tempo

Quote of the Week
“Life is like a toilet roll. The closer you get to the end the faster it unrolls.”
Lorrin L. Lee

What Else Would You Do On a Sunday Morning?

The Tennis Centre Circuit at the Sydney Olympic Park is conveniently located for most of our riders; a fast technical crit circuit and at this time of year testicle-gripping cold--some of which explained why a clutch of 116 riders turned up there on Sunday to do battle.
Trent Butler from Macarthur Club was certainly ready for the fray and dished out a comprehensive lesson to A grade to take his third win. James Downey from Parramatta was both militant and stylish to record his second victory over the 32 strong B grade. Waratah Gregor Rennie, who is always stylish, was delighted with his first win in C grade. Bill Daskalopoulos from Dulwich Club had his first ride with us and proved too strong for E grade so next time he can flex his muscles in D grade . And Waratah Luigi Lollato demonstrated a bit of the old spark to bring F grade home.
See all the results and relive all the action with Ernie’s thousands of photos.

Racing Sunday 25 July 2010
This Sunday we are racing at Lansdowne Park. C, D, E and F grades start at 07:45 hrs and A and B grades at 09:00 hrs. The Duty Officer and Commissaire is Hugh Gray and the Duty Helpers are Dennis Nel and Geon Young Choi.
Check the Infoline 1902 261 007 for last minute changes and consult the Programme well in advance to see when your next Club duty is scheduled.

Pointscore
There are over 600 riders vying for top billing in the Pointscore. The unassuming Michael Wilson is currently leading the charge, closely followed by Chris McGuigan with Ludwik Dabrowski and Michael Meehan on equal third. To see how you are going check the Pointscore.

Trackies

Continuing this Saturday 24 July the Dunc Gray track will be open for training for a 4 week trial period as follows:
10.00 am to 12.45 pm open training; 1.00 pm to 3.00 pm sprint only training. No derny available for either session.
Cost per session $20, Juniors (U17 and under) $10.
Note that because there is no on-site security there will be no vehicle entry, please park in the street and enter using the pedestrian gate.
Barrie McLean will be on site to collect training fees and make conversation, please help out by tendering the correct money. Cycling Australia financial members only, membership card must be shown.
Enquiries contact Barrie: barrie.mclean@cycling.org.au
Trial period includes: Sat 24 July; Sat 31 July and Sat 7 August
Also: introducing Wednesday nights 100 laps above the Blue Pace Line starting from 7.15pm!
I will be on hand on the 24 July to assist Waratah Club members.
Terry Freshwater Club Coach

Maillot Vert







Sprint Series Round 2
The third round of the series is scheduled for 8 August at Lansdowne.



Chemical Bill
Creatine again, but no joy for Sprinters!
Muscle creatine phosphate content has been shown to decline during prolonged exercise at 70% VO2max and it is also well-established that dietary creatine supplementation can increase muscle creatine phosphate content and creatine phosphate resynthesis rates; thereby improving high-intensity intermittent exercise performance. However, it is not known if creatine supplementation prior to exercise can elevate muscle total creatine and creatine phosphate content sufficiently to maintain muscle creatine phosphate content above those in a non-supplemented condition throughout prolonged endurance exercise. Hence a new study, recently published in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, investigated the effects of creatine supplementation on muscle metabolism and exercise performance during a ‘simulated’ cycling road race.
For this new study, twelve adult male endurance trained cyclists completed a simulated road race on a cycle ergometer, consisting of a two-hour cycling bout at 60% of peak aerobic capacity (VO2peak) with three 10-second sprints performed at 110% VO2 peak every 15 minutes. Cyclists completed the 2-hr cycling bout before and after dietary creatine monohydrate or placebo supplementation (3g/day for 28 days). Muscle biopsies were taken at rest and five minutes before the end of the two-hour ride. Whilst the results demonstrated significant increases in resting muscle total creatine and muscle creatine phosphate in the creatine group, plasma glucose, blood lactate, and respiratory exchange ratio during the 2-hour ride, as well as VO2 peak, were not affected by creatine supplementation. Submaximal oxygen consumption near the end of the two-hour ride was decreased by approximately 10% by creatine supplementation, however the time of the final sprint to exhaustion at the end of the 2-hour cycling bout was not affected by creatine supplementation, nor was power output for the final sprint.
In conclusion, although creatine supplementation may increase resting muscle total creatine, muscle creatine phosphate, and plasma volume, and may lead to a reduction in oxygen consumption during submaximal exercise, creatine supplementation does not improve sprint performance at the end of endurance cycling exercise.

Kaffee Klatsch
“G’day mate. The usual thanks Bev. Mate, the Tour’s gone to the dogs I reckon.”
“What? How can you say that? It’s been one of the most exciting tours of the Century. Millions have stayed glued to their televisions around the World throughout the whole thrilling time.”
“Nah mate, the podium girls are crook.”
“Oh, I see. I had forgotten your peculiar priorities. So what exactly about the girls has incurred your disdain.”
“The gear mate. Did you see what they were dressed in? Plastic garbage bags for the stage winner, grandmother’s curtains for the yellow and--did you see the get-up for the King of the Mountain? Toadstools mate, a couple of toadstools! And the girls were dogs, all of them.”
“Now hold on. Before your righteous indignation boils over let me tell you that those lovely young ladies were selected from literally hundreds of models who apply for the job each year.”
“But how hard can it be to hand a sweaty roadie a bunch of flowers and give him a peck on his bristle?”
“So to speak! Actually the girls work really hard, from dawn to dusk acting as PR go-fers and their only reward--apart from the money--is 20 seconds of fame on the podium.”
“Dressed as a toadstool, but!”
“Could be worse, they could be dressed as a roadie.”
“True mate. Did you see the Footon Servetto strip? It looked like they had been dunked in a mud bath then stood on by Bigfoot. Mate, I reckon it was the same designer designed the podium girls gear--shock’n!”
“Well at least our very own podium girl is always appropriately dressed. When you go and get more coffee tell her you think her balaclava is most becoming--then duck.”

The Life and Times of Bubbly Bev
Bev, bless her heart, has been following the Tour as much out of loyalty to her cycling customers as interest in the proceedings. This was borne out during the week by polite enquiries from our Cafe Angel like: “Why don’t the riders pull over and let that grumpy old bloke in the red car who keeps blowing his horn overtake?” and “Why do they all keep riding when they get to a feeding station? Surely they could stop for half an hour and have a decent meal washed down with one of the local wines--it is France after all--instead of eating all that package rubbish?”
Great idea, and come to think of it, that was the way the Tour used to be run in its early days.

Happy Jack’s Coaching Corner
The ultimate present: ‘Permission to play’
I spent my life being afraid... afraid of being wrong or ‘doing the wrong thing’. This resulted in severe limitations to how my life was lived. I lived a ‘constipated’ life.
When Andy Schleck’s chain came off on the final climb in stage 15, Contador did not stop. Was that the right or wrong thing to do? Debate still rages. Was it wrong for me to stand on the fence on my birthday and almost kill myself?. I am up on roofs most days without a safety harness. Anything wrong with that?
I ride on the road most of the time and use the footpaths and cycleways occasionally. Is there anything wrong with that?
Sometimes I listen to my wife, sometimes I don’t. I like to go riding instead of doing the lawn. I answer my phone only when I feel like it. I don’t offer the best service to all my clients – only some. I am not religious and don’t worry about the ‘afterlife’. I don’t worry much about my finances anymore. I don’t bother much more about who I please and who I don’t. I lost my ego. Sometimes I am late, sometimes I forget things and sometimes I just don’t do things.
I just play the game of life much like a game of cards. I get what is dealt out and play the game out. And whatever happens is OK.... it is the way it is meant to be.
The birthday present I got (when I fell off the fence) was the feeling that I could do NO WRONG. I have ‘permission to play’ life anyway I like. What would you do if you absolutely knew that you could do no wrong?
Jack Yuen

Get Into the New Gear
In spite of the weather the new jerseys are selling fast.
The old manly six-pack look has gone (too hard to maintain) to be replaced by a sensuous softness to disguise the paunches we all carry.
The old Waratah flower which has served us so long has bowed out gracefully in favour of our new vibrant logo. The new jersey also proudly sports our new name “Waratah Masters Cycling Club.”
This is now the most vibrant and eye-catching kit in the peleton, which is great for rider safety, but with such high visibility we’ll all have to improve our performances.
This little charmer will cost you a mere
$80 so rush your orders to Bev Owen (9639 8007). She still has some of the old long sleeves stock left in limited sizes for $100 as well as jackets at $140 and arm warmers have been reduced to $25 to match the fall in temperatures. 
Please note, we no longer sell Club knicks as there is a vast range of black knicks out there to suit all pockets and backsides.

New Members
If you have just joined the Waratahs or would like to refresh your memory about what to do, when, and to whom, you will find all the answers in our New Members page on the website, just click here.

Like Father Like Son

The love of cycling is in the blood. If you don’t believe me have a gander at the great website run by Jonesy’s son. It’s a good place to find out what’s going on in the world of cycling.
This month BNA is featuring a great article on buying at your LBS versus on-line. Check it out to see where you will be buying in the future.

Training Rides
Dad’s Army:0800 hrs Tues & Thurs Mona Vale Rd, St Ives (carpark opposite Stanley Street); 52 clicks through Terrey Hills, Akuna Bay and Duffy’s Forest.
Grandad’s Army: same as above but starts at 0745 hrs. (Please note these are not official Waratah training rides).
Homebush: 6.00 am Tues, Wed and Thurs: Olympic Park train station; 45 mins of high-speed fun. Four or five self-selecting bunches to suit all levels. Run expertly by Lidcombe-Auburn Club but all clubs welcome. Expect large bunches in Summer.
If none of these suit try this website to find out how to link up with other bunch rides--no, it’s not a dating service for lonely cyclists.

Makeover of the Week

We have all witnessed history in the making on the Tour. The elder statesmen, all now pushing 40, have made way for the young turks clamouring to reach cycling’s pinnacle on more youthful legs.
When the Tour is finished with them some of these riders inevitably gravitate to the Waratahs, or as we now like to call ourselves ‘Waratah’.
At Waratah the aging cyclists experience a new lease of life, not just because we have access to the Elixir of Life (join us and find out), but because the subtly de-tuned environment of Masters racing enhances their performance by contrast. It’s as if the years have been turned back and they are young again.
At Waratah we have perfected this process to the point where all our members, regardless of their age, race and feel like teenagers again (several court cases pending).
Dalbir Rambo is a case in point, seen above leading out Armstrong in a recent trial at Lansdowne (Oh yes, Lance is really keen on joining Waratah but is a bit iffy about entering at D grade level ‘to see how he goes’). Dalbir might be sporting the superficial signs of DOB but his body grows younger by the day--just look at those quads! He rides today as competitively as he did in his youth racing through the foothills of the Himalya surrounding the Punjab--very similar to Lansdowne really.
So, if you’re a bit worried about the toilet roll running out and feel that eternal youth sounds attractive then Masters racing is for you and Waratah in particular where the rejuvenation process is more physical than Photoshop.

Prepaid Race Fees
Waratah members can pay the next five months’ race fees for a mere $100 (non-members $175). Do the maths and see what a great saving this is. More to the point for the lazy ones amongst us it removes the need to queue up on cold mornings to register, just sign on and go. You can even select your favourite number!
Fill in the application form now and cash in.

Ernie’s Excursions

Friday and 295 kms for the week (couldn’t make the 300). I don’t know if it is the cold weather and all the layers of clothing and the local rag stuffed up my jumper, but I seem to be going slower. I can’t blame my old Malvern Star as it only weighs 12 kilos. I gave it a wash the other day so that should knock off a bit of excess weight.
On Thursday I was very proud of myself managing to be on the road at 4.15 am and on arriving at George's coffee stop was telling anybody that would listen that I had covered 50 kms so far. Then Joe Walsh turned up dressed like a polar bear and he informed us that as it was his birthday he had just done a big ride to Campbelltown and back to celebrate, so we all congratulated him and sang Happy Birthday and we were surprised that he was slightly embarrassed. I don’t know if it was because Mimi gave him a kiss, so when you see Joe wish him all the best and don’t forget to ask him how old he is. In cycling, as in life, there is always somebody that can ride further and faster than us, but this doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t stop trying to improve.
Speaking of improving it is good to see all the new Waratah riders getting stuck into their training and it is paying dividends as they are all progressing up through the ranks and are managing to be in the sprint bunch at the finish. Well done riders keep it up.

Yesterday I had to go into town to the skin cancer specialist for my six-monthly check up, and had a couple of biopsies taken and the usual freezing off of many other bumps and lumps. Riders if you have any itchy bumps or lumps please have them checked out and don’t put it off as the sooner they are treated the better. Being cyclists for years we have spent long hours out in the sun and this is when the damage is done and it catches up with us later in life. When I was a kid I got badly sunburnt (to the point of big blisters) every summer as we didn’t know anything about melanomas. I remember one time as a kid I was sent to a convalescent hospital in Mount Martha in Victoria to recuperate after having survived tetanus, and during the day they would wheel our beds out on to the balcony and leave us there for 6 hours in the sun thinking that it would do us good. I am now paying the price for all those good intentions.
Ernie Smith

Granny’s Egg Suckers
Tour sprinters' bikes
HTC-Columbia bike sponsor Scott has supplied team riders with a new aero road bike in their quest for glory at this year's Tour de France. Scott says the new frame, named Project F01, combines the best attributes of its current Addict road and Plasma 3 TT/Tri bikes. The Project F01 weighs just 5 percent more than an Addict while retaining the same stiffness, and yet reduces frame drag by 20-30 percent. That equates to an impressive 840g bare frame weight ,or a 1,277g fuselage weight with frame, fork, seatpost and clamp that should satisfy even fussy climbers but also a significant 20W power savings at speed, based on a 300W output.
Aero shape, real-time data telemetry, samurais and blood, this bike has it all. Mark Cavendish has replaced last year's custom paint scheme with a more sinister Asian-inspired tone on his new bike. Scott designers did a good job of by drawing on some classic Japanese artwork; the custom graphics include a sword-wielding samurai contrasted with an idyllic landscape and lots of blood spatters.
The build kit is little changed from star sprinter's previous Addict with a Shimano Dura-Ace mechanical group and pedals, SRM-equipped crankset, fi'zi:k Arione CX Carbon Braided saddle, Elite cages, and AceCo's increasingly popular K-Edge chain watcher – the latter even custom etched just for Cavendish- with Zipp 404 carbon tubular rims laced to Shimano Dura-Ace hubs with Sapim CX-Ray spokes.
Riders carry HTC Legend mobile phones with them during each stage (housed in a small bag beneath the saddle and weighing under 200g in total) and they're paired with each rider's SRM power meters and speed sensors via the ANT+ wireless protocol. This lets team staff track each rider's speed, cadence, power output, heart rate, and even exact position via the phone's on-board GPS in real time. The team can make tactical decisions while also providing a better idea of each rider's condition. Spectators can view the data themselves via several locations, including Google, SRM, and the HTC-Columbia team page.
Cervélo TestTeam has provided star sprinter Thor Hushovd with a special green bike in honour of his green jersey and unlike some others, this one is decidedly understated and subtle.
Hushovd's Cervélo S3 sports just a handful of green highlights on the frame plus a smattering of matching green accessories including the SRAM Red brake hoods, Zipp 404 and 808 rim decals, Speedplay Zero pedals, and accent graphics on the Rotor 3D crankarms and 3T Rotundo Pro traditional-bend handlebar. There is no mistaking whose bike this is or what jersey competition Hushovd is wearing but it's certainly less over-the-top and elegant. In fact, if Hushovd manages to carry the jersey all the way into Paris, perhaps Cervélo might offer this as a limited edition to customers.
From a mechanical standpoint there are no differences from his usual S3 with the same deep-section aero tubes, deceptively spindly seat stays to maintain a good ride quality (team riders used this bike on the cobbles , too), and identical build kit.
One thing worth noting though: pedal sponsor Speedplay offers three different inserts for its Zero clipless pedals so that riders can tune the release tension to their liking. The Cervélo women's team mostly chooses the softest option (similar to the company's 'Light Action' model) but not surprisingly, Hushovd opts for the stiffest setting.
Garmin-Transitions sprinter Tyler Farrar has had a rough start to this year's Tour de France but is recovering from early injuries and could yet grab a stage victory. Felt's consumer catalogue lists two variants for its F1 carbon road racer flagship: the sub-900g F1 SL and the 300g-heavier, but much stiffer, F1 Sprint. For Garmin-Transitions sprinter Tyler Farrar and the rest of the squad, though, there's just the one 'Team Edition' model that blends aspects of both into a single frame. The end result is a frame that weighs just 1,000g but offers the same stiffness as the consumer-edition Sprint, albeit with a little less crash durability.
The other major difference between team bikes and consumer models is the fork. Garmin-Transitions forks use the same carbon blades, crown, and steerer as the standard version but uses alloy tips instead of the usual carbon fibre ones, not for issues of weight or durability but rather speed of wheel replacement. The team puts up with the heavier alloy fork tips as most of them are still at 6.8kg and they would rather have the two-to five seconds saved on wheel changes. Otherwise, the rest of Farrar's machine is a decidedly standard setup. Shimano provides most of the running gear with its full Dura-Ace 7900 mechanical drivetrain, brakes, Dual Control levers, and pedals; rolling stock comes courtesy of Mavic's versatile Cosmic Carbone Ultimate wheels and Vittoria Corsa EVO CX tubulars; 3T provides its bar, stem, and seatpost; and Farrar continues to soldier on his preferred fi'zi:k Pavé CX saddle.
Additional bits include Ceramicspeed bearings in the bottom bracket cups, a pair of Arundel Mandible carbon bottle cages, an AceCo K-Edge chain watcher, and Garmin's latest Edge 500 GPS-enabled computer. Even under a strong sprinter like Farrar, total bike weight is still just 7.07kg.
The Poacher

Immortal Humour
With Bill Hardy taken from us we know that he would want us to continue his particular brand of quirky humour. So we will as a memorial to our friend.

A Saudi student e-mails home:
Dear Dad
Berlin is wonderful, people are nice and I really like it here, but Dad, I am a bit ashamed to arrive at my college in my gold Mercedes, when all my teachers travel by train.
Your loving son Nasser.

Sometime later Nasser gets a reply to his e-mail from his Dad:
Loving son,
Twenty million dollars transferred to your account, please stop embarrassing us, go and get yourself a train too.
Dad

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