Hi everyone,
Hope all is well in your part of the world. I thought it would be a good time to send out a report on what I've been up to in Europe so far this season since I've been here for nearly a month, just to keep everyone up to date and to give an insight into whats happening with the NZ team thats based in here Belgium.
Hope all is well in your part of the world. I thought it would be a good time to send out a report on what I've been up to in Europe so far this season since I've been here for nearly a month, just to keep everyone up to date and to give an insight into whats happening with the NZ team thats based in here Belgium.
My first goal for the season was the NZ Track Championships, it was a fairly successful week for me as i managed 2nd in the Individual Pursuit and also we rode the first ever sub 4min team pursuit done in New Zealand. After the New Zealand Championships, i left New Zealand on the 17th of March and headed to Warsaw in Poland to ride the team pursuit for New Zealand at the World Championships. We had an interesting final prep for Worlds this year as we only landed in Warsaw 7 days before competition started, the main focus for the first few days was to get over the jet lag and get familiar at the new track. The Championships got off to a great start with Ali shanks winning the World Title in the Individual Pursuit. Day three was race day for us and in the qualifying we rode a solid time of 4.01. We were hoping for slightly faster than this and the 4.01 was only good enough for 4th fastest. That night we raced the Brits for the bronze medal and won, going slightly quicker than the morning ride. We were a little dissapointed not to make the final, but it was still good to win the bronze. Actually it was the first time NZ has ever won a medal in the team pursuit at a World Championships.
I took a week off the bike after the Track World Championships, and during that time managed a small road trip around Europe. Along with a team mate, i checked out the cities of Berlin, Prague, Lindau and Lausanne, a good way to relax before i got back into the training.
Here in Belgium this is officially the Belgium Testing/Training/Race phase. Its a young team of 7 track riders and we are using this phase to do some testing and lots of racing and training. Personally i'm using this phase as training for my main goal later in the season, the U23 time trial at the World Championships in Switzerland on the 23rd of September. This is a nice change of focus for me and i'm looking forward to the challenge. I'm into my 5th week of training here and I've raced 7 times so far. The races have been Belgium "Kermesses" they are around 120km long and its very hard, fast and rough racing. They can have between 100 to sometimes over 250 riders and are ofter raced on very short tight circuits. They test your bike handling skills as the are raced at an average speed of around 45km/h. I'm getting my road legs back and starting to feel better and better and i'm aiming to get some results in these types of race's before i leave on the 1st of July.
Two weeks ago we spent a day in the Lab at the Leuven university doing Lactate and performance tests, I've attached a photo of me in the lab doing to test. We use tests like this to establish training zones and to get an idea on what needs tweaking or changing in your training programme.
I had a minor setback when i had a crash in a Kermesse in Beveren last week, i was mixing it up with in the bunch sprint which i don't usually do, there was a crash in front of me and i hit the deck at around 60km/h and landed hard on my hip, still clipped into my bike. I was fine, but i think really lucky didn't do anything serious as it was one of the bigger crashes I've had. I've a attached a photo of whats happens to a helmet in a crash like this! (Photo wasn't attached ed)
We start a big tour in three days time, its called the Tryptique Ardennais which is a tough three day tour, so for me its going to be an easy few days to lead into it. You can check out the NZ teams updates on http://www.ridestrong.org.nz/RS/blogs/bikenz_belgian_race_phase_2009/default.aspx-- there are usually updates after each race so check it out!
Westley Gough
