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FROM A 3 WHEELER TO MANY 2 WHEELERS I'm Steve Eggleton the owner of Rad Cyclery, originally born in England & i had my 1st birthday when we arrived in Australia. We lived in Sunnybank, then moved to Mt. Gravatt, where i did all of my early schooling at Mt.Gravatt State Primary & High School's. We then moved to acreage in Daisy Hill in 1977, which seemed like outback Australia at the time, where i was a founding member of Springwood High School. I got my first job pushing trolley's at Coles at Springwood, then was approached to work in Robb And Brown Hardware around the corner, then they relocated up to a bigger store at Kingston where i got my first taste of running my own department. I was then offered a job at the then 'hole in the ground' which would become the Brisbane Hilton, learning from the best, with my Father & Bell Scaffolding, until injuring my back in the final stages of completion. I was then put on light duties at the Sheraton Mirage on the Gold Coast until my back improved, although it has never recovered completely, but better than the Doctor's predicted. I raced Motorbikes at Wheelstander's & then Trailblazer's when i was younger & i finally got back into it again, although this time it was on a Road Circuit at Lakeside for three years, where i was within the Top 20 in QLD. I completed my first Triathlon at Wynnum which started the fall of the Motorbike racing & the start of the whole Bicycle thing & Rad Cyclery i guess. I never thought of owning a Bicycle Shop at the time, although we didn't have any shops on the Southside that catered for the Triathlon market, which i was into at the time.
THAT BLOODY THING, THE SHOULDER TEAR & ENDURANCE MTB RACING My racing took a setback when i was diagnosed with a blood condition called 'Hemolytic Anemia' in 2003, which is a destruction of the red blood cells, which might explain the problem with my racing over the years & not being able to race at a high heart rate. I then had another set back in my racing when i hit a tree while riding in Daisy Hill Forest & after a scan, it was revealed i had a 6mm tear in my shoulder & i was told not to swim, which was a bummer as my tri's were just starting to get better. So after receiving that news i decided to give up on Tri's & started riding my Mtb more & then ended up racing my first Solo 24 Hour race at Kooralbyn, as nobody else wanted to race & i really loved it. I then found myself qualifying for the 2008 24Hhrs Of Adrenalin World Solo Championships in Canmore Canada at the 2007 Kona 24hr race in Forrest Victoria, wow we were stoked, as we were finally going to checkout Canada after 20 years. So after the Kona race i had a break over Xmas & started my training with my best race riding from '7pm - 7am' at the Dusk Till Dawn @ Kooralbyn, then onto a new track for teh 6hr at Canungra, then we had the Insomnia 'Mudfest' 24hr @ Kurwongbah. I kept training through to the World's, with a mix of Mag Trainer sessions, longish road rides & a couple of mtb rides to keep it mixed up, then we were off to Canada, wow !
WORLD SOLO CHAMPIONSHIPS 2008 The day had come to start getting my gear ready, that's when i started to get excited that we were finally going to Canada & i was going to race at the Worlds. All the training over the months had now been worth it, although i felt a little un-done, which is pretty normal for racing, i guess. We had to pack a little lighter due to all the bike gear & we kept the weight's within Qantas's baggage limits and we were off. The flight to LAX was really good as we had heaps of room & the service was awesome, with a continual stream of food & nibblies to keep us occupied. We arrived in LAX a little late, so we were rushed through customs & we were off to Calgary for our first two night's stay, which i expected to need, although as soon as we checked in we were off to explore downtown Calgary & grab my first Starbuck's. We picked up the car the next day & headed off to Canmore & as we drove down the highway, the mountains were getting bigger & bigger as we got closer, which was an amazing site. We headed up to the Canmore Nordic Centre to pickup the race pack & to get my photo done, then we found a good spot so i could build my bike & check out the course & you wouldn't believe it, but the first person i came across was Tinker Juarez, then Jeff Toohey from the Sunshine Coast, then we had the Rider Briefing & 10th Anniversary World Solo Inductee's.
The race started with a Competitor callout, then we we're off on the Le-Mans start, which included a huge hill to run over then back into transition & onto the bike for the coolest part of the race. The Prologue included a fast sweepy trail that lead us to some stairs which went all the way down to the streets of downtown Canmore, over people lined bridges cheering & a then a long climb back up to the Nordic Centre, which started at a higher temp than they expected, which suited me as i felt really really good. The race changed pretty quickly at about 6pm, when at about 15k into the 3rd lap the first storm hit, dropping the temp & making the track pretty slippy. I pulled into the transition area to get a jacket & went out again to find the track was drying out a little already from the wind, then the 2nd storm hit, including higher winds, hail & another drop in temp, but this time i was caught out 1/2 way around the lap, which meant being out in the shitty conditions for longer & i started to feel really really cold & just wanted to get off the bike, as the trails were virtually un-ride able for me. My lap times were getting slower each lap, so i stopped to get showered & changed, but i had then dropped down the leader board pretty quickly. Once the storms had finished & day light was on it's way i managed to climb back up, although i was too far behind to get back on the podium, i finished 5th after being as high as 3rd & as low as 10th. It was such an awesome event & with all the help i received from my Wife, a few Aussie suppliers the trip of a lifetime around Canada after the race.
TRAINING & RACING AFTER THE WORLD SOLO CHAMPS After the Worlds i struggled for motivation & the shop was really busy & training was limited, but i thought, i'll enter the 8hr Enduro @ Kurwongbah anyway. The race was the complete opposite to the Insomnia in June, it was dry, dusty & pretty hot, which i prefer when my fitness & mindset is good, but when either is lacking it's not so good. I tackled the race a little different than i usually do, with a fast start this time & a plan just to hold on to the finish, although my motivation was the problem, so i still managed some good laps & finished ok. I took Xmas off training & just rode around on the single speed & it was great. Then i though i better get back into training, then i had my biggest get off on a trail in Daisy Hill, when i clipped a stupid little tree on Possum Box with my little finger, then smashed into the dirt, helmet first, breaking my little finger, bruising my hand, elbow, shoulder & thigh, so my riding stopped again. After getting back on the bike i entered the 50k Epic & knew it was going to be tough, with just 3 weeks of training, but it was meant to kick start my training for the Kona 24hr in Victoria. So after realizing the Epic was a mass start this time i just tried to get around as many as i could before we got to the single track, but it was really crappy, so once we got onto the road, i just time trialed until we got to the 1st climb. The trails were so rough i was finding it hard to hold onto the bars, due to my injuries, it was just survival for the rest of the race & i finally crawled into the finish in 3hrs & 30mins. We then went to Stromlo to checkout the World's, wow, that was huge, then onto the World Tri champs on the Gold Coast the following weekend, then we found out the World 24hr Solo Champs was going to be held at Stromlo, so i entered as soon as i could. My next race was the Kona 24hr at the end of November, so with expected rain all weekend i wasn't too excited & guess what, yeh it rained nearly all weekend, including a torrential downpour the Saturday night. Anyway it started off ok, but just got muddier, then during my 5th lap & riding like a squid, i decided that was enough for me, so i got cleaned up & spent the rest of the race close to or in the camper. With the most k's in my leg's leading up to this race, i really expected a good placing, but the shitty weather got me again, so come on aussie weather, where are you ?
PREPARING FOR THE 2010 SEASON My next planned race was going to be the Jet Black 24hr in February, although i have now re-injured my shoulder tear after doing some work at home. So with no training over Xmas & New Year i have now re-scheduled my 1st race to be the Merida 24hr at Old Hidden Vale at the end of July in preparation for the World Solo Champs at Stromlo. Then 2 weeks after the World 24hr race we'll be heading off to Rotorua for the World Single Speed Champs, so training will kick off on 1st May officially for my 1st 24hr race for 2010, so in the meantime i'll be riding my Single Speed around for some fun, so i'll keep you posted how it all go's !
PEAK PERFORMANCE TESTING Performed by Rod Cedaro at the Wesley, Date 10/12/07, Body Weight 66.7kg, Body Fat 10.2%, VO2 Max 55ml.kg.min, RC 119-128bpm @ 125-145 watts, AE 128-138bpm @ 145-165watts, AT 170bpm @ 230watts CURRENT BIKES
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Copyright © 1998 RAD CYCLERY Last modified: 27-Jan-2010 |
