@ALL - Yeah, transitional one tonight. Tomorrow's Joseph's birthday irl date (and in a couple of episodes story dates, if I didn't have the hiatus could've matched it up) so maybe a longer one for the Worlds buildup.
S5/E9
Sunshine
♫ I'm walking on sunshine, woah
I'm walking on sunshine, woah
I'm walking on sunshine, woah
And don't it feel good! ♫
I was back at school for the last two terms of my school life. I was going to go to Massey after this gap year (which depended on if we found a new team, particularly after blowing the whistle later this year), be it as a distance-learner or not, depending on a pro contract. If it was in Europe, I might have to put that on hold, but I would have expected some signs of life on that front by now. If there was no pro contract then hey, it was local, just an hour's drive or less - though I would be bitterly disappointed. Either way, I was all about training for worlds and having fun. July turned into August and the weather slowly warmed. Training was different without Hayden: Sure, I had Rose, Alex and a few others but it wasn't the same.
Rose still didn't know how Hayden felt about her but she missed him nevertheless. I'd confided in her the truth behind the Italian junior team but I had the self-restraint to keep it there - and of course to Mum and Dad. Keep it within the family, so to speak. Their result, of course, was shock, before asking us what to do about it. I reassured all three that they were doing all their homework on it and would be going to the right people once they returned
And yeah, my love life can still be summed up as "unrequited". I still hadn't said anything to Tessa and still tried my best to move on from that, and there was nobody else. Maybe a new pond was needed.
Edited by jandal7 on 21-04-2020 02:08
♫ Feel weak, and when you feel weak, you feel like you wanna just give up.
But you gotta search within you, you gotta find that inner strength
And just pull that s*** out of you and get that motivation to not give up
And not be a quitter, no matter how bad you wanna just fall flat on your face and collapse ♫
We were here. Mac for the ITT, and joining Hayden and I for the road race. I was surprised to be here on this kind of course which sounded more up the alley of the Richie, but I was desperate to stake a claim for the leader's role next year and to help my brother to the medals this year, and I had certainly made the hills into a strength for me.
Mac came 7th in the TT and then it was time for the RR. This year I didn't hop in the break and neither did Mac. We knew we had to give our all in the finale to give Hayden a shot. After a podium in the Junior Liege - Bastogne - Liege, we knew he could achieve well here. We didn't keep pace - we couldn't with only 2 helpers. Instead we helped him stay near the front and well-fed and watered.
The pace got hot as the break was caught with 30km to go - Australia doing the brunt work for Caleb Ewan, who as a small sprinter was a favourite on this finish - the Cauberg is no Mur de Huy and the finish was flat. We stayed 15-20th wheel and tried to keep Hayden protected. It truly was a magical feel to climb the Cauberg every lap, but there was no time to be caught day dreaming. Only my second race in Europe and I was already climbing one of cycling's most iconic climbs, pretty cool!
We slowly began moving forwards as everyone else began to move back, however, as the pace increased even more on the penultimate lap, Mac had to drop off, and I was near the back and not of any direct use to Hayden. Suddenly, a flash of green and a Slovenian rider attacked. Hayden latched onto his wheel and so did one Caleb Ewan.
Edited by jandal7 on 21-04-2020 01:45
"Could it be a temporary alliance to shake the Aussie?"
With me in the middle of the peloton, I didn't see a lot of what was happening after Hayden attacked. I'll just read you the greatest hits of the last lap of race commentary:
17.8km to go: "Now we see, just over 17km to go as we crest the Cauberg for the penultimate time. The teammates of Mohoric and Ewan are doing a marvellous, if slightly unsporting, job at disrupting the French lead chase."
16.2km to go: "10 miles or 16.2 kilometres to go, whatever you call it the bell rings for a Slovenian and two riders from Down Under, a Kiwi and an Aussie. We wait to see the gap... 34 seconds on the line for the trio. One lap, and only one winner. Who will it be?"
10.0km to go: "The golden rule is usually a minute to 10km - these three young men have just 38 seconds. But against a disorganised chase which still has their teammates near but not on the front, could it be enough?"
5.7km to go: "The gap is still around 35 seconds but it's too early to dream of the rainbow for Caleb Ewan, Hayden Vaillenos and Matej Mohoric, and they know it. The face of Mohoric, contorted with pain and determination drops off from his turn and says something to Vaillenos on his way to the back. With Ewan predicted to be the next big global star sprinter, could it be a temporary alliance to shake the Aussie?
3.3km to go: "Here we are, the foot of the famed Cauberg and the trio look at each other. The sign on the motorbike says they have 29 seconds - we say 31. Now it's a battle of stamina, strength and wits. We've seen these first two rather a lot on the circuit this year. Mohoric is a great puncheur - and descender if he gets a gap. Ewan is a sprinter who can go uphill well too, which leaves Vaillenos. The older brother of Joseph, who's back in the pack, he's a multiple age-group NZ champ, was eleventh in Copenhagen last year and has ridden for Italian amateur team Colnago Racing this year. He's notably been third in the Junior Liege-Bastogne-Liege and won some smaller Italian classics, but perhaps his biggest result was 2nd on GC, the points jersey, and two stages in the Tour L'Abitibi in Quebec. An unknown property, for sure."
2.7km to go: "Mohoric attacks and immediately Vaillenos tries to latch on! Ewan stays in his wheel but can't follow just yet, he's back in his seat. But now Mohoric sits up behind Vaillenos and the latter is smart enough to know towing somebody is a recipe for disaster. All back together as Ewan takes up the pace."
2km to go: "Not long left to the top of the climb and Vaillenos knows it! What an acceleration! He came from absolutely nowhere and it looks like Mohoric is fading a bit - but Ewan is a sprinter and has the kick of a loaded pistol! He's on the Kiwi's wheel like glue."
1.7km to go: "This is the end of the Cauberg and it's downhill to the finish. Mohoric is giving chase but Ewan isn't helping Vaillenos, and against his better judgement I'm sure Vaillenos is going to fight for a shot at gold against just Caleb Ewan rather than Ewan and Mohoric."
1km to go: "The pack is closing and Vaillenos flicks his elbow angrily at his trans-Tasman rival. Ewan hesitates but has to come through and pull! Just 10 seconds now!"
800m to go: "Vaillenos comes through for a short turn but it seems they have enough of a gap - the leaders in the peloton have run out of domestiques and are track sprinting for third! Vaillenos does the same with a tap of the brakes and a swerve to the outside! It'll take more than that to beat Ewan though as he does the same. 700m to go and the gap is closing as one teammate of a sprinter finds his second wind. Vaillenos has a glance back and sees this - he drops the gears and absolutely leaves nothing to chance - he doesn't care whether Caleb Ewan is on his wheel, it's now or never."
400m to go: "Vaillenos is still going full gas - Caleb Ewan grits his teeth and tries to get through this for 200 more meters so he can launch is sprint. It's now a matter of seconds to the oncoming pack though! 250m to go now and Ewan is going from distance. Vaillenos tries to get in his draft but my god this boy Ewan has some pace - he's fried Vaillenos' gold dreams alive! 100m now - It'll be Ewan for gold no doubt. Vaillenos is giving every last ounce of energy is his body to fend off the pack - and Caleb Ewan can punch the air, he's done it! Vaillenos is a deserved second by half a tire."
@Croatia - Wow thanks Yeah heartbreak for Hayden @ALL - here's a look at Joseph and Hayden's generation ranked irl this year - pretty impressive
S5/E11
Worlds '12 III
"My god this boy Ewan has some pace - he's fried Vaillenos' gold dreams alive!"
I put my head down and gave it my all to the finish, surfing the wheels and unable to see the front, except for the green and gold of a celebrating Caleb Ewan - had they stayed away?. I'd find out I was 9th from the splintered pack, right behind a certain Monsieur van der Poel. This, of course, placed me 11th - which, as I was well aware, was where Hayden finished last year. I was extremely pleased, especially with how I recovered and conserved my energy on the final lap, but my thoughts were just for Hayden. I tried to search for him, and the bugger was doing an interview. I had a case of serious deja vu, but this time, it wasn't just a stray reporter from Stuff or Newshub - this was cyclingnews, Sporza, the lot. And this time, it looked like he was fighting back tears. My brother never cried. I guessed he'd been caught. I couldn't run, I was too tired, and I stumbled across to listen in.
'Hayden Vaillenos - in the end you grabbed a silver. What are your thoughts?' one reporter from cyclingnews was asking. I gasped. I'd seen Ewan celebrating, but I guess they'd stayed away. And at that moment I didn't care who wanted my brother's thoughts. I found some energy, ran across and hugged him. He didn't see me coming but a ghost of a smile passed his lips when he realised.
_____________________________________________________________________
'Dammit, Jay, I was so close to gold.' Hayden exhaled at the end of his recount. 'I know everyone's telling me I'd have taken it at the start but when I was there... that guy Ewan played me.' he still looked so dissapointed but I knew he knew how brilliant a result it was. I was bloody proud of my big brother. He'd been put in a group with two of the best young talents in the world and beat one of them and the entire peloton - just had lost gold from an impossible situation.
Rose had finished strongly as well: fifth in a reduced bunch kick won by a Brit called Lucy Garner - who also won last year in Copenhagen. Definitely looking like a huge talent. A big achievement for Rose, who'd been talking to a few scouts in the days since.
After that, Hayden's season was over, thank God, and he came home with us. We organised a ride with Richie and Ollie, ostensibly to catch up and do some training for the upcoming season (a pair of Belgian amateur contracts for Hayden and Mac, our last under-18 domestic season for us 3) but really to talk about when we were going to throw the big pile of crap we'd been burdened with that was the doping at Colnago right into the intimidating fan that is World Cycling.
Edited by jandal7 on 21-04-2020 01:59
@Croatia - Awesome to hear you're hyped Thanks a lot! @ALL - The Mid-Season finale as it's a good place (I know it was meant to be the last episode but I forgot plus it would get too long) and I'm taking a 5-ish day break
S5/E12
Can O' Worms
"Hayden, Mac and I organised a ride with Ollie and Richie before we headed home to talk about when we were going to throw the big pile of crap we'd been burdened with right into the intimidating fan that is World Cycling."
The inevitable small talk preced 'the big chat.'
'How's James Oram doing? He's from your way isn't he?' Richie asked me.
'Yeah, he's from Palmy but he lives in Auckland. I don't know him too well - apart from Worlds. He came 9th in a stage in Utah or somewhere - still, pretty good being at bleeding Bontrager! Just think - he won Abitibi last year - bit like Hayden! Only two years older than us too. Maybe one day we'll be on the same team.' I replied.
'Alright guys,' Ollie said briskly as we climbed up yet another Wellington hill, 'Mac and Hayden are back. I say we go to Cycling NZ this week.' We all processed that. It seemed fair enough but we had no idea of how to tell them. Mac opened his mouth.
'I live near Cambridge, so all chill there - Hayden, you alright to come up sometime?' Mac asked.
'I could even come back with you this evening, tell them tomorrow - have some cheeky velodrome races, come back in a few. Jay, will you tell Mum and Dad?' Hayden said brightly.
'Yeah no probs.' I replied, 'What are you guys going to say?'
'The truth, obviously. I guess we just ask to speak to somebody high up - pretty high up. And then just tell them everything we found out' Mac said thoughtfully. 'How many other people know?' he asked.
'Parents.' Ollie and I chorused. Hayden looked at me quizzically, and the question didn't need to be voiced. I gave him a quick nod.
'Dad.' Richie said quietly. We didn't know what to say. There was an awkward pause.
'Sweet as.' said Mac. 'We'll skype you guys tomorrow night hopefully.' We were all happy with that, and although incredibly nervous I was very happy to hear they'd done more research and would give a comprehensive testimony as soon as they can. We want back to enjoy our ride and the lovely views of the capital city before our various trips home that afternoon.
Edited by jandal7 on 21-04-2020 02:06
Croatia - Haha good to hear Tamijo - Cheers DiCyc - I can and I will Thanks a lot
24/02/21 - kandesbunzler said “I don't drink famous people."
15/08/22 - SotD said "Your [jandal's] humour is overrated"
11/06/24 - knockout said "Winning is fine I guess. Truth be told this felt completely unimportant." [ICL] Santos-Euskadi | [PT] Xero Racing
I unlocked the computer, logged into skype and found four friendly faces waiting for me. Hayden and Mac in Mac's room, Ollie in his small Christchurch room, bookcase and bed visible behind him, Richie in his spacious room adorned with posters in the heart of Auckland.
'Now the latecomer's here-' began Richie with a smile.
'Gee, Richie, I know you get a lot of traffic in Ōrākei but I'm a minute late - punctuality gone mad?' I shot back with a grin.
'Still, it's usually you the slow one, eh Jay?' Mac said.
'Oh yeah, and where were you in the Worlds Sprint? 100th?'
'Overall, 68th in the pack.'
'Just say seventieth.'
'It was about the sprint.'
'Well then, I got top ten.'
'Ladies, you're both pretty' Richie cut in.
'Nice, Richie.' I said with a fake smile.
'Yeah good one.'
'But Jay's prettier - cause he's got my genes, you see.' quipped Hayden.
'Yeah, yeah, just tell us what happened.' I prompted.
'Every last word.' said Ollie.
Cue 'So, what were you two wearing?' from Richie.
'Well, maybe not quite Ollie, but we'll see what we can do.' Mac said. 'So, we went in and booked for 3 o'clock with Greg Chambers - you know, the guy who runs the Junior program?' We nodded the affirmative.
'Well, he asked us what we wanted after a few formalities - are you looking forward to Europe this, congratulations on the worlds that. Then...'
'Mac dropped the precious, sport-changing little bomb right into Chambo's lap.' Hayden finished.
'So how did he take it?' Richie asked eagerly.
'He believed us.' said Hayden. Mac jumped in.
'When he thought we could be telling the truth, he called in someone we didn't know and someone from higher up. They asked us for some more details and how much we knew, then said it would go to somewhere higher.'
'But did they believe you?' I asked.
'Yeah.' Mac said. We all sighed in relief.
Edited by jandal7 on 21-04-2020 02:26
'Choice.' I breathed out, followed by a laugh that was more a sound of relief.
'What are they going to do now?' asked Ollie.
'Give it to the UCI for investigation.' Mac said simply.
'They're WHAT?' asked Ollie, whilst Richie's exclamation was much more in favour of the decision.
'What's wrong with that?' Richie asked, mystified.
'Right now, all over world news, is proof of what they'll do. A private swat on the arm and cover it all up to save face. Armstrong, Postal and pretty much the entire 2000s which we haven't had much done about.' Ollie ranted heatedly.
'Ok, valid,' I considered, 'buuuuuuut, what are we going to do about that?' everyone fell silent. Hayden and Mac murmured to each other, Ollie was determinedly figuring out a solution and Richie was processing, but eventually agreed.
'Besides, isn't that all a pretty good reason why they would take it seriously?' Mac pondered. 'They don't want that whole thing to happen again.'
'It's out of our hands.' Hayden said, 'Whatever happens, happens. We can ask Cycling NZ for updates, but if it's taking too long we can go it alone somewhere else. It'll come back to Mac and I anyway.'
_____________________________________________________________________
I did want to race in Italy - as a part Italian it seemed logical, plus I had grandparents and younger cousins, twins James and Francesa, who I'd met a few times on either side of the world, living by Lake Iseo in Lombardy, and another set of three near Siena who I hadn't met for a decade. But it was out of the question - not at Colnago, not in the country when the news (hopefully) hit and I was a brother of a whistleblower. They were probably in the circle of dopers too.
So due to this and the fact that Richie and I both spoke French to a solid extent, we were talking to Greg Chambers about joining a French or Belgian team instead. Through the George Bennett connection (three years earlier) to NZ we had the option of Club Road 4 Chemins Roanne, a French amateur team near Lyon, who have produced riders such as Jérôme Coppel and Arthur Vichot. We also were honoured to have an offer from the prestigious team run by Jean-René Bernaudeau, Vendée U. It was a tough choice: One more historic and probably stronger - the other with more opportunities to lead.
Edited by jandal7 on 21-04-2020 04:59
@Croatia - cheers mate Yeah would be a nice place for the lads... @ALL - Aw yiss local racing season again
S5/E15
Back In Business
♫ Back in black
I hit the sack
I've been too long I'm glad to be back ♫
I'd grown even closer to Anna, Eva and Gabby as they started to talk more fluently - not that they hadn't been noisy from a year old but they could do coherency, a bit of reading even! The fact Hayden had been away and so it was just me (and sometimes Rose) with them after schools when I wasn't riding helped too. I was definitely the #1 brother right now - not that we were counting score.
The first race of the new season was soon upon us and it was an old favourite loop - starting by the river, going out for some short hills and looping back. Always a small group sprint and always won by Hayden. But he wasn't in this category, and I was the ultimate favourite for the overall. You could make a case for Jack Hastings, who last year made the good choice not to get beaten up in a dark street at night. He's got common sense, that's all I'm saying.
A couple of riders went clear and came back, but the real events kicked off when Maui Fafukai attacked with 10km to go up a hill. I watched Hastings closely as Alex followed Fafukai. Hastings and I didn't move as we reached a stalemate - and I had him where I wanted as I had a (not concrete, but after over 6 seasons of this understood) excuse not to chase now, to set myself up for a cheeky dig late on.
2km to go and they were within our sights but I still held off - I'd seen Alex attack up ahead and didn't want to spoil his chances. When I was sure he'd be first or second, I went to the opposite side of the road and tried a probing, in-saddle move. Hastings had to veer across and get out of the saddle to try and reach me, but I'd already gone back to the original side, which was the inside of the next corner. I had a gap of just 10 or 15 metres but it was enough on a flat finish to maybe get a second or two early, especially as Fafukai was within reach - Alex would win. This was the most separated finish on this loop I'd seen.
In the end, I caught Fafukai and pipped him to 2nd for a couple of bonuses and a good start to the sprint comp. Jak was a second back, so 6 seconds on him altogether. Marginal gains.
@Croatia - When motivation hits you at midnight you gotta go with the flow Thanks, hoping to make it a great last home summer. @Tamijo - Thanks Joseph did well to press an advantage... @ALL - this could get messy, sorry to those who hate Joseph's terrible love life but this isn't The Racing and Cycling-Related Anecdotes, it's The Life and Times
S5/E16
Paths
"We've got two French teams: both want all three of us. They're the same division, should be same races."
Right here's the deal - Vendée is bigger, closer to professional style and have the link with Europcar. CR4C have two English speakers - including an Aussie - signed up, and I know you two speak French but I'm still taking the online courses and more chances for us to lead most likely.' Ollie listed, all in one breath.
'I don't mind, I'm leaning towards Vendée I guess.' Richie said unconvincingly.
'Roanne is my vote - get some results on paper, have teammates who have English as a first language as well - it's just beating the Vendée U advantage of higher budget and Europcar - I mean, Europcar wouldn't want us!' I said.
'Fair.' considered Richie.
'I reckon CR4C as well.' said Ollie.
'Well I'm in.' said Richie.
'Great, let's sign!'
'For a guy they call Romeo it's been a while since you've had a girlfriend.' Tessa pointed out.
'Don't you start!' I exclaimed in mock exhaustion. And there it was again. I knew she hadn't forgotten that easily. Apparently, I just wasn't her type. Apparently, I was too stubborn and self-driven. Maybe that was true. Apparently, she just didn't like me in general. Then we were friends. I wasn't sure if I could accept that.
'Look, Joseph.' she began. Oh dammit, I knew where this was going. 'I haven't forgotten. But you need to move on.' Well, I had always known where to go for a fresh slap of depressingly real reality.
'You know I can't.' I said quietly.
'Bullshit. You haven't even tried.' she snapped.
'That's not fair.'
'Okay, maybe not. Sorry.' she said after a pause. 'But I'm just not interested.' I didn't respond, looking out over the river. 'Do we need to talk about this?' she asked cautiously.
'No. It's just... hard, y'know. I don't want to anymore. Really. Why would I go out with someone who doesn't like me-'
'Joseph-'
'like me like that, if you'd let me finish. I don't want to go out with you. But... I guess I do want to go out with a you that wants to go out with me and I know' for she had just started again, 'that you don't and won't and never will and that's why I'm trying to get over it. But just because I don't want to and try to get over it doesn't make it easy.' She didn't say anything. 'Is that honest enough?' I laughed hollowly.
'Yeah.' she said in similar tones. 'I'm just not sure if I can have that on me.'
'Tess-'
'You don't see how that's unfair?' she asked, turning to me.
'Yeah, no I do. But shi-'
'I have to go.'
'Tessa. No come- Tess let's talk!' I called after her, but she didn't reply. I had no idea what to make of that. I'd managed to be as honest and understanding as possible, I thought, and yet I still messed it up - not just my crush but also, it seemed, any friendship at all.
'Joseph.' Rose started. A typical cycling and counselling session for the both of us - catch-up is more like it, but when it came to this topic she was my therapist who thought I was crazy.
'Don't. I'm not in the wrong, not this time.' I said. 'Neither of us are, we just need to talk.'
'Shee seems to have heard enough.' she said, somewhat sympathetically.
'You've only heard Tessa's side of the story.' I said irritably.
'I've been hearing your whining for the past four years, I think I have a good grasp of your side.' she shot back.
'So I'm still an angsty fourteen-year-old?' I raised my voice.
'No, just a stubborn seventeen-year-old!'
'Are you going to try and listen to me?'
'Go ahead and shock me with your openness to her opinion.' she said.
I recounted the night's events to her. 'See, I totally get it, but I don't want to end our entire friendship over something I don't mention to her unless asked.' I finished as we dismounted outside my garage.
'I know.' she said consolingly as we unclipped. 'You were honest, which was good, and she's made her choice.'
'She can't have made a choice in one second like that. I just want to talk.'
'I think she was waiting for you to say all of that. You understand how much of a burden you put on her. She does care about you no matter what you think, and she/'s going to feel like the bad guy every day she doesn't wake up and love you.' I slumped over onto the old couch. She was right, but that didn't soften the blow of what looked like a lost friendship.
The second race of the series was flat around the city and so eventually ended in a bunch sprint. Rutherford, a bigger guy, was usually the winner in our age group of these things but was getting more into swimming and preparing for uni next year and less focused on cycling, so it was pretty open. I got into position early so as to be ready. Bonuses were my goal for the early races until the hillier stuff in a few weeks.
With a few hundred metres to go, I went early - not my style and that was entirely the point. Rutherford and Hastings attempted to get onto my wheel and did so but only the former could come around - 2 more seconds and the points jersey lead.
Edited by jandal7 on 21-04-2020 05:40
"After the week I'd had I could forgive myself for being a stubborn prick."
'Just give it some time.' Rose said imploringly, sipping her coffee, coat on over her lycra.
'I just can't believe this has happened.' I really couldn't. I was being overly self-pitying perhaps, but my pure honesty and openness with Tessa, with no maliciousness, had lead to the worst outcome I could have envisioned and it wasn't even her fault. 'It's so unfair.'
'We have been over-'
'I didn't say she's being unfair. This situation just sucks.'
'I know.' she said, leading to some silence.
'So what's up with you?'
'I thought you'd never freaking ask...'
A short TT around Palmerston was the third event on our list and I decided to take it at full gas around every corner despite the unusually wet and windy day. It was a damned good choice too, so shove that right in your pipe and smoke it, Jack. We enjoyed some friendly chat before the race as the last two to go. He commented on my grasping for every second tactic, I said something non-argumentative ('I have to against you!') and soon he was out on course.
I took risks, and they gave me the stage win 16 more seconds in the vault - tripling my lead before a hilly course, also in Palmy on the 13th of December, which left a longer than usual Christmas break resuming on the 2nd of January. I don't like the longer break, and not many people need it, but it would never get changed.
The final incline in Palmerston would turn small groups into ones and twos - I just had to make sure I was in the front one. I started pushing hard with 2km left to go and shelling the hangers-on and hopefully softening up those who could stick around. Jack seemed shocked but didn't question it.
There was only Maui, Jack and I left at the bottom and I immediately went into the wheels. Jack shook his head and got to work - with around 600m out Fafukai went off in his usual style - looking for the stage. I latched on and Hastings was hurting but stayed with me. We watched each other into the final hundred whilst Fafukai had no choice but to go at the front. I started my sprint first and nobody could come around - my first win of the series and another whilst Fafukai even held on for second place - 4 seconds more and a confidence-boosting win going into Christmas.
Edited by jandal7 on 21-04-2020 05:52
Yeah heartbreak for Hayden 
fantastic 
