Trust House Classic (Tour of Wellington) January 2007
Hey guys and girls,
well what a week.... I have just got back from racing in this years UCI Cycle tour of Wellington. 5 days of hard racing with some good guys, and great teammates. I was asked to race this year with the Only professional cycling team in New Zealand SUBWAY.
The team is associated with a couple of my key sponsors ( Powerade and Avanti bikes) it was a great honour. And I was really looking forward to meeting this challenge head on. Although Iwas only 4 weeks into my season after a 5 week break from training. This was going to be a great launching pad for what is a such a big year for myself.
When I arrived the first day was introduction time. And it became quickly apparent to me that these guys involved with this team were very orginised and had a wealth of talent at there exposure. I was always going to be a little behind the eight ball!! as these boys have some horse power in there legs unlike my little twigs!!
But I was hoping that as the tour went on fitness would rear its head and i could step up for the team in the hilly stages. As it was it turned out to be a tour of bad luck for myself and most of the team from day to day. Probably the worst came at the start, When Logan Hutchings punctured on the first stage when it was clear if anyone could push Hayden Roulston maybe it was him.
Its pretty bad luck when you flat in this tour as there is no convoy and the service vehicles are not allowed to pace you back to the peleton. I faced this 3 times with punctures, hence my own bad luck. We still had Logan in the KOM jersey and Hayden godfrey in the sprint ace for two days with the latter going right down to the last stage. In the end SUBWAY was an awesome team to be part of. And it was great to have Nick and Bruce from Subway New Zealand supporting the guys during the tour.
To all the guys you all lived and learned throughout the tour and that is what sport and more importantly life is all about. Thanks Greg and Hayden for the opportunity to ride with you i hope my contribution was what you had hoped for. I'll now get back in the pool, and lace the running shoes back up. I look forward to racing again this weekend in my first Triathlon hit out of the season, the New Zealand sprint champs in Taupo. Not sure how it will go after the big week just gone. But I guess I'll have a dig on the bike!! Hope all is well with everyone and keep checking out the website for more news and pics. Its a work in progress like me...
Cheers, Kris