Sid Taberlay
Farkin caught up with Sid Taberlay a guy who from years of riding in Hobart and can handle a bike up or down a slippery slope faster than you would believe possible. 2006 saw him return from the Specialized Global team to join team up again with Chris Jongewaard in the Avanti Australian team. Current National XC champ and medal hopeful, we caught up with Sid after the opening ceremony to get the low down.

Farkin: Sid, you weren’t at the opening ceremony, what gives?

Sid: Well I did the Athens Olympics and standing around for hours in a gutter only to walk into a standium full of people, I thought I might as well stay back in Hobart and continue to train on the roads I know.

F: So it wasn’t anything to do with being seen in public in a tracksuit?

S: Nah, nothing like that..

F: So when do you head up to Melbourne?

S: Early next week.

F: So how are you feeling?

S: Yeah, feeling good. I have my good days and bad days, but my good days seem to come when I need them. Getting sick didn’t help.

F: Sick! You’re not gunna chuck a Thorpie on us?

S: Nah, it was a couple of weeks ago.

F: So what happened, how long were you down for.

S: It was before the Oceanics got a bug and was down for 4-5 days.

F: So how’d ya go in the Oceanics?

S: Yeah I came 3rd which I was happy with considering.

F: So who’s the big threat for the Games?

S: Well the favourite has to be Canadian Geoff Kabush

F: And I suppose you’ll have Chris Jongewaard to contend with…

S: Yeah, Chris and I will be working together.

F: So what do you think of the course.

S: It more Euro, which doesn’t suit the Aussie riders. There is nothing hard in it, the only hard bit might be going  too fast around a corner and washing the front out.

F: And after the games.

S: About a week after the games I’ll be joining the European XC team Dolphin.NL.

F: Good to hear, good luck and don’t eat too many Belgium Chocolates.

S: Thanks, I won’t

Chris Jongewaard

Last time I caught up with Chris Jongewaard the 05 National XC Champ was at the local Summer XC race. Chris and Shaun Lewis had had a good day on the bikes, knocking out over 250kms, for which the last 20 or so Kms was the local race (which Chris won). All they had to do was ride home! Chris’ knee was still heavily bandaged from his off at Buller and he confessed that it was a major concern that it didn’t get infected. So catching up with him on the Monday before the big race the primary concern was how he was feeling.

Chris: Yeah, feeling a lot better, it’s been a rough couple of weeks,

Farkin: Tell us what happened.

C: I picked up some bug at the Oceanias the night after the race I spent all night throwing up. I ended up being hospitalized and had 4 litres of fluids put into me with some morphine.

F: Morphine. Really? Was that recreational or prescribed.

C: Nah, definitely prescribed, I was in a lot of pain, it’s been a long while since I’ve felts like that.

F: New Zealand food.

C: Yeah well I’ve come back home and I’ve had a solid 4 week training block and last week I was feeling fatigued, you know with getting sick and then the training. I’d though I’d overdone it, but the last couple of days I’ve pulled good.

F: That’s good. So you’ve been in Melbourne a while now, hows the track.

C: Yeah, it’s a week now, tracks been OK, doing one last ride around tomorrow just to check there has been some slight bunting changes.

F: And how was the opening ceremony?

C: Yeah that was really cool, it’s unlike anything I’ve been involved with before. It was a real eye opener.

F: Cool! And how’s the knee going?

C: The knee’s going good. It’s still raised and ugly with some scabs and scar tissue. I’ll race with it bandaged, but it works fine.

F: And post games?

C: Yeah dunno, just focusing on the Games at the moment.

F: Well good luck Chris and thanks for you time.

C: Thanks mate.

As most of you know the Commonwealth Games have now finished and the XC battle has come and gone. There is a full report with photos over at Cyclingnews so go and check it out. Chris actually lead with a substantial lead for most of the race, with most people convinced he'd win gold. Unfortunatley he hit a wall and was chased down by Englishmen Liam Killeen and Oli Beckingsale. Here are the results:

Results

1 Liam Killeen (England)                             2.13.11
2 Oli Beckingsale (England)                             0.15
3 Seamus Patrick McGrath (Canada)                       0.32
4 Chris Jongewaard (Australia)                          1.57
5 Kashi Leuchs (New Zealand)                            2.18
6 Sid Taberlay (Australia)                              4.07
7 Joshua Fleming (Australia)                            7.03
8 Mike Northcott (New Zealand)                          8.00
9 Mannie Heymans (Namibia)                              8.21
10 Burry Willie Stander (Republic of South Africa)      8.48