Oakley HQ Tour

I have been an Oakley athlete for right on 7 years now and in that time have always dreamed about seeing the company headquarters in the USA. Being that the drive to Oakley HQ from where I am currently staying in LA was only about an hour and I half I decided that this was as good a time as any to see where all the magic happens.

 The reception area and front office 

Waiting chairs (aeroplane ejector seats)

Upon arriving at 1 Icon, Foothill Ranch I was immediately faced with the HUGE Oakley main building (what I found out later was that this was just 1 of many on the site). The HQ is utterly huge and I can honest say that photos do not do it justice. 

I met with Greg Welsh and was given the full tour and run down on the history and development of Oakley products. Seeing the evolution of products from Oakley's inception right up to 2013 and beyond was a true treat.

I also was able to get a super sneak peak of some of the upcoming products for 2013 and beyond and meet some of the sports marketing team behind the scenes at Oakley international. There are some areas at Oakley HQ that are heavily restricted including the R&D eyewear devision. I would have loved to have seen what the masterminds at Oakley were working on back there!

Wall of Oakley products through time

My favourite Oakley glasses 'Oakley - Over the Top'

 Thanks again to Greg for his time and the grand tour

70.3 US Pro Champs St George - 19th

St George was going to be my biggest test thus far over the 70.3 distance. This was not just because of the 53 professional men racing and arguably the strongest field ever assembled outside of the 70.3 World Championships but also due to the fact that the course was quite possibly the toughest 70.3 course in the world. Looking at the start list it was clear to me that the race would be on from start to finish. Being so young in comparison to the other pro men racing (I was the 4th youngest in a field of 53) I was admittedly nervous but felt like I could consolidate a good result.

Race day quickly approached and I was greeted with the usually 4:30am alarm. I downed my usual banana and honey on toast, dextro sports drink and a dextro carbo bar and headed out the door. The course consisted of 2 different transitions, one at the swim exit of the lake and the other in town. This meant dropping off the saucony fastwitch shoes in town before heading out on the bus to the lake.

After setting up T2 and a small warm up I headed down to the lake for the race start. The water was freezing measuring just 15.5 degrees C (60F). I positioned myself at the start right next to gun swimmer Andy Potts and once the gun went off just tried to stay on his feet. I dropped back ever so slightly but didn't really face to many issues and exiting the water in 9th position. Due to the cold water I spent the extra time to put the socks on heading out onto the bike leg. Onto the bike I wanted to establish myself at the front of the group and thus moved up just behind Bevan Docherty to ensure that I wasn't stuck behind many of the 25-30 strong group which all seemed to head out together.

The first section of the ride wasn't that fast but as soon as we hit the hills a few miles later it was a different story all together. The group really splinted over the first few hills and I quickly found myself in the front group of 8 with just 3 other athletes up the road from us. The bike course was totally crazy with only the first 7km's being flat and the rest either up or down hills. It's by far the hardest course I have ever raced on. On the final long climb up snow canyon I ever so slightly lost touch with the group and spent the final stretch down the highway after the climb hitting 60-80kph+ chasing back up to group. I headed into T2 just 20 seconds down and despite the hard bike felt quite fresh in the legs.

The first 6kms of the run was straight up hill and hearing IM World Champion Craig Alexander cheering my name and offering some words of advice really helped spur me on. The entire run course was really relentless with zero flat sections. At the run turn I could see that I was headed for a top 15 finish if I held onto my current position. A few of the fast runners from the 2nd chase pack ran past me just after the turn around and despite trying my hardest to stay with them I just couldn't keep up with their pace.

Over the final 6kms down hill to the finish I was cramping worse than ever and found those final few miles the hardest of the entire race. I crossed the line totally stuffed! I don think that I've ever run that hard for 19th in my life but I can honestly say that this was the hardest race, over the hardest course against the fastest athletes that I have ever done. The results list showed the toll that this course took on the pro mens field with just 38 from 53 athletes even finishing the race.

Mid way through the bike & post race thoughts 

For me it's another great result and a step into the right direction.

Next up in Florida 70.3 in 2 weeks time.

Florida > LA > Vegas > Utah in 3 days

After making the long flight back to LA post St Anthony’s 5150 I was able to meet up with my good friend Wayne Jones and get in some good training from his home in LA. I’m still trying to find my way around and work out some good training locations but Wayne with all his contacts managed to somehow get me into a very exclusive gated community which also happened to have an amazing training pool for me to use while in LA.

LA Training Pool

 Post swim session checking out the view

With just a quick turn around we made the drive on Wednesday out of LA, through Vegas and into St George for the weekends 70.3 US Pro Championships. My home stay in St George was truly amazing and I have to give a huge thank you to Dave, Kim and their son Talon for making me feel at home.

Also thank you again to Dave for helping me get the Specialized S-Works Shiv immaculate for race day. The man spends 5 hours minimum detailing his Corvette and just like me is a perfectionist. 

With St George being a heavily religious area the race was held on a Saturday as apparently if it were to be held on Sunday then 90% of the volunteers would refuse to attend.

The day before I headed out for a swim, ride and run over the course and put together a small video of the ride I did.

Race day is Saturday and to say I am excited against racing the worlds best 70.3 athletes is an understatement.

St Anthony’s, 5150 Florida – 13th

Seeing the names on the start list in the weeks before I knew that was this was going to be one of the races of the season with 45 of the best male triathletes assembled. St Anthony’s would mark my first time racing in the USA and I was keen to show my cards and get a good result on the board. 

I flew into Tampa, Florida on early Tuesday morning and for the week leading up to the race spilt my time between recovering from some crazy jet lag and doing some light training with not too much intensity. St Pete, where the race is held really is an amazing part of the world and I am already keen to come back next year and spend even more time here. Speaking of which, I must give a big thank you to Tim, who I had the pleasure of staying with for the duration of my visit. 

Race Day:

Race day started early (and dark) with the start time set for 6:50am. The swim conditions were extremely rough and the choppy seas made for a challenging but fun swim. The great thing about having a swim like this is that it really broke up the field heading into T2. I emerged from the swim in 15th place and right next to all the major threats. 

Being that this was my first time racing a 5150 event in the USA I was keen to see just how the stagger/drafting rules played out as the USA ruling is quite unique and very different to anywhere else in the world. I held my spot on the bike in the lead group trying to conserve my energy for what would be a very quick run! The cycle leg didn’t feel overly fast but a 43.5kph average speed for the 40km's showed that the pace was in fact quite respectable. 

I hit T2 feeling good and the legs ready to go for the final 10km foot race to the finish. I passed a few other athletes during the course of the first 5km’s of the run and at the turnaround was sitting in the top 10. In the final 3kms I was passed by a few of the quicker runners who rode within the 2nd chase pack. The final km couldn’t come quick enough and I was happy to cross the line coming home in 13th place with a 33.30 final run spilt. 

Ultimately I would have loved to have been further and inside the top 10 but with some of the best of the best in the sport present I can’t be disappointed. I have no doubt that I will be back for more in the years to come as the race is impeccably organized and run with the upmost professionalism.

Results (top 25)

With this result I now move into 6th on the '5150 Pro Mens World Points Ranking'.

Next up for me will be St George US 70.3 Pro Champs next weekend and with another stacked field its going to be another cracker of a race. 

Settling into the USA

After flying back into Brisbane Sunday evening it was a quick unpack and repack before my Monday morning flight from Brisbane to LA. I snagged an emergency exit row on the flight from Brisbane to LAX which allowed me to stretch out the legs over the 14 hour flight. It was a strange flight as I left at Brisbane 11am Monday morning and arrived in LA at 7am Monday morning. I had my good friend Wayne pick me up from LA and show me some of LA and also grab a bite to eat and a few hours of much needed sleep before boarding my final flight from LA to Tampa for this weekends St Anthony's Triathlon.

Driving in LA with Wayne

Feeling quite jet lagged I unpacked, built up my Specialized Shiv and headed to the local pool for a swim then out onto the bike course to see what Sundays race has in store for me. The course looks amazing and the ride and run should be quite fast as it's all dead flat and on smooth roads.

Having never been to the USA before it has been a great experience this week settling into the local swing of things. Food is especially cheap and it's even cheaper to 'eat out' (as the Americans say) from for lunch and dinner than cook at home. I've managed to eat dinner for the grand total of US $7 and lunches are usually about the same.

Grabbing lunch at a local cafe post swim

I am really enjoying the lifestyle in the US and catching up with the other pro athletes at the pool every day for swim sessions. This weekends race, St Anthony's 5150 has about 90 pros on the start list so it should be fast and hard race.

Local pool

 Fellow Specialized athlete Barbara Riveros and I swapping our XS and XL S-Works Shiv bikes

Julia Creek Dirt N Dust Triathlon - 1st

I’ve been racing at Julia Creek for 5 years now. I really feel like this event is something very different to what most expect from a triathlon in Australia. This is where I first raced again triathlon royalty Brad Bevan (aka The Croc) and was well and truly taken to school out on the course fishing 2^nd to the man when I was just 17 years old. This year I was back and keen for win number 3 at the Julia Creek Dirt N Dust Triathlon.

I left Brisbane on Thursday with coach Steve Moss and fellow training partner Emma Jackson. After flying into Mt Isa we met up the Mt Isa Rats Triathlon squad and presented their juniors with their club shirts before heading out to the lake to hold a tri clinic with their adult squad. It was great to do a do a swim and run session with the club and hear about their own personal goals for the Dirt N Dust event and also for the rest of this season. 

After spending the night in Mt Isa we did a final tri clinic focusing on transitions before heading out to Julia Creek for the event the next day.

Due to a lack of rain the creek that the race is held in was really quite low. There was a lot of talk in the weeks leading up to the race if there would even be a swim. I was the test subject as after chatting with the TQ officials the swim leg was finally given the go ahead.

Race Day:

The race started early on Saturday morning with Emma and myself racking our bikes and heading to the swim start area by the 9:30am start time. I managed to get a great start and despite grabbing onto a few catfish while swimming emerged ready to start the cycle leg. The wind had really picked up and for the first 10 minutes or so I really struggled to average more than 34kph. The dry heat and the wind made for well and truly the toughest conditions I have ever faced at the event. It was a matter of putting you head down and having the ability to really hurt yourself in order to maintain your speed. Last year my average speed on the bike was 43kph even with a head/cross wind however this year I only managed 37.6kph. The evidence of how hard I rode was reflected in the read out of my Specialized Quark Power-meter, which showed an average of 400watts for the 25km ride.

Despite the riding hard I was keen to get off the bike and hit the run hard. The run consists of 3 laps up and down the main street of Julia Creek for a total of 5kms. Despite being protected by the buildings in town the head wind was still present and with the hot conditions it made for a tough run. 

I really pushed hard and finished off a tough day coming across the line 1^st to take my 3^rd consecutive Julia Creek Dirt N Dust Triathlon title. Even after riding so hard I managed a 16:31 for the final 5km run which is a great sign that I am getting stronger running off a hard bike ride.

It was also great to see Emma Jackson win her 2^nd title in a row at the event and have the support of my coach Stephen Moss as well.

It’s a quick turnaround now as I’m now heading to St Anthony’s in Florida, USA for this coming weekends race. With 90 Professionals racing the racing is going to be hard and fast.