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With most of NZ enjoying stunningly consistent sweltering summer it is only fitting that I am able to make the most of it before finally venturing into the expected gloom of an English spring. By making the most of it I am referring to the fact that I get to spend many an hour putting the body through its paces out the sun. This has resulted in some forced early mornings in order to beat the heat and get the training done, when you have both sides of the Crown Range and the Coronet Peak climbs on the cards in a 6.5hr day its pretty key to spend as little time suffering in the mid day heat as possible. With a supped up training program including many rides of this nature and a few shorter but significantly more painful sessions I have been stuck doing a lot of bike time with just old mate iPod for company, any cyclists best friend but he can get rather repetitive. With five of us kiwis on the Node4 team for the year we decided it would be appropriate to organise abit of an informal training camp so that we could join up and practice riding.

Training base for the week

The Waikato put in a strong bid to host our inaugural group riding and racing get-together, with a race, good weather, great hosts and challenging roads. So it was decided and off to Shem-ville we we headed. Myself and Dan flew into Auckland and joined up with the northerners Mike and Roman before driving down south on Saturday morning so we could all line up in our first race together in the Node4 colours at the Rev Cycle Classic. The race offered us a great opportunity to re -gel as a team and test out our pre season form, as well as having a hefty amount of prize money up for grabs. With a relatively small field and a very challenging relentless course of rolling, narrow, rough roads out around Cambridge and a hot hot temperature it was going to be a tough day at the office. I hadn’t really had much let up from training over the last few weeks and so was not going into the day fresh, meaning it took me a while to get going. The race however was not waiting and after a couple of hard climbs at the start there was a decent break going clear with a lot of strong riders. Shem, Roman and Mike had all been firing from the gun and were present up front, with just myself and Dan left patrolling the bunch. After a couple of full gas efforts to jump across but not quite having the legs I was content just to sit in and let the race play its course for a while. The bunch worked well and held the break for about half the race but eventually they lost organisation and the leaders pulled clear. At this point riders started to think they could close the gap themselves and attacks started flying again, however none of them seemed very keen to work with me or Dan. Eventually as people tired more and the gaps were getting bigger I hit out hard on one of the more decent climbs and skipped across to three guys who were hanging out front. Unfortunately once I got there they didn’t seem to be able to hold their pace and rather quickly I was left doing the majority of the work. With 60km remaining and a headwind it was not a pleasant situation but I figured it was essentially training. I went through the start finish line some 3min down on the break group and 1min ahead of the chasers with a tough 35km circuit that included a 4k climb up Mangakawa to go. Once we were off the main ‘classic’ course however the marking was not quite as adequate and I missed the turn off to the hill. By the time I had turned around and got back on course I was caught up from behind. As we hit the climb I slipped off the front again and rode steady before seeing Dan coming flying across the gap solo, we joined up over the top and chucked it in on the valley road home. The last 20k consisted of us smashing over each other, both of us on the rivet, we caught up to Mike and Aaron Strong who had slipped off the back of the break group essentially ensuring that all of us would finish in the top 10. Great news when we crossed the finish line to hear that the honorary Mayor of Cambridge himself Shem Rodger had completed his comeback from a broken hip and hand to take out a fine win and a big pay day.

Happy lads after cleaning up The Rev

The race was just the start of it though, now based out of Casa Rodger in Karapiro, where we were looked after too well, we spent the next three days clocking up kilometer after kilometer in the hot dry Waikato summer. An especially epic day on Tuesday saw us complete a 220km 7hr ride out around the Kawhia West Coast and forgotten highway. It was a stunning ride with just about everything, climbs, twisty descents, beautiful scenery and a distinct lack of traffic. Wednesday was more of the same but keeping on more traditional routes around the famous “Witches loop” that brought back many memories of former glory and suffering as a junior at the Te Awamutu tour.

Filling up on fuel for the last 2 of 7hrs

After 5 days and 700km it was time for us to head back up north and take on our final test of the camp. A new event on the Calendar, the Auckland University Museum Criterium one Wednesday night was to be the icing on the cake of a large week of riding for us. With a bit more cash on offer and a tight technical course we were in for an intense 30min race. I wasn’t really sure how the legs would pull up after giving them a decent working over in the mornings tempo session but found that once we got going it wasn’t too bad. The course was nice and flowing with a little kicker climb up to the finish line but it had some rough stone sections round the back that really tested the carbon wheel strength. For us it was just a numbers game and after the group had been whittled down halfway through the race we made up the majority of the bunch. That didn’t stop us chucking the attacks into each other, happy just to make sure that it was one of us over the line first. NZ crit champ Hayden McCormick, Darcey Ellem-Norton and Aaron Strong provided some very strong resistance and made for an exciting finish. With Roman just off the front ahead of us on the bell lap it looked like he would take out his home crit but it was a deceptively hard course to be out by yourself on and he faded halfway round, I saw the lull and charged ahead going into the bottom of the hill and from there it was just a matter of keeping the pace up to the finish. In the end we filled the podium with myself taking the win, Dan in second and Mike in third and abit more pocket money making it a very worthwhile week.

Filling out the podium for the first time this year

It was a great week and definitely put us all in a very positive mood looking forward to the rest of the season, Theres still a matter of three or four weeks of hard training to get through before we can embark on any real racing over in the Northern Hemisphere. However with my wonderful girlfriend looking after me and providing freshly baked training food I should get through all right.

Coming home to this after a hard days work isnt bad – thanks B

Until then you can be sure ill be too tired from training efforts to put any more updates on here so will fill you in during fresher times.

Well its taken awhile but I guess you could say we are into summer now. However for a while there I was losing hope that we would ever get to those stinking hot days that are filled with sunshine and sweat but it has arrived just in time for me to do crazy stuff on the bike again.

The first month of my serious training has gone well. I have still been dabbling on the MTB in order to keep mixing things up and utilising the mega hills we have around here. Also I have done a couple of little fun races to get me back into the swing of things. The NZ Elite National Champs were the first of these fun events to come around with their early January slot. I was to line up as defending champion on a course that has always suited me well but one essential thing was missing this year namely preparation. I simply hadn’t done the kind of intense training that I had done in previous years in order to race up that hill at ridiculous speed over and over again. However I was fit and fresh and thought I would still give it a crack.

Leading up to the event it looked like we would be putting a strong five man team on the line as we all raced for Node4 for the first time but injuries to Dan and Shem meant it was just myself, Roman and Mike gridding up. The boys were onto it at the start and shot up the road in the initial break so I was left to play lion watch in the bunch. The pace was crazy as usual and every time up the hill felt like the fastest id ever been up there, I kept telling myself it would get easier but without that specific training behind me I simply couldn’t keep repeating the 3min 50sec, 480w effort. And had to wave goodbye to the champs jersey finally on lap 6 of 10. Disappointing not to be able to really mix it up again but the reality of the strength of NZ cycling these days is you cant just turn up to Nationals under prepared and expect to be competitive. Roman and Mike had great rides up the front all day and definitely represented the team well!

Node4 – Giordana racing before NZ Elite Nats road race 2013

The good thing about the light build up to nationals was that I didn’t need the usual massive recovery time and was back killing hours on the roads on tuesday. With only 8days until the next ‘fun event’ the NZCT Tour of Manawatu rolled around I was able to get another solid training block in the legs then make the trip up north.

Stopping for some fresh air at Mt Cook on the way up to Palmersotn North

This time I would be riding for the NZCT NZ National team with fellow Continental riders Paddy Bevin and Mike Torkler aswell as Ryan Wills and the newcomer Reon Nolan. The tour kicked off with a not so fun 7.1km prologue TT, I was really struggling to get motivated and just couldn’t push myself the whole way round the course finishing over 1min down on winner Joe Cooper. The other boys had equally unsatisfying rides leaving us with a lot to ride for over the next four days of road racing. A long hilly day round the Manawatu ranges lay ahead and with a fresh breath of wind it promised to be rather interesting. My lack of race legs made themselves known early on as I struggled with the speed and intensity and ended up missing the first major split. Ryan and Mike were riding well and got up in the 12 man leading group which eventually finished some 10min ahead of our main pack. Now that there was abit of order established in the team and peloton we knew what we could do in the next stages. Day two was a slightly longer version of the previous stage and offered a good opportunity for a break to succeed. I was feeling much better to begin with today and although the start was fast and furious again I easily slipped into the move off the front. We had a long day ahead of us but with 9 of us up the road we got to work and chipped away at the 160km course building up a substantial lead of over 7min. Eventually things started getting messy as riders looked to take it easy or slip off the front, I was feeling good but didn’t back myself for a 30km solo effort in the headwind so looked after myself in the group. Jase Christie was riding well and jumped ahead leaving me with just 5 Aussies for company, naturally I didn’t want to help them back to the front especially as I knew a couple of them were pretty lightening quick sprinters. Anyway there was a severe lack of organisation and they kept looking at me to do the work, letting the win go. More games were played coming into the finish even though we were now only racing for second, I tried to secure the spot but ended up crossing the line in a close fourth.

The next day was to decide the tour with a 7km climb to the finish on the cards. We looked to move our climber mikey up into the top positions overall and so were aggressive from the start. The Genesys team who were leading overall managed to keep things under control and so it came down to the climb, mike rode well but was unable to dislodge the leader and finished second on the stage moving up to 4^th overall.

Getting to the finish after launching Mike up the hill

Unfortunately the last stage was abit of a dud with barely 1m of elevation gain all day and long straight roads. I was hunting for the break again and put some big efforts in but it wasn’t to be, as it seemed Genesys didn’t want any of our guys getting away. We didn’t want to lose the opportunity to get a result so we jumped on the front and kept the break in check all day then shut it down coming into the finale, then it was my job to try and guide and launch Paddy to the line. However after doing all the work chasing the break we had run out of guys to keep control of the bunch and were severely out numbered by all the teams that had been sitting on all day. I managed to get Paddy into a good position before swinging of and leaving him to it, he sprinted well but it wasn’t enough to get around the super quick Tom Palmer from Drapac pro cycling.

All done tour over, not a very long race so there were limited opportunities to do things or make changes but overall we had a good week, finishing fourth overall and second team. For me it was a solid 600km of riding in the legs that didn’t leave me to tired or fatigued so luckily I get to start training again straight away! Now comes a big two months of hard work to get myself into top shape before heading over to join the team in England. First off to get acclimatised to this heat, 30 degree days are a novelty for me at the moment but lets hope it hangs around!

Will come back and share some more stories soon

Jimmy

I guess the new year kind of started with a bang for me…if you consider hiding away from the wind, rain and snow for the first three days of the year ‘bang’ material. However things quite quickly turned themselves around and with a couple of 35degree days over the weekend I was able to do some real riding again and start getting excited about what 2013 holds.

I am lucky enough to be coming into this season super fresh, fit and ready to get stuck into things after spending a great couple of months making the most of what the Central Otago lifestyle has to offer, exploring the rugged hills on the Mountain bike, running some new tracks, taking on some of the iconic walks of the area with my girlfriend and getting some long k’s in on the new roady in the sun with some great company

Bushwalking in the wintery summer days

For that I am very grateful to the team at Armstrong Sport for helping me keep things running smoothly with a transitional bike to use as I await for my new team steed. The mid range Pinarello FPQuattro that they have generously provided me with is still nothing short of a stunning bike that is a dream to ride and certainly makes my long days on the rough Southern roads a lot more comfortable. Not only that but also they have been supporting me over the last year with the super sweet Mavic kicks, which are always a treat to ride in. So remember to support those who support the NZ cycling scene and help guys like me to continue chasing my dreams.

Sweet new ride chilling above Alexandra

Anyway after a few weeks of slowly building back some fitness and form, things got real after christmas with my first major pre season training block. A highlight of this was rocking up at the Bannockburn MTB classic after a 25hr five day block and managing to come away with the win from a field of almost 700. Fortunately for me it was more of a roady’s course and I managed to get a decent gap on the super talented Junior World Champ Anton Cooper before any sort of technicality came into play. The mountain biking has definitely given me a lot of enjoyment and some very decent training over the last couple of months. Its not uncommon to get stuck into a solid 1.5-2hr granny gear climb around here, not so enjoyable in the heat but the views at the top are always worth it!

View from the top after alot of climbing

I guess I should probably touch on the fact that this is my last week in the NZ champs jersey. Ive already reflected enough on everything that has happened in the past 12 months in my previous posts so no need to go back over that but what I will say is that it every time I put on the jersey I am super proud of what was a great day out in Christchurch in January 2012, and to have my name down in the books along side some of NZ’s most prestigious cyclists is always going to be an honour. Although I am not aiming to peak again at this weekends race, I will still be going there with a lot of desire and determination to put up a fight and defend the title.

Last few days cruising hot Central Otago in the white jersey

After what has essentially been a 2month complete break from racing I am itching to get back on the start line, and I have also put my name forward to ride for the NZ National team for the NZ Cycle Classic Tour of Manawatu in late January. Its no secret that the NZ cycling scene is getting stronger and stronger and these races in the peak of our summer season are never a walk in the park and should give me the boost I need in training in order to get ready for my upcoming international season.

This years nationals is shaping up to be a really epic race with all of the big names of NZ cycling taking the start line. The slight change in course will add an interesting factor and should see a slightly more open race. However i’m picking that it will only make the remaining ten climbs more intense. Whatever happens i am sure there will be a worthy winner on the day.

Have a look back here later on next week for abit of a run down on how it all goes!

2013 promises to be an exciting and eventful year with lots of new opportunities on the horizon as I will be joining English based Node4-Giordana Pro Cycling Team.

After two great years with NZ’s PureBlack Racing team, with which we achieved things no other NZ team had ever done before, it is time for me to take on a new scene and new challenges. Focusing more on the racing in England, France and Belgium rather than Australia, Asia and North America. It is a move that I am sure will be very beneficial to my career in the long run.

My good mate and ex-PureBlack teammate, Mike Northey, rode with the Node4 team this year and enjoyed a great year with them, getting some awesome results and being well looked after. With his help myself and several other key ex-PureBlack riders will join the team next season and hopefully recapture the high levels of comraderie, spirit, cooperation and enjoyment that led to such a successful 2011 international season for us all. To have myself, Mike, Roman van Uden, Dan Barry and Shem Rodger all riding on the same team again is not something we ever thought would happen so its a great opportunity for us all. From Mikes accounts it sounds like we will all fit in well with the teams culture and can expect to have a great time over there.

For me its an exciting prospect to go back to what is essentially the ‘homeland’ for my family, as although I was born in NZ and am Kiwi through and through, the large majority of my relatives live in England so I will surrounded by family over there.

In 2013 my aims will be more focused on the international scene as opposed to previous years. So essentially I wont be doing too much too soon this year and will hope to be able to peak later on for big events such as the Tour of Britain. Therefore ill be keeping somewhat of a low profile over the NZ summer, not doing too much but just making sure I’m 100% ready for a big international season. So far this has been the case (though you can hardly say that summer has started yet, there still seems to be snow appearing on the hills down here) I have had a good break from the bike and training, making the most of the time to do other things that I wouldn’t normally be able to do.

Beach time – Sydney

Lambing – not a bad spot for a days work

Now slowly the long uphill road back to fitness begins though, which seems a very daunting task, especially with the holiday season approaching. However with abit of running and mountain biking in the mix to keep it interesting it shouldn’t be too bad. In Central there are some great training roads but not a huge variety so it very quickly gets repetitive, however as soon as you go off road a whole other world opens up, so I have taken to exploring this and am loving it. Certainly not bad training either as anywhere you go includes gnarly, steep, rocky climbs that you could literally ride up all day… Already got a few epic days planned, 2-3hr climbs on the cards, that should help!

Mountain Bike heaven

Im also currently enjoying the last few weeks that I have in the 2012 NZ elite champs jersey before the event comes around again. I certainly wont have prepared for it as I have done previously but on a course that I have a lot of experience on and suits me well I will go there to race and fight for the win again. We will line up as team mates once again and do the best we can to take the Jersey with us over the England. Until then though, life will continue along at a cruisey pace as the Central Summer sets in, and my journey back to full fitness progresses.

So heres to the last post as a PureBlack Racing rider, to all those who put in the hard yards behind the team for the last couple of seasons, thanks for the memories.

end of an era

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Jimmy

Finally its here, the end of season 2012. Must say its a pretty good feeling to be sitting here bathed in the warmth of the Central Otago afternoon sun, sipping on a large cold brew and reminiscing on what has been an epic journey over the last 12months. This time last year I was gearing up for a massive year with a ProContinental version of PureBlack Racing in Spain however as we know things didn’t work out and since then it has certainly been a rollercoaster ride.

lining up with the boys for the last time this year

The last stop of which was the Tour of Southland last week. I guess my fortunes for the year were mirrored in the way that the tour played out. We started really strongly with a very close 4^th in the TTT prologue (all four top teams were within 2sec), I was feeling amazing and super excited for what lay ahead. However a lot was to unfold on the roads of Southland during the week and generally it wouldn’t be going my way.

lighting it up in the TTT

The first road stage was reasonably uneventful, we stuck together and had a good plan for the finish, although we showed our strength we misjudged the finish abit and ended up going to early. I managed to hold on for 6^th in the sprint but was a little disappointed with what could have been.

Day 3, the second road stage is where things started to get abit messy, again I had super legs and was cruising along in the bunch waiting for the big finale up Bluff hill, however the race had other plans and a large group of strong contenders rolled away early on taking several minutes. This was Taylor Gunman’s time to shine as he was our sole representative up the road, he did not disappoint putting in an impressive showing for third on the stage. Further back down the road carnage was taking place. The bunch was being decimated in the crosswinds on the way to Bluff, I was feeling good and riding right at the front along with my boys Roman and Dion. However a quick swerving of wheels in the echelon resulted in me running out of room on the side of the road and going flying into the grass, luckily I was unhurt but required a wheel change. I was able to regain the main peloton and went into the bottom of the climb a minute or so down. I climbed well and limited my losses, hopeful that my good form would be able to pull me back up the standings later in the week, however it was just a sign of things to come.

Crosswind Carnage

Day 4 included stages 3 and 4, first up a short burst from Riverton along the brutally exposed southern coast to Tuatapere and then a 100km haul directly into the blowing nor-wester up to Te Anau. I was feeling good in the hellish crosswinds along the coast and made the select front split, only to once again be pushed off the road by another rider getting blown in the wrong direction in front of me. This time I wasn’t able to jump back in quick enough to join the chase group and had to roll in some more minutes down, this time effectively ending any GC hopes.

I went into the afternoons stage annoyed, determined and focused. I wasn’t going to keep letting crashes getting in the way of things so I would just try ride out front this time. However this was almost completely chucked out the window when I had a mechanical issue with my front deralieur in the neutral section, luckily it was no sweat for team mechanic Louie to sort out. Usual protocol when a rider has a mechanical in the neutral section is to delay the race start until they have rejoined the race, so I wasn’t too stressed but when I saw the bunch and convoy stretched out in a long line going 55kph in front of me I was abit worried, turns out they didn’t bother to wait. Anyway Harry made sure I got back up with the help of the van. Although as soon as I got back to the bunch I saw the break was already gone, I was pretty pissed off so didn’t hesitate and jumped as hard as I could when the next rider went to get across. It didn’t take us long to get there and establish a decent breakaway group. It was a long tough drag to Te Anau, uphill and headwind the whole way on roads that would require a lazy boy couch car to pass over comfortably, this resulted in the break disintegrating rapidly. With 50k to go there were only 3 of us left and the bunch never let us get much of a time gap so it was never looking very good for us. I kept riding through hard trying to get as much out of the other guys as possible but I soon realised if I wanted any chance of holding on for the win I was going to have to empty the tank and go solo. With 15k remaining and a change of direction giving us a tail wind I went for it. With only 1min gap over the bunch I was basically pushing shit uphill but was none the less fully committed. Having done the stretch of road in a TT of the Tour de Lakes previously I was very familiar with it and knew that there was abit of downhill inside the last 4km and just killed myself to get there still ahead, however the reward was not just, as I turned to the downhill section the wind was once again firmly in my face and my 30sec gap rapidly disappeared inside the next two kilometers and I had to settle for slipping off the back of the bunch at the finish. One of those ‘a lot of effort for nothing days’ but was consolidating to know the form was definitely there.

Going it alone

The crown range stage is the longest stage of the tour and is quite often won from a breakaway group. I still felt really good in the morning even after yesterdays efforts and considering there were some strong climbers in the field I figured my best chance of winning was to get in the break and have some time at the bottom of the climb. The break group was much larger and stronger today but still it wasn’t enough to contend with the long tedious drags into the heavy northerly wind, which was knocking our speed down to 20kph on the flat! As the bunch lifted the pace with some guys keen to push for a stage win, our lead evaporated quickly, some of the guys in the break group with me didn’t seem to want to fully commit to keeping the gap high and were more content to continue sitting on and saving energy so that they could try their own solo attacks with still 20k and a 3k climb remaining but only a 50sec time gap. Such is bike racing though and I had to concede another large amount of energy expenditure in a 150km breakaway for not much at all.

in the break again – long road to Crown Range

Going into the last two days we had to change tack abit and look to ride defensively in order to preserve Taylor’s 3^rd place on GC and U23 leaders jersey as well as 2^nd on teams GC. At the start of the long stage to Gore I could feel instantly that I was going to be paying for my efforts in the last couple of days, unfortunately I wasn’t given any chance to ride into the stage with crosswinds ripping the bunch to shreds in the first 30km, I was constantly getting caught one or two wheels to far back and having to chase back up. Once it finally settled down and I rejoined the front group I saw a few key guys missing and with all of our guys still in the bunch with me it meant that there was nothing for it but to go straight to the front and continue chasing, yet again I was smashing away into ahead wind on roads that never seemed to end. The break was strong and without a concerted effort from other teams to help chase it turned out to be a long long day slugging away. Eventually I had enough and just rolled in the main pack to the finish. Taylor continued to ride strongly and maintained his position after a very testing day.

on the front again, this time doing the chasing in a long day around Gore

The last day of the tour is generally nothing short of epic, and this year was promising to be the same. With small time gaps up top there was still a lot to race for, the weather was coming along to play as well chucking snow, hail, wind and rain at us. The first stage had changed from the 80k blast to Lumsden that had often defined the tour in previous years to a very unappealing 13k TT around the dead back roads of Winton. TT’s are often the key to winning a tour but then Southland is not really a normal tour and the TT did very little to affect GC. I was still struggling to get off the downhill slope of tiredness and recover abit after three massive days riding on the front and so had to just take the TT pretty easy in anticipation and trepidation for what lay ahead in the afternoon. Taylor, Roman and Dion had all TT’d well and we were still strongly holding our positions, it was just going to be a matter of giving everything we had and fighting right to the end to keep ahold of them.

Boys sticking together through a tough week

Usually after the decisive morning stage the final stage into Invercargill is somewhat of a procession with abit of action at the finish. However we were in for something totally different this time and within the first 5k of the stage there were only 20 riders left in the front group. Myself, Dion and Taylor up there, it seemed there was to be no relief for me as I was forced to spend all my time riding as hard as I could on the front to protect Taylor’s position. I think everyone in the bike race gave their absolute all in that stage but unfortunately for us we didn’t quite have as much left as the others, and the time gaps at the finish were too big. It was a really disappointing way to finish off the tour, it had just been 50k too long with Taylor losing his pink U23 jersey and slipping to 5^th overall, aswell as our team GC position slipping one spot. But nevertheless we were proud with how we had ridden as a team, sticking together the whole time. It was also great to see our former PureBlack Racing teammate and good friend, Mike Northey take an impressive overall win.

emptying the tank chasing on the last stage

The two new comers on board from Australia and Canada, Dan and Cody, slotted in as if they had been part of the team all year and were always looking for ways to help out and improve. We also had a massive amount of support behind the scenes to be thankful for. Louie made the switch from rider/team sprinter to mechanic and was just as effective at his new role. Astrid was our swanny in training and was learning new tricks everyday, doing a job that basically has no end of things to do, very proficiently. Linda and Tony van Uden took us under their wing and showed us why Roman will never leave home with their kitchen skills. We were also very privileged to have Paul & Paul along from Roofing Industries, two guys who had never been to a bike race before made themselves so useful I’m not sure now how we would’ve survived the week without them, their special talent being identifying key tent spots pre and post race so that we were always as comfortable as possible.

Anyway despite the slightly disappointing results it was a great fun week and an excellent way to wrap up a mega year. I will most definitely enjoy my break for a couple of weeks now but am already getting excited about what the future holds.

Also I want to take the opportunity to say a big thanks to all those supporters and sponsors that have helped get me through the year. Our team sponsors – Avanti, Perry Foundation, Steel Roofing & Roofing Industries NZ, F2P to name a few have made such a big year possible.

My personal sponsors have given me so much support over the last 12months, it certainly would’ve been a lot harder and less successful without them so massive thanks to NZ Funds, Skeggs Foundation and Armstrong Sport.

Anyway I’m going to go enjoy some more of the Central sunshine,

enjoying some of this for the next wee while

Thanks for reading.

*photos from Cycling Southland and Pete Bruggeman