This is where you can come into my world and hopefully get a feel of what it's all about. From time to time, Carole has her say too - that's usually when I'm too slack or too injured to write...
Hey.
Not much news really. This time the black and white version of the race isn't too far off from conveying Julian's form at the mo. He's been suffering. In fact, he said he rode a personal worst on the second stage. He said he'd never suffered as bad as that in his entire career - which says a lot considering this man has suffered plenty throughout the last 15 yrs or so.
He's come close to quitting a hundred times over but every time he looked around to take a mental photo of where he was going to quit the Vuelta 2010, something deeeeeeeeeeeeep inside urged him to go a little bit further...
Today was an easier stage so he didn't feel so bad. The weather has cooled down a bit too which is always a relief - even to those of us just sitting on the sofa watching those fellas baking out there under the Spanish sun. The heat has been relentless and unforgiving.
So Julz is breathing a little easier tonight with the knowledge that he made it through relatively easily today and the next couple of days aren't suppose to be too hard. Sunday however, is going to be a filthy stage. Thankfully it rolls over Julian's stomping ground so he knows the climbs well. That will be his only saving grace....
And of course us muppets who are leaving the village for the day to go up one of the climbs to cheer him on.... But shhhhhhhhhh, he doesn't know I've organised a mass exodus from the village. His home court advantage is going to be bolstered by a bunch of Palma de Gandienses and 3 Kiwis!
Thanks for your notes of support... Julz really does appreciate your thoughts.
C
A Dumb Fun Start To The Vuelta
Just me again... And no I'm NOT going to hound Julz to do an update.... The poor wee soul is in the Hurtbagdotcom at the mo....
Apart from crashing heavily last night at the final TTT warm-up lap, Julz dropped his chain on a TTT training session on Wednesday and hurt his knee.
It's been a bizarre week of crap-ness really.
We have been very focused and very committed to getting him in tip-top shape for the Worlds. After a couple of weeks of quietly but surely building back up his form, the boys and I finally farewelled him at the airport on Tuesday night and although Team Dean was a sad unit, it was a committed-to-the-cause unit. But unfortunately, for whatever reason, at the moment Team Dean is being tested by an "unfathomable destiny" as tenacious as itself! (Thanks for the quote, Max!)
That's ok though... We're a gutsy family and Julz is an incredibly gutsy bike rider. He won't give in until he has absolutely nothing left to give. We're still looking ahead to the Worlds and although Julz is in for a suffer-fest over the next week or so, I'm sure he'll prevail.
So don't give up on the updates... There'll be something to read.... even if they're just from me!
C
Just ME!
Hello people.
I know I'm not who you want to hear from but hey, I'm all there is at the mo!
Julz has put himself in the 'kennel' so to speak. He's fully focused on one last goal for the year; the World Champs on Oct 3rd - way down there on the antipodeans side of the world.
He had 7 days off the bike after San Sebastian and since then he's been quietly plugging away at re-building himself and his form for Melbourne. It's a course that suits him but unlike a tour, there are no second or third chances with a one day race like the Worlds. You gotta nail the form perfectly.
Part of his preparation is to do the Vuelta Espanya which he heads away to on the 24th Aug. Racing begins on the 28th. Although he loves racing in Spain, the next 2 wks are a means to an end. They’ll be an integral part of his build-up to Worlds and he’ll have little chance to ‘enjoy’ racing on his ‘home turf’. Any rider serious about performing well in Melbourne will be on the start list for the Vuelta. In fact, for some countries, it’s part of the selection criteria.
To prepare for the Worlds to perform at his absolute best demands total commitment from not only Julz, but also from me, and indirectly, the boys as well. Every stone must be picked up, turned over and wiped clean before being put back down again. It’s a pedantic process which is all-encompassing and some days, suffocating! And of course, where there’s a high level of commitment, there’s sacrifice; there’ll be no humdinger family fun going on in the Dean household now until after the Worlds...
Team Dean is hard at work.
C
A Little Taste Of What We Taste
A Little Taste Of What We Taste
A Belated Update
Ok guys, I’m sorry. I’ve been way off my literary game. I feel like a school boy who hasn't handed his assignment in on time; it has been a week since I last wrote an update. Actually, I have tried a couple of times to write something – just as much for you guys as for myself - but I’ve been too shattered to drum up anything good. My energy levels have been deep in the red.
We have left the Alps, as you all know, and have started the Pyrenees but it feels to me like we have just gone straight from one to the other. Apparently there were a couple of transitional stages but they didn't feel like it to me.
Returning to the hotel after today's finish in AX 3 Domaines, the first of the Pyrenees stages, I slept on the bus for an hour of the 1hr 30min drive. This was very unusual for me and is a sure sign of my fatigue.
We are due a rest day and normally the rest day is the last Monday of the Tour but this edition they’ve pushed it further down the week to Wednesday so we have yet to race a couple more days before we get to that much needed day of ‘rest’. And they are by no means easy days either with the hardest day of the Tour on Tuesday. I just hope I can make it to Wednesday....
So, it’s coming into crunch time in this year’s Tour. Not only for the guy’s riding for the overall but also for us fellas who just want to try and make it through. We saw for the first time today Astana showing their strength heading into the penultimate climb. Their performance today was a preview of what is yet to happen and we all know the gauntlet is about to be thrown down. The anticipation alone has been enough to scare us all coming into the next 3 stages. It’s going to be an extremely tough few days.
So, sit back, relax, fasten your seatbelts, stow away all bags in your overhead lockers and return your trays to the upright position.... And expect some turbulence....
Julz
Switching Back in the Alps
Stage 7 headed into the Alps, finishing in the ski resort station of Des Rousses. On paper it wasn’t an overly hard stage but it was full of a bunch of smaller climbs in quick succession which always makes for a hard and dangerous stage. All the stages are categorized by their difficulty; ‘1’ being the easiest and ‘4’ being the hardest, which is your typical high mountain stage. Today’s stage was categorized ‘3’ which for us non-climbers is always the most dangerous as the time-cut percentage is lesser than the most difficult category of stages.
And dangerous it was. Another day in the searing heat and although we had a good grupetto, we just scraped in under a minute less than the time-cut. It was a pretty horrible day that involved barely tolerable suffering and fighting to stay with the race as long as possible. Then, when we finally did get dropped, the grovelling continued as we had to push ourselves to make it inside the time-cut. We came in just over 30 min behind the winner, Sylvain Chavanel, and it really made me wonder how guys can ride that fast when I feel like I went as hard as I could all day and barely survived to stay in the race. Days like this really make me feel crap at my own game.
(On days like this, Julz seems to forget all about the power-to-weight ratio and that he and the rest of the non-climbers weigh 10-20kg heavier than the mountain goats!) – Ed’ess
Stage 8 led us into the Alps proper, finishing up Morzine - Avoriaz. My pain continued from the day before and I spent the first 50 km of the race in the ‘Locker’ getting dropped and coming back till the break went and the race finally settled down.
My pain today though was nothing compared to that of Lance. He was well and truly tossed into the ‘Hurt Locker’ and his Tour got turned upside down, inside out and back to front! Effectively he lost any hope today of an 8th TdF victory thanks to a couple of shit crashes at the wrong time. I can't imagine what a load that must be to carry, having the whole world – equally full of merciless critics as adoring fans - watching your every move.
The other morning when I stepped out of the bus and headed to the start, I bumped into Lance and rode the km to the sign in with him. We tried to chat but the noise and chaos that surrounded us as we moved through the crowds was insane. It made me ask myself what it must be like to live like that every day. I actually can't imagine it. It would crack me completely. I suppose for him though, that is his normality in life...
Anyway, the day for us fatties was much easier than yesterday. All the climbs were stacked at the end of the stage and the time-cut was a little more generous being a stage that had been given a higher categorization by the organization. Today, like all high mountain stages, was a category 4, meaning that the time-cut for a 5 hour stage would be about 45 min - unlike the 31 min of yesterday’s stage.
Julz
Resting up in Avoriaz
After starting just over a week ago in the almost below sea level Holland, we are finally at the much needed first rest day, high in the French Alps resort town of Avoriaz - above Morzine. It’s a rest day that couldn’t have come soon enough for me. For the most part, I feel that it has been a bit of a struggle to get through the first week.
After finishing second in stage 4, Tyler felt that it he was good enough to be back in the mix so it was back to work as usual as we tried to prep the sprints for him the following two days. Naturally, the first day back in the mix was always going to be a bit of a hit or miss for him. So despite the boys doing a sensational job on the run into Montargis, it just didn't come off. I was last in the lead-out and was not really on top of things myself when it came time to ferry him to the line. Because I didn't have the power to keep the speed high enough, when I pulled off he was already over-lapping my wheel. He chose to come around me on my left yet that was the side I had chosen to pull off to so I inadvertently moved across into his line. No harm was done but it wasn’t ideal. He later lamented his mistake by not coming around me on my right side which was more open. But that’s just how sprints roll sometimes – decisions are made at a split second and they’re not always the right ones.
My own effort certainly wasn’t ideal and I felt pretty frustrated by it. The team had done such a great job up to this point and not being able to contribute much after going well the previous day just added to my chagrin. Anyway, we had something to work on for the next day which could possibly end in another sprint.
Stage 6
Gueugnon was another cook up. The mercury had tickled forty degrees for the last couple days and the heat was getting guys down. The stage had the feeling like it was going to be a breakaway but after their win yesterday, Columbia were not wanting to give another chance at victory away and turned the heat up some more to control the race. So another chance at victory it was....
Once again we dialled in a great lead-out which I think left us all feeling more than a little frustrated that it didn’t convert into a win. Tyler was a world better than the day before, wrapping up second place, but I think we all felt that we needed the victory. Although I gave it death in my lead-out and although I was better than the previous day, I still lacked that wee bit of top-end form and know that I’m capable of better. So my personal frustration continues....
We’ll have to wait a few days for our next chance now though as we head into the territory where the mountain goats chase each other around the zig-zagging switchbacks of the Alps. This will be my cue to engage the ‘survival mode’ within – especially with the ‘Summer Oven’ on full gas things are going to be tough. Although, the moments of Alpine freshness we get are always a pleasant respite when climbing the high mountains and is about the only thing to look forward to in the coming days.
