Courteney Lowe: February 2013

Ok so, I am very slack. So much has happened since my last post and it is about time I started to keep everyone up to date in what’s been happening in my life.

January the 12^th 2013 I lined up to start the Elite Road Nationals in Christchurch. With no expectations I went in feeling pretty good. Andy and I had worked hard together since surgery and I went into the race after some pretty solid training. The race was hard; Dyers Pass has not got any flatter nor easier. After some pretty hard laps a group of 8 of us got away including Linda V, Kate C, Jaimie N, Joe K, Reta T, Emma C and Georgia W. Reta rode really strong up the climbs but with riders like Linda it was almost impossible to gain enough time on the climb and stay away on the flat, especially with the new flat lap added into the race. After many break-away attempts it became clear it was going to be a sprint finish. Usually this would daunt me, with the likes of Joe, Kate and Linda I knew it was going to be a hard sprint, but I still felt confident as I have been doing a lot of sprinting with Andy and I wanted it so much that I knew I had a pretty good chance. Fast forward to the last 100 metres and I found a gear that I didn’t know I had ,it was a head wind so I left the sprint as late as I could, I almost left it a little too late as it was pretty damn close at the end. But I got it! The biggest and best race of my life so far, and the best part was that both my parents were there to watch it all unfold.

Abit too close for compfort!!

I wasnt last to open the champagne this year!! yuuus

There are so many people to thank for supporting me over the past few months and who have believed and stuck with me through everything that has happened. There are too many to mention but here are a few that I really do not know how to thank enough;

- My coach Andy Reid, for being the best coach I could ever ask for!

- Richard Bates, my mentor, my mechanic, my go-to person whenever I have any cycling issues.

- Optum P/B KBS for sticking with me and being so incredibly supportive (and being the best team… ever!). In particular my director Rachel Heal.

- Koops Cycles for being there from day one!

- Craigs Investment Partners for your amazing support.

- Tauranga Cycling Club, you guys are all awesome!

- Matt for always being there and putting up with my biking obsessions.

- And last but definitely not least, my Mum and Dad, you are the reason I am where I am today. Thank you!

Now for the next chapter, I have recently arrived in Oxnard, California for the Optum P/B Kelly Benefit Strategies training camp. It’s cold, 10 degrees, but the weather has been pretty beautiful with blue sky almost every day. This year we have 11 in the team with 4 new riders; Brianna Walle, Lauren Hall, Grace Alexander and Amber Gafney. We also have a new mechanic Mike Gavagan who is a lovely guy and really good at what he does. He even made us afternoon tea when we got back from a bike ride the other day! How cool is that!?

It’s going to be a really good year, Rachel has once again picked a team who already get along so well together, and with her incredible knowledge I am sure we will have another really successful season. I cannot wait!

The most important part of the year is giving thanks to the people who allow this team to run, and allow me to live my dream. The sponsers! The majority of the sponsers are the same this year as last with the exception of a few. Thanks to the following people for your incredible support!

Acura http://www.acura.com

Arundel http://www.arundelbike.com/index.html

Bicycling Magazine http://www.bicycling.com/

Challenge http://www.challengetech.it/products/en

Chamois Butt'r http://www.pacelineproducts.com/

Champion System http://champ-sys.com/

Cliff Bar http://www.clifbar.com/

Compex http://www.compex.info

Hed http://www.hedcycling.com/true_speed.asp

K-Edge http://www.acecosportgroup.com

Kelly Benefit Strategies http://www.kellybenefitstrategies.com/

Large Format Graphics http://www.largeformatgraphics.biz/