I know I know, I've been a slack ass again! Its just been a hectic month and well, the results were not so hot so I wasn't really itching to tell everyone about them. I spent a week up in Font Romeu, which the French all use for there altitude training. There is a huge center up there for Olympic sports and tons of national teams staying. But I couldn't believe how horrible the accommodation was... I mean, I know I'm fussy, but this place was just about falling apart! Well I quickly moved out and into a small apartment. Adam Craig joined me and we did a Copa Catalan race nearby. The weather during the whole altitude camp was soooo cold and I think it rained everyday. From there it was just an hour and a half to Andorra, which was a cool spot for sure. Some nice mountains, but again bloody cold! And it was all too much for my weak lungs so my asthma came ripe again for the first time since end of last season. Not good!

So that was that really... I suffered through Andorra World Cup back in the 20's before a late surge helped me to 13th. The week after in Fort Williams was worse... nothing at the start and then deteriorated throughout the race.. finished a slightly embarrassing 44th. Well, for once we actually had nice weather in Scotland, which is more then I can say for home here in Annecy. Its been the most terrible spring I can remember.













Let the race begin :)

So I'm back on my asthma medication again and hoping it will get better very quickly. I had to go do a special test in Grenoble the other day to give prove that I do have asthma and I can use my med at the Olympics. Such a hassle! But now its done.

Now I'm off to Italy tomorrow for the world champs. I'll do an Italian series race on Saturday first though. It seems like the whole kiwi team will be doing the race so that should be some fun.

Back to one of the biggest world cup classics... Madrid, in Casa del Campo.. the hooker park. This year we found out something new... the girls don't like there photos taken! I made the mistake and within a few seconds there were rocks flying at our hire car!!! Ops, soorryy ;) We seemed to get on better with the 'normal' people of the park, as each night we took out the hellfires (RC trucks) onto a nearby area and raced them around. We sometimes had around 50 people standing watching the show :) Oh yea, and I learnt somthing else.. Pittbull's and RC cars don't mix.. and mine now had some serious teeth marks to prove it!

The super dry, loose, punchy, high speed conditions were probably the closest we'll get to the Olympics, so that meant a little extra practice trying different tire combinations and suspension pressures. The heat got up to almost 30dC on race day, which was a bit of a shock to the system after the cold rainy spring we've been having.

Based on my feelings last week, Benoit was confident I'd ride well... and he was right! During the week I did three 3-4hr rides, two with good tempo. This is much more then I'd normally do on a world cup week.. but my recovery has become very good now and sure enough the legs felt great off the line.









The race was a little like the weekend before in Offenburg, with a huge group staying together at the front. But I learnt my lesson and tried hard to back off just a little on each steep climb. I dropped a few lengths each time, but was still able to stay in the first 3-6 riders for most of the first half of the race, even leading at one point at the steepest and most crowded section. The noise was so awesome I'm sure I had goose bumps!

My tire choice was on the risky side, but I really wanted to make a proper test of the killerbee treads for this kind of track. These are practically full slicks, which means super fast rolling, but sketchy on the corners. I ended having just one small crash and loosing just a little on the loose corners, but I could feel the difference in the speed and I think they really helped me roll back up to the group each time a wheel.

With 3 laps to go Jose and Julian accelerated and the bunch shattered. I dropped back into 9th, as I was nervous of blowing myself with all those steep sharp climbs. I rode my own tempo and by the final lap I managed to catch up to the chasing pack of 5 riders (4-8th) and got back in the mix again for a furious last lap. I dug deep to hold off for 6th place, ending up just 1'12 from Julian and 20" to third. Its a nice sign that I've managed to improve my ability on this style course.. something I've never been good at before, but will be oh so necessary come august!












Unfortunately for Roel and Jakob it was not such a great day. Actually many of the top riders were out of contention today. Perhaps due to it being the 3rd in a row, does change things a bit. So what do you know, I'm back in 7th place again overall... That's certainly been MY number over the years!

Its been a nice week, spending 3 days in Houffalize with my team, then moving on to Offenburg for the 2nd round of the World Cup. I backed off the training to let the body recover and I became quite lethargic, sleeping lots and just feeling wasted most of the time. Spending time on the road is a great way to relax, because there is not really much to do.

The track was almost identical to last year, except without the big rain storm on race day! From the start all 3 of us from CV were on the front and going well. The technical sections were challenging, but not difficult enough to split the field, so while I managed to stay in the top 5 during the first few laps, there were still around 20 riders very close behind. This was the first time for me to have such a good first half of the race and perhaps I got a little carried away. In the end I faded a bit and slipped to 14th at the end.. but still only 2min behind 2nd place.










Now I'm home, which is good because benoit could treat my back after my crash in Houffalize. But its not for long, as Thursday we're off again to Madrid for #3.

Its been a nice week being back with the team and seeing all the guys and gals on the circuit after a long winter. Once again its been a spectacular race here in Houffalize. With rain pouring down all Saturday, the course transformed into one mean monster, which is great for us as we are all on our full suspension Scalpels. But race day turned out much nicer, creating a mixed course with slick roots and greasy ruts under the trees, but then some fast dry climbs as well.













The opening climb was as last year, a near vertical road for 300m. This year it was just 50m too long for me, as I was sitting well until the very end, at which point my motor died and I slipped back from the top 10 into the 30s. Then it was straight into greasy slippery single track, so elbows out and the bitch fight had begun! I struggled for a few laps just holding onto wheels, but then somehow the legs opened up and I started passing riders. I was riding Black Pantha 'tubular' tires for the first time in a big race. The feeling was quite particular, but once I got the confidence, I was able to make a lot of time on the rough sections. I was able to hold this momentum through through till the end passing blown riders rapidly alone the way. That's always a nice way to race, as its always motivating to catch and pass someone, rather then the other way round! Finally I finished 9th, for the second year in a row at Houffalize, last on my team, yet still in the top 10. Jacob was our champion of the day finishing 4th.. his best yet.. but I've no doubt there's still better to come. Up front it was Julian who proved he's better then ever and young Nino Schuter showed his talent to place a solid 2nd.

Unfortunately for Rosara Joseph it was not such a nice weekend. She crashed in training and broke her foot.. i can just imagine how frustrating that must be.










Being in Belgium, of course we had to celebrate the good results with some chimays.. the best beer ever!

Now we are spending a few days in Hoffalize before crossing over the boarder into Germany on Wednesday for the next round. And the town is not the same at all... just a few left over riders out on the roads, but the town is deserted, very strange after the mass crowds yesterday. Its good for me to have nothing to do for a while.. catch up on all the small things, read my book and watch some Six Feet Under and Flight of the Concords... my favourite tv shows i have downloaded on my mac.

Well, this weekend's swiss cup didn't go quite to plan either. The start/finish area was at a stadium with a horse track and we had to do 3 laps before heading out on the first lap. This meant a mass sprint and me being somewhere mid pack. This followed by a flat front tire and a crash, so it wasn't really my day. But I still pushed myself hard and now have to hope my body comes right for this weekend for the first world cup.











On the drive home my right foot got super sore and by the time I arrived I was in agony... so it seems I had pulled a ligament. So I was straight over to Benoit's place and he twisted and pulled it around, which hurt more then I can possibly explain. But the next day it was already a lot better. I also got some acupuncture and now I'm confident it should be fine for the weekend.. phew!

We are now all in Houffalize. They have made a few changes to the course, but basically it remains pretty similar to every year, so should be great as always. Weather forecast is okay too...

This weekend I did the second round of the Italian Cup in Nalles, Sud Tirol. It was also the final weekend of the Cape Epic down in South Africa, so all the rest of my team were there. The boys managed to win the race, so happy for them.. I now how tough that race is !!
Anyway, that meant I had the chance to invite a couple of good friends who live in the area to come and support me. So it was super to catch up with Soren and Camilla and they also helped me heaps with many things, so that worked out great. Here's a little photo of us.. actually sitting in the Bianchi team tent, as we of course didn't have any team setup.










My feelings before the race were super. I am at the end of a really hard period of training and also sleeping at high altitude in my CAT tent. I even had the tent with me, so it was a real test to see how the body would react.

Off the line I had one of my best starts considering the length of the road climb. Its not something I'm very good at, so I was happy to enter the first single track in 6th place. After settling into the pace I tried to bridge the gap to the leaders on the second lap. But it was then that I started to realise I was struggling to breath and I just didn't have the power. So instead of catching the front group, the group behind caught me... then dropped me! I kept on fighting, but I just kept getting worse, eventually getting caught by many more riders. Finally I had to laugh.. it was almost my worst race in many years.. so bad, its nothing I should let bother me..

Camilla was taking lots of great photos... including this funny one, which may not be of me, but it's certainly how I felt during the race... like a big ass ! (but hey, respect to this guy who raced the entire race like this to the entertainment of the crowd :)

Well it seems that I'm finally over my spring flu. Last week was crazy, with a huge amount of snow falling on Sunday-Monday. I took this photo on Tuesday...



But this weekend it became warmer and yesterday I raced one of the nicest road races we have in our area, the Annemasse Belgarde. Its a pretty hilly race and has all the best amature riders from throughout France. I attacked hard after about 40km and was in a nice group of 5 riders... but then after 130km, on the final climb, I hit the wall.. and hard! But it was a perfect race to start bringing on some form.

Every day I am waking up and checking the cape-epic info. Its very exciting to see Roel and Jakob kicking ass down there. Although there is still a long way to go and so much can happen. I really miss not being there.. although I know it was my own choice I made because I felt the stages are too long this year and I am scared to burn out and get health problems as i did last year in July... Olympics are in August, so a long way away still !!!

This weekend I will do one of my favorite races, The Italian Cup in Nalles.

I've been on and off sick for almost 3 weeks now, very frustrating to say the least! Its so hard to know what to do in these situations... sometimes its best to rest, sometimes its best to ride and sweet it out. This time its been very confusing, because I have felt like its over twice and re-started hard training/racing, just for it to come back a few days later.

Today I woke up with 20cm fresh snow outside, so I spent an hour on the rollers.. Hopefully this will be the last of the cold and summer will arrive really soon!!

I'm just enjoying a nice fire and keeping cozy indoors today, as yesterday I had a darn nasty road race in the cold and rain. Its been a really tough few weeks actually with just the occasional nice day, but mostly rainy. I managed to pick up a little virus, which never really got hold, but made me feel strange for a few weeks.

I decided to still do the Brescia, which was the first round of the Internazionali d'Italia series. It was more of a cross course though, up and down stairs and alley ways, partly inside a fabulous old castle. I started well, but then lacked a little power over the small grunts, so finished up 9th. Jacob won the race, so that was once again nice for the team.. considering Roel has also been winning races down in Cyprus, its been a nice start to the season for us all.

Otherwise I've been staying home a lot, keeping the training going as well as possible and doing road races during the weekends. They upgraded me to Cat 1 now (probably because of my 2nd place in Tour de Pilat last year, bugger it!) So it means I have no more 'easy' road races and I have to travel a little more. For me, these races are really fast and there is no room for error. Yesterday I made the mistake of putting on my jacket at the wrong time.. so I was at the back of the bunch when they started cranking it and many riders were leaving gaps.. So I got dropped after just 50km and before the major climb.. not so spectacular!!

And then today I had a surprise visitor ringing my door bell... a guy from Swiss Olympic Association to give me a random drug test. Well, I was very happy, because it shows they are testing and I don't send all my whereabouts info in for nothing! I asked what would happen if I was 'out' and he said that he would wait for a day or two if necessary, ask the neighborers etc... What a job eh!

Next weekend I'm going to head down south to Avignon to get some warmer weather and do a small race called Raid des Dentelles. Its not a UCI event, but is supposedly a beautiful event, so I'm looking forward to that!!

So, back to Banoyles again. Its maybe not the biggest race race, but it definitely is a fun one. The Catalyn people really are friendly, a relief coming from France! Simple little things, like offering to cook my brown rice and many many 'Mucho Bienas' ... just makes life feel better.

Staying with the Finnish ex roady, Jukka Vastaras, I got to hear some great stories about his crazy time with Rabobank which he rode for during 4 years. As he was not a 'star' rider he had to put up with a lot of crap.. like the team not allowing him to ride his brakes on the front/right side as he was used to, as it was too much hassle to the mechanics! He said he went down on multiple occasions, but still nothing. He had to stop due to back trouble, but now that he's healthy again he has decided to come back on the MTB, his first passion. It will be interesting to see how he progress's through the year, but for sure he has a few things to learn....



Jukka, road sprinter turn mtber!









...and his first lesson, take it easy at the start !!! The little power pocket lead us all full tit through the first 1/2 lap! It was good for me though, as I could just sit on and I was feeling surprisingly comfortable. By the second lap we were 6 riders at the front and I was still feeling fine, so I pushed the pace and got a gap. Behind the group of 5 including Jukka, Marti Gispert and Carlos Coloma, were never too far away, but I managed to slowly increase my lead to finally win by one minute fifteen. Seeing that I didn't actually manage to win a single race last year, this is a super start to the year!














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