Hi Everyone

I have just recently returned from the land of China competing in the final round of the Track World Cups. As you all know this event over lapped with the Tour Down Under. Having just recently been crowned the new Australian Road Race Champion most would find it strange that I would want to compete at a Track World Cup instead of lining up with some of the best Pro riders in the world including Lance Armstrong, Cadel Evans and Alejandro Valverde in the National Champions Jersey. Well I thought it would be a good time to eliminate the confusion of why I would make such a decision.

Firstly I am a big believer in doing what you have committed yourself to do and the decision for me to ride the Beijing World Cup was made a fair while ago and I don’t believe it would be a fair decision to pull out a week from competition and also I am not sure it would have been possible to get a start in the Tour Down Under as we had riders from overseas already flying in for the event.

The other reason is because the World Cup was my last real chance to make an impression for the Track Worlds Team. As I had missed the Melbourne World Cup due to not being fit enough after coming off a break, I was in real trouble of not getting a chance to try to make the Track Worlds Team for 2010 and this is a major goal of mine for this season.  In the end of the day I am very happy with the decision I made to go to Beijing as I had a very good meet and had very strong legs.

My first race and the main reason I was there was the Teams Pursuit. With my team consisting of Michael Hepburn (Junior Individual Pursuit World Record Holder, which I might add his record is a 3.15 for 3km which is just incredible for a Junior!), WA sensation Luke Durbridge (Junior World Individual Time Trial Champion, and as all of us can appreciate, especially West Aussies, an incredibly strong machine!) Victorias Leigh Howard (World Omnium Champion), who has just been signed by one of the biggest Pro Teams in the World, HTC – Columbia, and a real up and coming superstar, and myself, we were there to put out a very respectable time.

In the morning was the qualifying round and we cruised through to post the fastest time of 4.05, but knowing we were very capable to go much quicker in the final. I felt very strong in qualifying and pulled a 2 lap turn comfortably to put us slightly back on schedule. We were up against the Dutch in the final who had posted a time of 4.08 in the qualifying. Our main objective for the final was to put up a good time as we were pretty confident taking the win wasn’t going to be a problem. ‘Heppy’ got us up and running nicely in the first lap of the final with Leigh getting us up to race pace in second wheel. I was moved from 4th to 3rd wheel for the final so I kept the pace right up on schedule with Luke doing the same right after me. Luke and I were both feeling strong so we both pulled a lap and a half on our 3rd turn making sure our speed didn’t drop and giving Leigh and Michael a bit more recovery. With approximately 5 to go we caught the dutch team and it got a bit messy and we lost about half a second in one lap. In the end we come through with a time of 4.01.2 and after some analysing Ian McKenzie (Track Endurance Coach) estimated our time for the 4km would have been around 4.00.50. Not bad considering we only did a week of track training after Road Nationals leading into the World Cup. I was very happy with my splits in both rounds and it has kept me in contention for the Track Worlds team.

I also competed in the Scratch Race and Madison at the World Cup. I got DQ in the Scratch Heat for going under on the blue band which was a bit disappointing but nothing to worry about as I was more doing it for a bit of a hit out before the Madison. I teamed up the Leigh Howard for the Madison, and we qualified for the final comfortably. In the Final we were a good half a lap up at one stage but the bunch never sat up and we were eventually pulled back. In the end we ran 4th which was a relief as we had a bit of pressure on us to run top 6 in order to qualify Australia a spot for the World Championships.

So all in all it was a fun, beneficial trip and should keep me in contention to get a spot to go to Copenhagen for the World Track Championships in March. This coming week is the Australian Track Cycling Championships ,were I will be competing in the Individual Pursuit and Teams Pursuit,  followed by the Perth Criterium Series which I am happy to say both Cameron and I will be competing in.

Keep a look out for our next report of the Track National and Perth Crits!

Travis

Thursday, April 16th, 2009

Hi all

I have just returned home from 2 days of racing in Italy. On Monday I had my first race which was Giro del Belvedere. It consisted of 10 flat laps and 2 hilly laps with the total distance being 155km. I was feeling good on the flat laps but as soon as we hit the hilly laps my legs exploded! So I didn’t finish which was a bit disappointing. I was not happy with my performance so I was looking to redeem myself the following day.

The second day of racing was a race called Recioto. It consisted of 6 laps containing a 2.5km steep climb in it. After the 6 laps we had to descend back down and climb the 2.5km climb for a 7th time then head along to a 6km climb, descend for about 5km then back up an 8km climb. Now if you think thats tough well the organisers thought it would be good to send us back up the 2.5km climb 5km before the finish! I was in the break after the 2nd lap and was feeling pretty good all day. We got caught at the start of the 6km climb and I jumped straight back into 3rd wheel up the climb. I managed to stay with the front group over the top of the 6km and 8km climbs. When we hit the 2.5km climb right before the finish the group split again and i finished with a group of about 10 riders. My overall position was 18th which I am pretty pleased with for my second race back on the road after finishing track worlds and track worlds camp.

My next race is Vicenza Biondi on Sunday. It is relatively flat so I think it may be a day for the sprinters. I feel like I have good legs and once I get my climbing legs back I believe I can get some good results this season. Fingers crossed!

Until next time.

Travis   

Friday, April 10th, 2009

Hi Everyone! I know its been a while and I apologise for the delay in keeping you updated on my whereabouts. I have just recently finished a disappointing, yet also successful campaign in Poland. I had been training specifically for the Teams Pursuit for 5 weeks before the World Championship. Only 4 men can get picked for the event, however there were 5 of us selected for the World Track Team. Unfortunately my splits were not good enough for the top 4 so I did not get a ride. 

I got a start in the Scratch Race which was always going to be hard considering I jumped on someone else’s standard bike the day before the race. I managed to make one of the first moves of the race and myself and 5 other guys gained a lap on the field. I had to pull the break along as there were guys in there that were, lets say, either struggling or soft pedaling. I had really good legs the whole race so I was disappointed to finish 4th. I now realise I probably did a little too much work in the break and that I should have hit out the sprint with 2 laps to go. However for someone who jumped on a standard bike the day before a World Title i am pretty happy. 

I have now been in Italy for approximately a week getting some base back in my legs. I have enjoyed getting back into the road and I am itching to get to my first race which is on Monday and I also have another race the day after. I did both of these races last year and went well so I am hoping to go better again and maybe get a result. I believe I have good legs at the moment so hopefully all goes well.   I am hoping that this road season goes well for me and I can get enough results to sign for a Pro team by the end of the year. I will keep you all updated on how my season is going. 

Until next time!

Travis      

Friday, July 25th, 2008

Hi Everyone

Well it has gone very quick but my mid season break in Australia is almost finished. It has been great to catch up with everyone again and get back into the Australian lifestyle! One thing I cant really say has been great is the weather. What is with Perth these days! The blue sky’s have gone on holiday and the rain just never stops! I head off to the Tour of Gippsland on Tuesday to get some racing in before I head back to Europe and also I hope i can find ‘Form’ who also decided to go on holiday for the past couple of weeks. I hope all is well and everyone is training hard. I come back for a week after Gippsland before I head off to Europe so I hope to see some of you out on the road.

Safe Riding

Trav

Saturday, June 28th, 2008

Hi All,

I have arrived back in Perth for my mid season ‘break’ after a testing first half of the season. As alot of you know this year was my first year racing the road in Europe and my first year in the U23 men Category. I had an absolute ball racing for 3 months against the best road riders in the world and have been truly motivated to go back over to Italy and get stuck back into it! Fortunately I have been given the opportunity of returning for the second part of the season where I have a chance of racing the likes of the Tour of Ireland, Tour of Britain and if all goes well hopefully the U23 World Road Cycling Championships. I head back to Varese, Italy where the AIS is based on the 10th August. So I will be around for approximately 6 weeks so I hope to see some of you out on the road and down the track!

Stay Safe

Travis

Wednesday, April 23rd, 2008

Hi All

Just a little update on what I have been doing the past couple of weeks. I have been back at the base in Varese training hard for Liberazione and 6 day Regioni tour which I have been lucky enough to be selected for. Liberazione is one of the biggest U23 mens races in the world and Regioni Tour is a major tour which is part of the U23 nations cup. Both these races are against the best riders from each country. So in other words its like a World Championship field. Out of 9 riders in our team I was picked to ride as part of the 5 man Liberazione team and the 6 man Regioni team. I am very happy to be a part of these races in my 1st year. Cameron Meyer (my brother) has also been selected to ride both these races. 6 guys from the team rode 3 one day races in Belgium, France and Holland last week, however the Head Coach wanted me rested for these big races coming up. I have good form at the moment, as does Cameron, so we are both hoping for some good rides. We leave tommorow afternoon with Liberazione starting on Friday and Regioni Tour starting the following day. I will send another email after the tour. Hope everyone is well.

Cheers

Travis