Cooke Again

Team GB cycling

Kings of the Track
Queens of the Track
Queen of the Road
Fastest Sprinter 2008

all we need now is a Road King

Show Off!

I'm very excited! Stage 1 of Le Tour just finished and with all of todays top 6 (except 3rd) in my team, I am in 1st place by a massive 10 points! This is my finest fantasy cycling hour yet!

Giro Musings

The Eurosport commentators mentioned Genting last night and described it as "a vicious climb, in horrible heat".

Cavendish is clearly the fastst sprinter - but not necessarily the best - yet. If he can handle the mountains and finish - I reckon there's some Grand Tour points jerseys ahead of him.

How ironic that a man named "Fortunato" crashed on a cobbled corner just 600m from the finish line a few days ago, when he was in a group of 3 and had a good chance of winning the stage. How Unfortunato!

Sean Kelly always refers to the cyclists as "roiders" - is he suggesting that they all take drugs?

Watch a stage of the Giro on Eurosport and count how many times Sean Kelly says "certainly" - if I had RM1 for every time...!

Surprise!

Check this out! -

My "Brusers" team scored the highest number of points out of over 1,200 teams in the velogames.com Fantasy Giro '08 game for Stage 4. WOW! Shame there's no prizes!

Most of my points came from my riders finishing 1st, 2nd, 3rd & 7th on the stage and having the leaders jersey.

Fantasy Time Again!

The Giro starts this weekend and I'm doing 2 free fantasy games...

http://www.velogames.com

My team is -

 Rider 1: 10,  Paolo BETTINI,  QST,  #16
Rider 2: 12,  Franco PELLIZOTTI,  LIQ,  #120
Rider 3: 16,  Alberto CONTADOR,  AST,  #34
Rider 4: 16,  Riccardo RICCÒ,  SDV,  #135
Rider 5: 8,  Robert FÖRSTER,  GST,  #50
Rider 6: 8,  Alexander EFIMKIN,  QST,  #44
Rider 7: 8,  Vincenzo NIBALI,  LIQ,  #110
Rider 8: 8,  Jose SERPA,  SDA,  #150
Rider 9: 14,  Mark CAVENDISH,  THR,  #30

http://www.nrtoone.com/fantasy/cycling/

My team is -

1. Kloden
2. Contador
3. Di Luca
4. Leipheimer
5. Ricco
6. Pellizotti
7. Nibali
8. McEwen
9. Cavendish

And a couple of cyclingnews teams -

Bargain Basement Team:

ARROYO
BENNATI
BRUSEGHIN
CAVENDISH
DEAN
DI LUCA
GREIPEL
LANDALUZE
LLOYD
NOCENTINI
PETROV
RICHEZE
SELLA
SOLER
WIGGINS

Full Points Team:

BENNATI
BETTINI
CAVENDISH
CONTADOR
DEAN
DI LUCA
KLÖDEN
LEIPHEIMER
MCEWEN
MENCHOV
PELLIZOTTI
PIEPOLI
SAVOLDELLI
SIMONI
SOLER

Have a go and try to beat me!

He Would, Wouldn't He?

The point of this post is to boast that before yesterday's Liege-Bastogne-Liege, my tip for victory was Alejandro Valverde. And indeed he won!

But I thought a few readers might think "he would say that, wouldn't he" - which reminded me of the source of this famous quote - Mandy Rice-Davis. Click on her name for the story (a short Wikipedia entry), which - coincidentally enough - includes a rather amusing Malaysian connection.

Screwed

My planned number of hours training has been totally screwed up by my recent illness and holiday, but never mind lah, I am there or thereabouts in terms of my performance goals, and it's hardly a crime to miss my 8hrs a week target!

Whilst in Dubai I only managed a single 35min morning run (according to my HRM it was already 27-8 degrees at 7am!), and after returning I did nothing until last night. Earlier this week I was still overcoming the time change, and my mind was occupied by job matters, so training took a back seat.

But I shook off the cobwebs good and proper last night with a "half-pyramid" 1600-1400-1200-1000-800m interval run. I was going for 600-400-200 too but my tanks were empty!

-

And I was on my bike an hour later, spinning away for an hour while watching Fleche Wallonne. The finale was great! With a few km to go Wegmann pulled away from Grivko just after their breakaway partner fell, but as Wegmann hit the Mur de Huy, Grivko was catching him, only for both of them to be swallowed up by Evans,Rebellin, Cunego etc... with 6-700m to go. In the end it was Kirchen (who was in my 2007 Tour fantasy team) who was strongest. Poor old Wegmann and Grivko lost 0:53 and 1:25 respectively in only the last 500m!

The Mur De Huy is 10% average / 25% max, and Kirchen is still on his big chain ring!

-

Back to the pool tonight (if I don't feel too tired after watching Man U & Barca draw 0-0 last night). Then hope to get another short fast run in on Fri am. Bike ride Saturday am (a novely for me!) then Klang Pacers 21km on Sunday. Next weekend is a long one, so hope to get a decent run and ride in, and then A'Famosa Tri the following Sunday.

-

I've signed up for the RMAF 21km on 25 May, and the Bomba 10km on 10 May. On the latter day, I'll be doing the 10km in the morning then the Sprint Tri in the afternoon. Oly Tri the following a.m. A'Famosa is not a "biggie" in my plan for this year, so I feel I can do a 10km run and a slow sprint tri the day before. I should still be able to beat last years time anyway now that I can do front-crawl, have a much faster bike, and have improved my running.

Untouchable Trackies

Looks like Siver just isn't good enough for the Great Britain track cyclists in the World Champs! ...

Fellow Jock Chris Hoy - Mens Sprint - GOLD!

Reade & Pendleton - Womens Team Sprint GOLD - again!

Clancy, Manning, Thomas, Wiggins - Mens Team Pursuit GOLD - again!

Bradley Wiggins - Mens Individual Pursuit GOLD - again!

Rebecca Romero - Womens Individual Pursuit GOLD!

San Remo Longshot

My guess for Milan San Remo is a long-shot - Heinrich Haussler from Gerolsteiner.

Rabobank Chicken MkII

I've been watching Paris-Nice on TV, and one of my new favourites (don't ask me why) is Rasmussen's long-lost twin - Robert Gesink - a 185cm 68kg climber. Watch out for him in the mountains if he's selected for Le Tour...

Ouch!

Alberto Loddo mistakenly thinks that there ia a time bonus for crossing the line on his head...

A Bridge Too Far

Recent happenings....

On Saturday I took delivery of my new toy - a Finis Tempo Trainer. It beeps at intervals according to your desired swim stroke rate / run stride rate or cycling cadence (i.e. small intervals 0.2s - 2s) or for lap times (1-10 mins). Apparently its a good training tool for swimming. You can clip it to your trunks or tuck it under a swim cap and use it to stick to a pre-planned stroke rate or pace.

Went out for a lovely Thai meal with Jackie in the evening at the Basil Leaf restaurant on Jalan Damai. You can't beat a good Thai spicy beef salad!

Off to bed at a reasonable time and up again a little after 5am for a (planned) 25km run. However, as predicted during a chat with a fellow runner at the halfway point, the seemingly magnetic lure of the car-park meant that it ended up being only 20.7km.

I maintained a good pace for the first 10km and started the second half with an extra "Petronas loop". I struggled a bit on the way back but my legs came back to life and I finished at an average pace of 6:18/km, my best yet since my training restarted about 13 weeks ago. BTW in that time I've run 344km - 26km per week - compared to 17km a week average last year.

Back at home I spent some time with adorable innocent 6-year old son Lucas, who chose that morning to ask - "Daddy? Is motherfu**er a bad word?"

After "Is mother..." I wondered what he was going to ask (he usually says "Mummy") but didn't think for a second what would actually come next! I'm not automatically blaming the influence of his mates for this but I am as sure as I can be that his knowledge of language like that has not been garnered from his family or within the walls of his home, and I do have my doubts about how some of his friend's parents control their kids exposure to violent games and movies, bad language etc...

Lucas and I then headed off to Bangsar Shopping Centre for a couple of Scalextric races (both of which I lost) and an Oreo McFlurry (highlight of the day!) before heading off back into town by LRT to catch the final stage of Jelajah Malaysia.


It was nice to see a successful small breakaway group in a criterium - it's so much more interesting than a big bunch procession.

Then home - Man U v Geordies - pizza - bed!

TdL Route Announced

The Tour De Langkawi route has been announced (see my last post). The good news for me and most other road cycling fans near KL is that for two Sundays in a row the race will be heading up big climbs nearby.

The riders will be heading up to Genting (from Ulu Yam I reckon) on 10th Feb, and then up Bukit Tangga and Genting Peres (in that order) the following Sunday.

I will not be training for Langkawi the following weekend so it looks like my Sunday rides have been planned for me for those 2 weeks.

10 Feb: KL-Ulu Yam-Genting. watch the race. then home via Jln Gombak.
17 Feb: Broga loop perhaps? or a ride to Klawang or Titi and back?

Revamped route for Tour de Langkawi

By Shane Stokes

The 1,381.5 kilometre event begins in the north of the mainland on February 9. The opening stage takes the riders along mainly flat roads from Alor Star to Kulim, venue for the second stage finish in 2007.

A bunch finish is the most likely outcome but if a sprinter holds the first yellow jersey of the race, he will know that his time at the top of the leaderboard is limited. Stage two is the shortest of the 2.HC ranked tour but arguably the hardest; the 125.4 kilometre stage begins near the guava orchards of Tapah and passes the World War II battlefield at Slim River before heading for the high mountains.

The Hors Categorie climb of Genting Highlands will be on view from a long way out and once onto the steep ramps near the bottom, the peloton will fragment into many pieces as the lightweight climbers do their thing. Time gaps at the top will be considerable, upending the general classification and ruling many out of contention for the final victory.

A number of stages then follow which seem destined for sprint finishes or, perhaps, a small breakaway. Day three is the longest, taking the riders 195 kilometres from Lanchang to Cukai and passing over some undulating terrain en route to the finish.

Stage four is the second-shortest at 128 kilometres and skirts the coastal roads in the east en route to the finish at Kuala Rompin. The roads are mainly flat and a bunch gallop is once again the most likely outcome. Day five extends further along the coast, the 185.7 kilometre route from Kuala Rompin to Bandar Penawar being the first of three located in the province of Johor, and passing tropical forest reserves en route to the finish near Singapore.

The 183.2 kilometre sixth stage starts in Bandar Penawar, home to one of Malaysia's elite sports schools, and later crosses a Category Four climb just before Ulu Tiram. The mixture of flat and hilly terrain will take the riders towards a finish in Johor Baru, which last appeared in the race in 2004.

The same city is also the venue for the start of stage seven, a 128 kilometre leg to Batu Pahat. This features just one category four climb but the short distance is likely to result in some very fast racing en route to the finish.

A transfer then follows to Melaka, the start venue for the penultimate stage of the race. The route crosses a second category climb during the 150 kilometre distance to the finish in Seremban, providing a springboard for attacks on the yellow jersey.

However the final day seems a tougher prospect, with two third category and one second cat climbs dotted along the 153.8 kilometre ride to the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur. The race will conclude with three circuits in Kuala Lumpur before the final gallop to the line at the Sultan Abdul Aziz Building in Dataran Merdeka.

A record total of 25 teams have been forecast for the 2008 tour. Five of these will be ProTour outfits, while 10 others will come from Asia. The identities of the teams and riders will be revealed closer to the race.

13th Tour de Langkawi (2.HC), Malaysia, February 9-17, 2008

Stage 1 - February 9: Alor Star - Kulim, 132.4 km
Stage 2 - February 10: Tapah - Genting Highlands, 125.4km
Stage 3 - February 11: Lanchang - Cukai, 195 km
Stage 4 - February 12: Kuantan - Kuala Rompin, 128 km
Stage 5 - February 13: Kuala Rompin - Bandar Penawar, 185.7 km
Stage 6 - February 14: Bandar Penawar - Johor Baru, 183.2 km
Stage 7 - February 15: Johor Baru - Batu Pahat, 128 km
Stage 8 - February 16: Melaka - Seremban, 150 km
Stage 9 - February 17: Seremban - Kuala Lumpur, 153.8 km

Hasta La Vista Vuelta a Espana

The Vuelta is over, so I can go back to sleeping at 10pm+ instead of 11.30pm+. My team ended up 250th out of 500 or so, which I'm pretty pleased with considering that there's a great deal of luck involved if you want to get any higher. You can't forecast who will fall ill, crash or withdraw (this happenend to 3 of my riders, Pereiro, Danielson and the expensive poster-boy Boonen).

My team managed...

• 8 stage wins out of 21 (Bennati - 3, Petacchi - 2, Zabel - 1, Menchov - 1, Rodriquez - 1)
• 1,2,7,9 and 16th in the GC
• 1,2,4,6,10,16 and 20th in Points
• 1,3,9 and 10th in the Mountains
• 1,3,7,12 and 13th in the Combination category

Not bad considering that until earlier in 2007 my knowledge of the current roster of pro riders was limited to just the big names.

Vuelta

My man! - Cool as a Cucumber Climber - Dennis Menchov

Despite losing Oscar Pereiro to illness and the two Tom's (Danielson & Boonen) to injury, my fantasy Vuelta team is faring better than my unlucky Le Tour team.

So far I've got 5 stage wins out of 15 (Bennati, Menchov & Zabel - 1 each, Petacchi - 2), and my best riders are placed 1st, 4th, 7th, 8th, 14th and 18th overall. My riders also make up all the points placings 2nd-5th.

However my team rank is still only 312th out of 780 or so! Anyway its money well spent as it adds some spice to watching each stage on TV.

I hope ASTRO show the World Champs at the end of Sept!

Fantasy Vuelta

I've just spent lunchtime finalising my fantasy Vuelta team. Somehow I've managed to get 6 of the top 8 favourite overall contenders in my team, as well as who I think will be the top 3 sprinters. Here's my team.

GC Contenders

1. BELTRAN Manuel
2. CHAVANEL Sylvain
3. DANIELSON Thomas
4. GOMEZ MARCHANTE Jose Angel
5. HERNANDEZ Aitor
6. KARPETS Vladimir
7. MENCHOV Denis
8. PEREIRO Oscar
9. PEREZ RODRIGUEZ Luis
10. SASTRE Carlos

Sprinters

1. BENNATI Daniele
2. BOONEN Tom
3. NAZON Jean-Patrick
4. PETACCHI Alessandro
5. ZABEL Erik

I hope I have more luck than in Le Tour where my team was decimated by crashes and drug-related withdrawals!

Back To It

Poor old Vino! - look at the state of him -

15 stitches in each knee and a lot less skin on his right elbow. His mate Kloden has fractured his coccyx. Both are in my fantasy team. The day before Friday 13th was bad luck for them, and me!

I fully back into training mode now.

Wed - turbo sesh
Thu - 5km run in gym
Fri - 5km run in gym
Sat - 26km ride to work
Sun - Seremban Half Marathon

My target for tomorrow is to beat 2:06:00. I'd better sleep early tonight. I've been up until 12am every night keeping an eye on Le Tour live on the internet. I am gutted that Eurosport showed the Giro and Dauphine live every day but not the Tour De France. They had Beach Soccer on last night instead - ?!?!?!?

In other news, the S'pore Tri schedule has been announced and my race doesn't start until 11.15am!!!!!! It'll be super hot - I'll be racing until about 2.45pm! Although it means I don't have to get up so early and can watch the Elite race, it totally messes up my plans to leave S'pore by bus at 4.30pm. I thought I'd start racing at 7-8am, and I've already paid for the bus tickets (non-refundable, and not cheap!).

Tour Fever

8 July PD Tri Clinic photos of the swim start and the bike ride are here! i have photos of simon (rear half only - he was going too fast! - eugene, zebets, kim possible, adzim, arif, may senn, dicky and a few others, but they're not great so don't get too excited.

Sunday

An unusual day. No training (doc's orders). Still feeling a bit spaced out from the sulbutiamine I took yesterday.

I drove to PD with Lucas early in the a.m. , bumped into a few triathlete buddies and played on the beach with the little fella while the swim was on.

Swim start - Cross and Zebralini in action

Such a lovely face - hope the wind doesn't change!

A while after they'd left for the bike ride Lucas & I waited at the roadside to snap a few photos. He was keen to go home then so we drove off and managed to get there in good time. This was lucky as from what I've read from Adzim & Simon there was an accident shortly afterwards that caused a massive jam.

I really do wonder how so many people manage to have accidents. On the way to PD we saw a crane setting up at the side of the highway where the barrier had been mowed down. On the way back it was lifting what looked like coffee-beans from the point where the truck (i assume) had come to rest in a deep cutting next to the road. Shortly after this it began to rain and almost immediately, on the southbound side - 4 cars shunted each other. I have seen this (shunting accidents within minutes of rain starting) many times now.

Having done my fatherly bit in the morning I became a couch potato for the rest of the day. I watched the wonderful The Usual Suspects, most of the mediocre Next, then the F1 and the Tour De France. My hero (and fantasy team member) of the day Robbie McEwen somehow managing to easily win the stage despite being out of the main bunch with only 5km to go.

Monday

Still feeling more "alive" today so I decided to give the sulbutiamine (with the "this may become habit forming if used excessively" warning on the packet!!) a miss. Evening = super couch potato due to Tour highlights on TV from 6 until 8.30pm - but then no Stage 2 live coverage?!?!?

Tuesday

I slept at 9am last night so I feel a bit better today. Glands still swollen though. Still not taking any pills though (they're not for the glands anyway).

My wheels have arrived at KLIA!! I've also managed to pick up a yellow Selle Italia Flite Titanium saddle and a pair of Look Keo Carbon pedals on eBay a bit cheaper than I've been quoted here - trying to shave some cost of my new ride.

The excitement of the PD and OSIM Tri's is building! Today the OSIM guys finally confirmed the route.

I'm fairly happy with my Tour fantasy team's performance so far - apart from this plonker...

Daniele Bennati is supposed to be a sprinting green jersey contender but has finished the last 2 flat stages well back with all the GC and mountains boys! What is he doing!?!?!?!?

Oops!

Oops I did it again! - my 2 days off-work gave me time to think about other things and I ended up accidentally-on-purpose signing up for the Laguna Phuket Triathlon on 2 Dec 2007. It's a longer-than-Olympic affair (1.8km/55km/12km) with a super-hilly bike course!


My relationship with training has entered a new phase. Last night I felt so guilty about doing no training for 2 whole days, and being to lazy too leave the comforts of home to travel all the way to a cold Bukit Jalil pool, I moved the sofa and set up my newly-aquired turbo trainer in front of the TV, so that I could take inspiration from the Giro peloton and the tifosi on Monte Zoncolan, and do some interval training. And so I did, an extended 15min warm up followed by a 1-2-3-4-5-4-3-2-1 minute pyramid set @ 85% HRmax. Until recently I would have just watched TV and felt bad - now I actually do something - maybe it's addictive!

The Giro stage was great - check out how many people there were at the top of a mountain in the Italian Dolomites!....