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After not hearing from him for a while, Gussy is back with an action   packed entertaining diary. Read how he has been traveling since his successful US trip.

Well well well, what a year for me, for Australian cycling and cycling sport in general.

Whilst perhaps it would seem cycling has been bashed beyond return, with some of the recent doping admissions, teams and races folding due to sponsorship withdrawal, controversies in the worlds largest bike races, tainted victors and more positive tests.

However from this shadow we still see the biggest crowds at the Grand depart in London, we see a hero emerge in our very own Cadel Evans, we see a new generation of young, particularly strong, fresh and very talented cyclists emerge onto the scene to bring the sport from disrepute and into the international domain, and we see Australia once again continuing to impress…

I will not dwell on these negatives as we hear enough already, we must move beyond this and continue to push for the sport we love.

First of all congratulations should go out to the performances of the  Australian National team both the junior road and track teams and the team at the most recent UCI World Championships, most notable Wez [Sulzberger .ed] and Cadel with 2^nd and 5^th respectively in their road races, very impressive!! For me 2007 has had its ups and downs and has been a big learning year for me as I chose to focus a little more on life off the bike, all in all though it has been a fantastic time full of memorable experiences.

Now the last time I checked-in I believe I was still in the land of the red, white and blue, the USA with the RAK juniors about to take part in the Mt Evans Hillclimb. Well we did make it back from the USA safe and sound after an awesome trip, our most successful yet, with around ten wins including 5 in the professional category and one state championship, coming from our coach Graham Seers the stomper!!.

Apart from the fantastic results it was a great learning experience for myself and all the of the RAK boys both on and off the bike. Two of the most important things I learned were that yes you can get seriously bad burns from a simple tobogganing escapade and NO you should not do your trial HSC exams whilst surrounded by your mates in a foreign country (my results will tell you this).

I returned home pretty nailed but still with good motivation and ready to race a good remainder of the Aussie season. I was a little unlucky and have been plagued by tendonitis and back problems since my return however and so didn’t get a chance to race or perform as would have liked and spent a hell-of-a lot more time in the box than was perhaps originally planned I still raced in the Australian GP on the grueling Buninyong circuit, started the Grafton to Inverell (abandoned due to back injury) and raced the Goulbourn to Citi.

Now, this recount may sound boring and dumb, however, many good, fun, exciting, interesting, amazing, comic, strange and unbelievable things happened during these past few months however I have forgotten all the good stuff and only remember the boring stuff so I will leave you with a little recount of my Mt Evans epic.

MT EVANS HILLCLIMB: EPIC!!

The Mount Evans national park is in fact the highest paved road in North American and one of the highest in the world topping at 14, 400ft. this, apparently, makes for a great bike race route and so I guess this is how the Mt Evans hillclimb came to be.

This was the third time I have taken part in this particular race, and the first time in the pro category. Coming off three pro wins in the last two weeks, one of which a long 17% hillclimb, I was traveling quite well in the form department and, as I found out two days prior, I was going to need all of this form as an in-form Tom Danielson was coming with a team of 5 to go for the record (which he set in 2004 and which I was present for and saw him go nuts first hand) and Scott Moniger, whom was going for back-to-back victories.

As I learned right from the gun, was that Tom Definitely meant business as he put his boys straight to the front and got them to ride flat out until they blew, by the time the first 14km were done and the steep section began all five had blown and the group was reduced from 80 to around 15 or 20.

At this Danielson immediately put it in the big blade, got out of the saddle and showed us his macho, riding at around 25-30km/h he obliterated the remaining bunch down to five within one kilometre, It was all I could do to hang in 3^rd wheel behind Danielson and Moniger and after 20km of racing I was forced let them go as their pace was far too relentless.

I got into a group of 4 which swelled to 10 as my brother and  another group came up from behind. With this support I began to ride again and as each km ticked over another of our group dropped away and with 5km to go there was once again only 4 left. From there on it was attack, attack, attack up the remaining 10 switch backs, every man for themselves, I was chasing in 5th.

Riding at about 10seconds apart until the last KM, I tried desperately to gain 3^rd position however this effort proved to be my death: resulting in a lost position and about 30seconds, finishing in 5^th position. Danielson said he was on a good day, producing good power however he missed the record only slightly, as the conditions were not ideal as the wind picked up and the temperature dropped dramatically in the second half.

Well, my experiences gained from this have taught me many things, most importantly that, One, Tom Danielson CAN climb 45km climbs in the big chain wheel and very very quickly as well, two, it is extremely difficult to breathe at 5000m and it is often snowing at this altitude in summer, and, three, that yes there is such a thing as a 45km climb.

Skip about two months…..and…bingo!

Right now I have just been enjoying some down time, spent  relaxing, starting to read Harry Potter (Harry is the BOMB!) cutting sick on the D-floor, getting wild on the MTB and getting myself sorted and healthy before commencing preparation for the 2008 season, and trying to get up some motivation, (or work out a way to break out of the study my mum has locked me in) to study for the up-coming HSC exams.

I commence training next week again and have a few fun little races coming up which will provide some time spent in the hurt box ,on struggle street, downtown PAIN and hopefully some form for the up coming season.

I am looking forward to focussing 100% on the bike in 2008 which again will be another exciting year, for myself, Australia and the World in the cycling arena….. Morton to Drapac?? Who know’s……

So I will love you all and leave you, (hanging on the edge of your seats I’ll bet) until next time!!!

Ride fast, half wheel your mates out training (they will love it), shave your arms as well and stay in front of everybody else at the finish, its what all of the Pro’s do.