Summer rides and racing

A few of the GP riders have been active at the local races in the Wairarapa leading up to Christmas. Silas, Jono, Davis and Backy all raced at the recent Rice Mountain Classic.

A highlight on the local race calendar, the Rice Mountain Classic is arguably the toughest one day race in the region. The course features the dreaded Kurnau climb and a summit finish on Admiral Hill.

Silas was the highest finisher of the GP riders (3rd in A grade), having a close battle with Andy Hagen at the finish.

Next to finish was Backy in 4th place.

Followed closely by Davis in 6th place.

Jono finished in 10th place (B grade), his first big race.

All above photo's courtesy of Adrian Rumney.

After the race we called by Cuckoo in Greytown. Coffee, beer and pizza, perfect for post race recovery. The Moa pizza is a favourite amongst the GP riders. Recommended.

Moa's all round.

Since then we've been putting in the miles over the Christmas break, preparing for racing in the New Year. Kieran is racing at the Tour de Vineyards near Nelson and JC is in action at the Elite Nationals road race in Christchurch. Lovers is on the comeback trail and will be lining up at the Lake Dunstan Cycle Classic in Cromwell. A few of us will be racing the Capital Cycles sponsored 2 day tour of Martinborough too.

Meanwhile on the other side of the world... Slim hasn't lost his edge even though it's the off season in Europe. He spotted this white unicorn while vacationing in Barcelona yesterday.

GP Christmas lunch

The most highly anticipated event on the GP social calendar, The 2009 GP Awards ceremony and christmas lunch were held at Scopa on 23 December. The nominations for the coveted 2009 GP awards were...

1. Davis Meo for; His continued involvement in the Bianchi Research and Development programme.

2. Guiseppe Barnett for; Retiring as a dodgy photocopy salesman and turning pro bike rider at the age of 45, better late than never.

3. Joe Cooper for; Incorrectly thinking that winning a South Pacific Grand Tour might redeem the fact that his sock height is punter.

4. Craig Loveridge for; Stupidly thinking the world was ready more Loveridge's. Rumor has it the only reason Ziggy was bought into the world was so Lovers could down a few celebratory units.

5. Jono Hales for; Despite being a singlet wearing bearded runner he managed to kick the ass of a former Dulux KOM winner on the mighty Col d'Izoard.

6. Brent Backhouse for; Stupidly being of the belief that a new TT bike would be OK.

7. Slim for; Being fortunate enough not to have gone around the bays more than twice for the year.

8. Glenn Owen for; Wearing his registration tags at all times and not getting picked up by the local dog control officer.

The Dark Horse, White Horse and Rabid Dog award recipients are revealed in the above video. Warning, content may offend some viewers.

GP Immigrant's Son wallpaper

We recently developed some desktop wallpaper for our friends at The Immigrant's Son espresso. The wallpaper photo's were shot during the GP Europe trip back in July this year. Higher resolution versions (up to 1024 x 640) of the wallpaper are available on Flickr or email the GP team for a custom wallpaper sized for your desktop. Please specify exact size required in pixels.

Tino Tabak

It was a privilege to hear cycling legend Tino Tabak speak at his book launch last week here in Wellington. What an inspiring story. You can buy the book here.

New GP sponsor

We're pleased to announce that The Immigrant's Son espresso is an official supporter of the GP. The Immigrant's Son espresso is a small boutique coffee roastery located at 10 Elizabeth Street, Mount Victoria, Wellington.

The roastery was founded by Andrew Meo (Slim) back in 2005. Andrew worked closely with head roaster James Gurr to produce some of the finest and freshest espresso available.

The Immigrant's Son espresso joins established sponsors Capital Cycles, Rocket Espresso Milano and Ricoh.

In other news, Joe Cooper is about to start the Tour of Southland, followed very closely by the Tour of Hainan in China. On the day the Tour of Southland finishes, Joe will board a flight to China and then start the 9 day Tour of Hainan, the day after landing. Just as well Joe stocked up on his favourite Immigrant's Son espresso blend (Rituale) to see him through! All the best Joe.

As the racing season kicks into top gear here in New Zealand, it's come to a close on the other side of the world. Slim's latest report covers his season racing for Team Lemer in the good land.

JC wins the Tour of New Caledonia!

The youngest member of the Meo GP group, Joe Cooper took the overall win at the Tour of New Caledonia last week. A post race interview with Joe can be found over at www.roadcycling.co.nz

There's also a news piece about the big win on www.stuff.co.nz

Well done JC!

Balfour Pennington finale

A great day in Wellington for the final race of the Balfour Pennington series... the youngest member of the GP fold, Joe Cooper took a fine win at the Mt Crawford summit after riding through the field. Post race analysis and banter below....

In the results

GP members have featured prominently in the results at the latest rounds of the Balfour Pennington handicap series here in Wellington. Last week JC took fastest time honors on the Wallaceville hill circuit and on Saturday Davis sprinted in Lawny and JC for fastest time...

And some post race reflections from GP members on Monday morning...

GP Euro Tour photo's

Photo's taken while staying in Crema. More photo's from the trip can be viewed over on Flickr.

The last word...

Felix Meo

Felix at the start of a local Italian race on Sunday laying down the law to the girl with the pink helmet.

Unfortunately Felix crashed, but remounted and put in a big chase effort...

Crema sign off

Bellagio, Lake Como

Lake Como, Italy

We have moved back to the land of milk and honey and are now staying at Bellagio on Lake Como for the next couple of days. The riding and scenery here has been amazing. Earlier today we climbed up to the Madonna del Ghisallo church and later that evening visited the cycling museum.

France wrap up

We had our last meal in France at a small restaurant inside the walled city of Avignon...

Mont Ventoux

Another fantastic day on the bike today in France. We ascended Mt Ventoux the day before the TDF arrives in town. Amazing to see all the fans out in their thousands along the roadside, chalking their favorite riders names over the road.

After descending Mt Ventoux we arrived in a small village in the foothills called Bedoin and stopped at a small restaurant reflecting on the days ride...

TDF Annecy Cafe

We bumped into Silas on the 3.5km climb around the ITT course this morning...

Coffee stop at Bluffy, Lake Annecy...

A canal looking towards Lake Annecy...

TDF at Flumet & Annecy

Watching the tour briefly pass through Flumet and having a post ride unit in Annecy, discussing the day...

At the top of the Col d'Izoard on Monday...

Riding the Col de la Croix de Fer

GP 'Euro members 'turned sports' stars attempt to respond to searching questions while riding. With Barney initially up the road (part 1), these clips include typical responses from Slim, Barney, Jono and Kirky...

GP conquers Col d'Izoard

GP riders ascending the lower slopes of the Col D'Izoard....

GP Billboard

Keep dreaming Davis...

GP team clothing

Keep an eye out for the new GP clothing design which is about to hit the roads. The brief from the Director was that it had to look PRO and to be exclusive to GP team members only. Thanks to Capital Cycles and Ricoh for their assistance with this project.

The White Horse

Mid-way through the GP Christmas lunch it was noticed by The Director that the White Horse trophy had gone missing.

The White Horse is a symbol of power and time bonus's and coveted by all in the know.

Whilst there were several suspects, it was thought that Davis Meo was secretly trying to take over GP directorship by holding the coveted White Horse hostage. This was later confirmed when the White Horse appeared in true punter fashion, strapped to Davis' handlebar stem at a GP ride (next he will have a bell on his handlebars).

Now, the power of the Director should never be under estimated, both on the bike as well as off the bike. The Director then mounted a daring lone raid on Davis sock draw, and as expected, located the fabled horse and rescued it from the very orderly draw where it was being held captive. As the Director is ruthless, Slim then messed up the sock draw, as the most defiant act of retaliation.

The White Horse was then concealed from New Zealand customs and smuggled out of New Zealand. The Director in his true wisdom knew that the White Horse would be the ultimate symbol of power in the hot bed of international cycling.

The White Horse has been enjoying residence in Crema under the watchful and caring eye of the Director, where time bonus's are being amassed in plenty.

With Davis the horse wrangler about to show up in town, the White Horse has fled under the cover of darkness and is thought to be hiding in an under ground cellar with members of the local resistance movement.

Apparently the Director has now been thinking about the purchase of a Black Cat.

Ruapehu Report

The mountain

It's an emotive sight, Mt Ruapehu where only the day before, the Meo GP had circulated. Take away the burnt out cars on the lawns, the P addicts lurking in the bushes, the SUV's creating their own carbon footprint and if you blink, you could be at the foot of the Alpe d'Huez or the Col d' Galibier.

We resisted the temptation to attempt the climb the morning after the race, very wise.

Swiss balls

Lovers tries to insert his ball into an impossibly small space for the journey to Ohakune.

Inspired by the new oracle of coaching 'Antosh' "course I'll help you out with your core strength, mate", mentor and father figure to Lovers, every attempt was made not to miss a day without the big gonad substitute that has become an essential piece of cycling equipment for the more vulnerable and impressionable Meo GP members.

On the road

Jono & Backy share the work at the back of the bunch, Jono suffering from a severe case of driving fatigue that normally results in several near misses with trucks. Persistent rubber necking at chicks and chat of the benefits of Super Record ownership kept us occupied as we travelled north.

Davis room

Notorious for the surgery room precision of his wardrobe and sock drawer, Davis quickly claimed the second double room and, armed with his fully calibrated set square, arranges his kit assisted by GPS alignment.

Jono & Backy's room

Not up to Davis standards, but not bad.

Lovers room

Craig, equally tardy and slovenly while away from the Mrs. The pathetic attempt to conceal litres of 'GS', Antosh's training guides, tapes of Antosh yelling 'have I told you about the time I beat Robbie McEwen? As a sleep aid, photos of Antosh's wins, a dog eared, unreleased Antosh memoir entitled "its my way or the fucking highway", Antosh/Jenny Craig's diet programme, baby food, tasteless chocolate, cocktails, chocolate milk, Foxton fizz, 2 minute noodles and assorted body fluids under piles of soiled Ricoh cycling kit.

Joe's room

Joe is taking up Davis' generous offer on a lesson in 'how to keep your sock drawer in order'. Davis is currently developing a 'how to...' series of lessons which will be posted on YouTube soon. 

A few 'units' at the awards ceremony

I can see the Director shaking his head in disapproval now.

Jono.

Ruapehu GS

A few members from the GP team headed up to Ohakune on Friday to tackle the 160km Ruapehu Cycle Classic. It was a golden weekend, with Joe taking the win, Backy 3rd, Davis 4th, Craig 8th and Jono 28th. 

Xmas GP Rides

Ah... summer. Great weather (mostly), good company, ok roads (Moonshine, Makara are great), bad Wellington drivers (nothing changes) and good coffee at the end of the ride. Perfect for getting out on the bike.

Most of the GP peloton had indulged over the festive season (some more than others, mind you) which was good reason to get out on the bike, not that any of us need a reason!

No time pressures from the Seatoun office meant more relaxed meeting times at the Tasting Room over the break. 8:45 - 9am, very civilised.

Big story on the road was the discovery of the stolen iconic White Horse. Davis was the culprit, he had her taped to his stem on the Boxing Day ride. The horse was stolen from right underneath The Directors nose at the GP lunch a week to the day.

Slim would have the last laugh though, as he retrieved the stolen horse from Davis' house on New Years Day. She was hiding in the bottom of Davis' sock drawer.

Glenno aka 'Rabid Dog' was out early in the piece, but only for a couple of days. He was heading up north on holiday. Big lorry trucks with plenty of bones to chase up there apparently.

Tom 'Devolder' was out on the rides too. 

Heading out along the old Hutt Road.

Our resident pro, JC. 2nd at the Elite National Road Champs yesterday.

Jono at the top of Makara Hill. What a day!

Kirky descending down towards Karori mall.

Davis on the attack!

Slim and Davis heading down into their old home town – Karori.

Craig on the Hutt motorway. He's now working his way up from a trainer latte (aka fluffy) to a proper latte. The director will be happy with his progress...

Slim climbing up Makara hill. At least the weather is better here, than the land of milk and honey at the moment Slim.

Final destination – the Mojo coffee shop at the top of Molesworth Street.