Back to the flatlands!

Well it's hard to believe that I've been in Belgium for 2 weeks already. Time flies when you're settling in to a new place, racing, riding, and playing far too much Candy Crush..

 

I arrived in to Belgium on my Birthday, and the first thing I did was buy myself some Belgian Chocolate at the Airport while I waited to be picked up - "when in Rome".. as they say! It was a fairly long day, with a trip to Ikea in Gent necessary, and then going for a birthday dinner in town, pretty happy to report that the sushi in Gent is good and I can't wait to go back 

Birthday Sushi!

In terms of presents, it was a good day, getting a house to live in and our team kit having arrived finally!

 

Racing Knokke Heist

After a bit of a late night getting things sorted, and then a reasonably early start to get up to race Knokke Heist - Bredene, it's fair to say we were all pretty tired. But spirits were high and we were looking forward to racing in our new kit for the first time! We arrived to a reasonably nice day, but as we got ready the wind was picking up and getting colder by the minute. We knew that just 13kms in the race hit small country roads, before about 20k later hitting a 2km long cobbled section. When I heard about the cobbles I was a bit nervous.. that's the longest cobbled sector I'd ever done. 

 

Julie, Ann and I post Knokke Heist. Pretty happy it's over.

The race went from 0 to 50 straight away, and it turned out predictions were right, and things blowing apart in the wind on the small roads. I was tantalizingly close to making the front split, but again was just that little bit too far back. This made for a long hard chase with a small group, finally rejoining the front with about 30k left to race. A few more local laps down, nothing too eventful, and I was happy to make it to the end, as were Julie and Ann who had made the front bunch also.

 

The next day we were off to Sinaai for a local Kermesse. Jane wasn't well and so had decided to sit this one out, so the team for the day were Kayleigh, myself, Ann & Julie. It was lots of fun racing a bit of a shorter race with a slightly smaller bunch than we'd been in for the big races. Getting to make an impact on the race and practice bunch skills is good for the confidence. It was a good day, nice weather and a good race until 1k to go where a crash brought down Kayleigh, and got my adrenaline pumping to the max after it happened right beside me. Ann and I tried to do a bit of a lead out for Julie, but the crash made things a little hectic, and with the long straight finish, it was hard to judge when to go. Julie ended up just off the podium in 4th though, so not a bad result!

Living the 'shit covered' dream.. One of the hazards of racing in Belgium.

 

A few days of rest, recovery, & exploring the new training routes, and it was time to race again. This time it was 3 Kermesses back to back, in my own mini Tour of Belgium.

First was North East to Begijendijk. A flat fast course with only a couple of real corners, a break went early and almost stuck. All the girls in the team had a go at getting across to the break, with only a few groups successfully getting any advantage, although all were brought back by the end. A bit of fun and a good way to start the weekend off.

 

Saturday it was off to the West, over near the coast to Snaarskerke. Belgium is usually windy, but over by the coast it's worse, and this was in full force today. Winds had to have been about 60-70kph and when I hit the crosswinds I had a couple of CX moments getting blown off the road. The race split early on and thankfully Julie had made the front selection of 10-12 girls, so I got to tap around with the second bunch until our group had the final lap called a few laps early. Fair to say I was pretty happy to end the race when we did, I was kind of over the wind...

After Saturdays race the Scot's headed back to the UK to participate in our team sponsors big charity ride, the Ribbon Ride, whilst Julie and I headed back to the team house to get ready for day 3.

 

Training in the small amount of sun we've had!

Sunday we headed east in to the very French town of Dinant. As we got closer the terrain changed more and more, and I was so happy to see that there were hills in this race! And not just little rolling hills as we'd been told.. It seemed the course would have about 3 x 1-1.5k climbs each lap that would have to be tackled 7 times. In Belgium, that's a solid amount of climbing. Because of this, the start line was definitely less crowded, with only 39 starters at this race and quite a different set of faces from the last couple of days of flat races. Right from the gun the pace was on, with one of the local girls from Topsport Vlaanderen rocketing off up the first hill. I gave chase and was surprised at how good my legs felt given the last couple of days racing. The first lap was rather damp still, and we went down a descent at 60+kph and then had to do a hard right hand turn.. There was a point I wasn't sure I was going to stop in time! As it was only Julie and I in the race, we made sure that between the 2 of us we tried to cover everything to make sure if a move went, we were in it. Early on, a Sengers rider got away solo, and it wasn't until the 2nd last lap that a group finally got away, which even though we missed the move initially, we were able to get Julie across to it. From the break, the Wiggle Honda rider Mayuko got away solo and went on to win, with Julie sprinting to 5th.

 

So a good solid weekend of racing under the belt, and time for a bit of recovery this week before gearing up for next weekends Holland Hills Classic & Gooik. This week I'm going to explore the local area a bit more and do some of the famous cobble climbs from the Tour of Flanders etc! We live in a great area for training thankfully, with some hills and nice roads, now if only the sun could come out a little bit more.....

Girona

I was lucky enough to get to go back to Girona for a couple of weeks between races to try and get in some good training in the sunshine. Being that it's the place I've spent most of my time since getting to Europe, it felt like coming 'home' and I was happy to be there, even though most of the people I knew were away racing. Getting the chance to chill out by myself was quite nice, and gave me the chance to do a bit of exploring.

Beautiful blue skies and sunshine around Girona. Except for the few days when it was like a Melbourne winter..

Exploring the coastline from Tossa de Mar

One thing I've noticed about Girona and staying in the Old Town, is the Church bells. It's hard not to notice them. They chime every hour, on the hour, twice. Plus they also signal the quarter hour, 24/7. I did some googling to find out the reason they chime on the hour, and then 2 minutes later, and it turns out it's because back in the day, before wristwatches and iPhones, if you were out in the field working you might have missed the first ring and wouldn't know the time. So 2 minutes later, the time chimes again. That way you've never got an excuse to be home late for dinner! I like that thinking. So there's your Spanish history lesson for the day!

One of the other great things about Girona is the Creperies. There's about 5 or 6 of them, and most of them serve Glutard friendly Crepes! My favourite would have to be the Banana and 'Black' chocolate one I had from Crepedeque, where Lotti the dog resides with his owners who have been making crepes since forever. Thankfully the riding around the area is amazing so you can work off all the crepes!

Crepes!

I'd splurged a bit and got a car for the time I was there, otherwise I had no way of getting home from the airport when I arrived. It meant that I could meet Jo at the airport when she came back from Lux though, and we headed straight to one of my favourite places ever, the Boqueria Markets in Barcelona, for brunch. The Tortilla was even better than I remembered it to be and I can't wait to go back again for another one.

A happy place

Getting to have a pre-Birthday dinner on Thursday night with Jo, Loren & Carlee, before jetting back off to Belgium early Friday morning was so nice. Nothing like getting to spend your almost birthday with good friends on the other side of the world! Now it's back to Belgium for some more racing and to move in to home, which is where I am now.. Belgium update to come later!

Dinner (and colouring in) with the girls

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!