I have extended my operating hours. I am now available from 10 til 7 Monday to Wednesday and Fridays. If you need a treatment outside these hours, we might be able to work something out, all you have to do is ask.

I will be away doing the family Christmas from December 24th until the 29th. Very much looking forward to spending some time with the family on the lovely south coast of NSW.

The next events in the pipeline for this soignie will be the Australian Open Road Cycling Championships in Ballarat and the Tour of Wellington at the end of January. It’s going to be great to see the new Green Edge squad bring the heat to the nationals this year. I’m super excited to be working with the Genesys squad again at the Tour of Wellington, new Zealand is such a great place to visit.

While business has been growing again, I have had a little spare time on my hands. Lucky for me I know a few good places to ride and good buddies to keep me company. It’s been awesome to catch up with my favourite rides of Melbourne. I have ticked off all my old loops around Eltham, Arthur’s Creek and Kinglake, all except Pidgeon Bank Lane, it will keep.

I have also been back to the trusty local Yarra trails and Castlemaine with the MTB and was shown some new trails around Smith’s Gully. A friend lent me a Yeti ASR-5 and I was truly amazed at what this bike can do.

Time to get out and ride again!

Everyone have a safe festive season and tell the people close to you that you care.

Winners are grinners.

So many posts, so little time. I have definitely run well behind schedule in keeping my blog up to date. Sometimes it’s not hard to get caught up in the whirlwind.

I am currently back in Melbourne and getting the business rolling again. My mate Dominic is kindly sharing some clinic space with me at First Place Osteopathy on High St, Northcote.

We were also both living the soignie life at the recent Jayco Herald Sun Tour, which is the biggest race in Australia open to local teams. I was lucky enough to work with the Genesys Wealth Advisors squad. We managed to win the tour with Nathan Haas, plus the sprint, U23, and teams classifications. Big win for a small team. Just goes to show the strength of Australian cycling when the big teams can no longer roll into town and dominate a race at will. The sunny is another story I will have to get around telling one day.

If you want to hear some stories of the soignie life in Europe or Australia, come see me in the clinic. I may charge you for the chat, but I will throw in a free massage!

Churchin' up.

The joys of travelling, there is always something to see. After a few days at base, I was back on the road again, headed to Thuringen which is part of the old East Germany. There is a discernable differenct between the old easts and wests. A little hard to describe perhaps, but maybe akin to your rich cousins and poor cousins. Back in the day when I rode across Europe, the stonework, the weather, the mood all seemed darker, blacker even.

Ever since I went on a school excursion through the Barossa Valley, the idea of living in an old church has held some fascination for me. I’m doubtful it will ever happen, but parts of rural Germany certainly provides plenty of fodder for the dream. … Continue Reading

I'd like a castle, even a wee one.

Norway is great. The people are awesome, the landscapes fantastic and when the boss is paying your food and accommodation, you’re on easy street. I stopped doing the conversion calculation between the Krone and Aussie peso. Even though the AUD is going gangbusters, it started to do my head in just how expensive everything was over there in relation to what I would pay in Australia or Italy. Thanks boss.

I’m certainly feeling pretty sorrowful about the recent events in Norway, so I may well have to come back to add things to this post that I have forgotten. … Continue Reading

Some days you need all the encouragement you can get.

So, I had a day off, you beauty. After driving all over Europe, adapting to a new work environment, you’d think a day off would be well spent with my feet up.

On the other hand, the lack of riding was gnawing at my soul and expanding my waist line. I hit out for a lap around Lake Maggiore, a 190km loop from Castronno, up into Switzerland to a pretty town called Locarno and then back around to home.

I had ridden the closer parts of this loop and was looking forward to cruising along next to the lake for what was apparently a neat, flat ride. And so it turned out to be.

I felt surprisingly good considering the lack of k’s in the  legs, but as always, I tend to get a little bored on flat rides. I also seem to find all those uncomfortable positions on the saddle when you sit spinning the same cadence for hours on end. Still, it beats working.

I returned to the local cafe in time for lunch and smashed down a big salad and a couple of espressos. With far too much time on my hands in the afternoon and not willing to head back home just yet, I pushed on.

… Continue Reading

It’s just the little differences you know? The first time I saw the team kit for “Baby-Dump”, I couldn’t help but laugh. I’m pretty sure an Aussie team called Baby-Dump would struggle to get any respect in the peloton, especially in team colours that seem awkwardly appropriate to the team name. … Continue Reading

Somehow, I nearly got started on an anecdote about Manali, but that would be a tale best left to a more suitable time and place.

The point however, is that the Dolomites are absolutely spectacular. I was lucky enough to travel around the part of Italy for a race called the Giro Della Regione Friuli. It was one of those times I wish the race was longer and that there was a rest day for staff. I would have been up for something as simple as going for a hike up one of the hills, to getting my hands on a bike (surprise), to lazing around in the alpine country knocking back cafe and gelati.

… Continue Reading

So, I almost managed a day off. After an early start for an airport run to pack an injured rider back off home fr surgery and recuperation, I begged for some free time. It took some discussion to overcome reluctance from the powers that be to convince them that some time away from the house was a good thing for me.

So on a sunny Saturday, I headed into Milano for the Private Alleycat. My old mate Strom from Basel, that I hadn’t seen since the Cycle Messenger World Champs in Sydney back in 2006 worded me up. I got in touch with the organiser Matteo Castronouvo to see if he could sort me out.

… Continue Reading

Another long drive, unpack, pack, laundry sleep and back on the road for 2 Italian one day races, Giro del Belvedere and GP Palio delRecioto.

These 2 races were a highlight for me, and this was mainly due to the atmosphere of the crowd. The races are over the holiday weekend for Festa Della Liberazione (Liberation Day). Libeation day has it’s equivalent in Australia known as Anzac Day and is also held on April 25.

So you can imagine the wonderful mix of holiday, good weather and bike racing. … Continue Reading

Life as a soignie often seems a little like this, where am I? Having spent 6 weeks in Europe now, I am still looking forward to my first day off. That’s not to say that every day has been flat stick, although some certainly have been, but there has always been something on my agenda. I am yet to experience that joy of a lazy Sunday. Anyway, moving right along, I thought I’d go back to where I left off. … Continue Reading