Wednesday 23 December 2009

Looking Forward to 2010

Hi Eveyone,

After spending the whole road season and much of the winter in Oudenaarde, Belgium it was finally time to come home for Christmas to see friends and family. I cant believe how quickly a year has gone and its nice to look back and reflect on 2009 as 2010 is so close!

With the help of The Dave Rayner Fund I was able to race and stay for the full season in Belgium. I have been racing with a fantastic Belgium team called The Sprinters Malderen that look after me very well, and its a bonus that they dont speak much English so I can practice my Flemish :) I will be staying with them for the 2010 season and look forward to doing bigger and better races with our new and improved racing calender! After a year in Oudenaarde I have settled in well and attend Dutch lessons every Monday and Wednesday to try and make myself a little less of an 'outsider', and fit into the Belgium way of life; this includes many hot chocolates! I had a good 2009 season with a win in Belgium and many top 10 places however, next year I am looking to build on these results and try and get as many wins and podium places as possible!

I am currently training hard for the next season because they do say all is won and lost in winter. I have been doing swimming and running as well as cycling, which has been a bonus as the weather is pretty tough with all the snow and ice. Although it didnt stop me yesterday Mountain Biking in the snow for 3 hours. I have been doing track training too, and did my first race in over 2 years last month at the Gent track, and was 4th in the Scratch race. I really enjoyed it so I will be going back for more in January!

I attended the Dave Rayner Dinner in November which was an amazing evening, meeting our inspirations; Bradley Wiggins, Russel Downing, and all the fantastic people supporting us to follow our dreams in racing full time abroad. So much was donated that night and I have to say a big thank you to everyone who gave a donation as without you, I could not be fulfilling my ambition to become a professional cyclist. I am lucky enough to have Dave Rayner's support next year and am hugely grateful.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, and I look forward to telling you all my experiences and results in 2010!

Alice x

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