![[Company Logo Image]](images/logo.gif){kind=logo}
|
|
|
|
THE SHOP I had never thought of owning a Bicycle Shop, although i was working at Shogun Honda at the time & we didn't have any shops on the Southside that catered for the Triathlon market. Apart from riding a Mountain Bike in Daisy Hill Forest regularly, i started to get into Triathlon for the fitness required for Motorbike Racing. I then happened to see an ad in Bicycling Aust for Bianchi coming into Australia & anyone interested in selling the brand should contact the wholesaler, so i did & Rad Cyclery was born. My wife & I sat down & designed the Rad Logo from my inspiration of Marco Pantani from his Giro & Tour De France wins in the same year & the name Rad was Radical or Road & Dirt. We officially opened Rad Cyclery on 14th November 1998 at Springwood, where we were for 5 years until we moved to Loganholme, where we'll be until i go back to the motorcycle industry.
1963 - 1998 I was born in England & moved to Australia when i was one & lived at Mt. Gravatt, where i did my early schooling & raced Flat Track. We then moved to acreage at Daisy Hill & went to Springwood High where i continued to race Flat Track, then started into cars. My first job was at Coles, then Robb & Brown Hardware, then scaffolding at the Brisbane Hilton & Sheraton Mirage on the Gold Coast. After car's i got back onto a motorbike again, although this time it was on the road, then Lakeside, on a 93 Suzuki GSXR750, then a Honda CBR600. I had a test on the Shogun Honda Firebalde for the Motul 300 & went under my lap time within 3 laps, so that put me in the top 10 lap times at the time.
1998 - 2008 I was diagnosed with a blood condition called 'Haemolytic Anaemia' 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 in Daisy Hill Forest & after a scan, it was revealed i had a 6mm tear in my shoulder & i was told not to swim anymore. So i gave up on Tri's & started riding my Mtb & raced my first Solo 24 Hour race at Kooralbyn, then the Kona 24hr in Forrest & qualified for the 2008 24hrs Of Adrenalin World Solo Championships in Canmore Canada. So after a small break i started training again & had my best race at the 12hr Dusk Till Dawn @ Kooralbyn, then onto a new track for the 6hr at Canungra, then the 'Mudfest' Insomnia 24hr @ Kurwongbah.
2008 24SOLO I kept training through to the World's, with a mix of Mag Trainer sessions, longish road rides & a couple of mtb rides, then, the day had come to go to Canada. All the training over the months had now been worth it, although i felt a little un-done, which is pretty normal for racing. After the flight into Calgary we drove up to the Canmore Nordic Centre to registration, build up the Rush, then to Rider's Briefing. The race started with the Competitor callout, then the Le-Mans start, which included a run loop over a hill then into transition & onto the bike for the coolest part which included a fast sweepy trail that lead us down stairs & through the streets of Canmore, over bridges spanning rushing creeks & then onto a long climb up to the Nordic Centre. The race started at a higher temp than they expected, which suited me, but that changed pretty quickly at 6pm, when the first storm hit, dropping the temp & making the track pretty slippy. I got into the pit area for a jacket & went back out, 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 cold & just wanted to get off, as the trails were virtually un-rideable. My lap times were getting slower each lap, so i stopped to get showered & changed, i 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, it was the trip of a lifetime.
2008 - 2012 After the Worlds i struggled for motivation, with the shop being busy & training limited, although I raced the 8hr Enduro & finished ok. I got back into training after Xmas & had a big get off in Daisy Hill, clipping a tree, smashing into the ground, helmet first, breaking my little finger, bruising my hand, elbow, shoulder & thigh, so my riding stopped again. 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. The Epic was a very messy mass start & the trails were so rough i was finding it hard to hold onto the bars, due to my injuries, it was 3hrs & 30mins of survival. The Kona 24hr was expected to have rain all weekend, so i wasn't too excited & guess what, a torrential downpour the Saturday night made it so muddy, then during my 5th lap & riding like a squid, i decided to get cleaned up & spend the rest of the race in the camper. I raced the 50k Epic next with a better result than last year mainly to a better mind set & start, as i cruised in with 2hrs & 52mins, 8th 40-49 & 44th overall. My training for the 24Hrs of Adrenalin World Solo Champs in Canberra had been coming along, although work & mind set had taken it's toll on me again, so i decided to go down to Canberra & give the other guys some assistance. I raced the Matrix 6hr at Canungra with my training buddy Rob & started out good, then went through my normal can't be bothered feel during my 3rd lap & nearly pulled the pin, then it just clicked on my 4th lap & i continued for a total of 11 laps coming in 11th place. My training started shortly after the New Year, although it was very casual, with most of my riding on the Single Speed in Daisy Hill Forest, due to the very wet weather we've had here in Queensland. I decided to ride the Mt.Joyce Half Marathon with Chris for some fun really & it was fun but very very tough on our choice of Single Speeds. During the Prologue lap i lost my Bidon then got held up at the bottom of the 1st climb i ran with the bike & rolled my ankle, i continued to the end, but if you check out my photo below you'll see it wasn't pain free. With my trip back to my birth place, the UK & a week on the Isle of Man to check out the 100th Anniversary of the Mountain Course over, my Mtb training had just re-started. On one of our Wednesday night rides i had a big get off, i bruised both Achilles, calf & shoulder, skin off hip & shoulder, both wrists sprained & a broken scaphoid, ouch. With 3 weeks & no work & 8 weeks without riding that was tough & i couldn't even ride my Triumph. But with the help from the EVS wrist supports i had been able to start riding again, and to start my training again, although with some very exciting news for me, it might change the plans a little, so more info on that soon !
GO TO On-Line Info FOR CONDITIONS |
Copyright © 1998 RAD CYCLERY Last modified: 17-Feb-2012 |
