Round 4 of the Sunshine Cup in Cyprus, held in Voroklini, just ouside Larnaka.

Second race - Second place!!

Myself and my boyfriend Sondre are staying in Limassol which is 70km from Larnaka, so we had to hire a car to get to the race. Luckily we are used to driving on the left hand side of the road from our time in South Africa. We figured it could be a challenge driving here as the locals are not so good when it comes to judging reactions with us the cyclists in mind plus there were some other drivers on the road - Rally drivers given that a round of the WRC was taking place. It was an inspiration to meet one of my big heros, WRC rally driver Petter Solberg. We were invited to his team tent at the expo-area to have a close look at his car and how his team is organized. A big thanks to Petter Solberg`s Rally team for being so friendly and happy to see other Norwegians in Cyprus!

With a lot of horsepower in my mind I was ready for a new race this weekend, even though I had some problems with my arm from last weekends crash, I was motivated to do the race as part of my training. Normally I would not hold back it in the dowhills, but now because of the pain I had to take it easier.

During most of the race I was riding together with Alexandra Engen from Sweden. I was pushing the speed in the uphills while Alexandra was pushing the speed in the downhill. On the last lap I lost those few seconds I shouldn`t loose on my Specialized Era in the most tecnical part of the course, not due to the bike, but due to my arm. Normally I would go ”full gas” in these sections but opted to stay on the safe side. I finished second, 9 seconds behind Engen.

Alexandra really impressed me and seems to be very strong this year. I guess there will be more fights in the future between Norway and Sweeden☺

Take care!

Lene