Hey all,
I'm so happy the sun is shining again. We had three days of gray and around 3dC, and it was starting to get to me. Today I did one of my favorite rides around Annecy... Le tour de Lac. It takes me 2.15hr from my apartment, and is mostly on cycle lanes or a small road. Lac d'Annecy is one of the most beautiful lakes I know, and riding around always makes me feel so energized.

I was actually meant to be road racing in South France today, but I didn't manage to get a car sorted out in time, so I decided to stay here. I am currently talking to a few local garages for a new car. I have been trying to get a financing package so I can buy a nice one, but its not been easy! Everything in France is complicated, and for foreigners, many things are nearly impossible! Sometimes I get so frustrated, but then I go for another ride, and the mountains relax me again.

Helena is in Spain at the moment taking care of her clubs training camp. And our flat mate is up skiing for the day, so I have the place to myself... time to crank up the stereo and do some tidying up! Next weekend will be my first race with the team, so I got to get myself sorted!

Later, K

1FEB- NEW ZEALAND CHAMPIONSHIPS, WELLINGTON
1st !

It rained solid all night, and then all day. 1hr before the start the commissars were talking seriously about cancelling the race for safety reasons, as the rain was just bucketing down. Thankfully they decided to go ahead, and it was the right move, although they should have changed the title to NZ Mountain run-bike champs!

The problem was not the rain, but a course that could not handle it. The descents and climbs were so steep that we were forced to run most of the time. Then there was the section that followed a creek bed, and crossed over back and forth 18 times. With all the rain, the rushing water was knee deep and about 3m across... and with 4 laps, that made 76 times we had to shoulder the bikes and struggle through! All in all, we probably spent as much time on the bike as off it!

My winter form is not usually much to speak about, so I was not sure how I would fare against the other kiwis who had been racing for a few months already. I managed to ride with the front group for the first lap, and then followed Jason Clement when he attacked the group. Jason was descending like a madman, and he managed to gap me a number of times, but I was making time on the river crossings, and managed to pull him back each time. The wind had picked up a lot since the start, and the rain was horizontal! It’s amazing in these situations, but I hardly felt the cold, unlike all the spectators who were huddling around a few open tents at the start-finish area. I finally managed to attack Jason and got a decent gap. Coming into the final lap I noticed that he was closing in again, but I had enough in me to finish it off.

It’s a good feeling to have started the year off with a win, my first one for Bianchi! It should give my world ranking a boost too... currently I am 14th, and with these points plus the points from the Oceania champs I should move into 9th!

All in all I had a really great time in NZ. I managed to spend heaps of time with my family and friends, and also got a huge amount pf publicity thanks to the help of Philippa at Cre8ive. Now I am back in Europe again, and soon I will be doing some road races in the south of france again, before heading to Italy for the Bianchi training camp.



25 JANUARY - Oceania Championships, Rotorua
26th (puncture)

The race was held in the great Redwood riding forest, which is the home of probably the coolest mtb single tracks in the world! There is a huge network of trails here, and they always pick some really great ones out for the races here. This year the Rotorua race was a double decker, hosting both a NZ national round and the Oceania Championships.. Which meant great UCI points, and a lot more competition due to the Aussies!

The line up was not to shabby looking, with Craig Gordon and Sid Tiberley leading the Aussie contingent. From the start it was clear that out cross-tasman counterparts were here to do business. After one lap I was the only kiwi left in the leading group, amounts 4 Aussies! My legs were feeling pretty darn awful to say the least, and I was not riding smooth at all. I had tried to do a lot of MTB training to prepare for this, but its clear that with out having build-up races, it is almost impossible to get the good sensations you need.

With 2 laps remaining I was in 4th place when I tried to get fancy, and launched off a drop-off, only to hit my rear wheel hard into a root. Sure enough, there was that!"#¤!# hissing sound. After putting a new tube in, my CO2 spat all the air out the sides, instead of into the valve, so I was left stranded. Finally, I rode a whole lap with a puncture, just so I would still get some points!