I love handicap races, I love it how everyone works together to acheive the same goals...to catch limit and ride away from scratch as though you've stolen something! Unlike scratch races, there is less mucking around and different tactics involved in handicaps because if you slow up the slightest bit, scratch will swamp over you like a tidal wave before you know it and there is no point attacking your bunch because you need to work as a team to try and keep your advantage over the other riders.
Anyway, to the race. I started in C grade which was the 2nd bunch out on the road, about 10min back from limit. 7 min after us was B grade than scratch was another 10min back from them, so scratch had given limit 27min head start which may seem like a lot but over 135km of racing...Its nothing really at all. No wonder scratch caught us with just over 40km to go!
Our bunch started off riding pretty solidly, so solidly in fact that it unfortunatley meant i was feeling my lack of proper warm up and it wasn't long before i was sitting on the back of the bunch just trying to hold on! Fortunately it didn't take long for me to ride my legs into it and i was back pulling my fair share of the weight..definitely not the best way to start a very long day in the saddle! Thats another thing i like about handicaps is that it is an excuse for me to ride really hard and fast for as long as i possibly can and see just how far i can push myself and if i find i've pushed myself beyond my limits, i can simply miss a turn to recover and then rejoin the pace line.
Nothing overly excited happened in the race, except for when scratch and block caught us with just over 40km to go, a little bit earlier than we would have liked, but hey it was awesome riding in such a massive pack and trying to maneouver around the bunch proved quite challenging but fun at the same time! Thinking back on our small advantage, we were pretty much doomed to feel the wrath of the scratch markers! From then on it was a bit sketchy. We'd already caught limit and so the whole race ha come together and we had a bunch of around 90 people! Definitely one of the biggest bunches i've been in! At one point i looked down at my speedo and i was free wheeling at over 50km/hr on the flat.. we were flying! There was a lot of bustling in the bunch as some of the less experienced riders were trying to mix it up with the A graders which resulted in one pretty nasty looking crash but fortunately I don't think he was seriously injured...The pack was still togethere when we reached the last climb which was about 1km long and abut 5km from the finish when Michael Matthews from the Canberra Suzuki team attacked, forcing a chase in the bunch. I was two riders behind Chloe Hosking and Vicki Whitelaw, keeping a close eye on them as i was battling them for the title of 1st woman and they went with the attack but the riders between them and myself didn't have the strength to kick with them so i had to kick around them in the wind and didn't have the legs to bridge the last gap. I think it was partly due to the fact that i didn't eat or drink much during the race..thinking back on it, it has to be the reason. I mean i drunk less than 1 bottle and had 2 GUs on a 135km ride... not much. I just got distracted.
Anyway, we reached the summit and I decended by myself as I was caught between groups and the race was really strung out and it wasn't long before a small group caught me but they had bsically thrown in the towel already and i wanted to try minimise my losses as much as possible so opted to ride the rest solo. I'm not too sure how i finished up overall but i didn't finish too far from the back of the first pack. Vicki managed to ride away from Chloe over the top of the climb to pick up first woman and Michael won overall.
Overall, I was pretty happy with how I rode except for what happened in the closing stages of the race, but you learn from your mistakes and next time i'll pay closer attention to what I eat and drink during racing as well as to react quicker to attacks in the bunch and not hang around for the person in front of you to go.
The bike was awesome though, loved it. It was heaven. Made the ride very enjoyable and i totally rate the SRAM. Thanks again Trek and RideShop :D
Next on the agenda is the ACTAS road camp which is held on the 27 Nov-1st Dec. Its gonna be tough. But bring the pain, i can't wait!
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Thursday, November 20, 2008
The New Bicycle
It's finally here, my new bike! When I got the call up saying it had arrived, I thought they were playing a sick joke on me after they said it wouldn't be arriving t'ill close to Christmas! But it turns out they weren't but I wanted to see it for myself so I rushed over to the shop and sure enough there was a box there with my name written on it. I'm not going to lie, I fought back tears when Tim pulled it out of the box, i'm not quite sure people realise how long i've been waiting for his bike and to me it was an indication that things were going to get better and getting this bike was the first step in the right direction.
I'd just like to take this opportunity to thank James Collins at Trek for looking after me and of course Tim and everyone at the RideShop for all of their support, without their help this sexy looking machine wouldn't have been possible!
So heres the low down on the new bike:
Frame: Trek Madone 6.9pro frameset in the Astana paint job
Groupset: SRAM Red
Crankset: Shimano Dura-Ace 10 Speed 165mm 39/52 with SRM Powermeter (well will have the SRM on it once we get it modified to fit the Trek's new BB)
Wheels: Zipp 404
Frame Size: 50cm
Saddle: Selle Italia Diva
Bidon Cages: Elite Carbon
Stem: PRO Vibe 80mm
Bars: Shimano PRO PLT Compact 40cm
Pedals: Shimano Dura-Ace
Will upload personal photos shortly, but here is what it looks like!
I'd just like to take this opportunity to thank James Collins at Trek for looking after me and of course Tim and everyone at the RideShop for all of their support, without their help this sexy looking machine wouldn't have been possible!
So heres the low down on the new bike:
Frame: Trek Madone 6.9pro frameset in the Astana paint job
Groupset: SRAM Red
Crankset: Shimano Dura-Ace 10 Speed 165mm 39/52 with SRM Powermeter (well will have the SRM on it once we get it modified to fit the Trek's new BB)
Wheels: Zipp 404
Frame Size: 50cm
Saddle: Selle Italia Diva
Bidon Cages: Elite Carbon
Stem: PRO Vibe 80mm
Bars: Shimano PRO PLT Compact 40cm
Pedals: Shimano Dura-Ace
Will upload personal photos shortly, but here is what it looks like!
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
NSW Crit Champs 18/10/08
After getting back to Canbera relatively late on Thursday night, needless to say that I was not looking forward to a 5am start on Friday morning, but you have to do what you have to do and considering I was due to leave for Sydney with Chloe and her family at 9, I didn't really have much choce as my legs were begging for a recovery ride. It didn't prove to be too painful and riding with the bunch was far more appealing than rding by myself.
So after my ride, I went home and got my things, wandered over to Chloe's and set off to Sydney firstly by passing the polling booths to cast our first ever votes (even though I hate to admit it, I would be lying if I said I played close attention to all of the candidates policies and knew exactly what they were on about rather than voting for however sounded cool and i'd seen on TV.. but hey, got to start somewhere and I promise my fellow Canberran's that I will make a more informed decision in the years to come. I did however get some guidance from Chloe who told me not to vote for certain parties because they were like weird cults...)
We spent most of the say walkng around Darling Harbour to do a spot of shopping (yeah I know, gerat recovery..but I was on a quest to find a formal dress! Sadly to no avail..:( ) Anyway, had a yummy pasta meal and attempted to reduce the damage to my legs caused by a day of shopping with a hot/cold shower, streches and some major Skin time.
I woke up the next day feeling a bit ordinary but didn't let that get to me, you know what some say - You race your best when your feeling horrible? well I was hoping they were right...It was disgustingly hot, over 30 degrees.. at least it didn't take long for us to warm up! The race was held at Sydney Olympic Park and was on an L shaped hot dog circuit which after the first 10min, started to take it's toll on my legs! It was a relatively small field of girls who started but the quality of the riders were definitely not lacking! Fronting up were riders such as Ashlee Ankudinoff, Theresea Gallagher just to name a few. The race was about 35min? and the pressure was on right from the gun. There were numerous attacks being launched, by myself included (god knows why I did that too myself lol, but I do like a challenge) to try and get the sting out of some of the sprinter's legs and slowly the race started to disintergrate. I was starting to struggle but ws still in contact with the 5 other riders who were left when someone ran into my rear wheel, causing a pile up witht eh other 3 riders. Fortunately, no one was badly injured and all took the liberty of hte 1 lap out an re-joined the field. I completed 1 more lap and noticed that my bike didn't feel stable going around the hot dog corners and it felt as though my Zipp rear wheel had taken a bit of a bashing and the last thing I wanted was the race to come down to a sprint finish and my tyre roll off or i cause someone to crash screaming around the last bend so i thought i'd take a visit to the pits and pick up my spare wheel. I stoppped at the pits and they started to fix my wheel when they told me that I had 4 laps remaining so wasn't allowed to pick up my spares (we didn't have a lap board and i looked at the time on my computer and thought it was still OK).. so unfortunately i had to chase back on to the bunch and try and finish the race. I didn't end up making contact with the bunch again, but I did finish, think I picked up about 6th or 7th. Ashlee won in the bunch sprint and completly inihilated the field, it was great to watch, Congrats to her!
So a disappointing race for me, but hey, there is not much I could do...except ride on my dodgy wheel? but I guess we all make mistakes and unfortunatley sometimes learn from them the hard way...
Until next time
take care
xo
So after my ride, I went home and got my things, wandered over to Chloe's and set off to Sydney firstly by passing the polling booths to cast our first ever votes (even though I hate to admit it, I would be lying if I said I played close attention to all of the candidates policies and knew exactly what they were on about rather than voting for however sounded cool and i'd seen on TV.. but hey, got to start somewhere and I promise my fellow Canberran's that I will make a more informed decision in the years to come. I did however get some guidance from Chloe who told me not to vote for certain parties because they were like weird cults...)
We spent most of the say walkng around Darling Harbour to do a spot of shopping (yeah I know, gerat recovery..but I was on a quest to find a formal dress! Sadly to no avail..:( ) Anyway, had a yummy pasta meal and attempted to reduce the damage to my legs caused by a day of shopping with a hot/cold shower, streches and some major Skin time.
I woke up the next day feeling a bit ordinary but didn't let that get to me, you know what some say - You race your best when your feeling horrible? well I was hoping they were right...It was disgustingly hot, over 30 degrees.. at least it didn't take long for us to warm up! The race was held at Sydney Olympic Park and was on an L shaped hot dog circuit which after the first 10min, started to take it's toll on my legs! It was a relatively small field of girls who started but the quality of the riders were definitely not lacking! Fronting up were riders such as Ashlee Ankudinoff, Theresea Gallagher just to name a few. The race was about 35min? and the pressure was on right from the gun. There were numerous attacks being launched, by myself included (god knows why I did that too myself lol, but I do like a challenge) to try and get the sting out of some of the sprinter's legs and slowly the race started to disintergrate. I was starting to struggle but ws still in contact with the 5 other riders who were left when someone ran into my rear wheel, causing a pile up witht eh other 3 riders. Fortunately, no one was badly injured and all took the liberty of hte 1 lap out an re-joined the field. I completed 1 more lap and noticed that my bike didn't feel stable going around the hot dog corners and it felt as though my Zipp rear wheel had taken a bit of a bashing and the last thing I wanted was the race to come down to a sprint finish and my tyre roll off or i cause someone to crash screaming around the last bend so i thought i'd take a visit to the pits and pick up my spare wheel. I stoppped at the pits and they started to fix my wheel when they told me that I had 4 laps remaining so wasn't allowed to pick up my spares (we didn't have a lap board and i looked at the time on my computer and thought it was still OK).. so unfortunately i had to chase back on to the bunch and try and finish the race. I didn't end up making contact with the bunch again, but I did finish, think I picked up about 6th or 7th. Ashlee won in the bunch sprint and completly inihilated the field, it was great to watch, Congrats to her!
So a disappointing race for me, but hey, there is not much I could do...except ride on my dodgy wheel? but I guess we all make mistakes and unfortunatley sometimes learn from them the hard way...
Until next time
take care
xo
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Amy Gillett Cup: Mansfield to Mt Buller 16/10/08
This was a race I’d been looking forward to for a long time. Why might you ask? Well there are a few reasons. Firstly, because it was part of the Amy Gillett Cup, a foundation of which I am a proud supporter because of the work they do for raising road safety awareness for cyclists and secondly, it gave me the opportunity to race up a much talked hill in the Sun Herald Tour, Mt Buller. The Amy Gillett Cup was a support race to the men’s Jayco Sun Herald Tour which meant that we got the opportunity to see the pros battle it out on the climb at the end of our race!
So the race went like this, it was a 46km race with a 16km climb up Mt Buller at the end. 26 or so girls lined up at Mansfield and we cruised at a constant pace and the girls were all having a catch up chat up until we reached the bottom of the climb. The race was going to be a 16km hill climb with the person with the most strength and determination to take final honours. From the entrance gates to the slopes, the pressure was on with a rider from Albury Wodonga setting the pace (I later found out that she was riding in B grade and she doesn’t actually race competitively) and started to cause havoc behind her. I sat in the top 3-4 the whole way up the climb not wanting to miss any decisive moves. That’s the thing I like about racing interstate, it’s that I am not familiar with the ability or racing style with the majority of the girls and so as far as I’m concerned, we are all on a level playing field when it comes to our abilities as cyclists. So the rider from Albury Wodonga was doing a fair bit of damage but there was still a group of about 6-8 of us by the time we reached the half way point. Among the group were riders such as Sarah Kent, Peta Mullens , Tory Thomas and Lisa Jacobs (a strong hill climber with whom I raced against at Wangaratta). With about 3km to go, some of the stronger girls in the lead bunch decided to have a bit of a dig and so there were a few attacks being launched and one made by Lisa saw her, Rebecca Locke (the eventual winner), Sarah and myself go clear. It was hard work bridging across to Lisa and but with around 2km to go and the quality of those riders sent alarm bells ringing, it was definitely going to be the race decider. And so the race was on from there and it was basically a case of who could ride the other people off their wheel. With about 1km to go, Lisa and Sarah had just dropped off the back which left myself and Rebecca to battle it out however unfortunately for me, I popped with less than 500m to go and ended up finishing 2nd about 20sec off the pace.
All in all it was a good race. Although I was pretty annoyed that I didn’t win overall, looking back on the race now I realised that I’d given it everything and gave myself the best chance possible. Unfortunately for me I just didn’t have the legs when it came down to it! But I chased down every attack on the climb when I thought I was slaughtered and I surprised myself, I found that I could take myself to a whole new world of pain and mental strength I never knew I had. I believed in myself, and I didn’t give up. Something which I learnt from a very well respected coach when I was in the States. Its thanks to them that I rode how I did today.
So the race went like this, it was a 46km race with a 16km climb up Mt Buller at the end. 26 or so girls lined up at Mansfield and we cruised at a constant pace and the girls were all having a catch up chat up until we reached the bottom of the climb. The race was going to be a 16km hill climb with the person with the most strength and determination to take final honours. From the entrance gates to the slopes, the pressure was on with a rider from Albury Wodonga setting the pace (I later found out that she was riding in B grade and she doesn’t actually race competitively) and started to cause havoc behind her. I sat in the top 3-4 the whole way up the climb not wanting to miss any decisive moves. That’s the thing I like about racing interstate, it’s that I am not familiar with the ability or racing style with the majority of the girls and so as far as I’m concerned, we are all on a level playing field when it comes to our abilities as cyclists. So the rider from Albury Wodonga was doing a fair bit of damage but there was still a group of about 6-8 of us by the time we reached the half way point. Among the group were riders such as Sarah Kent, Peta Mullens , Tory Thomas and Lisa Jacobs (a strong hill climber with whom I raced against at Wangaratta). With about 3km to go, some of the stronger girls in the lead bunch decided to have a bit of a dig and so there were a few attacks being launched and one made by Lisa saw her, Rebecca Locke (the eventual winner), Sarah and myself go clear. It was hard work bridging across to Lisa and but with around 2km to go and the quality of those riders sent alarm bells ringing, it was definitely going to be the race decider. And so the race was on from there and it was basically a case of who could ride the other people off their wheel. With about 1km to go, Lisa and Sarah had just dropped off the back which left myself and Rebecca to battle it out however unfortunately for me, I popped with less than 500m to go and ended up finishing 2nd about 20sec off the pace.
All in all it was a good race. Although I was pretty annoyed that I didn’t win overall, looking back on the race now I realised that I’d given it everything and gave myself the best chance possible. Unfortunately for me I just didn’t have the legs when it came down to it! But I chased down every attack on the climb when I thought I was slaughtered and I surprised myself, I found that I could take myself to a whole new world of pain and mental strength I never knew I had. I believed in myself, and I didn’t give up. Something which I learnt from a very well respected coach when I was in the States. Its thanks to them that I rode how I did today.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
I am sorry, sorry for my lack of blogging over the past few weeks. I guess I've just been caught up in life and all of the twists and turns it throws my way and as a consequence my blog has suffered. Needless to say, a lot has been happening both on and off the bike since my last report about the Glen Innes to Inverell Classic such as school, work and much more racing! So here's whats been going down racing wise:
- Amy Gillett Cup: Mansfield to Mt Buller 16/10/08
- McCarroll's NSW Criterium Championships 18/10/08
- Canberra Cycling Club and Tuggeranong Vikings Club Championships 19/10/08
- and a couple of Club Criteriums
Off the bike, I've enjoyed the pleasures that being 18 offers, trying my hardest to keep motivated at school but with the end being only 4 weeks off its time i stick my head down and just plough on through and the exciting news of the day is that i have finally ordered my new bike! That's right, in only a matter of short weeks a brand new Trek 6.9pro should be heading my way :) now if that's not motivation enough to go out and train, i don't know what is :P but it is safe to say that I'll be needing extra shifts at work to pay for my little hobby as these things don't come cheap! But it will all be worth it, I'm sure :)
Anyway, this is only a short post just to say that yes, i'm still alive and well and I will upload race reports and photos of goings on over the next few days! Just after I finish my English essay and my oral which is due at the end of the week :S wish me luck!!
Just a glimpse of some of the stuff I've been up to in my absence :P Hanging out with probably some of the coolest people I know!
- Amy Gillett Cup: Mansfield to Mt Buller 16/10/08
- McCarroll's NSW Criterium Championships 18/10/08
- Canberra Cycling Club and Tuggeranong Vikings Club Championships 19/10/08
- and a couple of Club Criteriums
Off the bike, I've enjoyed the pleasures that being 18 offers, trying my hardest to keep motivated at school but with the end being only 4 weeks off its time i stick my head down and just plough on through and the exciting news of the day is that i have finally ordered my new bike! That's right, in only a matter of short weeks a brand new Trek 6.9pro should be heading my way :) now if that's not motivation enough to go out and train, i don't know what is :P but it is safe to say that I'll be needing extra shifts at work to pay for my little hobby as these things don't come cheap! But it will all be worth it, I'm sure :)
Anyway, this is only a short post just to say that yes, i'm still alive and well and I will upload race reports and photos of goings on over the next few days! Just after I finish my English essay and my oral which is due at the end of the week :S wish me luck!!
Just a glimpse of some of the stuff I've been up to in my absence :P Hanging out with probably some of the coolest people I know!
Monday, September 22, 2008
Glen Innes to Inverell, Celtic Country Femme Classic
On Thursday last week, mum and i began our 11hr journey up to northern NSW for the Glen Innes to Inverell which is the Women's race which is run in conjunction with the men's Grafton to Inverell (226km). On the schedule for the women was a 95km race with 2 KOMs and 2 Sprint primes. The course was undulating for the most part it with a few steep 2-3km climbs thrown in to the mix. the profile of the course can be seen here:
http://www.graftontoinverellcycleclassic.com.au/site/images/stories/pdf/glen-invl_elsm_loop_coloured.pdf
26 girls fronted the start line including eventual race winner Davina Summers and Kirsty Broun, Liz Young and Carly Hibberd all racing for MB cycles team. Conditions for racing were good, except for that it was a bit on the steamy side. The SRM kindly informed me that it was 34 degrees... definitely don't get that back home! So after the field did a lap of the town to be introduced to the crowd, we headed off. We were told that there was going to be a surprise sprint somewhere in the race and that there would be flags marking when it was going to be. Unfortunately for most of the girls, they didn't see the flag or didn't read to program and were unaware when the first sprint was. at 10km in i saw a yellow flag indicating 200m until the sprint and i was in a good position near the front so i took off and gapped the field by a long shot to win it. I sat up and the bunch rolled up next to me and asked me what that was..they didn't realise that it was the surprise sprint until it was too late! Probably thinking what an idiot i was, attacking 10km into a 100km race ha ha.. oh well. So got maximum point for that sprint.
After that we ran into the base of 8% climb which was about 2-3km long and the first of the KOM. I broke away mid way with Kirsty Broun and Jodie Willet and managed to get over Jodie for 2nd in the KOM. The bunch regrouped shortly after and we continued on the undulating course until the next KOM climb, a 5.8% climb which was about 1-2km long. Kirsty and I broke away with her team mate Carly and Kirsty picked up the win again to secure the KOM. we were away for a little while but the course is essentially downhill so we got reeled in by the pack before too long. In the last 30 or so km of the race, most of the girls were running bit low on water since we didn't get an official feed station because our race wasn't very long.
One rider in particular asked the lead motor bike if she could have some water and he said he didn't have any and i overheard this and offered my 2nd bottle to her. later during the race she asked if she could have another drink and i was like' yeah sure', was hardly going to let another rider go without water...but if you keep reading on you'll see why i get a little bit pissed off at this rider.
So we had only a short 9% climb which was about .5-1km long, by this time my legs were killing me. i don't mean to sound up myself or anything, but i was definitely pulling my weight in the bunch! wa pulling a stack of turns but hey, thats just how i ride. I would rather be aggressive and get dropped than do nothing all race. At the end of that little pinch there was the last sprint and i picked up 2nd, securing my a win as the Women's Sprint Queen.
From then on, it was downhill to the finish. Then was when i was welcomed to the wonderful world of women's team racing. another rider (not the one who i gave water) but another rider told me her team mate was going to attack at 2km to go and that i should hold her wheel and go for it. now i took her advice because we'd been working hard together all race and she was saying how well i was doing and stuff..so trusted her. was a bit annoyed when i realised that the person she told me to follow was her lead out rider so she had me perfectly sandwiched out of the way from the rider they actually wanted to win. I was sitting on the inside of the lead out girls wheel out of the wind when her team mate behind me goes 'pull off inside' and pushes me to the side, which left me with 1km to go in the wind trying to get back into the lead out. i tried getting back into the pack only to be told by the rider who i gave water to 'to piss off'. left me having to go to the back of the pack of about 13 through a round-a-bout and having to come around them. managed to get 7th in the tight bunch finish. was pretty annoyed becuase hadn't reached my max in the sprint. didn't get the opportunity. reckon would have been up there for sure. but hey, guess thats just racing! and lesson learnt. it is kind of a sucky way to learn it but hey. At least I was happy with how i rode bar the last 2km. i rode more aggressively than the race in Wangaratta and did a lot of work. Just didn't quite go my way at crunch time. All i guess i can do is learn from my mistakes.
So thats another race under my belt and a big one at that. Turns out it was the last race on the NRS calendar! and i guess 7th in an elite field isn't too shabby.. and i did pick up the Women's Sprint Jersey (even tough they got the results mixed up and presented it as a tie at the Presentation between myself and Kirsty..turns out they had me 3rd in the 2nd sprint..) but got that fixed up not long after.
So that night we had the presentation pasta dinner which was good then crashed in our lovely caravan for the night, it was actually really cute! Oddly enough my body clock woke me up at 5am the next day as it is accostumed to during the week and was unable to get back to sleep but luckily mum was awake so we were on the road at about 6 so were were home in time for a 40km recovery ride and dinner :) the trip itself was good. i shared most of the driving with mum, stopping in little country towns on the way. thats one of the aspects i like about cycling, it can take you to some of the most wonderful places! i have been to towns people didn't even know existed! and cycling people are so friendly and people were out on the race route cheering for us the whole way! it was wonderful :)
Next on the to do list: 'Amy Gillett Cup'. going to be a good one ;)
P.S full results and race interviews can be found here:
http://www.cyclesportnews.com/aus/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2031&Itemid=48
http://www.cyclesportnews.com/aus/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2028&Itemid=101
and
http://www.cyclesportnews.com/aus/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2030&Itemid=48
http://www.graftontoinverellcycleclassic.com.au/site/images/stories/pdf/glen-invl_elsm_loop_coloured.pdf
26 girls fronted the start line including eventual race winner Davina Summers and Kirsty Broun, Liz Young and Carly Hibberd all racing for MB cycles team. Conditions for racing were good, except for that it was a bit on the steamy side. The SRM kindly informed me that it was 34 degrees... definitely don't get that back home! So after the field did a lap of the town to be introduced to the crowd, we headed off. We were told that there was going to be a surprise sprint somewhere in the race and that there would be flags marking when it was going to be. Unfortunately for most of the girls, they didn't see the flag or didn't read to program and were unaware when the first sprint was. at 10km in i saw a yellow flag indicating 200m until the sprint and i was in a good position near the front so i took off and gapped the field by a long shot to win it. I sat up and the bunch rolled up next to me and asked me what that was..they didn't realise that it was the surprise sprint until it was too late! Probably thinking what an idiot i was, attacking 10km into a 100km race ha ha.. oh well. So got maximum point for that sprint.
After that we ran into the base of 8% climb which was about 2-3km long and the first of the KOM. I broke away mid way with Kirsty Broun and Jodie Willet and managed to get over Jodie for 2nd in the KOM. The bunch regrouped shortly after and we continued on the undulating course until the next KOM climb, a 5.8% climb which was about 1-2km long. Kirsty and I broke away with her team mate Carly and Kirsty picked up the win again to secure the KOM. we were away for a little while but the course is essentially downhill so we got reeled in by the pack before too long. In the last 30 or so km of the race, most of the girls were running bit low on water since we didn't get an official feed station because our race wasn't very long.
One rider in particular asked the lead motor bike if she could have some water and he said he didn't have any and i overheard this and offered my 2nd bottle to her. later during the race she asked if she could have another drink and i was like' yeah sure', was hardly going to let another rider go without water...but if you keep reading on you'll see why i get a little bit pissed off at this rider.
So we had only a short 9% climb which was about .5-1km long, by this time my legs were killing me. i don't mean to sound up myself or anything, but i was definitely pulling my weight in the bunch! wa pulling a stack of turns but hey, thats just how i ride. I would rather be aggressive and get dropped than do nothing all race. At the end of that little pinch there was the last sprint and i picked up 2nd, securing my a win as the Women's Sprint Queen.
From then on, it was downhill to the finish. Then was when i was welcomed to the wonderful world of women's team racing. another rider (not the one who i gave water) but another rider told me her team mate was going to attack at 2km to go and that i should hold her wheel and go for it. now i took her advice because we'd been working hard together all race and she was saying how well i was doing and stuff..so trusted her. was a bit annoyed when i realised that the person she told me to follow was her lead out rider so she had me perfectly sandwiched out of the way from the rider they actually wanted to win. I was sitting on the inside of the lead out girls wheel out of the wind when her team mate behind me goes 'pull off inside' and pushes me to the side, which left me with 1km to go in the wind trying to get back into the lead out. i tried getting back into the pack only to be told by the rider who i gave water to 'to piss off'. left me having to go to the back of the pack of about 13 through a round-a-bout and having to come around them. managed to get 7th in the tight bunch finish. was pretty annoyed becuase hadn't reached my max in the sprint. didn't get the opportunity. reckon would have been up there for sure. but hey, guess thats just racing! and lesson learnt. it is kind of a sucky way to learn it but hey. At least I was happy with how i rode bar the last 2km. i rode more aggressively than the race in Wangaratta and did a lot of work. Just didn't quite go my way at crunch time. All i guess i can do is learn from my mistakes.
So thats another race under my belt and a big one at that. Turns out it was the last race on the NRS calendar! and i guess 7th in an elite field isn't too shabby.. and i did pick up the Women's Sprint Jersey (even tough they got the results mixed up and presented it as a tie at the Presentation between myself and Kirsty..turns out they had me 3rd in the 2nd sprint..) but got that fixed up not long after.
So that night we had the presentation pasta dinner which was good then crashed in our lovely caravan for the night, it was actually really cute! Oddly enough my body clock woke me up at 5am the next day as it is accostumed to during the week and was unable to get back to sleep but luckily mum was awake so we were on the road at about 6 so were were home in time for a 40km recovery ride and dinner :) the trip itself was good. i shared most of the driving with mum, stopping in little country towns on the way. thats one of the aspects i like about cycling, it can take you to some of the most wonderful places! i have been to towns people didn't even know existed! and cycling people are so friendly and people were out on the race route cheering for us the whole way! it was wonderful :)
Next on the to do list: 'Amy Gillett Cup'. going to be a good one ;)
P.S full results and race interviews can be found here:
http://www.cyclesportnews.com/aus/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2031&Itemid=48
http://www.cyclesportnews.com/aus/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2028&Itemid=101
and
http://www.cyclesportnews.com/aus/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2030&Itemid=48
Wangaratta Racing
The Criterium
The Wangaratta Criterium was officially my comeback race since the states, and what an interesting one it was! The crit was held on a circuit at Sam Miranda Winery which was about 500-600m long with a hot dog corner in it. Now that I actually think about it, the whole thing was basically a corner! wasn't much opportunity to pedal, but that was not to say that it wasn't fast! The weather was perfect, sun was shining, wasn't any wind to be seen...loving life :)
They key to this crit was going to be stay at the front. We had about 13 girls who had entered? including Belinda Goss who one of the top domestic rides at the moment. Our crit was 30min and 2 laps with a few intermediate sprints thrown in for good measure. within the first couple of laps, the hot dog corner proved to take some casualties with the bunch reduced to about 6 riders. The constant acceleration out of that turn further reduced the field and in the end there were 4 riders left including myself. I didn't have as powerful acceleration as a couple of the other girls in the group so had to chase hard to get back on the end of the break most laps, legs were definitely feeling the lactic acid... it was like doing a track start every 500m for 30min! makes you tough haha. coming into the last 3 laps i realised that if i was to have any chance at winning, i'd have to go into that hot dog turn in front and hope for the best, was on the front for the last 3 laps and managed to hold them off until about 100m to go where got pipped for the line and picked up 3rd behind Belinda Goss and Chloe McConville.
Wasn't too fussed about the result, i'm not a classic sprinter but i think i gave myself every opportunity i had to do well! had a good cool down afterwards and fueled up on probably some of the best woodfire pizza (greek with lamb and tzatziki...yummy..) and iced chocolate in preparation for the road race the next day! quality stuff
The Road Race
The road race, where do i start? well guess first thing was the weather. I was surprised at just how quickly it could change! Perfect weather for the criterium and we rock up to the road race and it was blowing a gale and raining! Was definitely going to be a tough day in the office...100km of racing into the wind with a few climbs thrown in for good measure! I have to admit, I was pretty excited to see how i'd go on the climbs as it proved to be one of my strengths in the US. there was an 11km climb of about 3.25% i think, followed by another climb which was about 5km on top of which was a KOM (about half way into the race). the first climb was about 10km in and one girl attacked and I chased after her with Belinda on my wheel and turned around to see that we'd dropped the bunch. We stayed away on the climb until just after the KOM where we saw a chase group coming so was eased up and waited as we still had 60km in a head wind to do, so we didn't mind the extra company! The climbing was great, just a gradual increase. felt really strong but was a bit reserved because didn't know how my form would stack up. just missed out on the KOM because i left it too late and Belinda had the stronger acceleration. Should have just tried to ride them off my wheel with about 1km to go, but hey now i know where i stand in my ability and will hopefully be able to have more trust in it for next weekends racing! The decent from the KOM felt awesome, such an adrenalin rush! Hit the front and just smashed it, glad i had the 12 on! although it was a bit sketchy with all of the debris on the road from the wind :s
So there was a bunch of about 7 girls after we got caught and we stayed together for the rest of the race as it was basically flat or downhill. it was gong to come to a bunch finish because the winds were too strong for anyone to get away in by themselves. not my ideal situation, but hey, thats bike racing! So in the bunch finish i got 3rd again behind Belinda and Chloe again, so same placings as the crit. Was happy with how i raced, pulled my fair share of the weight just wish i was more aggressive on the climbs!
There is a picture of the break which i was in for the first half of the race going up the climb here:
http://www.pixweb.com.au/main/gallery.php?alb=73
It was great to get the first lot of racing under my belt and i'm looking forward to the next block of racing which i have coming up! It was definitely a race worth the 6hr drive! although, needless to say i was a bit buggered for the trip home!
Next on the to do list: Glen Innes to Inverell. Bring it.
P.S full results can be found here:
http://www.vic.cycling.org.au/?Page=17780
The Wangaratta Criterium was officially my comeback race since the states, and what an interesting one it was! The crit was held on a circuit at Sam Miranda Winery which was about 500-600m long with a hot dog corner in it. Now that I actually think about it, the whole thing was basically a corner! wasn't much opportunity to pedal, but that was not to say that it wasn't fast! The weather was perfect, sun was shining, wasn't any wind to be seen...loving life :)
They key to this crit was going to be stay at the front. We had about 13 girls who had entered? including Belinda Goss who one of the top domestic rides at the moment. Our crit was 30min and 2 laps with a few intermediate sprints thrown in for good measure. within the first couple of laps, the hot dog corner proved to take some casualties with the bunch reduced to about 6 riders. The constant acceleration out of that turn further reduced the field and in the end there were 4 riders left including myself. I didn't have as powerful acceleration as a couple of the other girls in the group so had to chase hard to get back on the end of the break most laps, legs were definitely feeling the lactic acid... it was like doing a track start every 500m for 30min! makes you tough haha. coming into the last 3 laps i realised that if i was to have any chance at winning, i'd have to go into that hot dog turn in front and hope for the best, was on the front for the last 3 laps and managed to hold them off until about 100m to go where got pipped for the line and picked up 3rd behind Belinda Goss and Chloe McConville.
Wasn't too fussed about the result, i'm not a classic sprinter but i think i gave myself every opportunity i had to do well! had a good cool down afterwards and fueled up on probably some of the best woodfire pizza (greek with lamb and tzatziki...yummy..) and iced chocolate in preparation for the road race the next day! quality stuff
The Road Race
The road race, where do i start? well guess first thing was the weather. I was surprised at just how quickly it could change! Perfect weather for the criterium and we rock up to the road race and it was blowing a gale and raining! Was definitely going to be a tough day in the office...100km of racing into the wind with a few climbs thrown in for good measure! I have to admit, I was pretty excited to see how i'd go on the climbs as it proved to be one of my strengths in the US. there was an 11km climb of about 3.25% i think, followed by another climb which was about 5km on top of which was a KOM (about half way into the race). the first climb was about 10km in and one girl attacked and I chased after her with Belinda on my wheel and turned around to see that we'd dropped the bunch. We stayed away on the climb until just after the KOM where we saw a chase group coming so was eased up and waited as we still had 60km in a head wind to do, so we didn't mind the extra company! The climbing was great, just a gradual increase. felt really strong but was a bit reserved because didn't know how my form would stack up. just missed out on the KOM because i left it too late and Belinda had the stronger acceleration. Should have just tried to ride them off my wheel with about 1km to go, but hey now i know where i stand in my ability and will hopefully be able to have more trust in it for next weekends racing! The decent from the KOM felt awesome, such an adrenalin rush! Hit the front and just smashed it, glad i had the 12 on! although it was a bit sketchy with all of the debris on the road from the wind :s
So there was a bunch of about 7 girls after we got caught and we stayed together for the rest of the race as it was basically flat or downhill. it was gong to come to a bunch finish because the winds were too strong for anyone to get away in by themselves. not my ideal situation, but hey, thats bike racing! So in the bunch finish i got 3rd again behind Belinda and Chloe again, so same placings as the crit. Was happy with how i raced, pulled my fair share of the weight just wish i was more aggressive on the climbs!
There is a picture of the break which i was in for the first half of the race going up the climb here:
http://www.pixweb.com.au/main/gallery.php?alb=73
It was great to get the first lot of racing under my belt and i'm looking forward to the next block of racing which i have coming up! It was definitely a race worth the 6hr drive! although, needless to say i was a bit buggered for the trip home!
Next on the to do list: Glen Innes to Inverell. Bring it.
P.S full results can be found here:
http://www.vic.cycling.org.au/?Page=17780
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