Well it’s been a while since I have updated my blog and so much has happened over the past few weeks and months. Prior to leaving New Zealand on the 11th of August (my 18th birthday) I was busy training 6 days a week, and with school added in as well, my training was done in the late afternoon/evening. I arrived in Waterloo, Wisconsin for my first ever ‘Trek World’ show which absolutely blew me away. It was incredible to see inside the factory where all my carbon bikes are built by hand. The level of commitment and passion that the people involved in Trek showed towards cycling was great to see and gives me real satisfaction in the brand I am riding.

I spent 4 days at Trek World where I also spent time training, trying out the 2013 Trek bikes, dealing with a few mandatory media responsibilities and signing plenty of autographs at the big opening show with the other Trek riders. It was amazing to meet and get to know plenty of other top Trek athletes that I hadn’t met before such as Jens Voigt, Katie Compton, Ricky Carmichael, and catch up with all the other athletes over the weekend. After that I flew out to Malaga, Spain where I was met at the airport by my manager Martin Whiteley who then drove me to his house in Granada a couple of hours away. The temperature here reached 44 degrees Celsius yesterday, the hottest I have ever experienced so all my training is done in the early morning or late evening while the temperatures are cooler than the 40 degrees it reaches during the afternoon! I am well looked after here and am really enjoying exploring new places of the world.

Yesterday we took a trip downtown to get some sushi for lunch, have a look around and do some grocery shopping which was cool and tonight we are heading into town to get some dinner at one of the top restaurants in town. The training is going great and I feel in good shape, I’m looking forward to the week ahead and then the upcoming Swiss Cup race in about a weeks time in Switzerland. Living the life!