Sunday ride a real washout!!

For the first time in many months our regular Sunday was a complete washout!!

Word is that two hardy souls ventured out (well done Jase and Matt).

Here is a pic of Jase from earlier this morning....

Northside Nursery takes off

With the riding group growing in recent months and in order to cater for everyone's level of fitnesses Team POWERADE will at time split into two groups. This was the case last Sunday and the following report was provided by Scott from what has become known as the "Northside Nursery".

A group of 5 set out on the Northside Nursery ride from Café Conti. A steady pace set until little Timmy went through glass and had to change a flat. 1^st lesson for Timmy - avoid glass. Testing time and after a tube change and 2 gas cylinders (lesson 2) he was awarded a C+. At this rate it won't be long before he gets the chance to move groups!!!!

The pace was up from last week and we hit the Shorncliffe straight when a break way group led by "Dancer" Nick.

Jenno picked up some points on the sprint and Dancer headed for a short cut.

A great social ride finished with a coffee at Conti. New riders welcome to join the "Northside Nursery" to prepare for greater heights.

Team POWERADE getting stronger

Wow what a ride today!!! 16 riders turned up for our Sunday ride and even at 5.30am you could tell everyone was keen to get out and Ride Hard.

With some of the lads returning from their Christmas/New Year break two groups were formed to allow everyone to get out of the day what they wanted to. Special mention goes to Andrew who hasn't been on the bike for 2 months and only flew in from the US yesterday but still put his hand up for the 70k (or was that the 80k) circuit.

Unfortunately we were down one of our stalwarts in Gav who joined 4 other POWERADE riders yesterday to race a crit. The boys raced B1 grade and the stories were flowing thick and fast about breakaways and insane riding by Row. Gav and Craig were well placed after Jase, Row and Shane had dished out heaps of pain to the 50 strong peleton but unfortunately Gav came to grief on the last corner and hit the deck at about 45kph. Thankfully no serious damage done to Gav or the LOOK. Craig finished strongly just out of the medals as the peleton finally caught Row and Jase with only a few hundred metres to race.

The Cleveland / Manly circuit provided the ideal hit out for the group of 11 and with an average speed of just under 32kph the pace was certainly on.

As we neared the finish with two climbs to go we were joined by another group who at first took a draft from us but then attacked on the climb. It was here that Brockie earnt his new name "Brockie Valverde" as he counter attacked on our behalf to put the other riders back in their box. he repeated the effort up the final climb and set up Jase who put the nail in the coffin of the other group. Great riding boys!!!

Coffee at Spoon and there was some tired and hot lads and I'm sure Andrew was wondering if he had made the right call to do the longer ride but we know that within a month he will be back on the front driving the group along.

The boys down at the TDU seem to have had an awesome week a highlight being when they met up with their hero Jens Voigt!!

We wish the guys who are racing in the Australia Day Cup this week at Tyalgum all the best and hope to see Team POWERADE on the podium....no pressure lads!!

Follow our team members at the Tour Down Under

Our guys at the Tour Down Under have set up their own blog for the week.

You can follow them at:

http://tdu2012.blogspot.com/

Team POWERADE perform in three states

Its been a big weekend for the lads with members riding in Queensland, New South Wales and South Australia.

The traditional Sunday ride from Velo looked threatened by some early rain but 13 riders turned up and it was great to have Scott and Nick back with us along with a new rider in Rob.

The Jinker Track Sandgate loop beckoned and we had a great ride with the new strip looking sensational. Craig rode Mt Glorious yesterday but still had enough in the legs to hold out Jase on Jinker but it was a quick sprint with an avg speed of 48.5kph along the 3.2k section.

Sandgate greeted us with cross headwinds which brought some groans but Kent did his best Jens Voigt impersonation and drove the peleton along at 40kph for the first few ks. Jase found his sprinting legs as finally Craig's hold on the Sandgate sprint came to an end.

All up another great Sunday outing for Team POWERADE.

As we drank our coffee news filtered through that Gav had come third in B GRADE in a crit race in Northern NSW making it the first podium for Team POWERADE in 2012....well done!!!!

Finally our contingent (Jenno, Andy and Stuart) are visiting Adelaide for the Tour Down Under and today they rode up Mt Lofty one of the iconic climbs on the outskirts of Adelaide....think Mt Cootha and then double it!!!

Here's a pic of the boys at the top.

Our European member flys the POWERADE flag

Great photo here of our European member Bruce flying the POWERADE flag in the French Alps.

Looks like Bruce has swapped the Ridley for skis for a while.

Rider profile - Craig Mitchell

Continuing our rider profiles this one is of Craig Mitchell a relatively newcomer to the team. Craig joined us after riding with some of the other members during the Smiling for Smiddy Challenge to Townsville.

Craig has only been riding with us for a couple of months but already he has made a big impression with his sprinting ability. He is the reigning Sandgate sprint champion as well as always featuring strongly in the Jinker Track sprint.

Here's a little bit more on one of our newer members.....

Age: 28

Family: Girlfriend Charlotte

Live: Enoggera

Occupation:  Accountant

Company/Employer: The Trust Company

How long have you been cycling: Started mountain biking in 1998 as part of school MTB team then took up road cycling ~2003 to commute to uni where I learned to sprint against traffic for survival. I have completed 3 tours of the Cairns to Karumba bike ride (http://www.ridefnq.com/) where I refined the craft of sprinting by day and drinking by night. Cycled the Midi-Smiddy Challenge in 2010, and backed up with the Bottlemart Smiling for Smiddy Challenge in 2011. Next target is the 2012 leg of Sharkys Oz 7-in-7, 2400km from Esperance WA to Adelaide SA across the Nullarbor (http://www.smiddy.org.au/page/get-involved/challenge-yourself/Sharkys_OZ_7_in_7/).

Bike:  2005 Giant TCR C2, Shimano Ultegra 6600, Handbuilt Wheels - Velocity A23 Rims laced to Shimano Dura-Ace Hubs with 32 3x DT Competition Spokes

Weekly kms: 200-300km

Favourite ride: Dayboro and Mt Mee

2012 kicks off for Team POWERADE

Well today was the first ride for the team in 2012 but more importantly it was the first ride in our new POWERADE strip and how good did we look!!! I've said it before but I just want to say a big thanks to Brad for organising the kit which looks great.

The lads checking out the new kit before the start....how good does it look!!!

13 riders turned out for the ride which Brycie had decided needed to set the tone for 2012 a tough 80k ride with 3 major climbs and some good hard flat sections.

Craig was struggling with getting out of bed so met us after the Settlement Rd climb which made some of the lads think he was just saving his legs for the Sandgate sprint later in the ride.

Settlement Rd dusted off the climbing legs for most people with Rowan and Jase showing some good early season climbing form.

Samford range proved less testing and we had a fast run down into Samford village. By now Macca was starting to have second thoughts about how good an idea this ride actually was but as always his spirits remained high as we conquered the final major climb up Eatons Crossing Rd.

Things settled into a nice tempo as we headed to the bay and the Sandgate sprint. The Powerade train was looking good and drew more than the occasional glance from other riders as we passed them. The peleton left Craig the reigning Sandgate champion out the front for as long as possible but soon enough Rowan launched an attack it is was on with more than one roundabout taken with three riders abreast!!!

Craig jumped on Rowan's wheel and that's all the help he needed as he held off a fast finishing group of Adam, Greg, Jase and Gav.

Rowan deserves special mention for the pain he dished out on the way home as he put a few of the boys in the hurt locker as he went into time trial mode and ramped up the pace.

Coffee at Conti Cafe was a welcome finish to the ride and how good did we look in the new kit!!!

A great way to start 2012 with many many more good rides ahead of us.

Brad's 10,000km journey - Photo

I was sent this pic of Brad as he completed his final ride to complete 10,000km for 2011.

Have a look at what 10,000km in a year does for your quads!!!!

Brad, Dammo would be proud of that quad flex!!!