This year I wanted to get back on the ice as soon as possible because my biggest weakness is my technique. The best way for me to improve this is to skate, skate and then skate some more. Thialf does not open until the third week of September so I decided to make the trip to Salt Lake along with my DSB teammate Ingmar Berga.

We decided from the start of the year that Dijon would be a major goal for Cado Motus so my training was based around this race. We do not have many chances to race the ‘top-dogs’ of the WIC so I wanted to make the most of this opportunity. I have put in a lot of time and hard work on the roads here in Holland but I knew I needed some extra training if I wanted to be competitive.

I have gone from mind numbing hours of training in my home city of Palmerston North in New Zealand, preparing for the Inline World Champs to freezing my butt off in what ended up being a great Dutch winter.