Apres Velo Blog

THE SANCTIMONIOUS ROBING

Thu, 03 Mar 2011 01:45:00 GMT

The Paceline Team don APRES VELO gear as a special reminder of the ride they did from Melbourne to Sydney to raise awareness for cardiac arrhythmia's www.paceline.com.au
You guys rock!

THE STORY OF TOTAL TOOL AND THE 12 GOLDEN YAKS

Thu, 03 Mar 2011 01:58:00 GMT

The good folk at APRES VELO HQ raised their glasses and consumed another dose of caffeine upon receiving this wild and whacky email from this proud and excited Cogregant. Salute!

Hello BC and the AV team,

My ‘art works’ have arrived.

Imagine my surprise when a dray pulled by 12 golden yaks delivered the much anticipated parcel! The intensity of my excitement was only matched by the intensity of the distinctive aroma generated by the couriers noble beasts of burden. No doubt some work could be done here reducing carbon emissions.. .. however, I digress.

It is clear, from the outstanding quality of the garment which I have received, that you treat your produce with breathtaking reverence. I am honoured to be able to wear such luxury. My cycling Chums will be green with envy and give a knowing nod of agreement when they cast an eye over my shirt which proudly proclaims “ Total Tool” .

Your humble benefactor

John Bannister

Rachel Neylan

Thu, 03 Mar 2011 02:02:00 GMT

Apres Velo sponsored Aussie rider, Rachel Neylan comes 6th in Luxemborg last Sunday 2nd May, in the final race of the Spring Classics Program. Awesome result Rach!
Check out http://www.rachelneylan.com/blog/smiling-with-a-debut-euro-top-ten/

APRES VELO SPONSORED RIDER, ROCHELLE GILMORE ON THE PODIUM AGAIN.

Wed, 28 Apr 2010 10:00:00 GMT

Rochelle Gilmore, team captain and one of TEAM LOTTO’S lead riders sprinted into 2nd place at the Omloop Van Borsele, in Holland on Saturday 24th April. Grace Verbeke, TEAM LOTTO lead rider finished 12th.
Well done Rochelle and Grace!

Check out Rochelle’s race report below
Kirsten Wild out-sprints Gilmore again, but we’re getting closer!!!
Saturday’s race of 120km saw a break of 15 riders form during the first 20km, the break contained all of the strongest riders and stayed away the entire race. Cervelo had 5 riders in the break including Wild. HTC Colombia had 3 riders including Arndt, Van Dijk and Hosking. Great Britain had 3 riders including Cooke. Bloeit had 3 riders including Vos.... Lotto had Gilmore in there alone.
Cervelo were the strongest and most active team in the break but with 40km to go the attacks started, with 15km to go Cooke launched a strong attack and took 3 other riders with her to get a maximum lead of 50 seconds with 5km to go. Cervelo had Charlotte Becker in the break but decided to continue the chase in order to set the race up for Wild.
The break of four containing Cooke and Becker were caught with 200m to go.
Wild (Cervelo) won the sprint, Gilmore (Lotto) was 2nd and Broun (Aust. National Team) 3rd.
You can view the sprint finish at the link below.
Lotto raced again today (Sunday) in the GP Stad Roeselare 1.1 in Belgium. Gilmore had mechanical problems during the first 50km and withdrew from the race, Grace Verbeke finished 12th.
There was an interesting preview published before this weekend, it gives an opinion on the fastest sprinters in the world. They’ve given the number one spot to Ina Teutenberg (HTC Colombia) and 2nd position went to Kirsten Wild (Cervelo). They kind of gave equal 3rd to Giorgia Bronzini and Rochelle Gilmore. Whilst Ina has dominated sprinting for the past 10 years, many would agree that Kirsten Wild is actually faster at the moment!
You can read the article here: http://www.podiumcafe.com/2010/4/24/1441066/preview-sprint-weekend

TEAM LOTTO LADIES

Fri, 23 Apr 2010 09:19:00 GMT

APRES VELO “sizzles” with TEAM LOTTO LADIES. Pictured ... Rochelle Gilmore (Aus), Liz Hatch (USA) and Veronica Andreasson (Sweden)

Apres Velo Chairs

Thu, 22 Apr 2010 01:13:00 GMT

Finally, after hours of glueing, stitching & patching..... 20 Apres Velo Directors Chairs are finished. Each chair has my DNA imprinted into the fabric...I cannot tell you how many times I sewed my fingers (I'm not good at maths or counting beyond 10 'cause that's all my digits) when trying to sew the tyres and tubes onto the canvas.
I used up most of the tee shirt strike-offs and also have to thank Bike Addiction for the extra tyres, tubes & puncture patches( James looks at me like I'm a weirdo when I buy all his patches and i like the ones with orange rubber around the edges -don't you?).
So, here they are, ready to send to the Women's Honda/Lotto Team in Yooorope to rest up on, apres racing/riding. Go girls.
They deserve to have the coolest, funkiest Chairs to sit on.

At the very end is a back view of one of the chairs -each chair is of course completely different.

ADAM LAMBERT ( A MEMBER OF OUR COG-REGATION) BEING PRESENTED WITH THE COOLEST T SHIRT AWARD BY STEVE WAUGH.

Tue, 20 Apr 2010 06:26:00 GMT

Actually this was a sales award Adam was receiving ( congrats mate) but still chose to wear his most prized T shirt for this special occasion ( congrats again).

FEEDBACK …THE BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS!

Sun, 18 Apr 2010 23:23:00 GMT

The good folk at HQ were floored by this forum post we received.

We love to be loved by our loving Cog-regation!

Makes the juices flow…..

http://www.bicycles.net.au/forums/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=26789&p=384791#p384791

FORKIN SPOKED

Thu, 15 Apr 2010 23:24:00 GMT

Upon receipt of this email from Brett, the team at HQ were so stoked, we got onto our two- wheeled chariots and spun around the block chanting “hallelujah” all the way. We luv what we do anyway, but this just makes our play that much sweeter. Thanks Brett.

"My hoodie just arrived and I just wanted to thank you and your staff for a truly wonderful experience. From the great email yesterday to the immaculately wrapped product, the experience was just amazing.

I will certainly be buying from you again.

In fact I am going to write about you guys on my website and blogs.

Have a really good day".

Regards
Brett

LOTTO LADIES TEAM

Tue, 13 Apr 2010 00:40:00 GMT

Proudly introducing the faces that go with the names of the LOTTO LADIES TEAM, whom APRES VELO have recently sponsored;

Grace Verbeke (Belgium)

Rochelle Gilmore (Australia)

Elizabeth Hatch (America)

Veronica Andreasson (Sweden)

Vicki Whitelaw (Australia)

Josephine Tomic (Australia)

Elise De Poorter (Belgium)

Kim Schoonbaert (Belgium)

Ashleigh Moolman (South Africa)

Lynette Burger (South Africa)

Annelies Van Dooslaer (Belgium)

Lien Lanssens (Belgium)

Kathy Delfosse (Belgium)

Sofie De Vuyst (Belgium)

THE LOTTO LADIES DEVELOPMENT TEAM

Evelyn Arys (Belgium)

Femke Van Den Driessche (Belgium)

Julie Vanderkelen (Belgium)

Celine Vierstraete (Belgium)

APRES VELO with LOTTO LADIES TEAM ON THE WORLD STAGE

Tue, 13 Apr 2010 00:50:00 GMT

Check out TEAM LOTTO LADIES and their Aussie captain and lead rider, Rochelle Gilmore, at the road UCI World Cup presentations.
The LOTTO Team went on to win the Tour of Flanders in Belgium that weekend, through Grace Verbeke of Belgium.

Go Girls and good luck with your forthcoming races
Big Cog

Where do you get your energy?

Fri, 09 Apr 2010 05:13:00 GMT

So many people ask me this amongst other common questions like "are you ADD?" or "what drug are you on - I want some of it".
I also get mistaken for being much younger than I am (although being asked whether I'm 4 is somewhat confusing).. I like to think it's because I am covered in local mud mixed with horse poo a lot of the time (which is good for your skin?) and I do exercsie a lot and eat a really healthy diet washed down with 3 cups of anti-oxidising Flat White coffees.

Years ago whilst over-training for the 6 Foot Track Marathon (in order to do a rooly rooooly fast time), working long hours and looking after children etc and sleeping minimal hours (2-3 a night) I got very tired. I would go for 5-6 hour weekend long run and drag myself all the way around and end up on my doorstep crying, saying my energy system just wasn't working. Once my hubby had to pick me up 1km from home lying on a grass verge as i just didn't have the energy to get the last bit home.

After blood tests it was confirmed I'd contracted Glandular fever on top of my existing Haemochromatosis. I had a wonderful doctor who prescribed me: less exercise, more sleep, CoQ10 and Anthogenol. So sensible.... insert rolling of eyes....
I was back running and winning races within 6 months and bouncing off the walls again. Below are 2 websites about the products I take and use still, years after.
http://www.addslife.com.au/ http://www.bloomshealth.com.au/

The more reading & research I do, the more important I realise it is to consume the right food. Supplementing with CoQ10 & a powerful antioxident such as Anthogenol is important as no-one can eat the quantity of fruit and veg each day to get enough anitoxidents for your body, as an athlete of any sort. Getting enough sleep is important (not that I do) and listening to your body MOST important. Rest when you're tired or sick.

I DO eat loads of fruit and veg, eat wholegrains and very natural foods, drink water and only have electrolyte drinks if exercising hard for over an hour. I make my own food bars or pack fruit, dried fruits and nuts. My mum used to say eat 30 different things a day....which in a bowl of muesli half of this can be tallied up, followed by salads or stir-frys, easy!

I won't ever consume those Goo things or eat commercial bars full of crap: chemical numbers, sugar & fat. I eat enormous quatnites of Sonoma sourdough breads (my favourite) or make my own sourdough loaves. Look for my recipes on other blogs for my "energy" or "protein" bars & muffins.

I've never had another bout of GF. I bounce around most days and do a hell-of-a-lot-of-stuff each day. I DO get tired but usually because I've done so much each day any normal person would be staggeringly buggered. My good buddy Dave says I'm an alien
and when he saw Avatar he knew where I was from......ooooooh.

There you go, all my secrets. I tell you guys everything.

Below is a photo of the Dirty Torquers (moi, Joel & Andrew) 2nd overall after a 27hour Adventure race down the coast in the Eurobodalla National Park. We may look good - but geez we were stinky!

Apres Velo Stands: reCYCLE

Fri, 09 Apr 2010 05:03:00 GMT

This is my Uncle Russ and me. I wasn't standing up straight -that's why I look smaller. I have 4 "little" cousins as well who are all bigger and tallerer than Uncle Russ - obviously my mum didn't feed me right when i was a kid and this also explains why everytime i see my Aunty Andy she has a kitchen full of cakes and bickies for me to take home.

Anyhow, I digress... this is the shed of dreams and everytime i go out to Dural and enter this shed... it's like I'm home. This is only a tiny bit of it and every wall and even the roof has stuff carefully stored to be used at some time down the track. It smells of oil, petrol and rust and I love it.

Uncle Russ can make & fix anything -so when i send my mad hatter sketches to him he says "no worries, Rene". Below are pictures of the new stands he made out of old bike bits. He's retired...and he's so kind to make these for me. Aren't they cool, though?

He's made 6 different ones for Bike Temples to try out. I have sent more drawings to him that we will make up including shelves and hanging racks made from handlebars.

I'm off (I know) to make chairs for the Team Lottof Girls to rest their weary behinds after winning races- Apres Velo!

CTM.

LOTTO LADIES TEAM WINS FLANDERS!!

Thu, 08 Apr 2010 04:10:00 GMT

APRES VELO sponsored a winner last Monday, when Grace Verbeke won the Tour of Flanders riding in her LOTTO LADIES TEAM colours.

See race report below from LOTTO captain and lead rider Rochelle Gilmore

Grace made history today when she won the Ronde van Vlaanderen! At 25 years of age Grace has become the first Belgian female to win the Tour of Flanders. It must be every Belgian riders dream to win Belgium’s most famous classic, and what better way to do it than with the Belgium team that has supported and believed in her for the past 5 years- Lotto Ladies Team.

Last year Grace finished 4th in two World Cups, Drenthe (Holland) and Plouay (France) as well as winning the first stage and the overall Tour Du Limousin (France). Following these outstanding results in 2009 Grace was highly sort after by some of the World’s strongest cycling teams and she was faced with a tough decision leading into 2010. It’s was an expression of Grace’s personality and loyalty when she decided to stay with Lotto while working hard towards her ultimate goal of winning the Tour of Flanders.
In our team meeting preceding today’s race, Grace made her ambitions clear, she wanted to win solo today. Anyone who has watched and observed Grace’s progression and results would admit that today’s win was no surprise. Everyone who knows Grace would have known she was capable of winning today.

Grace had planned to attack on the Muur but her winning move happened much earlier, she rode off the front of the group on the Molenberg with 45km to go instead of on the Mur with 16km to go. When we asked Grace what we could do to assist her attempt to win Flanders she replied with “I want the race to be as hard as possible- I want a hard race”. I guess the race wasn’t tough enough so she decided she had to do something, she drove the pace hard on the Molenberg and pulled away from the group. Adrie Visser of HTC Colombia immediately jumped the gap to Grace and they worked together with equal turns until Grace dropped Adrie before the Muur with 25 km to go.

The time gap with 25km to go was only 35 seconds from Grace back to the main peleton, many would have predicted that Grace would be caught but with strong timetrial credibility Grace held off the chasing bunch by 3 seconds. Grace actually started celebrating her win with 200m to go, so you could say that she won Flanders quite comfortably in the end!
What a day!! Congratulations Grace!!

Grace would like to thank Lotto Ladies Team, Dany Schoonbaert (Team Director) and all our wonderful sponsors.
Thank You.

LOTTO’S TOMIC WINS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

Thu, 08 Apr 2010 04:03:00 GMT

Another World Championship for Lotto’s Josephine Tomic!

Last year Josephine Tomic won the World Championship Omnium; 10 days ago she won another World Championship in the Women’s 3000m Team’s Pursuit, held in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Josephine was joined by Ashlee Ankudinoff and Sara Kent to form Australia’s winning team. The women rode a time of 3 minutes 21 seconds, beating the Brits by half a second.

The Great Britain team had dominated this event since its inclusion at the World Championships so to win the final against the British team made this win extremely satisfying for the Australian Trio.
Josie was very emotional after winning this world title, she only had a few months to come back from a serious injury in December, she said “I’ve worked so hard for this; it’s like a dream come true”.

Unfortunately Josie crashed during the 2010 Omnium scratch race and was unable to continue her attempt to regain her Omnium World Title.... I guess one World Title a year is enough?
Josephine will now re-join the Lotto Ladies Team and focus on the European road season starting with the Drenthe World Cup in Holland this weekend. Josie started her 2010 road season with Lotto Ladies Team by winning the Australian U23 National TT back in January.