Shannon qualified for the race with his win last April in the UCI Masters World Championship in Perth.
16 days to Race Day
Cycling kit arrives today.
Thanks to everyone for their support. Hope I can do you all & the green & gold proud!
10 days to Race Day
Thanks to Specialized for the Team Australia / HTC S-Works Prevail that arrived today
9 days to Race Day
Shannon flies off to Belgium, with bikes packed by Paul at Bike n Bean.
Can highly recommend Singapore Air too!!! 54kg of luggage & only $380 in excess baggage!!! bargain i reckon!!!
Packed enough for every situation possible.... rr bike, tt bike, tt wheel set, 2 rr wheel sets, few cassette combos, tools to change cassette, 6 sets of kit, 2 helmets, 2 shoes, pump, & some clothes.
8 days to Race Day
In Tournai, having lunch with Renuad & enjoying some magic weather!! Then to get the bikes built ( hope they are ok the boxs dont look like they've been shown any love) then try get a couple hours in :-
It dawned on me today about 20min into my first ride, I'm in Europe preparing for a shot at a World Championship!!! The last 4 weeks have been such a tornado I haven't had time to reflect on whats going on. But here I am & I'm going to lay all the chips on the table & tell those legs to shut the f$&k up!!
Did a quick spin & I saw this road sign to Roubaix. Cool hey?!
My first ride in Europe, just checking all my gear runs alright after a rough ride over.
55.6 kilometer road bike ride starting in Tournai, Région Wallonne, recorded with a Garmin Edge 800, more details click here
6 Days to Race Day
Great day for a rest day! Very hot here & quite muggy also. Have done a bit of tourist type looking around, food shopping & a massage, which was easily the most expensive massage ever!! 80euro... Heading to Stavelot tomorrow to do some recon runs. Will give you a run down on the course & try get some pics for you guys.
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Tournai Town Centre |
32 degrees so needed to stop for some fluids. All that for 3.50 euro! Bloody bargain if you treat euro like dollar....
How good is that?! Bananas only 0.99 euro. Makes me feel a bit better after the bloody 80 euro massage I just had.... :-(
Another random Euro pic. Stark contrast between these two vehicles huh?! But both owners walked into the pub at 11.00am haha wonder which one would get away from a booze bus quicker.....
5 Days to Race Day
Did the 110k RR course recon today. 4 letters for you guys "OMFG" it is by far the most challenging course I have ridden!! To give you some idea here goes, the climbs are like Hothams steepest parts with extra kicks half way & if you don't push you fall over! Some climbs just keep going forever, you turn & thinks its the top but then the next turn just keeps going up!! the decent is like humevale at 65kph with bits of pave in it, if not pave blind turns around farming roads that are covered in mud!! For those of you that know I hate it when I see or hear riders on the brakes for turns, I actually needed to adjust my front brake as I wore the pads down!!! This is a seriously tech course.
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To see that is pretty special, even if my HR was buzzing close to 200 when I got there. Cote de Stockeu is one bad ass climb!!! |
I was also lucky enough that when I was getting ready to ride the course I noticed two other riders about to head off. I asked if I could join them & one just happened to be the current Vets RR World & French national Champ Andre Fosse. The weather was normal Belgian now, raining, windy, still a little warm though which made it that bit tougher.
On top of all that I honestly felt really good on the bike, maybe it was because so much of the course had the pros names on it as it's part of Liege Baston Liege & that gives you a lift or maybe just maybe I have found the right form. 7days time I will know.
On the way back to the hotel I inhaled a family pizza, now I've finished sorting out my gear, I'm into the bath then bed!! First thing in the morning the Venge gets a bath too then I'm off to do a recon of TT course.
Thanks again to everyone that helped make this happen, I will be doing everything in my power to make the dream I have in my head a reality.
4 Days to Race Day
Recon of the TT course today ( well actually 2.5 laps, got to get my line choice sorted for the 250m of pave!) I'm going to throw it out there & say top speed with full aero get up will be so close to 100kph it's not funny!! Hit 78.8kph in normal riding kit not driving pedals!! Plus it's not just a straight down hill! Some of the turns are going to be like riding a Superbike at speed!!
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UCI Master Finals Time Trial Profile |
There are def some climbs that are going to test my mind to control the pain in my legs. Entering one tunnel is like entering the bat cave, the lights are poor at best, throw in a leaking roof, plenty of standing water, & you cant see the end or day light for a minute or so.
Can't wait to hit the course fully aero kitted up, loaded to eyeballs full of caffeine & a World Championship Rainbow jersey the reward!!!
Some more information on the Time Trial from UCI website:
The UCI World Championships individual time trial for masters and amateurs is to be held on Friday, September 9th in Stavelot, Belgium. It is also the final round of the UCI World Cycling Tour time trial series.
It will cater to both time trial specialists and climbers. The first section is custom-made for the Cancellara-type rider who excels at speed and power. It is 8 km of flat riding on a bike path that follows an old railroad track heading towards Malmédy. Along the way, the riders will go through two fully lit tunnels.
After the 8 km of flat riding, the riders leave the bike path to venture onto the beautiful small roads towards Cligneval. The average gradient is only 3.7% for 2 km. Once on top there is a small descent towards Bellevaux where riders will start their second climb (2 km with an average of 3.5%) towards Beaumont.
The rest of the course is slightly undulating until the last 2 km where you take a deep dive into the ancient city of Stavelot. The final kilometer is the same as that of the road race.
3 Days to Race Day
Well im happy to have finally had a sleep in!! Was woken up at 5.30 by ph call, bounced it then went back to sleep and woke up at 8.15!! What makes it even better is the sun is out & no clouds (yet). Off to enjoy the Raddisons amazing breakfast (would be so easy to pack on the kgs staying here) then a final recon of the second RR loop, the most important one! Get a massage then hit the road back to Tournai to stay with Renaud Lamarque so I can get some service work done on my bikes...
Well I'm back in Tournai, recon rides for the Worlds TT & RR done. Did another lap of second loop today to check a few things, 960meters of climbing on that loop alone.... This for the whole race there is 1.7k of vert!!! Time to give the bikes a clean and polish check every nut & bolt reload the van and head back ready to do battle!!
Just got email confirmation of my race numbers: 191 for TT 110 for RR. Start time for TT is 12.59pm Friday, so hopefully by 1.30 I will be rolling over the finish line!!! The descent of the two long climbs is wide open and require massive balls to leave the brakes off! If its dry I know I will make some time here, also from what I have learnt over recent weeks from Shane Miller about when to hit it I think will help me at critical moments!
2 Days to Race Day
2 hours of cleaning, checking, lubing, tightening & finally the Aussie flag. My Specialized Transition is as ready as it will ever be, actually so am I!!
The S Works Venge got the same treatment. Now I know where the morning went.. While it doesn't look as tough with 303s trust me the sections that show 26% on the final climb my legs will appreciate a little less rolling weight!!!
1 Day to Race Day
I'm up early & getting a bit nervous. Normally this is a good sign for me... Would like more sleep though, but got a siesta in yesterday. Uploaded some rides to strava & felt quite happy to see some of my times considering the level of effort put in. Wont post the times as too many participating riders interested in the results! Now we just need the rain to piss right off!!
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Hopefully I am the first man through here after 109k come Sunday afternoon |
Could not have picked a better tour guide, this is Andre Fosse he is current Vets World Champ, and I think was also a MTB World Champ also. Very little English but cycling and pain is universal....
Time Trial Day
Ok, here we go!! Count down is no longer days just a matter of hours before I experience the most important 20km ride of my cycling adventure so far. With each pedal stroke I will be a bit closer to the end & the pain will go away.....
Time Trial Results
4th in the World, you all know I'm not happy with that but I gave it everything I had! 7 seconds off podium. Ave HR 183 Max HR 191, not much more I could have done.... Thanks so much to everyone for their support!
Resting the legs now, coz I'm going to ask a lot of them on Sunday....
Road Race Day
Shannon's time 3.05.55, 14th place in Masters M30 class, 54th place in all Classes.
Well done Shannon!
Shannon was the first Aussie over the line too- Aussie Aussie Aussie Oi Oi Oi
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A grimacing Shannon in Time Trial, photo courtesy Alan Byuck |
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