West Head Road Race @ 16 Apr - Dudley Hoskin (BiciSport Happy Wheels) takes third in the Masters category
BiciSport Griffith @ 15 Apr - L to R … Max Kopp, Albert Ravanello & Peter Budd after they completed the 200k ride from Griffith to Wagga
Ian Grant (BiciSport Anytime Fitness) has made a welcome return to Masters racing at both Lansdowne Park & Eastern Creek after sustaining injuries from a crash at Eastern Creek.
Ian finished 3rd in A2 grade on 16 Apr.
BiciSport Report @ Amstel Gold Classic @ 16 Apr - the day dawned damp but greatly improved by lunchtime. The Podge dominated from 60k out and crushed the opposition. Most of the day was spent in the Fixed Gear Coffee lounge in central Valkenburg.
BiciSport @ Amstel Gold Classic @ 16 Apr - The Podge gets in the break of the day some 65k+ from the finish and looked menacing as he passed through Valkenburg the first time (picture MOR)
BiciSport @ Amstel Gold Classic @ 16 Apr - chasing The Podge inspired breakaway was the somewhat tortured peloton already looking broken at Valkenburg the first time (picture MOR)
BiciSport @ Amstel Gold Classic @ 16 Apr - chasing riders in Valkenburg through the race convoy
BiciSport @ Amstel Gold Classic @ 16 Apr - The Podge comes through Valkenburg the second time and most definitely solo. The race was over (picture MOR) with The Podge having a lower back stretch
BiciSport @ Amstel Gold Classic @ 16 Apr - Healey & Pidcock come through Valkenburg looking miserable having been worked over by The Podge on the second pass (picture MOR).
BiciSport @ Amstel Gold Classic @ 16 Apr - the Womens race convoy passes the Fixed Gear Coffee lounge … home for an Amstel Gold day out.
BiciSport @ Amstel Gold Classic @ 16 Apr - huge crowds in Valkenburg with loud music, lots of alcohol and The Podge took the victory
BiciSport @ Amstel Gold Classic @ 15 Apr - Fixed Gear Coffee lounge # 1 in Valkenburg sees the Womens Race pass five times and the Mens race pass twice (in the street outside).
BiciSport @ Amstel Gold Classic @ 15 Apr - Fixed Gear Coffee lounge # 2 is a mixture of bike shop & coffee lounge right in the heart of Valkenburg
BiciSport @ Amstel Gold Classic @ 15 Apr - Fixed Gear Coffee lounge # 3
BiciSport @ Amstel Gold Classic @ 15 Apr - Australian cyclist Rachael Neylan (second left) with her Cofidis team mates at Valkenburg
The Shimano Experience Centre @ Valkenburg @ 16 Apr - Wow # 1 …. located in a most insignificant street in the outskirts of Valkenburg is the Shimano Experience Centre (with Anytime Fitness upstairs !). This was amazing, stylishly designed inside & out, with all manner of displays & goodies inside ranging from clothing, gravel, MTB & road bikes, bike hire and a nice cafe.
The Shimano Experience Centre @ Valkenburg @ 16 Apr - Wow # 2 … inside the front foyer
The Shimano Experience Centre @ Valkenburg @ 16 Apr - Wow # 3 … a tiny part of a huge display zone inside
BiciSport Training @ Velle (Antwerp) @ 10 Apr - The day after Paris Roubaix and a chance to ride the rural laneways near Antwerp for L to R … Mike van der Lawson, Koen VerHulst, Eddy VerHulst & MOR
BiciSport @ Sint Niklaas @ 10 Apr - Koen VerHulst (left) presents Mike van der Lawson with his new Force team jersey. BiciSport is sponsoring the Belgian Force team for three years from 2023. BiciSport Australia is on the collarbone part of the jersey
BiciSport @ Niewkerken Waas WAOD event @ 7 Apr - Koen VerHulst (BiciSport Team Force) rode well in Niewkerken over 60k. There are three cycle racing leagues in Belgium - UCI (first category), WAOD (second category) & TTC (third category)
BiciSport Team Force @ Niewkerken @ 7 Apr - Team Force took their first WAOD victory with Tom Vanneuville (red helmet)
BiciSport Team Force @ Niewkerken @ 7 Apr - Team Force celebrates with Tom Vanneuville (white wine)
RACE SEEKER - THIS WEEK
17 Apr - 24 Apr
BiciSport to the Belgian Spring Classics
23 Apr
Eastern Creek Raceway (Waratah Masters)
BICISPORT TRAINING RIDES
Every Mon/Wed/Fri Mornings
Centennial Park Masters @ Centennial Park
Meet at the corner of Parkes Drive/Grand Drive at 8.30am and do CP laps until 9.30am then coffee at Spruce Goose Cafe
Tues 18 Apr & Thurs 20 Apr
Waratah Peloton @ pass the corner of Yulong Ave & McCarrs Creek Rd Terrey Hills @ 8.00am for Akuna Bay, top of McCarrs Creek Rd climb at 8.40am, then direction Duffys Forest, then return Terrey Hills shops @ 9.15am then to St Ives for coffee
Centennial Park Lower Loop from 5.30am to 7.45am
Thurs 20 Apr
Belgian Waffle Ride @ Centennial Park @ Spruce Goose Cafe @ 10.30am for Park laps
Sat 22 Apr
Coffee @ Sandstone Cafe Miramare Gardens @ 9.30am
A grand tour of a very grand cycling “Brown Belgian Cafe” - Belgium is littered with what they call Brown Cafes.
Literally every village has at least two - dressed in heavy brown tones, wood work everywhere, plus the heavy tinge of stale cigarettes or maybe just simply stale (that can also include the customers ! ). People may even call them rustic, others call them “period”. The special Brown Cafe in these pictures is by invitation only and very much a cyclists paradise. In the above pic note the signatures of Johan Museeuw, Frank Hoste & Eddy Merckx (twice) plus Jo Planckaert
A grand tour of a grand cycling “Brown Belgian Cafe” # 2
A grand tour of a grand cycling “Brown Belgian Cafe” # 3
A grand tour of a grand cycling “Brown Belgian Cafe” # 4
A grand tour of a grand cycling “Brown Belgian Cafe” # 5 - very much a Stairway to Cycling Heaven
A grand tour of a grand cycling “Brown Belgian Cafe” # 6
Liege Bastogne Liege 2023 - not an easy race to follow by car, and at best maybe two or three viewings. The red return leg has two relatively easy viewings near Vielsam