for two events this weekend and next.

Elliot Hubbard and his 11-member Navigators team will compete in the Sea Otter Classic this weekend and the Santa Rosa Wine Country Classic the following weekend before heading back to the East Coast.

And the 24-year-old Bermudian said he is settling in fast with his new team, with whom he signed a contract just last month when a deal with a Belgium team fell through. "I'm very optimistic, the team is a good organisation,'' said Hubbard yesterday.

"Everybody is getting along, there are no conflicts in any way and the team works well together.'' On Friday, Hubbard's team will compete in a time trial and road race before taking part in another road race on Saturday. From there they move to Santa Rosa for the Wine Country Classic then back to New Jersey.

Because of more favourable weather, the team has been on the West Coast for more than a month preparing for the season. "Most of the racing in the early season is on the West Coast,'' explained Hubbard. "So far so good. The team has been doing really well and we have a couple of riders who are really strong at the moment.

"We still have a few riders like myself who aren't in tip-top shape yet but as the races go on we'll start to gain a bit of fitness and settle in. Many of the US riders start the season a lot earlier than the Europeans so they are in better shape a lot earlier.'' The Navigators, who will race virtually every weekend for eight months of the season, are planning a trip to Europe, probably Spain, in May to compete.