E M I L Y . C O L L I N S

The Euro season has now kicked off with a bang and so far so good.

I arrived to a very chilly Belgium late Jan to be greeted by Wiggle Honda mechanic Adam Nordy Nordmeyer & Japanese team mate Mayuko Hagiwara. Great to get settled in to my temporary home in a cute wee town just outside of Brussels city. All was good apart from the slight temperature adjustment. Arrived to a mass of snow and coming from the kiwi summer was certainly a minor shock to the system! Getting there slowly but surely now and think I'm hardening up a bit with time... #remembering2HTFU

After a few days in Belgie it was straight to the Wiggle Honda team launch in London to meet the team, sponsors and supporters. It was a pretty full on day but a lot of fun and fantastic to meet the girls and everyone who has helped in getting the team up and running.

Bar Hazen Photo - here with Lauren Kitchen and team owner Rochelle Gilm

Thanks to all the team sponsors - we've been well decked out with some top equipment. Very lucky girls!

Bart Hazen (Photo) - Team Launch - Wiggle Honda

Next up on the schedule was The Ladies Tour of Qatar, something very new to me...

Check out the latest Pro Cycling Mag to read about my 'Qatar Experience'. I'm very grateful to this year be writing a regular 'rider diary' in each issue of Pro Cycling Magazine. It's a top opportunity and I'm thrilled they've chosen me to be part of the mag. Looking forward to reppin' Wiggle Honda each month - hopefully will come up with some entertaining reads!

Post Qatar it was straight back to Belgie on the red eye flight for some needed R&R and a 3 week training block to get used to riding in freezing conditions and get prep'd for the Spring Classics.

Safe to say there's not a whole lot to do here in our little town so I've been spending a bit of time twiddling my thumbs between training (when it's not snowing). I am studying part time this year to finish off my Business degree (I hope)! but books are yet to arrive so fair to say I've become a bit of a master at recovery time and my time on social media has certainly been on the up these past few weeks! Can't complain though - beats sitting at a desk working huh?...and definitely enjoying the Belgian bike paths and canals. My only problem is getting lost. Every little town looks very similar to me...bricks, a few shops, cobbles, dadeda - hard to get your bearings but nice to head out exploring every now and then.

Lucky for me I had some more Wiggle Honda girls come liven things up here last week pre our first big Spring classic Omloop Het Nieuwsblad which was cool. A bit of team bonding been going down since including plenty of O.P.I nail sessions, cycling scoop, girl goss, team rides and relaxing. Been good but by the weekend everyone was very much ready to kick off the Euro season!

Valentines Day - Mayuko, Adam and I had to get out...found this cute restaurant in Dendermonde.

O.P.I ORANGE #WiggleHondaStyle

Writing this, I've now completed two of these Spring classic races you crazy Euros contest religiously each year. Judging by these few experiences, I know this Spring is going to be damn tough!
Everything about these one day events is brutal. For one, there's the freezing cold temperatures - it really is rough. Negative degrees means hiding away in the team Vanomobil camper until the final minutes before start time - there's no point in warming up as you're going to be an icicle from the gun regardless! These conditions also mean riding in almost everything you own...well for me this was the case. Some of the Wiggle chicks are pretty tough though and ended up venturing out in a lot less - crazy! I still ended up being numb the majority of the day. I'm yet to master keeping my fingers and toes warm...suggestions?

Secondly, there's around 200 starters entered per event and being early season everyone is eager to impress, fresh and ready to head out with a bang! This means it is necessary to expect crazy times in the peloton - especially at the start. Who can get to the front the quickest? In the neutral zone = silly-ness!! I'm learning slowly with these events and the Euro racing in general that it's definitely an advantage being more relaxed during these stages of the race - stressing out is only going to stir up the crazy times even more. Perhaps?!

Team Presentation pre Omloop Het Nieuwsblad

And then can't forget the typical spring courses. I heard there was cobbles at Omloop but didn't really think too much about it until we showed up for course recon the week before...ah WTH! These cobbles were more like big fat annoying rocks sticking out and damn straight they can hurt. It took me a good few hours to get the hang of these little suckers and after some advice from my Wiggle team mates I finally started to get it a little. After that race though there's definitely a hate-hate relationship going on with myself and the cobbles. Not a fan and don't know If I ever will be! Certainly makes racing interesting though - will give them that. Best I get over it as I know there's plenty of those nasty buggers coming up! I really hope to have the better of them come summer...

Bart Hazen Photo - Paterburg

Bart Hazen Photo

Frozen pre LeSamyn - Bart Hazen

All up, both races were very tough both mentally and physically. Managing the cold was a big thing for me and racing in such conditions is still new. I'm a summer lover and don't like the chill! I'm getting there though and after a few tough races I now have a pretty good idea of what to expect in the upcoming months. Le Samyn was a little better for me with the temperatures being slightly higher and I began the race knowing it would be hard as nails! I was happy to come away with the sprint classification after a good few first laps. I was chuffed as had come back after a crash with fellow team mate Beatrice in the early stages of the race. It was a tough chase but think it only fired me up more. This was cool but definitely wore me down a lot for the remaining few laps. I suffered like a dog and was yo-yo-ing from the lead group a wee bit. I was too smashed to help the following lap when eventual leader Ellen VanDijk escaped away from the peloton up the cobbled kicker. Woo that girl can ride a bike well!

It was a shame for the Wiggle Honda crew as we had top sprinter; miss Giorgia Bronzini in amongst the pack. Giorgia has just come off an impressive track worlds where she took 3rd in the points race. Unfortunately for us, the small break way was much too strong to bring back and it ended up coming down to a bunch kick for 5th place. I'm still learning with the new team and know we all struggled with communication in these final laps; I think everyone was too smoked to do much! Being a newly established squad everyone is still unsure of one another's abilities and riding style's. I am confident we will come together over time but for now we are still gel-ing together! I ended up coming in 10th overall so wasn't a bad day but hope to be better soon :)

For now it's just chillin' at the team house getting race ready for tomorrows Omloop van Het Hageland. Excited to get out there and give it a good shot. Next week I will race my first World cup Ronde Van Drenthe and then it's off to Italy for a few big events and team camp - fun times ahead!

www.wigglehonda.com
https://twitter.com/EmilyCollins_NZ
https://www.facebook.com/opinz OPI NZ

Sure has been a busy few months down under!

After that much needed break back in October I've been back on the bike since enjoying the bits and patches of NZ summer; chilling with family and catching up with mates + a fair bit of travel to and fro to different events here in NZ and across the ditch in Auccie *(Aussie)

I've been happy to come away with a few podiums and a bit of prize mulla while out there which has been cool and it’s nice to have a change of competition and scene in racing – safe to say I’m a lot more relaxed racing in NZ.!

I started off with the NZ crit nationals which I decided to contest mid November on fairly minimal fitness! I was happy to hang in there though and make it to 2^nd. Following that it was down to Taupo for the OPI women’s road race. OPI put on a fantastic event for us girls and it was great to see so many youngsters out giving it a good shot. The race itself was quite exciting for a relatively small peloton and coming over Hatepe hill into the final 20km things were definitely heating up. It came down to a small bunch sprint where I was just pipped on the line by class act Rushlee Buchanan. She’ll be back racing on the road this season which is cool.

Following Taupo I was lucky enough to be jet setting off to sunny Fiji with the Collins fam. We had a fantastic week there of sun, surf and fam bonding. Duty did call however so I bought my bike over for some trainer sesh’s to keep up to scratch for the next event on the calendar. Thank goodness for quality air con!

Big sister Liv beach babin'

Next on the cards was straight from Fiji to Sydney for the NSW Grand prix series in AUS aka the best event of the year. This has got to be one of the most enjoyable races on my calendar – the racing itself is good fun and challenging to top it off but the best thing about the event is the chilled, easy going, fun atmosphere. They never fail to put on a great weekend for us kiwis! We cruised on over with a solid group of girls and lads to take on our Aussie competitors in Cronulla and Wollongong, Sydney.

Kate, Reta, Soph and myself in our Bates Bikes kit

The boys of L&M racing; James Canny, Tom Ashley, Joe Chapman and Aaron Gate did a fantastic job with Aaron (such a TANK) taking 3^rd overall in the series against some seriously top competition. Us girls had a tight little team of Reta Trotman, Kate Chilcott, Soph Williamson and myself and were lucky enough to be racing for the Bates Bikes shops – CHEERS guys.

After some pretty aggressive racing throughout the first stage it ended up coming down to a bunch kick where I took 3^rd Soph close behind in 4^th. This set us in a good spot for one of us to take the overall series (points based).

Wollongong on day 2 was a nightmare with horrendous winds blowing a gail. Really was a worry for the light weights! It was another full gas, exciting criterium and with only ten minutes to go the field had whittled down to just 12. Attacks were flying like crazy and after 2 Jayco Aus girls went for it with 4 laps to go Soph took a flier just following and held it to take 3^rd on the stage with me finishing 5^th. This took Soph up to 1^st overall which was a pretty fantastic effort! We were stoked to say the least. She goes incredibly good for a young gun and is definitely one to watch in the coming years!!

That big W called for some much deserved celebrations on the Aussie town that night and as per usual the festivities proved to be a great. Joe Chapman for the 3^rd consecutive year took the prize for having the most ‘entertaining’ d floor moves. Congrats Joe.

Chap-Moves

Following NSW it was back home to get some decent miles in, earn a bit of coin and get prepared for Europe 2013. Next focus would be my new team Wiggle Honda’s debut event; The Bay crits in Melbourne beginning new years day.

After some beach time at Waihi post Christmas I was off NYeve to Aussie to meet some of the team, test out the new (VERY cool) equipment and get set for some seriously speedy crit racing.

On arrival I was greeted by new Aus teamies; Rochelle Gilmore, Lauren Kitchen and guest rider Jess Mundy followed by German Anna Schnitzmeier. Was great to meet the girls and start some team bonding – lovely group!

Anna, Lauren, Rochelle, Jess and me (trying to be serious but clearly not succeeding)!

From there we were off to Geelong to get set up on our sweet new Colnago rides. I was chuffed. Was like Christmas all over and only a week later – not bad at all!

Over the 3 days of racing we had some good moments and bad. You will definitely get that when you are on a new team with new faces, racing styles and equipment. Once we’ve ridden together a few times I’m very confident it will all come together for us!

Rochelle was able to pull off an impressive 3^rd place on day 1 after some very aggressive racing by the Wiggle Honda girls throughout. This set the team up for a good 3 days in the series but unfortunately due to mechanical issues day 2 it set us back a bit. Day 3 was probably the toughest day in blistering Melbourne heat. These Aussie girls really know how to drill it when things are tough and I was at my limit for the big majority of the race. Harden the f**k up was a regular thought...! I rolled in 5th after battling through the pain cave. For us Wiggle girls, we were definitely worked over by the very strong Orica Greenedge girls who with 8 riders outnumbered us a wee bit. Congrats to them for taking out the series and for making it some very exciting racing.

From Melbourne I was back home to worry about getting things sorted for Europe. Things like insurance, licences and Visas are things often overlooked and can take a lot of time and effort behind the scenes. Mish and a half to be clear! Once I was seemingly on top of these things I was able to try and clear my head and get prep'd for road nationals in Christchurch that weekend.

Big congratulations to rising star and good friend Courteney Lowe on taking the title. She had an incredible race out there and after only recently returning from career changing hip surgery she has bounced back surprisingly well and shocked us to take the Win. I've known Court many years now through the sport and fair to say she is a very well deserved winner and will do that jersey justice no doubt over in the USA for her team Optum. You go girl!

Unfortunately for me it just wasn't my day at all out there. I struggled from the gun and was disappointed to not be there for the closing sprint. I rolled through in 10^th and was pretty gutted with my day. As a cyclist I know everyone has these days but it’s frustrating to know you’ve done the hard yards and then it doesn’t work out. Bummer but looking back at my preparation it probably wasn’t the best with mainly focusing on crit events in the build up. We all have bad days out there so time to put it in the basket and move on to better, bigger things!

Startline nervs

Lucky for me I have an exciting, long season ahead I am very much looking forward to in Europe. Bring on the 2013 international season!

Other than that it was a very well run event once again – cheers Tailwind events and BikeNZ for making it a solid few days. Christchurch never fails to put on a good show too so thanks to all those giving a yell out there up Dyers! And big ups to George Bennett for his very top ride in the mens race - big future ahead for that one - 1 better next year!

Aloha - Hula girls cheering on Dyers Pass TDF style

Now, I’m in the midst of packing up a storm for Europe – trying to juggle my winter and summer gears and squeeze all into one suitcase. Definitely a challenging task at hand! I’m off to Europe on Saturday to begin my adventures with Wiggle Honda Pro Cycling and can’t wait. Our first big event together will be the team launch in London followed by the women’s Tour of Qatar late January! Watch this space for updates and check out the Wiggle Honda team website where you can meet the team and check out our social media pages for updates.

www.wigglehonda.com

Thanks to team sponsors and management for coming together and making this happen for us, especially team owner and rider Rochelle Gilmore who has put countless days and hours into it. I know everyone is very excited about the season ahead!

While I’m at it would just like to say a very big THANK YOU to OPI (New Zealand) and Nimue Skin Technology who are my recent personal sponsor for 2013. I am so happy to be on board with them (what girl wouldn’t right?!) and am very grateful for their support and assistance. Check them out on facebook at:

https://www.facebook.com/nimueskinnz?fref=ts

and

https://www.facebook.com/opinz?fref=ts

Another Christmas for me...#luckygirl

Being associated with OPI and Nimue skin technology is very exciting being a female athlete – there’s often times where you feel anything but pretty so it’s going to be great to be able to add a little touch of glam here and there ;)

Also a shout out to Rocktape NZ – I’ve been using Rocktape a lot over the past few months to help support an ongoing knee niggle. Very choice stuff! Check them at www.rocktape.co.nz and use Coupon code ‘ems’ to get a wee discount on product.

Lastly thanks to my uncle Maurice for helping me out with some support through 2013 - very cool of you and much appreciated! Also, to Tony Smith & Paul Leitch for helping me out over the kiwi summer, Scott Taylor (photography) for taking some sweet pics in my new Wiggle Honda kit and Hot Cycles NZ for supporting me with bike mechanics and essentials - your assistance has been a huge help :)

THANKS team!