by their own over-zealous security measures.

Bojo takes a ride at the new velodrome

It’s actually pretty funny stuff, but why the obsession with everything going wrong? Team GB has some top class athletes and swimmers who will win medals. The cycling team may not be as strong as in Beijing but they are still capable of scoring multiple gold medals and the Brownlees start as favourites for the triathlon.

Construction is on schedule (the International Olympic Committee have given glowing reports about the progress made) and tickets are in “strong” demand according to LOCOG.

Olympic logo: weird

OK, so the 2012 logo is a bit weird and there will be glitches leading up to the opening ceremony, but this is surely a moment for the country to get behind what could be a great Games, and to ignore the nation’s media who seem intent of finding any inkling of a disaster, however feeble.

Winter 10/11

2011-03-25T14:24:00.006Z

Ahhh skiing. God I freaking love it. It pains me to think that winter 10/11 is coming to an end, might not have been the best snow-wise, but every day on the slopes in the mountains was a blast.

Skiing, a beautiful sport. Spring can wait for a bit...

PS. Yes, I have pink poles, they're a great conversation starter.

#austria011 - a few highlights

2011-03-15T18:32:00.002Z

A few clips from some great days skiing with family and friends.

Unexpected Head Operation

2011-03-10T10:00:00.007Z

So, I had a sebaceous cyst removed from my head yesterday morning. It's a weird growth things that sits under the skin, totally harmless but I promised the wife I'd get it done before she gets back from her extended NZ break.

A big fan of the eCard system in Austria, which although at times can be quite beauraucratic, is usually very efficient. However, I wasn't expecting quite the level of efficiency that I received at the doctor's surgery in Hof.

One irritating factor about visiting the doctor in Austria is that it's difficult to get an actual appointment, you just have to turn up and wait. Even though the official opening time for the surgery is 8am, the waiting room is open at 7am. To beat the hordes of pensioners who turn up for checkups seemingly every week, you really have to get there as early as possible.

Anyway, I was third in line and got to see the doc just after eight and asked what could be done about the cyst. He tried making an appointment with the Landeskrankenhaus (Salzburg's main hospital) who told him the earliest appointment would be in May. A very jovial and friendly chap, he says to me, "shall just we do it here and now instead?"

I said, "Erm. I guess..."

Within ten minutes I had a needle stuck in my head and he gave me some local anesthetic. Very painful and although I've never in the past been bothered about being jabbed, I'm not ashamed to admit I totally blacked out.

Woke up on the doctor's bed (five seconds later, the doc told me) with the weirdest feeling ever. I had no idea where I was or what was going on and it felt like I was paralysed or something. A few moments later I was fine and since he hadn't taken the damn thing out yet, he carried on with the mini-op. Out it popped and I heard the clang as he dropped it on the surgical table - it was about the size of a kidney bean.

He sewed me back up and then asked, "You're not working today are you?"

"Well, yes."

He told me I probably shouldn't since he'd made a fairly big cut and there had been a bit of blood.

He wrote me a note, charged me EUR5.10, sent me off with a few stitches in my head to be removed next week and a bandage on which made me look like some kind of mummy left over from carnival season. All before 9.30am.

So there you have it. Not what I had planned for a Wednesday morning but if you live somewhere renowned for ruthless efficiency, you should expect, err, ruthlessness.

Real Skiing, Austrian Style: The Krippenstein.

2011-02-21T08:43:00.009Z

I wrote this ages ago but never found a publisher, not that I tried very hard. Heading to the Kripp again this Saturday, so seems apt to publish it here now. Images are copyright bergermarkus.com and Vitek Ludvik.

“I have a rope,” said Martin, the guide. “I can lower you down if you don’t think you can do it.”

We are standing on our skis and snowboards above a steep narrow chute that squeezes through two massive, vertical rocky walls. There is no way down other than straight through the chute, it’s too tight to try and make a turn. Martin tells us that beyond lies a steep field covered in untracked powder snow.

I have a lump in my throat and I really don’t know if I want or can do this. This is real skiing, Austrian style. Welcome to the Krippenstein, one of the wildest places to test your skills and nerves on snow.

The Krippenstein markets itself as freesports arena, a ski resort with a minimum of pistes, rules or in fact signs telling you to watch out for cliffs or avalanches. There are two large gondolas that take skiers from the valley floor at 600m to the 2100m-high peak.

One 11km-long groomed run snakes round the back of the mountain to the bottom, but it’s the huge swathe of wild, uncensored terrain in between that makes the place special and attractive to freeskiers around the world. If you’ve mastered the toughest runs at the resorts and are looking for the next challenge, the Krippenstein is the place to come.

Suffering the humiliation of being lowered down by a rope was out of the question and I suspect Martin was bluffing to get us going. Chris decides not to hang around, leaping off an ice-covered rock, directing his snowboard straight through the gap and disappearing from sight. Moritz went next, completing the same manoeuvre and then it was my turn.

I slid sideways down towards the end of the rock and wondered how long it had been since I had done anything this crazy. I reached the point of no return, tried to put the consequences of screwing this move up out of my mind and pointed my skis into the chute.

A short drop from the rock and the skis plopped into the snow. I shot out through the chute into the powder field and carved five delicious turns into the snow.

Our small group has come here to spend a guided weekend of skiing and to learn how to avoid and deal with avalanches. We’re experienced skiers and spend a lot of time off-piste but have realised that our knowledge of what can go wrong is limited.

An average of 26 skiers die in Austria alone each winter in avalanches and accidents. A fair proportion of them are holidaymakers who are sold images of powder and venture away from the safety of the slopes without being aware of the dangers.

We’ve chosen to pay Martin, who works for Outdoor Leadership, a professional guiding company based at nearby Bad Goisern, to teach us the basics and show us around the mountain. Those who haven’t got all the equipment are kitted out with avalanche beacons, shovels and probes.

Fifteen minutes and two gondolas later, we reach the summit. It’s blowing a gale and snowing and Martin immediately leads us down a steep slope pockmarked with rocks to a small plateau where we are shown how to properly use the avalanche beacons.

Locating a ‘burial victim’ takes longer than one realises. In a real life situation the search party has just minutes to find and dig them out so knowing how your equipment works is crucial. We do a couple of mock searches, using our beacons to find a unit hidden somewhere in the snow. It takes a bit longer than expected, in fact a lot longer than an actual person would want to be under the surface without air.

But Martin is cheery and as we head off down the mountain, he tells us the key is practise. And not to get into trouble in the first place.

It becomes obvious pretty quick that Martin is checking us out, gauging our level and planning our route back to base accordingly. What also becomes apparent is that intimate knowledge of the mountain is important to making it down in one piece.

Innocent looking powder filled runs end in near vertical cliffs without warning and subtle changes of direction can mean smooth skiing the whole descent or lengthy hikes out of hollows. There are numerous unmarked holes and caves dotted around, some of which are big enough to swallow a bus without anyone noticing it missing.

In such a large area to explore, we hardly see another skier, and with each section Martin presents us with a new challenge; narrow chutes where only jump turns are possible or unnervingly steep slopes which seem to have more rocks than snow.

It’s exhilarating stuff but we’re all aware that without the guide in such uncompromising terrain we would have probably got stuck or lost somewhere.

Day one is finished off in the bar of the lodge we are staying in which is situated on the mountain summit. Over a few glasses of the local brew and a top-notch meal of roast pork and dumplings, Martin gives us an overview of how different snow types act depending on location and conditions.

There are countless situations where an avalanche could occur but Martin assures us that more will become clear the next day. Sure enough, with a good smattering of fresh snow on the ground, Moritz takes a wrong turn, slides over some rocks and triggers a small slide.

“Ah perfect,” says Martin while Moritz looks down at the lumpy mound of snow below him. “Here you can see the snow layers I was talking about and the wind affected area.”

As the end of the weekend approaches, members of the group fall by the wayside, opting for a beer and Leberkäse Semmel (heated processed meat in a bun) instead of more gruelling runs through the deep snow.

Each run down and gondola ride back up takes at least one hour at the Krippenstein, and it’s exhausting too. Although the powder is beautiful, skiing it constantly is hard work. There are occasional hikes to hidden areas and after a tumble, finding one’s skis under the snow can be time consuming. In fact on a good day it’s only possible to ski five to six full runs before the lifts close.

But Martin waits until the penultimate descent to take us to the fearsome narrow chute. He has sussed us out nicely and knows it’s at the limit of our skills and nerves. He also knows we have to do it or our weekend won’t be complete.

Martin is right of course: we all make it through in one piece, exhilarated, tired, feeling like real skiers and not to mention, a little bit more mountain-savvy.

www.krippenstein.at
www.outdoor-leadership.com

Thanks NZ

2011-02-02T09:17:00.009Z

After spending most of January in Aoteroa, the memories are still strong even though the tan is fading. An amazing country that has given me so much. Thanks NZ...

...for beautiful rugged, natural beaches and sand all over the place. Trying to clean sand off a wriggly baby is a fun new past-time - without fail some of it ends up in the bed.

...for kickass coffees in kickass cafés. The flat white is an awesome invention.

...for Wellington, which has some gorgeous city runs and bike rides over the city's coastal roads, hills, trails. It also has a shitload of wind.

...for being easy going. Compared to uptight Euro-land, NZ is a breath of fresh air; or, if you are in Wellington, a hurricane of fresh air.

...for great family friends who know how to make a pom like me feel welcome.

...for a lovely wife and son who have taught me many things and who I am missing dearly.

Hahnenkamm

2011-02-01T06:55:00.006Z

Attempting the Mausefalle, the fearsome, ultra-steep drop that comes just seconds into the famous downhill skiing race held on the Hahnenkamm mountain in Kitzbühel is a daunting prospect. One week after Didier Cuche (SUI) won the 71st edition of the race, the slope is solid ice, and the lack of any sort of grip makes it even scarier.

But since I've watched downhillers hurl themselves down this course, named The Streif, on TV for the best part of 25 years and now I'm standing on the top of it, there really is no option but to give it a go. I've certainly skied steeper slopes, but never this slippy. To prepare for the race, the piste is sprayed and even injected with water to make it as icy-hard as concrete and extremely fast. Great for them, awful for normal skiers.

So, heart-pumping, in I drop but seconds into my first turn my edges have given up and I'm sliding. Slightly embarrassing and not the way I imagined it, I did manage to gingerly complete the rest of the course.

Eins..
Zwei..
Drei!
Seeing the jumps, drops and turns for oneself generates a new-found respect for the guys who race straight down it. How they make the off-camber right hander after the Steilhang or keep their line on the sharp, dipping edge of the Hausbergkante is remarkable.

There have been some terrible accidents in recent years. Hans Grugger (AUT) came a cropper this time round during training and spent nearly a week in an artificial coma. But after seeing it, not screwing themselves up more than they do is impressive in itself.

No wonder this course creates legends.

Zielschuss
The correct way to do it

This morning

2011-01-27T13:23:00.003Z

Good times with Lukas and Ralf.

Letter from Europe: Mountain Madness

2011-01-24T17:16:00.008Z

Latest Letter from Europe piece which will appear in the upcoming Vo2max magazine. The excellent images are ©Max Korrak.

One thing Kiwis and Austrians have in common is that they really seem to appreciate their country and know how to make their natural surroundings. New Zealanders love to ride, sail, swim, climb and jump all over their country – a marvellous attribute.

Likewise, Austrians love taking off to the mountains in their spare time. Of course this doesn’t go for everyone, but generally speaking, in these parts most people have a garage full of outdoorsy-type toys.

While New Zealanders are currently busy enjoying hot days at the beach, Austria is buried under one of the biggest snowfalls for many years. Alpine villages look like that part at the end of Ghostbusters when the Marshmallow man explodes covering everything in white mush.

It’s a beautiful time of year, and aside from regular snow shovelling there are still plenty of ways to get the most out the mountains, the most impressive to me being the regular night ski tours up one of our local peaks, the Zwölferhorn.

It usually takes a couple of hours to reach the 1500m high summit with touring skis and there is a hut near the top serving beer and hot food year round.

On one of my first trips to the summit the weather was atrocious, but it was a Tuesday and my colleague Sebastian and I always went on a Tuesday. It was snowing heavily and the wind was gusting so hard we were almost blown over as we trudged up the
mountain.

We used headlamps to light the track but with the wind blowing the snow around the visibility was terrible. Luckily Sebastian knew the way well. The wind was at its strongest and the snow stung our faces as we slogged along the final ridge towards the
cross that marks the peak.

After a quick handshake on top, we quickly strapped on our boards and slowly made our way down to the hut a hundred metres or so below the summit. Pushing open the hut door, you realise that actually you’re not a brave adventurer pushing the limits of
mountaineering, but one of the Tuesday regulars. Yes, the hut is full. It’s hideous outside and yet 60 other like-minded folk chose to eat their dinner at 1400m above sea level in a blizzard.

Fed and with a couple of pints of the region’s finest put away, we set about boarding down, which on that night was equally as challenging. The storm was worsening and we crept down unable to see more than a few metres ahead. Often Sebastian was impossible to see even though he just a few feet away.

Eventually we made it back to the car, tired, cold but thoroughly invigorated about our mini-expedition. Needless to say we were back the following week.

On nights when the sky is clear, the moon and stars light up the valleys the view is spectacular. Headlamps from other skiers bob their way up and down the slope and it’s hard to find a spare seat in the hut.

There are hundreds of mountains like this across the country, and it’s hard not to be impressed by the fact that people still get out and enjoy their surroundings in any conditions.

12erhorn

2010-12-23T19:54:00.004Z

First time on the 12erhorn this winter and the snow was outrageous. Deep powder, snow falling lightly, very cold - a beautiful evening.

Looking forward to knocking this one off a few more times in January.

The Crankiest Bits

2010-12-10T11:12:00.002Z

The last word on the 2010 Battle Cranks...

We came, we saw, we cranked

2010-12-07T08:06:00.000Z

Watching as 15-odd bicycle couriers unpacked their battered bikes from their cars and prepared for an alley cat race in the village square, I began to believe that the night was going to go well.

The 'Radbote' had travelled from Graz, Linz and Vienna to tiny Fuschl for Battle Cranks, a roller racing event I organised which took place on November 27, 2010. I had some doubts: who would bother turning up? Would the first real snow of winter stop people from coming? And would Austrians get into the wild, rawkus frenzy that roller racing needs to be judged a success.

It turned out I had riled the couriers up by claiming this was the first ever roller racing event in Austria. I had researched this, but obviously not hard enough, and in fact a series called Hanky Panky had been going for some time in Vienna, usually tied to alley cat races around the capital.

They decided to come to Battle Cranks to show us who the roller racing kings and queens were. Their Fuschl alley cat race took place two hours before the roller racing was due to start. The temperatures were sub-zero and with snow on the ground, it looked distinctly dodgy to be riding skinny-tyred fixies. But they attracted a small audience, intrigued by this interesting looking bunch of bikers. Even the local plod parked up and watched them take off down the high street.

And so the mood was set. The Mohrenwirt's dining room quickly filled up with assorted cycling types, from ex-pro Gerrit Glomser to seasoned radmarathon roadies, downhill mountain-bikers and, fresh from ripping around the village, the couriers.

Paul and Jake, from Rollapaluza, a company specialising in putting on roller racing events, had driven two days from London to Fuschl with all the equipment to help make Battle Cranks happen. They got things moving with great support from the awesome DJ MKS, and after a few 500m qualifying rounds and it didn't take long for the atmosphere to heat up.

The buzz only increased as the night went on. The couriers were definitely the dominant force, occupying at least half of the top 16 spots that went through to the knockout stages. But there were surprises too, as Chris Sams, 16th fastest in qualifying beat fastest qualifier Random in the first round. Then, in the quarterfinals, Bernhard Steiner, a club soccer player, knocked out pre-race favourite Ralph Pecher with the fastest time of the night, 21.71sec.

The contrast between Bernhard and Ralph was great, the former dressed in smart jeans and shirt ready for a night out, while Ralph wore grungy messenger clothes. But I guess this was for me the best part of the whole evening: all types of cyclists and plenty of non-cyclists coming together for a good time.

By the finals the crowd was pumping. Underdog and fellow zooomie Evelyn Winkler was up against courier-girl PandA in the women's and El Nino was taking on Prolo Radl in the men's. Evelyn nearly scooped an upset, but in the last 150m PandA edged it.

Much to the annoyance of Prolo Radl, the audience was asked if they wanted to double the distance of the men's final to 1000m, which of course they did. Paul counted down "Ready, set.... go!" and off they went. The crowd was screaming in their faces and it was neck and neck at the halfway point. Prolo turned round a couple of times to check out the dial but El Nino kept his head down.

With 200m to go, Prolo knew he was beaten and El Nino blasted to the finish in 52.47sec. I presented him the trophy and he was lifted off into the crowd on the shoulders of ecstatic supporters. I had goosebumps and tingles on the back of my neck. To have helped create a buzz like that was a marvellous feeling.

It goes without saying that people have to be thanked: everyone who turned up to take part or watch, the prize sponsors Fischer Skis, Airstreeem and Suunto, Jaki from the Mohrenwirt and Ulrich, my boss at zooom for supporting the idea and making it happen.

A good time to say the least. Crankage will return in 2011...

Yeah, we made it on TV! Servus TV reported on a "...vollig verrückt Wettkampf.."

Letter from Europe: Kenyan Catch-up

2010-12-03T09:40:00.008Z

Latest column published in the December edition of Vo2max. David Kinjah has one hell of a story to tell. There's way more than what I put down here and hopefully I'll find some time soon to write the rest. Check out his project, www.safarisimbaz.com, he's doing some great work in difficult circumstances.

Following the cycling road events at the recent Commonwealth Games in India reminded me of experiencing the Melbourne Games four years earlier. I was impressed by the sheer doggedness of two relatively unknown Kenyan riders who had played significant roles in the road race’s main break of the day and closing stages.

David Kinjah, 34-years-old at the time, had gone on the attack early with Duncan Urquhart (Scotland) Jeremy Maartens (South Africa), Domenic Perras (Canada) and Robin Sharman (England), staying out in front for 95km until caught with 44km remaining. Soon after his compatriot, 21-year-old Chris Froome, launched a counter attack, unfortunately pulling his foot from the pedal at a crucial moment but nonetheless causing a ferocious chase in the peloton.

Kinjah and Froome had taken the racing to the favourites, making their mark far stronger than many of the well-known and experienced professionals in the pack.

What made the duo’s efforts all the more remarkable was that they both competed in the mountain bike event three days prior and the time trial two days before that. “We were registered to ride the track too,” Froome said at the time, “but couldn’t get hold of enough equipment to race.”

Froome was first off in the time trial, his effort so good that he sat on the top of the leaderboard for over an hour until Kiwi Logan Hutchings came in two minutes quicker. Froome eventually went on to finish 17th.

In an interview he explained to me how difficult it was to get funding from the government and how he was “going to put all his efforts into one day getting hired by a professional team in Europe”. Admittedly I was sceptical about his chances, but now, four years on, Froome has shown himself to be a solid professional cyclist with a promising future ahead of him.

After the 2006 Melbourne Games, he rode for South African development squad Konica Minolta, and then landed a pro contract with Barlowald for 2007 and 2008. He debuted at the Tour in 2008, featuring prominently in a break to Alpe d’Huez and reaching Paris in 84th position overall.

He changed his nationality to British in 2008 – his parents are both originally from England – and now rides for Team Sky, who say on their website that he “has been described as a rough, unpolished diamond with loads of potential.“

At the Delhi Games, Froome, now 25, picked up fifth in the time trial and rode strongly for the English team in the road race, crossing the line 44th. He says he wants to become a general classification rider, aiming for top positions in stage races. This time I am inclined to believe him.

David Kinjah, meanwhile, is still involved in cycling, running Safari Simbaz, a non-governmental organisation devoted to training and coaching young Kenyan cyclists.

“I want to concentrate on the sport,” he says. “I teach them everything: how to fix their bikes, racing tactics, training and so on. I have about 20 boys in my team, and 95% of it is funded through my work as a bike mechanic.”

Unfortunately he has had what can only be described as a massive falling out with the Kenyan Cycling Federation that culminated in him being banned from racing after the Commonwealth Games in 2006.

Kinjah says that the Federation wanted to see him fail, even trying to sabotage his and Froome’s chances in Melbourne. He had to scrounge and buy bicycles and parts as the Federation refused to supply them with the right equipment and, during the road race, he says the Kenyan cycling officials even hid their spare bottles and food.

“We had a cooler box of supplies which they took away from our support area on the course. I only had two half-filled bottles of water with me and had to try and get bottles from other teams to keep going.”

After his epic breakaway, Kinjah was interviewed by the race commentator and let his anger boil over.

“The interviewer asked me what would it take to see a Kenyan rider on the podium in a cycling event and I said that Federation needed to start behaving and acting professionally.”

The comments infuriated the Kenyan Federation officials and by the time he got back to the area where the team was supposed to be recovering, the riders and Federation officials were physically fighting.

For Kinjah it was a sad way to end his international career, but he remains positive about changing the system and producing riders capable of competing at the highest level.

“The Safari Simbaz will strive to find cycling success with whatever opportunities are presented to them and will keep pushing for the realization of the power and the potential of the sport.”

El Nino Storms to Battle Cranks Victory, PandA Wins Women's Race

2010-12-02T08:13:00.003Z

Daniel ‘El Nino’ Kofler and Andie ‘PandA’ Strießnig were crowned Battle Cranks bicycle roller racing champions on Saturday November 27 at the Hotel Mohrenwirt in Fuschl am See, sprinting to victory in front of a roaring crowd.

Kofler beat over 60 competitors including former professional rider Gerrit Glomser, top endurance athlete Gerhard Gulewicz and Red Bull Air Race pilot Hannes Arch at the high-adrenaline event organised by zooom productions.

After a qualifying session, the fastest 16 men and four women went head to head in knockout rounds over 500m. Quickest in qualifying was Jakub "Random" Velikovsky with 22.39sec, but he suffered an upset in the first round when Chris Sams, 16th in qualifying beat him by 0.07sec.

Surprise package was soccer player Bernhard Steiner. In the quarterfinals he knocked out one of the pre-race favourites, Ralph Pecher with the fastest time of the night, 21.71sec. In the semi-final he came up against Kofler and pushed him all the way, leading until the last 100m.

In the other half of the draw, Prolo Radl made steady progress, beating Sams, then Benjamin ‘Zappa’ Duh to come up against Kolfer in a highly anticipated final.

The distance was cruelly upped to 1000m and the crowd at fever pitch as the duo, both bicycle couriers from Graz, battled it out for the title. There was nothing in it for the first 500m, but Kolfer managed to keep his momentum going to the end, fighting against the burn in his legs and spinning to a well deserved win in 52.27sec.

Strießnig was favourite to take out the women’s prize, but had to work hard to beat rapidly improving Evelyn Winkler, who scraped through the semi-final just 0.04sec ahead of Lisa Pleyer.

In the final, Strießnig and Winkler were neck and neck, Strießnig just finding a final shred of energy to pull ahead with a time of 27.78sec ahead of Winkler’s 27.89sec.

As well as top-notch racing, a tombola was held in aid of Wings for Life with prizes from Airstreeem, Suunto and Fischer Skis.

Roller Training

2010-11-25T14:35:00.005Z

Building up for Battle Cranks. After seven years of avoiding the rollers like the plague, these workouts have actually been pretty fun.

Motion Blur

2010-11-22T06:45:00.005Z

The results of a shoot with Marcos Ferra (www.marcosferro.com). The idea was to demonstrate the technique of motion blur, and I was asked to ride slowly around the corners. The flashes on me freeze the action but the background shows up blurry. Therefore it looks like I'm going quick even when I'm not. Useful technique for a creeper!

Some of the comments on youtube about my riding are pretty funny, though it's nice that most get what the video is for: photography.

Not the first

2010-11-20T07:25:00.005Z

So it seems that Battle Cranks is not Austria's first roller racing event. Bit of a bummer since I really had researched it and come up with nothing. However, two ex-pros have contacted me to say that during the 50s and 60s there were such events, and in fact one of them raced against German sprint giant Michael Hubner (and won!) in an exhibition event in 1992.

Also, since I began planning the event, there have been two very small goldsprint races in Vienna in bars called Hanky Panky.

But whatever, mistake acknowledged and on with the fun. The mix of people signed up is fascinating: ex-pro roadies, super-endurance athletes, a paracycling champion, the local hairdresser and now a messenger from Vienna who won the Hanky Panky races.

Will this event be a success? Keine Ahnung, no idea. But I have high hopes, and I believe it will be a good night.

Noch mehr große Namen bei Battle Cranks

2010-11-10T19:42:00.002Z

Die Liste der Stars, die an Battle Cranks teilnehmen, wird stetig länger. Neu mit dabei sind der ehemalige Radrennprofi Gerrit Glomser und Red Bull X-Alps Athlet Heli Eichholzer. Glomser, der von 1998 bis 2008 Radprofi war, hat drei Mal an der Tour de France teilgenommen und Eichholzer ist im Juli 2011 wieder am Start, wenn die Teilnehmer von Red Bull X-Alps sich nur zu Fuß und per Paragleiter 864km über die Alpen kämpfen.

Genug Ausdauer bringen also beide von ihnen mit – aber am 27. November müssen sie bei Battle Cranks ihr Talent für den 500m-Sprint beweisen!

Wenn du dir zutraust, gegen die Profis anzutreten, registrier dich hier.

October snow

2010-10-26T17:31:00.005Z

Beautiful weather for a run around Fuschlsee on Austria's national day.

Churchiness in Fuschl

2010-10-23T07:10:00.002Z

Faced with thousands of former devotees quitting the catholic church each year, the Salzburg diocese is hitting back, reminding everyone what a fun bunch they are.

Posters with uplifting churchie slogans on blue sky and cloudy backgrounds have appeared in villages across the region. Fuschl even has angels stuck on strategic corners with key words such as 'joy' and 'happiness' painted underneath. Last weekend ladies dressed in blue anoraks handed out gummi bears and encouraged us to smile.

And yet still the overriding feeling you get from all this is one of guilt - see, the church DOES want you to be happy and smile, even though you are a sinful non-believer. Perhaps this is a cynical point of view and for someone who was never in the catholic church or ever particularly religious, I'm probably not the best to judge.

However, leaving aside recent international scandals, anecdotes from friends and family don't exactly fill you with a new-found desire to attend mass on a Sunday with the old folks.

The wife of a friend of ours who left had a rather unpleasant visit from the priests assistant who said he had "done a very bad thing!" In fact, the wife is to scared to leave in case of the impact that it might have on her kids not being able to take first communion. "They would be teased about it," she explains.

Another way of looking at it is that of my wife's, who recently posted on Facebook: "The efin bells just woke the baby AGAIN.
Free tip to the Austrian Catholic church - if you want to stop the mass exodus, forget the God Loves You posters and rethink the excessive ding dong sessions at random times in the afternoon."

YEAH!

2010-10-20T06:54:00.002Z

Winter 10/11 is coming...

Why am I a cyclist?

2010-10-18T09:46:00.012Z

Because running is freakin' painful.

The last year running has been the main focus of my need to exercise, primarily because it doesn't require as much time as cycling to get a good workout. Of course the desire to compete is just as strong as usual and so the 27km Wolfgangsee Lauf was the final goal for the season.

Training has been fun. The company's current photography intern is an ultra-marathon runner from Mexico, Marcos Ferra, and we have been out for plenty of lunch break jogs. The guy is awesome, he can just keep going and going and apparently spends much of his weekends on four hour training jaunts around the local hills.

So I had some confidence going into the Wolfgangsee Lauf. The course is interesting: 3km after the start in St. Wolfgang, there is a sharp incline over the Falkenstein. It rises 250m vertically and the descent afterwards is equally steep. From there it is an essentially flat half marathon back to St. Wolfgang.

Marcos took off like a rabbit after the starting gun, not to seen again until the finish. I forced myself to take it easy until at least the Falkenstein. Getting over it wasn't a problem, and I adopted Marcos' downhill technique to good effect, overtaking a lot of runners on the way down. But back at lake level things didn't go totally as I planned. My heart-rate was soaring and I just couldn't get it back to what I was comfortable with.

By St. Gilgen at the 10km mark my pulse was still banging away at 176-179bpm, about 10bpm over what I wanted. I realised this wasn't going to change, so just tried to get in the best rhythm possible and slog it out to the finish.

With 10km to go, I actually felt pretty good. I was able to stick 4min 40sec kilometres and despite the cold and rain, my legs weren't too sore. However, something happened over the next 20 minutes and I gradually got slower and slower. More runners were coming past and my kilometre time was down to 5min.

Mentally I was nearing breaking point. Why was I doing this stupid race? I'm a cyclist, not a runner. Suffering on bikes seems so much more agreeable than on foot.

Through Strobl with five clicks remaining and I just had to take a break, walking for 20 seconds before starting up running again. I saw my work colleague on a corner taking photos which motivated me to pick up the pace a little bit.

The final kilometres were difficult to say the least but emotionally satisfying. At the 500m mark, Red Bull X-Alps athlete Christian Amon - who had finished almost 20 minutes earlier - gave me a shout, and then it was a short descent into the town with hundreds of people cheering. What a boost that was!

I crossed the line in 2hr 13min 6sec, nearly two minutes up on my target of 2hr 15min, and a placing of 228 from 1100 starters. Marcos killed it with 2hr 3min 46sec and 131st position. We didn't hang around, jumping in the car and heading home for a shower and a magnificent shepherd's pie cooked by Katie.

Due to the ridiculous and permanent cycling tans, I opted for baggier longer shorts

Marcos in cruise mode...

One day later and my legs are wrecked and my knees incredibly stiff. I'm sure the jolting on asphalt combined with belting down a steep hill has contributed to the feeling, but whatever the cause, it's ten times worse than after any bike race. The idea of doing a marathon next year is now on hold after this run. It will hurt, and I will wish I was cycling instead.

Meanwhile, less than 24hours after we finished, Marcos, the crazy fool, went for a run, jogging 12km round Fuschlsee.

Battle Cranks Update

2010-10-12T08:42:00.005Z

Press release: done and blasted to as many cycling-type people as I can find.

Website: updated and looking frickin cool. Simple Wordpress CMS based site, effective and stylish. www.battlecranks.com.

Posters and stuff: coming along. Bill has done some sweet layouts.

We have prizes now, trophies are being made and the entries are starting to come in. There have been a few people signing up who I don't actually know, which is pretty darn exciting.

So for anyone interested, register here and check the Facebook event page here.

Battle Cranks

2010-10-01T06:02:00.004Z

My first foray into event organising is coming together. Battle Cranks will be Austria's first ever bicycle roller racing event and it should be a blast. The race takes place at Fuschl's Hotel Mohrenwirt on November 27 and it's totally free.

Website is launched and we have some sponsors coming in now too. Everyone I've spoken to is interested, but whether that interest turns into actual participants, I am not sure. Also a challenge is explaining to Austrians what it is - nobody, not even cyclists, know what roller racing entails. We came up with the German phrase "Rennrad-Rollenrennen" which covers it pretty well but is a bit of a mouthful. Guess we'll see if the locals 'get it'.

A big thanks must go to Rollapaluza, the London company credited with bringing back roller racing in the UK and who are coming to Austria on a shoestring to help us make this happen.

It's going to be a great night. Check out www.battlecranks.com, register at http://tinyurl.com/battlecranks and the Facebook event page is here.

Massive props to Bill for the graphics, the whole CI is freaking wicked.

The Mofa Curse

2010-09-26T05:36:00.008Z

Village life is not as quiet as one thinks. If it's not the tractors driving past the window, the church bells or cows that wake you up on a Sunday, it's the village band oompahing around for another festival.

But by far the most annoying noise pollution comes from mofas, the 50cc motorbikes that can be driven by every brat over 16. Fuschl currently has a little gang of four or five teenie boppers who drive their hairdryer bikes seemingly non-stop, much to the irritation of residents.

Now, I don't want to deny these kids their right to get around. If I was growing up in a small town in the sticks like Fuschl I would be desperate for my own transport. It's the fact that they use their machines for every tiny pointless journey.

On a typical evening, they meet for a smoke behind the post office. Then one or two drive the 300m to the gas station for more smokes or to fill up. Another drives the 200m to the vending machine. They all drive back to the post office for more smoking, occasionally giving lip to any one walking past.

Later, two or three whizz 250m up the road to the pub where despite not being able to see over the bar, they get a drink. Back to the post office, then over to the garage again.. ad infinitum.

The noise generated is an irritating whine, much louder than a scooter. At least one of them has a hole in the exhaust, adding to the din.

As I say, it's the kids' right to drive them, and in general they don't seem to break the 10pm curfew that Fuschl like most places in Austria has on them. However, it would be nice if they used them a bit more intelligently. Driving back and forth within a radius of 400m is totally pointless and incredibly annoying for most residents.

Not only that, but why the hell aren't they exploring a bit? Every 16 year-old wants to get out of wherever their parents are at and they have the means to do it, so why are they wasting their time mooching around Fuschl?

Calls for tougher bike courses at ITU races grow

2010-09-13T20:14:00.004Z

My latest Letter from Europe column appearing in September/ October's Vo2max.

I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Javier Gomez, one of the world’s top triathletes. He had plenty to say about the progression of the sport and the ITU’s new World Championship Series which has made its debut this year.

The Series runs over seven races from April to September and visits large cities such as Sydney, Hamburg and London. Although there are some complexities, athletes basically score points at each race and whoever has the most points at the end of the season is crowned World Champion. At the time of writing, Gomez is lying in second overall with just the Grand Final to race in Budapest in mid-September.

The Spaniard is undoubtedly a fan of the Series. “The winner will definitely be the best of the year.”

But interestingly he had a few points where he figures improvements could be made, including the design of the bike courses.

“Every course is flat,” he says. “It would be much better to see at least two or three that were much harder. I mean, we went to Kitzbühel in the Austrian Alps and we had a totally flat course.”

“It would be better for the spectators, more exciting to see breaks go instead of large groups riding together.”

What makes his comments particularly notable is that Gomez’ strongest discipline is running – he has regularly knocked out a 29min 30sec for the 10km run sections this year – and that he would not benefit if bike courses got tougher.

“It would make it fairer for the guys who are better cyclists,” Gomez says, “and it’s good for the sport when different people win.”

He’s not alone in thinking this. Australian triathlon site firstoffthebike.com said in a blog in August that the ITU should, “Put up a super tough bike course and then we'll see how the likes of (Alistair) Brownlee and Gomez et al will fare.”

The WCS has brought triathlon into some of the world’s greatest cities, it would be a positive move to throw some variety into the bike leg and increase the excitement.

Footnote: Javier's second place at Saturday's Grand Final in Budapest was enough to secure his second World Championship title. The bike leg was undoubtedly tough but this was basically because it was pissing with rain and full of potholes. It was still flat as a pancake.

Chipper

2010-09-13T14:38:00.000Z

After a summer of limited cycling training following the birth of our son, I had intended just to cruise round the only race of the year that I had entered.

The Eddy Merckx Classic Radmarathon runs through 155km of beautiful countryside, with the final 60km taking in some fairly tough climbs. A friend from New Zealand was visiting and a gentle potter would have been a fun way to spend the day.

However, after 20km, I couldn't find my friend in the bunch and a red mist had filled my head: I was going to race this MF as hard as I could. It made no sense, I didn't need to and beforehand I hadn't even wanted to. But what the hell, I wanted to make my legs hurt.

For the next 100km, things went well. The climbs were not proving difficult and I was sitting comfortably in the main peloton. We hammered through Oberösterreich, past Mondsee and back into Salzburgerland and the village of Thalgau. Then, as expected, everything split on Thalgauegg and I was riding with a little group, not too far down on the leaders.

Dropping into Fuschl, where my family and friends cheered us through, was a marvelous feeling - I was a proper racing cyclist again.

Reality struck 5km later as I was promptly dropped on the Perfelleck, a short sharp ascent out of Fuschl. It was here I realized that motivation and experience couldn't account for a lack of longer distance endurance training.

There was about 30km to the finish and a shedload of climbing in the way. My thighs felt fatigued and despite eating four bananas and two energy bars, I thought I was on the verge of bonking.

Over the Gaisberg, the penultimate mountain and longest climb, was awful. There weren't enough gears on my bike and more and more people passed me. "Well," I thought, "I wanted to hurt my legs, so I better get on with it."

The descent was long enough to recover slightly and I caught one rider up before the bottom. But the final hill dragged and I was dropped again, left to my own thoughts about why on earth I was doing this and how much I was looking forward to a radler.

After 4hr 46min I rolled through the finish, in 70th place out of 350 and 25min down on the winner. An OK result. Could have done better if I was fitter. But I guess that despite however much I want to be, I'm not a proper racing cyclist anymore. I'm just an old chipper who still likes trying to beat people and making his legs hurt.

Dublin Impressions

2010-09-02T19:13:00.002Z

Losing my English

2010-08-27T06:53:00.002Z

Although my German is far from great and I speak a fair amount of English per day, I really notice parts of my English vocabulary disappearing. For instance, this morning I couldn't remember how to spell 'acronym' - I thought it was 'anacronym', whatever that is.

And the other day I described our baby as coming on in 'heaps and bounds' not 'leaps and bounds'.

Although it could just be down to me losing my marbles in general, it's a weird feeling. Perhaps my brain can't cope with two languages. For every German word I learn, do I lose an English one?

Javier Gomez - what a great guy!

2010-08-19T20:18:00.002Z

Just finished a two day shoot with one of the world's best triathletes, Javier Gomez at the Erzberg open cast mine in Styria. A totally down to earth guy, Javier was so easy to work with, even after we made him swim in a freezing cold lake, covered him in mud, got him running through puddles and chased him with enormous dumper trucks. The results from super-photographer Markus Berger will be fantastic and we Doris at Erzberg looked after us like she was our mum for two days.

Jetlag

2010-08-05T18:35:00.000Z

Playing a few records with Herb tomorrow night at Jetlag if anyone is in Salzburg:

When: Friday, 6 August 2010; 20:30
Where: Jetlag, Herrengasse 28a (www.jetlag.at)
Who: DJ Number 82 & Fresh Herbs turning tables, Wolfgang spinning bottles

All welcome! Check the podcasts on the right for a sample of what you'll hear.

Our new bumper sticker

2010-08-05T14:52:00.003Z

Thank crap it doesn't say "We are Village People"

Blasmusik

2010-08-02T06:43:00.019Z

Rural Austrian life is tradition personified. During summer, rituals, customs and festivals take place almost on a weekly basis and it's easy to become immune to them. However, occasionally you are reminded how cool these things are and can really appreciate their meaning: a community coming together for a party.

Sunday August 1, was the annual Blasmusik festival in the village, which basically means a day long oompah and boozing session in celebration of the village brass band.

It's a dry affair to begin with, but as the day progresses becomes more and more raucous. Since our flat overlooks the square where it's all happening, it's highly entertaining to watch the steady digression into full-on beer fest.

6.30am
Yes, 6.30am. The 50-strong band marches down the high street playing a march of some sort. The noise rises straight up from the road below into our bedroom which is kind of like having someone bashing symbols next to your ear. This year our baby, Angus, has woken us up already, so we don't mind so much and he was quite fascinated by the racket.

After waking up the entire village at this ungodly hour, the band ends up having breakfast down at the Schützenhof hotel by the lake.

9.30am
A leisurely breakfast consumed, a service begins in the square in front of the church. The band play the music for the hymns, while the priest churns out the usual catholic monologues. It's all very civilised and respectful.

10.30am
The band relocate to the bandstand on the Dorfplatz main village square. The conductor, a jolly looking chap, gets things going with a spot of banter before they lurch into a few polkas. The beer taps open and sausages go on the grill.

Midday
Things are pretty much in full swing now. The tables and benches set up in the square are full with villagers and the booze is flowing. The band continue to pump out the tunes, sticking to mainly traditional folk music, polkas and marches. In between numbers the conductor's banter gets longer and the musicians sink a few drinks. There are an increasing amount of toasts to various causes and people with each one followed by the obligatory "Ein Prosit" song that is ingrained into Austrian culture like mountains, snow and singing nuns.

2.30pm
The sun is out and it's starting to get messy. There's a schnapps toast between each song where a plank with shot glasses fixed to at regular spacing is brought out. Five bods are hauled up to the stage and stand in a row with their hands behind their backs. They must drink the schnapps from the shot glasses on the plank as it is tilted by enthusiastic folk at each end. Hilarity ensues when a shorter lady can barely reach the shot glass and most of the schnapps goes down her top.

5pm
The band are looking a bit sozzled and have pretty much stopped playing for the day except for one older member who dons a fedora and starts belting out Frank Sinatra songs. To give him his dues, he really isn't bad and the audience love it.

7pm
Twelve hours of music and drinking complete, there are just a few hardy souls still knocking back the beer. An occasional trumpet parp and chorus of Ein Prosit is heard well into the night, but most have staggered home to sleep it off.

Check the video from Pension Huber:

Rubbish

2010-07-29T18:55:00.003Z

Realising you are not as fit as you used to be is a slightly depressing feeling. While in my case it's for all the right reasons - we have a new baby and time is limited - it's still a bit irritating when you can't do what you used to.

I headed out for a training ride last Sunday, aiming for a hill I hadn't been over in a while. The weather was blustery and overcast but it felt great to be out. After two hours I had crested the 850m high Großalm which climbs 450m from Altmunster on the Traunsee.

I felt good, over 60km were behind me and it was now just 50-odd kilometres home with a nice big descent to enjoy first.

Ahh, but how I forgot the two nuggetty climbs that pop up in the final 12km. A head wind had drained the legs a bit but now I had these two buggers to get over. By the last hill, a 12% rise out of St. Gilgen that I must have done dozens of times, I had blown. This wasn't right. A ride of this length used to be no problem, but now I had bonked, creeping over the top and freewheeling the last 2km down the other side to our village.

It sucked. I was never a great rider, but this was a fairly lame performance. The reasons? Well, despite regular jogs, running never replaces hours of bike riding. I'm not saying I want to change how things are right now, but sometimes I do miss being kick-ass fit on a bicycle.

Gerlos Pass

2010-07-02T07:28:00.005Z

Another ride post. This time the Gerlos pass past the gorgeous Krimml falls. A nice climb, not overly steep, just long. Main issue was a raging headwind on the early slopes.

Began the ride in Bruck with Mum, ending up in Jenbach where I took the train to Verona to meet the wife and baby.

Good times indeed.

Bella Italia

2010-06-26T16:39:00.015Z

It's worth traveling to Italy for the coffee alone. It still amazes me how a crappy service station on the Austostrada serves a better espresso than every cafe in Salzburg.

But in addition to kick-ass coffee, the country has some great roads for cycling especially the Chianti region of Tuscany where I enjoyed a few days of riding with my friend Mark in between baby duties, eating amazing food and lying by the pool.

Without wishing to gush to much, the cycling was some of the most pleasant I have ever experienced. Smooth roads, winding hills with steady gradients and plenty of views made the rides extremely memorable.

Feeling inspired by stage seven of this year's Giro d'Italia when the peloton blasted across filthy dirt tracks - known locally as Strade Bianche - we included some of these back roads in our routes. To be honest, they weren't that bad. A bit rutted in places it was tricky going up steeper hills when the back wheel occasionally slipped, and dodgy on the descents where skinny tyres offer minimal grip.

And obviously the coffee stops were perfect - you just can't beat an Italian 1€ espresso.

Here are the routes we took:

The Great Austrian Papertrail Part 2

2010-05-28T13:23:00.006Z

We are now nearing the final stages of the papertrail. We think.

Benefits are now coming in from the Finanzamt (Inland Revenue) after yet another trip down there to file some obscure document.

After a week, they sent us a confirmation document which I took to the social security people, the GKK, who provide us with child support. That stuff filed, we waited another week after which another document turned up informing us that we are in the system and cash will be paid to us each month.

According to the Finanzamt website, this is what their customer service reps look like. I can assure you, they do not.
Nice. Except that the dates on both the Finanzamt and GKK documents are all a bit screwy. Two months worth of GKK support are missing and the Finanzamt's payments run until next January, even though we were led to believe that the baby qualifies for support until he is 18.

According to one very long winded paragraph on the GKK letter, they are still missing some information but decline to mention what information exactly and what we should do.

Whatever, we're getting there.

Look at me!

2010-05-19T05:25:00.003Z

Like many competitive athletes I'm fairly vain, it's just that most don't care to admit it. I enjoy pushing myself and beating others in the process; it's an extremely satisfying experience.

This year I decided to concentrate a bit more on running rather than cycling, which has been my sport of choice for the past two decades. A few friends and I set ourselves the goal of completing the Salzburg Half Marathon, which we duly did last weekend.

I was extremely happy with my 1hr 30min 26sec time (obviously going 27 seconds faster would have made me even more happier), especially since I had overtaken a lot of people to finish in 156th place out of over 1600 starters. An average result on the grand scheme of things, but nonetheless gratifying.

Unfortunately my timing chip didn't work so I don't feature in the results table and out of the ten or so galleries online, I'm not in any photos. It's like I wasn't even there, and this is where the vanity side of things kick in.

Yes, I do this for myself, but by golly, I like other people to know when I've done good. Achieving a good time but not being recognised for it is frustrating. To many, this may sound ridiculous, but I guarantee most athletes can relate to it, even if they don't want to say so in public.

FOOTNOTE: After a few testy emails to organisers and the timing company, I was added into the results. Feel much better now, thanks.

The Great Austrian Papertrail

2010-05-10T12:11:00.008Z

Austria. A beautiful land of mountains, music, snow and tradition. Judging by our recent experiences, add paperwork and excruciatingly slow governmental departments to the list.

There's no doubt that we feel lucky to live here and the level of state support is pretty amazing, but the way some parts of the system work are totally exasperating.

Our son is now four months old, and we are only just past the halfway point of obtaining all the documents necessary to receive child support. We have applied for nine different bits of paper and been to five different regional and government agencies. Each bit of paper applied for has required other bits of paper from myself or my wife, some of which we have already, others we have in turn had to, yep, apply for.

The papertrail illustrated.
There's no guidebook or central database. None of the separate departments appear to have any contact with each other. The best technique to getting a particular document is to file an application, get rejected and start searching out the required documents listed on the rejection letter.

It all began with our baby's birth certificate. When he was born, our passports were sent direct to the Standesamt (registry office). We soon received a call from the aptly named Frau Teufel (Mrs Devil).

We needed a stamped marriage certificate from New Zealand with an apostile. No, I didn't know what it was either but I can now say that it's basically a wax stamp like what people used 200 years ago to seal letters. Apparently the marriage certificate that we had used across the world for the past four years was not good enough.

Two weeks and €100 later we got the certificate with a fancy looking ribbon attached as well as the apostile. The 20-odd words written on it then had to be put into German by a Standesamt-recognised translator before we could go back to the devil woman for the birth certificate.

Next step was to get his Aufenthaltskarte (visa) from the regional government, but for this he needed a passport. Quickest and simplest option was to get a New Zealand passport (his mum is a Kiwi) from NZ house in London.

Obviously a passport photo was essential and we drove into town to an approved photographer. Unfortunately he was fast asleep in the photographer's studio and it took some effort to wake him. A few wet fingers stuck in his ear finally got him to open his eyes and the camera snapped a lovely shot of him looking both suspicious and confused - an image that will be stuck with him for at least the validity of one passport.

It took about a month, partly because we also needed to prove his citizenship and try and find a person of standing to say that they could verify his identity.

"Let me in guv!" Baby and passport.
In the meantime we registered him as a resident with the village council (called a Meldezettel) and also sent off something to another agency for his 'immunization cheque book' - basically a book with vouchers that you hand in every time he needs an injection.

His social insurance card turned up too. Admittedly we didn't need to do much for this one. We must have signed something at the hospital because it just arrived in the post.

Once his passport arrived, wife and baby headed off to the district commissioner for the visa, which would give him permission to live in Austria. Another form and a wait of a week and that was ticked off.

The baby now has four separate forms of ID and we are just two steps away from actually receiving child support, but it's at this stage that the most obstinate and pedantic departments come into play.

From the Finanzamt (inland revenue) we can claim a tax benefit called Familienbeihilfe. Once that is done we can go to the GKK for Kinderbetreuungsgeld (child support). Unfortunately the Finanzamt have demanded about ten different documents and are showing themselves as the meisters of unhelpfulness.

Now being half-Austrian I'm the first to defend alleged xenophobic attitudes and I'm sure they are rude with everyone with the misfortune of walking through their doors, but there's no denying these guys are no fans of foreigners. It's like they feel they are guarding Austria's vaults from immigrant bank robbers.

After asking one of the school matron-esque women on the 'customer service' desks if they could explain the complexities of their requirements in English, my wife was met with a curt "no". Fair enough, This isn't England or New Zealand afterall.

"Könnten Sie bitte langsamer sprechen?" She asked - could you please speak slower?

"Nein."

The wife has now been into their offices twice and been told in lightspeed German to "Go get another document-with-a-really-long-name we didn't mention before. Next please!"

The most recent rejection and uncalled for rudeness brought my wife to tears and caused the baby to puke on the floor.

So that's the status: another document to find. But we refuse to be beaten. If we have to, we'll fill out every long winded, stupidly long named form in the country to get the child support that every other tax payer in Austria gets.

More ranting soon.

A Year in Fuschl in 25 Seconds

2010-04-18T06:54:00.003Z

Team Welwyn website (finally) online

2010-04-07T17:28:00.002Z

Yup, took a while, but finally we got the new Team Welwyn website up and running: www.team-welwyn.co.uk

Letter from Europe: Seasonal Angst

2010-03-29T07:07:00.004Z

Upcoming in the next Vo2max:

“Now I just want the snow to melt so I can sit outside in the sun,” says Claudia, my local barber, in her thick local Austrian dialect. Just a few months earlier she was telling me how much she was looking forward to colder weather so she could get her skis out.

Such is life in countries where the contrast between seasons is so stark. Compared to New Zealand, the seasonal differences are huge. The average minimum temperature in July in Auckland is 8°C. In Salzburg, my nearest city, it is -6°C for the equivalent month, January. Average maximums in summer reach 24°C while Auckland hits 23°C.

I live in a small alpine village and the way people react to changing seasons is fascinating. If there hasn’t been snow when there should have been, people are tetchy, endlessly commenting on winters past when they were up to their armpits in powder.

One September we woke up to 5cm of snow on the ground. “Far too early, far too early,” said my landlord in an ominous tone.

By mid-November my bike was packed away after a glorious summer of cycling. During my last ride of 2009 I wondered how I would survive five months of winter without riding a bike. One week later, I didn’t care. Summer was history, all I wanted was snow.

This winter came relatively late but at the end of November when temperatures dropped to well below freezing and the peaks had a nice white covering, I travelled to a large sports shop to purchase my ski season pass for the surrounding region.

Bear in mind, this is one of many shops that sells the 500 Euro pass, and yet the queue was dozens long. There were plenty more people buying flash new equipment. “The season starts now,” said a friend I bumped into in the queue.

Europe’s 2009/10 winter was a cold one, making headlines worldwide, but for the most part people carried on as normal, enjoying the conditions when they could by skiing, snow shoe walking, cross country skiing, or sledding. There were also a few wry smiles and sniggers when discussing how a puny 10cm of snow brought the UK to a halt.

My cycling club put on ski touring trips instead of bunch rides and aside from a handful of hardnuts, roads were clear of cyclists.

And then suddenly in mid-March, the country’s collective mindset changed. “When will winter release its grip?” Asked newspapers. “I’m fed up with shovelling snow off the driveway,” said the landlord.

Right on cue, two weeks before Easter, the sun came out and temperatures switched from minus five to plus 10. This was merely a glimmer of spring yet joggers and cyclists emerged from hibernation and the shops were packed with folk buying new bikes and summer sports gear.

Ski slopes emptied and those who did take to the slopes were more interested in sipping coffee and schnapps in mountain huts rather than taking a final few runs before the pistes returned to green farming pastures.

As I write this I’m still in winter mode. I don’t know how I’ll survive until next November without skiing but probably by the next Letter from Europe, it will be a distant memory and life will be all about cycling.

“Isn’t this weather great?” Claudia the barber says. “Thank goodness summer is finally here!”

Letter from Europe: What’s the Point?

2010-03-08T12:26:00.003Z

Latest Letter from Europe piece, currently to be found in the March edition of Vo2max:

From the end of December 2009 to the first week in January 2010, one of the biggest annual events in English sport took place in front of thousands of cheering, boisterous fans and received hours of prime time TV coverage.

The eventual champion was hyped throughout Sky TV’s broadcasts as one of England’s finest sportsmen and media across the spectrum haled him as unstoppable.

I am of course talking about the Professional Darts Corporation’s World Championships, and the now 13-time winner, Phil ‘The Power’ Taylor from Stoke on Trent.

Often viewed as a joke outside of the handful of countries that boast professional players, darts is a popular sport in the UK and top players can earn big money. Taylor, 49, picked up prize money to the value of NZ$1.8m during 2009 and has a number of endorsements.

It’s not hard to understand why folk like darts so much. Who doesn’t enjoy throwing a few arrows while sinking a couple of pints at your local? But you may be wondering how a pub game with overweight, tattooed, middle-aged ‘athletes’ has so much credibility and coverage in a supposedly sensible country like England?

I honestly don’t have an answer. However, I would say that watching a darts match can actually be very intriguing. The players’ consistent accuracy is amazing and seeing their nerves crumble at critical moments makes for great TV.

Venues for major championships look more like German beer halls, with rows of tables filled with alcohol-fuelled fans. Each player is introduced to the crowd with a boxing-style entrance and is accompanied to the stage by a scantily-clad model and their own signature music. Taylor usually comes out to Aaron Copland’s Fanfare for the Common Man followed by Snap’s The Power.

Games can go right down to the wire, steady hands disappear, and the audience screams at every winning or losing shot. It’s cracking stuff.

The sport seems to have more than its fair share of flamboyant characters, and their antics only add to the general atmosphere of excitement and merriment. Former professional Bobby ‘The King of Darts’ George used to enter the arena wearing a cape, huge gold chains and a dozen gold rings, and waving a candelabra. ‘Voice of Darts’ commentator Sid Waddell is known for his bizarre references and metaphors that can leave viewers rolling on the floor or scratching their heads in puzzlement.

“If we'd had Phil Taylor at Hastings against the Normans, they'd have gone home,” he said during one world championship. Another time he described mulletted 2001 champion Steve Beaton as, “The Adonis of darts, what poise, what elegance - a true roman gladiator with plenty of hair wax.”

This is not an endurance activity. Darts will never be part of the Olympics and its stars will always be overweight, tattooed, middle-aged men. But I encourage you to put that aside and if you get a chance, give watching darts a chance – it’s fun, and ultimately, isn’t that what sport is supposed to be?

Published in the Herald

2010-02-15T17:04:00.002Z

Wrote this article on Krampuses yonks ago, figured it had bit the dust but recently received an email from the Herald saying they'd printed it in January. Nice.

Day 17 with Mikey in Dienten

2010-02-12T09:33:00.005Z

Good times

Letter from Europe: The Herminator won’t be back

2010-01-06T15:16:00.003Z

As published in the December 2009 Vo2Max magazine:

The retirement of a sporting icon is always a time of tribute and rose-tinted reminiscing, but none more so in Austria where Hermann Maier, its most well-known ski racer, recently announced the end of his career.

Austria is a place that thrives on winter, not just for the tourist dollar that its ski resorts bring in, but because on a given weekend a large proportion of the population enjoy taking to the slopes themselves.

Skiing is its national sport, the top racers are its heroes and losing a race to Switzerland is akin to New Zealand succumbing to Australia in the Bledisloe Cup.

Maier’s record of 54 World Cup wins puts him among the most successful alpine skiers of all time, but it was the incredible ups and downs during 13 years of top-flight competition that made him so amazingly popular.

His early years weren’t exactly promising. Kicked off the development squad at age 15 and told he wasn’t going to succeed, he spent years working as a bricklayer through summer and ski instructor during winter in his hometown of Flachau.

He finally managed to secure a spot on the national team at 23 after winning numerous regional races and then recording the 12th fastest time as a non-counting fore-runner at a World Cup event in 1996.

His first World Cup event victory came a year later in Garmisch, Germany and he quickly became the sport’s dominant force, picking up wins in giant slalom, super-giant and downhill races (the different disciplines are defined by the number of gates skiers have to pass through and the distance between them).

He won by skiing all out and taking big risks, appearing as though he was hurling himself down mountains. A defining moment came at the 1998 Nagano Olympics in the downhill, the fastest of all disciplines where athletes reach speeds of 160km/h.

The course was tricky and one particular left-hand corner over a small lip had caught out many of the early hopefuls. For anyone watching on TV, it was obvious Maier was carrying more speed approaching the troublesome turn than anyone else.

He hit the lip ridiculously fast, becoming instantly airborne. He was travelling so quick that he flew tens of metres through the air, rotating so that by the time he landed, he was upside down.

"I was very fast and there was a lot of wind from the back side," he said afterward. "And I went up in the air and was looking at the sky. I looked down at the snow and waited for the crash."

A photo taken mid-flight with Maier’s skis above his head and his face locked in grim expression went round the world, ending up on the cover of Sports Illustrated.

After tumbling through two layers of crash fencing, he came to a halt 50 metres away from where he took off.

Amazingly he was able to walk away from this, but what made him the stuff of legend was that over the next few days, he went on to win two gold medals in the giant and super giant slalom race.

Over the next few seasons, Maier racked up wins but in August 2001 disaster struck. Colliding with a car whilst out on his motorcyclist, his career was written off. The accident was described as ‘near fatal’ and doctors were close to amputating the lower part of one of his legs.

He sat out the 2002 season but returned to competition in January 2003. A matter of days later, he won a super giant world cup race in Kitzbuehel, Austria – the most famous and most feared of all courses. It was a remarkable comeback earning Maier praise from all corners of the sporting world and reinforcing his ‘Herminator’ image.

Victories followed including a win at the biennial world championships in 2005 in the giant slalom, but by 2006 his dominance was waning despite picking up a silver and bronze medal at the Turin Winter Olympics.

In 2007 and for most of 2008 he failed to record a win. Perhaps indicative of the pressure Austria places on its skiers, Maier was regularly recording top ten finishes ahead of most of his team-mates, but faced increasing calls to retire, ‘because he wasn’t as good as he used to be.’

A public argument to that effect between him and retired-skier-turned-commentator Armin Assinger didn’t help his cause. Maier reacted to criticism by Assinger, a popular TV personality after a reasonable racing career, by saying he (Maier) had “won a lot more races than him.”

In November 2008, he recorded his 54th world cup race victory in Lake Louise, Canada, and it was to prove his last. In October, 2009 he announced his retirement citing physical problems.

He had previously stated that he was aiming for an appearance at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, however following recent knee surgery and the rigours of returning to fitness, selection for the Austrian team would not have been guaranteed.

Maier leaves a huge gap in the sport, although he is unlikely to drop away from the public eye. He appears in countless TV ads, on chatshows and in the celebrity gossip pages, but more than anything, he’ll be known for generations in Austria as one of the greatest ski racers that ever lived.

Recent Powderage

2010-01-06T14:54:00.010Z

A great day in Zauchensee with 30cm of new snow. Unfortunately, Bill broke his thumb soon after lunch but the trooper he is, he carried on for a bit and we made the most of some awesome powder conditions. Check the video:

Jetlag December 4th

2009-12-03T21:43:00.003Z

Playing my first gig in years, and first in Austria at Jetlag in Salzburg's Altstadt. Will be selecting tunes alongside DJ Fresh Herbs from 8pm, tonight (December 4). I don't quite make the billing on the bar's Facebook page and hopefully I can remember how to use a mixer..
Here's a preview of what to expect.

Capturing Life: Martha Cooper Interview

2009-11-28T09:41:00.003Z

Don't usually plug my work work, but here's a neat interview I did with well-known NYC photographer, Martha Cooper. Check it out on Red Bull Illume.

Saison 09/10 Tag 1, Reiteralm

2009-11-09T22:00:00.003Z

Furore

2009-10-23T08:26:00.003Z

It's extremely interesting to observe the furore over the BNP's Nick Griffin's appearance on Question Time, when over 20% of Austria's parliament is made up of people who have the same ideas as him.

More Autumn Running

2009-10-21T08:23:00.002Z

Crisp clear day, snow on the mountains, and was joined by other runners for the first time in a while. Still missing the bike though...

Lunchtime run in sleety snow

2009-10-14T07:16:00.003Z

Feels way to early to be locking the bike away for winter, but when it snows, the temperature is down to 3° and it's too dark in the mornings there isn't much choice.

So I took my first run of the season yesterday out to Ellmautal during my lunchbreak. Beautiful as always, and the legs weren't too sore afterwards.

View on EveryTrail

Schober

2009-10-07T08:33:00.003Z

Finally knocked this one off. I've lived in Fuschl for over a year now and for whatever reasons, never got round to climbing the Schober, a 1329m high rocky peak that overlooks the village.

And it was spectacular. From the Wartenfals castle on the way up, to the hairyish last sections to the summit, this is a classic climb with fantastic views. Full route on www.everytrail.com.

Sonnenholz

2009-09-28T06:58:00.001Z

Rolling hills, tiny lanes and sunshine. Saturday afternoon rides don't get much better.

Euro travels 09 - Alps

2009-09-21T18:21:00.004Z

Euro travels 09 - England

2009-09-21T18:19:00.002Z

New Team Welwyn Kit

2009-09-19T07:33:00.004Z

KIWI READY TO COMPETE AT CYCLE MESSENGER WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

2009-09-18T18:01:00.002Z

Ezra Phillips will be New Zealand’s sole representative at the Cycle Messenger World Championships (CMWC) to be held in Tokyo, Japan on September 19-23, 2009.

The 27-year-old will participate in a variety of events over the five-day competition including sprint races, stunt contests as well as the main championship. Held on closed roads, the race is designed to simulate actual bike courier life. Riders must deliver packages to various offices along the circuit as fast as possible.

Phillips, born in Tauranga, has lived and worked in Auckland as a bicycle courier since 2003 and enjoys the physical challenge of the job.

Tokyo will be his fourth CMWC and he is looking forward to racing against the 2000 other competitors who travel from around the world to take part. In 2008, Phillips travelled to Toronto with fellow Kiwi Jenna Macgill who won the women’s event.

“The races are really tough,” says Phillips, “but the championships are also about a coming together of bicycle couriers from dozens of different countries and sharing a common passion.”

“I’ve had good results in previous championships and messenger races, a few top ten placings here and there but this time I am aiming for the podium in the main championship.”

It’s not an easy road to the CMWC. Phillips must pay all costs himself and rely on backing from local businesses.

“Customs Solutions, Advanced Customs, Torchon, Barabra and Bike Central are helping me with costs while Tineli Cycle Wear are providing my race clothing."

Read an Interview with Ezra by the NZHerald.

Sixty brilliant kilometres before work.

2009-09-02T14:39:00.004Z

Yesterday was a crisp, end of summer morning and perfect for an early ride. Joined by Andy, we pottered along the small lanes underneath the Drachenwand with the rising sun in our faces before doing a circuit of Mondsee and back to Fuschl via Thalgau.

Bad Ischl

2009-08-07T19:03:00.001Z

RBX09 Behind the Scenes

2009-08-07T07:54:00.002Z

Fifteen months work, ten days on the road, hundreds of coffees and one awesome event. That was Red Bull X-Alps 2009.

The Grand Hotel, Lugano

2009-07-25T20:39:00.001Z

Expensive but tasty.

Cafe Columbus

2009-07-24T16:39:00.001Z

No frills italian deli style cafe. Homemade panini was followed by a full strength espresso. Prego.

After dinner espresso in Bozen

2009-07-23T20:43:00.001Z

Bozen.

2009-07-21T08:52:00.001Z

Bloggen auf Deutsch

2009-07-02T19:38:00.002Z

Manchmal erinnert man sich warum man Radrennen liebt. Auf der Abfahrt von der Postalm letzten Sonntag während des Mondsee Radmarathons habe ich mich erinnert. Es war nass, sehr nebelig und rutschig gewesen, mein Computer hat fast 80km/h angezeigt und ich bin hinter einem Mann gefahren, der anscheinend keine Furcht hatte.

Es ist gefährlich, wahrscheinlich blöd aber eigentlich spannend gewesen. In Kürze, das ist Radrennen.

Das Fünf Seen Rennen hat eine klassische 200km lange Strecke mit 2300 Höhenmetern. Leider haben wegen des Regnens viele Radler abgesagt, aber trotzdem sind circa 1000 Teilnehmer gestartet.

Nach der verrückten Abfahrt von der Postalm mit 150km bis zum Ziel, habe ich mich in einer kleinen Gruppe gefunden. Nur 20 Fahrer sind vor uns gewesen, und wir haben hart versucht um die Führenden einzuholen.

Drei Fahrer in meiner Gruppe hatten noch viel Kraft, aber nach 140km war ich relativ müde. Die Strecke zwischen Postalm und Altmünster ist hauptsächlich flach (außer Pass Gschütt, ein Paar Kilometer nach Russbach), aber dann kommt die Grossalm.

Der Berg ist für mich nicht gut gegangen und die Gruppe hat mich abgeworfen - ein furchtbares Gefühl. Glücklicherweise hatte ich die Passhöhe erreicht bevor die nächste Gruppe mich einholte.

Über die nächsten 50km habe ich mich ein bisschen erholt, und mit der Gruppe angenehm zusammen geradelt. Auch hat der Regen für herrliche 30 Minuten angehalten.

Auf dem letzten Berg von Nussdorf am Attersee bis Oberwang habe ich kleine Krämpfe bekommen und ich musste im Sattel bleiben. Die Gruppe explodierte, aber ich habe mich an die erste Hälfte der Fahrer gehängt.

In den letzten 10km ist der Regen völlig zurückgekommen. Große Pfützen haben die Straßen bedeckt und manchmal ist man durch kleine Flüsse gefahren. Ich und fünf andere Fahrer haben Alles bis ins Ziel gegeben. Wir sind nach 6:01.15 ins Ziel gekommen, und ich habe den 27. Platz geschafft.

Ein tolle Erfahrung und ein Rennen an das ich mich für eine lange Zeit erinnern werde.

Bikes in Berlin

2009-06-26T18:13:00.003Z

Some more photos from Vitaclub Radmarathon

2009-06-03T11:44:00.003Z

Is Austria the doping capital of Europe?

2009-05-28T07:21:00.004Z

Latest Letter from Europe column, to be printed in the June/ July Vo2max magazine in New Zealand.

There are two issues dominating the endurance-sporting world’s headlines in 2009; Lance Armstrong’s return and the ever-present issue of doping.

While many will say that in fact the two stories are linked, not a day goes past without a story on one or the other. And as much as this columnist would like to avoid writing about juiced-up cyclists, the latter is just too important to ignore.

The latest scandal involves Europe’s new doping capital, Austria. In the past 18 months the country has hosted a blood doping ring, a triathlete who tried to bribe her way out of trouble, disgraced athletes spilling the beans, plus a cyclist, a pharmacist and ex-ski coach Walter Mayer who were all arrested for dealing in doping substances.

Mayer is like a bad smell – extremely difficult to make go away. He was banned from future Winter Olympics after blood boosting equipment was found in a house used by the Austrian cross-country skiing team at the Utah Olympics in 2002.

Despite this, he was spotted with the national team at the 2006 Turin Winter Games, fleeing the country when Italian police conducted a surprise raid. However his dash for freedom ended when he crashed into a police roadblock. Italian investigators later found syringes and a blood transfusion machine in the house where he had been staying.

On May 6, 2009, national cycling champion Christian Pfannberger was suspended by his team and the UCI following a positive test for an undisclosed substance. ‘Pfanni’ as he is affectionately known (yes, that’s pronounced ‘fanny’) is acting in strict accordance with the cyclists code of denial, saying it’s all a big mistake.

This comes just weeks after the Austrian Cycling Federation (OERV) began an anti-doping initiative, which would supposedly salvage some honour in the country’s athletes.

‘Against Doping’ is a voluntary programme whereby athletes submit themselves for regular tests, the results of which are posted on www.against-doping.at. Perhaps an indication of exactly how big a lame duck the programme is likely to be, on the day of its launch the introductory homepage text was 500 words of, “Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consetetur sadipscing elitr...”

As of May 9, just nine athletes have signed up, and Pfanni’s suspension has splashed cold water on any progress the initiative may have made in cleaning up Austria’s dreadful doping image.

"I drank vodka and ate fish at 5 am. This was probably not a good idea.”

Easily the most amusing drug-related story of 2009 so came to a conclusion on April 30, when Lebanese skier Georges Salameh was handed a two-year ban for cocaine use.

At the time, Salameh, who was competing at the World Alpine Skiing Championships in Val d’Isere, France, pointed the finger of blame at unnamed “enemies who may have pushed people to do this.”

The 33-year-old explained he went out partying until only hours before he was due to ski in a qualification race for the giant slalom event. Surprisingly, he failed to progress further, telling one journalist that he hadn’t slept and that he had “drunk vodka and ate fish at 5am.”

“This was probably not a good idea,” he summarised.

After his positive result was made public, he said, “I never used these drugs. I don’t know what happened to me out there,” claiming saboteurs had given him something while he was inebriated.

Grado

2009-05-27T07:53:00.006Z

Popped down to Italy for the weekend (dahhling!) and sneaked in a steaming hot 120km ride up to Gorizia on the Slovenian border. Awesome roads, loads of friendly cyclists (unlike the miserable Austrian ones who never wave back), and some great sights.

View Grado - Gorizia in a larger map

Vita Club Radmarathon

2009-05-22T09:38:00.003Z

Couple of photos from the latest Radmarathon outing, ©Kate Garvie.

The shots were taken as we belted through our home village of Fuschl after the 75km/h descent from Thalgauegg. I had great support from Katie and some of our friends, which always makes the pain of racing slightly easier to deal with.

Was a great race, and I had the benefit of knowing the roads extremely well. After struggling over the first monster 5km slog up to Krispl from the Wiestalstrasse, my legs felt stronger as time went on. In total there was 1400 Höhenmeter throughout the 100km and a gnarly final 500m which took in no less than four 90 degree turns.

Final position was 31st, from 250 starters and a time of 2hr 52min, eight minutes behind Paul Lindner of bikepalast.com. Whenever I've ridden one of these things with Lindner, he seems to always end up winning. Well over 40-years-old, the guy has a ripped pair of legs and so many varicose vains it looks like the London Underground map.