Well since it’s the new year, I thought I’d start getting this blog going again. I have been back in NZ since the end of September, enjoying the good old kiwi summer, with lots of sun, swimming at the beach and of course, a bit of cycling as well.
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| Whangaparaoa, my home for the summer |
I had a bit of a rough end to the 2012 season, with a mechanical forcing me out of the World Championships road race early, and then a few weeks after my return to New Zealand, finding out that the team I had signed for was folding, leaving with the daunting task of searching for a new team in November. Luckily, I eventually did find one, and am happy to announce that I will be racing for LOINTEK, a Spanish based UCI team, in 2013. I have already had quite a bit of contact with the team via email, and they seem really nice and welcoming, so I am looking forward to being part of a much better team environment than I experienced last year.
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| My team for 2013 at their team presentation |
After a good break in October, I was back on my bike in November to race a few of the classic New Zealand races, including the Lake Taupo Challenge, the Festival of Cycling and the Takapuna Criterium. In previous years, I have made the mistake of getting back into training too quickly after the European season, and being too fit for the NZ races, meaning I am exhausted by the time I get halfway through the European season. So this year, I took a more gradual approach to gaining fitness, and was not as concerned about getting good race results at the beginning of the season. However, I still managed a few trips to the podium, winning the Mt Maunga Challenge and coming 3rd in the Festival of Cycling road race.
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| Festival of cycling criterium |
Unlike cyclists in the northern hemisphere, us kiwi cyclists do not get a rest over the Christmas/new year period, with the elite national road champs taking place at the beginning of January. To prepare for this, I headed down to Nelson on boxing day, for one of my favourite stage races, the Tour de Vineyards. This year, a group of us doing the race decided to rent a house in the Richmond area, and I was put in charge of finding somewhere, somehow managing to book us a place in the middle of a retirement village…oh well at least it was quiet!!! The tour ended up being a very successful one for me- I won 2 stages, including the queen stage finishing up the 18km long Takaka hill (a race I have been trying to win since I was 18!), and the Queen of the Mountains Jersey, as well as placing 2nd overall, only 7 seconds behind the winner, and a cyclist I really look up to, Linda Villumsen.
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| Sprinting for the stage win |
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| Climbing Takaka hill in the QOM jersey |
With my good results at Vineyards, it seemed I was coming into form just in time for the elite nationals 2 weeks later. Unfortunately, I managed to come down with a bad cold a few days before the big race, which was not ideal! However, I managed to hang in there with the front group each time over dyers pass, and got to the end in the breakaway of 8 riders, when I unfortunately completely stuffed up the sprint, and came in 7th place. Big thanks to Dave Ostin for helping our Auckland team out and filling in as manager at the last minute, and to Linda for the encouragement and tips she gave me during the race, and congrats to Courteney, Georgia and Jo for their podium places.
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| Auckland team before the Nationals race |
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| Climbing Dyers Pass with nice view of Christchurch behind |
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| Sprint finish |
I am now enjoying my last few months of being at home, before heading to Spain in March, where I will begin my European season with the French classic, Cholet-Pays de Loire.
Thanks for reading…
Emma
