CHRIS HOY

Craig Maclean, Chris Hoy and Jason Queally
©ALLSPORT

WEEK 4
Date: August 18

Sickness hits the camp

Well, it's been a strange week.

Sadly, Neil Campbell, our reserve rider for the team sprint, has had to fly home today, for medical reasons. This was a big blow for the team; he was due to ride the 1-kilometre time trial in addition to Jason, as well as being our spare rider in the event of illness or injury.

It was a real shock to all the team and staff, and we all wish him well and hope he has a speedy recovery.

It was a real shame for Neil, to come this close to participating in his first Olympics, then have it snatched away from him. Still, I'm sure he'll bounce back and have even more motivation next time around.

Craig has also had a tough week, with an old hip-flexor injury returning during a strength training session at the gym. He has since been receiving treatment from the BOA physiotherapist based here in Brisbane, and after three days of rest is back on the bike and feeling much better. Fingers crossed....

Personally, my knee injury has not been causing too many problems and training has been progressing quite well.

At the moment a typical day consists of waking up at 6.45am, riding on rollers (a static training device on which we pedal our bikes) for 20mins, followed by breakfast.

We then normally have either a road ride (lasting 1 to 2 hours) or a gym session. Lunch is next, before heading down to the velodrome for a track session. My track training is currently split between doing start practice and speed work, in equal amounts.

Training is normally completed by 5pm, which gives us just enough time to get back to the hotel for our evening meal by 6pm. After our food has been digested, it's onto the massage table for a leg rub, giving us a couple of hours to relax before getting some sleep. And you thought Olympic sportspeople led glamorous lives!

Today the New Zealand team arrived in Brisbane to train along side us at the track. It was good to see some of the guys again. There was also another surprise waiting for us in the shape of ASDA. No, not the supermarket - the Australian Sports Drug Agency.

They were there to carry out some out-of-competition drug tests on us. Apparently the international cycling governing body (UCI) has instigated these controls for all teams at their pre-Olympic training camps. It's reassuring to know that these measures are being taken, so hopefully we will all be competing on a level playing field in Sydney.

During a track session earlier in the week Craig and Jason devised an exciting new Olympic event, which basically involves starting and stopping a stopwatch in as short a time as possible.

This brought about an intense competition among the group, including our coach, Martin Barras. Sadly for Martin, he could only manage a feeble 0.22secs compared to Craig's awesome 0.06secs. We really should get out more!

Next week is our last full week in Brisbane, so after a difficult last 7 days, we are hoping for a solid block of training without interruptions from injury or illness.

Read Chris's diary for WEEK 1 ...

Read Chris's diary for WEEK 2 ...

Read Chris's diary for WEEK 3 ...

Read Chris's diary for WEEK 5 ...