Party time

Well thought I should probly write a bit of an update since iv been back in New Zealand!
So i got back safe and sound and i have been chilling out with mates and family which has been awsome and have been making up for lost time goin out when ever i can and drinking enough beer to last me all year.. And have also been working down at the bike shop heaps, thanks to my dad I was starting the day after i flew in to NZ.

I have started training which wasnt easy after not touching the bike for a month, but luckily the motivation was high so all good. after getting slowly back into it i have been cranking out the kms with some 700-800km weeks so the form is coming back a bit and the weight is coming down too.
Cycling wise for the rest of the time i have in NZ im building up for the elite Nationals in January which im really looking forward to. although im not to sure how the form will be as im not going to be doing much speed work as its so early in the season but im still hoping for a good result and getting the opportunity to test myself against all of New Zealands top cyclists. I will also be doing the tour de vineyards in nelson as part of my build up for nationals so hopefully itl be some good racing in the sunshine.

Since iv been back i have done one race, i went down to taupo for the round taupo cycle classic. I wasnt to sure how id go as id only just started riding but it didnt go all bad. from the start i was just feeling crap i think it was not used to much speed so anyway i sucked for the first 90km and missed the break even though i was in a position to get in it i just had nothing in my legs. And once the break went everyone gave up chasing so that was race over so i pretty much sat in the bunch sulking untill my legs must have got used to the speed and i was ready to race so i had a bit of a dig near the end and got away from the bunch and ended up finishing 20th. It was good to see that the distance was no issue just the speed at the moment.

Also not long till i head back over to France again i will be going at the end of January which is heaps earlier than last year so will just have to brave the cold over there. But have heard i will be spending most of February in Spain so hopefully that might be a bit warmer. I have also been trying to brush up on my french in my spare time as i think i will be needing it a lot more next year than i did this year.

So Maybe see you round before i go
au revoir!!

Piccolo giro di Lombardia in italy

After another long trip to italy staying in Como it was time for my last race of the season and was a big one a UCI 1.2 (if you dont know what that is look it up on the UCI website). And this race was probably the hardest race iv done because there was a stacked field and basicaly iv been ready to get home for the last 3 weeks so the training didnt really happen. Anyway enough excuses, right from the start the pass was on with attacks going all over the show untill a big break of 20odd riders got. so then at 120km we hit the big climb of the day the Madonna del Ghisallo which is famous climb in italy which the pro tour of Lombardia and some times the Giro d'Italia travel up. its 6km at 12 percent or something so bloody hard. well we got there and i was near the back of the 180 rider peloton which was stupid and so i had no way of getting to the front so race over for me.
Not a good way to end my last race of the season but im just glad to be getting back home.



Trophies we won this year


Season over and overall im pretty happy with my first full season of racing. I am real pleased with how consistent i was most of time, just a shame it dropped off a bit at the end but you cant always be good. So now its time to relax and catch up with everybody back in little old NZ so if your in Auckland come have a chat with me in Avanti plus botany ill be working there most of the time im home.

Sweet as thanks everybody following me this year!

2011 with team Vulco-VC Vaulx en Velin

Well I finally have my team sorted for 2011 I will be riding with a division national 1 team Vulco-VC Vaulx en Velin which is based in Lyon in the Rhone alpes region in France. So im real happy as I have been talking with them for awhile and stoked that it has all worked out.
The team ride on look bikes with mavic wheels and shimano groupo, so its good I wont have to worry so much about equipment next year which makes life alot easier.
So being on this team means il be doing the top ameture racing in France which will be real cool but also a big step up.
Heres their website if you wanna check it out
http://www.team-vulco-vcvv.fr/


Last race this weekend before I come home on the 4th and it will be the biggest race iv ever done Piccolo giro di Lombardia in italy.

14eme girro de la provincia di biella

So first race in italy, and id have to say it was a big step up, as there were all the top Italian ameture teams. the race was also part of the Italian national series.
The race was a 112km loop and then 5 laps of circuit with some super steep climbs in it. right from the start the pace was on and stayed that way for the whole race the first 10km we averaged 56km/h and the first hour was 48 average and that was with a few hills aswell. I just sat in the bunch for the long lap as my legs were just average.
when we got the first finishing circuit on the first hill the bunch blew to pieces and there were only about 30 odd riders left in the front and i only lasted one more lap after that. And with Italian racing the broomwagen follows the front bunch so if you drop you have to pull out, so by the end of the race there were only 15riders left in the race out of 150 that started. so yea pretty hard race.
Also we stayed in an amazing hotel on the top of some mountain above a city called Biella. and there was a big cathedral and some old buildings there aswell have a look at the pictures above.

PRIX DU FAUCIGNY

After a week of rest and recovery it was time for another race which i wasnt really looking forward to much as such a long season is taking its toll on me and im feeling a bit burnt out.
The race was cat 1 with alot of good teams there and was raced over a 3 lap course which had 2 climbs and then a smaller lap which went over a steep 7km hill. for the first 2 laps i wasnt up to much just making sure i didnt miss any serious moves, about a group of 20 odd got up the road and on the third lap i managed to get into a group with most of the top guys on one of the hills and we bridged to the front group.
as soon as we got to the last climb of the race there were attacks right at the bottom and i wasnt very well positioned so i didnt get into the front group and the rest of the group was split up all over the road. i stayed with what was the 2nd group for most of the climb but just lost contact near the top of the hill and ended up finishing 22nd i think. I was pretty pleased with my race after having a week off and feeling pretty burnt out.
Only 2 races left for the season and are both in italy and the last one is piccolo giro di lombardia so a pretty big race http://www.piccologirodilombardia.it/Prj/Hom.asp

PRIX DE LA MI SEPTEMBRE and prix des deux communes les fins morteau

So it was an important weekend for me in that i hd to gain points to secure a team for next year and i had the blue jersey to do defend.

PRIX DE LA MI SEPTEMBRE
the first race of the weekend was cat 2 and dead flat with one very small climb of about 300m, so it was not ideal for me but never the less it wasnt going to stop me giving it my all. At the start of the race i was as aggresive as possible hoping to make the early break. but with the feild being quite large everything was getting brought back. about a third of the way through i got in a move that looked like it would stick but was caught just before the short hill and so i slipped to the middle of the peloton and unfortunatly this was when a break of about 15 got away, i had missed my chance. Morteau had no one there so after awhile we finaly set up a bit of a chase but no one was willing to work so with just 2 of us we got the gap down to 15 seconds. by this point i was stuffed and the gap went straight back out again. bloody anoying that no one would come through or we would have caught. and then that was my race over.

prix des deux communes les fins morteau
atleast one good thing came out of this race i won le maillot bleu(the blue jersey) so that was pretty cool but the result of the race wasnt so good.
The race was cat 1 and hosted by morteau so the course was a few minutes away from the apartment. my plan was to follow the guy in 2nd on GC for the blue jersey as he was the only one possible to pass me in the GC. but right from the start my legs were shit, i think after such a long season its all starting to catch up with me as im way off my normal form. but i kept to my plan and luckily the guy in 2nd wasnt able to make any of the breaks (lucky as neither could i) and we ended up in a small bunch sprinting for 25th place and he only beat me by one place which kept me in the blue jersey. unfortunatly i wasnt able to get up there for the points so i will have to see what the team i want for next will have to say.

PRIX DE COLLIGNY and prix de Velesme Essart Challenge Credit Mutuel N°8

PRIX DE COLLIGNY
first race of the weekend and was real hard and i didnt have the legs for it. the race was around a circuit with 2 decent hills in it and being a cat 1 race with heaps of good riders the pace was always on and i was always having to go into the red zone following attacks and staying near the front. there were always groups getting away and a couple of times i would make them but they always got pulled back or most of the bunch would bridge up in small groups so there was never a time where you could just sit in the bunch and chill and that really took its toll on me as on the last lap about 7km from the finish i cramped up real bad and could barely pedal which was really odd as i havnt hardly had cramp all season so i dont know why i would be getting it right at the end of the season. so really annoyed as felt i hadnt really run out of gas. kieran ended up 7th in the sprint at the end.

prix de Velesme Essart Challenge Credit Mutuel N°8
Sundays race i wasnt really looking forward to as my legs were real cooked from the racing on saturday, but the race was part of the credit mutuel series which im in 2nd for the cat 2 riders so i needed to move up. The race was a bit different to normal as cat 1,2 and 3 all raced together, but the cat 3 riders goin off first then cat2 3minutes after then cat1 1minute 30 after. so this made for a bit of a confusing race, i started with the cat2 riders and we had a pretty good tempo for most of the first lap as kieran sat on the front but when no one else wanted to work everyone just attacked each other until keiran and a few other guys got up the road. on the 2nd lap my group was caught by cat1 and that started more attacks and i was feeling shit and just sitting at the back so i missed them all, so i was rolling round with a smallish group with everyone just looking at each other, until finaly everyone started working together and eventually we pulled in the front group which i think had caught the cat 3 riders but was hard to tell. then more groups got off the front and i had 2 team mates up there so with 2 laps to go i was starting to feel a bit better so i had a go at trying to bridge to the front i managed to get away from the bunch solo and i caught a guy just up the road a bit and another small group bridged to us.
We ended up catching the front group in the last km which was slightly up hill and i ended up midway in the group at 12th. Also luckily the guy leading the cat 2 in the series was in the group behind i got the blue jersey back.

Also i have small problem i have been accepted by a top team in france the problem is in france you get points throughout the season on top placings and so the team say i need 1500points and im in and im only on 1470 and next week is the last weekend to get points so basically i need a top 5 placing, hopefully all goes well.

thanks for reading (especially Jude)
Sam

prix de la municiplite de st claude

the race this weekend was on a hard little circuit of 3km that was mostly downhill with the rest uphill and the last 300m to the start/finish real steep uphill. id had a good good hard week of training so came into the race feeling pretty good. anyway the first few laps i just rolled around in the bunch not up to much sort of saving myself a bit, in that time a break got away of about 7 with 2 team mates up there so about half hay i decided i should probly try bridge across the gap was about a minute and 2 other guys came with me but one guy dropped his chain and got dropped so it was down to two of us it took us about 4 or 5 laps to get across and just as i got on i saw that kieran had gone solo from the main group and got across the gap in only 2 laps wich was pretty impressive.
so we had 4 guys in the front group we should have had this race in the bag. but when i got up to the front group with 4 laps to go no one told me that there was actually 1 guy up the road and our bunch was just pissing around and by the time i found out we had 2 laps to go and he had a big gap, so i got on the front to drive in the hope of catching this guy as but i was practically the only guy from my team wanting to work, everyone should have come through and chopped off with me and have kieran sitting in behind as he is our best sprinter and we would have probly caught the guy. so pretty pissed off, keiran ended up 3rd and my two other team mates 4th and 5th with me at the back of the bunch in 9th after my hard work.

Prix de Harricourt

After a crap race the day before i didnt think today would be much better so decided to be a team player today.
the race was 250km drive away so bloody long. the course had a few rollers and 1 hill about a km long, it didnt look very hard riding around it in the warm up but soon the wind picked up and changed everything. the first lap a small break of three guys got away and then a few small groups bridged across i had two team mates up the road, so at the start of the 3rd lap i had a crack to see if i get across to the front group to help them out, 2 guys went with me but on the next small hill i attacked them as i didnt want to bring more across to the break, i managed to make it the rest of the way to make the group 11 riders and the group i was with didnt make it, which was lucky. I wanted to help out my team mates kieran and clement in the break so i did alot of work on the front.
with 3 laps to go attacks started coming and keiran got away with 2 other guys, then on the hill someone attacked and i went with them and we bridged up to the front. we all worked well for a bit untill everyone started playing around atacking each other, 1 guy got away, then i went after him. we got to the hill with 1 guy 30seconds ahead of me and the group 20 seconds behind me. 1 guy jumped from kierans group and caught me and we worked together to catch the guy out front.
We caught him with a lap to go and the hole time it was just cat and mouse between us with no one able to get away or drop anyone, so we came to the finish all together but all the work i had done earlier in the race caught up with me and i got drilled in the sprint and got the 3rd.
Was good to do alot better than the day before so was pretty happy with my race but still a bit guttered i couldnt win.

PRIX DU PLATEAU

well not much to say about this race it seemed it wasnt my day, my legs hardly worked and i missed every move that went off the front. and in the end finished up 17th

PRIX DE PLAIMBOIS DU MIROIR and PRIX DE VALFIN LES ST CLAUDE

Was a pretty successful weekend for me which was really good as both races suited me really well.

PRIX DE PLAIMBOIS DU MIROIR
this race was a Morteau hosted race and was also held in the town of the president of the team so was really important for the team. the course was 7 laps of a circuit which had a 3km hill with the start finish at the top the rest was rolling. the first time up the hill the break got away and it included me, 3 other team mates and 5 other guys. we rolled around with a few attacks coming and going but my team dominated always having someone with the attacks. it wasnt until the last lap till it got interesting. about half way round the lap i got off the front with a group of 4 including one team mate and the guy who won this race last year was behind so he was chasing hard, we were about 4 km from the bottom of the hill and i attacked off my group just as they were caught by the chasers, and i got to the bottom of the hill with a about a 15second gap and managed to hold of the group for the win so was pretty stoked our team also got 2nd and 3rd.

PRIX DE VALFIN LES ST CLAUDE
this was another hilly race, it included a lap of 39km which had a 7km hill in it and then 2 laps of 22 km which had a steep 3km hill each lap. the first lap was pretty easy as i was just waiting for the final 22km laps to do anything. a group of 3 got away and built a pretty big lead but none of them were very good climbers so i knew it would eventually be caught. the first time up the steep 3km climb i was caught at the back and had to work hard to get to the front but managed to get over the top of the climb with 2 other guys and we caught the break out front just after the top of the climb. so we rolled around the rest of the lap untill we got to the hill again and the three guys from the break were droped straight away so it was down to me and 2 other guys we set a hard pace up the hill and attacked each other a bit but we stayed together over the top of the climb. it wasnt untill a flat section about 9km from the finish where i got caught out after doing a hard turn on the front when one of the guys attacked and i just didnt make it onto his wheel and the other guy jumped me to get on so i was stuck on my own. it was a pretty ameture mistake not leaving enough in the tank to cover an attack so close to the finsh. but anyway i ended up rolling in 3rd so not to bad.

Tour de la Drome

This was one of the premier cat2 tours in france so was a real hard race with massive climbs, strong winds, was real hot and had heaps of strong riders and 130 starters.

Stage 1 100km
the first stage was probably the hardest stage as we raced up a big climb that went up 1000m in altitude and then a couple more shorter steep climbs after that and then the final 20km flat being a howling crosswind. So the start was real fast with a small break getting up the raod but as soon as we hit the big hill it was reeled in, one of the strong teams controlled the pace up the hill keeping it fast the whole way up, with the pace so high there werent any attacks untill the last 500m of the climb so there was still a pretty big group about 30 the next climbs attacks went but nothing could stay away and just a few dropped off, so goin down the last decent which was a gnarly 11km downhill with big switch backs there was a group of 20 odd left, and Kieran who had been dropped on the last climb managed to get back up to the front group after he hooked the decent. so there was only me and kieran from morteau in the front group, we tried our luck with trying to get away from the group but it was to windy and it always came back together. so it ended up as a bunch sprint for the finish wjich Kieran got 2nd and i was 17th out of 22 in our group.

Stage 2 11km tt
the next day was a time trial that included a 4km hill at the start which wasnt very steep then 7km flat to the finish. i got 8th in the stage which moved me up to 5th on GC. Unfortunatly i havnt doing much time trialing so not goin aswell as what i would have hoped for.

stage 3 105km
the last stage wasnt as hilly as the first but still had some steep climbs thrown in i was hoping to gain some time to move me up on GC but lost my chance when a group with a few guys in the top ten got away and i had to do alot of work to pull the group back so we caught them with 30km to go and one 3km hill to go i wasnt sure if i could stay with the front group over the climb but it seemed everybody was pretty tired and i got over the top of the climb with a group of 4 and we were working well together to hold of the chasing group but the last 20km was flat so we were eventually reeled in. coming into the finish one of my team mates in the group got of the front in the last km and won the stage an i came in mid pack.
so in the end i was 5th on GC and 3rd U23 and i also got 2nd in the KOM points which im unsure how i got as i didnt go for many KOM sprints. so wasnt to bad but would have liked to finish on the podium.

prix d'Authoison

was another round of the credit mutuel series and i was in the leaders jersey for leading cat 2 rider. but unfortunately today was not my day and a couple laps into the race my shifter for my rear derailer stopped working so it was race over for me. so i went back to the team car and got it sorted and hooked onto the back of the race just to get the kms up as iv got a tour next weekend. i also lost my leaders jersey.

PRIX DE LA SOURCE and prix de Frontenaud

So first up on Saturday I had prix de Frontenaud it was a pretty small race with only 40 people and was raced over a 5km flat ciruit with one steep pinch climb in it. I tried to be as active as I could at the start of the race so I could get in the early break which worked out well as I got away with 3 other riders. We worked pretty well together and with 3 laps I put in an attack up the steep climb but I think they were all expecting it and managed to catch me. So next lap I attacked them just before the hill and this time I managed to get away alone and ended up winning with a decent gap to 2nd.

prix de la SOURCE
this was a weird race as the course looked pretty hard driving around it with a few climbs and rollers. But when we started the race nothing could seem to get away and it was really easy sitting in the bunch. Our team was the strongest there as we had the most riders so we always had someone goin with the attacks of the front. It wasn't until the last lap with half a lap to go Matt got off the front with another guy and got pretty close to staying away but the finishing straight was slightly uphill so he just died a bit and got caught just before the finish bit it was still good for the team as Kieran won the bunch sprint. I just finished mid bunch.

So my computer decided to stop working for me over a week ago and because its the summer holidays in france the repair shop has been extremly slow and i still havent got it back yet so not ideal.
In the time iv had no computer iv had 5 races and the first 3 will be a pretty brief report as they arent very fresh in my memory.

Orchamps criterium
This was a local race on a thursday night was a 1.5km course with half of the course up hill and half downhill. the pace was on right from the start and i was really active trying to make the break unfortunatly after bridging up to some promising breaks, i missed the winning break so just rolled in with bunch. but i did win a sprint prime so got some euro.

prix du jura nord
Was a cat 1 race and part of the credit mutuel series and i was in the leaders jersey for leading cat 2 rider. was a pretty flat course, had a small hill which was big ring stuff. unfortunatley being in the jersey meant i was pretty well marked and i was feeling crap for most the race so i didnt make the winning break (again). so got no points for the series and lost the jersey by 1 point i think.

PRIX DE LA GRENETTE
this was a midweek race on the national french holiday basteille day. and this race was part of another series and turns i was leeading this one aswell so had to wear a white leaders jersy. and same story as last race everytime i even thort of moving i had the whole bunch following so extremly annoying. and break got away, but i managed to win the bunch sprint and got 10th. and my team mate clement moved 1 point ahead of me on the series which was fine by me as it got me out of the jersey.

MONTEE DE LA RAMAZ
this race was really cool it was 14km uphill on a cat 1 climb from the tour de france this year, and there was writing all over the road the whole way up so was really cool to be racing over the same climb as all the pros. the race had 50odd starters but it thined out real quick to about 10 riders and for the first 8km there where a few attacks but nothing split the group up.
it wasnt until we reached a real part of the climb about 10 to 12 percent for a couple of kms i was in the front group of 5 untill i just lost contact when the eventual winner put in an acceleration near the end of the steep section, for the last 3kms it wasnt so steep so im pretty guttered i couldnt just hold on to the group over the top of the steep section. so i came in 5th.

PRIX DE DELLE
the 6th race in the credit mutuel series so had try get my cat 2 leaders jersey back.
was a really hard race was 120km over a 20km course with a 3km hill which was a big ring climb. tried pretty hard to make the early break but i missed it. the cmc team who had the cat 1 leaders jersey for the tour put up a good chase and the bunch got real close to catching the break and then on the third lap the bunch blew up on the hill with everyone strugling to stay at the front i made the front group of 25 and we were about 30seconds from the break and a couple of guys managed to bridge across, and then the chase just stopped it was like the cmc team just gave up. so that was race over. i ended up coming finishing in the bunch and was 23rd so managed to get my cat 2 leaders jersey back which was good.

friday crit, sunday race

So the friday night crit was the 2nd crit iv raced since iv been in france, it was 60 laps of a 1km circuit dead flat.Oh and it started at 8.30 pm so was pretty weird racing so late. start of the race i missed the break but kieran got into it so i just was following attacks. then it started raining and i lost all motivation and was just rolling round in the bunch making sure i didnt crash.

the race on sunday was another hot day and it was only me and 2 other team mates racing as kieran, matt and the rest of the team were off at another race. the course was real cool through heaps off small towns and roads wide enough for 1 car. it was 6 laps all up 120km and had a decent 2km hill in it. on the first lap a break went and i just sat near the front waiting for a good moment to bridge up, i attacked at the bottom of the hill and got up to the break solo pretty easily. we had 6 in the break but one guy just sat on the back not willing to pull any laps. i drove the break pretty hard and we got a decent lead and until the last lap i was just cruising waiting for a good time to make a move. but right at the start of the last lap a group of 5 bridged up to our group and 3 guys attacked straight off the front and i followed them easily and it all seemed so easy to make the winning move, but then i got a puncture and the wheel wagon was behind two groups behind so i had to wait forever to get a new wheel. got the wheel got motorpaced up to the 3rd group, attacked straight off the front, got up to the next group and tried to get a good chase together but the leaders were to far ahead by now, so a couple kms from the bottom of the hill i attacked and went solo and ended up 4th 30seconds behind the 3 guys up the road. pretty pissed as i was feeling really strong and would have had a good chance for a win.

prix de Montrond

we were greeted with a real hot day today about 30 odd degrees so was good to see that summer has finaly arrived. the race was cat 1 and 126km over a 18km circuit with a 3km climb which wasnt that steep, you could go up in the big ring. i wasnt really expecting much of a result this race as iv just had the last week off as my grandparents came to visit me in morteau which was cool to see some family and to see some of the attractions around the area, probly the best would have been going to the Olympic museum in Lausanne. Any way the race started out different to normal as the first lap was really slow with barely any attacks and wasnt till the 2nd lap when the pace went on. i got into a good breakaway of about 15 riders but it wasnt feeling to good at all had no punch in the legs, but after a few more laps i started to come right and i was making all the good moves, then with 3 laps to go at the top of the hill the bunch caught us and i went with an attack over the top and got away with 4 guys and a few more bridged up. all the top teams were represented so i knew this was the winning move but our bunch was still to big so the attacks kept comming, on the last lap a group with the three main teams got away so it was left to me and one other team mate to chase them down. but it seemed i was the only one chasing then the last time up the hill my own team team mate who was 'to tired to work' dogged me and attacked and took 2 guys from our group. it was stupid as by this point the group in front was way to far ahead to catch and maybe if he helped me work to catch them then we may have caught them, but it seems the french dont like to do work on the front so not much i can do about it. i ended up 13 or 14 but i got a blue jersey for being the lead cat 2 rider in the challenge credit mutuel which is a series of cat 1 races and this race was the 4th in the series.

tour du Pays de Seyssel

This tour was real cool and promised to be a good course for me but unfortunatly the form didnt seem to be there for me .
stage 1
was a 105km stage with the first 60km flat and then 2 hard hills and then a hilltop finish. it was real windy so i went hard in the first 20km to try and form a good breakaway, so by the 20km mark i was in a break of about 10 guys so after driving it for a bit just to get the break a good gap i sat back, saving a bit for the hills. was pretty cruisy fro the first hill but got rolled at the top for the gpm points. the 2nd climb was a bit harder with more attacks but nothing got away until over the top some guy went off the front solo and got a big gap as no one seemed willing to chase with the final climb looming ahead. from the bottom the pace as on and i went with an attack of the guy who was leading the gpm and we had a good gap over the bunch until the road flatened out and we were caught, the road then kicked up again for the final 3km the same guy attacked again but i wasnt able to hold his wheel so he went off solo, by this point the bunch was down to 5riders and i was suffering, attacks went but we managed to stay together till the end where i got 3rd in the sprint so 5th for the stage. the guy that got away before the climb won. my legs felt like shit compared to how they were a couple of weeks ago as i should have been able to stay with the guy that got 2nd.

stage 2
this stage was a real cool 16.8 km tt that was block head wind the whole way and uphill about 3 or 4% for the first 10km. legs were feeling good warming up and then by my watch with still 7min to go till my start time the marshals were calling me saying i had all ready suposed to have gone so i started about 30 seconds late and then my speedo wasnt working and when you get something bad like that happen it ruins your motivation and i couldnt get any good rhythm. real gutted but not much i could do about it. i ended up 8th in the stage and 5th gc and if i hadnt lost the 30seconds i would have been in 2nd or 3rd.

stage 3
last stage was 95km with a hard 7km climb in the middle. it was super windy again and the first 40km was flat and a break of 15 got away which i missed. when we got to the climb the yellow jersey attacked and i went with him and we got up to the break which was pretty split up, we caught all of them except for 1 guy who got off the front of the break. the yellow jersey droped the pace a bit and a few guys managed to catch so the bunch got pretty big up the climb. again the legs felt average and everytime i attacked i was going into the red zone. the bunch stayed together till 500m to go the yellow jersey put it into the big chain ring and smashed it, i tried getting on his wheel but the legs had other ideas. so over the top i was caught by the bunch and yellow managed to bridge up to the guy in the front and they ended up wining by 30seconds. i just finished in the peloton of about 20 odd riders. so in gc i ended up 5th equal and 3rd U23. hopefully il have heaps better form for july as i have alot of good races.

TOUR DU BOURBONNAIS CHAROLAIS

had a long 4hour drive to this tour. our team had 5 riders and it was the first race i have done without either Matt or Kieran so the whole weekend i had no one i could have a proper conversation with so made it a bit more difficult than normal and was a bit testing on my limited french vocab.
stage 1
well this stage was half good and half bad. After only 5km of racing the peloton was going down hill and i was in the front 10 and a guy in front of me went down and i went right over the top of him and then about half the field piled up behind me, a few riders hit me but it wasnt to bad. although id gone down pretty hard and ripped up my shoulder and back a bit, luckily my bike was fine. Because the crash was so big the race officials had stopped the race while everyone cleaned them selves up and got bikes back into working order, there were about 15 people abandon from the crash so i was pretty lucky. After about 20minutes the race was started again but i was having trouble putting pressure on my shoulder i crashed on so standing up and sprinting was a bit of a mission. The rest of the stage wasnt to bad though as i managed to pick up the KOM jersey. Unfortunately some guy managed to slip of the front with 20km to go and the peleton being pretty unorganised he managed to win by a minute so he was well up on GC. The trip to the ambulance at the end of the stage was a bit rough as the medic there didnt speak any english and was pretty ruthless as he sprayed my back with something and then started scrubing it to get all the gravel out and then started probing all my cuts and grazes and that was it. From what i could understand i think he wanted me to come back the next day aswell so something to look forward to tomorrow.

stage 2 morning
I didnt sleep to well before this stage as my grazes made it really uncomfortable so i didnt recover very well and to make it even better all there was for breakfast was bread with a bit of jam not exactly the best race food. the stage was short only 60km, i was focussing on keeping my KOM jersey as the all the people with points were close, but all the points were picked up by breakaways and everytime i tried to attack i had the whole peleton chase and the rest of my team werent interested in helping me chase down the breaks so i had to settle with getting no points and some guy managed to get on the same points as me so he got the jersey. the bunch came back together for the finish so i just finished in the peleton.

stage 3 afternoon
the last stage was 75km and mostly flat with a few pinches in the finishing circuits (5 times 6km) i missed the break again and along with it the chance to get the KOM jersey back so pretty disappointed. our team set up a bit of a chase to bring the break back as we had no one in it. then by the finishing circuits team mate Alex attacked on the first one i accelerated to go with him but the hole peleton followed me so i sat up and let him get away. he managed to bridge up to the break and then win the stage. so for me i got to sit in the bunch for the rest of the stage. Overall was a disapointing and annoying tour so real motivated to smash it in the tour next weekend

Sam

So should probly update for the last week. Well was a pretty average weekend of racing, i had a cat 1 criterium near germany on saturday night it had a hole heap of german teams and a few ex pros and most of them had legs the size of my waist. so for most the race i sat in the bunch occasionaly having a go off the front but i had no chance as there was 1 german team that was super strong and just controled the race so out of 70 starters i think 30 or 40 finished in the bunch.
2nd race on sunday was probly the most boring race iv had here so far was cat 2 with 40 starters and raced over a small 2km circuit with a dodgy wet corner that 2 of my team mates crashed on (was kinda funny as they were the only ones that went down but i shoudnt say that). anyway kieran got in the good break away at the start of the race so all i did was sit in the bunch and cover the odd attack, luckily kieran ended up winning which was good.
This weekend coming up iv got no races so first weekend off and we are thinking of going on an epic journey somewhere on the train and hopefully get away without paying for tickets as we usually do so should be fun. then the next 2 weekends iv got 2 tours which will be mean and ones got a time trial so will be getting the tt legs going again.

prix de St Geosmes

this was a real small race with only 40 starters and was on a 2km circuit 50 times round. dont know what i was doing at the start so i missed the break of 6, but team mate kieran was in it so was just sitting in the bunch covering attacks and about half way the director said we had to start chasing as kieran wasnt going to well in the break, so me and matt got on the front and just went as hard as we could which was real cool as we busted up the peleton but at the same time smashed ourselves, i just thought of it as a training ride and just sat on the front for as long as i could till i was stuffed. we almost caught the break then alex from our team who was just sitting on bridged across to what was left of the break and then ended up winning the sprint so was real good to do heaps of work and then see alex get the win. we also picked up a few sprint primes along the way so a bit of extra cash is always good.

prix de Prevessin-Moens

so finally got my first win in france after a lot of 2nds and 3rds and i defianatley didnt think id be in with a chance as it was a dead flat 4.7km course and i was just feeling crap the first half of the race.
There were 100 odd starters so was a pretty big peleton and the course was prety tight in some parts so was hard to move up if u got stuck in the middle, i think the race was 95km long. for the first 45km i was just feeling crap and going with a few attacks but nothing would stay away. then the group just sat up at about 50km in and 2 guys attacked and i was on the front so i just followed them and when i looked back no one was chasing and we built up a pretty big gap. the 2 guys i was with werent pulling very strong laps so 20km to go i attacked them and they couldnt follow so the last 20km i did solo and by the finish i was about 30 seconds ahead of what was left of the peleton. so was pretty cool to win solo and all the people cheering along the course helped me along so good day.

tour du jura

stage 1 800m up hill tt
this stage was pretty cool it was flat for about 200m then 600m uphill at about 15% gradient and the whole way up the hill there were people lining the road cheering and alot were dressed up as random things like there was some guy dressed up as an angel and a group of old ladies all dressed as cows.i had an alright time nothing special
though as it was a bit short for me suited the sprinters more. I was 30th i think and the guy that won was a mountain biker that was 2nd in the U23 world champs and he smashed everyone he beat me by like 10 seconds.

stage 2 65km
This stage started on saturday and was only short as we had a stage in the afternoon aswell. It was all flat and with a pretty big field 130 odd riders it was a mission trying to hold a good position in the bunch so for the most the race i was mid pack as i didnt really think much would happen. then about 10km from the finish there was a cross wind section that wasnt really that strong but some muppet dropped a wheel and a group of 30 were out front and i didnt make the split so i tried bridging solo but didnt make it. so kieran prety much sat on the front and we only just managed to catch them at the end so luckily i still got bunch time.

stage 3 75km
this stage was pretty hilly so was a chance to move up on GC. this time i made sure i was at the front of the peleton the whole way. at about 25km in a couple guys got of the front and then a few groups of 2s and 3s brdged up to them making a pretty big break up the road, i was origanly going to try brdge acrross to them on the big climb that was coming up but the bunch was creeping, so i went with 2 guys that attacked and we managed to get accross to the front group after 5km of chasing. the break was pretty big maybe 30riders so the whole time it was attack, sit up, attack untill we dropped a few riders. by this point though the yellow jersey got up to us so he covered most of the atacks which was good. about 20km from the end i started to get a real bad stomach ache which was annoying. a group of three managed to get away from our group at about 10km to go. the finish was at the bottom of a 5km hill and at the botom it was a mess with 2 sharp turns and riders goin the wrong way and almost hitting barriers and i got caught up in it a bit so i came in 21st with 2 riders ahead of my bunch. so this moved me up to 13th on GC not to bad but real hilly stage tomorrow.

stage 4 130km
the first 65 km was pretty easy mostly falt with a few rollers. there was an early break of 8 guys so the team with the yellow jersey, cc etupes, were doing all the chasing so was pretty cruisy. the first climb was 10km but wasnt very steep and the bunch stayed together. the last 40km were real hard there were 3 3km real steep climbs, on the first one we caught the break, then 2 guys snuck off the front on the flat. the 2nd hill was real hard and the peleton blew to bits, i was in the front group of 5 going over the top, but on the decent my group was caught by a few more guys. the last hill was 10km from the finish and we got pretty close to the break but didnt quite catch them, i finished 8th on the stage and moved up to 10th on GC.

route du Comte Petite a St Antoine

From the start of this race it was wet and cold and I had nowhere enough kit on so for most the race I was freezing my ass off struggling to change gears as my hands were frozen. It was another lap race 8 laps with 3km low gradient hill that you go up in the big ring, then after the last lap we turned off to finish up another low gradient 3km hill still big ring.
The race I had a few goes of the front and did a bit of chasing for the team but nothing to much as I was so cold and boderline pulling out the whole race.
Just before we turned off the laps and into the finishing hill there was a group of 8ish off the front with team mate clement up there, but as soon as they hit the hill clement dropped his anchors and dropped from the front group so the other NZ rider in the team Kieran Hambrook got on the front of the peloton and drove it with me and Matt Benson on his wheel, so by 3/4 the way up the hill he had reeled in half the break and dropped the peleton, so me and Benson attacked and reeled in the rest of the break away except for one rider, Benson then attacked again and got past the last rider and got the win with me just behind rolling in 3rd. Was real good team work by the whole team so pretty happy.

french race that i forgot the name

This race had only 40 odd starters and was 12 laps of 8km. the laps had a prety steep hill of about 1km and a couple of other rollers. I attacked right from the gun as the hill was about 100m after the start line, and so I got away with a team mate and an ACB guy.we rolled together for about half a lap and a group of 8 bridged up to us and then by the start of the 2nd lap a group of 5ish bridged up to us which had another team mate.
Wasnt feeling to good as the cold I had from during the week was bothering me a bit so just had to ignore it. Every lap up the hill someone would attack and a couple of guys would drop so by half way there were 7 or 8 of us left up front and still all three from my team. So we started our attacking, ii ended up getting away with this guy that was really weak so we only managed to stay away for a lap and as soon as we were caught the bunched slowed right down and a team mate and the same guy I was just with got away and got a gap of 30seconds.
The next time up the hill an ACB rider attacked hard so I followed and just sat on him as I had a team mate up the road but this guy was real strong and caught the break in 2 and a half laps without me pulling a lap. By this point there were 2 laps to go so everybody started attacking but no one could get away until half way round the last lap I got away with the same guy that had bridged up to the break. I knew id have no chance in the sprint so at every rise id attack but he would always just manage to get back on .. so coming into the finish he owned me in the sprint so I rolled in 2nd, pretty disappointing.
To make it even better I got back to the team van and the director was all angry at me because he thought I helped the ACB guy bridge up to the break but I had just sat on the whole way because I knew there was my team mate up the road. But he didnt seem to believe me because he saw me roll through once on the hill. Its kind of annoying that whatever I say he never believes me and im just getting sick of all the bitching that goes on in the team. After awhile I had a talk to the director and managed to sort it out so its all good now. Race tomorrow hopefully goes a bit better

prix du Saugeais

So this race was the home race for VCCMM, it was a category 1, 120km race of a hilly circuit, and to top it off it was pouring with rain and freezing cold. I was told by the director that this race would be "very very ard". And it was, right from the start it was attack after attack and it was super fast and by the first lap of 15km over half the peleton had dropped. then by the 2nd lap the front group was down to about 20. I was feeling good on the hills it was the flat sections in the wind that seemed to hurt me the most and also the cold I could hardly change gears my hands were so frozen.
With two laps to go I went with an attack up the main climb with another guy, I think there were about 4 or 5 riders up the road. As we crossed the finish line to get the bell for the final lap we caught 2 riders that had dropped from the front break, but by this time I want feeling to good, so not even half way round the lap I got dropped up a climb with another guy and we got caught by a group of 4 behind.
So we reached the final climb and i went with an attack from another guy and we got a good gap but 200m from the top of the climb a rider from the group behind came flying past us and I didnt manage to get on his wheel, so at the finish I came in 7th or 8th im not sure and first category 2 rider. So pretty pleased with my result as was super hard race, easily one of the hardest races iv done. most of the field ended up pulling out and the ones that finished came in in 1s and 2s.

a bit of an update of what iv been up to this week. Have been on the train to Neuchatel in Suisse and it was mean weather and had to wing it on the train with no ticket. Went to watch the tour of romandy prologue and stage one which was awsum to see all the pros race and was amazing just to see all the people and just how big the whole thing was.

24 and 25/04

Had two flat races this weekend both cat 2 races.
The first race was on saturday in swiss and was 4 laps of 30km it had a few rollers in it but nothing to hard. The hole race was fast slow fast slow and really surgy, which caused a few crashes but most were at the back so didnt really affect me. The crash i had earlier on in the week still had its affect on me as my legs just felt really stiff and sluggish especially my hip and knee so wasnt feeling the best through out the race. I had a few attacks to try get in the break but nothing seemed to stay away. But on the third lap my team mate kieran got in the break which managed to stay till the end with kieran getting 2nd, I just finished mid bunch about 30th.
2nd race was pretty much same sort of thing as the first mostly flat with a few rollers and a lap course of 90km. Again i felt average and didnt get in the break but keiran got in it again with another team mate alex. In the end Alex got 3rd kieran got 10th and i finished mid bunch again.
So average weekend of racing, but on the bright side it was really good weather and atleast i could still race after my crash during the week.

Crash

Well just had my first crash of the year. I gotta be honest it was pretty epic.
Me mat and kieran were having a no pedalling downhill race into Morteau and about half way down I smoked them on a corner and got a mean lead, then some crazy lady that said she was blinded by the sun, was driving up the hill and turned into a side street right in front of me. At this point I was going about 60km/h, I then locked up the backwheel and went sideways and hit straight into the side of the car and somersaulted over the bonnet and landed 10m away from the car with my bike landing somewhere down the side street.
All I did to myself was graze my knee a little. so I just lay there thinking hows my bike as nothing really hurt that much. all this attracted a lot of attention and after a few minutes I had a small crowd watching and an ambulance come.
The guys from the ambulance but me in a neck brace and some thing that looked like a body bag which was pretty stupid as I kept telling them I was fine but no one spoke english so no one could understand me.
So I was taken to the hospital in morteau and they took me inside and told me I was fine which I already knew, patched up my knee. Then told me to walk home.
Turns out kieran won the race.. my bike has a prety decent chip probly fuked forks and a major buckled front wheel but the care got a massive dent in the side and on the bonet.
So its time for new helmet, shoes and kit sweeeet. and to top it off we are having wraps for diner choice

prix de la ville d' Ornans

We were told before the start of this race that it was supposed to be really hilly and hard with 4 or 5 5km climbs, it semms that the director like to exagerate things as it was wasnt quite that bad but still really hilly and finished up a steep 2km climb.
I had really good legs before the start of this race and had a good weeks training so I was in it for the win. the race was 120km and had about 150 starters. it started in a small village and was neutral up a 5km climb and the race started at the top, so right at the start a break of about 15 got away and we had no team mates up there so a couple of guys from the team were doing a bit of chasing, then about 20km in a guy that looked real strong attacked up a small rise and I followed him, this guy motored almost all the way to the break which had about 30 seconds on the peleton and I kicked past him and got on the back of the break.
The break worked pretty well together and at about 50km a group of 20 caught on to us which just at the base of a 5km climb, about 2km from the top I went with an attack and got away with 4 other guys, and 3 of them being in the same team ACB I think it was called. so we lapped it out pretty hard and got a big gap and then I had the team car come up to me and the director started yelling at me not to roll through and got all angry, he said I shouldnt roll through the front because there were three from the same team, so I then just sat on for a bit and did the occasional lap and I had the other guys goin mental at me yelling stuff at me in french lucky I couldnt understand them. We got to another big climb about 5km again and the bunch was getting pretty close again so I started to lap and put in a couple of accelerations and dropped two of the ACB guys but they ended catching us on the downhill by this point the gap was out to 2 minutes or so and I had the director start yelling at me from the car again, it was like he wanted the bunch to catch us or something. So didnt want to upset him anymore and sat on again.
at the 20km mark the attacks started coming from the ACB guys, it seemed it was only me chasing them down aswell, at 15km we came 2 a 3km climb and I attacked them at the bottom and only one ACB guy and the other guy could follow so I kept the pace on and dropped the ACB rider. So I rolled over the top of the climb with just me and another rider and we lapping together pretty well. but with 6km to go we were caught by a group of 5 and then everyone started attacking each other and I started to feel shit I was cramping up pretty bad so I just followed the best I could.
We got to the bottom of the climb all together and one rider attacked and got a good gap I tried to follow but could barely stand up although I seemed to be in better shape than everyone else as they all dropped their anchors, then my legs started to come right but I stil couldnt pull the last guy in and came in 2nd place about 15 seconds down.
All in all I had a good race and rode really strong just a shame I didnt have that last kick at the end.

prix de gaillard

So my laptop crapped out for a couple of days but its all fixed now so all good.
Any way the race on sunday went pretty well for VCCMM we got 1st 3rd and 4th. the race was 100km of a 3km circuit with a big crosswind section and then a 300m climb straight after. I attacked in the 3rd lap and got away solo for a bit then one of the guys we were supposed to watch bridged up to me so it was me and him for a lap then 2 more guys bridged up to us and one was a team mate keiran from NZ. then a couple laps later a big group of 20 or so bridged up to us then after about two laps with them I went with an attack with two team mates and another 3 guys. So I ended up staying away with this group, the team had 3 guys so we had to win or the director would be pissed. So 5 laps to go one of my team mates, Mathieu attacked and got away solo he was out front for 3 laps then at 2 laps to go the rest of the guys in the break looked smashed so I attacked and team mate clement went with me, we then bridged up to Mathieu and we were rolling real well together then Mathieu said the win was his because he had been away on his own. I was thinking that was a bit weird but didnt want to piss off the team. So I lead us up the last climb to the finish then some muppet from behind got up to us and attacked past us so clement got on his wheel and just sprinted him on the line for the win I rolled in 4th.
turns out Mathieu was real pissed because he didnt win so he was real dark for the rest of the day.

Circuit du Printemps

Felt great today though kind of disappointing I didnt get the result to prove it..It turned out to be a clear day with the sun shining which was good for a change, didnt even have to wear thermals or arm warmers. the race was cat 2, and a 5.5km circuit with a 1km hill, 17 times round. The team went with most of the early breaks but nothing seemed to stick till after about 4 laps 2 guys got away (1 guy from ag2r) then there was mathew from our team and another guy chasing behind them. the break got out to about 1 minute 30 and mathew wasnt looking to catch them so the director told the team to bring back the break so we had what was left of the team all rolling through the front I felt real strong and was pulling big turns, my team was also telling me to slow down on the hill as I was dropping them. So in no time we had the break reeled in. All the attacks were going on the hill and I was easily folowing them I got in2 a few breaks over the top but no one would work together so nothing was staying away, then on the 3rd to last lap a guy slipped of the front I didnt go with him as he had been pulling really weak turns the hole race and I thought we would pull him back, turns out he was some really good pursuiter on the track and he managed to stay away for the win, so last time up the hill I put in a big attack at the bottom of the hill and went over the top on my own, I was caught on the downhill by a group of 5 which included mathew. So me not being the best sprinter I told mathew id lead him out, so coming into the finish I put in a half decent leadout but as mathew came round me his chain slipped or something so we had no chance and we rolled in for 4th and 5th. was prety disappointing but at least we got a bit of prizemoney, also next time il have a better idea of the better riders in the race.
Sam

Prix de Valentin

felt much better this race after a bit of riding the past week. The race was a another cat 1 race and was 130km of a 22km loop, the loop included a 1.5km hill and heaps of short pinches. there were 140 odd people starting the race so was a very big field. my race plan was just to sit in and see how my legs felt as i havnt done many big rides in the past weeks. the first kms were hectic with everyone fighting for position at the front on such a tight course. there were people crashing very often and the sound of carbon cracking as someone went down was very frequent. i had alot of near misses and had 2 guys go down right in front of me but i was lucky to ride through the middle of them. i managed to spend most of the race at the front only occasionally slipping back.
There were a few breaks that went but nothing would stick for very long, then at about half way a break with my team mate clement got away and was away for 60km but on the last lap the bunch was hauling and the break was puled back real quick. then last time up the hill i hit the front and went with an attack and by the top i was in group of three, we rolled together for a bit but were caught by a group of 30 or so. I was unsure exactly were the finsh was as we turned of the lap course for a couple kms to the finish, so was really hard to judge when to put in another attack as was feeling good, turns out the finish was closer than i thought and rolled in with a bunch of 25ish for about 20th place.
was pretty happy with my race as was felling good on the hills and finally starting to get my race legs back.
cheers
Sam

31/03

Today i had a sweet ride in the freezing cold, looked sunny out side when mathew and i left so didnt put on a huge amount of kit which was a very bad idea. We rode out to meet a team mate Clement and he took us up some awesome climbs. There are so many climbs around here it makes the waitaks look like nothing. by the time we got up to the highest point on our ride about 1180 metres altitude the weather turned for the worse, it started to snow on us and by that point i couldnt feel my hands or feet and we were barely half way, so the rest of the way we got rained on and then also got hailed on, was a solid 2 and half hours but was not the most enjoyable ride iv had.....
iv put up some pictures of some of the weeks sights on my rides

classique dole-lons-le-saunier

this race was a category one race and very very hard alot of the top teams were there, there was even the ag2r lamondiale u23 squad racing. it started with a short 4km time trial around the city the course was very tight wiht lots of sharp corners which meant alot of accelerations, the weather was awful it was very cold and pouring with rain so i decided to ride my road bike instead of the tt bike. this kind of time trial does not suit me so i wasnt expecting to do so well, i ended up coming in 45th out of 120 so pretty average. The race was 90km longand it was still very cold and wet, the cold made it very hard to race in as it really hurt ur lugs to breathe. The first 40km was flat and was on very open roads so there were very big cross winds i knew i had to be at the front because there would defianately be a split. ag2r were all at the front driving it and at about 25km i looked behind me and i was in a group of about 25 and the main peleton was 30 seconds back, but instead of everyone in the break working together they kept attaking the hole time this was nothing like in new zealand. the first hill came at 40km and i knew i did not have good legs by this point but i managed to stay with the break for 4 km of the climb but by then the attacks were to much for me and i started slipping back, the next group caught me at the top of the hill so i just sat in, but by 65km my legs were cooked so i sat up and rolled to the finish. i think not having ridden for such a long time didnt help as i didnt ride for a week before i left for france and neither did the big nights i had before i left or the plane flight. So after a few big rides this week i should start to come right.
sam

27/03/10

woke up to snow again this morning but the sun was out and melted it all pretty quick. had some good old nutela on toast for breakfast and played a bit of pro cycling manager, then by 10 the sun was shining and it was dry outside so me and mathew decided to go for our first ride. it was still bloody cold about 7degrees so had to wear ful winter kit leg warmers, jacket etc. mathew unpacked his bike and found he had a crack in his frame on the rear stays, not good. still went riding just did an easy 40km but the first 20km was a bloody strong head wind and with a bit of half wheeling it was a bit harder than just an 'easy spin'. good to get back on the bike tho and seemed like it had been forever since iv been on the bike. got my first race tomorro classique dole-lons-le-saunier U23 which is a 5km time trial in the morning then a 90km road race in the afternoon, theres to big climbs in the road race of about 6km each so will be interesting to see how i go.
sam

Arriving in France

so my journey has begun, im off to morteau in france to race for an ameture team, VCCMM. il try
keep this blog updated as much as i can and il try not to just talk about cycling haha.....

well i departed auckland airport on a 12 hour flight to san francisco on the 24th. it was really sad to leave everyone and thanks to everyone who came to see me off. my flight was pretty good i managed to sleep through most of it and i only watched 2 movies, it wasnt till i arrived in san francisco when i started to get some trouble. i was in the terminal waiting to board my flight about 50 minutes before i was due to board and i got a call over the loud speaker to go to security gate 1 which i had no idea where that was so after asking almost every person working there i found it, and they told me my bike boxes needed to be searched and i hade to supervise them. so some guy took me to some random place in the airport and he managed to get lost, then after a few fone calls he found my boxes and there was this fat lady there and she said to me they couldnt get into my boxes and that they must be locked from the inside but i kept saying to her all you have to do is un do the screws on the top (just so u know my boxes are aluminum boxes that my dad made and the top is screwed on) but she wouldnt listen to me, so by this point my flight was already boarding. the fat lady then told me to leave the room where the boxes were and wait out side, and she was saying i probly wouldnt make my flight, this is probly the most stressed iv been in a long time. bloody americans. Finaly she came out and said they got a screw driver and got the boxes open. she then said they would try get them onto my flight so i had to rush back through security and run to my depature gate, lukily they held the plane up for me and i was the last on.

my flight from san francisco to francfurt was awful it was a ten hour flight and the plane had no movies or inflight entertainment and my laptop hade no batery, and to top it of i was sitting next to this american nutcase who looked like a sleazy pedifile and kept his sunglasses on the whole flight and kept talking to himself and doing weird dance moves to his music. towards the end of the flight he asked me where i was from and then asked if weed was legal in NZ and then asked if i had any weed. i was quick to move away from as soon as we landed. i tried to learn some french on my ipod on the flight i must have listened to it for atleast 4hours but i dont think i learnt anything...
my flight to geneva was fine and i even got all my baggage, although one of the bike boxes only had 2 screws holding down the lid but im pretty sure i didnt lose anything

i was met at the airport by the team manager,oran, and another rider on the team, an australian who arrived a couple hours earlier than me. so we then had a 2 hour ride in the car to the town we are staying in, morteau. its pretty nice here heaps of old buildings and awsome mountains around it.
im staying in a flat above the teams office. the flat has 2 rooms with 2 beds in each, theres a lounge with a tv which oran said we will be getting heaps of english channels on monday, theres a kitchen with a brand new fridge and we have the cubords stocked up with food. im staying in the flat with the australian guy(mathew) and the other new zealander keiran is coming on the 8th of april.
got no internet here at the moment but should be geting it on wednesday, have to walk up to the library to get the internet