Hey Guys
sorry its taken so long to get this post up.... there's very little internet here at Mt. Morris in Wisconsin.
I'll just do a super quick post before heading off to bed before tomorrows race!
My stay was absolutely amazing. The people that hosted me were all so amazing!! They truely made my experience an extremely memorable one! I met some amazing people while there, and made some awesome friends. A huge thanks needs to go to both the Romero family and the Williams family!! You Guys all rock!!
Now onto the race.... wow, was it tough.. The build up to the race was perfect, although I'm training for World Championships later this year. Race day came around, and even with the tough weeks training my legs still felt really up to the challenge. My lungs were slightly more used to the altitude.
Unfortunately I was plagued with 2 punctures and a super gnarly bee sting inside my mouth during the race. I dropped from the lead bunch to around 9th. After being pushed to the absolute limit of what would be a "bad race" , I managed to get my head around the technicalities and faught back to a 4th in the Pro/Elite men.
I'm now prepping for tomorrows UCI Cat 1 XCO here in Mt Morris! Junior XCO start at 11:00, and I will then be racing Pro STXC (short Track) at 14:00 on Sunday. (all US Time - 6hrs behind)
Will get photos up of my travels ASAP!
Go fast, Take Chances! (Paul Romero)
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Monday, June 13, 2011
Some Images from Big Bear
Hey Guys
So I thought I'd do something constructive with my rest day... check out some of the amazing sights from INSIDE the village of Big Bear Lake!
the best coffee in town :D
the ski resorts.... amazing riding around the area
local biker stop over
ladies and gentle men, I give you, MR. Paul Romero
some of the crazy cool scenery just over the mountain!!
So I thought I'd do something constructive with my rest day... check out some of the amazing sights from INSIDE the village of Big Bear Lake!
the best coffee in town :D
the ski resorts.... amazing riding around the area
local biker stop over
ladies and gentle men, I give you, MR. Paul Romero
some of the crazy cool scenery just over the mountain!!
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Some More Pictures
Hey guys
Here's a few more pictures I've taken and found over the past few days!
note. the guy on the left was not in our race
one of the greatest days on a bike... EVER. Best trails, best scenery
Here's a few more pictures I've taken and found over the past few days!
note. the guy on the left was not in our race
one of the greatest days on a bike... EVER. Best trails, best scenery 
Monday, June 6, 2011
2011 Santa Ynez Pro XCT - Race #1 - USA
So this weekend was my first race in the States... in a small town that goes by the name of Santa Ynes-Los Olivios.
Early Saturday morning I left my accommodation in San Diego, and made the 5hr trip up to Santa Ynez with Alex Estrada, World Cycles, and his girlfriend. We arrived at the track, got registered and headed straight out onto the course for some practice. The course seemed like it was going to be a really long, yet super fun course. The loop was around 10miles, and with me racing as a Pro, I would be doing 3 laps.
After just one lap we packed up and made our way across to our over night accommodation, JUST before the heavens opened. The rain set in heavily for the night and didnt let up until just before the race.
It was cold, windy and pretty miserable at the venue, but that didnt stop the spectators and competitors from flooding into the race village to watch the racing unfold. Fortunately for the Pro's, the course had been cut from a 10 mile lap, to a 6,5mile lap, due to the "SUPER Mud" that had formed in places. At 9 sharp we took our places on the start, and man, were there some rather big names amongst the Pro's. Sid Taberlay (5 x Australian national Champ) and Zach Valdez were a couple of the names that would be vying for top honours. I kinda kept a clear head and ust stayed focused on getting the best result possible.
I managed to get what I would classify as, the BEST start I have ever had, managing to get into the lead. With a clear track ahead of me I wound it up. Taking full advantage of the clear track in front of me. I managed, Surprisingly, to put a 10-20second gap between myself and Sid over the first lap, with Zach around 10-15 seconds down on him. With the back markers now scattered all over the track, the gap stayed pretty much the same over the 2nd lap. The rain eventually let up, which actually made riding conditions way, WAY worse! The mud had turned into a clay-ish mud, known as "Peanut Butter Mud" which stuck to everything, making riding almost impossible. The mud had become so bad that I was forced to walk, not run, with my bike. Even on the downhill's it was almost impossible to pedal. Sid caught up and rode clean past me, leaving me absolutely gob-smacked. He literally rode away through the mud. Possibly the only one who could ride most of the last lap. After walking around 5 of the 6,5 mile course I came home 3rd in the Pro/ Elite category. A little disappointing, nut a really good indicator of where my form is at the moment.
A really awesome experience, a huge thanks needs to go out to Mike Mulder for hosting me the whole of last week. A huge thanks to everyone at Ellsworth for all the help and welcoming hand. To Alex for the lift to Santa Ynez and to all the support back home in SA!! You guys rock!
I'm now in Big Bear, an amazing little city that touches the sky. I'm staying with the AWESOME Romero family (Paul, Karen and Jordan). The riding here is SUPER awesome! I'll be posting up some pics of the race tomorrow, I'm off to hit the hay, got a heavy day at the Bonelli Pro XCT Course.
Keep it real
B
Early Saturday morning I left my accommodation in San Diego, and made the 5hr trip up to Santa Ynez with Alex Estrada, World Cycles, and his girlfriend. We arrived at the track, got registered and headed straight out onto the course for some practice. The course seemed like it was going to be a really long, yet super fun course. The loop was around 10miles, and with me racing as a Pro, I would be doing 3 laps.
After just one lap we packed up and made our way across to our over night accommodation, JUST before the heavens opened. The rain set in heavily for the night and didnt let up until just before the race.
It was cold, windy and pretty miserable at the venue, but that didnt stop the spectators and competitors from flooding into the race village to watch the racing unfold. Fortunately for the Pro's, the course had been cut from a 10 mile lap, to a 6,5mile lap, due to the "SUPER Mud" that had formed in places. At 9 sharp we took our places on the start, and man, were there some rather big names amongst the Pro's. Sid Taberlay (5 x Australian national Champ) and Zach Valdez were a couple of the names that would be vying for top honours. I kinda kept a clear head and ust stayed focused on getting the best result possible.
I managed to get what I would classify as, the BEST start I have ever had, managing to get into the lead. With a clear track ahead of me I wound it up. Taking full advantage of the clear track in front of me. I managed, Surprisingly, to put a 10-20second gap between myself and Sid over the first lap, with Zach around 10-15 seconds down on him. With the back markers now scattered all over the track, the gap stayed pretty much the same over the 2nd lap. The rain eventually let up, which actually made riding conditions way, WAY worse! The mud had turned into a clay-ish mud, known as "Peanut Butter Mud" which stuck to everything, making riding almost impossible. The mud had become so bad that I was forced to walk, not run, with my bike. Even on the downhill's it was almost impossible to pedal. Sid caught up and rode clean past me, leaving me absolutely gob-smacked. He literally rode away through the mud. Possibly the only one who could ride most of the last lap. After walking around 5 of the 6,5 mile course I came home 3rd in the Pro/ Elite category. A little disappointing, nut a really good indicator of where my form is at the moment.
A really awesome experience, a huge thanks needs to go out to Mike Mulder for hosting me the whole of last week. A huge thanks to everyone at Ellsworth for all the help and welcoming hand. To Alex for the lift to Santa Ynez and to all the support back home in SA!! You guys rock!
I'm now in Big Bear, an amazing little city that touches the sky. I'm staying with the AWESOME Romero family (Paul, Karen and Jordan). The riding here is SUPER awesome! I'll be posting up some pics of the race tomorrow, I'm off to hit the hay, got a heavy day at the Bonelli Pro XCT Course.
Keep it real
B
Saturday, June 4, 2011
USA - Some Pics of Everything
My seat for 16... LONG hours
Train shuttle to the different terminals at Atlanta Int - Sorry for the blury image
Waiting outside San Diego Int
Too big to even fit in the camera
Some Images of inside Mike's house
Mike's Garage
Really cool neighbourhood
Mike's sweet toy in the garage
view from my room
a couple images of Mike Moulders place (my accommodation for the past week)
awesome ride, a view of Tony Ellsworth's "castle"... my destination after 2h30
a view from the "castle"
a couple of the frames in the Ellsworth Castle
some more scenery
if you think the cars are big.... check out the bike rack
sucks I cant eat any of this.... apparently its the best ice cream around!!
New 2012 Fox RP23
The craziest truck I've seen while over here
Thanks to Loaded for the new product!! Super Stoked to be riding under Their wing! waiting for a green stem to match the green rocker.
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