Morning, well then....its all snow and ice here in the UK at the moment, -4deg when I stepped into the car earlier on... hoping the temperatures are significantly warmer the other side of the planet.

Right then...the boys have sorted the stages out for the riding, so here's a breakdown of the cycle distances pencilled in for each particular day. This dont include the swimming and the running sections!!! Hhhmm...think Gordon might be saving those as special end of the day treats????

ISLAND STAGE DISTANCE (km)
North Island Stage 1 - Cape Reinga to Kaitaia 89.7
Stage 2 - Kaitaia to Whangarei 199.33
Stage 3 - Whanagarei to North Shore 172.06

Stage 4 -Coromandel to Matamata 143.91
Stage 5 - Matamata to Turangi 181.91
Stage 6: Turangi to Wanganui 170.05

Stage 7: Wanganui Masterton 197.19
Stage 8: Masterton to Wellington 133.58

The Cook Straight

South Island Stage 9: Picton to Blenheim 28.2

Stage 10: Blenhiem to Kaikoura 128.11
Stage 11 Kaikoura to Christchurch 180.5
Stage 12 Christchurch to Geraldine 149.27

Stage 13 Gerladine to Waianakarua 147.58
Stage 14 Waianakarua to Balclutha 184.04
Stage 15 Balclutha to Bluff 181.35

Tickover training is going well, although I think ive almost stared through the backwall of the garage, seems like ive been in there for hours, in reality probably only a few minutes, seems like hours though!

Getting excited now and raring to go, trying desperately to avoid the urge to go and do some nuts last minute training - fortunately xmas cake and snow is helping me prevent that.