Wow! I was no sooner off my bike this morning than I had thoughts of returning next week and FINALLY winning the 3 in a row. I had thought this may be one of the last races of the season and because it was a Holiday weekend that I’d jinx myself and not win. Thankfully none of that was true as I pulled out one of my most difficult wins of the season so far. Here’s how it went ...

I spent a great deal of time walking around on Saturday and so came into the race extremely sore on Sunday morning. To make matters worse I was extremely nervous and a last minute stretching session late on Saturday night saw me twisting my right knee accidentally and in some unsafe way. This twisting or unnatural movement caused me a great deal of pain all day today and throughout most of the morning. Thankfully some intelligent stretching and careful warming up allowed me to get through the race relatively pain free.

This morning only a hand full of riders showed up to race. With the season in it’s twilight and many people very tired only Back Bay had a decent showing with a few team mates. Everyone else was singled out and had to work for themselves. The race had less than 20 riders and lining up on the start line I knew today was going to hurt. With fewer riders everyone needs to work harder and there’s no chance of hiding and sitting on. There are advantages and disadvantages to this of course; if you’re the strongest rider then this shouldn’t bother you and it didn’t bother me but it does make for a painful race. I knew there would be no resting and every acceleration would need to be matched and brought back by my own efforts. No one was going to help me nail it back today.

We rolled out almost 30 minutes late and I was pretty anxious anticipating the start. I had been nervous on Saturday and early Sunday morning but got to the point of just wanting to get going. We rolled off and straight away the tactical games started to play out. We rode around the first lap almost in a straight line as no one wanted to pull. I was determined to make sure everyone hurt today and on the second lap took the speed from 18 mph to 27 mph in the hopes of putting people in difficulty from the start. I had quite a few important visitors at the race today that I wanted to impress and quite a few riders I wanted to hurt pretty badly.

Almost straight away riders were put into difficulty as we tore down the straight away through the finish for only the 3rd time, around the corner and up the slight incline. Looking back I could see either the field were being really tactical and going to let the big men throw the race away with their demonstration of speed early on or everyone was in a lot of pain. Either way I was determined to find out so I forged ahead.

Attack number two on lap 4 saw 3 riders get dropped off the back. By now the entire field was in a straight line and I needed to do more than I liked to stay in touch with the lead men in the first sprint. I was never in much difficulty today, it was a case of pulling on the front, pulling off after wiping yourself out and watching the men behind come through and almost drop you. That wasn’t fun especially when you bury yourself on the front. It was blisteringly fast and difficult up front. Nevertheless I could see gaps forming and I was determined to keep forcing the pace and pushing riders into difficulty no matter how much it hurt me.

On lap 5 the race was down to 4 riders. Back Bay were decimated and we had almost half a lap on the field. By now I knew everyone was in serious difficulty because I knew we were hurting up front so they had to be hurting behind chasing. 2 laps later we had already lapped the field! It was fast and painful up front and I managed to get some organization into the group insisting we take ONLY 10 second pulls recognizing I didn’t want to push harder than that.

There was an extremely strong head wind into the finish which saw us breaking down in gear coming through the finishing stretch. It was VERY, VERY tough into the finish and I knew it would make for a tactical and very patient finish. Deciding on the correct tactics was something I would agonize over until the finish whether or not I would break my plan to go from the corner or not. I wanted to be impressive but I also wanted to win and I know the fastest man doesn’t always win, the best tactics pay off in the end.

I lead out George for the first sprint and with 5 laps to go we contested the second to last sprint. Mostly because I was up front, the other riders in the break away were tired and I thought why not try to win twice in one day? He wasn’t too happy but it was a dress rehearsal for the next and final sprint finish in just over 5 laps.

With 3 laps to go everyone was tired, except for me. At this point I started to feel good. I cunningly and without notice missed one turn at the front and felt better for it. Giving myself just that little bit longer to rest gave me a good sense of how I felt. I never thought I would destroy everyone in the finish like I did in the end but I did think I was strong.

2 laps to go and the pace was fast, I could hear riders around me panting and I could see they were all hurting. I was still able to talk comfortably but they were no longer capable of answering me with much more than a few words because of their shortness of breath.

I had been paying attention the entire race but I almost didn’t notice the final lap until the bell tolled because the race had been so tough. Working together in a break away is hard work and even though we had lapped the pack we still pushed ahead gaining a lap and a half on the field before the finish. As we went through the finish line and around the 4th to last corner everyone shut the pace down. Everyone started shaking their legs and looking at each other nervously. This is the first time I have ever been in this situation this year. I’ve never played this type of cat and mouse prior to a finish. I knew this would happen but for some reason it still took me by surprise when it did. I had expected the pace to continue to be high and for some reason didn’t align all the blocks in my head to know that prior to the finish there would be a lull.

I sat second in the pace line with a lapped rider adding to a total of 5 riders in our group. He was eager to show his legs and anxious about the finish. Everyone else nervously searched for their sprinting gear as we climbed the small hill.

Over the slight incline and down the hill around the corner into the finish. No one was willing to lead out. I stayed in second place dropping slowly back to 3rd so I could keep an eye on things. Up ahead I could see 2 riders that we had already lapped heading up to the finish but still no one was willing to make a move.

Around the final corner the finishing straight came into view. I sat in 3rd place in the line keeping an eye on everyone. The lapped rider opened up the sprint first and George went on the left choosing not to draft, a HUGE tactical error on a day when we worked extremely hard and the head wind on the finishing straight was extremely strong.

I quickly grabbed the wheel of the lapped rider and easily nailed him back, still sprinting on the left George took off up the left side of the road. I quickly lunged to the right again pulling the handle bars off the ground and opened up my sprint. No turning back now. It was 1:1 just the way I like it! I could see him on the left and I knew for sure I would not be leading out my toughest competition. He was dropped within seconds and I continued to build up to full speed. He quickly but too late lunged behind me to get my wheel.

I started to hammer into the tough head wind and just got faster and faster and faster towards the finish line. I knew I had won again by a considerable margin and half way down the finishing straight yelled at myself, “COME ON!” to push myself to go even faster.

I crossed the finish line with a gap of almost 5 bike lengths. Unbeatable again two weeks in a row.

I now need to let my body recover. I need badly to do some fat burning workouts and get my diet back inline because I’m mentally and physically exhausted right now and carrying an injury that needs to be resolved before next weekend.

I now have real thoughts and real confidence that I can win the triple next weekend. My confidence is soaring and I have the engine to back it up. I’m confident I can recover and win again next weekend putting another win behind me to give me 3 in a row. This will be the second time I will be in the position to win 3 in a row in a season and this time I REALLY want it!

I’ll leave you with a short video that shows the finish. You’ll notice the quiet finish line as they await us coming around for the final sprint. Two riders will come into view first and the bell will sound last lap for them. These two riders are the remainder of the chasing peloton. Look far down the road to the corner and focus on the middle of the road, you will see me hammering to the finish line. More from me shortly ...

Alternatively you can download the video here.

For so long I have dreaded the occasions when I have needed to take my bike to the bike store and have repairs carried out. Not only do I dread the queuing, the transporting of the bike, the time away from work, the rude people but I dread most the cost. It seems every time I take my bike it costs me minimally, $40 for ANYTHING. That’s all about to change.

My New Year’s resolution (made in August) is to begin repairing (read first breaking, then breaking some more but finally fixing) my own bike.

Tonight I tackled what has always seemed a difficult task, wrapping handle bar tape. I was obviously skeptical about undoing all that (sort of) pretty perfectly wrapped white tape and replacing it with new shiny pro tape. The cost of the new tape wasn’t cheap and so I knew I couldn’t really afford to blow it more than 4 or 5 times or it would become prohibitively expensive for me to continue “learning”.

I’m happy to say that all of the fear and trepidation about this was all in vain. It turned out to be simple. I mean, simple. It was so easy. I clipped the existing tape that secured the handle bar tape to the bars and begin pealing it away. Started with the new tape within 10 minutes had the new handle bar tape secured and ready to roll. I made a little mistake on the left side and probably used too much electrically tape to secure the handle bar tape to the bars but hey, it was the first time and it does not look terrible by any means. The right side is perfect. So, NO FEAR! Now I can change my own handle bar tape in ten minutes. I don’t need to queue at the bike store, deal with the rude people or spend a boat load of cash just to have a ten minute repair done on my bike. Next I’m on to replace breaks, modify the rear de-railer and God knows what else I chose to muck with.

Incidentally, if you'd like to see what I based my wrapping technique on you can view the excellent YouTube video below:

Tomorrow happens to be a rest day for me. Mainly because I have morning plans and secondly because my legs hurt. I foolishly made this same mistake the week before July 4th weekend. A holiday weekend I so desperately wanted to win. I have already worked too hard this week and so will spend the rest of the week recovering. My legs are quite sore and it was just plain stupid to go this hard this early in the week and late in the season when everyone else is getting ready to hang their bikes up for the season.

I’m hoping to hit the sack now, get some much needed rest and recover quickly before the weekend. I’m already shivering and getting goose bumps just thinking about going out there and needing to win. Running through race scenario after race scenario. I thought there was pressure in the beginning of the season to do well, that is nothing compared with the pressure to polish off what has been a near perfect season. UGH!

Just like me, you might not be a Kaskade fan, that is until you hear ‘Strobelite Seduction’. Hailing from San Francisco this is Kaskade’s fifth album and arguably his finest work. Kaskade has remixed such top pop artists as Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears but his finest work is evident on ‘Strobelite Seduction’.

'Angel on my Shoulder' is the obvious stand out track and the dance remixes are awesome but there is a lot here to enjoy. This is an accessible album even for those not fond of deep house or Trance. If this wasn’t your Summer soundtrack then perhaps it can be your sound track to Fall. Well worth a listen.

Replicant is a delay-based effect in the "beat slicer/looper" vein, with some tricks of its own that separate it from the herd. From a simple delay or panning effect, on up to massive random beat mangling, Replicant is a capable plugin well in line with today's modern electronic music styles. Stuttering buffers and filter drops are easy to program, and the comprehensive randomization features give it a mind of its own, if so desired. If you're looking to add some chance to your programming, you've come to the right place.

Here is a 10-minute screencast which goes over Replicant's features in detail.

Replicant is available as a VST effect for Windows, and as an AudioUnit/VST effect bundle for OSX Universal Binary. Note that you must have OSX 10.3.9 or greater to use the Macintosh version of this plugin.

In case any of you doubted the unique and important role that Auto-Tune plays in 'fixing' horrible Pop artists you can listen to this positively painful clip and hear Britney before her voice/microphone was run through Auto-Tune.

As Sunday morning reared it’s sleepy head from underneath a blanket of dense fog I too eased my way into the day enjoying the quiet calm before the inevitable storm of the race to come.

If the truth be told, I had my doubts about today. Harboring fears of maybe not placing second but perhaps 3rd (I never went further than that :). My body was ready yesterday but my head was not and perhaps that was a good thing. Whenever my head is not in a race I seem to do my best. I didn’t Blog about my preparation yesterday because there was no mental preparation.

As I crawled out of bed this morning the last thing I felt like doing was racing. I know there are only a few more weekends left in the season and next weekend is going to be a pivotal weekend in the closing of the season so missing this weekend might have been OK.

Finally and thankfully my automatic pilot kicked in and I readied myself for the race.

I had the best warmup this morning. I felt fast, very fast. I rode around the course with Chris, teeth chattering from the cold but felt extremely strong.

We lined up at the start line this time with me on the start line ready to go feeling very very confident. NEBC had 6 riders today all there in support of each other. It was a great feeling to know we had a full team and I jokingly said to the guys that if one of us didn’t win today we should be shot.

The initial laps were slow, it seemed as though there was a preme on the second or third lap which meant the race would be fast. Boston Road Club took out the first spirited preme while the rest of the pack continued their sloppy behavior. I was almost thrown from my bike by one rider swerving like he was trying to avoid a 747. I employed a bad tactic I and sat back away from the action a little and gave the crazies some space. Before I knew it I found myself riding off the back of the pack with Bruce staying out of trouble watching all of the craziness unfold up front.

Conor and Chris rode on the front driving the pace hard even at this early stage. Truthfully though, there was still no real organization and we never really managed to get it together until NEBC hammered with 5 laps to go.

I chatted with Bruce asking if he could ride off the front with me and he agreed he could. With that we went from the back to the front and onward. We both hammered it hard and got a nice gap only to hear the bell ring again. Another preme?! The team obviously sat up when we rode off the front but the rest of the pack were determined not to let us go with a preme on offer. Bruce and I passed through the finish and kept going. Around the corner and up the slight incline I called Bruce off and let the pack catch us again.

Chris quickly went to the front and followed the “sprinters” who thought they were easily going to ride off the front of the race. This always amazes me how inexperienced riders think they’re going to get away off the front of a race when the hammer is down 1 mile from a preme.

Around the 4th corner and Chris had a gap, I was rider number 3 in the line and I sat up to let him go. He took off and powered in the saddle to the line winning the second preme. Success already for our team! Chris has gotten so much stronger these past few weeks and helped me immensely today. He deserved this win and I was delighted to see him power to victory.

It wasn’t all fun and winning though as tragedy struck one of the riders deciding to sprint after Chris. His foot came out of his pedal and he slid along the ground for what seemed like an eternity on his face. The race was immediately neutralized but Chris’ win obviously still stood with no obstruction on Chris’ part.

We spent the next 25 minutes neutralized with 5 laps remaining on the lap board. We tried our hardest to go slow but only managed to roll along ‘neutralized’ at 18 - 21 mph, racers you gotta love ‘em, they just ‘can’t possibly’ go any slower than they are :)

Anyway, the ambulance finally pulled away up front and the bell tolled. 5 laps to go, through the finish line and the hammer went down HARD. I chased every break off the front and Chris scuttled to the front driving hard through laps 4-2. Unfortunately the rest of the team worked hard but couldn’t get to and stay at the front of the race. The attacks when hard and I maintained my third place in the pace line right where I like to be.

Rounding the 2nd to last corner my legs felt good, I was already pedaling slowly in my huge gear ready for the final corner. I came into today’s race with interesting tactics, come round the last corner when the pace starts to slow after the lead out man fades and GO! That was it, pretty amazing huh? :) The season has come down to sheer power and who has the most of it.

Rounding the last corner the Boston Road Club started to fade as we met with the slight 2% incline up to the finish. I hesitated for just a second wondering if it was too soon but decided to go anyway. I went, saw one wheel to my left behind me and didn’t see another rider until after I crossed the finish line. I won by bike lengths today, very impressive. The officials jokingly said 7-10 but I think it was more like 3-5, no one could confirm for sure.

I will probably always remember the sights and sounds of today’s win. No riders around me, sprinting at full speed and the only sound I can hear is the wind. Whistling past my ears. It seemed like forever riding to the finish line, it felt like it was all happening in slow motion and once you know you’ve won for sure you just want it to end but the finish line is still meters away. I crossed the finish line with my fist in the air as always. Another sweet win in the bank.

This week it’s back to cross training to get stronger and more body weight movements to strengthen my knees and legs in the hopes that I can push an even bigger gear and maybe, just maybe, break 34.4 top end sprint into the finish before the end of the season. It would feel so good to make 35 mph before the season ends but given my rate of progress this year I doubt that’s going to happen. Especially considering I’ve been hovering at 34 mph for some time now.

I finished today at 34.4 mph, that’s the fastest speed I’ve been able to find without anyone around me and no one to draft from. I was consistent and held it for 400 meters all the through the finish line.

I’m happy. For another day, I can rest easy knowing I finished in first place.

This one’s for the sprinters. You knew it was going to come eventually. Some question why it’s taken so long for me to Blog about what I do pretty well at each Sunday and in every race. The truth is, I have never felt compelled to write a Blog entry on sprinting until today’s race. This morning’s race was the straw that broke the Camel’s back for me. I know many cyclists read my Blog and I’m hoping that I can pass along some to advice or key points to prevent the horrific accidents I’ve seen lately.

The last several weeks I’ve seen riders shoot off the front and immediately crash. I’ve seen riders jump off the front, get a break and then crash. Today during a preme (the one that my team mate Chris won - congrats again Chris, nice job!) I saw one rider ride his way in the saddle to the finish and another attack hard and crash hard. Today’s crash was perhaps one of the worst I’ve seen this year. This rider landed on his face and slid for what seemed like an eternity in this position. It was horrific. The truth is, all crashes are horrific and we as bike racers must do all we can to avoid at minimum road rash and maximally, serious injury or even death in the most extreme cases.

Racing bikes is dangerous. We require licenses to compete and so you’d imagine that people that partake in this sport would understand how dangerous it can be and proceed with caution by adequately preparing themselves for the effort. At least that’s what I would expect but that’s obviously too much...

You know if there is a sprint 9 times out of 10 I’ve got the best seat in the house as someone who intends to participate and win. For this reason, I’ve seen many accidents. In seeing all these accidents it baffles me how they happen. Not ‘how’ they happen because obviously I can see the technical mistakes these riders make but I don’t understand ‘how’ these mistakes are made. Let me explain ...

Guys who sprint and win every week train to sprint and win. We work hard at riding extremely fast. It’s not easy blasting off the front of the race when it’s bearing down on the finish line at full bore. To get off and stay off requires several different skills and ‘crazy’ is NOT one of them! I can tell you for certain, ‘crazy’ is required to position yourself coming into the finish. You absolutely need to fight to get to the front and stay there but when the sprint starts it’s ALL about form and RAW power. You need to be crazy to endure the pain it takes to sprint and win I’ll give you that.

Sprinting is an aerobic activity that many approach in two mainly different ways; some sprinters muscle a huge gear to the line (me) and some will ‘spin’ their way to the line. Choosing lower gears but spinning really quickly. Your inclination is largely based on genetics and what works best for you.

I for one dedicate at least one training session each week to sprint form. Yes form! Not power, not mashing a huge gear, not working on my jump, but my form. Spinning as efficiently as possible. I gradually increase that speed until I am muscling a huge gear, the biggest gear on my bike in fact and then I push it hard. At no time do I allow myself to become sloppy either in training or in a race. Sloppiness in cycling leads to injuries almost immediately, or crashes.

If you plan to muscle a huge gear then you need to practice and gradually build up to a massive gear. If you plan to sprint using a high cadence then you must practice because you need to learn to maneuver and control yourself and your bike and such high speeds. So in either case, training is REQUIRED not optional. I will concede that if you’re extremely strong, less training is required to build up the power to sprint as you already have it but you still need to focus on form.

I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve talked to fellow racers and they’ve told me they were going to practice their sprint in a race. They’re not very good but today they’re going to practice. Mentally I take note that this is an individual to stay away from IF they even make it to the finish. In a race?! Are you out of your mind?!?!?! You’re going to practice that here? UGH!

Train. Learn how to handle yourself on a bike and slowly increase the speed. Learn how to position your body in a sprint. Understand how to jump initially and kick hard and then sustain that effort all the way THROUGH the line.

Many of the accidents have been caused by riders looking back, looking at the crowd, or pulling their feet out of their cleats and God knows what other crap they were doing. Why are you looking back? Sprinting is about going as fast as you possibly can. It means not holding back. There’s no tomorrow, you don’t need to save anything. You jump, you kick and you go as hard as you possibly can. You find the red and you bury yourself deep in it. I never understand looking back. What good does that do? Are you suddenly going to employ a tactic where you slow down, let them get closer to you and then sprint again? There are no tactics when you start sprinting all out with other riders. The time for tactics have passed. Now it’s about horse power and who has the most. What’s the purpose in looking back? Are you going to suddenly speed up if they’re close? If you are, then you’re probably not going all out in the first place and if that’s the case, why are you sprinting?

I for one don’t like going fast on a bike. I think it’s dangerous but I’ve learned how to be as safe as possible. I know that winners don’t go slow and only the fastest men in a race and win in a sprint. So that means I need to be a fast man on two wheels if I intend to win. I sprint because I love to win. I love the feeling of winning and I love being a winner. I live to win in everything I do. It’s what drives me and each week I crave putting it all on the line. Not at the expense of form or common sense. I go as fast as I possibly can and that’s the best I can do.

Today I won the sprint by several bike lengths. I sprinted the exact same way I always do. I jumped, I kicked and I accelerated to top speed and I HELD it all the way THROUGH the line. I didn’t look back, I didn’t slow down until I crossed the line. I hit my maximum speed today without a single person around me, 34.4 mph. This is a huge feat for me and something I am absolutely celebrating. If I didn’t win today I would still be happy with my performance because I always go as fast as I can. I would have been disappointed not being first but proud of my performance. No excuses, if I’m beaten it’s because they were faster. I’m just glad today and most other days my fastest is enough to win races.

My point is, train, know your top speed and punch it when you need to. Don’t hold back go as hard as you possibly can and keep on going. Don’t look back, there isn’t any point and there isn’t anything you can do to prevent the other racers from chasing you down but accept your best wasn’t fast enough today. Don’t stop either, don’t slow. I can’t tell you the number of riders that have gotten close to me, even caught me only to be dropped. Few can catch me but even fewer can keep going with me all the day to the line. So many riders underestimate the effort it takes to actually make it across that white line. Most can’t maintain an all out effort for that long. If you’re going as hard as you can, you have nothing left and so there’s no need to look back.

I will, in another Blog entry, discuss the finer details of sprinting in more detail (I’ve done this a little bit in other posts) but for now I want to stress that there is a great deal of training that goes into sprinting and you really have no business kicking with the big boys if you haven’t properly prepared for the occasion. The big men don’t go slow and they don’t slow down when they get moving. You’re only hope is to increase your top end speed and make your top end the fastest it can be, after that the chips will fall where they may on the day.

It happens so infrequently that I share the songs I’m playing in my DJ sets. Partly because it’s a lot of work to compile the list and also because I’m not usually asked to pull it together that often anymore. All that being said, I decided to pull together what I believe are the finest forward looking and original club tracks that have got me extremely excited.

Origin (Plastic Shell Remix), Retroid, Origin

What can I tell you about this song. Wow! That bassline. It just kicks and kicks really hard. It’s repetitive and faultless. I could put this on repeat all day long. This is the best song in the chart!

Surin (Mixed), Quivver, Dirty Nails & Vapour Trails

From a late night hammering track to one of THE finest tracks this year. Certainly the progressive house track of the year. Play it early in the night and feel the goose bumps.

Belly Of The Beast, MobiusB, New Demos

One of the finest songs that’s not yet released. This is from a friend of mine and it’s simply incredible. Guitars, Sitars, it’s all here including the magic!

Black Chrome (Vandal Remix), Circuit Freq, Black Chrome

I love these guys! They create the best noises. This song is all about noise.

Parade, Emmanuel, Parade

This is just plain weird I admit it, but fantastic stuff nonetheless.

Piknic Bugz (Gone Wild Mix), Soliquid, Piknic Bugz - EP

Soliquid is one of the finest producers out there at the minute. This song is simply incredible. Sexy!

So Hot, Miles Maeda

From the Playboy ‘The Mansion’ mix album mixed by Felix Da Housecat this is simply funky, sexy heaven.

Milton (Digital One Mix), General MIDI, Milton

I’m a huge fan of General Midi. I’m also a huge fan of that sampled American male vocal from the 50s. This has it all!

Grunge (Original Mix),Sam Hell, Grunge / Soft

This is a mid set track that grooves along. Great as a quality set filler.

Mandala (Guy J Remix), Dubfunk, This Is Audio Therapy Digital 2

Tripped out. This is a Digweed track if ever there was one. Same groove, little melody, pure progressive tripped out house. This is what we were playing in those warehouse raves in the early 90s when all you had was a strobe light and smoke at 5am. Great stuff.

Centre Attraction (G.e.R.M. Remix), Hyper, Centre Attraction

Hyper’s been around for a long time. This track is tweaked out, bleepy awesome breaks stuff.

Showdown (Ali Wilson & Scott Attrill Remix), Off Key, Showdown

Finally a track that’s not a breaks track. This is an awesome banging track that I would certainly play later in a set. This is big room stuff at its best! At this point in the night, all the lights are full on, the sound system is almost in the red and the place is heaving with people going crazy. This is what peak time is all about! Reminiscent of an old Tiesto track, do you know which one? :)

Angel On My Shoulder (EDX's Belo Horizonte At Night Remix), Kaskade, Angel On My Shoulder

There are so few vocal tracks out there. There are even fewer quality vocal tracks to choose from that same pool. This is a quality vocal track.

Out Of The Sky feat. Sarah Howells (Kyau & Albert Mix), Lange, Out Of The Sky feat. Sarah Howell

Lange’s back and he brought Sarah Howell with him into the studio to capture a magical moment between the two of them. Thankfully they decided to share it all with us. This is beautiful!

Play It Loud (Broken Robot Mix), Far Too Loud, Play It Loud (Broken Robot Mix)

This is a remix of one of my favorite songs from late last year. The original is perhaps the hardest and most banging song in my collection. This is a nice re-rub of the orginal.

Seven Stitches (Original Mix), Noisia, Seven Stitches / Groundhog

More, pure noise. Evil stabs and chunky bass.

So Real (Andrea Lai Mix), Rennie Pilgrem, So Real EP

Who doesn’t love freaky sounds and robot voices? Mayhem!

Something's Up (Original Mix), Sean Tyas, Simon Patterson, Something's Up

A full on Trance track with a euphoric build up.

Jungle Kisses (10" Raw Sax Dub), Ray Roc

If you remember this song you’re as old as I am and you’ve been listening to this music for as long as you can remember. In fact, if you remember this song then you remember a time when Paul Oakenfold, wasn’t big!

Spaceman (Original Mix), Way Out West, Spaceman

FINALLY! They’re back. One of the most inspirational bands for my production. This is a great melodic, piano, breaks track that sees Way Out West veer off into different territory. Can’t wait for their full length to arrive ... In the mean time though, Nick Warren just mixed the Global Underground, Lima compilation. Check it out.

Spaceman (Robert Babicz Remix), Way Out West, Spaceman

Robert twists the original in all kinds of creative and exciting ways.

Spring Breeze (Martin Roth SummerStyle Remix), DJ Tatana, Spring Breeze

Another hands in the air track this time with a progressive house bassline driving a frosting of trance. Key changes, vocal stabs it’s all here. This is a ‘hug somebody’ track. Perfect to lull us gently into some more banging stuff.

Sweet Harmony (Isma-Ae Remix Serge), Devant, Sweet Harmony

There’s a lot of great harmony in this pace building progressive track.

T-Break (Beta Remix), Flack.su, T-Break

Twisted and filtered. Excellent.

They Live! (DJ Version), Evil Nine, They Live!

This is it. How I would top off an evening of quality music.

Teaser, Deadmau5 (Remix Version 1), Cirez D

Progressive house in the flesh. Weird and wonderful progressive from the past.

They Live! (Instrumental Mix), Evil Nine, They Live!

If I were to play this in the middle of my set, I’d play this version. Beautiful and dramatic.

Thriller (Full Vocal Club Mix), Richard Grey, Thriller

Oh dear, Michael Jackson. Where is he now anyway? Didn’t he and Pebbles just celebrate their honeymoon on Mars? All of that I’m not sure about, what I am positive about is that this is a fun re-working of one of the tracks that made Jackson famous. I wouldn’t play this out but hey, we all have our guilty pleasures don’t we?

You Never Said (Randy Boyer & Eric Tadla Mix), Matt Cerf, Jaren, Mitiska You Never Said

There’s nothing new here. In fact it’s all been done before, but it’s infectious isn’t it?

Well, hope you enjoyed that little exposed journey through the current style and tracks that are exciting me. You can find all of these tracks on Beat Port and iTune.

Progressive Sounds had the chance to sit down with Sasha and John Digweed this past April during the early portion of their US Spring Tour which kicked off during the WMC. They gave some insight into Involver 2, upcoming releases on Bedrock, their hectic touring plans for the year, and much more ... You can read the full interview here.

’Patience’, the comeback single from love ‘em/hate ‘em boy/manband Take That rocketed to #2 in the British charts and paves the way for the welcome return of Take That to global stardom.

‘Patience’ is without doubt the stand out lead single from the album but there’s plenty of heart felt lyrics and meaningful song writing to keep even the most cynical amongst you interested. There’s a lot here that stays with you when the album is done playing. Other stand out tracks include, ‘Beautiful World’, ‘Reach Out’, ‘Hold On’ and ‘Like I Never Loved You At All’.

I’m not sure if ‘Patience’ rivals the now infamous, ‘Back For Good’ but it’s a track that confirms that Take That deserve to be back in the charts and perhaps, even in our hearts once again.

Cream opened its doors in Ibiza this year with two of the biggest DJs in the world, Sasha and Paul van Dyk. Complimenting the momentum of their Ibiza club night they asked Paul to mix the latest installment in the Cream mix album series entitled, Ibiza.

It’s been two years since Paul mixed a DJ album but quite honestly, it doesn’t show. The latest release from global clubbing super-brand Cream, is designed to show why its resident DJ Paul van Dyk has been recognised as one of the greatest in the world. The song choices are exciting and the mixing is different with quite a lot of pitch and key bending going on. I’m not quite sure which side of the fence I fall when it comes to the debate on how the album was mixed. On one hand it’s creative and unique but on the other it modifies the intention of the original artist more than I deem fair. Nevertheless, Paul’s approach to the mixing is certainly unique and enjoyable.

If we constrain ourselves from the technical analysis for a minute we’re left staring at a two CD set with more than enough variety in the music to suit fans of both House and Trance genres. The album is eager to please and Paul maintains the pace and energy throughout with the crescendo obviously coming on the euphoric hands in the air, CD two. This for me was one of the best DJ mix albums I’ve heard in a very long time and is hands down the best mix album this year to date.

With an almost endless list of awards to his name that include No.1 DJ In The World (DJ Mag Top 100 List 2005 / 2006), Man Of The Year (Mixmag Dance Music Awards), Best DJ, Best Remixer, Best Producer (Trance Awards 2007), Best Global DJ, Best Producer (Miami Winter Music Conference Awards 2006), America’s Favourite DJ (2004 / 2005 BPM Magazine Awards) and many more it’s clear that Paul’s career is still on the up and up.

GO OUT AND BUY THIS NOW!

Paul van Dyk will be playing at Cream, Amnesia, Ibiza on the following dates: 12th June, 19th June, 3rd July, 17th July, 31st July, 7th August, 2q1st August, 4th September and 25th September.

I had the misfortune of traveling a little while ago. If you’ve traveled lately you’ll know what I mean. It’s painful. Enormous checkin lines; enormous lines to get through security; stripping naked to walk through a metal detector that goes off even if you were COMPLETELY naked; then there’s the unlucky for some strip search (that was the most action I’ve got in a long time!) and you finally arrive to the gate only to realize, the flight is late and there is nowhere to sit. CHRIST!

To ease the pain of traveling it’s imperative that you prepare for the ordeal by lining up a good book to help you get through and to avoid the bizarre airport goings on.

To help me avoid people watching which invariably leads me to an overwhelming place of disgust and loathing and confirms for me, yet again, that we live in a world almost filled with white trash idiots I lined up Chelsea Handler’s new book, ‘Are You There, Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea.’

‘Are You There, Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea’, is the second book Chelsea has tried her hand at writing. The first one, ‘My Horizontal Life: A Collection of One-Night Stands’ I have not read yet, but intend to after I get through the seemingly endless mountain of business books I have in the pipeline.

‘Are You There, Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea’ accompanied me on a night time flight and despite the need to sleep the book kept me awake the entire flight. It’s a disjointed collection of stories and experiences from her life and the book had me initially laughing, then crying, then wondering if I’d need mouth to mouth to recover from the oxygen depravation from laughing so hard. I was positively light headed from laughing so hard after the first chapter (which is the most enjoyable).

The book is absolutely hysterical. I had pains in my stomach and tears in my eyes the entire time. I had the pleasure of sitting close to the bathrooms on my flight (ahem) and so people queueing up outside the bathroom could see me dying laughing. I tried very hard not to laugh out loud and tried with all my might to stop smiling as people looked at me while they waited to stink up the bathroom but I couldn’t help myself.

I couldn’t put the book down and read almost the entire book in one sitting. I strongly recommend this light hearted recall of her funniest life experiences. I can’t wait to go back and read her first book!

Now that Fall is almost here I'm returning to some pre-Summer hobbies. Some recent photography and effects to enjoy.

What can I tell you? I am absolutely disappointed. If I look back on the race there is nothing I would change. I did everything correct but still got beaten by someone who was simply faster than I was and deserved to win. Today stung really badly!

I had two team mates sporadically working for me. I did the majority of the work for myself today. Perhaps my over confidence lead me to do more work than I should have. I personally chased down every break that went off the front and got on every wheel disallowing even the least threatening of breaks go off the front. No one was going to spoil my day.

The race flew by. We averaged only 23 mph today and it felt positively slow in comparison to the Witches Cup. I felt so strong from the beginning warm-up to the first few laps and powered my way through the race focusing on the finale. Everything went perfectly! It could not have gone any better which is what makes losing so disappointing!

I placed third in each of the premes and only really noticed the lap counter with 4, 2 and 1 to go. I sat in third place in the pace line all day and coming around the final corner no one launched, I waited and waited and saw someone shoot around on the far outside left. I didn’t notice him until he had gone by me and already had a bike length. I quickly launched my sprint and in the process yanked the front of my bike off the ground about 3 inches in the air. I recovered quickly and got down into position. I guess I don’t realize how quickly I can sprint and how powerful I am right now.

The rider that went off the front had 3 bike lengths by the time I had reached full power. We sprinted for 500 meters and I managed to pull back only 2 bike lengths before we reached the finish line. He was fast, consistent and drove hard to the line. He was the faster man today regardless of whether we started at the same time or not. He told me later that I had beaten him several times. If he sprinted like he did today, I don’t see how that was possible?

Looking at the statistics after the race my sprint was flat out, .3 mph off of my full speed and I held that for 500 meters. That was a personal best. No complaints with my sprint. I was all out. I was closing by failed to close quick enough. I certainly have gotten faster and certainly am turning over a massive gear now into the finish. Where are those new cassettes?

So there you have it in a nutshell. I failed to make it 3 wins in a row and instead placed second again. This year I have received the most second place finishes of any sport I have taken part in in my life.

I’m off to recover now and rest tomorrow before I return once again to train for next week to avenge my loss. I’m looking forward to a week of spinning and fat burning on the bike to both physically and mentally recover from this week.

With now less than 11 hours to the race I am acutely aware of how difficult this week has been for me. This week has been my toughest competitive week this season. The first time this season I have competed in a race mid week. Additionally, this week’s race was the toughest one yet. My lungs are still hurting from Wednesday night and I’m still coughing.

I am also aware of how much I have improved in just one week and how much stronger I have become. This season has been about nutrition, recuperation and training for success. If there was ever a season I managed to get all of those variables aligned correctly it’s this one.

I will return to racing tomorrow with an entirely new outlook. I now know I have the power to not only ride off the front but I have the power to sprint to victory alone without needing to surf the sprint. On Wednesday I needed to push myself and my body to a new levels, levels I didn’t think was possible this year and tomorrow I will take this new level of racing to the race in the hopes of winning.

No racer has managed three consecutive wins at Wells Ave this year. Tomorrow I intend to reach that goal. More than that, I intend to go on winning races until the end of the season. My goal is not only to win tomorrow but to increase my strength x 2 before the end of this season. Finally I have rediscovered the type of hard training that has made me successful as a bodybuilder, strength training. All out strength training. I have not even started to utilize resistance, I am improving strength dramatically with simple body weight movements. I plan to become strong enough in the next few weeks to start using weights.

Wish me luck! I’ll post my results after the race.

At long last I have finally decided which car I will drive next. I have decided on the BMW 328 XI. I chose the 3 series for many reasons but the primary reasons were; I liked the body of the 3 series specifically the Coupe the most but two doors is not practical so the 4 door was the next obvious option; I dislike the size of the 5 series; the 3 series is obviously more economical which is important; the 3 series seems to be plenty fast (I hope in 3 months I am still saying this). As far as options go I’ve chosen everything except for the sports package.

I’m purchasing BMW Certified pre-owned because I feel purchasing a new car is a waste of money when you look at the depreciation. My exterior color choices are in priority order, Dark blue/Navy, Black or Graphite as long as it’s one of those I could care less. The interior must be Sand.

According to the dealer the car will need to be sourced as I’d prefer low mileage but should arrive within the next two weeks. I’m excited! While it’s not going to be as fast as my truck (which is a horse!) the BMW will have a lighter body, be smaller and be much more fun to drive. I can’t wait! I’ll keep you all posted when it arrives and will post photos.

It’s time now to continue the often sporadic post of, “What’s on my iPod?”. This is a post I’m planning to do more frequently as I’m asked this same question ALL THE TIME. Rather than writing full reviews of what I’m listening to I’m simply going to share what’s currently on rotation. Here we go ...

Enya - Shepherd Moons: There’s something about this album. It’s atmospheres and textures make it incredibly appealing to me. I think Enya is one of the most unique artists and while she’s not always ‘original’ in that each album is not necessarily a departure from the last, there’s still a lot there that resonates with me and is different enough to be appealing.

Pet Shop Boys - Discography: The Complete Singles Collection: What can I tell you about the Pet Shop Boys? I’ve been a fan of these guys for as long as I can remember. I’ve been listening to them my entire life and so it’s only natural that their music brings back so many memories, fond and otherwise but they’ve been with me through my life’s journey. There are few albums that can be listened to from start to finish but this is one, with the exception of a few songs, that I truly love and almost never fast forward through. Simply incredible.

The Dixie Chicks - Taking the Long Way: What can I tell you? We all have guilty pleasures and this is mine. This was a purchase spurred on by the myriad of awards this album won. As always, I put this on the shelf and didn’t bother with anything other than a terse look. Over the past several weeks this album has been growing on me more and more. What can I say? I’m embarrassed - yes I listen to the Dixie Chicks.

Psyclon Nine - Inri: Electrotech is yet another new sub genre that’s been spawned from the Industrial Rock genre I’m a huge fan of. I’m very much into the whole fusion of Rock and Electronica and this album is a match made in Heaven. It’s truly evil, maddening and insane in places yet beautifully crafted and commercial all at the same time. I wish their beats were a little dirtier and they grunged their sound a little more but this album is a great fusion of two genres that are very powerful.

Ladytron - Velocifero: French Electro Pop at its best. Ladytron’s latest offering is a superb array of genre defining tracks. I very much enjoy this album even though I’m not a huge fan of that French Pop/Electro sound.

The Witches Cup race for 2008 has now been run. I participated in the men’s Cat 4/5 race and must admit I have never been happier and more relieved to get off my bike safely and in one piece. Below are the details of the race ...

The men’s Cat 4/5 field was the only field that was entirely full with 75 riders lining up at the start line. Out of the 75 men that started only 44 crossed the finish line in the end. I managed to place 10th and could have placed higher if I had of been willing to ‘risk it all’ on the final two corners of the race. More on this later.

The most memorable part of today’s race was the pavement. There was not a single part of the pavement that was without some type of deformity or pot hole. If you ride bikes then you’re acutely aware of how much of an impediment even the smallest of pot holes or loose stones can be. When I got in the car tonight you could see the contrast on my legs where the top of my socks ended and the dirt from the road began. A line of black dust and who knows what else on the ground was kicked up on all of the racers in today’s race. That should give you a sense of the poor pavement we raced on. My shoulders hurt from the vibrations of the road. Enough about the conditions, you get it now, it was less than optimal.

The second memory I’ll take away from the race was the speed. I will also kick myself the next time I show up to a race and don’t get in the FRONT LINE from the very beginning! Criteriums are fast we all know that but this Criterium was out of control fast.

I started approximately 2/3 of the way down the field and spent the first 4 laps fighting and I mean fighting at 90% of my capacity to make it to the front. It wasn’t until approximately 6 miles into the race that I finally got on the front and sat in the first few places for the rest of the day. Never again will I NOT be the first rider on the start line ready to roll out but kudos to me for having the power to ride to the front and still be fresh for the end.

The beginning of the race was the WORST part of the race and certainly the fastest race I’ve ever participated in. I looked down at my speedometer on the first lap and saw 32mph; looked down on the second and saw 33mph; on the third lap we slowed to 31mph and so on ... you get the picture? This was absolutely the fastest I have ever gone on a bike on the flat.

I admit, I was worried, very worried in the first 7 miles that I would have a tough time maintaining the pace. Then I saw the lap counter and the presenter tell us we had over 30 laps to go!!! The race was so fast. SO FAST! I was seriously pushing hard to get to the front and pushing hard coming out of the corners to just keep up. It didn’t take me long to figure out that even though it took considerably more energy to ride the outside of the corners it was clearly the safest and I’ve mastered the ability to shoot up on the outside with my sprint kick and was easily able to jump 5 maybe 6 riders on each corner, yes on the outside - I told you, I’m fast now.

If this was any other race I would absolutely have been worried about the amount of energy I was expending so early in the race just to gain position but as far as I’m concerned it was imperative to get to the front and be safe in this race. There were 4 crashes in as many laps in the beginning of the race. I also quickly figured out (go me) how to ride the course the most efficient for me. So I continued riding in a way that allowed me to gain maximum speed and maintain it without needing to break. I knew early on the constant breaking and accelerating would kill me and there was no way I could maintain that power output. It was like a sprint every 7 seconds!

The pace did let up. At one point I recall we slowed to approximately 25mph but that was the slowest we went all day long. When the breaks went off the front we were accelerating to 30+ mph to stay in contention.

Once I made it to the front, I remained there for the remainder of the race. No mean feat and something I am proud of. I spent the last 5 miles of the race in third place in the pace line. Passed only a few times by some break away merchants who quickly realized it was impossible to stay off the front. One single break away lasted off the front for about 30 seconds and I sat on the back of it.

Coming into the last lap we were strung out as usual in a long line. The hammer was down but we were only hammering at approximately 31mph. However, the last 5 miles were done at this pace and we did not slow!

I made a decision coming around the second to last corner that I refused to ride as INSANELY as these morons were. They simply took any common sense and threw it out the window. Riding into corners at blistering pace and the form was SLOPPY.

I came around the final corner on the inside and opened up the sprint from the corner. I dropped the hammer and simply sprinted my B sprint to the line. My form was perfect and I was strong. I passed 5 or 6 guys and finished 10th. With bigger gears, no common sense I certainly could have pulled out a top 5 finish without a doubt but it simply was not worth the risk. I did learn I need more gears on my bike though! I rode in the biggest gear I have almost the entire race. Something I have NEVER done!

Overall I am delighted with my performance. It was great to know I had more in the tank at the end and felt even better that I could ride a few laps to cool down. My body does not feel sore, but my lungs are definitely hurting. The beginning of the race was one of the worst experiences during any race. Of the 75 riders that started unfortunately many were dropped or crashed out. Not surprisingly 2 riders were dropped on the first lap! How awful would that feel? So, all in all I am delighted that I had something left, stayed safe and finished with the top men on the day and did not get hurt.

Now I look forward to returning to Wells Ave to WIN three weekends in a row!

Here are some images of the men's race in 2007.

I have to say, having seen these pics I feel somewhat better about tomorrow.

The race is now less than 24 hours away. Rest and light stretching are on the agenda from now until I line up at the start line. I’m starting to feel anxious, nervous but a little confident all at the same time. I’m tired and I hope I sleep tonight.

Tonight I decided to do some Google searches and managed to find some footage of the race from last year. Seeing this footage didn’t ease the my nerves at all. In fact it simply re-confirmed in my mind that I would need to work extremely hard to stay close to the front tomorrow no matter how much energy it takes. That’s the same thing I say before every race right? I guess the tactics are almost always the same it just becomes more evident when you prepare and plan and see footage from last year’s race what tactics you’ll need to employ.

Last year an NEBC team mate won the race. So I’m sure all eyes will be on our team to do well again this year. To be honest, the race footage made it seem like the race was pretty fast last year and I’m not terribly excited about 45 minutes all out. I need to keep remembering that this is my territory, this is what I’ve trained for and this is what I’ve demonstrated an ability to do well at this year so far.

Below is footage of last year’s race. It gives you a great sense of what it’s like when you ride in the pack. Obviously this rider is hanging far off the back of the race and the hustle and bustle is far worse riding in or close to the front of the pack where riders are jostling for placings and fighting for wheels. Pay close attention to corners, notice how far back riders are as they round the corner. As you can see, if you’re sitting at the back you have no chance of winning (something I’ve also said in the past). Let’s hope I’m not sitting this far back tomorrow!

As tradition would have it, I usually create a funny little image when I win a race - this weekend was no different, I'm just posting it a little later than usual :).

While most of other the images were about pride and a celebration of the win this one is quite different.

The only thing left to do after winning and celebrating is to plan the next race. To look forward to the next win. It's time to recover, plan and execute towards the next set of goals. In essence it's time to go back to the drawing board if you will. That's what this image is trying to convey.

I'm very happy when I win and very greatful to be able to perform in the way that I have this season. I'm very happy crossing the finish line so quickly and in first place and I'm proud of myself and my accomplishments but that only lasts for a short period of time before I start to look forward and to dream again.

This Sunday the celebration was cut considerably shorter than it usually is. There was no celebration ice cream, no celebration chocolate or even a celebration day off. It was straight back to planning for the Witches Cup and preparing. Sunday was a big help for me and a huge confidence booster going into the Witches Cup on Wednesday but I needed to remain focused coming out of the race and needed to turn my attention to the last big race of my season and my last major winning goal. With significant prizes and the pride of competing and possibly placing high in one of the toughtest crits of the season, there was no time to relax.

My diet has been super clean and my training laser focused these past three weeks. I focused and adapted my work load providing plenty of time to work on sprinting form and power. I'm pleased to say that this morning I appeared to have reached peak power for 7 - 8 times in one workout. That's a significant increase from earlier in the season and I'll be spending today and the rest of the time until the race slowly recovering and strenghtening.

This will likely be one of the last posts if not the last post prior to the race. I hope to see you all there cheering me on and I look forward to sharing the race results with you all :)

A couple of people asked me to create some unique Web 2.0 buttons for their website recently. At first I was excited because I thought it might be difficult as it was something I hadn't specifically attempted in the past. It turns out that it was actually pretty easy. The ask from my friend was some pretty trendy buttons that were glacial and reflective. Similar to the ones below:

It probably took me about ten minutes to create the buttons for my friend and of course he asked me to show him how it was done (which I did). It's actually pretty easy to do and I probably should create a tutorial which explains how to create them but unfortunately I don't have the time.

Instead, I've created the next best thing, a Photoshop template that you can use and modify with no restrictions in your own projects. It's not a step by step how to but close enough. To download the template simply right mouse click this link and select save as.

Enjoy

At long last I have broken what seemed like an unbreakable curse, the curse of returning to race after winning the previous weekend. All season long it’s been a challenge to string wins together on consecutive weekends. Thankfully this weekend all that has changed.

As always I got little to no sleep before lining up to the start line this morning. The weather was chilly with temperatures in the high 60s. Traveling to the race I had the heat on in the car. This morning there were no nerves just lingering pain in my right leg extending from my butt into my right knee. A long series of stretches and a short warm up only accentuated the problem. I took some extra time to stretch at the start line while others warmed up.

Speaking of breaking curses, I was on time for the race this morning. Even lining up close to the start line while others warmed up. But, there’s always a BUT, unfortunately I did not sign in and so needed to run to the start house and sign in while all of the race was lining at the start line. Always drama. Thankfully I’m now known by name and the organizes watch for me they were able to tell me I hadn’t signed in :)

We rolled out shortly after 9am at a blistering pace. Straight away we accelerated to 24mph. I was tired and my body felt tired. Sending me signals that it DID NOT want to put in the effort this early in the race to stay with the pace being set. Laps 1, 2 and 3 were all done at 26mph! Despite my many efforts to get to the front and stay in the first 3 riders I failed. Deciding on lap 3 that I was wasting valuable energy trying to ride to the front and instead decided to concede defeat to the men that wanted to force the pace really hard early on. I fought today like no other time this year to stay at the front and people still kept passing me. It was INSANE!

Laps 4 and 5 got faster again until the first preme. I finished 4th across the line and it was now clear that the end of the race was in sight for many riders who decided to force the pace early on. Navigating my way through an awkward and dangerous field I finally sat 4th wheel. I was now determined to cover the breaks and stay at the front. To sprint and win you need to be an animal. I was now awake, time for the animal to come out.

4 breaks went off the front today. I went with each, knowing that everyone is tired at this point in the season and no one has the legs to chase down a winning group up front. Additionally, there were quite a number of obviously fast people in the race today that I NEEDED to cover, including Back Bay.

Each of the breaks failed and with 3 laps to go it was the team’s of the sprinters that came to the front to force the pace. With two laps to go riders were yelling that the pace was too slow and no one was willing to work hard. So, after a few choice words 1, 2 then 3 riders jumped off the front in anger. Not what I had wanted with 2 laps to go. We had been going very fast and I had hoped for a little more control into the finish. It wasn’t to be.

We came around the last corner into the last lap at 29mph. Stretched out into a long thin line just the way I like it. The bell tolls, last lap and we round the 4th to last corner. This is it. I now know I’ve covered the breaks all day and at no time is it more critical than right now. 2 riders in front of me. Onto the straight away before the second to last corner. No one is jumping. No last minute surges or crazy lunatics trying to get off the front. New tactics? Either way I’m starting to get concerned because it’s usually more lively than this.

It would seem no one had the legs to come round on that last lap because the race had been so fast. Sitting third from the front coming into the last corner the lead out man pulls off having driven the pace to 31mph. No need to worry about gear selection as I was in the biggest one just sitting in third place.

Into the finishing straight and the rider in front of me decides to lead out the sprint. In position and cautiously looking around I grab his wheel accelerating into sprint position. I look around, no one coming. I stay out of the wind, no one coming. What the hell is going on? Why is everyone waiting so long? I know I have legs so I’m going to use them. 300 meters to go - time to come round fearing I would be leading the entire race to the line.

I come round and kick HARD! I wanted to win and I wanted it to be convincing. Dropping everyone I accelerated harder again. I finally realized no one was or could come around me. In fact, no one even had my wheel. Could this really be the convincing win it seemed like from my vantage point? Yes it was. Comfortably and safely in first place across the line with at least a bike length between myself and the second and third place riders.

I punched the air with my fist, the curse was now broken and I can clearly lay claim to the most consistent rider at Wells Ave in the Cat 5 races this year and the most wins! It’s been a great season.

Many people regard the opening ceremonies of the 2008 Olympic games as the finest introduction to the Olympics ever. I’m not here to debate whether or not it was the best introduction to the games ever; instead I want to share with you some of the images I found to be simply, breath taking ... Enjoy.

In a world where fresh ideas and quality music are difficult to find it’s encouraging to find a group that are still releasing quality music. I’ve been telling friends about Ladytron for a while but the message doesn’t seem to be getting through.

Here’s a little more gentle prodding in the form of Runaway, their new video of the single taken from their Velocifero album. After watching and listening to this video what else will it take? I’ve been telling you; Sasha’s remixed them for Involver 2 and there’s a huge fan base world wide. Time you all caught on.

‘Nuff said.

The seven-time Tour de France champion took second place in the Leadville Trail 100 on Saturday, pushing six-time defending champion Dave Wiens to a record time in the "Race Across the Sky," a lung-searing 100-mile mountain bike race through the Rockies.

"I was empty at the end just in terms of fuel. I just haven't had seven-hour rides," Armstrong said after his first finish in a competitive bike race since he retired following his seventh straight triumph in the Tour de France. Wiens crossed the finish on a flat back tire in 6 hours, 45 minutes, 45 seconds, shaving 13 minutes off the record he set last year while holding off Floyd Landis. Armstrong crossed 1 minute, 56 seconds later on a cool, cloudy afternoon.

Armstrong, who has turned his competitive juices to running marathons since he retired from competitive cycling three years ago, had said before the race he'd be happy with a top-five finish.

So, will he be back?

"I think so," Armstrong said, adding: "I won't come back unless I'm in shape. And I feel like I'm in decent shape. You can't show up to this race if you're not in shape. So it just depends on how I train. I'd love to be back."

Dave Wiens pulled away from Lance Armstrong in the final ten miles of Saturday's Leadville Trail 100 in Colorado, winning the race for the sixth time, in record time.

Armstrong accelerated on the Columbine climb — which tops out at the halfway point of the out-and-back race — and broke up a group of ten that had formed in the first half of the race. Wiens matched his pace and in a few short miles the two had a five minute gap over third place, which grew to more than 20 minutes at the 80-mile mark and more than a half hour at the finish.

Despite the huge gap, the two rode together, trading pace like road riders on the smooth sections. Surprisingly, Armstrong was often the stronger rider on the descents, while Wiens, a two-time mountain bike world cup winner, was more conservative.

Wiens said the drafting contributed to the record time. Wiens won in 6:45:45, about 13 minutes faster than the record he set last year. Armstrong finished at 6:47:41.

Armstrong dropped behind Wiens on one of the last climbs, but then caught back on the descent. A few miles later he told Wiens that he was through.

"He said,'I'm done, go," Wiens said. Wiens briefly tried to encourage Armstrong to continue, but then accelerated slightly and pulled away. "It wasn't like he just stopped pedaling, though," Wiens said. "I'd look back and he'd still be there."

Armstrong said he simply didn't have the miles in his legs for such a long race.

"At the end I realized I was totally cooked ... I haven't done a 7-hour ride in four and half years."

Armstrong called the race "a blast," even though he finished with some scrapes after crashing in the final miles, after Wiens pulled away. "I just overcooked it into a soft corner," he said. Wiens had his own excitement in the final miles, when his rear tire went soft with less than a mile to go. Manuel Prado of Lake Forest, California, was third about a half hour behind Armstrong.

Samuel Sanchez of Spain took the gold medal in the Olympic cycling men's road race on Saturday, winning a sprint finish of six riders at the end of a grueling course.

Davide Rebellin of Italy, who had attacked regularly throughout the day, took silver on his 37th birthday. Time-trial world champion Fabian Cancellara of Switzerland won the bronze.The conditions were hot and humid, and more than 30 riders abandoned the race before the end.

"It was just a real war of attrition on Saturday," said Michael Rogers of Australia, who lost out in the sprint and finished sixth.

The extremely strong Spanish and Italian teams worked tirelessly throughout the race to pull back a series of breakaways, but there was no success for defending champion Paolo Bettini of Italy, who came in 18th, 35 seconds back.

Two riders, Patricio Almonacid of Chile and Horacio Gallardo of Bolivia, broke away in the second kilometer and at one point had a lead of more than 15 minutes.

Almonacid held out until five laps from the end but was then caught. Later, Yaroslav Pidgorny of Ukraine and Aliaksandr Kuchynski of Belarus had a try, as did Austrian Christian Pfannberger. All were caught.

The decisive break came in the final lap, when Andy Schleck of Luxembourg took the initiative and was joined by four other men. Only Cancellara was able to bridge the gap between the leaders and the chasing group, and was rewarded with the bronze medal. Schleck had to settle for fifth.

Despite all of the uncertainty in the lead up to the mens Olympic road race, Tour de France runner up Cadel Evans will ride the race today and perhaps deliver Australia’s 400th Olympic medal. No mean feat when you look at the length of the race and the terrain. Cadel Evans' last media commitment before today's Olympic road race was a somewhat haphazard affair that lasted under a minute.

Evans, who suffered a knee injury at a post Tour de France party had this to say about his injuury, “I've been so concentrated on my knee for the last few days that I haven't had time to think about anything but that," he said, adding that he'd been treated by his orthopedic surgeon for seven days straight to maximise his chances of being fit.

"A few weeks ago, I was riding a three-week grand tour, tomorrow I will be riding a one-day race. It completely separates them. Different mindsets … Sastre isn't someone to me who is a big threat. I've never seen him perform well in a one-day race, to be honest. His teammate (Alejandro) Valverde, I think, goes in as the outright favourite.

It’s no surprise then that Cadel will be looking for a victory today. It is his chance to avenge his second place finish at the tour by beating Carlos Sastre who typically is not a one day race rider. "Whether I did good at the Tour de France or not, I'm here to play my role as a member of the Australian team and that's what I'll be doing. The knee's caused a bit of an upset coming into it, so I'm going to have to be pretty adaptable during the race (and decide) whether I'm here to ride for one of the other guys or, if the race unfolds and I'm good, whether to play the card and attempt to win himself)."

While there’s been a great deal of talk about the Australians the Americans cannot be discounted. Eight American cyclists are prepared to compete in the road race events scheduled for Saturday and Sunday in Beijing. On Thursday, the U.S. squad previewed what’s been described by five-time Olympian George Hincapie as the hardest Olympic road race course he’s seen. With more than two weeks of Olympic cycling action on the horizon, the men’s road race will kick things off on Saturday, while the women’s road race will take place on Sunday. Below is a quick preview to the road race events in which the U.S. is looked upon as one of the favorites to come away with a medal.

The race is a 245.5-kilometer contest that will feature five Americans and showcase several of Beijing’s historic landmarks along the way. Starting for the U.S. squad will be European-based veterans George Hincapie (Greenville, S.C.) – American cycling’s only five-time Olympian, Levi Leipheimer (Santa Rosa, Calif.), Jason McCartney (Coralville, Iowa), Christian Vande Velde (Boulder, Colo.) and David Zabriskie (Salt Lake City, Utah).

The nature of the road course – which begins at the Yongdingmen Gate in downtown Beijing and winds its way around the Forbidden City and Tian’anmen Square before heading north to the Great Wall – favors a strong all-around rider who can climb well. After 78 kilometers of flat roads, the peloton will reach the Juyongguan section of the Great Wall where they’ll begin seven laps of a hilly, 24-kilometer circuit to Badaling and back. Each 12-kilometer ascent will begin to take its toll on the riders as only the strongest will remain in contention for a spot on the podium.

This is going to be an incredible race with riders going all out to lay their hands on a medal that comes around every 4 years. Within the next 5 hours we will know who will be the 2008 Road Race Gold Medalist.

The artist responsible for one of my all time favorite songs, Twist and Shout makes his debut solo album appearance. Twist and Shout was one of the songs that single handedly launched my more than 2 decade love affair with Progressive House. The only question left to answer now is, after waiting for more than a decade, does Dirty Nails and Paper Trails live up to my high expectations? In a word, no.

Unfortunately Progressive House has changed through the years. Gone are the energetic days of the early 90s. The infectious riffs have been left deep in the past and traded instead for a more stripped down minimal sound. Dirty Nails and Paper Trails is a progressive album that finds its place easily amongst the latest Progressive House. Following trends is one thing but it’s not necessarily synonymous with quality.

Surin alone makes this entire album worth purchasing. It is a phenomenal track with a ridiculously infectious melody. I was hooked instantly. Surin is quickly followed up by Sasha’s favorite from the album, Chasin A Feelin. This is a drum n bass track and you’re probably wondering, why does Sasha love it and why does it appear on a progressive house/DJ’s artist album? Well, I don’t have an answer to either of those questions. It’s a good song but I quite frankly can’t understand why people have been raving about it as much as they have. In any event, Sasha has been closing out most of the North American tour with this song.

Cloudless is an enjoyable, atmospheric down tempo breaks track followed by Ghosts and These Are The Days. All of which are good tracks but ultimately forgettable. Largely I’m disappointed with this album. I guess when you look forward to an album for more than a decade you can’t help but have mountainous expectations that ultimately cannot be met. Your mileage may vary so you should certainly take a listen.

I Choose Noise is the aptly titled follow-up to Hybrid’s 2003 album, Morning Sci-Fi. It’s an often sinister collection of quality tracks spread across an eerie bed of breaks.

If you purchase or get sent as much music as I do, you’ll invariably have music in your collection that you’ve barely listened to for one reason or another. Hybrid’s I Choose Noise is one of those albums I purchased when it was first released and I didn’t give it the time of day. Recently I dug this album out from underneath a mountain of new material and gave it a second look.

Although it’s the second track on the album, Dogstar is the real first track. It’s reminiscent of Hybrid’s early work and it’s a gentle easing into the mayhem that is the rest of the album. The albums title track I Choose Noise follows and keeps the quality high. What an awesome track and an appropriate album name. Last Man Standing is an eerie journey to the darkest corners of Hybrid’s studio and is not for the faint at heart. Keep It In The Family is one of my favorite tracks from the album and the rest are enjoyable but not instantly memorable.

While this album is not one that will instantly stand out it’s certainly a grower and one you’ll enjoy provided your mood aligns with that of Hybrid’s. I Choose Noise is a worthy follow-up to Morning Sci-Fi but does not surpass some of their early classics like Unfinished Symphony.

I'm frequently asked HTML questions from friends, questions that are usually easily be answered by a simple Google search. However, recently I was asked how to center images on a web page and I needed to think for a little bit. Didn't take me too long and I implemented the solution on the Blog. So, here's the code snippet and the site has been updated to utilize the solution so now you can enjoy centered images in Blog entries :) We're so high tech.

It's actually quite easy to center an image. It involves the following code in your CSS:

.imgcenter
{
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}

Once the above style has been defined you simply need to create an image tag, wrap it in a div and give it the following style, class="imgcenter".

That's it. Told you it was easy.

Today was a much needed rest day. I could probably do with another rest day but I don’t have that luxury. For the next 3 days I need to slowly ramp up my training to a peak ride on Sunday and then I need to take two days to rest before The Witches Cup race.

Tomorrow will be a 50 minute spin. On Saturday I’ll up it to an hour or more. Then on Sunday I’ll race and practice my sprinting form. I’m planning to go deep into the red during Sunday’s race in order to get my system prep’d for the race on Wednesday. I’m looking forward to those two days rest prior to the race even though I feel horrible and typically worse after a rest day.

All in all with 5 days to go I’m feeling good and confident I’ll be ready. I’m somewhat nervous about the potential average speeds. I suppose at this point I’m sticking my head in the sand hoping it wont be as insanely fast as I’ve been told and as the promoters are predicting. It remains to be seen though.

Thankfully I seem to be getting my weight back under control. I managed to add a few unwanted pounds and generally was feeling a little bloated. Partially due to lack of rest and partly due to my addiction to chocolate and ice cream. That should all be resolved prior to Wednesday and I should be lining up at the start line nice and lean around 192 pounds (light for me!).

They happen once every 4 years and they're the pinnacle of Sports for athletes and Sport's fans alike. Tomorrow night all eyes will be on Beijing for the opening ceremonies of the 2008 Olympics. I for one, am excited!

If you're not content streaming Digweed's 1 hour Essential Mix from BBC Radio 1's website then you can download it and keep it here. AND he played, On Spec - Knights Of Columbus from his Transitions CD. It's full on. He's playing quite hard and quite a lot of Techno these days.

reFX finally release a monster update to the Nexus synth. NEXUS2 is a next generation ROM synthesizer of the highest quality that can turn your musical dreams into a stunning reality. If it’s half as good as the first Nexus then this synth will be simply phenomenal!

I cannot say enough great things about the Nexus. It is truly one of the finest synths ever made. You can literally open the box and start writing and producing, it’s that good! I have not personally sampled NEXUS2 as I have a bunch of other projects on going at present but I recommend this synth to anyone that is remotely interested in an incredible synth for their production projects.

My only ask was that they update the sound design capabilities of the synth. One of the frequent limitations I found was the inability to control the oscillators to achieve the types of dynamic sounds I was after. It appears that they’ve updated this aspect and so next to the Virus, this is probably the finest synth on the market!

It would appear as though someone managed to record Sasha live from Ibiza at one of his recent sets. This is a unique opportunity to actually download one of his live sets without using a file share network. So if you're a Sasha fan you can grab the set here.

While I don't think it's his greatest live set, I certainly do not agree with the scathing feedback connected with the post. It's Sasha and Digweed what do you expect? It's not going to be super exciting, it's going to be progressive, repetitive but you'll be locked into a groove and it's going to be unlike listening to ANYONE else for good and bad. Both Sasha and Digweed are Gods at what they do. Period.

Additionally, he plays his own remix of Ladytron's, Destroy Everything You Touch. A track from his forthcoming Involver 2 album. This will give you an indication of what Involver 2 is going to sound like.

I continue to have issues getting my Western Digital external USB drives to function correctly. I'm down to the last straw trying to format them and set them up correctly to first of all work and second of all to be read consistently from both my Mac and PC.

Today I attempted reformat #147,372 but this time attempted it on a PC and not the Mac in an attempt to have the drive work at least on my PC. It occured to me that the option to format a drive as Fat32 does not exist in the Disk Management utility because volumes larger than 32 gigs cannot be read by Windows (don't ask - google if you want the ridiculous reason). However, there is a utility that exists to allow you to modify the drive format type after the fact. It's an open source freeware utility and can be downloaded from Ridge Crop Consultant's website.

I've had such a horrible time with Microsoft IE; Windows and Western Digital drives in the past 72 hours. Let's hope my woes are behind me!

UGH!

... it is produced by arguably one of the finest producers in the world, Seamus Haji.

I've been such a huge Seamus Haji fan for a very long time. His remixes and original productions are at a level of quality that few producers and artists ever attain. Check out Boogie 2Night and just listen to the backing tracks and production. Even if you don't love the vocals or the tracks themselves, you simply have to concede the production is incredible.

You decide - I happen to think it is!

Since the site update, a number of you have enquired about the images and some of the code. In particular you've asked me how I created the background repeating images. While it's not difficult to create these images in Photoshop I opted not to create them from scratch and instead chose to use a great online free service provided by BG Patterns. Now you can create your own background patterns quickly and easily.

The list will never be complete - here's a few more excellent resources.

PS Hero

Photoshop Tutor

This is probably not a comprehensive list of the "best" design websites and resources but they are certainly a list of the ones I visit most frequently. I thought I would share these with you so you can also enjoy the abundance of great tutorials and further your learning and design skills. Enjoy, Bri!

Smashing Magazine

Fadtastic

Web Designer Wall

A List Apart

You The Designer

Unmatched Style

Kreativeuse

DesignFlavr

Web Creme

Best Web Gallery

Screen Fluent

We Love WP

I Love Typography

Fave Up

PSDTuts

NetTuts

Noupe

I will no longer provide support for IE 6. I apologize to those of you that still use this browser and refuse to upgrade but unfortunately the browser requires far too much effort and orthogonal code paths in order to have it work consistently. The resolution is to either use Firefix (no version limitations) or IE 7. IE 6 may continue to work in the future but appearance will be inconsistent and performance slow.

Internet Explorer continues to be a pain in the butt for Web Designers. It's support for transparent images, handling of CSS items continues to be a major nuisance. For this reason, I'm seriously considering dropping support for IE or support only later versions of IE. Please give me some time to resolve the issues with the site and or confirm IE support. In the interim, I strongly recommend utilizing Firefox.

If like me, you're always on the lookout for the latest productivity and Design tools for your browser then you'll be interested in ColorZilla from iostart.

This handy little tool allows you to use a tool in the browser that's analagous to the eyedropper tool in Photoshop to identify colors in your browser. It's really neat if you happen to not have Photoshop laying around and want to quickly get the hex for a color on a webpage.

If you’ve been checking the website this evening then it’s likely you will have noticed numerous updates to the header, footer and background images.

Parlaying my learning from the creation of Brian Roche Music, I decided to modify Brian Roche net to adopt the same functionality and implementation. Easier said than done!

The purpose of the update was to entirely separate the background repeating image from all of the others that sit on top. The most difficult part was modifying all of the images to be transparent while still maintaining the fidelity of the images, ie to maintain the shading etc. While it took hours of work to make the change and tidy everything up, it’s worth it in the long run. Now I can make modifications to each of the images and the level of flexibility will hopefully pay off in the end.

When it comes time to rewrite the site again I’ll likely throw everything away and re-implement the site incorporating all of my learning and best practices.

PHEW!

Just one more cool little first place celebratory sign.

I'm always working on new icons, images and backgrounds for the Blog. Today I focused a little more on being able to create my own Web 2.0 style images. Check out the latest creation.

Tour de France runner-up Cadel Evans is recovering from a knee injury obtained at the Tour de France after party where he allegedly "slipped on a wet floor". Mmm hmm, no booze involved? Hey, I'm just glad I'm not the only person that injures himself in the most ridiculous of ways. In any event, it appears now likely that he will ride in the Beijing Olympics after withdrawing from one race and saying he was doubtful for another, Australian team officials said.

Evans had said on Thursday that the injury was not serious and that he was still hoping to compete in the road race, but that he was withdrawing from the time trial as a precaution. Cycling Australia officials said the three-time world champion Michael Rogers would take his place in the event.

"It's not a major injury but it's something I will have to manage carefully," he said in a statement released by Cycling Australia. "I recognized I might not be at my absolute best in the race against the clock but I can still make a significant contribution to the team effort for the road race.

He's in he's out ... Christ! This is why I didn't think he was a good icon for the sport.

Although I'm not going to tell you about my date, I am going to tell you about the movie I saw. "Definitely Maybe" - have you seen it? What a great movie! It totally was not what I expected it to be. I expected it to be a little girl finding a date for her father. I had anticipated corny ridiculous endless scenes of comedic dating but instead was treated to an intriguing movie about loves (spelling?) lost and finding your way in life. We've all lost our way and I believe in some way this movie could or would resonate with almost everyone.

So, if you're attending your first date in a VERY long time like me, then this could be the movie for you.

Email me and let me know what you think.

PS have you noticed I seem to think today is the 4th of August? I have no idea why I have no idea what date it is today? Anyway, if you were puzzled by the previously incorrect post dates I apologize. No point being an idiot if you don't demonstrate it. : )

Well, not quite what you expected but when I win I'm usually in a pretty good mood. When I'm in a good mood I tend to get a little creative. During those times I either turn to music or art. Today it was art.

Although it's somewhat corny, I seem to create an image of something silly every time I win a race just for fun to acknowledge the event and today was consistent with tradition.

I happened to be messing around with the creation of realistic objects in Photoshop and churned this out. Enjoy!

Even though this website leverages quite a number of free Photoshop tutorials that have aired on various sites recently, it's still very tastefully done and beautiful to look at. Enjoy!

As always I try to draw your attention to the website designs I feel are truly inspirational and well done. This one is from Doug Cloud, a freelance web designer and everything about this site, from the repeating background through to the cartoon look and feel are a visual delight. Enjoy!

As the early morning rains subsided the cyclist's Sunday morning ritual begins. Tire pumping, bike cleaning and break testing before the big race. The cycling community was split down the middle today; the climbers made their way in earnest to Bow and the Sprinters mixed it up at high speed at Wells.

I did not adhere to the "perfect" cyclist's Sunday morning ritual today. Waking late and moving slowly after getting to bed at 2am I had to rush to the start line. I wasted far too much time fiddling with my race number to do any kind of warm-up this morning and ended up on the start line late for the second consecutive week. I really need to work on getting to the line on time!

Bruce and Conor were on the start line with me and dedicated to getting me the win. It was clear this morning my legs felt good and with a smaller than normal field I felt confident about the win. That was until the race started.

It had nothing to do with the fact that I hadn't warmed up but the race today was extremely fast. We completed the first mile at 24mph and the pace went up from there. Laps 2-4 were ridden at 27mph. Thankfully my teammates came to the front to take over the pace making and we controlled the race.

Early on I knew with a smaller field that I'd need to stay at the front and cover any breaks. There simply weren't enough teams or riders to help me chase back a break away and I was determined to not let another Sunday morning win slip away.

The first preme was fast, very fast. I watched from the pack as the sprinters hammered their way to the line. They were fast but I knew I could take them. It was odd having so many sprinters in the race. It meant no one wanted to work. Some laps were at 28mph today and some were at 24mph but it was fast all the way. There were no breaks in the pace and with a smaller than normal group of riders there was no hiding in the pack. We were strung out in a long line for most of the day as riders clung hard to the back end of the field.

With two laps to go I was sitting where I had been most of the race, 2rd or 3rd place from the front. Conor rode many laps on the front keeping the speed high. What a great ride he did with me sitting on his wheel second in the pace line yelling encouragement at him telling him how strong he was and how good he was riding. Bruce behind me making sure no one clipped my wheel or got stupid. Bruce also as instrumental in helping me pull back the breaks and keep control of the race when Conor took a break.

1 1/2 miles from the finish a break went off the front. A lone rider driving a horrible pace. It was a determined move that we weren't going to pull back very easily despite my yelling at everyone to watch the break. Bruce and Conor stayed on the front but Bruce buried himself in the final mile to bring it to 40 yards when suddenly the rider out front crashed. I heard the sound and at first couldn't believe there was a crash as they usually they happen behind us, this sound came from in front of us. I can only guess he was exhausted working all out and lost control.

With half a lap to go we came into the finish at 29mph. I selected my gear for the sprint... "no, wait, too high" I thought and I dropped down one. Remembering that this is training for the Witches Cup and knowing I wasn't feeling 100% I decided to be smart and not muscle a huge gear to the line. Rounding the last corner I was second in the line. Waiting and waiting for someone else to start the sprint. Perfect position but a place I hate being as I can't see what's happening in the race until the move goes. Bruce pulls off, no team mates left, Bruce and Conor buried and riding home in the pack. It was up to me. These guys killed themselves to get me here and I was DETERMINED it was time for the leader to do his thing.

The attacks finally started, slow at first 3 riders off the front. Immediately I grabbed the wheel and started to come round ready to wind it up. Realizing the sprint hammer still wasn't down I tucked back in. It was going to be tactical today. 300 meters from the line all hell broke loose and the sprint was finally on. Riders coming from the back. I waited and waited, giving them that extra bike length and waiting that extra few yards before starting my final kick. Then BOOM, around I came in a huge gear and powered to the line. I took the wheel of the second place rider and then kicked it into over drive flying around him to the finish.

It was fast and close as the sprints always are but I took first place once again. I felt good, my form wasn't great on my third and final kick to the line. I didn't feel tired just pulled up a little too much with my right leg. In hindsight I could have muscled a huge gear to the line but chose to select a smaller gear I could ride for 500 meters thinking the sprint was going to be long and hard today.

I don't know how I do it, I don't know if it's sheer strength or tactical intelligence but I'm always there in the end. Always hidden in the line until the last 800 meters when I make my way to the front. I did it again and I'm very happy! I was calm, adrenalin didn't get the better of me and I'm racing with my head again. I feel good after the effort but I need to work on my top end sprinting form. Everyone is hungry for a win as the season is winding to a close and EVERYONE is finding not one but two and even three serious accelerations to the line AFTER the sprint has started. Tactical sprinting and experience are playing an enormous role in my racing now. It's become quite challenging to not only be in the top 10 but to win.

I'm off to shower and then work on some more graphics for the website ... I'm very content and very happy to have won yet again. Unlike before, I don't feel any pressure to return and win, I feel good and am looking forward to riding a winning wave to the end of the season.

When I talk to other cyclists I'm amazed at how much quicker they seem to recover from so called “all out” efforts than I do. Last Sunday wasn't as tough as I expected it to be but I still left everything I had out on the course. For this reason, my knees, lower back, hamstrings and quads all HURT this week. In fact, I think I may have injured both legs in different ways. Albeit minor (any injury that causes me to be off the bike for less than a week I call minor) I'm still hurting and nursing myself back to pre race state.

This week I worked out on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. On Monday and Tuesday it was clear to me that I hurt something in my butt and that injury referred pain to my hamstring. Additional to this, I also hurt the hamstring insertion behind my right knee. As for my left leg, it's entirely unclear what was wrong with it but my left quad can withstand almost zero effort. On Wednesday when I attempted to ride out of the saddle (I rode on the trainer in a very controlled way) I could feel almost immediate pins and needles through my quad and couldn't manage longer than a 7 second effort out of the saddle before collapsing back into the saddle for relief.

After today's workout on the road and in the rain I could tell that my system seemed to be firing better than it had on Wednesday. While it's fair to say I'm still laboring and still hurting from the race effort I do feel somewhat better. Of course, I should put it all in context to give you some inclination of my conditioning; I was able today to manage some efforts of 24mph and averaged almost 22mph for approximately 45 minutes. While I don't have the exact numbers due to my power meter losing battery power shortly before home, I can tell you those were my readings prior to failure.

If you compare and contrast, I'm sure any normal person or most cyclists would be happy with w