Ain't Misbehavin'

As is the case this time of year, university has taken over my life, with mid-semester exams leaving me a slave to the desk. Thankfully, these are done and dusted so we can get onto the more important things in life.

Recently, Dad and I were watching the Ben Cousins' doco on his drug abuse problems. Afterwards, when discussing the saga, we were both struggling to work out why people are claiming that he's such a hero for beating his addiction. Also, we both agreed that it's unlikely that he's changed at all and still has the smug arrogance about him.

My dad is a psychology teacher and student counsellor at a public high school. It's clear that, at times, he is personally affected by what he's witnessed, particularly in relation to drug use. It's at this point I feel particularly humbled (being privately schooled and living in a high-income suburb) because the conditions that these students live in manifests this behaviour. Often, they live between divorced parents, experience abuse or mix with the wrong peers.

High-end equipment: durability or performance?

Recently, I’ve been riding a lot with my fellow MUcyc’ers (Melbourne Uni Cycling Club members), some of whom have very nice (and very expensive bikes) whilst others have more humble machines. I will readily admit I am a member of the former group (my Scott CR1 Pro is coming up on its second birthday). I have spent lavishly on my bike as I would rather spend money on something I enjoy immensely rather than wastefully invest it for the moment. The bike comes stock with a full Shimano Ultegra groupset, Ritchey Carbon seatpost and Mavic Ksyrium Elite wheels. Since then, I have added a Fi’zi:k Aliante saddle, numerous computers (my latest one is a Garmin Edge 500) and, most recently, a full SRAM Force groupset. I will also be adding new wheels to it soon. It’s safe to assume then that my bike is fairly high end.

However, this hasn’t stopped it from having reliability issues.

Eye-opening moments

Having been away from cycle races for nearly a year, I finally got back into the swing of things in the last couple of weeks. First up was an Individual Time Trial for Northern Combine at Balliang. Having only done one competitive TT before (Tour of Bright '08), I was keen to see how I'd go. Having been a fairly solid C-grade rider before my overseas escapades, I dropped myself back to D to ease myself back into (and the fact I have added 7 or 8 kegs since then). Needless to say, 4th in D (by only 2 secs to 3rd!) and 4th in the secret handicap, I was reasonably happy with my effort considering the ridiculously windy conditions.

Tour de France recap

This year's Tour has been one of the hardest for years, and not only due to torturous mountain days. The drama of the first week, rain, crashes, cobbles, heat and more crashes ensured the general classification was whittled down to just a two horse race after just 8 stages.As we look back on the Tour de France this year, lets take a look at the winners, losers, heroes and villains of the race.

Product Review: 2010 Sram Force groupset

Having been riding on Shimano groupsets (Tiagra, 105 and Ultegra) since taking up cycling 4 years ago, and the fact that my Ultegra chain and cassette were worn out, I thought it was time for a change. I had a couple of different options:

As an era ends, our lasting memories will be of the bad not the good

I'm betting Lance Armstrong is thinking 'was it worth coming out of retirement?' right about now. Sure, he finished third last year and has strengthened his foundation's international image tenfold. But after Stage 8 of this year's Tour de France, it seems all the good luck of never falling off and seeing his rivals fall around him has come flooding back at Lance. Early crashes, a puncture on the cobblestones of northern France, more crashes in the Alps and losing almost 12 minutes to the main rivals will remain in our memories as the most vivid recollections of Lance Armstrong, which is a great pity.

Nothing on Earth is like the Tour de France

For 3 weeks in July over the past couple of years, during the day, you are likely to find me either on my bike or in bed. The reason can be explained very simply: the Tour de France is on television. Not only does it inspire oneself to dust of the bike and head down Beach Rd into frigid, winter breeze, but its also on at a ghastly hour meaning you very rarely sleep for more than 4 or 5 hours a night.