As normal I have managed to fill my off-season to the brim, trying to get everything 'else' done. So I'm kind of looking forward to a break from my break, and to getting back into training mode.

The house is coming together nicely. I have now been living inside for about 1 month and things are finally almost finished. I spent a lot of hours digging outside and building this wall... was more work then I had imagined! My back paid the price and was very sore for some weeks now. Yesterday Benoit cracked it all back into place and boy did I sleep well last night!













I also took a trip to visit some of my German family in Wasserburg (near Munich) to watch a play that my uncle Helge was directing and my cousins Holga, Hiener and Hanna were acting in. The play, called Jedermann, was in German which I don't really understand, so it was a little tough to follow. What was really cool was to see how passionate they are about performing and how in something so completely different to cycling, they really have so much in common in the way of dedication and how much time it takes! Helge has become some kind of local celebrity in the town, so when we took a tour of the local market and the nice new cafe, many people recognized him.. much more then I ever get!!!







The theatre was felt like we stepped back into the middleages!




Helge in front of his play's poster...



So, now its time to start thinking of training again. Yesterday I made a nice outline of my preparations with Benoit. I am planning to stay much more settled this winter, unlike last year when I traveled to NZ and raced a lot, this year I will stay in Annecy and try to be a lot more structured. We have made a 21 week buildup phase, which will bring me to the first world cup on the 22 April.

My goals for next year will be World Cups, as I am not so confident about the Worlds in Fort Williams where the cold conditions often give me asthma. The BIG goal will be the world cup in Anglefire on the 1st July, as its at ridicules high altitude and I finished 4th there last year.

I will be updating my training on http://www.2peaks.com/ again if anyone is interested to look at what I'm doing!!

Hi there!

It really has been a long time since I've written anything here, so I hope everyone is good, or at least better then Jeremiah Bishop; broken nose and jaw at the La Ruta race this week, ouch! Me, I'm doing super and really enjoying my break from competition. I've had some amazing free-ride adventures making the most of a very warm autumn. My sponsors have spoilt me with some cool new equipment to test, including the new carbon Rush from Cannondale, a sexy Cobalt crankset from Crankbrothers and some very nice 2.1 versions of the Vredestien Tiger Claw tires.

I raced the Rush at the Roc d'azur and I have to admit the rear shock in pro-pedal mode was working very nicely. For rough rocky terrain this is a very fast bike! I did the marathon for the first time and was in the leading group until I punctured twice... such is racing.

With serious stuff out of the way, we planned an 8 day tour around the Mont Blanc area. The weather didn't play its part though, so it was a rough trip, but still amazing. Some days we rode 6-7hrs in rain, over passes of 2600m! Afterwards we were more lucky riding the awesome single tracks in the Zermatt valley, hike-a-biking over Col de Brevent above Chamonix and getting completely lost in the maze of tracks in the Porte de Soleil area (Morzine, Les Get etc...). Lots of great memories.

Now, I'm fully enjoying my time off the bike, with plenty to do everyday with the house, both inside and out. I'm starting to run a bit more and are doing some long walks in the mountains.
Bike training will start again next week and I'm full of motivation again. I will race some cyclo-cross again this winter with the goal of competing at the World Champs late January.
So I wish you all the best...
Kashi

p.s Lots of new photos on the photo page!!!