SIXS Joins Team Kosdown

We are very pleased to announce that Italian manufacturer of technical sports clothing, SIXS, has come on board as a sponsor of Team Kosdown.

SIXS will supply the  team's elite riders with premium quality thermal and compression garments, which are designed to protect riders from the cold – even the “Lancefield cold” – while regulating temperature when exercising hard.  It’s a combination we’re looking forward to putting to the test at the upcoming Northern Combine Three Day Tour. 

SIXS made their name in skiing and motocross, and are now looking to extend their reach into cycling.  As such, our partnership with SIXS will also involve our riders in providing feedback to inform the company’s ongoing research and development program.  Not many companies are so genuinely interested in the needs and perceptions of grassroots racers! 

In Australia, SIXS is only available through Dolomiti, a cycling lifestyle store at 202 Elgin Street Carlton.  We encourage all cyclists to head down to Dolomiti to check out the impressive SIXS range of cycling wear ... and all the other cycling essentials in store.

Be sure to also ask our riders about their great products as these garments will be tested in the same environments that most readers would be cycling through. You can also visit their website for more information here 

We look forward to seeing SIXS on our kit. 

Von Micich’s report details last Saturday’s sterling effort by all involved.

When the Phillip Island race was announced as a Women’s Teams Race, it was a great opportunity to get some women together to race in a Cycling Victoria Open event.

Two teams were put together from women eager to be involved:

Kosdown White - Veronica Micich, Katherine Lee, Fiona Neuwirth, Liz Georgesen.

Kosdown Blue - Lauretta Hanson, Nonie Carr, Emma Pane, Renee Nutbean 

The ladies met in the lead up to train around Albert Park and get to know each other’s riding style before the big day. With coffee afterwards and car pooling sorted there was a lot of buzz ready for race day.

Some of the best Victorian teams were present in LIV Giant, Total Rush, SKCC Giant, making it one of the largest Women’s Open Teams races with 43 starters. The start line had notable names Nicole Whitburn, Amy Bradley and Madeleine Pape ready to go.

Layers of Kosdown kit kept most of the line-up warm, except for Lauretta Hanson who started sans arm warmers!

(c) Shane Miller

One quick rain shower and racing was underway. The Kosdown ladies teams worked in the bunch and everyone was seen at the front at some stage in the race. 

(c) Shane Miller

The rain stayed away over the 2hr race, but the wind took its toll on everyone. Block headwinds, super fast tailwinds on the main straight and challenging crosswinds kept everyone on their toes but as the race wore on to the final laps there were only 24 riders still on course to finish.

(c) Adrian Volk

Emma Pane featured in the main bunch after the leaders broke away and Lauretta Hanson showed her diversity and strength finishing 2nd in the KOM, Sprints and Overall finish line honours to Nicole Whitburn who has been almost unstoppable over the summer criterium season.

(c) Adrian Volk

Lauretta’s team, Kosdown Blue finished 4th Overall. Kosdown White finished 9th overall. 

(c) Shane Miller

Great camaraderie from the ladies, clean racing without any incidents in the bunch left all with big smiles and eager for more great racing.

Detailed Results:  http://metarace.com.au/site/road/pigp/women.pdf

Next race for Kosdown women will be the SKCC Trophy Race (Featuring the 2012 Women's Race Series)

Lauretta Hanson just keeps on getting better. Of course, we are delighted to see one of our young riders achieve such great results. Via a lot of hard work by this athlete and some assistance from the team, Lauretta has secured countless podium positions this year alone. This is her report from last weekend's Tour of the South West, where she won the women's title. 

I was a little bit anxious upon starting the Tour of South West, thinking that my Year 12 commitments leading to my lack of training would have me in for a thrashing and when I dropped my chain on the start line of the road race I assumed it was just the beginning of a bad weekend but in reality it was just a minor hiccup of a perfect weekend.

With only seven girls starting the event we were put in with men’s C grade. The first stage was a 85km road race consisting of five 17km laps. The first lap wasn’t too stressful as everyone familiarised themselves with the course. Then coming into the last straight of the 2^nd lap the boys put the pressure on. All of sudden everyone was strung out single file riding in the gutter trying to get a break from the strong head wind that became the biggest challenge of the race. Knowing the others girls were dropped I knew this was my chance to gain as much time as possible. I am always told that you have to be desperate if you want to win bike races and during that stretch I was. I didn’t want to have to fight against the wind for 60km by myself. So through pure desperation, I chewed the head stem a little bit longer and managed to hold on. I even surprised myself and managed to hold on for all but the last 5km which was the most gruelling 5km due to the wind.

I finished 23^rd out of 47 who started in the C grade field and around 10 minutes in front of the next girl, but due to the tack factor everyone beyond a certain time was given a blanket time which brought my lead over the next girl back to 3 minutes and 50 seconds.

As I descended the ramp for stage two, a 12.7km Time Trial, the heavens opened and with the wind still stronger, if not stronger, made for some pretty tough conditions. The plan was to make as much time up into the tail wind and just try and maintain it into the wind. I caught my first rider as soon as I turned the corner out of tail wind.  The next, only a few kilometres up the road quickly followed by a third with around 3km to go. I won the women’s time trial and had gained myself another 26 seconds in the general classification, giving me a 4 minute and 16 second lead over the next girl by the end of the days racing.

Fortunately the wind had died down by the beginning of day two’s criterium which my legs, still suffering from the previous day’s events, were most grateful for. We started separate from the men this time, which levelled the playing field and meant no one had the advantage of being able to sneak away with the men. Half way through the race we had dropped two girls off the back but the other four of us were still together, despite a few failed attacks by Ruby Greig-Hurtig and Clare Morgan. These two girls were fighting for 2^nd and 3^rd and being only 10 seconds apart it could have gone either way. With only a short time remaining Ruby’s attacks were becoming more frequent and lasting longer. Finally, on the way up the hill the deciding move was made and Ruby and I rode away from Clare. Ruby took the stage win and gained herself the 10 seconds she required to claim second in the general classification, with myself taking first place, finishing 4 minutes and 22 seconds in front of Ruby.

Despite the small field of women, I think it was an excellent event. We had full road closure for all stages and it was a very well organised event that I will certainly be putting on my calendar for next year. 

On the eve of the road racing season, we consider what it is about this sport of ours that keeps us coming back for more, in spite of the pain, the cold and the wet...

As I slumped over my TT bike, coughing like a 20-a-day smoker with my chest feeling like I’d just been kicked by Phar Lap, a familiar thought crossed my mind: why do I do this to myself?  We’ve all been there.  Bike racing is tough and sometimes you just have to ask yourself that question.  The stimulus this time around was a nasty chest infection that took hold in the lead up to a key TT event and, as it turned out, robbed me of the performance I was hoping for ... as well as robbing me of oxygen and dignity.

Two days later, despite what my wife says, the infection had cleared enough for me to be back on the bike and training again.  Repression had once again played its magic trick and the doubts of 48-hours earlier had been forgotten.

How and why does this happen?  What is it about smashing yourself to pieces on a machine that was invented to be a labour saving device that is so addictive?

It would be easy to take the pop-psychology approach to answering this question.  To argue that bike racing just fulfils a natural urge for competition, a desire to conquer and, what psychoanalysts would call, the thanatos.  While there may be an element of truth in such notions – they are just that: elements of the truth and not the whole story.  As Neil Young would say, there’s more to the picture than meets the eye.

As I meet more people in the bike racing “community” (although I don’t know if you can call a group of people who try to smash each into submission on a regular basis a “community”) what I find are different and personal drivers behind their desire to race.  Cycling, more than any other sport I’ve encountered, goes deep.  It goes to the heart of who we are.  Ask someone who plays cricket on the weekend who they are and they’ll tell you their name, whether they have a family, where they work, etc.  Ask a bike racer who they are and they will tell you, I am a cyclist.  Bike racing is more than a sport, it’s an identity ... and, in Australia, it’s an “alternative” or counter-culture identity, which may also explain some of its appeal to baby-boomers and Gen Xers.

Although I didn’t know it at the time, my journey toward bike racing started almost exactly 11 years ago.  That was the day I tipped the scales at 125kg.  Impressive – for all the wrong reasons.  Having been a reasonable athlete as a teenager, it was tragic that I had “let myself go” – but there was also optimism: I knew what I had to do to lose the weight.  I still had within me something of an athlete (or maybe two, as some of my friends would jibe). So, I bought some running shoes and started jogging.  Slowly the weight fell away – my old joke was that the skinnier I got the better looking my girlfriends got, so the whole cycle sustained itself.

Six years later, a much slimmer version of myself completed the Melbourne Marathon.  But by then, all those kilometres under a big frame had destroyed my ankle.  I’ll never forget the day the orthopaedic surgeon refused to operate, saying: “If you want to be walking when you’re 60, give up running when you’re 30.”  Then he uttered the now fateful words, “Go buy yourself a bike.”  So I did.

In the beginning, racing for me was a form of insulation – a protection against backsliding into old habits and stacking on the kilos again.  Although, ironically, I now eat almost as much as I used to!  Racing provided motivation, discipline and a real connection to a new group of people who would become close friends.

But then, I started getting better and racing became more than a defence.  I learned what the tifosi had known all along – bike racing is a creative endeavour.  On the bike I could express my athleticism (for what it’s worth!) in a way that defines how I think races should be raced and what I think constitutes toughness and bravery ... a kind of carbon fibre expressionism.  Every race then becomes an opportunity to define myself in these terms, to carve an identity with each pedal stroke.  So long as I live up to my ideals, every race is a victory.  That’s the challenge, that’s the reward and that’s what keeps me coming back.

Last weekend was for a lot of clubs and open events the last for the Summer Criterium Season. We now all will hit the open roads for what will be a welcome change to our racing schedules. 

On Saturday Kosdown riders were competing in both the Coburg Northern Criterium series and the Dandenong Criterium which promised to be a quick one. 

Saturday morning delivered a strong north head wind up the back straight of the Campbellfield National Boulevard, making sure that conditions were going to be hard. The series has delivered some extremely fast average speeds on what is a very open course, the course race record being hit at 45.3km ave earlier in February.   

On Saturday a breakway managed to defy a chasing bunch for the entire duration of the race, with Kosdown eventually taking out 2^nd, 3^rd and 4^th. Kos Samaras along with John West’s Dean Sanfillipo outlasted the chasing bunch, losing Brad White along the way who worked hard to assist the pair taking out 1^st and 2^nd, the young John West rider having the legs to take out line honours. Shannon Johnson and Sam Lilley outsprinted what was left of the bunch which by the final stages of the race had disintegrated. 

Shannon Johnson then backed up his morning effort by outsprinting the main bunch at the Dandenong Criterium. The race contained many international riders who all failed to beat Shannon to the line, behind a break away pair. Kosdown’s youngest rider, Nick Katsonis displayed his potential by featuring prominently in an early break and then working hard for his team leader. Not bad for a kid who is still studying year 12. 

On Sunday Shane Miller went on to display his ever increasing form by taking out Coburg’s Evolution Cycles Time Trial series, winning all 4 events in the aero category and topping that performance by taking out Coburg’s ITT Club championships. Earlier in the week he went out to the Seymour club ITT event for a warm up and averaged 47km/hour. 

Lauretta Hanson, another one of our young riders just continues to score runs on the board. On Sunday she added to her impressive medal tally for this year by taking out 3^rd overall in the National Junior Mountain Climb Championships.  

A huge weekend of racing for Team Kosdown. Our riders certainly had a jammed packed schedule but that also meant a lot of opportunities for some great results. 

The weekend started off with a win by Shannon Johnson at the CCC crits, followed by a Kosdown clean sweep at the Coburg Crit Club Championships. Our women placed well in their grades during the morning but secured podium spots in the Cykelevents Womens Grand Prix series. 

Shane Miller raced that morning at the Coburg Club Champs, spent 20 minutes solo off the front and then backed it up that afternoon by taking out 1^st place at the Wangaratta CC Winton ITT. His average watts were massive. 

Miller 30 min watts average make your eyes water

Those average watts were outdone this morning at the Victorian Masters Crit Championships. He took out 1^st place by literally solo riding the 30 min event, Shannon Johnson coming in second. 

Von and Lauretta again secured podium finishes in their respective age groups, with Von taking out the M1 Women’s race.

Lins Tunbridge lapped his field twice to not only deliver a monster effort but also take out his respective age title.

Shannon Johnson backed up the morning race by lining up for the NAB Showmans Crit, outsprinting the chasing bunch behind a break away made up purely of international riders. He was the first Australian across the line, ahead of many local professionals. 

Coburg Northern Criterium series

1^st Shannon Johnson - A Grade 

1st Lauretta Hanson - C Grade 

2012 Coburg Cycling Club Criterium Championships

1^st Sam Lilley

2^nd Kos Samaras

3^rd Peter Ferrie

Wangaratta CC Winton ITT

1^st Shane Miller

Victorian Criterium Championships 

Masters 1 

1^st Shane Miller

2^nd Shannon Johnson 

Womens Masters 1 

1^st Von Micich 

Women’s J19 

2^nd Lauretta Hanson 

Master 4 

1st Lins Tunbridge

Women’s Cykelevents Grand Prix Race 4

A Grade 

2^nd Lauretta Hanson 

B Grade 

2^nd Von Micich 

NAB Showmans Criterium 

6^th Shannon Johnson – 1^st Australian Rider 

Their work would not be possible without the many sources of government and philanthropic funding provided each year. 

Many competitive cyclist have assisted in charities and of course, watched as one young professional rider went on to not only dominate his chosen sport but assist in establishing one of the most effective anti cancer foundations in the world. However Livestrong is not the only body applying themselves to tackling this horrible disease. In Australia we have many charities devoted to this worthy cause.    

One is the Ride to Conquer Cancer, a fundraising activity in aid of the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre. Peter Mac is helping to improve our understanding of how cancers work and why they develop, to find better ways to target them and treat patients. 

Team Kosdown’s owner, David Downey, his sister Sandra Downey and Russell from Kosdown printing have decided to tackle the 200km bike ride in aid of this great cause. Their group, the Ant Hill Mob has already raised thousands of dollars. 

Although they are passionate supporters of cycling they are not like most who are reading this journal entry, i.e. competitive cyclist. David, Sandra and Russell are simply a group of people who like riding a bike and in this case, using it to raise money. 

All are of course training to prepare for this challenge in October but we ask any cyclist out there, who has some spare cash to donate to their worthy cause. Simply follow the link, go to Melbourne, select donate on the top left hand side, type in Ant Hill Mob under search for a team and follow the prompts. 

We will keep everyone up to date with their quest to not only complete this challenge but how much money they have raised for this wonderful medical centre. 

All of us at Team Kosdown are absolutely delighted to see our owners not only embark on a quest to assist a worthy cause, one which has personally touched them but use the bike to do it. 

Photo by Peta Stuart

Last weekend Kosdown riders were competing all over the state. On Saturday Sam Lilley secured a second place at the very fast Coburg Crits, Shannon Johnson played with the big boys at the Mansfield crit, taking out 5^th place behind a breakaway in A grade, Lauretta Hanson taking out an impressive 3^rd place in the women’s A grade event and Von Micich taking out 4^th in the women’s B grade event. 

It’s been a very successful summer campaign by Team Kosdown, lead by the very impressive Shannon Johnson who took out 1^st place at the Bay crits individual support event. 

Stay tuned for more results in the weeks to come.  

We have made much of how our team is here to provide support for young and mature age cyclists who want to take their competitive pursuits to the next level. One of the most important tasks for us is to render to our younger riders information and advise on what tools can give them an added advantage in those pursuits.

We make no secret that one of the most important tools that any serious cyclist needs to acquire is the power meter. Adam Katsonis gives his perspective on how this simple tool has transformed not only his training but also his enjoyment of this sport.

When you hold a full time 9-5 job like myself, or are studying in year 12 like my brother and teammate Nic, you definitely look forward to the summer and in particular; daylight savings. Longer days and warmer nights enable you to work or study for a full day, and still have time for a 2-3 hr ride after it. It provides you with a great opportunity to build a base for the upcoming season. However, what do you do when daylight savings ends, its dark by 6pm, and you don’t feel like risking your life on the road at night? You buy yourself a decent indoor trainer, and in particular a power metre.

I’ve never been a huge fan of the indoor trainer; lets face it, most of us aren’t. Stories of teammates spending up to 3 hrs on the ergo still make me cringe, however I’m learning to respect the ergo and although I’m not yet at the point where I’m spending 3 hrs at a time on it, I’m slowly learning to enjoy targeted/specific training on it.

Over winter, the majority of mine and Nic’s training is done on the indoor trainer. Like other teammates who hold full time jobs, study, or both, the only time we’re able to hit the road during winter is on the weekends. In order to race at an A grade level, you cant afford to let your training suffer as a result of having less sunlight in a day, you need to adapt your training to be done on an indoor trainer with specific targeted training.

I’ve tried so hard to enjoy the ergo in previous seasons, but by about 4 weeks into Winter I’m sick of it, and back to hating the indoor trainer. It becomes a “chore” which you simply cannot be bothered doing. I put this down to not having a proper program to stick to, and more importantly, never training with a power meter.

All of this has changed this season. After 1 and a half seasons of racing with Kosdown, which included a couple of injury setbacks resulting in constant up and down fitness and only seeing minor improvements as a result, I’ve now decided its time to step it up. I’ve now got a solid program, written up by a man with a wealth of cycling knowledge, Mark Neiwand. Mark has been coaching Nic for the past couple of years and I’ve seen Nic continually improve on the bike ever since. On top of this, after listening to the more experienced members in the team speak highly of power metres, I’ve finally caved in and recently purchased one. To be honest, my training on the ergo has hit new levels. No longer am I sitting on the trainer for an hour, watching my favourite TV shows or Tour De France highlights and just rolling my legs over aimlessly watching the clock wishing it would just hurry up.

So why does a Power meter make such a difference you ask?

In the words of Joe Friel – “When it comes to speed, the engine is always the most important part. A power meter will help you develop a bigger one”

In the past, my training has been based around heart rate, cadence and speed. A lot of guesswork as well. With a power meter, the guesswork is eliminated. If my program says I need to work out at x amount of watts, I simply roll the legs until I hit those watts and sit there for as long as I need to.

No more spinning until I hit a certain speed or cadence, no working until I hit a certain heart rate, and more importantly, no more guesswork.

I’m now able to get the intensity correct immediately. Without a power meter you may feel as though you are holding the same intensity throughout an effort when in fact this isn’t true. Your power is likely to be dropping as you are fatiguing, but without a power metre, there is no way to realize this for sure. With a power meter, there is no wasted training time and precise intensity due to being able to see the watts you are holding throughout an effort or interval.

So, I’m still relatively new to the world of power meters, but I’m looking forward to tracking my progress throughout the season and seeing positive signs as a result of training with power. It’s become a bit of an obsession, and I’m already starting to see improvements in the little time I’ve had one.

Yes, power meters are very expensive. However, my advice to any cyclist who wants to step it up to the next level; the next time you are considering a set of deep-dish wheels, think again. Yes they look awesome, and will give you that extra Euro factor. But they wont allow you to increase your performance as much as a power metre will. Who knows, it may even get you that race win you’ve been chasing, now that’s EURO.

Start cutting down your espresso intake to 1 per ride and save the extra $5-10 a week. Buy a power meter, I assure you it will definitely change how well you train and race.

Adam Katsonis