Happy New Year, merry Christmas and all the trimmings!

Obviously the biggest low i had was busting my wrist and collarbone in Colorado. This sucked bigtime! It was a rough few weeks of pain and whinging but thanks to the doctors, family, Lisa and friends all over, it made it much easier to handle and bounce back from. HUGE lessons were learnt and THANKYOU is a huge understatement to all the kind words, messages and confidence that I’ll be back, from everyone to help me get back riding and racing again. And as of next week, the recovery process will FINALLY be over! I’ve just had the plates and screws taken out of my wrist 4 weeks ago and it is now as good as it will ever be! It’s been a long time since the accident in late July and once i get back on the Mtb next week...i will be stoked!

The biggest high i had for 2011 was heading over to America for my debut US Mtb season. Racing races like the Ashland 12 mile super D, Downieville, Mont saint Anne world cup, morgul bismark road race in Colorado and living and training in boulder, CO...it was a WICKED experience to say the very least! 

The amount of truly awesome people i met all over the US was truly amazing! From the west coast of Monterey and LA, bend and Ashland OREGON, all the wicked crew i rode and hung out with in boulder and all the great people i met at the races during my travels. Thanks for the great times guys and i hope we can all catch up at some point in 2012...luv ur work!

For this week, I’m off to the dark side...the road! I’m heading down to the Australian Road Cycling Championships in Ballarat, just outside of Melbourne, Victoria. A 165km smash fest with one of the best line up of riders, the event has ever seen...rot roh! I’m actually frothing for the chance to have a crack against not only Australia’s best road cyclists, but some of the best in the world over the brutal 16 laps of the 10km ‘lumpy’ circuit! It’ll be something different and a great experience at the very least.

After that it’s all systems go back on the mountain bike! First stop is the second round of the Aussie All mountain series at Mt Buller in the high country of Victoria. Another super D, XC and Enduro point to point race is on the cards and it promises to be even better than the first round.

Some may have noticed that i am no longer riding in the ROCKSTAR Racing team kit as of late. For 2012 i am riding for the Australian GIANT Factory team in Australia and internationally on the XC and super D circuits. It was a personal decision i made and after approaching GIANT Bicycles Australia and ROCKSTAR Racing, everyone was happy for me to make that decision to help further my success in the direction i wish to pursue for 2012. I had an awesome year representing ROCKSTAR Racing all over the world and i can’t thank Dwight, the team, and all the associated sponsors for all their support throughout the year in Australia and during my debut season in the US.

2012 is going to be a huge year! I’m working my guts out to make the most of it and giving it all I’ve got in the races I’m hoping to compete in this year. After the Australian domestic season finishes up for me in late march i am planning on heading back to the US in late April. My first stop will again be the Sea Otter Classic in California on April 21/22. After meeting so many great people there last year and the good times had, I’m super excited about heading back there as a starting point to my US race calendar. After that i am hoping to focus on a Super D/All mountain race calendar aswell as selected cross country races across the US and BC,canada. With races like the ‘Downieville Classic All Mtn Champs’, Oregon Super D series, North American Enduro Tour and Crankworx whistler high priorities for the year, it promises to be a wicked season!!

I hope everyone had an awesome Christmas and brought in the New Year in style! Thanks for 2011 and bring on 2012!

YIEEEEEEEEWWWWWW!!

LUV UR WORK!

JC

Hello everyone!

I have been a bit slack with my updates lately and i do apologise for not keeping everyone updated as frequently as i would like. For some reason it’s really hard to sit inside at a computer when you’re living in boulder, Colorado and at the base of the Rocky Mountains 

So it’s been 7 WEEKS since i left home now and i have been in boulder, CO for 6 weeks. I’m finally getting the hang of the place and finding my way around much easier without getting as lost as easy as before. Still, i have an amazing talent to still turn easy little trips into MISSIONS as i take a wrong turn here or there and before I know it...I'm lost!

I’ve been able to get some killer training done while I’ve been here and the weather has finally let up and summer is well and truly on the cards! Sunny hot days are on the menu most days and everything is bursting with colour and greenery and the whole place has a wicked vibe and feeling at the moment that you can’t help but get excited about.

May has been pretty quiet on the racing front, with no big races for me but a few local races around boulder keeping me interested and sharp. I've been hitting up a few road races and crits and man they have been SUPER hard! My lack of roadie expertise and red head A.D.D makes for a good hard hit out but unfortunately, not the best result! A couple of weekends ago i raced the 'Morgul Superior Classic' 2 day road race. Saturday was a crit and Sunday was the road race. The crit was pretty cool as it weaved through a couple of back streets around some houses and had some cool fast corners that if you hit fast enough, you could use the gutters as berms. It definitely freaked some of the roadies out and was an easy way to gain a few bike lengths without much effort! 

A breakaway of 8 got away and our bunch was controlled by their team mates, so i rolled in with the bunch in 17th. The road race the next day was BRUTAL to say the least! It was 6 laps of a 13.3mile course and headed up a climb called 'the wall', a 1.5mile climb that was 12% gradient, 7 times....i had full intentions to snivel for this race like i had never snivelled before!!  (Pretty much because i had actually never snivelled in a bunch before)

So the plan was going well and i wasn’t doing too much work and feeling good. Then the wheels started to fall off my little red wagon..After the 4th time up the wall, i got dropped over the top when they attacked and was now WELL off the back of the bunch. Race over i thought! So i settled in to a solid pace with another guy and before i knew it, we were nearly back on to the bunch! YIEEEW! So i stepped into it and got back onto the bunch and settled in for another lap. Lap 5 up the wall, same thing..Dropped even bigger again! This time, i was by myself so i was sure my race was over. It was about 2hrs 40min into the race and once again i settled into a good pace and ate some food to ride home by myself. AGAIN, i rode back onto the bunch, but this time i was STOMPING!! I got a second wind and i took full advantage of it. I drove the front of the bunch all the way for the rest of the lap, then big ringed the wall and to my surprise i rode off the front of the bunch and dropped the rest of the field. With another break up the road i held it on and started chasing.

About 5km later the bunch caught up with me, but i still felt good so i stepped into it again and brought back, by myself, the masters bunch up the road and a 3 man breakaway that was behind the leaders of our pro field. As we headed to the final hilltop finish up the wall, i just popped at the bottom and rode in behind the main field in 28th. I was pretty happy with this race and stoked to just finish with the main group!  3hrs30mins, 130km, 2000m climbing..great day in the office!

The weekend before that i had an awesome weekend on the dirt with a couple of mates over here, up in Wyoming. Some killer trails and a low key cruisy xc race over 3 laps of a 12ish km course. I ended up winning this race by  nearly 5mins and felt great on the mtn bike!

This weekend just gone i raced another xc race up in Vail, CO. The Teva Mountain Games. An event held up in the wicked snow region of Colorado with some EPIC scenery and some serious elevation. The race started at approx. 2600ish metres and climbed up to just under 3000m each lap! 4 laps were on the cards and it was about 23 or so minutes a lap. There was still a fair bit of snow around on most of the mountains and some of the event village had HUGE snow pieces hanging around. we were lucky to have dry conditions and come race time it ended up pretty hot which made it that much tougher.

I started well but as soon as we hit the climbs, the boys pushed the pace and i rode quickly backwards as i gasped for air and wished the D's would hurry up! i settled into a rhythm and tried not to push too hard on the climbs and make it up on the flats and downhill sections. This kind of worked and i consistently passed a heap of people each lap and rode back into 17th. About 12mins off the leader over the 1hr 37min race. Bit disappointed with my result but it was a massive eye opener to racing at REAL Altitude!

Once i recovered from that and drank a THOWSAND water bottles and endura drinks, we chilled out in the village and watched the dog jumping! the most popular event there by far!who would've thought watching dogs jump to grab a plastic hot dog, then splash into a huge pool would be so entertaining!

So now it’s pretty much GO TIME! i have a heap of big races coming up and i cannot wait to get amongst it! Next Tuesday, I’ll fly to bend, OREGON for a local fun invitational race with Adam Craig and a whole bunch of pros to race for prizes that include the longest wheelie, biggest air, longest air, fastest road section and race winner..sounds like a race too good to be true huh? then after that head down to Ashland for the 12mile super D race on June 18 and chainless challenge the day before. The weekend after that is the Subaru cup Pro XCT race in Wisconsin, June 25/26, then off to Canada for a round of the mountain bike world cup on july2nd. The final stop will be in California for the weekend of July 9/10. That will be the Downieville Classic which is the All mountain World Champs. I was fortunate enough to get a Pro entry from the GIANT Factory team over here and i am really looking forward to this event!

So definitely a whirlwind next few weeks and some exciting times ahead. I do apologise for the long report this time, but that is 6 weeks’ worth right there. Ill upload some videos and photos to facebook tonight also from the past few weekends so be sure to check them out and you might have a bit of a giggle.

I hope all is good at home guys and i look forward to chatting to you guys soon.

I’d like to send a massive thank you out to GIANT Bicycles for helping me out with an entry into downieville, SHIMANO USA and SHIMANO Australia for helping me out with parts and accessories over here which has been extremely helpful. Ben from KENDA Tyres for tyre support. Also massive thanks to Dwight, my team manager from ROCKSTAR Racing for organising some support and sending bits n pieces over to me and Mark Fenner, my coach, from www.ftptraining.com for dialing my training and getting me ready for these upcoming races.

Thanks for your support from home too guys! it great to hear and definitely provides me with extra motivation to get amongst it.

Luv ur work!

JC.

Q. Shane, congratulations on your gold medal in the sprint at the Commonwealth Games! What does it mean to you to win gold for your country?

A. After crossing the line a very happy feeling, and when standing on the podium watching the Aussie flag go up and the National Anthem playing, a very humbling feeling and proud moment.

Q. How much confidence does this win give you going into the track season in Australia, and further ahead, London 2012?


A. Well as they say you are only as good as your last race, so from that for the coming season and London there is still a lot to work on to improve. Of course getting a lot more confidence just from racing at a high level leading into the season coming off the Commonwealth Games.

Q. After your unfortunate relegation from the Kieran final, you broke the Games record in your first qualifying heat for the sprint. Were you tearing up the boards in anger, or just had great form going into it?

A. I am very proud of the way I turned things around into a great performance to take the Record and Gold medal in the sprint after disappointment in the Keirin on the same day and only hours later. I can honestly say their was no anger involved in my performance only motivation and enjoying the competition.

 
Q. Given the events in the Kieran, are you happy with how your Commonwealth Games finished, or do you still feel like there’s some unfinished business?

A. I am very happy with my games with gold in the Sprint and Games record, especially winning the Blue Ribbon event!!

Q. Back home, the media & general public seemed to be right behind you and felt you were harshly treated. Did you have any idea of the support you were receiving from back home while you were competing?

A. I was not aware that I had so much support after the Keirin. Since being home though every one has been fantastic and very supportive and I am very appreciative for this from Australia.

Q. With all the reports about the Games village and facilities putting the organisers into the spotlight, can you give us an insight into what it was like to be there competing, and how you found your whole Games experience?

A. The games experience was fantastic, I have to say that India did a fantastic job to make us all feel comfortable with their short time limit to have the village finished. The people in India were lovely and I felt my games experience will be one I will remember forever in a very happy and positive way!

 
Q. Prior to the Games you spent some time racing kieran’s in Japan. We hear stories all the time about how intense the track racing is over there, can you tell us what it’s really like?

A. Yes intense is a pritty solid word and sums it up well. I guess it's kind of like tennis where you travel from competition to competition just in Japan we get locked down in the Track for 4-5 days without internet or cell phones because of all the betting. It is a very fun experience and I really enjoyed living in Japan and learning their culture. I look forward to going back their again one day.

Q. With all the travelling you do and time spent away from your family, how do you deal with these pressures? And what’s your phone bill like!?

A. Phone bill is gigantic!!!! I wonder if Vodafone might be interested in a sponsorship (that would help out heaps ;-) It does get very tough being away from my wife and 2 year old. My wife is very understanding and supportive of me doing my sport and understands the whole having to travel and to make teams and keep improving, also financially! I wouldn't be able to do what I do and also keep improving without my wife and son's support!

Q. Looking ahead, we have big events like the Track World Cup and Austral Wheelrace being held on your home tracks. Have you targeted any races in particular this summer?

A. This summer I am looking forward to the Melbourne World Cup being my last race for the year and hopefully finishing with a good result. I am also looking forward to the break post World Cup Melbourne as I haven't had one for almost 3 years!! From January 2011 I will be doing the Australian Titles in mid Feb (that is if our Baby doesn't come during that time as my wife is due around that time) then going onto the World Championships in late March.

 
Q. How do you train for these big events, and more specifically, how do you practice the sprints?

A. Many hours in the gym, on the track, ergo and road bike. All of my training is based on sprinting of course but through out the year the combinations of track, gym, ergo, road change depending on what racing is coming up etc.

And finally...

Q. If you could be any Sesame Street character for a day, who would you be and why!??

A. My son loves Eelmo so i'll go with him, he is a pretty cool character!

To keep up to date with Shane's racing this Summer, visit his website & Twitter