Jameswilliamsoncycling's Blog

Quick update on the racing so far here in langkawi. Most of the time we have just been rolling along in the peloton trying to conserve energy for when it really counts. Due to the flat courses and lack of wind its hard for a break to stay away and also easy for everyone just to cruise along in the bunch which is allgood except for it creates seriously choatic finishes!

I think one of our best achievements so far has been avoiding anything nasty. Roman and I have been trying to wing our way through the sprints but without a committed and experienced leadout team we really need to get to the finish of a much more challenging stage. I have been feeling really good whenever it has been hard so hopefully will get the chance to test my form one day. The genting stage looms above us at the moment. We all know that’s where the race will be one, unfortunately for me its one extreme to the other as the climb is extremely hard and there are plenty of specialists here waiting to take off up there.
Tomorrow is an unknown which looks like it could have some rather decent climbs included in the 190km, anyway it looks like it could mix things up abit so we will be looking to make the most of any opportunities available!
Either way there should be plenty of action to report on in the coming days.
Will keep you posted!
Jimmy

Just a quick update here, having to do this one from my phone as the internet at the race hotel is ridiculously expensive for some reason. Seems strange when you can get it free at the food court on the street! Anyway finally the tour of langkawi is upon us, all the teams have arrived at the official hotel and the car park is jam packed with team cars, vans, bikes and all sorts of offical vehicals. The circus offically began with the team presentations in the middle of Kuala Lumpur this morning. Now we can relax, put the feet up and wait for the racing to roll round. First up a rather unappealing 20km TT on road bikes tomorrow morning. Must admit im looking forward to thay being behind us and getting stuck into the real racing out on the road! The team is all firing after and slightly more acclimatised than when we first got here. Joe Cooper is looking good for a solid performance in the tt so hopefully we have some work to do to help him out later in the week. For me I will be seeking out all opportunities to get some exposure and results in the breaks and sprints but will take each day as it comes. It will most definitely be an exciting week!

Also it is my first race as the NZ National Champion, can’t wait to roll to the start line on Saturday morning with the jersey on along side guys like Vinokourov, Zabriske, Danielson etc. Will be a pretty special feeling.
Will be that extra bit motivating to cross the line first at the finish!

Keep up to date with my Twitter and blogs so you can see how it pans out day to day

Malaysia has many hidden gems that we are slowly discovering. The other days roadside coconut drinks were topped by todays version, ice cold this is quickly becoming my new fav post ride recovery drink, packed with essential electrolytes it goes some way to replacing the litres of fluid sweated out on even the shortest bike rides here! Sure it won’t be long until I discover  another amazing local specialty to share with you!

Asia is always an interesting place to come and visit, you never really know what you are going to. This time however I must say we have hit a pretty sweet spot. Malaysia seems to have the best of both worlds, some Asian chaos with a little bit of western civilisation mixed in. Its been pretty hot but nothing unbearable just humid and on and off sunny. Seems to rain rather a lot though.
We were straight into it in terms of racing though.

Yesterday (our second day in the country) we took on the Sepang international Criterium on the F1 track here in Kuala Lumpur. We really had no idea of what to expect in terms of competition or format and were rather surprised to find out that we had almost 200guys rolling up on the start line.

Pre race setup in the pits!

The course was obviously made for speed and we definitely made the most of that. The 55km race took only 1.15hrs even though there was a decent amount of wind and a few slight hills on the course. With myself, Dan, Shem and Roman being the four riders for the day we made a plan to try and get the most out of the race. It worked out pretty well. The Asian riders have a tendency to go full gas and not hold anything back, then blowing up fantastically. Unfortunately it makes the race extremely unpredictable, basically we just had to go with them and wait for them to wear themselves out. Dan got away in a small break and I made a move to get across but got pulled back, at this point about 3 laps (out of 10) in the race was already shredded, at this point Roman and Shem hit out and just the two of them rode across to the break. I followed shortly after but going solo got stuck in the middle and ended up getting reabsorbed by the bunch. The guys up front worked well and thinned the break out to only 7 guys, with three of them up there it was looking good. I rolled round with the chasers until the second to last lap then hit out again solo just to make sure I still finished in the top 10. Up front the boys executed a plan but unfortunately the two riders from Pro Conti Champ-sys team managed to withstand the heat (37degrees) better and take the sprint, Dan finished a close second. Getting all four of us in the top 10 made a rather successful day out and it was certainly a great opportunity to get the body used to the kind of fast hot conditions we can expect in Langkawi later this week!

Dan on the F1 podium

Outside of the racing/riding we have experienced some great things about Malaysia. It is a country where you can seemingly get almost anything. We have been spoiled for choice in terms of food. From local street stall markets to French cafes to western style supermarkets there is anything and everything. We have braved a couple of local joints and been rewarded with super cheap but extremely flavourful meals. I think today I spent about $5NZ on lunch of chicken noodle soup and fresh berry juice smoothy. Doesn’t get much better than that!

Heaven in a Glass

The locals we have on the ground here helping us are nothing short of awesome, they are super enthusiastic and friendly and have been giving us some local insights. One of the highlights of the trip so far being a coconut drink stop on our ride the other day. Basically you get about 700ml of pure coconut juice and flesh, which is super refreshing and satisfying in the heat.
Today we are up for another decent ride then we are off into town to have a look around the city of Kuala Lumpur, should be a good one and I’m sure there will be some stories to report.
Jimmy

Had a sweet first proper training ride here in and around the hills of Kuala Lumpur. Ended up with about 3.5 hours on the bike over some pretty kool terrain. Rode up into the plantations, even got to see a few monkeys playing around the side of the road. We managed to collect rather a lot of dirt and muck from the wet roads though so a quick bike wash was compulsory at the end of the ride!

Everyones getting into it all good… had some interesting food experiences but luckily no issues yet… touch wood!

Anyway will put together a good write up of yesterdays first hit out race and the general Malaysian experience so stay posted.

Jimmy.

My final few days in New Zealand have been spent in the big hustle bustle of Wellington. Staying down town with my good mate James Canny it is abit different from the quiet streets of Alexandra but a good change and refreshing experience before heading on a big racing adventure to Asia.

View from top of Mt Vic

What awaits us is still relatively unknown, we are to be based in Malaysia for some 3months, travelling to multiple other Asian countries to take part in some rather exotic races.  All I know is that we will be in line for some new and unique experiences, which is always exciting and motivating!

First up we have the Sepang International Criterium on the F1 circuit in Kuala Lumpur. Only one day after we arrive in the country on the 19^th of Feb this is bound to shock our bodies into the swing of things. With some tickets for the upcoming F1 on the line it will no doubt be raced hard! After that we get abit of time to settle in and prepare for the massive event that is the 10 day Tour de Langkawi. For me it is super exciting to be lining up at an event of this magnitude with a very high calibre field as the National champ. Can’t wait to roll up to the start line with the jersey on.

The training and preparation has been going well, a few more motorpacing sessions to get used to riding fast again as well as some rather lung busting intervals have got me in what should be some pretty decent form. However im going to be realistic when it comes to racing up a 30km climb against a 50kg Colombian and previous Giro d’Italia podium placer. But there should be plenty of other opportunities for me. Maybe some breakaway action, maybe some hectic bunch sprint action, will have to see what the race throws at us.

It will be awesome to be back on the road with the PBR boys again, we have all been through some tough times recently but I’m sure the bonds made last year will show through and we will pick up from where we left off last year!

There will plenty for me to report on over the coming weeks and months so make sure to keep on the lookout for updates!

Jimmy

Chilling in Lake Hawea

The past few months have been perhaps the most turbulent, unsettling and intense part of my short career so far, as I have been searching for support, sponsors and a team to help get me through the year. I remain convinced however that it is important to not let the stress of the situation overrule everything. As a cyclist it is essential to be able to get away from the stressful situations in life in order to train, recover and perform at our highest levels. Energy spent on anything stressful outside of training is generally detrimental to ones recovery and future performances.
When you are in a situation of uncertainty it is best to identify what you can do to improve your outlook and leave what is out of your control. I have been trying to practice this recently to ensure that when I do get the opportunity again to prove myself in the competitive arena, that I am as ready as possible. And where is better to do this than in a very sunny Central Otago. This is the quick story of a good day in Hawea…

Wake up to the sun poking through the curtains at about 8am in the morning, a filling breakfast and a strong cup of coffee and im ready to get out amongst it. This morning I leave the batch with the company of local U19 star Tom Vessey and my sister for company. We cruise along to Wanaka and then follow the undulating windy road around the lake past Glendu Bay all the way to the Treble Cone turn off.

riding along to Glendu Bay (with fellow local and national champ Nicky Samuels)

After about 2 and a half hours of riding we are back in Wanaka and soaking up some rays at the coffee shop, fuelling up for the next bit. My mate Scott Rainsford rolls up to join us though this time his lycra is replaced by casuals and his bike has its own engine. Soon we are getting too hot just sitting in the sun so its time to saddle up again. Soph ditches us for a easy ride back to the house, for Tom and I we will spend the next two hours chasing Scotts little motorbike around. Finally we are heading back in the direction of Hawea some 5hrs after we left this morning, behind the motorbike we do one final big effort and then roll the last few ks home. It has been a satisfying day on the bike and we are just getting back as the heat of the day really sets in.
Once back inside its straight to the fridge and a can of coke is the only thing that can give me what im after right now. Next stop, the lake. Back to the house for some lunch, and abit of good old deck time. Some friends roll around and we head back down to the lake for the rest of the afternoon, its too hot to be anywhere but at the water. Things gets abit intense with some swimming and deep diving competitions, I put my poor performance down to too much energy spent riding. A charcoal bbq and a beer or two tops of the evening and before I know it the heat and training has caught up to me and im off to bed… its supposed to be even hotter tomorrow, good thing I have a rest day to make the most of it.
You would have to try pretty hard to get stressed out here.

On Sunday the 8^th of January 2012 I finally got the jersey I had been chasing for some 558km over 3years  around the streets of Christchurch, racing the dreaded dyers pass hill climb a total of 33 tiimes and collecting two silver medals in the U23 category along the way. But there is only one reason we turn up to the start of the national championships each year and that is to be the person standing on the top of the podium.

It has been a rather turbulent past couple of months for me but I feel that I have managed to come out of it in a good position given the circumstances. It was certainly hard getting the motivation to not only keep training but actually step things up in order to hit the nationals with some real form. Of course it definitely helped having some very supportive friends and family around me. My original plans to have a rather cruisy summer in terms of racing and training intensity were ditched and I reverted to my annual mission of preparing for nationals. I have done this religiously for the past two years and have managed to get a good balance between training and still enjoying the festive season.

Without PureBlack entering a team in the Tour de Vineyards this year I had planned to do it as a training holiday with some friends, it is always a good tour to get some solid training in over a time of year that you can easily get distracted. I still went into it with a super relaxed approach and was careful not to do too much in the first couple of days. After just cruising the takaka stage and riding the hill at my own pace, I was ready to get amongst it and try get something out of the race. I tried hard to get in the move on the third stage but was unlucky not to be in the right place at the right time and even though I was feeling pretty good I had to settle for another day rolling in the bunch. The final stage was on the brutal Richmond Hill St circuit, a 2.5km lap half up hill, half down. I had good legs again and so was aggressive from the start, for a while it seemed I would never make it away but eventually the bunch let up and the situation we ended up in couldn’t have been more perfect. Shem had been knocking it up solo at the front for a couple of laps, and myself and Dion Smith came across with race leader Paddy Bevan.When you have 3 teammates in a break of 4 the hardest part is deciding who will win, basically the only fair way to do it was to race all the way to the line and sprint it out. I was pretty determined to get a win under my belt and managed to edge out Dion in the sprint. Its always good for morale to have a win and to get it in the final build up race before nationals couldn’t have been better timing.   It was also a very successful official final hit out for us as PureBlack riders. Shem was super strong and consistant all week and ended up taking 3^rd overall, Dan Barry dominated the sprint ace and with my stage win on the final day we easily wrapped up the overall team prize. It was definitely an excellent way to finish off a massive year.

Due to the early start date of vineyards this time round we were able to relax and take our time to get down to Christchurch. After a few cruisy days in Nelson we rolled down south and got setup. It is the first time I have done the nationals outside of a team set up so a few of us decided to get a house and roll together anyway, with PBR team mates Taylor and Shem there it felt like old times.

When Sunday finally rolled round I was as ready as I was going to be, I was well recovered from the tour and was ready to race again. Its one race that I will never not get nervous for, there is so much prestige around it and with the massive crowds and lots of friends and family there you couldn’t really ask for a better stage to preform.

This years race was in one word ‘intense’ right from the start the pace was high and attacks were firing constantly. One of my pre race plans was to try and slip away into an early move so I was pretty active at the beginning, however as is often the case I wasn’t in the right place at the right time when a group finally went clear. It was a rather dangerous move aswell with guys who I knew were riding well up there such as Mike Northey, Paddy Bevan and Josh Atkins. I think this year we were consitantly climbing the hill 20-30sec faster than in previous years which is what split the bunch up so much right from the beginning. In the first few laps I really wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to maintain that intensity for the whole race but as the race went on I felt stronger and stronger and was more and more comfortable on the climb. A select group of riders from the bunch got across to the break about halfway through the race and it looked like that was it. We went from only having Taylor up the road to having myself, Shem, Scott Lyttle, Michael Torkler and Taylor all in the front group of about 20 which was more than ideal. I still wasn’t feeling amazing and was still keen to try and slip up the road but it was Shem who ended up making a good move and going away solo. He quickly put over a minute into the bunch by himself and looked like he would stay out for awhile. In the bunch the chase was messy and another break was initiated this time taylor and Torkler rolled away with Vink and Vennel in the most dangerous move of the race so far. I was still able to follow the others in the bunch and let them chase my teammates down up the road which was an ideal position. On the climbs we kept the pace on and got rid of more and more guys each time. Soon taylor and shem came back then unfortunately so did Torkler after he suffered a puncture. This put the emphasis back on us to chase so we rolled hard into the hill with 2 laps to go and myself, Paddy and Josh made a move up the climb to go clear. We soon caught Vennel who had dropped from Vink and the four of us rode into the last lap 1min down. On the hill we kept a solid tempo and were soon rid of Vennel meaning I only had to stay clear to take the Elite Title as the other guys were only U23. I was still very motivated to catch Vink and get to the front of the race so worked hard with the other two myself and paddy did some big turns and got very close to Vink but in the end he just managed to hold off, However for me my race had already been won a whole lap ago so when I crossed the line I could finally enjoy the feeling of being Elite National champion.

I had gone into the race with hopes and aims of doing something big, and there was nothing bigger I could have done than taking the jersey. Its always confusing when the u23 and elite races are run together as the tactics are completely separate. I didn’t consider Vink part of my race until the final kilometres. The only people that mattered to me where the other elite riders that I was trying to put time into behind me. However as a matter of pride it is always great to cross the line first and well done to Vink for his very impressive effort!

For now im going to enjoy a relaxing few days off the bike before slowly rebuilding for  the rest of the season, which races il be doing and who il be riding for is still very much up in the air but im working on it and hoping something will come along so that I can represent the national champs jersey in some big races overseas!

Will let you know when some decisions are reached, until then im going bush, tramping for a couple of days and then will get busy organising the year ahead!

Jimmy

As most of you may have heard by now, last weekend we received the devastating news that New Zealands premier road cycling team PureBlack Racing was not going to be able to continue with its plans in 2012 due to a lack of sponsorship funds. I was up in Auckland on friday competing in the NZ Criterium National Champs, where I helped PureBlack teammate Mike Northey to take his first national title. After a night of success and celebration the mood very quickly went from jubilation to shock as we were notified of the situation by team management on Saturday morning. Basically Carl and Greg had been working tirelessly to meet and arrange with sponsors funds to keep the team heading in the right direction, this had to be secured before the UCI deadline of December the 10^th. Unfortunately due to the current economic climate and a few other contributing factors, this was simply not possible.

At first I was shocked, I couldn’t really believe that it had actually happened to us. We had such a good thing going and so far everything had worked out better than imagined in our first year. But I knew that these can happen and tend to happen too often in the sport of cycling so was not totally bewildered. I think the most devastating thing about it was the fact that the 12 good mates that i had lived, ridden, travelled and raced with in the past year would no longer be part of the same team. We would no longer be fulfilling a dream of going pro in and taking on the European scene as a fully NZ made and owned team. There is still no doubt in my mind that if we had secured the necessary fund we would have shown the rest of the world that more than just a few New Zealanders are capable of competing on the world stage. Anyway it is not the end for us, we will simply follow our dreams individually but will not forget the friendships made in the stunning year of 2011.

For me I am in abit of a uncertain situation now. I don’t want to give up on the pursuit of going professional so easily but at this stage of the year it is extremely hard to find a similar quality setup to what we were going to go to with PureBlack in terms of setup and race calendar. So if nothing solid comes up its is very likely that I will spend the majority of 2012 in NZ riding and racing wherever and whenever possible and look at finishing off my University degree and possibly pursuing other options down that line. Then hopefully get back onto the international scene properly in 2013.

I had always planned on competing in the Tour de Vineyards and Elite Nationals this summer but had intended to use them as training races rather than major goals. However this massive change in plans has left me with quite abit more motivation and I hope that I can get to the road race at Nationals with similar condition as in the last couple of years and have a good crack at it. So at the moment it hasn’t been too hard to keep focused on achieving a short term goal. However after nationals I will most definitely have to reassess the situation and weigh up my options in order to decide which path is best for me for the rest of the year.

Untill then I hope to keep you updated with some good news and good results. I would like to thank all those people who have stood behind me so far and been so supportive this season. I am very grateful to all the sponsors, supporters and people behind the PureBlack Racing team who dreamed something and then tried their best to make it happen, providing an amazing opportunity for us along the way. Also to all our supporters in the States who helped to make our season so fun and successful. Most importantly my family and supporters in NZ who have welcomed me back and helped me through this tough time.

Thanks for reading

Jimmy

After a full on season racing all over the world I was well and truly ready to forget about riding my bike for a little while after the Sun Tour in Australia. The Tour was a great experience but i was struggling with fatigue at the end of a long season and so wasnt quite able to get out of it what i had hoped for. I had another rather drawn out trip home which was extended some 10-12hrs due to snow storms on the South Island, however when i finally got back i found it rather pleasant not to have to get up and go riding each day! keeping myself busy doing things that i dont usually have time or energy for has been great. I have still been keeping pretty active and have really enjoyed mixing things up with abit of running, mountain biking and getting into the gym.

Getting away for weekends in Queenstown, Duneding and Invercargill to watch the finale of the Tour of Southland has been keeping me occupied and away from my bike quite well!

With a massive season on the cards next year the last thing i want to do is fire up too early so it has been a matter of holding back for as long as possible before getting stuck into some base work and the odd race for fun. Im now in my first week back into training, getting familiar with the roads round the area again, safe to say i will be spending many an hour out and about on them in the next couple of months.

My first race back will be the Christchurch festival of cycling weekend, with a new course the race is abit of an unknown but im sure it will be as hard and fast as ever, which means my ‘fresh off only 3 weeks riding’ approach should make for an interesting couple of days. Am also going to go back to my MTB roots and do one of the iconic races here in central that has so far eluded me, the Garston to Bannockburn Gutbuster…from what i hear it is quite a brutal ride!

Anyway not to much else to report on at the moment, things are slowly ticking away as i build back into getting ready for next season. Hopefully see you out on the roads…any friends are always welcomed for training rides!