A week in Holland

After Gelderland Julie and I were off to Loosdrecht to stay with the wonderful Welter family in the 'Green Heart of Holland'. It was a beautiful area to stay and train, and I couldn't believe we were only 30k from Amsterdam! Quiet country roads with well maintained bike paths, lots of Spring lambs and baby ducklings to look at on our rides, except for Thursday when the wind was so strong it was all I could do to hold the bike on the road! No sight seeing that day!

 

Training around the Lake in Loosdrecht, Just waiting for a mate. Or a boat to pass.

The week passed really fast, lots of sleeping, eating & riding, and then we were being picked up again to rejoin the team for the weekends races!

 

Dutch racing at it's finest was on show at Omloop van Borsele on Saturday.. The organizers are mental.. Let's start the race on a big open road, with 180 starters, a roaring tail/cross tail wind, and then 3k later hook a quick left hand hairpin onto a single lane road. Needless to say, the pace was on at the start and everyone was fighting for the front. There were crashes. So many crashes. Being a little bit further back in the bunch possibly saved my skin and I managed to avoid them all, but it meant I missed the split on the first lap. Maybe 40 or so were off the front and I was in the 2nd bunch chasing back on when we came to the whole road being covered with bodies and bikes from a stack in the front bunch. Reportedly the crash happened at 52kph, so I don't know how someone wasn't seriously injured! One of the hardest parts of racing is seeing friends down on the road, possibly injured, and having to keep going.

 

Only about 20 made it through, and we were left to pick our way around the carnage and chase some more. The gap held at about 1min for a lap and a half or so, but then the legs went out of the chase and it became evident that we weren't getting back to the front. Soon after another group joined us and we had about 50 in our bunch which is roughly how it stayed until the end. I crossed the line quite spent, but happy to have made it through. Julie and Eileen were both in my group also, and it was great that we could look after each other.

 

Numbers pinned and ready to go!

There were some moments I just had to laugh though, seeing one girl go tumbling down an embankment only about 5k in, and then another go flying up one later in the race! At least they were spectacular looking crashes.

 

Sunday was Dwars door de Westhoek.  I was actually looking forward to this race, because not only did it have some hills in it, it was a race I'd done last year and having an idea of what's ahead in these races can be a big help. I knew the climbs would split the bunch, and I tried my best to get up the front for the first one, but got there a bit too early and couldn't hold it, so spent the next 20k chasing my tail and working my way back to the front bunch of 50 or so. It was fruitless however as another 50 or so rejoined later in the race and so there were about 100 back together for the last 50k which were all flat with some nasty cobbles through the start finish area which we went through 5 times. Every lap of the cobbles my legs felt like they were being sapped more and more and my whole body felt jarred and I was left wondering how on earth the men race Paris-Roubaix.

 

Again, Julie and Eileen were up there the whole day, and Gaby and Molly did fantastic to make it to the finish too!

 

It was another great weekend with the team, and so good to get to meet some of the other girls! I can't wait until we have our team house next week and we'll all get to settle in and get some more racing done! Next race is Knokke-Heist Breden, and you can find a race preview here - Knokke-Heist Bredene Preview . Another nice flat, windy, cobbled race.. Just my style :/.. 

This site is a great resource for most of the UCI races too! Previews and history for all the big ones.

 

Now I'm back in Girona until the house is ready in Belgium and I have to say, it feels like I've come home. I really love it here! Looking forward to some sunny skies and some good training! Hoping to even slip in a trip to the beach if the weather plays nice.

Ronde van Gelderland Ride report..

It was finally time to get this Euro season underway and meet some of the rest of the team! Flying in to Amsterdam and meeting the other girls was great.. Scoring myself a mega sized mug thanks to Penny, and then off to 'Rabbit Hill' holiday park which we would be calling home for the next few days.

Lucky we met Esther along the way and she could take us on a nice ride instead of us heading in to town and getting lost!

Pre race roll through some nice Dutch countryside. Tailwind home was a ripper!

Once Julie arrived Saturday lunch time, we went for a spin around the area and managed to run into Esther our old team mate who took us on a really pretty ride. The sun even came out and made us all happy and smiling! This wasn't at all what we were expecting coming to Holland given the previous few races had been next to freezing.

Race day - So I'm calling this a ride report, because I can't really say I raced today. I was there, it was a race, but I was just 'rolling' around at the back of the bunch trying to stay upright and hold the wheel in front..

Team Presentation - Photo thanks to Anton Vos
Me, Ann, Laura, Jane, Julie, Penny

As my first race of the season in Europe, it was a decent sized one.. 170 starters, racing over 139kms plus 7kms of nerve wracking neutralization. Mostly flat, although thankfully there were a few small hills early on in the race to keep me happy. I even managed to get up the front of the bunch for a brief period of time, only to shit myself as I got swarmed from all directions with girls going everywhere and 'nekkminit' I was at the back again..

Controversial sock choice it seems.. They were either loved, or hated. Of course I loved them!

The bunch split on the hills, and whilst I had no trouble with them, being at the back meant I ended up 3rd bunch. I rode across to the 2nd bunch on the bigger hill, but 2 and 3 came together by the end of the hills and then worked to bring back the leaders.

We went through lots of narrow twisty roads, lots of corners, constantly coming to close to a standstill to get around them. There were at least 3-4 crashes, all just right in front of me which I was thankfully be able to avoid, but still had to get around the carnage on the road to get back to the bunch. Thankfully my Bianchi was rock solid throughout and that was one thing I didn't have to even think about!

Coming in to the last local lap there was a group of maybe 90 or so left with Shara Gillow from Orica away solo. The chase began properly with about 10k to go, and a few kms later I looked up to see someone up the road had dropped the wheel and there was a gap. Completely my fault for being where I was, but knowing that and doing something about it are two completely different things. Much the same as someone standing on the side of a crit telling you to move up.. Everyone knows they have to, it's just hard to do it sometimes! It was a little frustrating feeling quite strong and being able to ride in the wind/the gutter for almost the entire 3.5 hours, yet not having the balls to be up the front being a part of the race. At least I know my weakness and can work on it over the coming races!

Move up? Where......?
Photo from the Gallery by Bart Hazen at Peloton Cafe

Julie rode awesome and was in the front bunch all day. She came top 30 and is hoping to improve on that next weekend at Borsele and Westhoek. So my goal is to stay near Julie!
For now the 2 of us are staying with a lovely Dutch family not far out of Amsterdam, so we're planning on trying to fit in a day trip at some point for maybe a little bit of shopping and sightseeing :-) Then the rest of the team arrive back on Friday for us to race at Omloop van Borsele in Holland Saturday followed by Dwars door de Westhoek in Belgium on Sunday!

Hola Espana!

A few days after landing in freezing cold London, it was time to head to a warmer climate to get settled in to the new time zone and get back into some training.. So I jetted off to Girona to stay with Jo - thehealthycyclist.com.au for a couple of weeks.

I'd spent an afternoon in Girona last year when I was holidaying in Barcelona, and I knew it was a place I'd love to go back to. Given that a good portion of the Pro's from Aus/NZ choose to make Girona their home, you know it's got to be for a reason, and this past couple of weeks I've found out why. Whilst the rest of Europe is struggling to even hit 10 degrees, some parts still snowing, I've been riding in the sun almost every day. The roads are fantastic, there's flat if you want it, or hills of any length and gradient, and the traffic is very light and accommodating. It's fair to say I've fallen in love with training in Girona and really don't want to leave!

Just chilling with my mates in L'Escala

Climbing to St Hilari, a beautiful, beautiful climb.

However the time has come to get out of holiday mode and get down to the reason I'm here.. To race! I'm off to Holland now to meet with my Breast Cancer Care team mates, where we will be racing the Ronde van Gelderland UCI 1.2 race. Having minimal experience in Dutch one day races, it's fair to say I'm a wee bit nervous given the size of the field (just a lazy 170 starters..) and some of the names on the start list. Having said that, I'm super excited to get into it and start getting that experience. It's what I'm here for! I know it'll be tough going, but every race I do will help for the next race.

Holland is even turning on a relatively warm day on Sunday for the race, so things are looking good already!

Race report to follow next week..

UpOver?

Well, if Aus is 'Down Under', then maybe Europe is 'Up Over'? Probably not, but I'm going to run with it for now..

I've been on the other side of the world now for a week, yet it feels like so much longer! When you're constantly still trying to adjust to the new time zone, adding in the change of daylight saving, plus calculating what time it is back home, it's hard to remember what day it is. But it's Thursday, and so much has happened in the past week!

First off I should recount the last month before I headed away because I did have a great few last weeks in Aus. The highlight had to be coming 2nd in the Oceania Road Champs in Canberra in a really tough race with a class field. My happiness is tinged with a slight amount of regret at not doing things a little differently in the race and the 'what might have been's', yet I also couldn't be happier. Since finishing up at PMP I've had a great summer of training and racing which all culminated in getting my chance in this race, and I want to thank all the girls in the Specialized Securitor team for believing in me, as well as my coach Stu and all my friends and training buddies that have been there! Surrounding yourself with people who believe in you, even when you might let doubts slip in, is something I'm finding is the key.

Oci's Podium

 The other highlight has been Melbourne's weather! My oh my it was amazing to have a real summer and to train in the sunshine every day. I think I only rode in the rain once in 2+ months, and the resulting tan made the girls in England jealous when I arrived, although I fear it's fading already...

So where to next? Well I landed in London to 2 degrees, a rude shock when 30 hours earlier it had been 32 and sunny in Melbourne.. But things are on the improve. I spent a few days in London with Rene my team manager and his partner Marion who was amazing and cooked up a storm every night, even making a Sunday Roast! I fitted up my new Bianchi Sempre Pro and had 2nd Christmas getting all the goodies to go along with it including some Lake Shoes and a Kask Helmet. Kit is still coming, but it's going to look awesome! For now I get to rock out some sweet Rapha gear, which is so comfy.

New Bike!

I arrived in Girona a couple of days ago to stay with Jo until my first race in Holland next weekend, and after that things get fairly busy with racing which I'm looking forward to! The weather here is a good 15 degrees warmer than London, and is constantly on the improve, so hopefully Belgium and Holland follow suit fairly soon too!

Racing at Hog Hill

It's been a while....

It's been a ridiculous amount of time since I updated.. but it's time to catch up!


I've been enjoying living the dream since November, just riding my bike and traveling around Aus.. After signing with the Specialized Securitor women's team, I've raced the Noosa GP, NSW GP, Bay Crits, Nationals, TDU Crits and the team has had some amazing successes thanks to super sprinter Kimberley Wells. It's so easy to work your ass off in a race knowing there's someone there to finish the job off.

Noosa is just aaaaall about the beach!

The highlight would have to be Kimbers taking out the National Crit Championships in Ballarat, but overall the entire summer series of racing has been so much fun and I've had such a blast spending time with all the girls!

Hannah, myself, Kimbers and Bec after winning the Nationals Criterium!

The Summer season has hit a bit of a lull now, and the next big race on the calendar is the Oceania Road Championships which are going to be held in Canberra this year in only 3.5 weeks time! Between now and then there's a few SKCC crits to hit up, and some perfect summer training to be had.

Coffee time in Glenelg with Dion from 4Shaw and Adidas Eyewear. A great supporter of our team!

The team after winning the first round of the Santos Women's Cup in Adelaide

 I'm making the most of the weather at the moment, because about a week after Oci's I'll be jetting across to Europe to start my second Summer of racing! I'll be riding for the Breast Cancer Care Team and racing across Europe for 6 months. Living in Belgium it won't be much of a Summer, but it'll sure beat sitting in an office in Melbourne during winter. I can't wait to get over there and meet the team and start racing!

I have to say a HUGE thank you to our sponsors, Specialized Australia, Securitor Financial Advisors, Capo Custom Cycling Wear, Adidas Eyewear & The Smart Centre Adelaide . Without them, it wouldn't have been possible for us to have the summer we've had!

September Racing!

Whilst I'm not really focusing on racing at the moment and am mostly just doing some base training, I’ve done a few races since getting back on the bike, all of which were extremely supportive of women’s racing and deserve a shout-out!


St Kilda CC Road Champs.

I wasn’t going to race. For starters I’d promised myself that I wasn’t going to jump straight back in to racing everything and anything, and was going to enjoy some base training properly. 2nd, I was in my 2nd week back in to training, so I thought I’d get my butt kicked and that it’d be a pointless day. But after some convincing I agreed to go, because it was club/world champs afterall, and it turned out to be a good solid day on the bike. I managed to get in the break and then went on to do a 60k 2 up TT with Lucy from Holden whilst her team mate Miranda was up the road solo. Lucy then broke me after a few attacks, and I solo’d in the last 15k and held off the rest to claim 3rd.

 

Amy’s Gran Fondo

Whilst this is a Gran Fondo, there’s also an element of racing involved with Prize Money up for grabs for first 3 in each age category. Being in the Under 30’s category, there was some tough competition with not only Lucy who’d kicked my butt last week, but several AIS/VIS/SASI riders. As we were all set off in different waves and therefore had no idea how the other girls were going, I figured I’d just take the day as it came, and if I felt bad I’d just enjoy the lovely ride. The intensity hurt, and I was definitely lacking in the top end, but I was travelling ok so pushed it all the way to the end. I managed to get in a good group by the top of the climb, with Nic Whitburn & her super domestique Conan, as well as Rob Crowe and a fair few strong riders. I grovelled along clinging to the bunch until we reached the final climb of the day and just rode up as hard as my very close to cramping legs would let me. Turns out I just did enough to come in 3rd in my AG which I was stoked with!

I highly recommend the Gran Fondo if you’ve never done it. It was amazing getting to ride along the Great Ocean Road with no traffic and 4,000 of your closest friends. The climbs and scenery are spectacular, and I can’t wait to go back again next year.. Hopefully a little fitter though!

Damian Mcdonald Memorial

The Damian McDonald Memorial is held in Eildon and ran by the Blackburn Cycling Club. This year they have been extremely supportive of women’s racing by offering 2 grades and very generous prize money, so it’s unfortunate that the weekend clashed with another women’s race held on the other side of the state the previous day. If not for that I envisage there would have been many more starters!

Women’s A set off with the Men’s C Grade bunch, in total there might have been about 20 or so of us. The skies were threatening to open up, but thankfully we stayed dry and the worst we had to contend with was the rather strong wind. Things were fairly neutral the first lap of the lake, and it wasn’t until we hit the ‘Skyline’ climb that things heated up. It didn’t help that I thought the climb came about 10k later in the race and so wasn’t really prepared for when a couple of the whippet U17 riders in our bunch lit things up straight away. Confirming we were in fact on the climb, I grabbed their wheel and clung for dear life. The first 1.5k of the climb averaged almost 9%, and then eased off slightly for another k or so, then there was a flat section where I was hoping for some recovery, but as our group of 7 was keen to keep the rest of the bunch at bay the pace was on. The last 2.5k was again a solid gradient, and though I was really starting to feel the lack of real hard racing in my legs, I managed to stick with them over the top. Our group then worked nicely together for the last 40k, with only 1 guy sitting out turns.



As I had the women’s win stitched up, I led out the sprint into the final corner and watched the guys battle it out. The juniors took the podium places after some very strong riding all day.



A big thank you to Blackburn and all of the sponsors of the race, hopefully we can get a much bigger field of women next year!

The last of the Europe Trip

Well it's time for a long overdue catch up on what happened in Europe post Belgium!

After Dwars door de Westhoek, it was time to head to France for my final race, the Tour of Limousin. 4 days through the French Countryside, racing alongside* none other than Marianne Vos and the Dutch National team that were prepping for the Olympics, as well as many other top teams.


Tour of Limousin - Team Ibis - Marolijn, Me, Natalie, Julie & Esther

Thankfully I didn't have any bad luck or muppet like crashes during the tour, I felt good, was climbing good, TT'd like the usual bad TTer I am, but my lack of confidence being in the bunch was my major let down again. Starting these short, but steep climbs from near the back of 100 girls is not the best place to be in, and as such each day I finished in the 2nd group.  

Jo & I on the start line for the last stage

The whole tour was a great learning process though and being a part of Team Ibis Cycles, who were an awesome bunch of people made for a great week. It helped getting the full pro treatment - no filling up your own bottles, massaging your own legs & oiling your own chain here! It was great to ride as a team, and do my bit where I could to help Esther in her GC hopes.



On the start line for the TT

Safety First for Julie!

Graham, our 'sweary bear' mechanic. Doesn't 'DO' photos!

Beautiful French countryside and sunshine!



* I rode alongside Marianne for maybe all of 500m, the rest of the time she was about 5minutes off the front of the bunch...

From there, I palmed my bike off to the For Viored - Escentual team to be carted back to London, and I hopped on a plane from Paris to Barcelona for the start of a 2 week "Real/Non Bike" holiday!

5 days in Barcelona, with a quick day trip to Girona, eating and drinking as much Paella, jamon, fruit, juice, Gelati and Sangria as I could possibly fit in. Barcelona is such an amazing city, and one that I'll definitely be visiting again.

The only bike I touched in 2 weeks

Get in ma BELLEH!

The Boqueria Markets - My idea of heaven!

After Barcelona, a quick plane ride over to Gatwick to visit with Hannah & her parents & Tanya and have a great weekend watching the Olympic Road Races! 

Hannah, Tanya & I roadside at the Mens Road Race

The last leg of the holiday had Hannah & I setting off to the French & Italian Rivierias! We flew in to Nice and stayed in the nearby Villefranche sur Mur. After 2 days there we packed up the little hire car and drove across the border to Alessio in Italy for 2 days. It was another 4 days of amazing food/apertif's/gelati, with not a day going by where I didn't go to bed feeling like my stomach was about to explode. 

Hannah & I looking for rich husbands in Monaco

We swam in the Cote d'azure - which whilst beautiful, was quite painful given the size of the pebbles/rocks on the beach - Hired sun loungers and spent the majority of a whole day on the beach, ate Pizza & Gelati in the country famous for them, drank espresso's like locals, stopped in Monaco to check out how the rich & famous live, and all up had an amazing relaxing holiday.

An afternoon Apertif? Don't mind if I do..

The holiday was over all too quickly though, and after a delayed flight back to London (and a very funny evening at the Nice Airport), I met up with Rene to go reclaim my bike and pack myself up for the journey home.. Very sad to be leaving, but excited to return again next year!