Update from Madrid
Heres a quick update of our last week in Europe.....
Following the first SwissPowerCup race in Innertkirchen, Switzerland, where it was snowing and super cold....we headed back north and visited the SCOTT headquarters in Fribourg, where Robyns MTB receievd some much needed love and attention....(new XTR groupset, and new set of CrossMax wheels, plus some flash new SCOTT clothing) it now seems heaps lighter, and looks 100% faster.
From there we spent a few days in a familiar town for us, Biel-Bienne, where we could get settled a bit, and ride on some familiar roads for a few days. We both had a good week on the bike, Robyn did some good MTB rides, and hooked up with a local MTB ride group which happened to include a former World Champ (Silvia Furst!!) from whom Robyn tells me she picked up some very useful tips.
From Biel we drove north to a small town called Oberreit, where Robyn had decided to enter into a Criterium instead of doing a MTB race which was on the same day. The plan for doing the road race was to get some speed into the legs as preparation for the first World Cup MTB race.
The morning of the race dawned very cold indeed, the rain was hammering down, and as we stayed warm inside our camper we watched the lead up races, one of which was an Army race, on Swiss Army issue 'Granville' style bikes, in full combat gear...even with 1 gear, these guys were flying! it was impressive to watch.
Following the lunch break the rain stopped, the sun came out and the temperatures shot up. Robyns race got underway, and she was introduced as the NZ Road Champ.....later corrected to MTB. A fast race on a 900m course, with ex World Champ Barbara Heeb, and a couple of Swiss Womens pro teams driving it on the front...it was so fast no-one could get away, or even 10m off the front. Robyn got up for 15th and a bit of a prize money payout.....a good result and the perfect training.
We are now in Madrid, the weather is great, 25deg and sunny...perfect!! Although the local cyclists are still riding around in thermals and long pants!!!
We have found a nice apartment with everthing we need, kitchen, laundry, plenty of room, and only a short walk to the course.
ok thats all for now,
until soon
Christian
Following the first SwissPowerCup race in Innertkirchen, Switzerland, where it was snowing and super cold....we headed back north and visited the SCOTT headquarters in Fribourg, where Robyns MTB receievd some much needed love and attention....(new XTR groupset, and new set of CrossMax wheels, plus some flash new SCOTT clothing) it now seems heaps lighter, and looks 100% faster.
From there we spent a few days in a familiar town for us, Biel-Bienne, where we could get settled a bit, and ride on some familiar roads for a few days. We both had a good week on the bike, Robyn did some good MTB rides, and hooked up with a local MTB ride group which happened to include a former World Champ (Silvia Furst!!) from whom Robyn tells me she picked up some very useful tips.
From Biel we drove north to a small town called Oberreit, where Robyn had decided to enter into a Criterium instead of doing a MTB race which was on the same day. The plan for doing the road race was to get some speed into the legs as preparation for the first World Cup MTB race.
The morning of the race dawned very cold indeed, the rain was hammering down, and as we stayed warm inside our camper we watched the lead up races, one of which was an Army race, on Swiss Army issue 'Granville' style bikes, in full combat gear...even with 1 gear, these guys were flying! it was impressive to watch.
Following the lunch break the rain stopped, the sun came out and the temperatures shot up. Robyns race got underway, and she was introduced as the NZ Road Champ.....later corrected to MTB. A fast race on a 900m course, with ex World Champ Barbara Heeb, and a couple of Swiss Womens pro teams driving it on the front...it was so fast no-one could get away, or even 10m off the front. Robyn got up for 15th and a bit of a prize money payout.....a good result and the perfect training.
We are now in Madrid, the weather is great, 25deg and sunny...perfect!! Although the local cyclists are still riding around in thermals and long pants!!!
We have found a nice apartment with everthing we need, kitchen, laundry, plenty of room, and only a short walk to the course.
ok thats all for now,
until soon
Christian
Made it to LA
Hi All,
Just a quick one....we made it safe n sound to LA....no major dramas...decided to spend some airpoints on an up-grade to business class...so that was nice...they give you EXTRA food dont u know!!
LA has been a bit of a crazy mission, lost count of how many checks we have been thru, lines we have queued in, and how many people have searched thru and handled our bags...blimmen yanks!!
We managed to use our free passes into the AIR NZ lounge, so we are making the most of a couple of hours peace n quiet, the free internet access...oh yeah and the food....thats free too....hehe...
ok better go, take care
Christian
Just a quick one....we made it safe n sound to LA....no major dramas...decided to spend some airpoints on an up-grade to business class...so that was nice...they give you EXTRA food dont u know!!
LA has been a bit of a crazy mission, lost count of how many checks we have been thru, lines we have queued in, and how many people have searched thru and handled our bags...blimmen yanks!!
We managed to use our free passes into the AIR NZ lounge, so we are making the most of a couple of hours peace n quiet, the free internet access...oh yeah and the food....thats free too....hehe...
ok better go, take care
Christian
Robyn 14th at World Champs Marathon
hi everyone.
The MTB Marathon World Champs was run yesterday, 78 gruelling km's with almost 3000m of vertical elevation, some 'stronger than Wellington' winds, and almost 1000 starters.
Among those were six Kiwis, including Robyn, Susie Pryde, Sadie Parker-Wynyard, Tim Vincent, Mark Leishman.
We made sure we were prepared the night before, Robyn's bike was prepped, numbers on jerseys, 8 bottles of replacement drink for feeds, a handful of energy bars, spare tyres, tubes, pumps etc...all ready.
The NZ team were lucky to be called up near the front of the grid, Robyn was just behind Susie and Sadie.
We left the riders at the start and made our way to the first feed zone, 22kminto the race.
Robyn came thru in 7th and was looking very strong, relaxed and focussed, Susie Pryde came thru 5min later around 25th, and Sadie another 5min later around 40th at which point she dismounted and pulled out of the race.
We got a jacket and food for Sadie, and she was happy to bike back to her hotel, we jumped into the car, and raced to get to the next feed zone.
We got within 6km of the next feed zone and were stopped by army personnel, told the road was closed, we could have no access!!! The we were fuming but the guy wouldnt budge!
There was nothing we could do to feed our riders, or get a message to them to tell them to conserve food, and take neutral support..all we could do was go to the last feed zone 40km away, wait for our riders, and just hope they were still going.
We got to the zone, Robyn came thru almost 20min up on her schedule, but we learnt she had blown her forks out and was riding almost with no suspension .She was sitting in 14th and 15th was right on her tail.
We raced to the finish, which was one lap of the main Lugano Stadium, then over the line.
Robyn entered neck and neck with a Swiss national rider, held off till the last
bend, and with 100m to go unleashed a great sprint to secure 14th.
Susie came in 20min later in 25th.
14th in the World! All very happy with the result.
Our plans now are to move to the XC course and prepare for the next race, The
XC race on Sunday. Heres hoping for another good result for Robyn and New
Zealand.
All the best from Lugano
Christian
The MTB Marathon World Champs was run yesterday, 78 gruelling km's with almost 3000m of vertical elevation, some 'stronger than Wellington' winds, and almost 1000 starters.
Among those were six Kiwis, including Robyn, Susie Pryde, Sadie Parker-Wynyard, Tim Vincent, Mark Leishman.
We made sure we were prepared the night before, Robyn's bike was prepped, numbers on jerseys, 8 bottles of replacement drink for feeds, a handful of energy bars, spare tyres, tubes, pumps etc...all ready.
The NZ team were lucky to be called up near the front of the grid, Robyn was just behind Susie and Sadie.
We left the riders at the start and made our way to the first feed zone, 22kminto the race.
Robyn came thru in 7th and was looking very strong, relaxed and focussed, Susie Pryde came thru 5min later around 25th, and Sadie another 5min later around 40th at which point she dismounted and pulled out of the race.
We got a jacket and food for Sadie, and she was happy to bike back to her hotel, we jumped into the car, and raced to get to the next feed zone.
We got within 6km of the next feed zone and were stopped by army personnel, told the road was closed, we could have no access!!! The we were fuming but the guy wouldnt budge!
There was nothing we could do to feed our riders, or get a message to them to tell them to conserve food, and take neutral support..all we could do was go to the last feed zone 40km away, wait for our riders, and just hope they were still going.
We got to the zone, Robyn came thru almost 20min up on her schedule, but we learnt she had blown her forks out and was riding almost with no suspension .She was sitting in 14th and 15th was right on her tail.
We raced to the finish, which was one lap of the main Lugano Stadium, then over the line.
Robyn entered neck and neck with a Swiss national rider, held off till the last
bend, and with 100m to go unleashed a great sprint to secure 14th.
Susie came in 20min later in 25th.
14th in the World! All very happy with the result.
Our plans now are to move to the XC course and prepare for the next race, The
XC race on Sunday. Heres hoping for another good result for Robyn and New
Zealand.
All the best from Lugano
Christian
Vancouver, British Colombia, Canada
Friday July 11, 2003
We are now half way through our second week here in Vancouver. On Monday we will fly out to Germany. But before that Robyn has the MTB World Cup race on Sunday at Grouse Mountain.
Our time here has been great, we are staying in a big house just on the edge of downtown Vancouver.
We quickly found what we believe to be the best training road in the central city, the road follows the beautiful coastline around the University of British Colombia, and provides some pretty spectacular scenery to our training rides.
The weather has been very good, mostly 20-22 deg, although today and tomorrow about 28deg. (I can feel some tan lines coming on!! haha)
Last weekend I joined up with the local club for their regular bunch ride. The note on their website said 80k easy spin, on mainly flat roads. I should have known better....it happened to also be the same day that the Tour de France started, some of the riders must have caught the TDF fever, because before I knew it I was climbing (suffering on) some of the biggest climbs in the area, through some amazing national parks, my legs were screaming, I was just hoping that I wouldn't meet a grizzly bear after some breakfast, because there was no way I could have out ridden anything!
I was lucky enough to see 1 Black bear (who didnt want to eat me), 1 Deer, and 3 Squirrels (2 with acorns). Anyway I made it home 140km and 6hrs later. Although a little sore, I was pretty happy with the ride, and to have met and ridden with some of the local guys....I must say, Thanks for showing me around!
Robyn and I were both looking for some extra races to do during our stay here to compliment our training, and we found it in the form of the local "World Tuesday Night Championships 2003" its a Criterium series which runs every Tuesday night all summer long. The course is a testing 1.5km block which has a long fast descent, and a long climb to the finish. There are races for all categories from beginner to pro, men and women. The turnout is good, they regulary get between 100-200 riders every Tuesday.
I raced here twice.
The first Tuesday I entered myself in Category 3 (Cat1 = Pro A grade, Cat3 is more like B or C grade)
This 1st race didnt go as well as I hoped, but more like I expected, I wasnt feeling particularly fast or fit, and decided best thing would be to have a go, before the legs gave up I put in a couple of attacks. End result was that I didnt win, but had some good efforts in there to get the heart rate up, and get my legs used to racing again.
The 2nd Tuesday I had to race Category 1....I was far too busy watching Robyn win her womens race I missed my Cat3 start....doh! Ok, so time for some emergency warm up procedures....I jumped on the back of a Cat1 team warm up train, mmmmm ok if they ride at 45kph during warm up, what kind of speeds should I expect for the race?!?!. mmmmm ok time to rest my legs and save up as much energy as I can.
We get called up to the start line, im surrounded by 3-4 teams of 6 or so riders, a few smaller teams, and a handful of individuals.
We start, the pace is steady until we hit the hill....I remember last week I rode up in a smallish gear, this week I had to put it in my biggest gear just to hang on!! Sheesh, only 1/2hr to go. I started feeling good after a few laps and held back the urge to put in a surprise attack, I looked after myself, stayed out of trouble, before I knew it we were on the bell lap, I hammered up the last hill to pick up a few placings and finish solidly in the middle of the bunch.
Very happy with my ride in Cat1. Hopefully the training is starting to pay off...soon I'll be able to keep up with Robyn!!
Until soon, Christian.
We are now half way through our second week here in Vancouver. On Monday we will fly out to Germany. But before that Robyn has the MTB World Cup race on Sunday at Grouse Mountain.
Our time here has been great, we are staying in a big house just on the edge of downtown Vancouver.
We quickly found what we believe to be the best training road in the central city, the road follows the beautiful coastline around the University of British Colombia, and provides some pretty spectacular scenery to our training rides.
The weather has been very good, mostly 20-22 deg, although today and tomorrow about 28deg. (I can feel some tan lines coming on!! haha)
Last weekend I joined up with the local club for their regular bunch ride. The note on their website said 80k easy spin, on mainly flat roads. I should have known better....it happened to also be the same day that the Tour de France started, some of the riders must have caught the TDF fever, because before I knew it I was climbing (suffering on) some of the biggest climbs in the area, through some amazing national parks, my legs were screaming, I was just hoping that I wouldn't meet a grizzly bear after some breakfast, because there was no way I could have out ridden anything!
I was lucky enough to see 1 Black bear (who didnt want to eat me), 1 Deer, and 3 Squirrels (2 with acorns). Anyway I made it home 140km and 6hrs later. Although a little sore, I was pretty happy with the ride, and to have met and ridden with some of the local guys....I must say, Thanks for showing me around!
Robyn and I were both looking for some extra races to do during our stay here to compliment our training, and we found it in the form of the local "World Tuesday Night Championships 2003" its a Criterium series which runs every Tuesday night all summer long. The course is a testing 1.5km block which has a long fast descent, and a long climb to the finish. There are races for all categories from beginner to pro, men and women. The turnout is good, they regulary get between 100-200 riders every Tuesday.
I raced here twice.
The first Tuesday I entered myself in Category 3 (Cat1 = Pro A grade, Cat3 is more like B or C grade)
This 1st race didnt go as well as I hoped, but more like I expected, I wasnt feeling particularly fast or fit, and decided best thing would be to have a go, before the legs gave up I put in a couple of attacks. End result was that I didnt win, but had some good efforts in there to get the heart rate up, and get my legs used to racing again.
The 2nd Tuesday I had to race Category 1....I was far too busy watching Robyn win her womens race I missed my Cat3 start....doh! Ok, so time for some emergency warm up procedures....I jumped on the back of a Cat1 team warm up train, mmmmm ok if they ride at 45kph during warm up, what kind of speeds should I expect for the race?!?!. mmmmm ok time to rest my legs and save up as much energy as I can.
We get called up to the start line, im surrounded by 3-4 teams of 6 or so riders, a few smaller teams, and a handful of individuals.
We start, the pace is steady until we hit the hill....I remember last week I rode up in a smallish gear, this week I had to put it in my biggest gear just to hang on!! Sheesh, only 1/2hr to go. I started feeling good after a few laps and held back the urge to put in a surprise attack, I looked after myself, stayed out of trouble, before I knew it we were on the bell lap, I hammered up the last hill to pick up a few placings and finish solidly in the middle of the bunch.
Very happy with my ride in Cat1. Hopefully the training is starting to pay off...soon I'll be able to keep up with Robyn!!
Until soon, Christian.
We are now back from Austria, and are in Biel....but off again soon...this time to France on Friday for Robyns last MTB World Cup Race in Les Gets. Ill be taking my bike so hope to get some decent rides in over some of the good hills down that way.
Our trip to Austria was a good one.... we rented a car, an Opel Astra 2.0L Diesel, surprisingly economical, it goes good and gets us around. We went to Austria via Munich and spent a night visiting one of my German team mates (sebastian retzlaf) from the last Tour of Wellington. He even cooked up a great german meal for us!!
Next day we went to Austria, I raced a 116km race in St Johann....did pretty good, got 28th on a hilly course, only 33sec down on the winner, I have posted a report of my race on www.robynwong.com if you want to read more.
Then it was on to Kaprun for the MTB world champs....Robyn was going really well in the days leading up, and the really crappy conditions didnt put her off...she was sitting in the top 20 with 3 laps to go when disaster struck and a mechanical with her chain put her out of the race.....shame, but that cycling eh!
I did some good rides while in Austria, the best one was to the top of Austria's highest pass...the GrossGlockner at 2550m.
I was at a Kaprun Service station looking at a map to find a decent hill to ride when i spotted a bunch ride past in the direction i was going, so i chased them down, got talking, and they were biking to the top of this big mountain.
there was about 10k of climbing to the toll gate, then thats where the real climb began. one guy told me we would be climbing 1700m so i thought sweet....as we climbed, the hairpins were signposted and included the altitude, i was feeling great, 1100m, 1300m, 1500m, 1700m, 1900m....huh! and it kept going, when we got to 2000m i realised he meant it was 1700m from the toll gates not 1700m to the summit.
so anyway, we had dropped the rest of the bunch early on, and it was just me and him, i was going to attack him before 1700m, luckily i didnt cos when i got to 2000m started to feel tired and a bit dizzy, so i relaxed my breathing and kept a steady pace from then on and soon came right again no worries....the last 300m was hard and steep, but i still felt ok and we got to the top together. It took 1hr10min from the toll gates, and this broke the record for the guy i was riding with (although he wanted to do 1hr6min). Apparently Rik Verbrugghe (a pro rider) did the climb in 46min!!!!
So after France we go to Spain for a bit of sun, then hope to catch up with my brother and his wife (Grant and Angela) in Nurnberg, Germany for 3 or 4 days.....cant wait!
Our trip to Austria was a good one.... we rented a car, an Opel Astra 2.0L Diesel, surprisingly economical, it goes good and gets us around. We went to Austria via Munich and spent a night visiting one of my German team mates (sebastian retzlaf) from the last Tour of Wellington. He even cooked up a great german meal for us!!
Next day we went to Austria, I raced a 116km race in St Johann....did pretty good, got 28th on a hilly course, only 33sec down on the winner, I have posted a report of my race on www.robynwong.com if you want to read more.
Then it was on to Kaprun for the MTB world champs....Robyn was going really well in the days leading up, and the really crappy conditions didnt put her off...she was sitting in the top 20 with 3 laps to go when disaster struck and a mechanical with her chain put her out of the race.....shame, but that cycling eh!
I did some good rides while in Austria, the best one was to the top of Austria's highest pass...the GrossGlockner at 2550m.
I was at a Kaprun Service station looking at a map to find a decent hill to ride when i spotted a bunch ride past in the direction i was going, so i chased them down, got talking, and they were biking to the top of this big mountain.
there was about 10k of climbing to the toll gate, then thats where the real climb began. one guy told me we would be climbing 1700m so i thought sweet....as we climbed, the hairpins were signposted and included the altitude, i was feeling great, 1100m, 1300m, 1500m, 1700m, 1900m....huh! and it kept going, when we got to 2000m i realised he meant it was 1700m from the toll gates not 1700m to the summit.
so anyway, we had dropped the rest of the bunch early on, and it was just me and him, i was going to attack him before 1700m, luckily i didnt cos when i got to 2000m started to feel tired and a bit dizzy, so i relaxed my breathing and kept a steady pace from then on and soon came right again no worries....the last 300m was hard and steep, but i still felt ok and we got to the top together. It took 1hr10min from the toll gates, and this broke the record for the guy i was riding with (although he wanted to do 1hr6min). Apparently Rik Verbrugghe (a pro rider) did the climb in 46min!!!!
So after France we go to Spain for a bit of sun, then hope to catch up with my brother and his wife (Grant and Angela) in Nurnberg, Germany for 3 or 4 days.....cant wait!
St Johann in Tyrol, Austria. Tuesday, August 27th. 116km Road Race.
On Tuesday we left Munich and headed to Austria, we arrived at the race with about 1hr to spare, but by the time i got my number and got ready I only had about 15mins....so no real warm up was possible.....straight into it!!
The course was good....2km after the start was a 3km hill which went upwards in 4 stages with 3 short plateaus (which also went upwards), I was determined to be there at the top of the hill, so first lap I started near the front and worked my way up the bunch to cross the summit in top 15, was surprised how good my legs felt, even as the pace went on over the top I could hold my own.
Over the other side and the descent was long, straight and gradual....there was a head wind so it was a real effort to ride at over 45kph. It stayed pretty fast till the next hill, a 2km steep narrow climb. again I had good legs, rode high cadence and went over the top at the front of the bunch, more down hill then a tight right-hander hairpin and a 600-700m climb, first lap I got up in the big ring, but by laps 2 and 3 I was down to the 39x17.
From there it was a pretty flat fast 15-20k till the finish of the lap with only a few short sections of cross wind and a narrow cobbled road thru a small village to worry about.
1st lap was good, I tried to stay near the front on the hills, ride conservatively till I warmed up. So to be top 15 over 1st hill 2k into the race I was stoked.
There were heaps of attacks....I let the others chase, which they were willing to do no worries. Things stayed together pretty much on lap 1.
2nd lap there was a break just before the hill, so it was all on in the bunch from the bottom of the hill to catch them, 2 of the Italian teams attacked so I went too and it was really strung out up the hill...about half way up the pace eased a bit, but then it was on again over the top, I thought that this might be 'it' and I wanted to be there so I gave it everything to stay with the leaders, I was in top 10 over the top, but just off the lead group of 6, so with legs burning, and lungs screaming I chased hard down the other side to make sure I stayed with them......I was on!! but what might have been never happened....the head wind had picked up more now, so it was hard work on the descent, these guys sat up, and eventually what was left of the bunch behind rejoined and it all came back together, Not much else happened on this lap except a bit of drizzle, more attacks, but none were successful.
3rd lap, and the weather looked grim, I gambled that the bunch was getting tired and as it was all together they wouldnt go so hard up the hill. I was right...kind of! they didnt attack it till the last 500m...ouch! But i had worked my way up the bunch so had the luxury of drifting back and still going over the top in the middle of the pack. So down the other side, It was fast and the rain started coming down HEAVY. Next climb and as we crossed the top there were 5-6 marshalls frantically waving flags and blowing whistles and yelling at us to slow down....down the other side i could see why.....huge rivers of water were flowing across the road, in some places you couldnt see the road anymore and the water was over the tops of your shoes....pretty hairy at 70kph!!
Anyway a small group must have rolled off the front, because all of a sudden we were chasing again. At one point I was 5th in line at the cross wind as we approached a bridge, I made sure I had a spare couple of metres on the inside incase I got swung into the side of the road, all of a sudden the bunch swung across, putting me in the gutter, I looked up and saw the bridge coming straight for me, I just had enough time to swerve to miss the railings before it was too late....some Italian behind me yelled something I couldn't understand, so I said something back which he probably didnt understand either and everyone was happy :-)) Anyway, the break was still up the road, we had them within our sights the whole way and with 10k to go they were only 50m infront of us......but somehow they got away again, stretching their lead to 33sec and holding that to the finish.
So with 2k to go the bunch had given up the chase and were positioning for the sprint for 6th place, I tried to look for gaps, and work my way to the front of the bunch to be in a good position for the sprint, but each time I saw a gap there seemed to be another tight corner, and the gap closed again, 1k to go and the rain started again, guys were all over the place, it was messy, I had missed my chance to get to the front so hoped for some good luck and wide open road for the sprint.....coming down to the last 500m and it was all on, but there was no way through for me, I went hard and tried to avoid riders coming backwards and also pick off ones infront of me.....Crossed the line in what I thought could be good enough for top 20....it ended up being 28th. and same time as 6th place. The average speed for 116km was pretty quick at 43kph....not bad!
Very happy with the race, kinda wish I could do some more, but this is probably my last race over here, so now im hoping to get some more good training in before I get back to Wellington, Im already looking forward to the races which will be on every weekend as the NZ season has already started.
till soon
Christian
On Tuesday we left Munich and headed to Austria, we arrived at the race with about 1hr to spare, but by the time i got my number and got ready I only had about 15mins....so no real warm up was possible.....straight into it!!
The course was good....2km after the start was a 3km hill which went upwards in 4 stages with 3 short plateaus (which also went upwards), I was determined to be there at the top of the hill, so first lap I started near the front and worked my way up the bunch to cross the summit in top 15, was surprised how good my legs felt, even as the pace went on over the top I could hold my own.
Over the other side and the descent was long, straight and gradual....there was a head wind so it was a real effort to ride at over 45kph. It stayed pretty fast till the next hill, a 2km steep narrow climb. again I had good legs, rode high cadence and went over the top at the front of the bunch, more down hill then a tight right-hander hairpin and a 600-700m climb, first lap I got up in the big ring, but by laps 2 and 3 I was down to the 39x17.
From there it was a pretty flat fast 15-20k till the finish of the lap with only a few short sections of cross wind and a narrow cobbled road thru a small village to worry about.
1st lap was good, I tried to stay near the front on the hills, ride conservatively till I warmed up. So to be top 15 over 1st hill 2k into the race I was stoked.
There were heaps of attacks....I let the others chase, which they were willing to do no worries. Things stayed together pretty much on lap 1.
2nd lap there was a break just before the hill, so it was all on in the bunch from the bottom of the hill to catch them, 2 of the Italian teams attacked so I went too and it was really strung out up the hill...about half way up the pace eased a bit, but then it was on again over the top, I thought that this might be 'it' and I wanted to be there so I gave it everything to stay with the leaders, I was in top 10 over the top, but just off the lead group of 6, so with legs burning, and lungs screaming I chased hard down the other side to make sure I stayed with them......I was on!! but what might have been never happened....the head wind had picked up more now, so it was hard work on the descent, these guys sat up, and eventually what was left of the bunch behind rejoined and it all came back together, Not much else happened on this lap except a bit of drizzle, more attacks, but none were successful.
3rd lap, and the weather looked grim, I gambled that the bunch was getting tired and as it was all together they wouldnt go so hard up the hill. I was right...kind of! they didnt attack it till the last 500m...ouch! But i had worked my way up the bunch so had the luxury of drifting back and still going over the top in the middle of the pack. So down the other side, It was fast and the rain started coming down HEAVY. Next climb and as we crossed the top there were 5-6 marshalls frantically waving flags and blowing whistles and yelling at us to slow down....down the other side i could see why.....huge rivers of water were flowing across the road, in some places you couldnt see the road anymore and the water was over the tops of your shoes....pretty hairy at 70kph!!
Anyway a small group must have rolled off the front, because all of a sudden we were chasing again. At one point I was 5th in line at the cross wind as we approached a bridge, I made sure I had a spare couple of metres on the inside incase I got swung into the side of the road, all of a sudden the bunch swung across, putting me in the gutter, I looked up and saw the bridge coming straight for me, I just had enough time to swerve to miss the railings before it was too late....some Italian behind me yelled something I couldn't understand, so I said something back which he probably didnt understand either and everyone was happy :-)) Anyway, the break was still up the road, we had them within our sights the whole way and with 10k to go they were only 50m infront of us......but somehow they got away again, stretching their lead to 33sec and holding that to the finish.
So with 2k to go the bunch had given up the chase and were positioning for the sprint for 6th place, I tried to look for gaps, and work my way to the front of the bunch to be in a good position for the sprint, but each time I saw a gap there seemed to be another tight corner, and the gap closed again, 1k to go and the rain started again, guys were all over the place, it was messy, I had missed my chance to get to the front so hoped for some good luck and wide open road for the sprint.....coming down to the last 500m and it was all on, but there was no way through for me, I went hard and tried to avoid riders coming backwards and also pick off ones infront of me.....Crossed the line in what I thought could be good enough for top 20....it ended up being 28th. and same time as 6th place. The average speed for 116km was pretty quick at 43kph....not bad!
Very happy with the race, kinda wish I could do some more, but this is probably my last race over here, so now im hoping to get some more good training in before I get back to Wellington, Im already looking forward to the races which will be on every weekend as the NZ season has already started.
till soon
Christian
We are in Kaprun Austria at the moment at the world MTB champs.......pretty cool atmosphere!
I raced on Tuesday at St johann in Austria.....Had a really good race, was top 15 over the big hills every lap!.......116km later we were in a bunch sprinting for 6th place....I must have left my sprinting legs at home, i crossed the line in 28th.
On the way to Austria we spent a night in Munich at the house of my German team mate from the Tour of Wellington, Sebastian....thanks for putting us up!!!!
ok more soon, im off to see some of this MTB racing action
Christian
I raced on Tuesday at St johann in Austria.....Had a really good race, was top 15 over the big hills every lap!.......116km later we were in a bunch sprinting for 6th place....I must have left my sprinting legs at home, i crossed the line in 28th.
On the way to Austria we spent a night in Munich at the house of my German team mate from the Tour of Wellington, Sebastian....thanks for putting us up!!!!
ok more soon, im off to see some of this MTB racing action
Christian