Hello and welcome back…

It was hot day on the 3rd of May 2008, deep in the Swiss Alps I was about to start the 5th stage of the Tour de Romandie.  A brutal 130km stage with 4 mountain passes lay ahead, though my day would soon become even harder as my left leg filled with pins and needles on the second climb of the day.  I couldn’t feel my foot and my hamstring felt like it was tearing every pedal stoke.  That day I could have never imagined that 18months later I would still be dealing with problem.

Now today I write to you two days before departing for my base in southern France with a new motivation, knowledge and belief I can race to my full potential.  It has been a road of many ups and downs (mainly downs) but with the support of my wonderful girlfriend, family, friends and support team the end is much brighter.

I would especially like to thank, Duncan Reid, and Brendan O’neil for heading my support team over the past months here in NZ.  Their knowledge and the time they have all spent with me  has been invaluable.  Also too Criss Strange, Dan Smart, Lisa Hansen, Shaun Stuart-Jones, Seah Martin, Matt Brick, Sarah Ulmer,  Brendan Cameron, and Mark Holland thank you all for your emails, text messages, late night phone calls and rehab sessions.

A couple of weeks ago I had a crack at my first race in 4 months.  I wasn’t quite on top of things at that point but the Takapuna Criterium was a perfect place for me to test where I was at, and help out a good mate Scott Guyton riding on his Kiwivelo team.  It was a great feeling to race in front of friends and family again along with the rest of the big crowd on the night, and to finish leading out my good mate Pete Latham for the victory was a nice personal victory for me.

I will leave it there as my suitcase needs some attention, but will be sure to drop you all a line once settled in Europe, and ready to report on a great year of racing in the pro peloton.

Look forward to hearing from you guys too.

Cheers

Tim