Hi Everyone,

The events of the past 24 hours have prompted me to post my thoughts in this space very shortly. Please bear with me as this has been a rollercoaster year for me, with a new baby daughter, a broken hip, a horrific interstate roll over crash, recently almost losing one of my best friends to a chronic illness, and now this anti-doping test finding. I will be able to write more in the coming days, once i have composed my thoughts.

Thanks for all of your patience,

Nathan

It’s long been that Australian cyclists have a private joke amongst themselves when it comes to finding form, (trans.- great fitness/condition). What does it take to actually pull it off? Sometimes things just click… and that’s what’s been happening to me lately. After a great Tour de Georgia, when I ironically had my best ever race that produced my worst ever result at Georgia, I kept things rolling when I hit the Tour of the Gila in New Mexico last week. Before I leave Georgia behind though, there’s a large contingent of people I’d like to thank once again. Firstly to all the yahoos who turned out in the thousands ( trans. about 25 of you) to lake Lanier Islands on the Saturday stage to Stone Mtn. A good number of Chesnut Mtn Presbeyterian Church members were there to cheer me on to the sign in stage that day. By far one of my proudest moments as a pro. I took my little girl Lydia on stage with me and introduced he to the crowd. She has now met her public! A great day for her, and us.

I’m not here to ramble about products ordinarily, but I just have to mention the methology behind my great results at the TDGA in the time trial, on Brasstown and  at Tour of the Gila. Silver city, where the Tour of the Gila was based, sits at 6000 ft above sea level, and normally would be a problem for me, coming from Braselton GA, which sits at a magnificent altitude of 1000ft. How did I adapt so well with climbs over the continental divide at 7000+ feet? GO2 Altitude baby! I’m telling you…no don’t go there, just get one - That’s the name of a great Australian Intermittent Hypoxic Training device that simulates breathing high altitude mountain air in your own home. I’ve been using it consistently since October, and without a doubt it works!

I’m in the midst of kicking off my own brand - NATE Endurance. It’s primarily a platform from which I will be distributing Go2 Altitude and Altipower units, SRM powermeter systems and a few other cutting edge items. In addition, I have opened the door to doing one on one bike position fittings by appointment, and in the near future I will be equipped to perform lactate testing. For further info about any of this, please contact me at info@nathanoneill.com.

Gotta run. Next race is in Oregon at Mt Hood. More later.

 Nathan 

  

Well it’s been a rough start to the year, and that’s due on my part to a huge amount of badluck -(isn’t that a tautology of sorts- I mean, how can luck be bad, either you have luck or you dont right?)  At any rate, you’ve all probably heard about the incident with a car while I was training in Australia. The day before I am due to fly out to Southern CA for out team’s training camp, I was T-boned by an NON - attentive drive. Maybe she was blind - that’s the only way i can explain how she hit me. So After being cleared from the hospital with minor injuries, I took an extra two days to let things settle, and then flew out to meet the team.

When i arrived, I started training with the guys, and the one thing i noticed was that I was in an excruciating amount of pain when I tried to walk after having been on the bike. Days went by at camp, and I kept riding, logging up almost 600miles that week. It got me wondering that something was really injured. As soon as I got back home to Braselton, I went to seek a second medical opinion, at the recommendation of our team’s doctor as well. An MRI confirmed that I had in fact fractured my right hip, more specifically, the anterior column (front side) of the acetabulum (the hip socket).  So that explained why everything hurt, and as to why i could ride, but not walk.

So that meant the Tour of CA was not in my future. I simply couldn’t risk another impact on that hip. Doing so would mean a rather complicated surgury, as I would probably separate the fracture and take me out for the rest of the season. So I sat back and cheered my teammates on as they did battle with everyone else from San Francisco to Long Beach. It was a good thing that I missed it too, since there’s a huge chance I would’ve ended up on the deck that week, with all  of the crashes that actually did happen in the race.

The following week, I learned that Jon Brooks, father of Hayden Brooks had passed away suddenly as a result of a massive stroke. Hayden has been racing for the Roswell velo team for the past two years, and had recently learned that this same team was not going to continue in 2007. He sent me a text message, sounding pretty dejected, just before the tour of CA started. His father, Jon, was a cycling fanatic, and lead a very healthy life. He took care of himself, and rode his bike virtually everyday. He was Hayden’s #1 fan, and recently joined us at the National championships in Ballarat. Jon was my support vehicle driver when I won the time trial title in January. He will be missed.

 With all of that behind me my next objective was to rehab back to form in time for Redlands. No rush, I had ample time, and I felt confident that i could come out charging there and sucessfully defend my title there, or die trying. I’d been ramping up the training nicely. In fact, the day before my luck turned south yet again, I had ridden the new stage for the Tour of Georgia, from Rome to Chattanooga. At 195km and over 7000 ft of climbing, it’s no gentle ride. I felt good, and just drilled it all the way. At 5hrs averaging 23mph and 5200kj of work, I could see that my form was already there. John Karr, from the Chattanooga LOC for the Tour de GA had been really helpful , and drove support all day for me. The next day was the press conference for the Tour of GA , in the city of Chattanooga. I spoke briefly, met the Mayor, did some brief interviews and left with John. We did the same thing as yesterday, but just over the TT course. On a tight schedule, we raced back down into town, I cleaned up, and I left town with Jackie Tyson from the PR company Peloton Sports.

Halfway home and that’s when disaster struck. We were involved in a terrifying accident. I’m not going to write all the details, but you can listen to my version of events by clicking on http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/VelonewsAudioPodcast/~3/105067441/velocast_017.mp3 . You’ll have to skip past the MSR report, but it’s in the middle portion of this MP3 file.

 So yet another setback, just as I get things rolling. That’s life. You’ve got to experience the bad to appreciate the good I say. My stiches came out a week ago, and everything looks fine - It’s healing well. I’ve been able to ride up to 4 1/2 hours again, no problem. Tomorrrow I’m heading up to Dalton to join Saul Raisin at his event, should be fun.

I was eating breakfast this morning, and I started thinking about this:

Before my daughter Lydia was born, I would see all of this baby paraphenalia in boxes - swings, chairs, rockers… As a typical male i guess, I used to wonder “how many types of apparatus does a baby need?” Well the answer is - as I have learned- is you can never have too many. OPTIONS is what it’s about.  It’s always great to have the option of putting her in something else to keep her happy. She is happy, and she makes me almost cry when I see her smile.

I thank God that I’m still here to see that. 

 

 

  

 

 

We don’t have an internet connection at the colonial-style house where I am staying with Sandy, Hayden Brooks and his dad.  So I have dictated this thank-you message to Karen.  Many people helped me achieve number eight.  Some have been with me for all eight wins.  Hopefully, I won’t leave out anyone.  Thank you for your willingness to support me:

Sandy Dolley from I-Ride Bikes in Toowoomba, who served as my mechanic and made sure I arrived at the start house on time.
Scott Hodge from Addictive Cycles in Braselton, GA.
Steve Wiley from Cannondale.
Jason Kriel from Jittery Joe’s Cafe in Buford, who keeps me supplied with the Espresso Blend.
Eric Kriel for motor-pacing me.
Bob DeLong for his patience and terrific work on my website.
The people of Hume Street Church of Christ in Toowoomba and Chestnut Mountain Presbyterian Church (CMPC) in North Georgia for their prayers.
Special thanks and appreciation to CMPCers for their love and affection and generosity toward Karen and Lydia while I travel.
Don Magie from Go2Altitude
Bart Sheldrake from Lighten Up Speed Technologies
Barbara & Dennis Swinehart
Jackie Tyson
Steve Blick
Dr. Steve Hatfield
Scott Epsley
Michael Rutherford

Of course, I could not compete without the unconditional love and support from my wife Karen….and our dog Reilly.  Karen sacrificed countless hours of sleep with our new baby so I could get a full night’s rest in order to train.  I miss them very much.  The only thing that could have made this win sweeter would be to celebrate with them tonight.   God has blessed me with a terrific family in Australia and Georgia.  I certainly give God the praise for this win, and I hope I will always use the talents He has given me for His glory.

I’ll be back in Toowoomba next week and will report on the road race. 

Cheers, Nathan

I made it back to Australia on December 31 where I am preparing for the national championships January 11-14.  My teammates Karl Menzies and Rory Sutherland will be competing as well.  Then we will return to the U.S. for training camp in Southern California.

Karen and I celebrated so many blessings in 2006, especially the birth of our daughter Lydia.  We remain grateful for the support, encouragement and, most of all, prayers, from our friends and family throughout the year.  From our family to yours, we wish you a blessed and peaceful new year.”

Hey everyone,

I just read this morning on cyclingnews.com that yet another Australian cyclist has suffered a spinal trauma. Here is the article: www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2006/nov06/nov14news2

I know exactly how fee feels right now, and I pray that he and his family are holding strong during this tough moment. I am going to do my best to contact them, and help them remain positive. It just shows how things can come from left field at you, without a moment’s notice. Whatever the outcome for Paul( we hope he makes a full recovery) he will never be quite the same person again, after such a close brush with mortality.

Nathan

Hi all,

Well everything seems to be settling down, my parents have been and gone, they were here for five weeks and got to see Lydia for the first time. It was great seeing them again, and getting around to show them some sights in Georgia was great too. I know they had a great time.

Karen is doing great, and keeping Lydia fed and happy seems to be a full time comittment right now. At 7 weeks that’s about what you’d expect from such a wonderful little girl. Karen is truely a great mum to her and the sight of both of them togther never ceases to amaze me.

Reilly is still the same ol’ Reilly. He’s stepping up into the role of big brother really well, and he’s keeping us notified of any potential threats that come to pass as people walk by our house at all hours of the day or night.

We’ve received tons of notes and gifts from people from all over, and i wanted to say a huge thankyou to everyone who has been so thoughtful. We really appreciate all you have done for us. So thankyou!

I’m back into training now, and have been for the past 6 to 8 weeks. It’s all going well, and I’m on track for a solid start to 2007 i reckon. I’ve got lots of projects on the fire right now, and keeping them all in motion is a juggling act, but we’re coping. The most significant if which is the startup of a new business that I have had the chance to develop. I will be the US distributor of the Australian IHT (intermittent hypoxic training) device, aptly named Altipower. If you’re curious go to www.altipower.com and read all about it.

It really is a cool technology that has been pretty quiet since it’s release a few years ago, even though it has been used by some of cycling’s biggest names. I’ve been using it for the past 2 years now, and I guess you could say that it’s time to let others in on a rather large secret that I’ve been not talking about openly until now.

I’m open for business right now, even though I’m still devising a company name and setting things up in that way, but it shouldn’t be too long before I have the capacity to fill orders online and despatch to within all 50 US states. If you have any questions please email me at info@nathanoneill.com

thanks for reading

Nathan

On Sunday night, a few hours after my last post, Karen finally gave birth to our first child… a beautiful baby girl. We have named her Lydia, and both Karen and Lydia are doing well.

She came into the world weighing a solid 10 lbs 1oz, and was 21 inches long. With a head full of hair and appendages resembling the Michelin wo(man) she took our breath away. I’ve been spending time between home and the hospital, training on the bike as much as possible and getting down to the hospital in the afternoons when I’m able. Hopefully by Thursday everyone will be home and we can start adjusting in a home setting. My parents arrive on Monday, to stay until Halloween, so that’s a huge help to us as well. I can’t wait to see Reilly’s reaction when he sees Lydia for the first time…

Before any of you say anything… I already know what it is you’re going to say…! I know that it’s been almost 6 months since I last posted anything. That is way too long. Too much has happened, and I don’t know how apologize sufficiently, much less bring everyone up to speed with all the goings on.

I am writing this from Northside Hospital, where I have been for the past 24 hours with Karen, who is doing great in preparing to give birth to our first child. I wanted to begin by recapping on the past season, but obviously this is far more important to me than anything, so I’m not going to divert my attention away from her for now. Boy or a girl? You ask… we don’t know either, we’ll have to wait and see. I’ll keep you posted.

It’s a great event to end a pretty solid season , I guess one could say. And it seems that we’ve saved the best for last.

I think the last time I wrote, I had just finished the stage into Macon, and everything was pretty good. The rest of the race pretty much went dwon as i expected… Floyd won the time trial, and I was about 55 seconds behind in 4th place. I felt pretty happy with that, although of course I would always like to have gone faster. I knew that I would lose time on the stage to Brasstown Bald, but I had a solid ride that day, and never went over my limits. I think that was the key, as i pretty much rode my own race up the climb, and gave away less than 3 minutes to Floyd and Danielson… as opposed to the 5 minutes I lost last year there. I guess it was also due to the number of fans I had come out to yell and scream fro me on the climb… Thanks Mary, Bob, Katie and co… you guys did help lift my game!

It’s been 5 days since the race finished and I’m starting to feel more recovered again. I don’t think the race was as hard this year as last year. The weather was wet at times, but nowhere near as cold. I think that made the difference. Maybe my form is better too.

I rode the first two days after the race, and then decided to take take a couple off… no harm in letting the body fully recover i reckon.

It was also really great to have the support of the Swineharts ( Barbara and Dennis)…. Barbara baked a ton of goodies for the HN boys , and Tim Johnson was seen on several other blogs (missingsaddle.com i think is one,) offering brownies to photographers. Barbara and Dennis have also taken care of Reilly on the odd occasion, and I know that both Karen and i appreciate that a lot…

I also had the chance to catch up with Walt Conte from Adelaide in Australia. Walt is a regular moto rider at the tour, and has been here and in California, often as Graham Watson’s official moto pilot. You know you’ve made it when Graham specifically asks for you to be his moto.

Reilly also made some great friends, especially when he came out to watch the Dahlonega stage finish, brandishing a Health Net jersey. We got him an intro to Phil Liggett, and the two of them made great friends. We have some photos and will be putting them up really soon.

I think I am going to race the Roswell crit this Sunday, so if you are around, come out and say hi…

Cheers,

Nathan