THE COACHES KILO...& Lausanne

It’s been a few days since my last post so thought it was time to fill you guys in, so please take some time out to read through and have a good look and the pictures below its sure to be a goodie.

On Saturday we had another rest day, so we jumped onto the train and headed towards Lausanne which is located at the southern slope of the Swiss plateau, with a difference in elevation of about 500 metres between the lakeshore at Ouchy and its northern edge bordering. Lausanne boasts a dramatic panorama over the lake and the Alps.  Lausanne is also where the Headquarters of the International Olympic Committee is located.  We got off the train and headed towards the Olympic Museum taking in the views of the mountains in the distance of Lake Geneva.

A cute paddling boat with
a wicked slide!

Some cool Olympic cutlery

At the Olympic Museum this is where you can find the famous  carbon-fibre Lotus 108 time trial bike designed by Mike Burrows and made by the sports car manufacturer ‘Lotus’ is displayed which was ridden by the also famous Christopher "Chris" Boardman. We were all inspired that little bit more to achieve what we want and knowing that my goal is to be at the 2016 Olympics my spirits were lifted and gave me that extra motivational edge for training the next day.

Being based in Aigle the sprinters have mainly been on the track and in the gym and also get the occasional road ride done...even though it’s the sneaky ride to and from the track which is roughly 3km which is enough for me. But when we do get the chance to ride longer than 6km we get to take in a lot more of the this amazing city and the hills that surround it. I have got to say the mountains that pretty much stare at me all day are truly amazing especially when the sun starts streaming down its unbelievable, definitely a part of the world that is a must see.

The 'Lotus'

Yesterday we had our race rehearsal day, where Paige and I both did a flying 200m and also a team sprint which was a wee bit longer than normal...600m so I did the first 300m which was a lap and a half on the Aigle track and then Paige brought it home. We use this to get our heads thinking about what we need to do on race day and to see what does and doesn’t work regarding our warm-up prep and also our gear selection. Obviously it is a bit hard to say what gears we would race on because the Moscow track is a lot different to the one we are training on. This morning we have a wee road ride to freshen up our legs ready for our last track session tomorrow here in Aigle. But yesterday’s highlight and one of the best days so far on this campaign was the famous Coaches Kilo! Up first was Ant our physio/masseuse to set the bar with a 1.22.9s not to bad for his first event on the track with only a few days before to experience the track. Second was one of our fine athletes....JR, which started with a flyer but unfortunately not being able to keep the pace up and cracked with 3 laps to go out of his total 5 laps! His end time put him in first with a 1.21.0s, although he was able to stay up on 2 feet this year after the big Kilo event.

Looking good.....maybe not so good JR?

Next was Ross, which he took the more of a controlled Kilo and really saved himself for the last lap. It definitely worked for him to make a time of 1.16.2 very, very close to the world record but puts him into the number 1 spot. Up next was the favourite...Chris Hoy our team mechanic! He was in fine form and was determined to beat his own world record. His warm up was good, he looked good and was ready to roll! He started well and definitely finished well, all those road miles paid off and he came home with a new PB of 1.12.2s! Steve our manager was to follow and finished strongly with a 1.30.7 despite wearing jeans, a hoodie and having no cleats have got to give the man some credit! To finish we had the women's endurance coach, Lynn Meares which had an awesome push start by Georgie Wilson and was able to slowly build over the 5 laps to finish with a respective time of 1.42.7s I even have the video of Lynn's flying start, I hope you enjoy. Also Ant has done an awesome montage with all the riders which you can see here...http://vimeo.com/27470079

Yeeeeeeah Rosco!

Chris Hoy....thee man!

Well that's all for now here in Aigle. We head towards Moscow early Thursday morning and start to ease back into it by getting use to the track and what not. Here will be our final build up to the Championship event so fingers cross the whole team will be on fire. Will keep you up to date once we have settled into Moscow :)

Hope you have enjoyed my blog so far. Au Revoir!