Below are the latest Diary entries from Andrea as she has just returned from racing out in Hamburg and Beijing;

Well I would be lying if I said I was in a happy cheerful mood at the moment. My last two races were supposed to be my ticket into the Olympics and a nice end to the season, fat chance.

The World Championships in Hamburg was a massive disappointment and so frustrating. Hamburg is a lovely clean modern city but I can’t say I left with fond memories. The weather was wet, the sky was grey and the water was brown, not a great combination. My race was virtually over after about 5 minutes when I found myself in a great big punch up in the swim. The swim under a narrow bridge became a lottery as all the swimmers got squeezed together into a huge wet brawl, a lottery I lost. I got out of the water way down and I knew I was in trouble. It turns out that if I had swum 12 seconds quicker I could have made the second bike pack, close but not close enough. As it was I got stuck in a bike pack that lost time to the leaders every single lap and I was doomed. I was supposed to get some team help in the race but it simply didn’t work. I was tempted to not bother going onto the run but I had eased down for the race so I needed the training. Always better to finish than to dnf.

Now I had to get my head together for the World Cup in Beijing, which was supposed to be the main selection race for the Olympics. I flew out to Beijing 4 days before the race into a rainy city covered in a thick polluted fog.

Image courtesy of http://tw.epochtimes.com

As for the race, no excuses this time. The course is spectacular and fair; it’s got a bit of everything. The swim was a nice big one-lapper so I didn’t get beaten up but unfortunately I just didn’t swim fast enough. This time if I had swum 5 seconds quicker I could have made the front bike pack, but I didn’t and again my race was effectively over. I headed out onto the run but I couldn’t really motivate myself, a top 20 was worth nothing to me.

The only bizarre thing about my (so far) non-selection for the Olympics is that as poor as my results were I still appear to be the British number one and nobody else has been selected. It now seems that our entire Olympic team won’t be selected until the end of next May from the Madrid World Cup, which just seems to be a recipe for disaster to me. I think I need a holiday!

Despite everything that has happened I did have a couple of things to smile about recently, some new equipment. Thanks to the nice people at Extra and wiggle I have been testing out the Easton Ascent II wheels and Easton AeroForce MOD tri-bars.

I’ve been looking for some really light non-carbon clincher wheels for ages and the Easton Ascent II have turned out to be great wheels for climbing and quick acceleration. I have used them in 3 races now and they are superb. Not being the heaviest of people I wanted the lightest clincher wheels possible and these fit the bill nicely.

The Easton AeroForce MOD tri-bars are perfect for both non-drafting and drafting racing. As an elite competitor, we are not allowed to have tri-bars that protrude further than the gear shifters and this means that many tri-bars are not suitable. The great thing about the AeroForce MOD bars is that you can cut them down to size if necessary. They are light and comfortable and I’m extremely happy with them!

Thanks for those Andrea, as always it’s a great insight into the trials and tribulations of a professional elite triathlete and good luck for next season where I’m sure the form will be back for some more podium finishes :-)

Last week we got a message from Clare Hall, a young lady that rides for Swindon Road Club. Quite a few of the team are Focus advocates and she just wanted to let us know that they love their Focus Cyclo-Cross bikes so without further ado I rushed them over some Focus race kit to wear for that weekend as her and her team were racing in the Cyclocross Wessex league round 1 at Lydiard park. Clare has very kindly written up a short synopsis of the race for the bloggle!

“The opening round of the Wessex league Cyclocross was held on Sunday 23rd September at Lydiard Park, Swindon. The race was very well supported by riders from both the Western and Wessex leagues taking part. Thanks to the weather the course was dry and fast. The under 12’s were first off with 13 competitors ranging in age from 4 to 11, they raced for 10 mins over a short course which took them in to the woods, the winner was Harvey and the 1st girl home was Courtney Morrisse. The local 4 year olds, Tyler Smith, Ellis Jones and Harry Lancaster showed some future talent completing the race and enjoying their goody bags.

Next up were the Youths, 7 riders tackled the full course for 30 mins of racing the winner was Thomas Robins.
So onto the Seniors/Vets/Women/Juniors race. 85 riders lined up and were graded from last years results, the gun went off and so did Tim Dunford who lead from the start and never looked back, there was some fierce racing behind with the hard dry course taking its toll on a few of the bikes, a bent wheel, a broken seatpost and some punctures. The course was fast using the events field which was into a headwind before ducking into the woods for some twisting, turning and then a drop down into a sharp turn before a short sharp climb out and back onto the field.

2nd and 1st Vet home was Andy Shaw with Antony Green 3rd. The host club Swindon RC had a great turn out with 15 riders flying the orange and green colours the squad all worked hard and the first Swindon RC rider home was Crispin Doyle in 13th, despite a puncture, with Darren Compton right behind him in 14th. Claire Hall was the 1st Lady home.

The event was a great success thanks to the efforts of Swindon Road Club , their friends and family.

Check the website http://www.swindon-rc.co.uk/ for the results and some fantastic pictures taken by Sean Bolton”

Thanks for this fantastic write up Clare, it sounds like the day was a great success! Well done!

As I promised yesterday here is the second part of our new bargain sections as wiggle. Introducing the Summer Clearout section! It’s filled with heavily discounted, top quality kit that is simply too good to miss!

Unlike the daily price drop section where sizes and stocks are limited, we have plenty of sizing options in our clearout range. We’ve even thrown in a few best sellers such as dhb jerseys for £7.70, pumps, lights and pedals, all £5 each and more!

This isn’t a typical ’summer’ clearout offer as we have filled it with loads of parts and accessories as well all the great bargains on clothing you would expect to find. There are amazing deals on forks, stems, lights, handle bars, tyres etc…. there’s loads in there!

Have a look through and see what bargains you can find!

We’ve been working hard behind the scenes at wiggle HQ and have come up with a couple of great discount areas on the site.  First of all we have re-vamped our ’Sale’ section and it is now the  ’Daily Price Drop’.

• The price of each product decreases by 1% every day at midnight
• The price on the day you buy a product is the price you pay
• The price will continue to fall until all our stock is gone

The Daily Price Drop means you will be able to get incredible bargains as the price continues to fall until all stock is sold. However, as a word of warning, don’t wait too long as the item your watching could sell out any day and once they’re gone, they’re gone!
It’s a real test of Nerves… you can keep watching some of the cycle clothing, bike parts, frames and bikes that we have in there and keep watching the price getting lower, but any day it could be bought! All stocks are extremely limited with many items only having one available!

I’ll be introducing our new summer clearout section my next post so keep your eyes pealed for that!

Take a look at our Daily Price Drop section now!

WIN a day’s training with Stuart Hayes (Pictured right with his Focus Izalco Extreme), plus a £200 Wiggle voucher and a Focus goodie bag worth over £225

As the summer race season draws to a close, we have teamed up with 220 Triathlon, Britain’s best multisport mag, so you could be ending it on the ultimate high. Two lucky winners - one male and one female - will receive an elite boost to their training, as well as a rack of shiny new kit. Answer a simple question and you could be in the running for the following prize:

- A day’s training and coaching with Focus-sponsored triathlete and Corus Elite series titleholder Stuart Hayes.
- £200 Wiggle voucher.
- Focus goodie bag, including a race shirt, bib shorts, Windtex gilet, cap, t-shirt and water bottle worth over £225.

The training will be hosted by Loughborough University, where you’ll experience a typical day in the life of a top UK triathlete. It will take place on Thursday 27 September, just after Stuart has competed in the ITU World Cup in Beijing and as he prepares for the next leg in Cancun, Mexico.

Each winner will be put through their paces with a coached 90-minute swim, two-hour bike and one-hour run session with Stuart and other GB athletes. In the evening, you’ll be able to refuel and recover with a slap-up meal courtesy of Wiggle.

To enter you must be available on 27 September 2007 for the training day and you must provide your own sports insurance. Please note: travel and transfers to Loughborough University are not included.

But the competition doesn’t end there. In addition to the two main prizes, one runner-up will also win a £100 Wiggle voucher and a Focus goodie bag.

ANSWER THIS QUESTION
In what year did Stuart Hayes win the Michelob London Triathlon?
a) 2004 b) 2005 c) 2006

Click here to enter and for full terms and conditions.

Closing date: 21/09/2007