New Training Ground - Fanas, Switzerland

We arrived in Zurich Airport in Switzerland after 30 hours of travel time to be greeted by one of our newly adopted parents, Erik with a very nice New Zealand flag welcoming our arrival!

After a nights sleep after very little shut eye on the planes we headed off to our new training location up in the hills of Fanas (Eggli). To reach our accommodation hut required a ride up the Funicular (Gondula) to where we would reach 1700 metres above sea-level!

As we took the birds eye view up the hill with all our gear we got a fair idea of how steep this road was leading up to the hut but until we actually got onto our bikes and road it first hand, man did we get a bit of a shock! It is very steep!

Our training requires us to head down the hill to where it is accessible to trails and tarmac roads. From the bottom and flat it is a 1100metre climb to the top! All that means is that we have a good solid climb to finish our ride - good preparation for Champery where the World Champs will be held.

Today Mat and I rode a loop that I had negotiated my way around yesterday which included a nice tarseal ride amongst the forest that leads into a town called Shuders. From here we enjoyed a solid 20minutes of downhill alongside an impressive river and the most spectacular scenery!

Our location is quite remote but the views are stunning and so it is the perfect place to unwind and relax after a good training session!

I look forward to heading off to our first World Cup Round in Czech once our 2 weeks of training are complete and will be updating my blog again after the race!

Hope that all back in our Homeland are keeping safe and warm with all that snow!

Photos to come!

Brad

European Campaign

The excitment is building!!!
After months of planning a European Campaign it has come together and this Saturday I will set off on the big bird to begin my trip!
Earlier in the year after racing the New Zealand National Series and Oceania Champs I had gained selection into the 2011 New Zealand Mountain Bike Team to compete in the World Championships in Champery, Switzerland. Being an first year Under 23 rider I decided it was time to step up my game so a Campaign for roughly a month and a half was put into place.

The races I will be competing in are;

1) World Cup Round 6 Czech Republic
2) World Cup Round 7 Italy
3) Swiss Bike Trophy, Bern - Switzerland
4) World Championships, Champery - Switzerland.

So far my build up has gone pretty well - the routine of getting up first thing and training is certainly a lot different and harder than when I was a school boy but with realityof work now, I have had to become even more disciplined to chase my dream. The last couple of weeks have been getting harder (as I get more and more keen to get overseas!) but I am looking forward to living the pro-cyclist life and being able to get in a couple of solid weeks of training in before I hit the UCI World Cup round in Czech Republic.

I will be travelling with Mat Waghorn from Palmerston North (Oceania Champ U19 2010 and Oceanias U19 runner up 2011) and we will be working together throughout our campaign.

There are a few people I would like to make special mention to before I head off on my journey.
Firstly - my sponsor Cycleways and the boys there (who have just done a fantastic job of brushing my bike up to pristine condition) and in particular Matt Bailey - the sponsorship has been great!
My boss from Halswell Butchery Brad Williams - you have been a fantastic influence and I appreciate all the help and guidance you have given me.
Single Track Club and Huxster- Craig and Rebekah Tregurtha and Andrea Murray - It has been great to have been part of both of the clubs and the drive the and work you guys put it along with the member is awesome!!!
My Coach Dave Plew - for being just a brilliant coach and always taking in what I have to say.
Andrew Abakhan - for the help you have put in with my build up to get me into shape.
Erik Herlyn - he has been a huge help with putting my campaign together, my trip wouldn't be happening without the help from him and his family!
And of course to my parents - my number 1 sponsor, without their help this trip would be a right struggle. I really do appreciate all the help you have given me to chase my goals and aspirations!

I'll be keeping my facebook and blog updated throughout the trip so keep an eye out to see whats happening with my progress!

Time to go put my mark on the World!!!