006 [PHOTO LOG]
Kia ora,
I hope you’re having a great wiki wherever you are on the globe. My return to the south has been great; daily, and weekly routines have ensured jet lag doesn’t have anything to latch onto, while being back around familiar faces both at home, and in the training environment has been something i’ve been excited to get back to.
This update will have no race reports, but instead i’ll be sharing a bunch of photos from my time racing TCL. Over the four weeks I carried my point-and-shoot with me wherever I went, taking photos of whatever I found interesting in front of me, and then developing the rolls as soon as I returned home.
I always had my camera with me, but seldom took it out during racing. So most of these photos are from the times between, for some fancy racing photos, check out the galleries tab on the UCI TCL site.
Ellesse and Daks waiting for a shuttle to the track in Mallorca.
Unloading bike boxes.
Our first round of bike building, time spent doing so dropping incrementally at each of our stops. Jet lag playing a big role in this first round taking so long.
Our skinsuits being branded with our respective sponsors, before Round 1.
Balcony views in Mallorca.
Room views in Mallorca.
Time spent waiting for Ubers may well have exceeded time spent in Ubers, over the course of the trip.
Set-up crews working around the clock to transform the velodrome.
Race morning in Mallorca, a walk down to a local coffee shop to begin the day prior to racing kicking off in the evening.
Arriving at the track for the first night of racing.
Ellesse prior to her first round of sprints. The late Spanish sun streaming through the infield.
Ellesse adjusts Sophie Capewell’s (Great Britain) race numbers moments before heading up.
Ellesse after her win in the Keirin, in the World Champion rainbow strips - an honour bestowed upon the World Champion of each respective event.
Evening calories post-round 1.
Wandering down to the Subterranean Berlin Velodrome.
Bike build, upon arrival to Berlin.
Bike box storage. Between rounds, bikes are disassembled, packed, and shipped in these boxes, between rounds they lay dormant.
Bonanza Coffee Roasters, Berlin.
Kebab store in Berlin.
One of the few nights ‘making dinner’, supermarket salad, al fresco.
One of the many nights not ‘making dinner’, Korean BBQ, indoors.
Waiting for the tram.
Ellesse and Eiya Hashimoto (Japan) wait for the train at Heathrow international airport.
Ellesse and Eiya on the Elizabeth Line, somewhere between Heathrow, and Stratford.
Our final bout of bike building, at Lee Valley Velopark in London.
Mark Stewart (Scotland / Great Britain / Honorary Kiwi) and Daks take the familiar commute to Lee Valley from our accomodation. Earning our keep in the coveted Lime Gold Elite club.
Evening sun illuminating Ellesse’s bike between efforts at Lee Valley.
Ellesse, Daks, and Nicky Degrendele (Belgium) between efforts.
Martha Bayona Pineda, and Kevin Santiago Quintero Chavarro (both Columbia) warm down at the end of a session.
Commute home, Lime ambassadorship pending.
Mathias Guillemette (Canada) at the final training session for the 2023 TCL Season.
Iain Leggat and Alex Giles (TCL Media Team) prep for the double header in London.
Not lycra.
Liverpool Station, our final and only rest day in London.
Sam and Joe Truman (Great Britain) cruise home after pre-race rollers, before the final night of the TCL.
Ka kite anō au i a koutou,
Cal