Roc d'Azur, still

I surpassed myself today....

After arriving in Roquebrune last night and having to take the two bikes into my room for the hotel-night, I finaly arrived at my destination this morning. The two days in Le Gard were wonderfull. I went for a ride yesterday, managed to put in two hours with ease and found some very nice paths....my arms and legs are the silent witnesses of the thorns and other sharp branches Í've had to cut my way trough. Two hours of beautiful little ways to areas I didn't know existed close to home...and the houses I've seen in the middle of nowhere, with their swimming pools...It is one of the most accessible, exciting places to ride a mountainbike. I'm thoroughly impressed!

And then today. The morning was spent visiting friends....Can I call my surgeon and physio of the rehab centre friends? Heck, why not! It was so nice to see them again, be it for advise or just to have a coffee with them....It was good to see them.

The afternoon was spent preparing the bikes...and then....after lunch; THE RIDE.

I haven't been this tired after a ride in, well, years maybe. Although it was only two hours, and two hours on the Roc d'Azur tracks, I have emptied my muscles and lungs of every microgram of energy today....It is impressive.

The two dangerous downhill passages have been cleaned of any superflu and are spectacular. Where I walked part of the first one because it was too steep to get back on my bike, I managed to stay ON my bike for the second one with the runners in my pants. And I managed!

But the mental toughness one gets of rides like these, have not been in my training efforts, so today was one year of getting mentally tough in two hours.

Am I still making sense?

The cool beer afterwards dropped into my system like a tranquilizer and I know I will sleep well tonight!

Summer madness

The things we do when it's 28 degrees outside, but 35 degrees inside without any flow of fresh cool air....you get slightly mad! We all need to gasp some fresh air once an hour and rush downstairs...the 28 degrees outside is like a cold shower (!) and we feel king of the world when the oxygen hits the brain. We are the greatest; we are the champions!!

We ride the greatest bike there is! It's a mini bike, with the whole chabang attached and put on it....could be just my size, haha, you never know! Or maybe my collegue is a giant of 2 meters tall and the bike isn't so small after all.

The rest? A few projects brewing that all have to do with cycling and the missing module of the mountainbike trainers' program in France. I'm excited about it and will keep you informed.

Oh yeah...I'm going to have a very close look at the trails of the Roc d'Azur next weekend. Hopefully on a 2010 Era S-Works bike, but then if its a different one I don't mind either. The main thing is the trip itself. It's going to be quick and stressful, but I'm in the frame of mind that needs to lead to a very beautiful thing in October of this year.

Specialized Safire

It ain't mine.....let's put that in front of anything else. It is a beautiful bike though!!

On a cold winter day with a stiff wind I decided to go for my first big ride since my knee surgery on the first of october 2008. It's not my kind of weather, but I have to re-begin my training some day, don't I.

So, this bike is on loan, from the job though, let's put that straight!! Don't know whether you knew, but I started at Specialized in December. I just wanted to see some bikes last week; I'd like to KNOW what I'm talking about on the phone to customers, but instead of just seeing and touching, I got one on loan. I could bring it home hahaha.

I'm not going to bore you with the specs....I'm testing and comparing with my old Epic, and after one long day I can't give any definites.....

It's sooo light though! In the background the skaters on the frozen ponds and lakes and in the foreground this beauty of a bike. The weight did make a difference during the final kilometers, when my legs hurt, my knee burned and the power had gone. There the difference was obvious. On any other bike I've had, I would have suffered those last 15 minutes, but now it felt difficult but souple. That's it for now. Happy riding, whereever you are.

I'll keep you informed.
Winter day

Amsterdam, it's cold and damp, like the old movies. It's nice to be home for a week though! Of course there is always too much to do and too many bills need to be paid, but it is also comfortable.

Tomorrow I will drive back down south for a number of weeks. In a few weeks time we have to re-present ourselves in Sospel. I'm looking forward to it, although the questions about my riding will be asked.....How much, how many hours, how technical....brrrrr.....I have to get some more riding in.

Last weekend I went for a ride around Arnhem. I used my old Trek bike which I brought along for my cousin. She can have it when she's a bit older and taller. Anyway, the old Trek did well. It's so much lighter and more nervous than the Specialized. It felt like a test ride.....It was for the first time in over a year that I really rode on technical bits on that bike. Even though the bike feels too short for me now....the maniability is better than the Specialized. It reacts quicker and that feels good. Weight plays a part there....

It was quite a revelation, I must say. It makes me think that a full suspension is not the best in all circumstances. It was an interesting experience!!

Back to France now.

Specialized in sponsoring

I miss my bike.....that sounds odd like that. Well, I miss cycling, I miss tackling the hills and single tracks around Draguignan......I've celebrated Christmas in excellent style, about 4 days in a row with colleagues, my boyfriend and family, but I've had enough. I'm still in Amsterdam.

I wanna be on my bike, whether it's an hour on my Specialized just to shake-off the Christmas excesses, or whether it's a couple of hours on my road bike.....I need to ride!!

The picture is taken in Greoux-les -bains, which was my last free ride in November. Looks nice doesn't it those two Specialized bikes......Mine, the Epic, is the small silver one and the one in front is the Marathon of my boyfriend. Looks good this way we think and they're just excellent bikes for the terrain out there.

All I can do now is go to the gym and push weights. Although I take my off-season weight-training very seriously, to me it's an assignment I need to do. Progress is evident though. After the weight training sessions in spring to re-adjust the strenght in my right leg, so both legs would be balanced, these sessions are focused on pure strength. Power and explosive force is what I'm training for and the results are beginning to show.

The competitive season starts in March 2008 and my big goal is the World Championships for Masters in PraLoup in August. The one and only!

With the last days of the year to bridge, before returning to France, I'm also picking-up my search for sponsorship.

My employer finished my contract, the louzy bastard and I'm going to nominate them for worst employer of 2007 and 2008, so the funds will stop very soon, unless I decide to take legal action against him......just for kicks?

Anyway, sponsorship is what it will take to finish my Mountainbike training in France. I've been thinking of the Bever Zwerfsport chain in the Netherlands or the Icebreaker clothing company. For Icebreaker it could be perfect.....France is a big market.

Of course the KNWU partners could throw me a bone as well....It's also in their interest that the best qualified people are related to them and their activities....

It's a big world out there and my knowledge of how to attract sponsors is limited; who will help.

Enjoy the last days of 2007 while you can. Indulge, celebrate and ride wild...