Full steam ahead for Waipu cyclist

Just in case they were wondering, Fiona Southorn wants to assure her neighbours that nothing sinister is going on. Unusual, yes. Sinister, no.
So when her neighbours in Waipu hear a loud continuous hum interrupted by the occasional pain-induced grunt emanating from the bathroom window they need not be concerned, Fiona is just doing some training.
The paralympic cyclist is part of an eight-strong New Zealand team eyeing the UCI ParaCycling world championships in Bordeaux next month. She will compete in the track, time trail and road race there in what is a golden opportunity to look at qualifying for the Beijing Paralympics.
But, to prepare for the summer heat in France, Southorn has been instructed to do some "acclimatisation" training here.
So the closest she can get to replicating the heat in France is to lock herself in the bathroom in Waipu, turn on the heater and ride on her indoor wind trainer.
"Acclimatisation training consists of me setting my wind trainer up in the bathroom with the heater going. I have to turn the heater up and just go for it, in the bathroom," Southorn said.
The team, which flies out of Auckland tomorrow, will have a two-week training period in Bordeaux before the world championships begin on August 19.
Coach Brian Gilbert said the team would be focusing on producing medal-winning performances that would help them qualify for Beijing.
"Four of the athletes will be competing at the world championships for the first time," Gilbert said.
"For the other half of the team, this will be another event along the high performance pathway leading toward Beijing.
"It will be a great opportunity to benchmark their present performances against international competitors."
Southorn is approaching the championships with a solid year of international competition under her belt too.
She won three medals at the Arafura games in Darwin, scored a gold and banked a world record in Melbourne and was one of the medallists in a competition in Sydney as well.
It is all part of a build-up to try and nail down a spot in the New Zealand paralympic team to compete at the Beijing Paralympics next year. Southorn competes with one arm shorter than the other.
Still Southorn is planning to base herself in France for a block of training next year with a start at the Beijing Paralympics in mind.