Hi Guys,
Well a bit of time has gone by since the last update. Things were going well for a bit and then I have had some set backs with the recuperation. I was still able to race the Worlds on very limited training and was happy with the result placing 18th in the Aquathlon and 9th in the Sprint. I lead the sprint for a large portion but the lack of running training let me down as I ran 3:30min slower than normal and lost out by 1:51min. I went for the win and could not have done anything more, so was happy with the result and getting through with no further injuries. I have picked up a few muscle imbalances from the bike crash and am now slowly working through these to get the body back up in shape. The major objective for the season will be Port Macquarie Ironman March 28 2010 and gaining my spot to the Hawaiian Ironman World Championships in October 2010. I will be using cycling races and Half Ironmans to bring the body up to speed for an all out assault in March. I have already locked in the Port Macquarie 70.3 in November to test the course using a powertap for the first time and then the hard Canberra 70.3 course for a challenging race. I will look for more racing in the New Year in the lead up to Port IM with the Oceania Long Distance Champs as a probability.
Other great news is that I have formed two new partnerships. I am greatly appreciative of the support that they will provide:
The first is with Hunter Industrial Ceramics Pty Ltd (www.hunterceramics.homestead.com/index.html) who aided in providing the Giant TCR Advanced SL Team Road Bike for all my road racing, short course triathlon racing, and training. Hunter Industrial Ceramics are involved in quality on-site tile maintenance for the coal preparation industry, the use of wear technology in the coal mining industry, as well as servicing the grain handling and power generation industries. Based in Newcastle, they also service the Hunter Valley and Central Coast - with a newly opened Mudgee office providing further servicing options.
The second is with endurance Junkie (www.endurance-junkie.com). This is a company that will be aiming to develop, manufacture and sell multisport apparel that is world class in terms of quality, performance and design. I will be involved in the development, testing and marketing of this top-notch triathlon apparel and look forward to getting it on as many podiums as possible. A media release can be found on the endurance-Junkie website on our new partnership.
Next up is a mid-distance triathlon training race this weekend in Maitland that will provide a good baseline of where I am at for the start of the season and test how the recuperation is going.
Train safe,
Bevan.
Thursday, 8 October 2009
Tuesday, 4 August 2009
Recovery
Hi Guys,
Recovery is going ok. My skin has repaired well but the nerve and muscle injuries are taking longer than first thought. At this point in time I have been unable to ride since the accident. Running is coming along ok. Swimming is a work in progress.
I am still working towards being able to compete in the world championships in September. Unfortunately due to my injuries I have had to withdraw from the WTC Cobra Energy Drink Philippine 70.3 Triathlon race in Cam Sur. I was looking forward to this as I have won the last couple of major championships in the Philippines and really enjoy the challenging courses, hospitality, friendly locals, community support, and the amazing scenery. I had been mentioned in a few media pieces for the race and it looks like a good field for a first time race (Chris McCormack, Cameron Brown, Terenzo Bozzone, Tim Marr, Pete Jacobs). I wish the race a great start and I hope that I can return next year to challenge on Cam Sur.
I am also in the process of obtaining a new road bike after the last one was destroyed in the crash. I hope to provide an update soon and I am looking forward to getting out on the bike again and preparing for the worlds.
Cheers,
Bevan.
Recovery is going ok. My skin has repaired well but the nerve and muscle injuries are taking longer than first thought. At this point in time I have been unable to ride since the accident. Running is coming along ok. Swimming is a work in progress.
I am still working towards being able to compete in the world championships in September. Unfortunately due to my injuries I have had to withdraw from the WTC Cobra Energy Drink Philippine 70.3 Triathlon race in Cam Sur. I was looking forward to this as I have won the last couple of major championships in the Philippines and really enjoy the challenging courses, hospitality, friendly locals, community support, and the amazing scenery. I had been mentioned in a few media pieces for the race and it looks like a good field for a first time race (Chris McCormack, Cameron Brown, Terenzo Bozzone, Tim Marr, Pete Jacobs). I wish the race a great start and I hope that I can return next year to challenge on Cam Sur.
I am also in the process of obtaining a new road bike after the last one was destroyed in the crash. I hope to provide an update soon and I am looking forward to getting out on the bike again and preparing for the worlds.
Cheers,
Bevan.
Tuesday, 7 July 2009
Crash!!! Bye Bye Bike and Some Bark Lost.
Well, my bike decided that it wanted me to kiss some bitumen and I 'came a cropper' as the Doctor at the hospital described it. I fell during a cycle race at Minmi/Blackhill on Saturday (4th July). Well I didn't really fall but was more catapulted along with my bike head first into the lovely chunky blue chip bitumen we have here in Australia. After a small descent where the speedo got to 71km/hr a small breakaway formed on the corresponding ascent so I stood up and stomped on the pedals to bridge up. Unfortunately for me this stomp ripped the rear derailleur out of the back bike frame and I went straight into the ground head and elbow/shoulder first at a very high speed. I managed to yell out to the boys I was going down and sorry (hoping that I would bring no one else down). Luckily everyone else avoided the mess. I didn't break the chain this time (happened a little while ago and this was a brand new durace chain on).
I managed to get my wrist out of the way and take the brunt on my helmet, shoulder, elbow and hip. Plenty of bark off and my lovely new Team Newrad vest, winter long sleeve, bib shorts, gloves, helmet, undergarments, and shoes are destroyed.
The bike is DEAD. The front derailleur is destroyed, the back one is ripped out along with the rear of the bike dropouts and frame attachment, the frame has been cracked/snapped, the handlebars are bent and ripped to pieces, the frame is 'chunked' to pieces, pedals gone, seat dead, and the seat post is hanging by 2mm of carbon thatch to the frame. I am happy that the seat post managed to stay attached as last week a guy in the Tamworth race had a crash and his carbon seat post impaled into his thigh! Glad that was not the case for me. I am sure that there is other damage to the bike but really there is not many other parts to it. The only good thing is that Brad's crankset is untouched. So, I am now minus a road bike and out of any road racing until I can obtain another.
The doctor at the hospital said I had a small fracture in my elbow as well as an ulnar step (gapping in the elbow joint) with accompanying neck, shoulder, elbow, forearm, hip, knee, shin muscle/ligament/tendon/haematoma damage with nerve problems in the ulnar and brachial plexus regions. My wrist and neck are cracking and popping, jaw now pops, and my elbow and shoulder are both 'gapping' out with weird nerve pain when I move them. So, not much damage done ;) . Luckily I heal well thanks to my mum's genes and I expect to make a quick recovery.
Thanks to everyone for the well wishes and offers of help. It is truly amazing the support being offered. I also want to thank Ben from 3 Bean cafe in Hamilton (and his son Jonas) for pulling out of their own races and taking me and my mangled bike home immediately so that I could get some aid. Also to David Turnidge and his lovely partner Lea for there help also. Plus Sam for having the pleasure of swabbing my road rash with nice antiseptic buds and taking no pleasure in my discomfort ;) .
Thanks must also go to the guys at Macquarie Physiotherapy for helping in diagnosis and continuing treatment of my injuries, Newcastle radiology for the prompt x-rays, Dr Minas Petrelis (Orthopaedic Surgeon) for future consults, and Frankie for her lovely hugs and magical healing kisses.
Will keep an update as I will be following an aggressive rehabilitation program to be able to race the Worlds in September and hopefully the WTC race in August. I have already gone for a couple of runs and the hips/legs seem to be holding up ok, but the arm is gapping when I run with some nerve pain.
Cheers,
Bevan.
I managed to get my wrist out of the way and take the brunt on my helmet, shoulder, elbow and hip. Plenty of bark off and my lovely new Team Newrad vest, winter long sleeve, bib shorts, gloves, helmet, undergarments, and shoes are destroyed.
The bike is DEAD. The front derailleur is destroyed, the back one is ripped out along with the rear of the bike dropouts and frame attachment, the frame has been cracked/snapped, the handlebars are bent and ripped to pieces, the frame is 'chunked' to pieces, pedals gone, seat dead, and the seat post is hanging by 2mm of carbon thatch to the frame. I am happy that the seat post managed to stay attached as last week a guy in the Tamworth race had a crash and his carbon seat post impaled into his thigh! Glad that was not the case for me. I am sure that there is other damage to the bike but really there is not many other parts to it. The only good thing is that Brad's crankset is untouched. So, I am now minus a road bike and out of any road racing until I can obtain another.
The doctor at the hospital said I had a small fracture in my elbow as well as an ulnar step (gapping in the elbow joint) with accompanying neck, shoulder, elbow, forearm, hip, knee, shin muscle/ligament/tendon/haematoma damage with nerve problems in the ulnar and brachial plexus regions. My wrist and neck are cracking and popping, jaw now pops, and my elbow and shoulder are both 'gapping' out with weird nerve pain when I move them. So, not much damage done ;) . Luckily I heal well thanks to my mum's genes and I expect to make a quick recovery.
Thanks to everyone for the well wishes and offers of help. It is truly amazing the support being offered. I also want to thank Ben from 3 Bean cafe in Hamilton (and his son Jonas) for pulling out of their own races and taking me and my mangled bike home immediately so that I could get some aid. Also to David Turnidge and his lovely partner Lea for there help also. Plus Sam for having the pleasure of swabbing my road rash with nice antiseptic buds and taking no pleasure in my discomfort ;) .
Thanks must also go to the guys at Macquarie Physiotherapy for helping in diagnosis and continuing treatment of my injuries, Newcastle radiology for the prompt x-rays, Dr Minas Petrelis (Orthopaedic Surgeon) for future consults, and Frankie for her lovely hugs and magical healing kisses.
Will keep an update as I will be following an aggressive rehabilitation program to be able to race the Worlds in September and hopefully the WTC race in August. I have already gone for a couple of runs and the hips/legs seem to be holding up ok, but the arm is gapping when I run with some nerve pain.
Cheers,
Bevan.
Thursday, 11 June 2009
1st Tour de Tweed Coast General Classification
Hi Guys,
Just a quick update.
I won the overall/general classification in the Tour de Tweed Coast (Elite C) over the past long weekend. It was a four day tour stage race. It consisted of an individual time trial, a hilly stage race, a long stage race, and a criterium. I won the ITT on a roadie with no aero bars or aero equipment. I won the next hilly stage race which gave me the yellow leaders jersey. I then had to defend the yellow jersey for the last two stages which I was able to do by countering any attacks and placing second in both the long stage and the final criterium.
It was a great trip away, I learned a lot, had a fun time with the Team Newrad Gateshead guys, and was happy to win my first ever Tour stage race that I entered. Other great results for the team with David Witherden placing 3rd in the GC, 3rd in the crit, and 2nd in the KOM; Brad McDonald placing 3rd in the ITT and 4th in the GC, and Jason Cox placing 6th overall in the GC (all guys in Masters Men B).
Full report to follow, hopefully with some photos.
Cheers and thanks for all the support,
Bevan.
Just a quick update.
I won the overall/general classification in the Tour de Tweed Coast (Elite C) over the past long weekend. It was a four day tour stage race. It consisted of an individual time trial, a hilly stage race, a long stage race, and a criterium. I won the ITT on a roadie with no aero bars or aero equipment. I won the next hilly stage race which gave me the yellow leaders jersey. I then had to defend the yellow jersey for the last two stages which I was able to do by countering any attacks and placing second in both the long stage and the final criterium.
It was a great trip away, I learned a lot, had a fun time with the Team Newrad Gateshead guys, and was happy to win my first ever Tour stage race that I entered. Other great results for the team with David Witherden placing 3rd in the GC, 3rd in the crit, and 2nd in the KOM; Brad McDonald placing 3rd in the ITT and 4th in the GC, and Jason Cox placing 6th overall in the GC (all guys in Masters Men B).
Full report to follow, hopefully with some photos.
Cheers and thanks for all the support,
Bevan.
Tuesday, 2 June 2009
Training and Tour De Tweed Coast
Hi Guys,
Training has been coming along nicely. I ramped up the kilometres and intervals last week adding in a few more runs also. I have been testing some compression gear out and this has helped the leg recovery. The Bill Ebeling Handicap was on the weekend at Blackhill and I completed a good long hill session in the morning followed by a good hard ride out to the course. The race was feeling comfortable until I was 'done in' by the Beer Bottle Gremlin along with another cyclist in the same group. Race over in the handicap. I was not alone and saw about 7 others repairing flats also in the first two laps. Team Newrad placed Brad McDonald in 3rd for another podium.
This weekend (June 5th-8th) I am racing the Tour De Tweed Coast with Team Newrad Gateshead. Involved is a ITT, two hill stages, and a criterium. The tour leader at each stage is given a jersey, there is also a jersey for KOM, and individual stage win prizes. Should be a blast. I will go hard in the ITT and try to get a win but unfortunately cannot take the TT bike as we will be using the same roadie for the whole tour. Will just have to give it a bit more to go for the win. It should be a tough stage race with the stages encompassing many hill climbs. They state there is enough flat-rolling hills for the race to not be decided by hill climbers, so we will just have to see how things pan out. This is my first stage/tour race purely for cycling. I am looking forward to the challenge of backing up each day (and racing twice on the Saturday). We have a good team going and will be aiming for some podiums. I think it will be great to see how the team tactics play a part in determining the winners. I will try to update daily during the tour and give some idea of the terrain and challenges faced.
Train safe, race hard,
Bevan.
Training has been coming along nicely. I ramped up the kilometres and intervals last week adding in a few more runs also. I have been testing some compression gear out and this has helped the leg recovery. The Bill Ebeling Handicap was on the weekend at Blackhill and I completed a good long hill session in the morning followed by a good hard ride out to the course. The race was feeling comfortable until I was 'done in' by the Beer Bottle Gremlin along with another cyclist in the same group. Race over in the handicap. I was not alone and saw about 7 others repairing flats also in the first two laps. Team Newrad placed Brad McDonald in 3rd for another podium.
This weekend (June 5th-8th) I am racing the Tour De Tweed Coast with Team Newrad Gateshead. Involved is a ITT, two hill stages, and a criterium. The tour leader at each stage is given a jersey, there is also a jersey for KOM, and individual stage win prizes. Should be a blast. I will go hard in the ITT and try to get a win but unfortunately cannot take the TT bike as we will be using the same roadie for the whole tour. Will just have to give it a bit more to go for the win. It should be a tough stage race with the stages encompassing many hill climbs. They state there is enough flat-rolling hills for the race to not be decided by hill climbers, so we will just have to see how things pan out. This is my first stage/tour race purely for cycling. I am looking forward to the challenge of backing up each day (and racing twice on the Saturday). We have a good team going and will be aiming for some podiums. I think it will be great to see how the team tactics play a part in determining the winners. I will try to update daily during the tour and give some idea of the terrain and challenges faced.
Train safe, race hard,
Bevan.
Monday, 25 May 2009
1st ITT Hunter Districts Champs - Brad Maund Memorial Trophy
Hi Guys,
This past weekend was the individual time trial champs for Hunter Districts on the Minmi/Blackhill course. It was a gusty day which made conditions tough with no one using disks in the winds. The course was slightly lengthened at both ends to the normal annual course so rather than a 20km TT it was a bit more (longer the better for me ;) ). Last years winner, Brad McDonald, was back to defend and we had a good turnout from Team Newrad.
I did not know where the course turnarounds were, so I took the first lap with reserve to not blow up. There was broken glass everywhere to make it more interesting. A local resident is known to drive his car around and throw XXXX beer bottles all over the course whenever there is a race. Got to love those cycle haters as it is his/her idea to discourage racing by doing this and maybe injure a cyclist also.
I was able to ramp up the second lap knowing where the glass and course went and came through in a respectable time. I was able to pick up the win and annual trophy. The defending champ came 2nd, with Newrad Team guys filling the first 6 positions.
The Trophy will be presented at the annual awards dinner in September with my name engraved on the perpetual Brad Maund trophy. Brad was a triathlete, cyclist, and handy time trialler by accounts. He was killed in tragic circumstances when run down by a truck whilst training (another rider was also killed, and another badly injured). It is an honour to win his trophy and being a fellow triathlete/cyclist was quite a nice touch.
Next up is some hill training for the coming races and high cadence work.
Cheers,
Bevan.
This past weekend was the individual time trial champs for Hunter Districts on the Minmi/Blackhill course. It was a gusty day which made conditions tough with no one using disks in the winds. The course was slightly lengthened at both ends to the normal annual course so rather than a 20km TT it was a bit more (longer the better for me ;) ). Last years winner, Brad McDonald, was back to defend and we had a good turnout from Team Newrad.
I did not know where the course turnarounds were, so I took the first lap with reserve to not blow up. There was broken glass everywhere to make it more interesting. A local resident is known to drive his car around and throw XXXX beer bottles all over the course whenever there is a race. Got to love those cycle haters as it is his/her idea to discourage racing by doing this and maybe injure a cyclist also.
I was able to ramp up the second lap knowing where the glass and course went and came through in a respectable time. I was able to pick up the win and annual trophy. The defending champ came 2nd, with Newrad Team guys filling the first 6 positions.
The Trophy will be presented at the annual awards dinner in September with my name engraved on the perpetual Brad Maund trophy. Brad was a triathlete, cyclist, and handy time trialler by accounts. He was killed in tragic circumstances when run down by a truck whilst training (another rider was also killed, and another badly injured). It is an honour to win his trophy and being a fellow triathlete/cyclist was quite a nice touch.
Next up is some hill training for the coming races and high cadence work.
Cheers,
Bevan.
Tuesday, 19 May 2009
Nice mention of our TTT win on the Central Division Cycling News.
Below is the text taken from the Central Division Cycling website for the TTT and we should now be leading the Clyde Marshall Shield points:
Final Results Posted for TTT at Kooragang
It was another great day for racing when 143 riders took to the well worn pavement at Kooragang for the annual Central Division Teams Time Trial.
It was only a testing little seabreeze that spoilt anotherwise perfect day, but still the times were pretty hot. The winning team of Bevan Leach, Brett Lambkin, Nathan Stewart and Geoff Troup from NewRad Gateshead #1 Team suffered a mechanical on the start line and had to complete the entire race with just three riders. Even so, they were still able to circulate at a stunning 44.3kmh to complete the course in 33mins 51sec.
The Rob Hadley / Nigel Perry Shield for the most points scored by a club was won by Kooragang Open Cycling Club in a repeat of last year's dominating performance. Their tally of 48 points was better than all the other clubs combined!
Final Results Posted for TTT at Kooragang
It was another great day for racing when 143 riders took to the well worn pavement at Kooragang for the annual Central Division Teams Time Trial.
It was only a testing little seabreeze that spoilt anotherwise perfect day, but still the times were pretty hot. The winning team of Bevan Leach, Brett Lambkin, Nathan Stewart and Geoff Troup from NewRad Gateshead #1 Team suffered a mechanical on the start line and had to complete the entire race with just three riders. Even so, they were still able to circulate at a stunning 44.3kmh to complete the course in 33mins 51sec.
The Rob Hadley / Nigel Perry Shield for the most points scored by a club was won by Kooragang Open Cycling Club in a repeat of last year's dominating performance. Their tally of 48 points was better than all the other clubs combined!
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