It has been a busy last week, but also a very satisfying end to the first half of the 2012 season, as I managed to win both the elite men’s time trial and road race at the National Club Champs.

After sixteen hours of flying time and another eight hours of airport time, I finally touched down in Christchurch from Korea on Tuesday morning. I wasn’t home for long though and after a nice meal out with my flatmates and an amazing sleep in my own bed I was back in a plane and flying north for the Club Champs. For this event I was racing for my local club, Pegasus Cycling and staying with them at the Hastings Top Ten. With a team of sixty seven riders competing, there was obviously a huge amount of work that went in behind the scenes to ensure the four days of cycling ran smoothly for the athletes. Massive thanks must go out to Derrick, Hamish, Robbie and all the team who arranged accommodation, transport feeding and sorted the finer details. My roommates for the week were fellow senior riders Reon Nolan, Richard Lawson and Will Bowman and although we were serious about results we also had a bloody good time and there was some great banter being thrown around in the evenings.

First event up was the time trial on Thursday, with the revised schedule meaning the senior men started right in the middle of proceedings at 11am. After some poor planning I ran out of time to ride the course the day previous and had to settle for an easy spin around Hastings instead. It’s pretty daunting riding a time trial course blind although I received plenty of information from fellow club members telling me course was relatively straight and not too technical with one early climb to make things interesting.

My warm up was the first time I had raised the heart rate since Korea but it seemed to go well and I reached my target zones without fuss. This was also the first time I had touched my time trial bike since the Oceania Champs so it was a bit of a struggle reacquainting my body with the aero position. The event itself was pretty straight forward. I started really conservatively but gradually picked up pace throughout the duration. Catching several riders in front of me provided added incentive and I eventually finished in a time of 53minutes03, a reasonable time for the challenging course. This was enough to win by almost two minutes from Andy Hagen with Dan Waluszewski a further minute back in third.

National Club Champs Time Trial Podium - Photo Judy Stableford

After a couple of days recovery, the combined elite and U23 road race was held on Sunday. The 29km course was situated in the Matipiro-Crownthorpe region about half an hour out of Hastings and was tough. While there were no particularly long climbs, the constantly rolling terrain particularly on the second half of the course was tough and taxing especially after six laps and 175km. Conditions on the day were overcast and cold with rain threatening later in the day, although not much wind.

Going into the event Pegasus was only a handful of points behind in the overall club competition so a good result was important. My parents and family friends had made the trip over from Palmerston North to watch which provided some added incentive. I had highlighted the fifth lap of six as the likely decisive lap and all of the Pegasus guys knew that the key would be to conserve energy as much as possible until then.

The race was an incredibly tactical affair. As expected, an early break was allowed to escape on the first lap. Seven riders distanced themselves from the main bunch including Dan Warren, Mike Naylor, Daniel Molyneux and Simon Acker (Pegasus) and quickly built up a massive lead as the bunch clicked into go-slow mode. After three laps their lead was approaching six minutes and only a hard attack from Will Bowman on the long hill up through the feed followed by a period of counter attacking prevented it from growing further. There were constantly people trying to force their way off the front of the peloton including the Pegasus boys, Reon, Richard and Will, but the most dangerous move of the day came on the fourth lap as Dan Barry broke away. He joined my Subway Pro Cycling team mate Simon Binney up the road and moved out to a minute advantage. There was no response from the main field, but unfortunately for Dan after looking very strong early, he experienced a pretty epic body shut down a lap later, which saw him be re-absorbed by the bunch and then have to withdraw from the race completely.

National Club Champs Road Race - Photo Judy Stableford

Throughout the race I found myself pretty heavily marked and couldn’t get very far off the front without being chased hard. In fact any time I attacked there would be whistling and yelling throughout the bunch to alert the guys at the front of my intentions. I carried on undeterred however on the fifth lap I finally managed distance myself from the bunch and establish a significant gap. I joined Andy Hagen and Brad Tilby up the road and with a 3min50 deficit to the now three man lead group I had no choice but to stick my head down and drive it. In hindsight I feel a bit guilty as I had previously accused Brad of racing negatively however in the end he proved to be a massive ally to me in chasing the front. Andy initially assisted in the chase but with his team mate Mike in the front group he eventually started to sit on which I knew would make him very dangerous later on. We caught Simon and Josh Page soon after the feed zone and with added firepower from Simon (having a massive ride) we joined the leaders on the final hilly section with ten kilometres left to ride.

By this stage of the race, fatigue had well and truly set in and everyone in the front group was looking tired. Attacks continued and entering the final five flat kilometres it was down to five rides, Andy, Brad and I joining Dan and Daniel from the early break. It seemed a sprint finish was inevitable so I really tried to conserve energy but was forced to shut down a couple of dangerous wee digs by Andy and Brad. I jumped early in the sprint and got a gap quickly that I managed to hold the whole way to the line for a very satisfying win. After a huge day in the break, Dan Warren was second while Andy narrowly piped Daniel Molyneux for third. Simon Binney finished solo in sixth to take the U23 title after an impressive ride where he showed some serious horsepower.

National Club Champs Road Race - Photo Hub Cycle Centre

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National Club Champs Road Race Podium - Photo Ramblers Cycle Club

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It was a very hard day on a bike and a great end to what has been a very successful first half of the season for me. In the past four months I have already managed to rack up more wins and significant results than any other full season previously. I now plan to have a couple of weeks off the bike, before I start working toward my new goals following winter. I’ve been very appreciative of the time off that my bosses and Skope Industries have allowed me recently so hopefully these few weeks off the bike will also allow me to refocus on my real job as an engineer.

It may be a while until my next post but until then thanks for reading.

Sam
www.samhorgan.com

The final stage of the 2012 Tour de Korea was over all over not long after it began, as we rattled off the final forty six kilometres in little over an hour. While there were a few optimists who went searching for a break away, a sprint was inevitable, especially with so much at stake for the general classification. After shying away from the final kilometre madness all tour long, Subway Pro Cycling committed to delivering Paul Odlin to the finish as best as possible in the hope that he could at least jump in the slipstream of the much faster sprint specialists. I took the boys to the front in at the five kilometre mark and held pace for the next kilometre before Matt, Nick, Pete and then Wes maintained the tempo and control of the front. Eventually the Jelly Belly Cycling team overtook us and Paul was able to slip into their pace line, sitting in the top five wheels into the final kilometre. Unfortunately a chicane and some speed humps added to the usual last minute chaos and Paul lost his nerve and position, slipping through the pack and eventually crossing the line in about 20^th place. This gave him an overall placing of 16^th.

Overall it was a bit of a disappointing tour for me and the team. What seemed like a hard tour on paper was neutralised greatly by the cancellation of one stage and effective neutralisation of the following stage. I’m sure heading into the tour, no one would have predicted the general classification to be largely decided on time bonuses and sprint placing and we were definitely then at a big disadvantage not having a specialist sprinter on our team. I was also disappointed not to manage to put myself into a move of substance during the tour. Not through lack of trying, or lack of form, it definitely shows I still have much to learn when it comes to reading a race and picking the ideal moment to attack or spotting the dangerous moves.

After an evening of checking out Seoul, it was an early morning transfer to Incheon airport and I currently find myself in the star alliance lounge at Changi airport, Singapore with one flight to go. Arriving back in Christchurch tomorrow, I won’t be home for long. I’m off to race the Club Nationals in Hawke’s Bay, which is either a really good, or really bad idea. Time will tell if I can carry my form through or whether fatigue will set in.

Until then, thanks for reading.

Sam

www.samhorgan.com

Today was the hardest stage of the tour on paper. With two big seven and five kilometre climbs located less than twenty kilometres apart, it seemed sure that today was the day that would finally crack the general classification wide open. I haven’t been climbing that well this tour – well actually my climbing is probably unchanged however the pace uphill in Asia is a massive step up from back home. With that in mind I went into today’s stage with a clear goal, to get up the road early.

It was another mint day here in Korea, warm temperatures and sunny skies. The tan lines have even darkened a bit although that won’t last long heading back to the New Zealand winter. Straight after the neutral section I was the first rider to hit up the road and I put myself in about every subsequent move that went. Nothing got very far though and by the time the first hill rolled around I had definitely burned a few matches. Resigned to finishing in the grupetto at this stage I settled into my own pace on the climb, but after a quick descent I found myself in the company of some Team Jelly Belly riders who were very motivated to rejoin the bunch and we were shortly back in the convoy. The legs had improved and I made it over the second climb without too much hassle although unfortunately so did ninety nine percent of the peleton.

And so another bunch sprint eventuated and again it was keenly and aggressively contested with time bonuses and stage finishes so crucial in deciding the final general classification. Paul crossed in 18^th place and now sits in 19^th on GC, with places 10^th-29^th all on the same time, 23 seconds down. Tomorrows 45km stage is sure to finish in a sprint so the time bonuses for the top three places will be pivotal while those who finish on the same time will be separated by their averaged stage results. The gallop for the line will count for a lot.

Until then, thanks for reading.

Sam

www.samhorgan.com

164km of racing today plus a long neutral section and on paper it was probably the most favourable stage of the tour for the Subway Pro Cycling team. The stage featured one classified climb at 96km and one big climb preceding it, but it was the constantly rolling terrain over the final thirty kilometres that really suited the strengths of our boys. Again conditions were pretty mint, sunny and hot with a tailwind blowing all day. Wes and Pete knocked it up in the day’s early break, a move that had around twenty riders and reached a maximum lead of around three minutes.

Back in the peleton, Paul, Nick, Matt and I had a mint ride, sitting in comfortably while the yellow jersey team set tempo at the front. With 120km on the clock, the break had been caught and sensing some tiredness in the field I hit out through the streets of Andong. The road was a long uphill drag and the impact was pretty immediate with a group of us quickly getting a gap while the race was strung out single file. It looked good for a while, but unfortunately we were caught a couple of kilometres later and another group counter attacked. This proved to be the winning group and it swelled to over 40 riders. Luckily Paul managed to get there for the team, one of the last riders to jump across. After a quick recovery I had a few more attempts at getting there, falling desperately close on one attempt but it wasn’t to be and I eventually finished with the other boys in the last bunch. It was a disappointing end to a day when I was feeling really good.

At the front of the race, Paul managed to get up for second in the bunch sprint. With two riders up the road, he took fourth on the stage and is around 40^th on GC, 22seconds down. Tomorrow is a brutal looking day, with two big climbs featuring within 20km of each other on a 140km long stage. I still feel like I’ve got a lot to prove this tour so hopefully will get a chance to feature up the road, although I’m sure the teams first priority will be to build on Oddy’s current position.

Until then, thanks for reading.
Sam

It’s been an unbelievable two days at the Tour de Korea and not in a positive way unfortunately. Firstly, after twenty minutes of neutral riding, yesterday’s planned Stage 4 from Yeosu to Geochang was cancelled due ‘adverse’ weather conditions. It was raining pretty hard on the start line and the wind was gusty but it wasn’t that cold, reportedly around 7-8 degrees so far from the worst conditions I’ve ridden in. It definitely would have been a miserable day on the bike and so part of me was happy to climb back in the team bus but it also means that there is one less day to shake up the general classification order. I also know the conditions would have suited our team more than others.

So onto Stage 5 and a 150km trip from Geochang to Gumi. It did not get off to a good start as less than a kilometre into the neutral section, as we paraded through the centre of town a media motor bike tried to squeeze up the inside of the bunch. After fast running out of room, the bike (a stupidly large Harley Davidson) collided with Jaan Kirsipuu and then careered straight into a bunch of spectators. It was a very ugly scene. The bunch was stopped for a while while Jaan Kirsiipu (amazingly uninjured) found a new bike and helmet and finally we were under way. I pray the spectators involved are OK. With the previous day’s stage being cancelled, riders effectively had days rest and so it was a rejuvenated peleton this morning. The first fifty kilometers were rapid and there were numerous break away attempts but ultimately the bunch was just travelling too fast. I had the misfortune of double puncturing over some Korean ‘cat eyes of death’ and had a pretty damn hard chase back onto the bunch which was by this stage single file in crosswinds (aided by some ‘mechanical assistance’ from team mechanic Nigel.)

Carnage in Stage 5 Neutral - Photo Roger Dungan

Matt managed to put himself in the days break, giving the rest of our team a sweet ride, but they were caught shortly before the second of the two categorised climbs of the day. Entering the final thirty kilometres it was a diminished peleton although we still had five riders present. A small group had snuck off the front of the peleton only a couple of hundred meters ahead of the bunch. It was a downhill section and speeds were over sixty km/h when all of a sudden another media motor bike tries to squeeze past and collects one of the front riders. It was absolute carnage as the motorbike slides down the highway, driver and camera man on board while the peleton swerve around. For the second time that day I thought I had witnessed a death, as ambulances rushed to the scene and the entire race was halted up the road.

The race was eventually restarted, with all dropped riders now back in the field and it was a hectic bunch sprint in downtown Gumi. Not surprisingly there was not one, but two crashes in the run into town and I found myself locking it up sideways to avoid the first one. Lucky to not hit the deck, I ended up with a Malaysian bike threaded through mine but at least it was within the final three kilometres so I rolled home to receive bunch time. Not so lucky were those caught up in the second crash in the final hundred meters, as several riders looked pretty messed up, including the yellow jersey.

Tomorrow is a difficult looking 164km stage from Gumi to Yeongju which should finally provide a general classification shake up. I’m looking forward to it, although right now i’m just feeling lucky to be alive and uninjured.

Until then, thanks for reading.

Sam

www.samhorgan.com

Meeting the NZ Ambassador to Korea, Patrick Rata - Photo Roger Dungan

Today’s 135.6km stage was all about Oddy. Paul attacked in the opening kilometres and unlike previous days, was immediately let go. He had Kristian House from Rapha-Condor-Sharp and one other asian rider for company. In sunny and warm conditions, the trio slowly built up a lead that peaked at around two minutes and was still at a minute and a half with twenty kilometres remaining. Unfortunately however, despite being joined by a couple more riders, they were caught inside the final ten kilometres as the peleton wound up for a sprint.

My day was pretty straight forward. I covered a couple of dangerous looking moves, but never really had to put my nose in the wind. There were also a couple of climbs including one categorised climb at 87km that I had to push hard on, but otherwise I had a pretty cruisy ride. Unfortunately a pleasant day on the bike came to an end in the final kilometres when I got taken out by a crash. I hit the deck hard but luckily didn’t lose much skin although a smashed shifter had me stuck in the small chainring and unable to get back onto the bunch. Worst of all was that it all took place a couple of hundred meters before the ‘safe point’ 3km to go sign, so I’ve probably lost another minute or so on general classification.

Tonight we are staying in another mint hotel for the fourth night in a row. Accommodation so far has been a nice improvement on some of the interesting hotels we experienced last year. Still plenty of nights to come though! Yeosu city is at the very south of Korea, so now the race begins to head north to Seoul again.

Thanks for reading.

Sam

www.samhorgan.com

On the cards for today was 198km, featuring a sprint at 56km and KOM at 155.8km. The stage didn’t really have the impact on GC that one might have expected however.

Conditions today were overcast but pretty damn warm. We also seemed to be pushing into a headwind for the second half of the race.

From the outset it was clear that the yellow jersey holders, Team Nippo weren’t going to defend from the front today and so it was all on with every rider in the peleton seeming keen to get up the road. Some moves looked promising but nothing stuck as we rattled off 47.5km in the first hour and flew through the sprint prime soon after. Even the 3km categorized climb failed to make a big impact and although the race splintered into several groups with 20km remaining, it was all largely back together as we came into the city of Gwangju. Three guys managed to sneak away and win by half a minute with another big dodgy bunch sprint deciding the minor places.

My own stage was pretty disappointing. I felt great all day and was super active. I made a pretty rookie mistake of failing to drink enough though and was hit with some nasty hamstring cramp on the climb, much to my own shock and surprise. After almost coming to a standstill, I plowed a bottle of water and a couple of gels and managed to ride through it and back into the race. Unfortunately the cramp returned in the final kilometers and this time there was nothing I could do about it and I was forced to sit up and roll in a few hundred meters behind the bunch. On reflection, my kit was completely white with salt and sweat and my arms are pink with sunburn so I’m feeling pretty silly not to have picked up on the signs and drunk more earlier.

Tomorrow is 139km with a pretty lumpy looking profile. I’m concentrating hard tonight on rehydrating so hopefully today’s error won’t impact on tomorrow. The race is still wide open with only a handful of seconds between first and ninety ninth. Here’s hoping fatigue will start to set in for the peleton and we can make a move stick.

Until then, thanks for reading.
Sam
www.samhorgan.com

It was a short, sharp fifty five kilometer stage from Incheon to Seoul that got the 2012 Tour de Korea underway today. Conditions were pretty rough – freezing cold, wet and windy but being the first stage, everyone was feeling good so the pace was hot.

The boys put in a few digs, with Oddy particularly active, searching for the sprint points at the thirty five km mark but nothing stayed away and as the finish line loomed, teams started lining up for the sprint. My goal was to stay forward and out of trouble but even that didn’t guarantee safety, with several crashes occurring amongst the front ten wheels in the final kilometers.

I was happy to cross the line in the front bunch with my skin intact. All of the team were there except Grover who double punctured and then experienced some negative behavior from other team cars in the convoy, not cool.

After lunch at the Olympic Parktel in Seoul we are now all loaded up in our 21 seat, team bus for the week and traveling south to Buyeo where we are staying tonight and starting stage two tomorrow. Thankfully the weather is already starting to clear as we have two hundred kms on the cards tomorrow.

Until then, thanks for reading.
Sam

www.samhorgan.com

After a long journey, the Subway Pro Cycling team has arrived for the 2012 Tour de Korea. Gone are my younger days when long haul flights were are novelty. For me the travelling is now definitely one of the hardest parts of racing overseas. This year we endured a 10hour flight from Christchurch to Singapore followed by a 6 hour flight to Seoul. This also included a seven hour stopover in Singapore airport, although a swim in the terminal roof top swimming pool and time in the Star Alliance Lounge did provide some respite and refreshment.

We are currently in Incheon, a developing industrial city on the outskirts of Seoul and starting point for this years’ tour. Weather today was pretty hot and humid and it was good to be able to get out riding in just the summer kit again. We clocked up an easy hour on the bike on some quiet and smooth roads in an area being developed for the 2014 Asian Games. We also got a chance to wander through some of the local markets as well as visit the local ‘Paris Baugette,’ a nationwide coffee shop and bakery that was a regular destination for the team last year. Our hotel is nice and tidy and excitement is building with more and more teams arriving for the tour. This year we are lucky to have Roger from the New Zealand Embassy helping us out along with a New Zealand born translator who speaks both English and Korean fluently and has already proven to be much more efficient than previous translators.

Thanks to everyone for the birthday messages today. It wasn’t the best way to spend the day in a plane and then fighting jetlag. Hopefully I will get a chance to better celebrate the quarter century when I return. Tomorrow will be another day of rest and recovery, before the tour gets underway on Sunday.

Until then, thanks for reading.
Sam

www.samhorgan.com

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Contrary to plans in my previous post, I did race over the weekend with the team making a late decision to enter a team of four into the Around Brunner ride. The elite race and prize money for this event was scrapped for 2012 and so we started amongst the recreational riders. It turned out to be a really hard day on the bike however and well worth the trip.

After a busy week at work, I loaded up the car and road tripped over to the West Coast late on Friday night with good mate Andrew Williams for company. We were hosted by the Neylon family for the evening and had to hit bed quickly with a 7:55am race start the next day.

Weather in the morning was pretty average. There were patches of drizzle mixed with fine spells, moderate winds and cold temperatures. Riders quickly warmed up however as we cranked out of town at speeds over 50km/h. The pace was hard from the start as attack after attack sailed off the front. There were several moves that looked promising but the race came back together each time, although the size of the bunch was steadily diminishing as a result of the accelerations. This attacking continued for the next eighty kilometres and cresting the top of the climb out of Moana there were seven riders remaining at the front of the race, Paul Odlin, Dylan Kennett and myself from Subway Pro Cycling, Dan Barry and Will Bowman from Benchmark, Tom Hubbard and Gordon McCauley.

All seven of us were tired and showing the effects of a hard race so far, but the relentless attacking continued. Finally I managed to throw an attack that stuck and with around 20km remaining I edged away from the others with Gordy for company. I settled into my work, with Gordy chipping in when he could. We were later joined by Paul and Dylan who had sat on and then attacked the other three, giving Subway Pro Cycling three riders in the front group. We worked well together and Gordy, who was looking pretty tired and unable to contribute equally, was quick to concede and accept fourth in lieu of being dropped.

With 5km remaining, in an unplanned move, Paul attacked our group. Tactics became a bit awkward at that stage, as it’s obviously bad etiquette to chase your team mates but at the same time it would have been embarrassing to be caught by the three behind us. Dylan and I decided to let Paul gain a gap of around 100m and then continued to roll behind him. Paul won the ride by around twenty seconds from Dylan and I took third. It was a solid and very pleasing team performance.

It was pretty disappointing to have to sit out the second Benchmark race on Sunday, but with only four riders we were one rider short of the minimum entry number. Instead I headed out for a solitary five hours in Christchurch, my last big ride before the Tour of Korea. It was impressive to hear that Gordy won the race. He obviously recovered well from Saturday despite several fresh legs being injected into the peleton. It shows he’s definitely still got the legs, to go with one of the smartest race brains in the business.

Obviously the next race for me is the Tour of Korea. It’s a UCI 2.2 categorised race and one of the biggest events for Subway Pro Cycling this year. I’m both excited and nervous to see how my recent good form stacks up against some strong international competition, Professional Continental teams Lampre-ISD, Champion System and RusVelo as well as strong Continental teams including Rapha-Condor, Tabriz Petrochemical, Genesys Wealth, Jelly Belly and Azad University. My memories from this tour in 2011 are positive and hopefully I will be able to keep you updated with progress. The team flies out on Thursday, with racing starting on Sunday.

Until then, thanks for reading.
Sam

www.samhorgan.com