FOUND: Myfanwy Galloway.

Hi! My name is Miff, you may remember me from such blog posts as ‘Limousin and the little things’ written here over 4 months ago, or vaguely remember my face from races in Europe nudging back closer to 5 – OK, I’ll admit it, I’ve been MIA on the blog front for a fair while.

As I’m writing this, I’m sitting in my familiar room in Ballarat - inhaling the tortuous fumes of raisin bread from the bakery next door as they waft through crevasses of my apartment.

Damn you Sunicrust Bakeries!!

 I’ve retreated to the home of the Australian National Championships a week prematurely to take time out to screw my head back on and calm myself down before the torrential storm that awaits me in the Jayco Bay Criterium Series and the Australian Criterium and Road Championships. It is only now that I feel as though I’ve finally had the opportunity to take time out to reflect on what really has been a rollercoaster 4 months since I left the tranquil lakeside in Bellano. So what has been happening? People who know me say I talk too much – and I’ll agree, so I’ll spare the gory details and do my best to consolidate my thoughts in a few simple dot points:

1. I sustained an overuse injury in Belgium which forced me to return to Australia 3 weeks early
2. I actually had an offie – 10 days at my parents new holiday house in Bellano on Lake Como (ah-ma-zing) where I dutifully ate my weight in gelato.

Living the tough life in Bellano :)


3. My overuse injury got diagnosed as Medial Band Friction Syndrome – more commonly ITB Band Friction Syndrome found in runners on the lateral side of the knee, but because it would be unlike me to have textbook injuries, it was on the medial side of my knee. 5 rounds of cortisone by Iontopherisis, 1 cortisone injection and a bunch of physio and Pilates later and I’m feeling as good as new and have every intention on staying this way.
4. I had a pretty awesome belated 21st birthday party with my twin sister –21st, been away for 4 months, Playboy theme, seeing friends…Need I say more?
   
   My sister and I at our Playboy 21st
5. I had the pleasure of signing for Commonwealth Games Champion Rochelle Gilmore’s Dream Team for the Summer and hit the ground running with a win and 3rd place at the Subaru Noosa GP in October and am now the proud owner of a pretty damn sexy looking Pinarello Dogma 2 thanks to Pinarello and Campagnolo Europe :)

The BikeExchange.com.au Dream Team


6. I road tripped to Port Macquarie where caught up with two of my closest friends and two pros Carlee Taylor (who recently signed for Vienne-Futuroscope) and Lauren Kitchen (Rabobank) and took a girls weekend away to race the first race of our Summer season – Glen Inness to Inverell where Carlee won and placed 1st in the KOM, and Lauren won the Sprint competition.
   
   Carlee and Lauren contemplating going to 'Paradise' instead of racing
7.  I got 2 new part-time jobs – receptionist at Kingston Physiotherapy and Brazilian Butterfly Canberra City which has been helping to keep my brain ticking over and my pockets full when I’m not training.
8.  8. I raced the NSW International GP with the BikeExchange.com.au Dream Team where Kirsty Broun, the newest addition to the team, took the overall series and I decided to taste the bitumen due to a mechanical, finish the race, pass out at first aid, go home and realise I probably needed stitches, at 8:30 at night. Granted, I have seen the footage of the crash – and it looks as though I decided that throwing myself on the ground would be less painful than racing, it looks hilarious.
   
   What would require my first lot of stitches! yummy...
9. I third wheeled the women’s preseason GreenEdge/AIS camp in Canberra where I tasted more than my year’s intake worth of stem, bled from my eyeballs and somehow didn’t die – and am now feeling a whole lot stronger and better for it!
10. I crammed in my last shifts at both jobs for the year by working 32hrs in 3 days leading up to Christmas and can’t wait for pay day.
11. Christmas has been and gone and was a lovely day spent with my whole family and friends – all without managing not to give birth to food-octuplets by the days end.
    
    Christmas wouldn't be complete without an arvo nap...
12. I am only 2 days away from starting my 2012 season – I don’t think I’ve ever been so nervous but excited at the same time in my whole life.
13. I’m scared to have a shower this morning after completely lobstering my back reading in the sun by the pool yesterday afternoon.

Oh, and there is one other little thing I let slide that I think deserved more of a recognition on my part than being put in dot notes – for 2012, I will be riding in my first UCI Professional Team – Team Faren Honda. Based in Italy, the team consists of names such as Nicole Cooke (current Olympic Champion), Rochelle Gilmore (current Commonwealth Games Champion) and Fabiana Luperini (5x Giro d’Italia winner) to name a few and has its eyes firmly set on wins in the World Cups, Classics and the 2012 Giro d’Italia. For the season I will be based in Bellano, Italy (tough life I know) and look forward to using this fabulous opportunity to develop my potential as a rider with the help some of the most successful and established women in the peloton! More information about the team along with recent interviews I have done regarding my 2012 will be posted once my new site is launched!

Although I’m itching to head over to Europe and start my campaign with Faren Honda, Firstly, I have my eyes firmly set on the up and coming Jayco Bay Criterium series (1st-4th January) where I’m hoping to be able to help a very motivated BikeExchange.com.au Dream Team to continue its winning streak with the first win up for grabs in 2012. Watch this space for more regular, I promise, updates on which will no matter what be one hell of an adventure.


Until then stay safe and happy pedalling :)

M xx

 P.S I would also like to say a big thankyou to Jooann at www.tayjooann.com for putting in the hard yards with my new site! It is very much still under construction but I would love any feedback! So please feel free to check it out at http://www.myfanwygalloway.com/ and tell me what you think :)