Marina Duvnjak

Hey

 Well I actually dont quite know how to even spell the name of this tour, and from the lack of energy to find out I shall call this the Limo tour, k!!  Sweet!

Right so, 4 days = the team was Carissa W, Michelle H, Brei G, Alison S and myself, unfortunately Michelle K was not feeling well so there were only 5 of us!!

Day 1=  4Km prologue, No major excitement there, I managed a 20th spot bout 28 sec behind the leader… yippdy yay.

Day 2= 107km bloody hilly and HOT!!!!!!, The pace was on right from the start and of course I had the mint positon off the line, … dead last… anyway managed to move up through the bunch and then got a flattie bout 5 km into it, Grom (our mechanic) was buzzing though!! a wee rush for him, as I know how he loves following womens races!!! I was feeling like complete ass today and got dropped not sure where exactly as I have no fancy shmancy gadgets on my bike to tell me i’m creeping… So basically I was out the ass, with Ali and Brei doing a bit of team time trial training, we were all so smashed at one stage I thought I was hallucinating from the heat that a horse was running towards us in the middle of the road……. but no that actually did happen!!! And yes it was scary!!! heheh… all 3 of us didnt quite know what to do, I stopped and unclipped and Brei just hid behind me!!! hehe… cheeky bugger! Not quite sure what happened to the horse in the end but im sure the copper that was chasing it got it under control! Ali I think was suffering from jetlag too and the heat didnt help I’m hoping that these are the reasons she couldnt figure out what 4×12km was……(we had 4 laps of the 12km finishing circuit to go) ummmm 4×12 is….. 28, ooh 36km……and I was like…. aye.. you did not just say that!! I failed maths at school but even I  could figure that one out in 3 seconds!!!48km duh!! hehe… anyway was a bit of a laugh for us in those hard times!

I would tell you about the 2riders (a russian and Menikini) that got away and had almost 10 min on the bunch but I cant be bothered,…. whatever… who cares bout them!! I’m sure they didnt just have the coco pops for brekkie!!

Day 3 = 103km Pretty rolling, but not as bad as yesterday, Don’t quite remember the details, Basically ended up in a bunch kick, I had a few go’s bout 6 km from the finish but nothing that stuck…. have no idea how we ended up!!

Day4 = 113km, Worse terrain then the 2nd day, but I kinda felt better, I attacked bout 10km into it and had a gap with a russian a pom and menikini rider who wouldnt pull thru (bullshit ay) we had a good wee gap for a fair few Km’s then what you know another russkie comes flying past so me and the pommie drop, the race leader flies past them and wins by heself by like 5 min!!! I manage to stay with the bunch for a wee while, and try help out Carissa and Mitch as much as I can, then 1 more effort and  ……see ya!!! Im gone… I hurt myself so much today I thought I was going to fall off my bike…. the coach tells me my job is done and dosent care how far down I finish, (thank god) I creep in who knows how many minutes later almost at at a standstill on the line!! heheh… I’m pretty pissed off with myself for not being able to hang on to the break, but I also know that I did contribute to the race and really really really tried so bloody hard!!!!

I really didn’t enjoy this tour at all, I have some good bits I will take out of it, but for some reason I just didn’t quite “feel” the race!!! …I actually felt more smashed after day 1 then I did after 10 days of the Aude tour…..

Anyway, I am back in Limoux and I’m having an easy 1 hr then tomorrow off!! yaaaaaaaaayyyyy…. So if I get bored I might write some more crap on here, so you all have some reading material while stuck in your offices at work!! hehehhe….  Wer’e making Pizza for dinner!! yummmm!!  So I better go help!!!!

Righto, take care and like always if you want to write to me, thats all good!!

Marina

Hi!!

Well here it goes!!  Tour of Bretagne was 5 days with 6 stages.  Its a region bout 8.5hrs drive northwest of where we live!!

So this is how it went! All the road stages were pretty rolling, no major climbs like over 2km or anything and it was reasonably windy for the tour but not as bad as P.E.I was!

Day1= 95km , a fair few attacks but nothing stuck till bout 40km to go where Toni go into a break with 2 others and they stayed away with bout 20 sec to spare, Toni got our first podium! Awesome ride!

Day 2 = 122km, all go right from the start, there was alot of aggressive riding, I got into a few breaks but nothing stuck and then about 30km to go 12 riders just sort of rode away, and I was at the right place at the right time, and feeling pretty smashed but it was all on for th sprint, and what do ya know.. I get the worst f*****g cramps in BOTH my hamstrings and barely pedal, I swear to god I thought I had done serious damage I was almost a suki  baba and shed a tear, but held it together and just tried to recover for the next day.Never in my life had i experienced this…  anyway, although it was good to be in the break I was really pissed at how it finished up!!! GRRRRRRRRRRRRR

Day 3 =104km  Basically long story short, the team was aggressive and rode really well we made sure we covered all the moves and rode strong, it ended up being a sprint finish again and I really wanted to have a go at it again today but was so paranoid I would let the team down if they tried a leadout so just tried to sprint with Tammys help and still did ok, and NO cramp!!! yaaayyy

Day4 = 94km  Brilliant work from the team again we were in every move and just rode well, 5 laps to go on the finishing circuits 5 girls including me rode away  and  stayed away  by bout 15secs and I attacked just before the last corner and ended up winning the stage!! Woohoo!! go the Kiwis!!!  It was cool! I was pretty stoked to actually get a good result.

Da5 = 8km ITT in the morning, well throughout the tour I had gone from 12th to 4th on GC and I was to have a good Time trial to try and move up on GC, but what do ya know I felt like complete ass and could barely turn the pedals, I was sooooooo sure I had blown the whole thing. i could tell by the coaches voice on the radio that went from all excitement to just…… go, keep it going, …. um… u’re doing good…. …ok just think bout finishing…. all or nothing..hehehehhe I knew I fucked it up!! oops, but had nothing more to give my legs were toast..grrrr

Day 5 = 77km Road race in the avo, well I found out I still managed to keep 6th position on the general classification so kinda was determined to at least keep my spot or obviously better it! Anyway it ended up being a Sprint finish up the hill and I tried to give Carissa a leadout with what I had left,  and we still got a 6th or 7th so it was good!!!

Anyway overall it was a good tour for the team we got 2nd team overall, a 3rd a 6th on GC (4 of us were top 20), a 3rd place and a stage win!!   full results on www.cyclingnews.com

We are back in Limoux now after 2 days of driving home due to crap weather, so now I have 3 days rest and I’m riding in the Limousin tour starting on Thursday evening with a 5 km prologue I think, I’m pretty tired from the racing but my legs are getting better so its a good thing. Righto Off to make some food for the BBQ we are having at the team house…… will keep you all posted!! Hope everyone’s good!!!

C U

Marina

Hey

Well its been 3 days of racing and it feels like 10, man I am pretty darn wasted!! But I am fianlly racing well and making other people hurt too!!  yay for me!!

Team is doing well and we ar currently in 3rd spot with Tony being her usualy brilliant self and getting in a breakaway with 2 others on the first stage!!  and i got into a bunch 2 days ago and we had a small gap on the field but  this time though there is 49of us witin 1 min of the leader so its pretty open (i’m surrently in 12th 38sec down!, today’s 95km then tomorrow’s 8km ITT and then 77km stage in the avo so anything can happen!!!     For some wierd reason I have been struggling with really bad cramps, which I have NEVER had before…. grrrrr…  I swear to god I thought i was going to fall off my bike the other day trying to sprint!…… sooooooo frustrating!!!!!! 

Will write a full report when I get back to Limoux on Tuesday I think!!

Thats all for now!!

C U
Marina

Hello!!

Well it is now officially a full house here.. well last night it was! Rosara and Tammy have arrived and are racing with us in the next 5 day tour starting on Wednesday! Tammy has been in Belgium racing for a pro team Lotto, and Rosara’s been studying in England and is now preparing for the MTB worlds! Think they’re pretty stoked to be round some Kiwi chicks finally!!  Brei and Mitch H are staying back here chilling and training! Mitch’s partner’s here so they’re off to Barcelona for a day or 2!! MINT!!!!

 Well the rest of my training week went prety darn well, we never got to race on Saturday as there was nothing on that was suitable, so Jacques decided to make things interesting and do  2 hr motorpacing session with 5 of us on the bike! long story short yip, it deffinitly made things hard for us and its was bloody good! Just what we needed! And for 2 days straight no knee or arm warmers! yay! In fact if was that hot yesterday we went to the river in the avo, 4.30 and still got a mean tan!! haha..

So this morning we are off on the first leg of our trip, bout 8hrs driving today I think! Then we stay the night somewhere and drive the rest of the way in the morning! Should be sweet!  The team is Tammy, Toni, Rosara, Michelle K, Carissa an myself. will be cool!We are pretty gutted as the TDF comes through  our town on Saturday  and will be round this area for a couple of days but hey what just our luck we’re going to the complet opposite side of France …. :(   would have been a wicked experience! hopefully with the hype of the tour more people will come out and watch our racing!! …… hmmmm that would be nice!! 

Besides sitting on the couch, or eating,I have found that I can stare at my computer  and have a bloody good laugh, there is a tv links site that you can just watch any programme, so I’ve been loggin on to Top Gear, the car show…. man I was laughing so hard the other night Mitch could hear me laughing in the next room…. those 3 guys do some hilarious shit!! It’s the only car show i’ll ever actually pay attention to! ha! It was my Sunday night ritual back home, Ants would always give me stick, 7.30om on Prime!! yeah!!!

Anyway, Ok thats it for now, I’m off to finish packing, and I have no idea where we are staying and if there is Internet so pardon me if you dont hear from me for a week!!

Hope everyone’s ok and keeping out of trouble! And if anyone wants to write to me drop me a line  marinaduvnjak@hotmail.com 

Bye for now

Marina

Sup!

Just thought iId let the world know that for the past 2 weeks I have done ALL my training!! Not one session was cut short and not one effort was missed out!! yay!… This week was pretty full on for me.

Monday = recovery 1.5 hrs , and core work, gym

Tuesday = 20 min test (measuring power to weight stuff), then another 3.5 hrs riding

Wed = 5x 5min on, 5min off,  on the erg high cadence then 3 hrs ride after that

Thur= 5 hrs steady and tempo up the hills….. with the 2 mountain goats Mitch and Brei!! eeeeekkkkk

Friday (tomorrow) = will be rollers I feel, and maybe gym and core work

Saturday we race and Sunday Im not sure yet….

Anyway I’m quite proud of myself and I have already trimmed down 2 kg I put on in Croatia…hehehe  yay! And I’m feeling good about myself. The sorest and the worst part of the riding is having to sit on that damn seat! Its really not that comfy anymore  :(  We were supposed to get some more kit in this phase, but apparently there is nothing left…….. bugger…

Rigtho, the Tour De France is on here as most of you would know, and its become our daily ritual to train then plonk down on the couch and discuss how the hell they do this!!! 3 bloody weeks!!!  And of course yell and scream at the TV while the sprint is on!! I was upstairs yesterday when 5 of the girls were screaming hard out, falling off the couch and of course by the time I came down Julian Dean had done the meanest leadout and his teammate won!! WOOHOO!! The tour is like Rugby back home, they have the 2 hours of build up, the whole race live on tv, and then another 2 hrs of discussion about it after… we cant understand any of it, but its always loud as!!

Apparently the “summer switch”   is turned on today and the weather should be heating up from now on!! But I wont hold my breath thats sure… its been crazy….. and bloody windy too!! But I guess I cant complain rather be here then back home right now!!

Cheers for your comments!!  Pam !!, the Williams family!!Lance!!  And everyone else!!Its cool that youre taking time to read my babble!!

Thats all for now!

Marina

Hey

Well it’s been a week now, and I’m right back into full training. I must say I was feeling pretty unfit and lazy during the break but I guess thats normal. I really enjoyed my time off, but possibly went a bit nuts on the yummy cakes and bikkies my grandma makes, as I have 3kgs to lose….heheheh…. oops

My training for the past week and this week are miles miles and more miles!! Last week most of my days were split into a morning and evening session of 2 - 2.5hrs each time, with efforts, which for once I have actually been doing!!

This week Ive started off with a recovery day as we raced yesterday, then its basically between 3.5 - 5hrs riding each day! We have a womens race on Saturday, then it’s travel and resting up for the Tour de Britagn starting on 18th to 22nd July.

We raced in a town of Bouloc yesterday with cat 3 men and the junior men. It was 28 laps = 78km.  And right from the start it was full on! I thought I was history in the first couple of laps, but then just settled in and  felt comfortable and even had a go just before the last corner in the finish….I wasnt going for a major placing or anything as there were couple of guys up the road, but I just needed to practice my finishing… and of course I blew and just rode in…. oops… Anyway I enjoyed the race and was pleased to finish and not get lapped! phew!

The weather here has been pretty random too! Tuesday was average, Wed and Thur were HOT so we went to the swimming hole (the river), yesterday was 24degrees turning into rain, then today is cold and was raining again! Whats happening!! I always got told that July is really hot, im still riding in arm and knee warmers!! crazy!

 Anyway hope you guys have checked out my bebo site… I had the address on my last post!! It’s like an addiction!! Every morning the ritual is to turn on the computer, clean my room and check my emails and bebo!! Then of course eat and train!! Its always cool to see what people are up to!!  Its strange that I don’t work here and I’m not studying, but my days seem to be filled with stuff to do!!

The NZ triathletes have a base about 20 min from us and hopefully we are having a BBQ at their place as they have a pool and grass, it’ll be cool to meet some more kiwis here!

Righto I’m off to buy some food!

C U
Marina

Dobar dan!!

Well I’ve been back in France now for 4 days, so I thought Id better let you in on what I got up to in Croatia!

I arrived in Zagreb, which is bout half hour from where my family lives and where I was born in Ivanic-Grad. The weather was stunning and HOT the whole time! which was a nice change since Canada was a flop!

Basically most of my days were spent at either grandparents houses. There was no chicken plucking this year, just picking of fruit like cherries and some other berry that I dont know the name of on english!.. anyway it was wicked!

I even got an invite to a wedding, went with my grandparents and had a blast!!My grandma and i were pretty excited as we got to dress up, and she said as it was such a special occasion she was even going to keep her teeth in during dinner!!! hahaha….     Its was so cool to see how its done over there,(pretty much like the movie “my big fat Greek wedding) basically it was a party the started Saturday morning and when we were leaving at 2.30am Sunday they were only just starting to bring out more food!! The ceremony was in an old church in one part of Zagreb, then after the ceremony everyone got into a convoy and drove right through Zagreb beeping, waving the croatian flag, and running red lights!! It was pretty cool! Once we got to the reception there was bout 15 different home made cakes and biscuits and of course I had to taste every single one !!! yuumm!!!!  The music was typical Croatian style and everyone was dancing, my grandma asked if I was keen for a boogie and I was yeah sure why not thinking she’d just be stepping side to side …. hell no….. the old bird was bopping, shaking and swinging those hips and arms!! I was in shock.. had to try keep up!!! hehe… anyway was wicked night!!

Then it was time to travel to the Stunning Croatian coast and soak up the sun for 3 days!!I was lucky enough to know my moms friend on and Island called Vir, she has built a house there with her husband and rents out rooms!So anyway, I got on the bus and 5.5 hrs later I was swimming in the sea which was 25 degrees!!!!! I could not believe how clear, warm and untouched this place was!! and what the hell had I been thinking all those visits to Croatia  in the past and not going to the coast! I remember it when I was younger as we had a batch in Pirovac, and that was always good times but since we left Croatia in 1990 I hadnt been back!!  From now on I will go at every opportunity!!  And if anyone else is thinking of going I say go for it!! you wont regret it!!! Anyhow I spent basically all day lying by the water or swimming! It was mint!  only heading home for lunch which was on the table waiting!! (thanks Nada)

Saturday rolled round and it was time for me to head back to Ivanic to spend couple more days catching up with relatives and my younger cousins from South Africa that I hadn’t seen since they were 1 &3 years old! now they were 15 and 17, it was pretty wicked, and they were cool…  We ended up at some random concert in town .. had no idea who the guy was but EVERYONE else did and were singing and jumping round so after a few beers I got right into it!! Had a mint night!!!

Anyway, like i said I’m back in France and back to training…. doing a local club race on Sunday so hoping to have a good safe one!!

 If anyone’s interested I have a bebo site now too….. which has some randoms photos on it if anyone wants to have a looksie!!! As this thing takes forever to load up pics on here…. grrrrrr

www.bebo.com/marinaduvnjak              or  http://marinaduvnjak.bebo.com

Righto I’m off to train thats all for now!

Marina

Hey!

Think I better apologize for not keeping you all posted bout the P.E.I tour and what I’ve been up to, but hey better late then never! 

5 Days round Prince Edward Island which was a  long 14hr bus trip! The organisation that run the Montreal world cup and the 4 day Montreal Tour also run this new event. They booked 3 coaches and a big kick ass truck for the bikes and packed all the teams and officials on the busses and off we went!!

 Its a small island just off the mainland, its connected by a brand new 14.5km Bridge, the Federation Bridge its called from what I can remember!  Unlike the Montreal weather, we were lucky no rain, but alot of wind! All the races were either flat-ish or rolling no major climbs, so basically we knew it would be gutter action most of the time! Booo!! The people on the island thought it was amazing! they loved us, and welcomed us big time! Every day we had Brekkie lunch and dinner supplied, and unlike the French style, this was wicked food!! HUUUGE selection of veges, rice, potatoes, salads, fruits desserts!! yuummmm!!  Most of the European racing food is either pasta, bread, grated carrot and maybe some fish or dried chicken, so the old tomato sauce is always a must!!

Day 1 = 10Laps of 10km circuit, Race plan was to be aggressive and try create moves! We had a few good breaks but none seemed to stick, apart from 1 Russian chick that managed to go solo and stay away (even with the whole Italian Pasta Safi team chasing and she continued gaining time) ….basically she finished with a slight gap and the rest of us in bunch finish. again I spent the last 4 laps getting dropped , then catching back up the story of my rasing so far this season!!!!!!

Day2 = 28km ITT there and back along this new bridge! So the locals were stuck on the island while we raced. It was a massive tail wind all the way out with riders going bout 65+km/hr  in the biggest gear, and on the way back I was in my small ring 21 trying not to stall!! anyway the biggest surprise I got 4th… hell I was just hoping to make top 20 for once! I was pretty stoked with that but also found it rather funny!! Now I knew tomorrow i had to suck it up and ride in good position and not let the team down…..

Day 3 = 121km Rolling RR, basically I was to ride well in stay sheltered, which was fine with me, and what do ya know I didnt get dropped once, all of a sudden I had this bit of confidence in the bunch and just held my position easier then any of my other races this season! yay!! Nothing too dramatic happened ….

 Day4 = 99km Rolling RR, Again it was windy and that was the biggest factor, the field split a few times and although I never got dropped today either, I deffinitly thought I was toast on a few occasions, but had wicked teammates that looked after me and we managed to keep it together! we lost 1 spot today ……… bloody Russians going nuts again..

Day5 = 50km crit, Pretty mush a square circuit 1km long with a slight uphill on the back side of course! I really wanted to do well today and have good go at it, but felt like complete ass…. so just rode in the bunch and tried to stay upright! Nothing exciting hapened. I was pretty dissapointed with myself after….

Anyway, I finished 5th overall!! so its a good result for the team! We collected some UCI points which is the name of the game!  So now for me it was time for my 2 week holiday in my beautiful homeland Croatia!!! (thats why i kinda dissapeared off the face of the earth and never updated this thing)

Ok thats is for now! tomorrow I shall tell you all about my trip!!

See you!
Marina