So after a long summer of training the
time has now come to start my final phase of training before the
national champs which are in mid March on the new home of cycling the
Avantidrome in Cambridge after riding on the track I can say it
is an amazing facility and the track itself is perfect. It's
different to the only other indoor track we have in New Zealand, that
being Invercargill so it will be interesting to see how times compare
between the two tracks.
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| Managed to squeeze in a cheeky gym session in Karapiro |
My training over summer has been
tracking along well, the introduction of a new coach seems to be
paying dividends, with strength and power going up in rates
previously unseen. The training itself is similar to training I have
done previously but in a different approach. That combined with a new
diet is what I'm backing on to try and gain myself success at the
Nationals in three weeks times.
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| Riding in the match sprint in Wanganui |
I recently got back from a trip down to
Wanganui where I got the opportunity to race against the best
sprinters from New Zealand and also one of Malaysia's and one
Australians best sprinters as well. The racing itself was top notch
and due to the number of countries involved the UCI decided to
declare it a tier 2 event which meant that for me the sprints and the
keirin had points on the results which are important for not just
world rankings but also for start points which allow you to compete
at a World Cup event. I'm still a long way off the 90 required to
start at a World Cup but it was still good to get a few points in the
bank this early in the season.
Wanganui is an outdoor wooden track
which for me was a very weird feeling to ride on as I have only ever
ridden on concrete outdoors. I managed to pull out a 10.83 second 200
meter time trial in the sprint qualifying to qualify me in 7th
position which made me the only rider not riding for their national
team to qualify in the top 8 booking myself a spot in the quarter
finals of the sprints. The sprint didn't exactly go to plan and I was
unfortunately beaten by a faster and better rider in Simon van
Velthooven who is an Olympic bronze medalist. I also raced in the
keirin and managed to get 4th in the heat, I was a little
disappointed with this but the caliber of the riders that beat me in
my heat did in some way compensate for the loss, in the b final I
managed to pull of a 2nd place which put me 8th
overall which was pretty good considering I had my saddle snap going
round the last corner.
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| A really cool panorama of Wanaganui Track, during a training session the day before racing |
Wanganui was a good hit out for me and
I'm pleased with how it went, even more so considering the wind was
horrendous and it was hard to keep the bike in the sprinters lane
when you were going full speed. Now it's down to the fun part of
training being the speed work and I can't wait to race again
especially on a new track like Cambridge.
On a side note, if anyone is looking to
loose a few pounds they put on over the Christmas break or just
generally wanting to get fit go and check out the Les Mills Britomart
facebook page for all the latest deals on the best gym in Auckland,
Richard and the team there will look after you and sort you out: https://www.facebook.com/lesmillsbritomart?fref=ts