America: Week 1

Sooooo, this week has gone way too fast for my liking! I arrived after a long haul, unfortunately I didn't have Birdman to count up the hours of travel but I had a 12 hour layover in LA before flying into Philadelphia where Mandy and Jamie picked me up. Before we drove to my final destination, I just so happened to have flown in on the same day of one of America’s big one-day race the ParxCasino Philly Classic. So, I was very fortunate enough to have seen what the “Wall” was all about and see Team Novo Nordisk in action for the very first time and of course see some kiwis smashing it! The males raced around the 12 mile circuit 10 times and the females 5 times.

Again here is Stretch from the Harlem "Shakers" I mean't Globetrotters in one of LAX's Terminals

Unfortunately the first Friday night/US Sprint Grand Prix were cancelled due to the weather and were postponed until Saturday – which was not so bad. Mandy qualified first with an amazing time and a personal best of 11.93 and I qualified second, funny enough we both made it to the finals! This was the first time we had raced against each other and the first time the crowd had seen two female type 1 diabetics going head to head, which was a pretty awesome feeling! With Mandy only just making the transition from endurance to sprinting and me with more race experience, I took the win and 5th overall. You can find all the results for the night here. The racing definitely woke up the legs after training in the cold back home, but it was so good getting back into it! Racing recap can be found here.

Chris Knight/Special to the Morning Call/June 8 2013

Mandy and I after night 1

Going into the second week I have finally got use to riding and also driving literally on the right side of the road. The weather is looking nice for this Fridays Keirin Grand Prix, so am looking forward to that. I also have an exam at the end of the week so I will be studying up a storm!!

Adios :)

These cool looking barns are every

Run down cottage, came come soaking wet.

Borrowing this awesome Harry Havnoonian for the month :)

Rainy days

Racing in Trexlertown, Pennsylvania

Soooooo, after having a massive reality check returning from Trinidad and Tobago I got back into the swing of things with a bit of general conditioning in the gym with Simon Jones, fixed up my nutrition with Aimee Burns here at the Southland Academy and also got some decent track time into my legs ready for some racing over in Trexlertown (T-Town). T-Town is an outdoor concrete 333 metre track which is the home of the Valley Preferred Cycling Centre they have hosted World Cups, Olympic trials, Junior World Championships (twice), national championships and countless major international competitions.

I will be leaving on the 1st June and will be there for 4 weeks, racing every Tuesday and Friday night for Team Novo Nordisk along side my team mate Mandy Marquardt and hopefully I will see a few kiwi's whilst I am there too :) I am going to be racing in The World Series of Bicycling, which starts on the 7th June and runs through to the 30th August, it has a mixture of sprint and endurance events, each night has a wee promotion to keep the nights exciting for both the cyclists and the fans, the schedule is below.

So, this will actually be my first trip to America let alone T-Town, I am really looking forward to this opportunity and hope to gain lots and lots of valuable experience! If you have twitter you can follow my progress following this link here and for those who do not I will keep this updated as much as possible!

I hope everyone has dodged the early winter sickness, it is that time of the year and it sucks!
Bye for noooow,
Steph :)

2013 World Series of Bicycling Schedule:

JUNE
FRI 7		US Sprint Gran Prix
FRI 14		Keirin Cup/10 Mile Championship
FRI 21		UCI Festival of Speed presented by EnduroPacks
FRI 28		Red Robin BRL Finals/Mike Walter Madison presenting by Kratzer Orthodontics
JULY
FRI 5		NO RACING
FRI 12		Keirin Revenge
FRI 19		The Golden Wheel Race presented by Bear Creek Mountain Resort
FRI 26		USA Cycling Jr. Naionals
AUGUST
FRI 2		Tandemonium/Women’s Open
FRI 9		Rodale Corporate Challenge
FRI 16		Deer Park Natural Spring Water UCI Fastest Man on Wheels presented by Univest
FRI 23		Air Products Program Championships
FRI 30		UCI Madison Cup presented by Salamander

A Caribbean Experience!

Wow, where do I start?! Let's be honest here...

Njisane 3 Day Cycling Festival #N3DCF, Wining, Paint party I Love Jamishness, Tobago, Nylon Pool, Boat Party, fresh fruit, Soca, Bus trips, The Hyatt Regency Hotel, Car Park Party, Coconut Water, Flat car battery and so many more memories that I will never forget, I could write a novel, but will keep it brief! So it all begins here:

We arrived in Trinidad and Tobago Saturday 13th note at 5am going from Christchurch - Sydney - Vancouver - Toronto - Trinidad. So the journey was rather long but we can all agree it was well worth it! We got to the Hyatt Regency Hotel went to our rooms 'Showfield' and I shared a room and then found ourselves poolside very quickly to overcome our 'jet-lag'. We were given a brown paper bag with a few things inside it and we were told we are going to a paint party at 3am and instructed to wear the singlet.

Small - Large the aftermath

Ompa loompa... party is about to get real!

So it hadn't been 24 hours and were already experiencing a little bit of Trinidad and Tobago's culture. This is where we were introduced to wining - note i haven't spelt winning wrong,wining it is a way of dancing? Is that correct? I think it is, we were a little surprised of how it works - let's just say it is a whole lot of hip action with a lot of people! I think by the end of the trip after getting experts teaching us we found some rhythm.......They were explaining to us this was only tiny compared to 'Carnival' so this has given us more reason to come back to the Caribbean to experience Carnival!!

Postcard material

We're on a boat

Nylon Pool

A couple of days later, we were mean't to take the boat to Tobago which took 2 hours at 630am, but we sadly missed out as the boat was full. So, we jumped on a plane at 930am and went to Tobago for the day. Once we arrived in Tobago we went straight onto a Glass Bottom boat, bonus was we had speakers to crank up whilst on the journey. Went on jet skies, ate some sort of crab meal, snorkeling and saw dolphins whilst jet skiing . But, my highlight of Tobago was when we went to Nylon Pool - a shallow coral reef, which is located in the middle of the ocean just off Pigeon Point. It was amazing!

43 #RaceNumber 

Raffle sprint

Wining - Getting amongst it

So this trip was cycling related. We were invited to race at the Njisane 3 day cycling festival. Njisane Phillip went to the 2012 Olympics as an unknown or a non favourite, he ended up 4th in the Sprints and 7th in the Keirin. He put this event on to promote cycling in Trinidad and Tobago and encourage young cyclists to take up cycling and also to promote his country which we were part of. The event was well thought out and was delivered well. There were 3 women's teams made up of 5-6 ladies from different countries, I was in Team 2 along with Olga Streltsova (Russia), Hannah Walker (Great Britain), Kianna Lester (Trinidad and Tobago), Graciela 'Chely' Arreola (Mexico) and Shelby Renolds (USA) and we were all managed by Stuart MacDonald.

Raffle Sprint 3rd/4th - Tarsh

Raffle Sprint Round 1 - Juliana (Columbia )

Raffle Sprint Round 2 - Katie

Our goal was to set out a plan and make sure we executed it in each race, personally I think we all did very well I certainly learn't a lot about endurance races!! (taking a lap and rejoining..haha eek). I am glad we were able to work as a team and also teach Kianna (only 15) what to do and what not to do during races - watch out for her in the near future!

At the beginning I had no expectations of Trinidad and Tobago, I was very open minded. Whilst we were there we ran on 'Trini Time' so we had to take it day by day and moment by moment, most things just fell into place and no one worried once! We didn't want to leave, after experiencing a taste of what Trinidad and Tobago was all about, they like to party - that's an understatement! Nothing is going to get close to what we experienced, I'm definitely going to go back that's for sure. 

I hope everyone knows where Trinidad and Tobago is now and understands their culture - I am sure that we have provided everyone with a taste of what to expect I can say that it is a place to visit and 'Carnival' should go onto your bucket list right now!! Thank you so much to Phillip, Marie, Lershaun, Varun and of course Njisane for giving us the opportunity to experience Trinidad and Tobago! 

Take Care,

Steph :) xx

Boat Party

In the local paper

Fruit salad provided during racing

Calm before the storm #JLD

Just living Daily

Overnight stay at Wellington Airport

Trinidad and Tobago - 3 day Festival

Hey there!

You're probably thinking Trinidad and Tobago, where is that?! I thought the exact same thing, Trinidad and Tobago is an island country found in the southern Caribbean lying just off the coast of north-eastern Venezuela and the south of Grenada. Yes, the Caribbean! I am heading off to the Caribbean along with team mates Katie Schofield and Natasha Hansen next week (12th) to attend the Njisane 3 Day Cycling Festival along with other international cyclists from France, Germany, Australia, Malaysia, USA, Venezuela and more. In addition, there will be live performances from locally renowned artistes and rhythm sections - I so cannot wait! 

We will be racing on the 19th April at the Arima Velodrome and Skinner Park in San Fernando on the 20th and 21st April, both are outdoor concrete tracks. The main idea of this trip is to gain more racing experience. I also would like to embrace their culture and see what Trinidad and Tobago is all about as this is a place I have never been too.

THE SPORT Company of Trinidad and Tobago (SPORTT) has invested a massive $1 Million dollars into the "Njisane 3 Day Cycling Festival". The idea of this event is to try enhance and further develop Trinidad and Tobago's sport tourism and their also their culture.

Will let you know how things go and keep you updated :)

Ciao for now,

Steph 

Good start to 2013!

Well it's better late than never, Happy New Year everyone!

We are already half way through the month of February before you know it it'll be the end of summer - crazy huh and what an awesome summer it has been - believe it or not! I have just got back from Wanaka - the best weekend I have ever had in a while! Good people, good weather, sunshine, spa, pool, soul searching, hide 'n' go seek, BBQ, egg's benedict, waffles, drinks, boating, Leroy and countless yarns about yarns.Was such an awesome weekend that will never be forgotten! 

Egg's Benny

I have been doing a wee bit travelling over summer whilst doing some low key training, on the road and in the gym preparing for track nationals. I spent Christmas in Christchurch and drove up to Nelson on Boxing day to spend New Year's there, then went back to Christchurch for the Denton Park New Year carnival. I have only ridden this once before and I can say that this year was the best I have ever seen, there were heaps of riders across all grades. Lots of people headed out to watch the two nights of racing which included some world class riders they definitely got their money's worth! The day after the carnival I headed back to Invercargill to attend the Mexico World Cup camp, I used this week to get back into a routine both on the bike and in the Gym with Jonsey.

Nelson :)

1 Lap Dash Final. Photo Credit: Bruce Wilson

Scratch Race. Photo Credit: Bruce Wilson



1 Lap Dash Heat. Photo Credit: Bruce Wilson



Katie Schofield - Me in her visor reflection.  Photo Credit: Diaane Manson

Katie & I. Semi-Final round 1. Photo Credit: Dianne Manson



Sprints "Changing Diabetes". Photo Credit: Diaane Manson



 Track Nationals were held from Jan 31st - Feb 3rd starting with Elite women's standing 250m lap in the morning in a straight final and I was happy with a PB of 19.730s which got me a Silver medal. Later that day we had our 500m time trial so we did 1 lap in the morning then upped our game to 2 laps in the afternoon I again did another PB of 35.376s for a Bronze medal. 

The following morning we had our 200m qualifying (11.414s), I just went under my previous PB from a few years ago so that was a good sign, I made my way through the rounds first racing against Kate Dudley (WCNI) then Katie Schofield (OTAGO) in the semi-finals, which is a best of three I was able to win 2 straight and go through to the finals against Natasha Hansen (SOUTHLAND). Later that night we raced for gold! Last we we both raced for gold as well, this year I was able to win the first round and went into the second round confident that I could win, I did just that I won the Elite Women's Sprint for the first time in 2 straight wins! 

The next day were the keirins we only had 2 heats which meant only the top 3 were to go into the final that night. Unfortunately I just missed out and raced in the 7-12 I was a wee bit disappointed so I went into the 7-12 wanting to dominate and win. I did just that and won the 7-12 happy but a little bit disappointed. 

The following day I teamed up with my teammate Natasha Hansen for the Elite Women's team sprint last year we won this event so we went into the race confident. We had qualifying in the morning with 5 other teams and the top 4 go through to 3-4 and 1-2 we were top qualifiers and just outside the NZ record, later that night we raced for gold yet again we were ready! In the final we did a 34.284 which meant we broke the NZ record and won gold :)

LINKS:

Individual Sprints:

Semi Final 1 at 0.11s 

Semi Final 2 at 2.37s

Final 1 at 5.41s

Final 2 at 8.52s:

Team Sprint (NZ Record) at 3:45s

500m Time Trial at 4.56s

Keirin B Final at 2.34s



Natasha and I after winning the team sprint :)



Sprint rounds

Sprint rounds, on my way to my first elite title 

Sprint Podium :)

Happy!

I have a couple more days off the bike and will slowly be getting back into it with a few coffee rides here and there and some cross-training in the gym for some fun. Uni starts back up on Feb 25th where I will be doing 3 papers this semester Intro to Sport Management, Intro to Food and Nutrition(double semester) & Sport Performance(double semester).

A few articles from the Southland Times:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/sport/8254213/Wait-worth-it-as-McKenzie-grabs-title
http://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/sport/8257895/Hansen-dedicates-record-ride-to-late-friend


Thanks heaps!

Steph

Team Novo Nordisk - One Team:One Goal

Hey everyone,

The women's team that were available for
our first team camp 

As 2012 comes to an end I am very pleased to announce that I will be part of Team Novo Nordisk  for 2013. I will be representing the team on the track when possible. Since becoming a part of this team it has made me more determined to motivate people that have Diabetes especially young children. As a team we want to raise awareness about diabetes; One Team:One Goal - To educate, empower and inspire everyone affected by diabetes around the world!

After a quieter year which involved just under 2 months of training overseas alongside the New Zealand sprint squad as they built up towards the London Olympics I gained some valuable experience both on and off the track. I have been very fortunate enough to have traveled for the first time ever to Newport – Wales, Valencia – Spain, Cottbus – Germany and I am about to leave Alicante – Spain after a 10 day camp with Team Novo Nordisk.

Some testing - we need you do go hard for 20mins? What's that? Go hard means sprint full gas?!

CHANGING DIABETES. History lesson on how this all evolved 

Some of the kit - how I got it to fit in my luggage? I don't know!

Our accommodation for the camp

Looking towards Alicante

Get on board and support this newly formed team! Watch out for Team Novo Nordisk's new website coming out in the new year!  Make sure you 'follow' the team on Twitter or 'like' their page on Facebook

Here is a recent write up from Road Cycling Magazine NZ 

I am really looking forward to the rest of the track season currently training for the New Zealand Elite Nationals (Jan 31st - Feb 3rd) and will also be racing on Denton in Christchurch at the New Year Carnival  on the 3rd and 4th of Jan if your in Christchurch come along at 7pm each night - see ya there :)

Thanks for tuning in, I hope everyone has a safe festive season - Merry Christmas and a Happy New year! Catch you guys over summer!

Adios xx