Hi Everyone

I know it has been a very long time since I have written to you and I am very sorry. I think its amazing what getting some good results can do for your motivation not only on the bike but in every aspect of your life (like writing on my website which i should have done a long time ago!) 

Well I thought I would share some highlights with you of the past couple of weeks with regards to my first lot of racing back after a bit of a break. I have been back on the bike for approximately 4 weeks now and have kicked off the start of the season  with a flourish of wins (which for trackies as you may not know is now! actually I don’t think there is such thing as an ‘off’ season for us!).

On the 7th of November was the Perth International Grand Prix at the Midvale Speedome and we had a great line up of world class riders including the current Points Race World Champion Cameron Meyer, 2 x Olympic Games Gold Medallist Graeme Brown and 3 x Junior World Champion Luke Durbridge. And I may also give myself a bit of a mention too . I didn’t know how I was going to go as I had not ridden the track for a fair while and I was coming off a break so my form wasn’t fantastic. In the scratch race I managed to take a very late lap in the bike race, which made 5 or 6 riders up a lap, including the very powerful Luke Durbridge. I managed to position myself well coming into bell lap and win the race, with Durbridge in 2nd and a Swiss rider in 3rd. I was very happy and also shocked at winning as I did not expect it at all. I was pretty buckled coming into the Points race but the crowd got to witness the World Champion at this event in fine form to completely dominate the race. I don’t like to compliment Cam too much haha (its just a brotherly thing) but the way in which he races the Points Race and analyses every move is amazing to watch (and painful to race against!) 

The next morning I attended the Golden Spokes race at Champion Lakes. This was a hard task just to get up in the morning after a long night at the GP. I was feeling pretty good and managed to get in a break of 5 riders and then on the final lap attacked and rode away for a solo win. 2 wins in 2 nights. I have to admit I was wondering what was going on! 

This gave me confidence going into the Tour de Perth the following week but I also knew the level of racing was going to be much harder. 

The Tour de Perth started with a criterium around the streets of Northbridge. I was going well right from the start and was covering a lot of moves and making moves of my own. At the 30min mark in the race my front wheel went from under me around a corner and I came down. I had my lap out and rejoined the race a bit shaken up but not too bad. My Plan B team mate, Brad Hall, did a fantastic job the deliver me into the last corner 2nd wheel and I thought it was in the bag 20 meters from the line but then an orange blur that resembled a bike rider came past me. This orange blur I worked out to be Graeme Brown from the Rabobank Pro Team and one of the best road sprinters in the world. Graeme came past me about 10km/h faster and nearly sucked my helmet off! Never the less I was very happy with 2nd and it showed my form was still on the up. 

Stage 1 was a tough stage around the city. The finish was up a brutal climb into Kings park which we had to complete 12 times. The Plan B boys did an excellent job covering all the right moves throughout the race. The race came to a bunch kick (or a grovel as I would call it, as we had to finish on top on the steep climb). Richard Lang from Budget Forklifts proved too strong in the sprint and I couldn’t come off his wheel but I managed to run 2nd and take the leaders jersey. So another good day. 

The next stage was to be completed around the Perry Lakes circuit and included the riders going over Raebold Hill 7 times. This was going to be a tough stage as Raebold is fairly hard but very thin which makes positioning very important. Once again the Plan B guys rode like true professionals controlling the race. We made a decision that if we could get a couple of guys to take the time bonus in the stage but still keep me in the leaders jersey that would be ideal. This is a tough ask as it requires the right guys in the break and good timing from us to not allow the jersey to be taken from me. We did it to perfection. Nick Aitken won the stage with Karl Evans in 2nd from a break but by only 5 seconds. Graeme Brown run 3rd which put him in the leaders jersey but by only 2 seconds. I was fairly confident that I could win the Time Trial and win the Tour overall. 

The Time Trial was around a 4.5km circuit and finishing on top of Raebold Hill. I was fairly confident going into this race to take the overall and was pumped up. When I left to start I immediately did not feel to great. But I knew I was not to be the only one feeling like this after a tough stage in the morning. After approximately 2.5km I was 12 seconds up on the next rider which means I must have gone out very hard! I struggled the last half of the course but did enough to win the TT by 5 seconds over my team mate Brad Hall and 7 seconds over another team mate Adam Semple making it a Plan B 1,2,3 and a GC win for myself. I was ecstatic to get the win in my home tour and to get that winning feeling back which I had not had all season. 

I have to thank the Plan B team for riding with complete confidence in me and riding like true professionals. Also the Plan B staff for all the help over the weekend and making it easy for us as riders to just focus on the racing. 

My next race is the Armadale Classic on Saturday and hopefully I can keep up my winning streak! 

Hope you all enjoyed my long report!

Travis 

Over the top of Raebold Hill

Tour de Perth Podium 2009 (Graeme Brown (2nd) Travis Meyer (1st) Richard Lang (3rd)