Exploring South Africa

About a month ago, I ordered a set of DVDs from a company called Chasek. Like a few others out there (Sufferfest, Epic Planet and Global Ride etc.) they produce videos which you can follow on your turbo trainer. Now while I can't say much for Chasek's customer service (the first order arrived with the wrong DVDs and the second lot took 2 weeks to arrive), the videos themselves are quite good. They are all set in South Africa and contain some great scenery as well as plenty of the thing we are sorely missing in the UK right now - sunshine. I find that watching the DVDs keeps me motivated and I have had some pretty good 90min workouts. Strangely enough for this time of year, I feel fitter than I have done since I ran my first marathon (back in 2007) and am even lighter than I was a month ago.

It all points to a solid start to the year. Using gadgets and technology to motivate yourself really does work.

For those of you who, like me, closely follow the professional road racers, the season is just a tantalising few weeks away. Team Sky will line up with the rest of the pro peloton in Australia for the Tour Down Under. The event is (unsurprisingly) being covered by Sky Sports so I will even get to watch the highlights - top stuff.

If you want to get in the mood for the exciting year of cycling ahead as well as getting some inspiration at the same time, I'd recommend reading Johan Bruyneel's "We Might As Well Win". An excellent piece of writing. Cheerio for now, good luck with all your new year training!