Day 1 - 7km Team Time Trial (TTT), Avalon TV Studios, Lower Hutt, Wellington

Kiaora. A great way to start this tour is with a TTT. It's a far more relaxed (or let's say less nervous) way to kick off the hurt-fest - if you stuff up (invariably you never stuff up but just don't do as well as planned) it can always be put down to a collective stuff-up. Anyway, for me, lining up with 3 hill-climbers for team mates bodes well for this big (time-trial-race-of-preference) boy.

With a little discussion and not quite enough warm-up we were off the mark. Josh started us well with a controlled first effort. I rolled around for the second turn to wind things up. I made the mistake of winding up a bit too much, but there after we maintained a tight pack of five hunting down the finish line.

We finished in the top half of the field (well 9th of 18 teams)! Not bad considering no practice run and not a lot of shared riding between us, and only one and half sets of aero bars, one aero helmet and one disc wheel.

Time now for team meeting and maybe a rub-down. Enjoy today's entry, we'll have far less literary energy to share tomorrow.

Odlin