It sure felt good to finish the season in dominant fashion in Portugal. Many of you will know of Paulo Pinheiro, the man behind the fantastic circuit of Portimao. Paulo put a lot of time, money and effort into getting the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve to where it is now so I badly wanted to reward him with victory at my first attempt. I loved the track from the moment I first tested there. I’m not just saying that because Paulo is my boss, I genuinely mean it! I think it’s best suited to supersport machinery as you can really wring the neck of a 600 round there. I had a 1.2 second lead after the first lap so I just controlled the following 19 laps at considerable ease. The track is so much fun to ride that I was able to enjoy what should have been a high pressure race.

I’m enjoying the offseason right now simply because it’s the offseason. I know that I won’t be testing again until January and that relaxes me knowing the only things I REALLY need to do before then is eat, drink, train and sleep! That’s a nice feeling so for now I’m embracing it. I’m still training hard until I get a break away some place warm at the end of November for a week or so where I can to take a big fat chill pill. I’m looking forward to 2010 so much, I’ll be staying put with Parkalgar but this time I’ll begin the season with the intention of fighting for the championship. Beginning 2009 I didn’t have the belief that I could win the championship, simply because I was on a Honda that wasn’t under the Ten Kate banner. I wasn’t doubting myself or the team’s capabilities, instead I was looking at the statistics of the past seven years which pointed towards Ten Kate domination!

Last weekend was Halloween and I got roped into dressing up for a night out. I was enjoying a long Saturday afternoon cycle with five of my mates when Pippa called to say she was shopping for costumes. I’d never done fancy dress before so I thought why not! We all headed out for the night and it was great craic. I was dressed as a skinny wrestler and Pippa a pirate. The one that made me laugh most was the six lads dressed as tetris! Basically they were in different shaped cardboard boxes with duct tape outlining each block but the guy I felt for most was the one in the single-file four block piece. He could only move baby steps at a time and his centre of gravity looked pretty dodgy! Poor bloke probably got knocked straight over ten times that night.

I’m off to Valencia tomorrow to watch Friday practice and attend the Down Syndrome Ireland event on Friday evening. I’m off outa there on Saturday morning so I’ll watch the race on TV instead. How times have changed, ten years ago I’d have given an arm and a leg to be at Valencia GP on race day whereas now it feels like a chore! I believe the saying is ‘too much of a good thing’, a bit like tucking into your fourth Easter egg.

The electric is out at home and it’ll be three hours before it’s back on. Well that’s just great. The only question now is Monopoly or Cluedo?

Ba bye,

Eugene