I'm still here!

As is common, it's been a while between updates.. Since being sick in early December, the team has had a solid block of racing, including the LSL Supercrit, Bay Crits, Nationals, and then the Tour Down Under Santos Women's Cup.

Post race coffee with Kimbers! @LSL Supercrit

For a blow by blow on all of the racing, head over to the team blog - http://specializedsecuritor.blogspot.com.au/ Some written by me, some by other members of the team, so a good varied perspective!

Warming up for Bay crits

Just like the Bundy days 'Safety First!'

For me, things perked up a little after being sick, but I was still no where near where I wanted to be by the time Jan 2nd and the first race at Bay Crits rolled around. I had a really disappointing 4 days, grovelling to just stay with the race as opposed to last year being involved in all of last years races. I tried to dust myself off for Nationals, and things did pick up, getting through the crit easily, however with a distinct lack in confidence which made me a very placid participant. The road race started out ok, by half way through I was feeling alright, yet the 6th time up the climb a small crash happened in front of me which resulted in needing to unclip. Didn't panic, however an attack went at the same time, and the chase back on hurt. It pretty much used up all I had, and so when we hit the climb on the 7th time and the attacks started, I was out the back. Found a small group and made it to the finish, disappointed but at the same time accepting that based on how I'd been riding a week earlier, it was an ok result.

Onwards and Upwards was my motto for the following week, which included some fun rides with James and Jake before they headed off to Europe to start their season in France. The body seemed to be responding to the racing well, and it made me keen as to get to Adelaide and race again.

I headed over on the 46 degree day to get there early and get some treatment for the crooked feeling I've been having. John at the Smart Centre in Adelaide squeezed me in and set about straightening me out. I had a fun ride with the crew from Bike Society, John, the Melbourne Specialized girls and guys, Hannah GG, Carla followed by Coffee down by the beach in Glenelg, and then went out with Carlee & Vale to Greenhill road, just because I could! One of the funnest nights/BBQ's i've been to in a long time Friday for Hannah's 21st, and I was loving life and things were grand.

Double Parked on the Slurpee's trying to cool down in the 40+ Heat

Team ride pre race in Adelaide along the beautiful Adelaide beach

The rest of the team arrived on Saturday and Sunday to race, and we had a nice team roll, chill out and then headed in to the center of Adelaide to hit the course! I thought I was feeling good, and managed to get myself right up the front for the start, only to discover I'd picked up something in my tyre in the warm up and had a flat. 5 mins before the start. Shimano Spares to the rescue, and I got a spare wheel in with about a minute to spare. It took me about 10 minutes to work into the race, and just as I was starting to feel good and move back up to where I needed to be, a crash happened that wiped across the road. I aimed wide around it, but was cleaned up from the side/behind and went charging into the barriers, landing on my shoulder. It wasn't obvious to start with, however I knew something wasn't right. I'd had the wave of 'I need to sit down or I'm going to pass out or vomit' before.. 3.5 years ago when I broke my collarbone. Off in the Ambulance with a green whistle, and a couple of hours later it was confirmed I'd broken it again.
And that was the end of my TDU week plans. My next 8 weeks worth of plans to be exact..

The team all together before the last race of the Adelaide series.. With me as chief supporter

Thanks to the help of some amazing friends, I was lined up with a leading shoulder surgeon in Melbourne within a couple of days. More amazing friends drove my car home for me, so I could fly back to have surgery. I was dropped off at the hospital, picked up the next day, taken for breakfast & lunch, and then delivered safely back home to sleep off the surgery and pain. I am so grateful for the people in my life who've helped me this past 2 weeks. From the help getting home and patched up, the messages of support, the offers of 'a hand' & for just generally keeping me occupied and laughing whilst I can't ride my bike. Thank you :-)

And of course thank you so much to our sponsors - Specialized, Securitor, Capo & Adidas Eyewear. Lizzie Pou our Team Manager who puts in hours of work to organise everything for us, and Mick & Peter Pou who are always there to cheer! (when Petey isn't sleeping of course..)
 

The crash.. that on the left is my leg and bike....

Another Angle.. Blatantly stolen photo.. So inelegant, yet it brought lots of laughs to me.. 

Sometimes..

Sometimes the hardest choice to make, is to just stop. To forget your obligations, commitments & the feelings of letting other people down, and to put yourself first.

Interestingly, I find it easy to advise others to do this, but when it comes to myself, I ignore my own (great) advice. "Do as I say, not as I do" type of thing. Well, this weekend I had to stop and listen. Hit with a virus that struck at 4am on Saturday, which had me feeling like I had the Worst Hangover in the World, without having had the enjoyment of the night out prior.

I lay there at 10pm that night, barely able to move, still contemplating how I was going to pack my bike in time to leave at 6am for a flight to Tas the next day. The answer was that I wasn't going to be able to.

Thanks to the understanding of my Team Manager Liz, the race organisors & my Teammates - Kate, Jo, Lizzie & Jess - who I still feel I've let down, I was able to focus on getting better. It's now 4 days later, and I've only just managed to go for a ride today, so I can only imagine the damage had I tried to race Sunday evening. Without me, the girls still pulled off a great race, finishing with Lizzie taking 3rd and climbing us closer and closer back up to the top step of the podium!

Now it's time to rebuild in time for the LSL Supercrit at SKCC on Sunday, where the Women's race has a huge $10,500 in prize money thanks to Anchor Point Village & Liv/Giant. We've got a strong team, but the field is also extremely competitive, and I can't wait to get my race nails painted again and to help the team battle it out!

If you're in the area, head down to White St, Port Melbourne for the 11.30 start to see some of Australia's best female cyclists duke it out! http://lslsupercrit.com.au/

And while you're in blog reading mode, catch up on everything happening with my team this summer over here! - http://specializedsecuritor.blogspot.com.au/

Sweet Ride!

Thanks to the huge intercontinental combined effort of many many people, I am lucky enough to be riding the 2013 S Works Amira for the rest of my time here in Europe. I know that sponsored riders opinions of bikes are usually taken with a grain of salt, however I need to just state - WOW.

I don't know if it's new bike syndrome, or just the bike, but it feels like I'm comfortable riding my bike again. Cornering and descending, where I'd been a bit hesitant lately, feels so smooth. It could be the fact that the bike comes with the sweet as Roval Carbon Clinchers, which I'd had the pleasure of test riding back in Aus, but hadn't had a proper run with them.

To be honest, I don't care if it's the placebo effect. It is just wonderful to feel like when I pedal, the power is going through the bike and making me go where I want.

And really.. It looks pretty darn sweet too if you ask me!

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!

Going in to Battle!

Battle on the Border appears to be the QLD version of the Tour of Bright. A QLD long weekend with grades A-C for Men, Masters and Women, plus some juniors racing! 500 competitors over all the grades, but no mountains to ride up, some lovely warm weather and a location next to the beach. Sounds pretty great to me!

The depleted team!

The Pro sign on board..

We went in to Battle already outnumbered. 2 team mates had been detained by their places of employment, and a 3rd was recovering from injuries sustained in the previous NRS fight. We tried to call in reinforcements, however several girls made the decision not to come which they would later regret when they saw all the photo’s of most of the peloton enjoying their recovery time at the beach.

Day 1 was a 7.2k TT in the morning. I’d decided not to take the TT bike because it’s a major hassle to fly with, and then couldn’t find my clip on bars before I left. Oh well! Carly and I both posted solid mid field rides about 1m20 down on the super TTer Beck Wiasak of Suzuki.

Putting the feet up between stages on Day 1. Probably Instagramming the sh*t out of it...

 A couple of hours later and we were kitted up again on the start line of the 98km road stage. This race had a couple of steep climbs, some rolling hills, and a lot of bumpy water damaged road! Almost 70 girls in the bunch, with the usual first day jitters, plus the fact that the lead Police vehicle didn’t know how to control traffic, resulting in cars on the other side of the road hurtling at us at 80kph, it made for a stressful race. I thought I’d made it through safely until just over 10k to go where someone went skittling sideways in front of me, and I was on the deck. Chain back on the bike and a quick chase through the convoy and I was thankfully back safely at the front of the bunch. Ruth Corset, super mum, ex National Champ, having only just retired from the Euro Peloton, attacked up the climb on the 2nd lap of the course and solo’d away from everyone and took the win comfortably by a minute. I finished in the main bunch, thankful to have most of my skin still intact.



Hot weather, hot racing!



Day 2 and more sunshine, today’s stage was another loop – 85k and 2 goes up the QOM of the day. Not steep or long enough to split the bunch unfortunately – which 12 months ago is not something I ever thought I would say! – but long enough to cause a fair bit of pain. At the start of the 2nd lap I was caught napping at the back of the bunch again, and missed the move of the day. Steph Ives, along with Zoe Watters & Narelle Hards managed to get away from the bunch and were never seen again until the finishing straight! After the 2nd time over the QOM I tried to get across, and whilst I could see them up ahead, the gap was too far and the bunch too intent on not letting anyone else away. Another bunch finish…

Vollies from the local TAFE gave us free post-race Massages! Pro!

The great thing was, our race was over by lunch time, this meant that we got to spend the afternoon recovering at the beach and eating Gelati from the local ice cream store in Kingscliff! I could get used to that kind of lifestyle…

My kind of recovery...

3rd and Final Day was a technical 1.1km Crit circuit. I was excited. Traditional crits don’t suit me as I’m clearly not a sprinter, but the fast technical ones are becoming a favourite of mine. The goal was to stay safe up near the front of the bunch and have a crack if the legs were there nearer to the end of the race. Well I did, and they were there, but nothing was getting away from the Pensar Hawk team. VIS superstars Chloe and Lisa were super active throughout the race, trying to get a break established, but unfortunately it wasn’t to be. Ruth showed how amazing she was by basically controlling the whole race herself, marking all of Chloe’s attacks, and then in the end leading out the last 2 laps and still winning the bunch kick when it was apparent her sprinter wasn’t able to come around! I managed to get around some dropped wheels and fight my way back to the leaders and finish off the tour with a top 10 on the stage.

Whilst I would have liked to have gone better, overall I’m ok with how the tour went. How could you be unhappy with weather like we experienced?!

Special thanks to Nadine Le Mescam and Ryan Moody for the photo's. And to Nadine for helping both Carly and I out during the racing. Made life much easier.. And those Banoffee TORQ gels.... Rocket Fuel!