WEEK 4 DEBORAH PAINE & FINN FISHER BLACK

Last week you could not get around those two young riders. First of all Deborah Paine finished 18th in the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race. A fantastic result being the first non World Tour Team rider in a field with girls of all big cycling battles. Deb came in less then a minute behind winner Arlenis Sierra (CUB - Astana team) and in the same group as 8th position Emily Roper from Australia. At the moment she is riding the female Herald Sun Tour with her fellow countrywomen. More about that in next blog. (Pic: Deb's on the left).
Second big effort was made by Finn Fisher Black (pic) on the track, he is the actual team pursuit worldchampion U19 held in Aigle, Swiss. Few days ago he realized an individual pursuit time of 3.13.018. This is 3 seconds faster then the NZ U19 record.
Only one second off the U19 world record. He might be really close to set a WR in the coming weeks.

The male roadies raced the New Zealand Cycle Classic, and it was Aaron Gate who won the first stage and took the yellow leaders jersey, and kept it all the way.
Shane Archbold was beaten by milimeters in the second stage, won by Stefan Bissegger. The three remaining stages been a succes for three Australians, Jensen Plowright (Drapac), Jesse Featonby (Oliver's Real Food) and Theo Yates (Drapac). Overall winner was Aaron Gate, best young rider Theo Gilbertson.
Let us hope that we see all these young men and women in Belgium soon!

What to order in European coffee bars?

no more confusion if you take this list with you to the coffee house of your choice. Altough I guess the Belgian people get more confused then the Kiwi's and Aussies when they have to order their favourite brew.
Most names are in Italian, and that is what usualy is the problem for Belgians. For example how do you order a little brew, half coffee half milk? That is a "cortado". So maybe following list might help a bit.
First coffees without milk:
*A one shot (25ml), strong, dark, bitter coffee, no milk: Espresso.
*If you want same coffee but a bit bigger go for a Doppio, that is simple.
*A very strong one, less water (15ml) is a Ristretto.
*You can also order a espresso but with more water (60ml), that we call a Lungo.
*The normal coffee that we usually drink for breaky is an Americano. (Belgians order a Koffie).
coffee with milk:
*If you want to drink an espresso with milk foam, go for a Espresso Macchiato.
*Same coffee but with hot milk instead of foam (50/50) is a Cortado.
*Most people drink the famous Cappuccino, this brew contains three equal amounts of espresso, hot  milk and milk foam. But !!! Be prepared to ask your waiter in Belgium for milk foam, otherwise they serve it with whipped cream. Also, a good Italo/Aussie friend told me: NO cappuccino after lunch!! Italians do not drink milk after noon.
*An espresso with heeps of hot milk and milk foam is a Latte Macchiato.
*Same thing but with a double coffee shot and less milk is a Flat White.

Most top coffee houses will understand you anyway, but sometimes the young baristo/a only know the Italian names.
If you need help, you can always invite me too!

WEEK 3 - Luke MUDGWAY and VELOFOLLIES

No doubt about that the biggest effort in week 3 came from the riders who started the Gravel and Tar race in and around Palmerston North. Both races for men and women are classified UCI 1.2 events.   

The difference in distance between men and women is only 13km. (total men's race 125km) Men do a small detour! Just to imagine how hard this race is, only 24 of the 65 men finished within the time limit, the girls 18 out of 35 got to the finish in time.
In the men's race the final was a dispute between four riders with Luke Mudgway (from the new Continental team  EvoPro) having the fastest

sprint, few lenghts before Ryan Christensen (New Zealand National Team), and third the Australian Cyrus Monk (also EvoPro). The fourth rider in the leading group was James Oram (NZNT).
The women's race was dominated by the Mike Greer Home Cycling Team with Jenna Merrick and Rylie Mc Mullen on second and third place. They had to give few meters to winner Brodie Chapman from Ocenia Womens Cycling. The team GC was won by NZNT and the Mike Greer Home team.
 Next races coming up are Melbourne and Cadel Evans RR, the Sun Tour in Australia and the New Zealand Classic.

The biggest bummer of this week was the crash of Tour Down Under leader Patrick Bevin (CCC).at 10km to go. He came down very hard and had to continue with an injured knee. Poor Paddy tried hard to keep the time gap as small as possible but of course this was a mission impossible for him.
Daryl Impey won the TDU with George Bennett (12th), Tom Scully (86th) and the unfortunate Paddy finished 41st and took the green Points jersey.
In Belgium in the mean time snow is falling (pic is a view from my little cycling office). So what is the best thing to do: visit the yearly cycling fair in Kortrijk.

Velofollies 2019 welcomed about 40000 people in three days. All the latest race bikes and MTB's are on display. And yes my wife Lieve asked me which bike I would like. And I found a pretty nice one, did not see the price, but was down on earth again when I did see. But yea who looks at Colnago bikes! A five digits price label (in Euro's).Maybe another life, who knows?
What also attract attention is the fact that almost every cycling brand has a connection with a coffee brand these days. One of them was Cannondale who had great coffee to serve from Oro y Paz.

Other attractions on these bikeshows are the cyclists that turn up to sit down for signature session on the different sponsor stands. Guys like Iljo Keisse, Peter Serry and Tim Declercq took the plain to South America the next day after visiting Velofollies. And..... when they come back in a month the season can finally start in Europe!

Stay tuned!
Ciao

WEEK 2 - ALICE KOFFIEHUIS and Niamh FISHER-BLACK

Back in Belgium, a difference of about 30° warmer then Northern Finland, but o so depressing. In Gent a grey sky, raining, not the most cheering weather. Another good reason to look for a nice hot coffee in a comfortable place.
Lieve suggested "Alice", just behind the Sint Michiels church. Little walk from were we left our bikes behind. It took a few seconds before we saw the place in the street as it is not really very visible from the corner of the street.

But once you walk in the hallway you can imagine that this is a beautiful house probably belonging to a rich family many years ago. The size of the doors and height of the ceiling reminds of notary houses or a house belonging to important people and family.
The place is named after Alice De Witte (°1930 in Zelzate), a woman that worked in the grocery shop of her parents and loved preparing meals "flemish style" and baking cakes. So it was not hard for owner Eric to find a suitable name for his business. His mothers name "Alice".

When you walk through the door, the elegant interior match beautifully with the house. Typical Boudoir style, warm and cozy. A friendly team welcomes you and shows you some places to sit.










                               You get a menu and I am sure everybody can find something to his liking. The whole range of different coffees made with a Kovatec coffee machine is available. Also High Tea for Two, Brunch, breaky and a quick look on the lunch menu almost made me stay for the typical Gent dish, stew made with Liefmans Goldenband-beer and a slice of bread with Tierenteyn mustard.
We had a cappuccino and Lieve had a fresh tea (not a tea bag) and I must say that the coffee belongs to the best ones I had since I started this coffee-blog. I need to come back for more. You pay when you walk out at the counter and he reminds me of the old grocery style shops. I could imagine "Alice" standing there, but in fact it was a younger version.

ALICE, le goût de la nouvelle grandeur - Onderbergen 6 - 9000 Gent
www.alice-gent.be - closed on Monday

Niamh 
 While we walk in the rain, our young female Kiwi girls had their cycling battle in Australia.
Eight New Zealand women took part of the Santos Tour down Under. A four days races held in South Australia. Four of these riders were U23's.
Let this be the category we will be focused on (together with the U23 males) in this coffee & bikes-blog for the coming 11 months.
The four youngsters of the Vantage New Zealand National team all rode a well. So it was hard to nominate the rider of the week, but the 2nd place in the U23 general classification of Niamh made me decide for the sister of junior world champ team pursuit Finn Fisher Black.

from left to right:
Amanda Jamieson (37th on GC - 9th U23)
Grace Anderson (18th on GC - 5th U23)
Deborah Paine (44th on GC - 11th U23 + 7th KOM)
Kirsty Mc Callum (26th on GC)
Niamh Fisher Black (13th on GC - 2nd U23)
Elyse Fraser (28th on GC)

don't forget that these girls finished 6th on team classification, amongst several World Tour teams!
The Tour was won by Amanda Spratt, the Australian numero uno for the last few years!

Next : Gravel and Tar (19 Jan)

WEEK 1 - James FOUCHE

We've spend a week in Muonio in Finland near the Swedish border. A great area to hang out if you like outdoor activities. We spend hours in the forests of the Pallas Yllastunturin Kansallispuisto National Park, jee mouthful! And when you keep in mind that day light is about one hour, we've been out there in the dark for a long time.
All this in temperatures from -5° down to - 26° Celsius.
So what you really want to find after ten hours in the cold is a nice coffee. Let this now be the problem. Lappi's, that is what they call the locals, are amongst the most coffee drinking people on our planet. But I guess they only looked at the quantity and not the quality.
Kahvi is the translation for coffee in Finland, but most of the time you find instant coffee. You can't expect five coffee shops in a "town" with 2200 people. So in Muonio is one!
Only problem it is situated about 3km from Harriniva were we had our base camp. No transport really, so that means walking. Lovely, all the clothing you can find, two pair of socks, boots, thermo clothing, jacket, special overall, buff, beanie, gloves and out the door for an hour walk along the frozen river in deep snow (was the shortest way).

Surprise, surprise, the name of the joint is "Swiss coffee house". Chocolates? Watches? Nope, pretty good coffee and nice cakes.
This was the best we could find.
They had a whole range, from cappuccino, latté and of course the Swiss liquor coffee, but without liquor. The lady had no alcohol licence!

Any way, a fantastic week full of action, dog sledding, reindeer riding, snow scooter, walking and .... our first bike ride of  the year. On fat tyre bikes, great fun but a big effort in the snow and uphill to a ski station. Oh and no warmer then -15 !!

When we were back in Harriniva we had the choice between an instant coffee and a Finnish beer. I took the beer, not that was any better tho.

In the meantime, probably with a difference of at least 35°, the National Road Championships were held in New Zealand and Australia. Lucky we had internet acces even in the coldest part of Europe.

I would like to nominate as youngster of the week. James Fouche (Team Wiggins), winning the U23 road race and time trial. Fantastic win over a field that included all the New Zealand World Tour riders!
The Mike Greer Homes female team dominated both U23 road race and time trial, with wins for Georgia Christie and Jenna Merrick.
I hope to get an interview in a Gent coffee shop with these aces when they arrive in Europe.

In Australia the titles went to Nick White (Bridgelane) (road) and Liam Magennis (Drapac) became TT champ.
Sarah Gigante won both road and TT title.

 The season has started! Bring it on!!!