Swiss Bike Trophy, Bern - Richard Anderson
30 June 2010
Finally we have some summer weather. The last few weeks have been cold and wet but it’s starting to look up now and has been perfect conditions for the last few days. Before heading to Bern I was based in Sarnen, Switzerland for a couple of weeks training. I was off the bike for the 1st week dealing with being sick. I got back out training in the 2nd week and was starting to feel better. Sarnen was an awesome place to train as it has a bit of everything.
On Friday morning we packed up and drove 2 hours to Bern. The Swiss Bike Trophy Race was being held there over the weekend. On arrival we headed straight out to the track. The track felt a bit weird at first and I didn’t know if it was going to be my sort of track or not. It was very dry and fast and some of the grassy sections got faster by the time Sunday came around. After 3 laps on the track I called it a day because the legs were feeling pretty smashed from training the day before.
I knew that this race was going to be a hard one for me because I hadn’t raced for a few weeks and have had a lot of time off the bike trying to get over the illness. It was going to be a good race to win though; the prize money was very attractive.
We stayed at a youth hostel that was only a few minutes away from where we had to catch a cable car up to the track. It was good being so close. It wasn’t ideal having to catch a cable car up to the track but it wasn’t as bad on race day as what I thought it would be.
I went up to the track the day before the race just to do a few more laps and wake the legs up. My legs were feeling a lot better than the day before and I was starting to look forward to race day. The track had also worn in more so it was even faster rolling. That morning I swapped my tyres around and put on my Kenda Small Block Eights which were perfect for this track. They roll extremely fast and I knew they wouldn’t be holding me back at all.
The weather for race day was good. It was hot racing conditions but the track was nice and dry. My warm up wasn’t the best but I felt that my legs were up for a good race. My plan was to not go out too hard at the start but then slowly start making time up, making sure I didn’t blow. I did this because I wanted to finish strong. The start was fast and by the end of the 1st lap I was in 4th place which I was happy with. Then on the 2nd lap I managed to gain few spots and had the leader in my sight. I was surprised with how fast the laps were going but by the 3rd lap I had caught the leader. He was starting to fade so I planned to attack with 2 laps to go. So at the start of my 5th lap I pushed a bit harder and managed to drop him quickly. I was feeling good and the crowd loved seeing a Kiwi out in front. In the last lap I backed off a bit and took it easier on some of the more technical sections because I didn’t want to crash and lose my position. I managed to stay on the bike and ended up winning by 1min 30sec. It was my biggest win that I have had and it was an awesome feeling to be on top of the podium over here in Europe.
I want to thank my sponsors, Avanti Bikes, Peakfuel, Kenda Tyres, Zero, Credit Recoveries Limited and Reidie Cycles. Don’t know what I would do without these guys and it’s awesome to be in partnership with them. My bike, the Avanti Competitor is fantastic and I’m loving it.
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