With a reputation second to none, it’s quite an accomplishment to tackle this ride, let alone complete it. But this doesn’t stop several hundred riders taking part every year, rain hail or gail force winds…

Performance Studio trained several riders leading up to the event, with a defined focus on climbing and overall power output – two key elements when it comes to dragging yourself over three mountain passes!

The riders being referred to; Dave E, Larry H, Gavin R and Damian H – all finished the event, and with respectable results to boot!

Performance Studio bases their event specific training around core aspects of the event – whether it be climbing, power or endurance that you’re after, we’ll get you there.

For more information regarding our training, contact us below:

Contact:

Joey Esterhuyzen
joey@velocino.com.au

Below is a short blog from sponsored rider Julian Lam – Julian recently received a sponsorship from Performance Studio and is making the most of the professional coaching input from Rebecca McConnell and Joey Esterhuyzen. Enjoy!

“The fourth race of the XOSIZE Triathlon series was held last Sunday in Sandringham. I entered the ITU Junior race (draft legal) as I needed the practise for the upcoming ITU Youth Australian Championships in Mooloolaba in a few weeks’ time. As Saturday was a scorcher, I was hoping that Sunday would be just as nice, and it turned out it was! My race started at 7:30am and was the first wave of the day which included the Men’s ITU  race. For them it was the Sprint State Championships.

The swim was ‘wetsuit free’, and was very fast from the start. It felt long as it was quite windy on Sunday. I had a strong swim and was just behind the leaders, but the long gruelling run uphill from the beach to transition hurt me quite a bit and I lost vital time and positioning. Coming out of transition bay 1, I was just behind the lead pack of juniors. Jumping onto the bike, even though I tried I couldn’t get on the front pack. Jack Stekelenburg, Matthew Goessler and I made up the second pack and steadily rolled turns. As we turned around and headed back towards Beaumaris the heavy head wind pounded on us. My Wattbike training allowed me to do a longer turns on the front as the other two boys were mainly runners.

Getting off the bike we were a few minutes behind the leaders. After a fast first 1km of the run, I dropped the two boys I rode with and got into a fast rhythm. By the end I finished 6^th and almost caught the last runner of the front pack!  Overall I was very happy with my first ITU race and I look forward to racing in the Australian youth ITU championships, part of the Mooloolaba Multi festival. I’m also just as keen on my next Wattbike session, where I will once again be focusing on my sustainable power! Thanks again to Performance Studio for their ongoing support.”

Julian is an up and coming triathlete who trains at the Wattbike Studio upstairs. After some recent strong performances, Julian has earned the admiration and support of everybody here at Velocino.
If you’d like to train with Julian, contact Joey on joey@velocino.com.au to make a booking.

Here’s a recent blog from the young fella himself – about his most recent win.

“Race 4 of the 11/12 Gatorade Tri Sprint series was held at Sandringham last Sunday. This race also held the Victorian Olympic Course Championship and an Active Feet Triathlon, so it was a pretty busy day! The conditions weren’t ideal for a triathlon because of very high winds on the day. This was my first race of 2012 as I took 3 weeks off at the start of the year, to relax a little. I took this race as a training race and didn’t taper for it as I normally would – as I was just trying to get some more racing experience before the ‘All Schools National Champs’ held on 4^th April in Busselton, WA.

The atmosphere is always exciting at Gatorade races because of the number of participants. The ocean swim was relatively choppy and my age group was put in a bad position, 2 minutes behind the Men’s Clydesdales and older age groups. This meant I had to pass 100+ people in the swim, which made it that little more challenging!

I had a strong swim and was a full minute clear of second place and felt great going onto the bike. With a howling tailwind, I flew down to Beaumaris then battled hard back to Sandringham into the headwind. The Wattbike threshold sessions at The Performance Studio in Black Rock really helped here, as I powered into the headwind. Going into the run I had built a 2 minute lead but was starting to feel the pain… The run was quite slow and windy, and the hard weeks training was starting to take its toll. Coming into the finish area, I held on to win by just under two minutes.

This was my first Gatorade triathlon age group (15-19) win! My time also placed me 4^th overall. I was happy with the race but a little disappointed with my run time. For my efforts I picked some new Engine swim equipment and some interest from a variety of possible sponsors. Looking forward to my next Wattbike session on Thursdays and more racing until Busselton.

Thanks to Joey and Bec at Performance Studio, for my new sponsorship deal – If anybody would like to join in these training sessions, get hold of Joey by SMS on 0428 862 963 or joey@velocino.com.au – I reckon he’s got some free sessions up his sleeve somewhere.”

We’ve had quite a few changes made, with session formats, coaches and even gender specific training sessions! Here’s a briefing:

Womens Specific Wattbike Sessions:
Tuesday + Thursday @ 9:30am

Performance Studio now offers Women ONLY training (guys, no dress ups!) which has fun written all over it! The sessions are generic, meaning everybody does the same workout but at different Heart Rate zones. These sessions will primarily be run by a female coach, so feel free to bring some Diva Tunes to your session!

Wednesday Social Ride + FREE Core session
Wednesday @ 6am sharp, Velocino Cycles

Performance Studio now offers a FREE road ride, followed by FREE core with a FREE dose of fun and motivation as well. Come along to join the crew, and enjoy a leisurely cruise to St Kilda or Mordialloc and back. The ride is then concluded with a 15 minute FREE core session in Velocino Cycles. 

Online Booking System – OBS
A place to enquire, book or change training sessions

After all the hype, it’s here – our OBS is up and running, with people already making purchases, changing sessions and winning bonus points to put toward future purchases!
If you’re curious… check it out!
Performance ONLINE

THIS WEEK ONLY (ending 17/02/2012)

We are offering a FREE session added onto any purchase of sessions you make. Email Joey on joey@velocino.com.au and title the email “Wesbite Promo #1″ and he will add a session onto your profile on the OBS.

Til next time!

Wattbike Training

The Performance Studio upstairs from Velocino has taken some steps forward, with the implementation of an Online Booking System, or ‘OBS’ – which allows customers to purchase, track and alter any session purchases, as well as earn Bonus Points for their loyalty.

The OBS will be 100% running once our EziDebit account has been verified. Who knew ‘verifying’ could take so long.

Cafe and Treats

The cafe has been getting increasingly busy on the weekend, as well as during the week – Lewis has created an atmosphere whereby people feel like they belong… and they do! A cycling central cafe is great, as it’s perfect for cyclists to swarm the place and literally take over! Something other cafes tend to dislike. Well, we love it!!!

The Bike Store

The bike store has had a few changes, all for the better. A few extra staff members have been put on for weekend shifts, to handle to influx of enthusiasts and their beloved bikes. They’re young, keen and dedicated to the world of cycling, just like you!

Social Store Rides

The store now hosts a Wednesday social ride, with the emphasis on SOCIAL – the ride has a ‘no drop’ policy and is a filtering ride for the Womens Ride on Mondays and Fridays. In other words, if you keep up on Wednesday, I pass you on to the Womens Group who tend to go a wee bit faster than our Social Ride.

Womens Ride – Monday and Friday 9:30am – email me to confirm a new attendance.

Social Ride – Wednesday 6am – varied pace depending on participants

Personal Training

Discovery Personal Training is rocking peoples socks – they’re turning frowns upside down and genuinely making a name for themselves when it comes to service, sincerity and teamwork between you and them! Give Karim a shout, if you’d like to start making changes, even if they’re little – any goal is worth achieving.

Skills Rides

Joey (me) is now readily available for PRIVATE road and MTB Skills sessions. The only way a group can be formed, is if you bring some mates along. Sessions can be held for road riding, traffic know-how, and specifically MTB riding.

Fun Stuff

Here is a link to a ride Joey did recently – it’s fun, it’s on a bike and it’s accessible to you too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxBcnOhIbsA

See you all on the road!

The cost of bikes have lowered a little (ask an economist!), and our hire bikes are enjoying increasing demand; so we can afford to substantially reduce our prices.

Path bikes are available from $40 per day and road bikes from $60. With reduced rates for longer term. So why not take a carbon Ultegra road bike down Beach Road? Or enjoy a weekend exploring the Bay, Yarra and garden paths?

We don’t hire old, worn bikes. All of our bikes are current or recent models and meticulously maintained in our workshop. We treat them as our own; in fact we ride them ourselves.

We’re also eagerly awaiting results from Kurt and Julian who are both currently racing the Tour of Timor event – good luck to them! They’ve both been training in the Studio, doing specific work on their strength, pedaling technique and power outputs. Hopefully they come back with some positive feedback!

The MTB Skills clinic being organised by Joey E. is also going well, with all the planning done. Now we just need to wait for clearance from Parks Victoria, before we get the full go-ahead. Anyone interested, email Joey on joey@velocino.com.au

This month we are also giving away a free session, to anyone who submits a 100 word or less summary of what their cycling goals are, and why they feel we can help them achive these goals. The winner will be selected based on reason, and their progress will be broadcast here and on Facebook. ALL enquiries welcome – we aren’t interested in only the racing snakes, recreational riders welcome!

Happy riding!

Lewis is still turning out brilliant coffee from his temporary Cafe in the bike shop, so please drop in for your caffeine fix and a chat!

The MTB race will be run from 11th September through to the 16th September, covering almost 600km of undulating terrain. The course will take participants through the heart and soul of Timor, as riders are directed through the villages and townships of Timor. The event has three pre-selected routes, which are on a rotating roster. This year’s route will travel along the coast, before turning inland toward Laclubar and onto Kibular. From thereon in, the course will follow the southern coastline before another inland jaunt to Las Polos and Parlamento. Heading to the finish, and riders will be back onto the stretch of coast they started on, charging through the towns of Lilal, Caicus and finally ending in Dili.

Julian and Kurt are hitting peak form leading up to the event, and

aren’t showing any signs of slowing down! Going by their session on the Wattbikes today, they’re en route to a respectable placing in this years event…

This offer will not come around again in the near future. It also happens to be just in time for the MTB Skills Clinics, to be run in November! Maybe it’s time to switch to the nobbly side. Just don’t tell your mates how much fun it is…