Australian Cyclocross Championships
Sunday 5th August | Adelaide, SA, Australia
It sounds weird for me to say it out loud.. "Australian Cyclocross Champion". It's weird because in no way do I see myself as a 'cross rider. I still find it odd that people commit to it as their sole sport, in fact I find it odd that people commit to just one discipline at all, no matter what they major in. The people involved in this sport aren't as serious as road cyclists, or as laid back as mountain bikers. I find them to be a mix of passionate, eclectic, city commuters, as a generalisation of course, because a few of them are more serious than cancer..
Over the last few years the 'cross scene in Australia has been on a rapid rise. From an outsiders view it's the only socially acceptable means to getting dirty in lycra and then throwing back a few beers with your mates. It's short in duration, so it's easy to maintain fitness for. It's also on a short convoluted course, making it the easiest discipline to race within city limits. And it's on during winter when people ready don't have anything better to do. So I get it. It's convenient when the alternative is not riding at all BUT unbelievably 'cross riders actually can't wait for summer to end so that they can spend more time washing their clothes and bike than they do riding. Hence the tag #crossiscoming
While it might take me a while to get hooked on the sport as a racer, I've always been hooked on it as a spectator. Riders like Vos, Prevot and Nash make any girl want to be them,so with the support of SRAM, Zipp and Focus I decided to get involved last year. It wasn't the rosy start to my 'cross career that I'd imagined. I ran second in my four races, but I was sick as a dog the entire time and didn't seem to enjoy it at all. I thought perhaps I was just being a sore loser and that I was judging the sport too harshly because I was clouded by the disappointment of not winning. So to test that theory I decided to have another crack at it.
This year I signed for the U.S based Hagens Berman | Supermint Pro Women's Cycling Team, so I've spent the last four months galavanting around America racing criterium's, road races and a few ghastly time trials along the way. As avid lovers of all disciplines on two wheels they allowed me to finish my season early and return to winter in Australia to.. well.. test this theory! The first port of call was to come home healthy, so as I neared my 70th race day I was trying to do the bare minimum to get through. I stopped pre-riding, I wouldn't ride on travel days, I didn't sprint for primes and I even put on a few kilo all in the name of staying healthy (some people may call bullshit on that last one..) lol
Jarrod and I decided to spend a few days in California before we jetted home and the motivation was high for 'cross so I decided to get my eye in. For some reason I thought it might be nice to return to my days as a runner, so we slowly jogged around the block for 2kms, just 10mins. Of course I felt on top of the world at the time but baby steps right? Well, for the next two weeks my knees were so inflamed I could barely ride, and the weather was cold as shit in Bendigo so I wasn't that motivated to ride anyway! So, as the excuses go, I hadn't ridden my 'cross bike since Feb, I felt like I'd lost all my fitness and I hadn't done an effort in weeks BUT I wasn't sick and my knee was behaving so I decided to give it a crack.
Before I talk about the race I just have to do a blatant shout out to my team Focus Attaquer CX. These guys are the sole reason I'm persevering with 'cross because how could people who are so awesome not be right? Mark Chadwick aka 'Logistics Manager' made sure I had fresh tyres, kits and a spare bike for race day. Shaun Lewis aka 'Director Sportive' set me up with wheels, trainer, chair, tent and heater! Chris Aitken aka 'Technical Director' took me out on track to show me the race lines and where to run vs where to ride. Tom Chapman aka 'Psychologist' gave me insight into how the women had been racing and how the course would change with the weather. Harry Carpenter aka 'Mechanic' is self explanatory. And Jack Hogan.. well he loaned me a few pins haha
I point these people out because they are ALL elite racers, yet they took time out to make my first 'cross race with them so much easier. Honestly, I did nothing productive for them, I'm pretty useless! Further to support from my teammates, of course SRAM's Rob Eva and Leigh de Luca were there for mechanics, Greg Hamer and Stevan Musulin from Attaquer to present me with a sick new Champs kit and to de-pin my number (the important stuff). Special mention to competitors Fi Caroline and Mel Ansett for verbally barracking for me while racing against me (lol) and photographers Riley Wolff and Jeff Curtes, love your work guys! The list goes on and I remember that usually Jarrod has to do ALL of these jobs on his own, what a guy..
So onto the race. I was able to start front row thanks to my UCI points from last year's Championship, but it made little difference when I couldn't clip my foot in. I was embarrassed, considering the pedals are double sided and I am traditionally a mountain biker BUT I was sporting brand new Northwave Extreme XC shoes fresh out of the box that morning, with new cleats and I'd even added studs (because I'm so pro), and the cleat is in a slightly different part of the foot to what I'm used to on the road. Eventually I clipped in, systems go.
The pre-race favourite was Nat Redmond and I'd been warned about her fast starts. Of course I didn't need a warning, I remembered back to my first 'cross race last year when we went elbow for elbow up the first section of tarmac. Eventually I let her have it because she wanted it so bad, only for her to crash out two corners later. In short, I knew she was hot headed in a race whereas I've raced so often I'm a tad more calm and measured. My plan was to follow her for the first few laps and make her sweat. I wasn't sure how I was going and didn't want to show my cards too early only to have a bad hand.
When I missed my foot I thought I'd have to work hard to make it back, but instead the riders were lined out single file on the left of the firetrap and I was able to ride straight around them all to take the lead. I didn't know whether to be confident because I had good legs, or to be nervous because they were all foxing. I felt my way through most of the first lap before Nat took the lead and we opened up at advantage. I was riding reserved on the technical sections so naturally she would put a few seconds into me at time, but I couldn't believe how easily I would make it back when I could get the power down. We weren't even halfway through the six lap race but I was picturing myself on the top step. 'Don't get cocky you idiot, concentrate!'
Then karma.. on lap 3 after the hill run, I couldn't clip my foot in and lost 12 seconds. It took a bit more to close that gap and when I did get back, I crashed on an off camber section and lost another 10 seconds! I was angry with myself this time 'stop stuffing around and take her'. This time I clipped straight in from the hill run and I remembered saying in my head 'oh, you're gone now' (I know it sounds conceited on paper but anything to motivate yourself in the moment right?). The open tracks were good to me and I came up on Nat quick. She stayed with me for a few turns but I could tell she was taking risks and eventually she made a mistake through a corner and the gap opened up. By the end of the lap I had 20seconds. The final lap was just a process of nurturing the corners and nailing the straights. Nat held on for second ahead of Naomi Williams but I was the National Champion.
I thought I'd feel excitement, but really it was just relief. I hated that because I really wanted to be stoked on it. I suppose in many ways I expected to win and anything less would've just been disappointment. Usually I'm happy with tears when I win a Championship but this time in was just redemption. I really do hope that my love for the sport grows, because I like the idea of it and I most certainly adore the people. But amongst all of the laughs and banter I can imagine that there are a few haters; I too don't feel completely deserving of the title, but I did earn it on that day. I'm bloody proud to be crowned National Champion and will wear those stripes, or more specifically my fresh 'break the rules' Attaquer suit with pride.. for the two races left on my season lol
I'll only touch briefly on Sunday's National Round because the weather was to die for, literally. We had rain, hail and lightening and the true 'cross enthusiasts were in their element! Again, I missed my foot off the line and again my dismounts and remounts weren't perfect but considering my lack of practice I'm pretty bloody happy with them. We raced the Champs course backwards which I think suited me even more, my legs were ready to back up again and despite peoples initially doubts of my ability in the mud, I actually love the mud, just not the conditions that produce it.
But in the end my competitors unravelled themselves. Nat, April McDonough and I forged an early lead but they both crashed in the same spot on alternate laps giving me a clean run for the win. I stayed upright for the day and cautiously forged a 35second lead. With some final lap aggression it came down to a sprint with Nat winning out over April. Look forward to doing it all again soon ladies.
Results: Australian National CX Championships
Results: Australian National CX Round 4
Over the last few years the 'cross scene in Australia has been on a rapid rise. From an outsiders view it's the only socially acceptable means to getting dirty in lycra and then throwing back a few beers with your mates. It's short in duration, so it's easy to maintain fitness for. It's also on a short convoluted course, making it the easiest discipline to race within city limits. And it's on during winter when people ready don't have anything better to do. So I get it. It's convenient when the alternative is not riding at all BUT unbelievably 'cross riders actually can't wait for summer to end so that they can spend more time washing their clothes and bike than they do riding. Hence the tag #crossiscoming
While it might take me a while to get hooked on the sport as a racer, I've always been hooked on it as a spectator. Riders like Vos, Prevot and Nash make any girl want to be them,so with the support of SRAM, Zipp and Focus I decided to get involved last year. It wasn't the rosy start to my 'cross career that I'd imagined. I ran second in my four races, but I was sick as a dog the entire time and didn't seem to enjoy it at all. I thought perhaps I was just being a sore loser and that I was judging the sport too harshly because I was clouded by the disappointment of not winning. So to test that theory I decided to have another crack at it.
This year I signed for the U.S based Hagens Berman | Supermint Pro Women's Cycling Team, so I've spent the last four months galavanting around America racing criterium's, road races and a few ghastly time trials along the way. As avid lovers of all disciplines on two wheels they allowed me to finish my season early and return to winter in Australia to.. well.. test this theory! The first port of call was to come home healthy, so as I neared my 70th race day I was trying to do the bare minimum to get through. I stopped pre-riding, I wouldn't ride on travel days, I didn't sprint for primes and I even put on a few kilo all in the name of staying healthy (some people may call bullshit on that last one..) lol
Jarrod and I decided to spend a few days in California before we jetted home and the motivation was high for 'cross so I decided to get my eye in. For some reason I thought it might be nice to return to my days as a runner, so we slowly jogged around the block for 2kms, just 10mins. Of course I felt on top of the world at the time but baby steps right? Well, for the next two weeks my knees were so inflamed I could barely ride, and the weather was cold as shit in Bendigo so I wasn't that motivated to ride anyway! So, as the excuses go, I hadn't ridden my 'cross bike since Feb, I felt like I'd lost all my fitness and I hadn't done an effort in weeks BUT I wasn't sick and my knee was behaving so I decided to give it a crack.
Before I talk about the race I just have to do a blatant shout out to my team Focus Attaquer CX. These guys are the sole reason I'm persevering with 'cross because how could people who are so awesome not be right? Mark Chadwick aka 'Logistics Manager' made sure I had fresh tyres, kits and a spare bike for race day. Shaun Lewis aka 'Director Sportive' set me up with wheels, trainer, chair, tent and heater! Chris Aitken aka 'Technical Director' took me out on track to show me the race lines and where to run vs where to ride. Tom Chapman aka 'Psychologist' gave me insight into how the women had been racing and how the course would change with the weather. Harry Carpenter aka 'Mechanic' is self explanatory. And Jack Hogan.. well he loaned me a few pins haha
I point these people out because they are ALL elite racers, yet they took time out to make my first 'cross race with them so much easier. Honestly, I did nothing productive for them, I'm pretty useless! Further to support from my teammates, of course SRAM's Rob Eva and Leigh de Luca were there for mechanics, Greg Hamer and Stevan Musulin from Attaquer to present me with a sick new Champs kit and to de-pin my number (the important stuff). Special mention to competitors Fi Caroline and Mel Ansett for verbally barracking for me while racing against me (lol) and photographers Riley Wolff and Jeff Curtes, love your work guys! The list goes on and I remember that usually Jarrod has to do ALL of these jobs on his own, what a guy..
So onto the race. I was able to start front row thanks to my UCI points from last year's Championship, but it made little difference when I couldn't clip my foot in. I was embarrassed, considering the pedals are double sided and I am traditionally a mountain biker BUT I was sporting brand new Northwave Extreme XC shoes fresh out of the box that morning, with new cleats and I'd even added studs (because I'm so pro), and the cleat is in a slightly different part of the foot to what I'm used to on the road. Eventually I clipped in, systems go.
The pre-race favourite was Nat Redmond and I'd been warned about her fast starts. Of course I didn't need a warning, I remembered back to my first 'cross race last year when we went elbow for elbow up the first section of tarmac. Eventually I let her have it because she wanted it so bad, only for her to crash out two corners later. In short, I knew she was hot headed in a race whereas I've raced so often I'm a tad more calm and measured. My plan was to follow her for the first few laps and make her sweat. I wasn't sure how I was going and didn't want to show my cards too early only to have a bad hand.
When I missed my foot I thought I'd have to work hard to make it back, but instead the riders were lined out single file on the left of the firetrap and I was able to ride straight around them all to take the lead. I didn't know whether to be confident because I had good legs, or to be nervous because they were all foxing. I felt my way through most of the first lap before Nat took the lead and we opened up at advantage. I was riding reserved on the technical sections so naturally she would put a few seconds into me at time, but I couldn't believe how easily I would make it back when I could get the power down. We weren't even halfway through the six lap race but I was picturing myself on the top step. 'Don't get cocky you idiot, concentrate!'
Then karma.. on lap 3 after the hill run, I couldn't clip my foot in and lost 12 seconds. It took a bit more to close that gap and when I did get back, I crashed on an off camber section and lost another 10 seconds! I was angry with myself this time 'stop stuffing around and take her'. This time I clipped straight in from the hill run and I remembered saying in my head 'oh, you're gone now' (I know it sounds conceited on paper but anything to motivate yourself in the moment right?). The open tracks were good to me and I came up on Nat quick. She stayed with me for a few turns but I could tell she was taking risks and eventually she made a mistake through a corner and the gap opened up. By the end of the lap I had 20seconds. The final lap was just a process of nurturing the corners and nailing the straights. Nat held on for second ahead of Naomi Williams but I was the National Champion.
I thought I'd feel excitement, but really it was just relief. I hated that because I really wanted to be stoked on it. I suppose in many ways I expected to win and anything less would've just been disappointment. Usually I'm happy with tears when I win a Championship but this time in was just redemption. I really do hope that my love for the sport grows, because I like the idea of it and I most certainly adore the people. But amongst all of the laughs and banter I can imagine that there are a few haters; I too don't feel completely deserving of the title, but I did earn it on that day. I'm bloody proud to be crowned National Champion and will wear those stripes, or more specifically my fresh 'break the rules' Attaquer suit with pride.. for the two races left on my season lol
I'll only touch briefly on Sunday's National Round because the weather was to die for, literally. We had rain, hail and lightening and the true 'cross enthusiasts were in their element! Again, I missed my foot off the line and again my dismounts and remounts weren't perfect but considering my lack of practice I'm pretty bloody happy with them. We raced the Champs course backwards which I think suited me even more, my legs were ready to back up again and despite peoples initially doubts of my ability in the mud, I actually love the mud, just not the conditions that produce it.
But in the end my competitors unravelled themselves. Nat, April McDonough and I forged an early lead but they both crashed in the same spot on alternate laps giving me a clean run for the win. I stayed upright for the day and cautiously forged a 35second lead. With some final lap aggression it came down to a sprint with Nat winning out over April. Look forward to doing it all again soon ladies.
Results: Australian National CX Championships
Results: Australian National CX Round 4
Oklahoma Pro-Am Classic
Friday 2nd - Sunday 4th June | Oklahoma City, OK, United States
When I hear the statement "lets make America great again" first I think of Donald Trump, but then I think of how that statement rings true to the Oklahoma Pro-Am, a three day criterium series held in Oklahoma City in June. The series is run by a guy named Chad Hodges who aside from being possibly the nicest guy on the planet, also runs his own paint contracting company, while juggling the local DNA Racing team, and for the past three years has also managed the first domestic elite team in Oklahoma history, Team Arapahoe Resources. Of course he doesn't do this ALL on his own (not from lack of trying), but is propped up by his staff, volunteers, wives and even the racers themselves, including his right hand man Andy Chasteen.
Jarrod and I met Andy last year when he was in charge of host housing for the event. As the coordinator, when he ran out of volunteer housing, he just decided to pull out an extra mattress and have people sleep on his floor! Despite being a single father (before you get any ideas he has since partnered) of a five year old daughter he had eight people squeeze into his home and gathered around the grill in his backyard. These are the kind of people associated with the Pro-Am, an event run on blood, sweat and tears, and they are the reason that it quickly became not only my first ever road event in America, but my favourite. And that's before I even looked at the prize money!
I REALLY wanted to win in Midtown although it came as a surprise when I did. Then I was keen to back it up on Film Row to prove it wasn't a fluke. And by the time we rolled onto Automobile Alley I actually wasn't that phased and would've been happy to see a breakaway succeed. As it turned out the racing was pretty animated for a smaller field of 30 but each day still came down to the usual bunchie. Liza worked tirelessly throughout the day to make sure of that and sat on my hip in the final just in case I needed her, rolling three top ten's for the weekend. I followed race favourites IS Corp in their lead-out for Skylar Schneider and managed to jump the train each day to win all three days and clean sweep the weekend! I'd like to say I was the first but Jarrod beat me to it in the Cat 2.. lol
For me it was a bit of a dream. I want to thank the girls at the end of the race who congratulated me and were happy for me. For those that didn't congratulate me, and even protested against me, I'm sorry that you couldn't offer me the same courtesy that I have offered you in the past. But that's all behind us now as we look down the barrel of another weekend racing bicycles!
Results: Midtown 1st, Film Row 1st, Automobile Alley 1st
Strava: Midtown, Film Row, Automobile Alley
Jarrod and I met Andy last year when he was in charge of host housing for the event. As the coordinator, when he ran out of volunteer housing, he just decided to pull out an extra mattress and have people sleep on his floor! Despite being a single father (before you get any ideas he has since partnered) of a five year old daughter he had eight people squeeze into his home and gathered around the grill in his backyard. These are the kind of people associated with the Pro-Am, an event run on blood, sweat and tears, and they are the reason that it quickly became not only my first ever road event in America, but my favourite. And that's before I even looked at the prize money!
I REALLY wanted to win in Midtown although it came as a surprise when I did. Then I was keen to back it up on Film Row to prove it wasn't a fluke. And by the time we rolled onto Automobile Alley I actually wasn't that phased and would've been happy to see a breakaway succeed. As it turned out the racing was pretty animated for a smaller field of 30 but each day still came down to the usual bunchie. Liza worked tirelessly throughout the day to make sure of that and sat on my hip in the final just in case I needed her, rolling three top ten's for the weekend. I followed race favourites IS Corp in their lead-out for Skylar Schneider and managed to jump the train each day to win all three days and clean sweep the weekend! I'd like to say I was the first but Jarrod beat me to it in the Cat 2.. lol
For me it was a bit of a dream. I want to thank the girls at the end of the race who congratulated me and were happy for me. For those that didn't congratulate me, and even protested against me, I'm sorry that you couldn't offer me the same courtesy that I have offered you in the past. But that's all behind us now as we look down the barrel of another weekend racing bicycles!
Results: Midtown 1st, Film Row 1st, Automobile Alley 1st
Strava: Midtown, Film Row, Automobile Alley
Winston Salem Cycling Classic
Saturday 27th - Monday 29th May | Winston Salem, NC, United States | UCI 1.1
Wilmington Grand Prix and Monkey Hill Time Trial
Friday 19th - Saturday 20th May | Wilmington, DE, United States
Blog coming soon...
Results: Monkey Hill Time Trial 1st, Wilmington Grand Prix 2nd
Strava: Monkey Hill Time Trial, Wilmington Grand Prix
Results: Monkey Hill Time Trial 1st, Wilmington Grand Prix 2nd
Strava: Monkey Hill Time Trial, Wilmington Grand Prix
Amgen Tour of California powered by SRAM
Thursday 11th - Sunday 14th May | South Lake Tahoe - Sacramento, CA, United States | WWT
Team: Peta Mullens, Lizzie Williams, Lindsay Bayer, Scotti Lechuga, Jess Cerra and Megan Alderete
Director: Jono Coulter, Assistant Director: Michael Creed, Mechanic: AJ, Assistant Mechanic: Jarrod Moroni, Photographer: Justin Weeks, Doctor: Dr. John Baker, Handyman: Ryan Knotts, Soigneur: Fernando and Ernie Lechuga
Host Family: Kylie and Mike, kids Kenzie and Zachy, and dogs Annie and Gracie
I didn’t know where to start with this one, but then a Taylor Swift song came on and the words rang pretty true to the week just gone...
Band-aids don't fix bullet holes
I wasn't sure if I should write about the happenings of our team in California, and without my insight you'd certainly never read about it. But I wanted to share it with you because it's a perfect example of how something so small just festered, like a tumour, and nearly ruined our team. But before we get to the deep stuff, I'll start from the very beginning.
My decision to sign with a UCI team this year was based purely on my ambition to race the two Women’s World Tour races on the North American calendar in California and Philadelphia. In early February, the 2017 edition of Philadelphia was cancelled and the Tour of California became my focus, so finishing a bout of antibiotics the morning of the opening stage was not how I had planned to start my tour. But I was adamant I could hold my own at altitude in South Lake Tahoe, and would stay focussed on the two sprint stages finishing in Sacramento, thankfully at sea level.
Our team had a strong line up, but we also recognised that we were racing some of the biggest teams in the world. Our ambitions were simple for the opening stage, we would aim for a podium via way of the most courageous jersey; a token gesture for the most aggressive rider on the day, and in the final we would all try for a result ourselves. Wait, what was that? Well we'd been asked how we all felt about the finish and even though only one rider had accepted the challenge of the Heavenly Mountain ascent, we were all allowed to do our own thing, very non-specific. In other words, we would all end up racing each other and despite being confused, we all kept it to ourselves, curious to see how it would all pan out.
Most of the day went as planned. Scotti had dug deep over the QOM and finished runner-up, Lindsay attacked 100 times and spent a lot of the race dangling off the front, then Lizzie went solo for 20kms. As the race came back together for the final it was announced that Lizzie had been awarded the 'most courageous' jersey and instead of celebrating an awesome day, we turned to sabbotage. Creed came over the race radio in the final five kms, reminding us to 'get together, use the other teams, stay calm'. We hadn't nominated a team leader on the road which was a fail, but in the same breathe not ONE of us took it upon ourselves to rally the troops and get to the firing line. Instead, half of us gathered at the back to complain about how shit we felt, and the other half navigated their way through the other trains to try for themselves at the finish. Scotti was our best placed finisher in 16th, not far off the top 10, but following our good day out there was only anger, tears and frustration. Something was a miss and we were in desperate need of a debrief.
There were two main emotions in our team meeting. The first was happiness from our directors Jono and Creed, who were ecstatic about the coverage we received throughout the race and of course the pinnacle of the podium, but in contrast to that, and perhaps unbeknown to our elated staff, there was friction among the riders. It was obvious that something wasn’t right. The two most recent results that had landed Lizzie on the podium; the criterium at Redlands and the courageous jersey, had revealed nothing but bad attitudes. We had failed to resolve these issues in Redlands and sure enough, we were facing them again today. Something was holding us back. Something was making us unhappy. And this something was eating us from the inside out.
The meeting dragged for two hours and it was intense. There were tears, questions, personal attacks, a butt-load of honesty and some more tears. We looked at the bigger picture, the smaller picture, we questioned money, staff and even put the blame on each other. Every single rider stood up and bravely voiced their opinion, without judgement and after the emotions had died down, followed by many moments of silence, I had an epiphany. It seemed so simple that I wonder how the problem ever grew so big and traumatic. I was only disappointed when I felt like I had failed in my team role, or furthermore, that I failed because I never even had a team role. The riders agreed. We were angry because we felt unaccomplished and we were taking our personal reasoning out on each other. It seems stupid, but emotions are multiplied in an environment like the one we live in, and women build this shit up in their heads! In that moment it felt like a weight off our shoulders.
It was a relief to start the second stage with a team leader, a clear team plan, and specific roles before we checked out on the 12km Kinsbury Climb and left Scotti to her own devices with only Jono and Creed in her ear for company. Jess made the dangerous split in the cross winds, we positioned Scotti well for the climb and most importantly, we communicated and rode together like a team. One thing did go a miss on the communication front and that was that Lindsay had crashed out with a broken collarbone and chipped elbow! Ouch. Visiting her in hospital, as a team, after driving over an extensive mountain pass, confirmed to us that we had turned over a new leaf. Sometimes it takes time for six strangers to live together, race together and love together.
The third day presented us with more crosswinds and despite the lessons learnt the day before, the European teams still managed to school a few of the American’s. Not once, not twice but three times. In the midst of all of this carnage Scotti had found herself in a three-up break but ultimately the race would come together for a messy bunch sprint in Sacramento. I was scouting near the front with a few kilometres to go and found myself calling on the radio for Lizzie with no reply. As the pace rose, the road narrowed and I heard a voice over my left shoulder. It was Lizzie.. phew! But the elation didn’t last, because at that very moment Megan Guarnier had swayed with the movement of the peloton and pedalled straight through my front wheel, taking seven spokes with her. Lizzie went on to finish sixth.
The fourth and final day arrived and I felt like it was time to do something right, or at least do ‘something’. As it turns out I did absolutely nothing the entire race, luckily Megan was a machine! I spent half the race toward the front, missing all of the moves, and the other half of the race completely zoned out, secretly shitting myself about my leadout role. Normally I get hyped by the hustle and bustle of a sprint, but I was really struggling with the pressure of leading out Lizzie, because for the first time in a long time I had somebody that I could disappoint. For ages I really thought I couldn't do it, and then in the final two laps I made my way to the front. 'Don't be a little bitch Peta, suit up!' Physically I had a lot less than I would've liked, but somehow I got Lizzie to the front without incident and she powered home to seventh.
After what felt like ten days, but turned out to be only four, the Amgen Tour of California was over. With two weeks until the next race on our team calendar, the UCI 1.1 in Winston Salem, everyone has gone their separate way in search of a mid-season break. The Americans have headed ‘home’, Lizzie has planned a short getaway in New York, and Jarrod and I have decided to settle in Charlotte to catch up with my amazing host Levi Nelson, who coincidentally is away for work! So until he graces us with his presence we’ve decided to head North through to Richmond, where I will finally meet the ‘last but not least mintie’ Julie Kuliecza! Stay tuned for uncontrollable excitement…
Results: Tour of California
Strava: Stage 1, Stage 2, Stage 3, Stage 4
Band-aids don't fix bullet holes
I wasn't sure if I should write about the happenings of our team in California, and without my insight you'd certainly never read about it. But I wanted to share it with you because it's a perfect example of how something so small just festered, like a tumour, and nearly ruined our team. But before we get to the deep stuff, I'll start from the very beginning.
My decision to sign with a UCI team this year was based purely on my ambition to race the two Women’s World Tour races on the North American calendar in California and Philadelphia. In early February, the 2017 edition of Philadelphia was cancelled and the Tour of California became my focus, so finishing a bout of antibiotics the morning of the opening stage was not how I had planned to start my tour. But I was adamant I could hold my own at altitude in South Lake Tahoe, and would stay focussed on the two sprint stages finishing in Sacramento, thankfully at sea level.
Our team had a strong line up, but we also recognised that we were racing some of the biggest teams in the world. Our ambitions were simple for the opening stage, we would aim for a podium via way of the most courageous jersey; a token gesture for the most aggressive rider on the day, and in the final we would all try for a result ourselves. Wait, what was that? Well we'd been asked how we all felt about the finish and even though only one rider had accepted the challenge of the Heavenly Mountain ascent, we were all allowed to do our own thing, very non-specific. In other words, we would all end up racing each other and despite being confused, we all kept it to ourselves, curious to see how it would all pan out.
Most of the day went as planned. Scotti had dug deep over the QOM and finished runner-up, Lindsay attacked 100 times and spent a lot of the race dangling off the front, then Lizzie went solo for 20kms. As the race came back together for the final it was announced that Lizzie had been awarded the 'most courageous' jersey and instead of celebrating an awesome day, we turned to sabbotage. Creed came over the race radio in the final five kms, reminding us to 'get together, use the other teams, stay calm'. We hadn't nominated a team leader on the road which was a fail, but in the same breathe not ONE of us took it upon ourselves to rally the troops and get to the firing line. Instead, half of us gathered at the back to complain about how shit we felt, and the other half navigated their way through the other trains to try for themselves at the finish. Scotti was our best placed finisher in 16th, not far off the top 10, but following our good day out there was only anger, tears and frustration. Something was a miss and we were in desperate need of a debrief.
There were two main emotions in our team meeting. The first was happiness from our directors Jono and Creed, who were ecstatic about the coverage we received throughout the race and of course the pinnacle of the podium, but in contrast to that, and perhaps unbeknown to our elated staff, there was friction among the riders. It was obvious that something wasn’t right. The two most recent results that had landed Lizzie on the podium; the criterium at Redlands and the courageous jersey, had revealed nothing but bad attitudes. We had failed to resolve these issues in Redlands and sure enough, we were facing them again today. Something was holding us back. Something was making us unhappy. And this something was eating us from the inside out.
The meeting dragged for two hours and it was intense. There were tears, questions, personal attacks, a butt-load of honesty and some more tears. We looked at the bigger picture, the smaller picture, we questioned money, staff and even put the blame on each other. Every single rider stood up and bravely voiced their opinion, without judgement and after the emotions had died down, followed by many moments of silence, I had an epiphany. It seemed so simple that I wonder how the problem ever grew so big and traumatic. I was only disappointed when I felt like I had failed in my team role, or furthermore, that I failed because I never even had a team role. The riders agreed. We were angry because we felt unaccomplished and we were taking our personal reasoning out on each other. It seems stupid, but emotions are multiplied in an environment like the one we live in, and women build this shit up in their heads! In that moment it felt like a weight off our shoulders.
It was a relief to start the second stage with a team leader, a clear team plan, and specific roles before we checked out on the 12km Kinsbury Climb and left Scotti to her own devices with only Jono and Creed in her ear for company. Jess made the dangerous split in the cross winds, we positioned Scotti well for the climb and most importantly, we communicated and rode together like a team. One thing did go a miss on the communication front and that was that Lindsay had crashed out with a broken collarbone and chipped elbow! Ouch. Visiting her in hospital, as a team, after driving over an extensive mountain pass, confirmed to us that we had turned over a new leaf. Sometimes it takes time for six strangers to live together, race together and love together.
The third day presented us with more crosswinds and despite the lessons learnt the day before, the European teams still managed to school a few of the American’s. Not once, not twice but three times. In the midst of all of this carnage Scotti had found herself in a three-up break but ultimately the race would come together for a messy bunch sprint in Sacramento. I was scouting near the front with a few kilometres to go and found myself calling on the radio for Lizzie with no reply. As the pace rose, the road narrowed and I heard a voice over my left shoulder. It was Lizzie.. phew! But the elation didn’t last, because at that very moment Megan Guarnier had swayed with the movement of the peloton and pedalled straight through my front wheel, taking seven spokes with her. Lizzie went on to finish sixth.
The fourth and final day arrived and I felt like it was time to do something right, or at least do ‘something’. As it turns out I did absolutely nothing the entire race, luckily Megan was a machine! I spent half the race toward the front, missing all of the moves, and the other half of the race completely zoned out, secretly shitting myself about my leadout role. Normally I get hyped by the hustle and bustle of a sprint, but I was really struggling with the pressure of leading out Lizzie, because for the first time in a long time I had somebody that I could disappoint. For ages I really thought I couldn't do it, and then in the final two laps I made my way to the front. 'Don't be a little bitch Peta, suit up!' Physically I had a lot less than I would've liked, but somehow I got Lizzie to the front without incident and she powered home to seventh.
After what felt like ten days, but turned out to be only four, the Amgen Tour of California was over. With two weeks until the next race on our team calendar, the UCI 1.1 in Winston Salem, everyone has gone their separate way in search of a mid-season break. The Americans have headed ‘home’, Lizzie has planned a short getaway in New York, and Jarrod and I have decided to settle in Charlotte to catch up with my amazing host Levi Nelson, who coincidentally is away for work! So until he graces us with his presence we’ve decided to head North through to Richmond, where I will finally meet the ‘last but not least mintie’ Julie Kuliecza! Stay tuned for uncontrollable excitement…
Results: Tour of California
Strava: Stage 1, Stage 2, Stage 3, Stage 4
Redlands Classic
Wednesday 3rd - Sunday 7th May | Redlands, CA, United States | PRT
Team: Peta Mullens, Lizzie Williams, Beth Ann Orton, Liza Rachetto, Ivy Audrain, Lindsay Bayer, Scotti Lechuga and Jess Cerra
Director: Jono Coulter, Mechanic: AJ, Photographer: Justin Weeks, Soigneur: Fernando and Ernie Lechuga
Host Family: Kylie and Mike, kids Kenzie and Zachy, and dogs Annie and Gracie
Blog coming soon...
Results: Stage 1, Stage 2, Stage 3, Stage 4
Strava: Time Trial, Road Race, Highland Circuit, Criterium
Results: Stage 1, Stage 2, Stage 3, Stage 4
Strava: Time Trial, Road Race, Highland Circuit, Criterium
Speedweek
Saturday 22nd - Sunday 30th April | NC, SC, United States | USA Criterium Series
Team: Peta Mullens
Host Families: Levi Diesel in Charlotte, Nancy Simmonds in Athens, Ben Renkema and Christy Keely in Greenville, Chad Andrews all of the time and Kathleen Fitzgerald in Atlanta
When I first heard Liza mention Speedweek she was in conversation with someone else, and I was definitely eavesdropping. All I could gather from the chat was that it was six days of criterium racing, kicking off in South Carolina, with some decent prize money up for grabs. After googling the shit out of it I discovered it was across ten days, from South Carolina to North Carolina, back to South Carolina and then across to Georgia, and if you drew it as a dot-to-dot you'd have to travel over 1000kms! It seemed epic, so I committed to the first three days with the intention of flying back to Los Angeles to meet my boyfriend Jarrod (who was coming in from Australia) and to race the Dana Point criterium with my team Hagens Berman | Supermint. But Speedweek was everything I expected and so much more.. so I stayed. No regrets.
Thursday: A travel day nightmare from Silver City to Charlotte. In short, after a few delayed flights, I arrived at a strangers house at 3am in the morning on the back of 21 hours of travel. Thank you 'teammate I've never met' Julie Kuliecza for organising me a bed, and to 'host of the year' Levi Nelson for being so accommodating at very late notice, like three hours notice!
Friday: I slept until lunch time, slept some more and then after dinner you guessed it, I slept again.
Saturday: I was so out of sync and after near time-trialling to the race I was so very late. As they were doing call-ups I was in at SRAM getting my bars tightened and bartering to steal a bottle of water. I didn't have to worry about the 'find a friend' on the start line problem (normally my teammates pose as friends) because we pretty much rolled straight into the race. The first day was about warming the legs into it and opening up for the final sprint but the pins weren't giving me much. The race was exciting with a break that stayed away until the final 100m before Tina Pic of Papa John's Racing dragged the field up the finish straight. I took second place with Erica Allar of Rally in third. I was in two minds about the result but my main emotion was 'unsatisfied, but not angry'.
Sunday: I stood on the start line frozen after having ridden the 30km from Charlotte in the rain. By the time I warmed up and could actually feel my hands again there was a break of four off the front. I had the thought 'Oh, I'll just bridge this 40sec gap..' and so I did. Let's just say it took me a lot longer than I'd hoped. Firstly, because my legs were juicy from yesterday's 5hr epic, and secondly because I'd pumped my eyes up to 110psi and was a little bit timid in the wet. What matters is that I made it to the break, avoiding the crash of breakaway companion Christy Keely racing for Fearless Femme in the last lap, led into the final corner and got second again, this time to Erica. I was hoping that I wasn't starting a trend as bridesmaid..
Monday: Pissed rain all day. Walked 10km to get quality chocolate. Kind of worth it.
Tuesday: Sat on the couch all day and got guilted into racing the local practice race at Orr Road in Charlotte. Of course I loved it, and it just happens to be where I met Chad Andrews, who was conveniently the race commentator for Speedweek, and so I lobbed myself with him for the next five days.
Wednesday: On our way to Walterboro we picked up Christy, who is coached by Chad, who I became pretty awesome friends with. Without a team to travel with it was nice to find two people who I could relate to, especially because we spent some quality time together. So they gave me some insight into the short circuit, how it was raced, and when we got there we discovered they'd changed the finish line lol The race was quite hot and cold so I tried to keep my cool. I did a dummy lap in the middle of the race to chase back a break, but also to test out my speed and line through the corners. As the race lined out at bell lap there was a massive crash on the home straight and the race was neutralised. We waited for twenty minutes for the track to be cleared and were resumed with two laps to go. It was hectic. I was too far back with 600m to go and had to pull some unpleasant tricks out, minorly missing (possibly causing) a crash and found myself third wheel on the final corner. It was such an anticlimactic win that I only single arm saluted.. But I couldn't be disappointed with a win over the infamous Laura Van Gilder and to top it off I'd taken the lead in the overall series!
Thursday: Travel day to Spartanburg with Chad and Christy where I made the decision to leech off them for the rest of the series. Great convo, much fun and many laughs!
Friday: Why do I sit so far back in criteriums? Because if I don't, I do stupid shit. Exhibit A. Spartanburg was a great course with a tough finish, a long uphill drag from the final corner. I knew that I wanted to hold back from long sprints in the primes and save myself for the final, but I got semi-boxed in on the mid-race prime and it made me a little angry, so I went on the attack and formed a dangerous break of four. Normally I'd say the combination we had would stay away, but Papa John's and LA Sweat, both with full squads, committed to the chase and destroyed themselves in the process. Another example of why it's not only nice, but important to have a team. With two laps to go, fellow Australian Bec Wiasak racing for Fearless Femme (2-time Individual Pursuit World Champion) took a flyer and held off the field, I led the sprint out and finished third behind Tina.
Saturday: I ate my entire body weight in crepes.. which isn't even a lie. My pre-Athens spin with Ben Renkema and his team took me to 'Tandem' in Greenville and they were very impressed with my food consumption levels. Somehow my body managed to digest it all, along with a whole 'Chipotle' bowl before hitting the start line in Athens that night. I sat in the entire race. I moved forward to roll some points at the first 5-lap prime, and made myself present toward the front at the 5-to go prime but never did I hit the wind, cover an attack or panic that the race would be anything but a sprint. I had already wanted to win Athens before I arrived, and after seeing the crowds I wanted to win even more. I stalked Tina Pic in the closing stages, jumped on a move from Bec Wiasak with 400m to go and won the sprint! I used up three different victory salutes, rallied the crowd for an entire lap and eventually realised that I had no team-mates to celebrate with. From the highest high to the lowest low.
Sunday: The final day in Roswell felt like a bit of a 'hangover' from the night before. For me, after such an epic week of travel logistics, caffeine highs and way too many burgers I was glad to be on the home stretch. I knew if I stayed upright in the final it was impossible for me to lose the lead I had over Tina, so I rolled a few easy points in the 5-lap prime and got excited as Bec Wiasak rode away to another solo victory. I led out the sprint to finish second and secure my overall leaders jersey with 1500 points. Tina Pic finished runner up in the series on 1432 with Laura Van Gilder third on 1370. After collecting a pretty hefty cheque I go to bed with full pockets, heavy eyes and the American National Anthem stuck in my head.
Results: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6
Strava: Rock Hill, Belmont, Walterboro, Spartanburg, Athens, Roswell
Re-watch Live Stream: Spartanburg, Athens, Roswell
Podcast with Steve Cullen: Fasturdays
Thursday: A travel day nightmare from Silver City to Charlotte. In short, after a few delayed flights, I arrived at a strangers house at 3am in the morning on the back of 21 hours of travel. Thank you 'teammate I've never met' Julie Kuliecza for organising me a bed, and to 'host of the year' Levi Nelson for being so accommodating at very late notice, like three hours notice!
Friday: I slept until lunch time, slept some more and then after dinner you guessed it, I slept again.
Saturday: I was so out of sync and after near time-trialling to the race I was so very late. As they were doing call-ups I was in at SRAM getting my bars tightened and bartering to steal a bottle of water. I didn't have to worry about the 'find a friend' on the start line problem (normally my teammates pose as friends) because we pretty much rolled straight into the race. The first day was about warming the legs into it and opening up for the final sprint but the pins weren't giving me much. The race was exciting with a break that stayed away until the final 100m before Tina Pic of Papa John's Racing dragged the field up the finish straight. I took second place with Erica Allar of Rally in third. I was in two minds about the result but my main emotion was 'unsatisfied, but not angry'.
Sunday: I stood on the start line frozen after having ridden the 30km from Charlotte in the rain. By the time I warmed up and could actually feel my hands again there was a break of four off the front. I had the thought 'Oh, I'll just bridge this 40sec gap..' and so I did. Let's just say it took me a lot longer than I'd hoped. Firstly, because my legs were juicy from yesterday's 5hr epic, and secondly because I'd pumped my eyes up to 110psi and was a little bit timid in the wet. What matters is that I made it to the break, avoiding the crash of breakaway companion Christy Keely racing for Fearless Femme in the last lap, led into the final corner and got second again, this time to Erica. I was hoping that I wasn't starting a trend as bridesmaid..
Monday: Pissed rain all day. Walked 10km to get quality chocolate. Kind of worth it.
Tuesday: Sat on the couch all day and got guilted into racing the local practice race at Orr Road in Charlotte. Of course I loved it, and it just happens to be where I met Chad Andrews, who was conveniently the race commentator for Speedweek, and so I lobbed myself with him for the next five days.
Wednesday: On our way to Walterboro we picked up Christy, who is coached by Chad, who I became pretty awesome friends with. Without a team to travel with it was nice to find two people who I could relate to, especially because we spent some quality time together. So they gave me some insight into the short circuit, how it was raced, and when we got there we discovered they'd changed the finish line lol The race was quite hot and cold so I tried to keep my cool. I did a dummy lap in the middle of the race to chase back a break, but also to test out my speed and line through the corners. As the race lined out at bell lap there was a massive crash on the home straight and the race was neutralised. We waited for twenty minutes for the track to be cleared and were resumed with two laps to go. It was hectic. I was too far back with 600m to go and had to pull some unpleasant tricks out, minorly missing (possibly causing) a crash and found myself third wheel on the final corner. It was such an anticlimactic win that I only single arm saluted.. But I couldn't be disappointed with a win over the infamous Laura Van Gilder and to top it off I'd taken the lead in the overall series!
Thursday: Travel day to Spartanburg with Chad and Christy where I made the decision to leech off them for the rest of the series. Great convo, much fun and many laughs!
Friday: Why do I sit so far back in criteriums? Because if I don't, I do stupid shit. Exhibit A. Spartanburg was a great course with a tough finish, a long uphill drag from the final corner. I knew that I wanted to hold back from long sprints in the primes and save myself for the final, but I got semi-boxed in on the mid-race prime and it made me a little angry, so I went on the attack and formed a dangerous break of four. Normally I'd say the combination we had would stay away, but Papa John's and LA Sweat, both with full squads, committed to the chase and destroyed themselves in the process. Another example of why it's not only nice, but important to have a team. With two laps to go, fellow Australian Bec Wiasak racing for Fearless Femme (2-time Individual Pursuit World Champion) took a flyer and held off the field, I led the sprint out and finished third behind Tina.
Saturday: I ate my entire body weight in crepes.. which isn't even a lie. My pre-Athens spin with Ben Renkema and his team took me to 'Tandem' in Greenville and they were very impressed with my food consumption levels. Somehow my body managed to digest it all, along with a whole 'Chipotle' bowl before hitting the start line in Athens that night. I sat in the entire race. I moved forward to roll some points at the first 5-lap prime, and made myself present toward the front at the 5-to go prime but never did I hit the wind, cover an attack or panic that the race would be anything but a sprint. I had already wanted to win Athens before I arrived, and after seeing the crowds I wanted to win even more. I stalked Tina Pic in the closing stages, jumped on a move from Bec Wiasak with 400m to go and won the sprint! I used up three different victory salutes, rallied the crowd for an entire lap and eventually realised that I had no team-mates to celebrate with. From the highest high to the lowest low.
Sunday: The final day in Roswell felt like a bit of a 'hangover' from the night before. For me, after such an epic week of travel logistics, caffeine highs and way too many burgers I was glad to be on the home stretch. I knew if I stayed upright in the final it was impossible for me to lose the lead I had over Tina, so I rolled a few easy points in the 5-lap prime and got excited as Bec Wiasak rode away to another solo victory. I led out the sprint to finish second and secure my overall leaders jersey with 1500 points. Tina Pic finished runner up in the series on 1432 with Laura Van Gilder third on 1370. After collecting a pretty hefty cheque I go to bed with full pockets, heavy eyes and the American National Anthem stuck in my head.
Results: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6
Strava: Rock Hill, Belmont, Walterboro, Spartanburg, Athens, Roswell
Re-watch Live Stream: Spartanburg, Athens, Roswell
Podcast with Steve Cullen: Fasturdays
McClellan Road Race | Alabama Cycling Classic
Sunday 9th April | McClellan, AL, United States | PRT
Team: Peta Mullens, Lizzie Williams
Director: Jono Coulter, Mechanic: AJ, Soigneur: Liza Rachetto
Alabama Host Family: Kelle and Clyde, sons Shae and Skylar and dogs Max and Sam, oh and Granny!
Additional Guests: Courtney, Laura and Shae's girlfriend Meredith
Silver City Host: Helen and Indi
I had made the claim that today's road race would be a training race. The course consisted of three laps of a 35km circuit which included an early QOM climb of 1.2km at 12% and a late highway climb of 3km at 6%. When I write it down it doesn't sound so bad, but when we did course reconnaissance I was adamant that it wouldn't be a day for me. My legs hadn't felt great through the week and I'd been underwhelmed with my performance in the criterium, so we would race for Lizzie again. Liza was still recovering from her crash the previous night and we all agreed that she should rest up and recover, so I went in with a plan to smash myself pretty early and hope that Lizzie would be good for the finish.
The race was neutralised for the first 4km as we navigated our way out of town with the red flag expected to drop at the bottom of the QOM climb. But as the gradient rose the car got slower and the flag stayed raised. It wasn't communicated to the riders until we finished the climb that we would be regrouping and starting from the TOP of the climb. Not surprisingly there were a few crashes on the descent but for the majority it was relatively ok and we hit the 15km flatland ready to race. With my headspace in for a training day I decided I would try for an early move. I covered the first attack, skipped the second and then jumped onto a successful move that would last the length of the race.
The makeup of the move was perfect with all of the big teams represented comprising of Lauretta Hanson (UHC), Mandy Heintz (Visit Dallas DNA), Kendall Ryan (TIBCO) and a Pastaria Big-Shark rider (possibly Hannah Shell but happy to be corrected if I'm wrong). The gap grew very slowly, not because the peloton was chasing, but because it was a break made up of sprinters and we weren't fully committed. I wasn't happy with the tempo, so when we hit the highway climb I started to push the pace and suddenly we were four. By the time we finished the first lap we only had 90seconds. By this point Lauretta and Mandy had stopping rolling and I felt like I was doing 70% of the work. But I wanted the break to stay away and if it didn't, I was happy to just have a hard day out.
On the QOM we rode within ourselves and had Krista Doebel-Hickok (Cylance) and Ruth Winder (UHC) bridge across from the main group. Just as they reached us I put in a sneaky dig to claim the QOM points and then the real work started. While the presence of our breakaway counterparts motivated Lauretta to roll again, Mandy and Kendall started to sit and although I was torn on what to do, I knew I wanted the break to stick, so I made an effort to roll but within myself. Before we hit the final QOM the impetus completely went out of the group, so I put in a small dig, took Kristi and Ruth with me, and they rode me off the wheel lol
Over the top they had 30seconds and I knew I couldn't time trial that back, seeing as I'm horrendously bad at time trialling, so I waited for the trio and started less of a 'chase for the leaders' and more of a 'hold off the peloton' swap. This fantasy didn't last for long before word came through that Lauretta and Mandy had teammates coming across so it was only Kendall and I who had an interest in staying away. I was feeling pretty good for my first ever 100km breakaway and had plans to attack on the final climb, but as we hit the highway and I glanced back, a fresh trio was making contact including two Visit Dallas DNA riders Melinda McCutcheon and Kathryn Donovan, and Diana Penuela of United Health Care.
Mandy lost contact and with 6km to go we were six strong sprinting for 3rd. Finally I was able to sit on guilt free and rest my legs with Visit Dallas DNA driving the pace to hold the minute advantage to the peloton. Up the road Ruth had dominated the sprint over Krista, while Diana comfortably claimed third over the cramping legs of Kendall and I. This time not a fifth, back up to fourth, and second in the QOM, woo! The bunch came flooding in 20seconds later with Lizzie finishing 10th. Special mention goes to Liza who although looking like a mummified mintie, fed both the riders and the staff for the day. Legend!
After a 26hour drive across country, where I successful dodged the driving part, Jono and I arrived in Silver City for the next team race, the Tour of the Gila. Originally I had planned to do the 5-day tour, but after speaking to coach Mark Fenner we decided that 10 days of training at 1800m altitude would be enough (6000 feet for you American's) and that I would fly out to North Carolina in search of some speed instead, at the coincidentally name 'speedweek'. After some time at altitude I'm feeling fit and strong and after a big push on nutrition since I arrived, I'm actually lighter than ever. I need to thank Helen for allowing me to stay at her house with the team for this week in what has been a beautiful host home. Watching the sunset over the desert every morning sure made my Mum jealous!
Results: McClellan Road Race - 4th
Strava: #mcclellanroadrace PRT
Re-watch Live Stream: Anniston Cycling Classic
The race was neutralised for the first 4km as we navigated our way out of town with the red flag expected to drop at the bottom of the QOM climb. But as the gradient rose the car got slower and the flag stayed raised. It wasn't communicated to the riders until we finished the climb that we would be regrouping and starting from the TOP of the climb. Not surprisingly there were a few crashes on the descent but for the majority it was relatively ok and we hit the 15km flatland ready to race. With my headspace in for a training day I decided I would try for an early move. I covered the first attack, skipped the second and then jumped onto a successful move that would last the length of the race.
The makeup of the move was perfect with all of the big teams represented comprising of Lauretta Hanson (UHC), Mandy Heintz (Visit Dallas DNA), Kendall Ryan (TIBCO) and a Pastaria Big-Shark rider (possibly Hannah Shell but happy to be corrected if I'm wrong). The gap grew very slowly, not because the peloton was chasing, but because it was a break made up of sprinters and we weren't fully committed. I wasn't happy with the tempo, so when we hit the highway climb I started to push the pace and suddenly we were four. By the time we finished the first lap we only had 90seconds. By this point Lauretta and Mandy had stopping rolling and I felt like I was doing 70% of the work. But I wanted the break to stay away and if it didn't, I was happy to just have a hard day out.
On the QOM we rode within ourselves and had Krista Doebel-Hickok (Cylance) and Ruth Winder (UHC) bridge across from the main group. Just as they reached us I put in a sneaky dig to claim the QOM points and then the real work started. While the presence of our breakaway counterparts motivated Lauretta to roll again, Mandy and Kendall started to sit and although I was torn on what to do, I knew I wanted the break to stick, so I made an effort to roll but within myself. Before we hit the final QOM the impetus completely went out of the group, so I put in a small dig, took Kristi and Ruth with me, and they rode me off the wheel lol
Over the top they had 30seconds and I knew I couldn't time trial that back, seeing as I'm horrendously bad at time trialling, so I waited for the trio and started less of a 'chase for the leaders' and more of a 'hold off the peloton' swap. This fantasy didn't last for long before word came through that Lauretta and Mandy had teammates coming across so it was only Kendall and I who had an interest in staying away. I was feeling pretty good for my first ever 100km breakaway and had plans to attack on the final climb, but as we hit the highway and I glanced back, a fresh trio was making contact including two Visit Dallas DNA riders Melinda McCutcheon and Kathryn Donovan, and Diana Penuela of United Health Care.
Mandy lost contact and with 6km to go we were six strong sprinting for 3rd. Finally I was able to sit on guilt free and rest my legs with Visit Dallas DNA driving the pace to hold the minute advantage to the peloton. Up the road Ruth had dominated the sprint over Krista, while Diana comfortably claimed third over the cramping legs of Kendall and I. This time not a fifth, back up to fourth, and second in the QOM, woo! The bunch came flooding in 20seconds later with Lizzie finishing 10th. Special mention goes to Liza who although looking like a mummified mintie, fed both the riders and the staff for the day. Legend!
After a 26hour drive across country, where I successful dodged the driving part, Jono and I arrived in Silver City for the next team race, the Tour of the Gila. Originally I had planned to do the 5-day tour, but after speaking to coach Mark Fenner we decided that 10 days of training at 1800m altitude would be enough (6000 feet for you American's) and that I would fly out to North Carolina in search of some speed instead, at the coincidentally name 'speedweek'. After some time at altitude I'm feeling fit and strong and after a big push on nutrition since I arrived, I'm actually lighter than ever. I need to thank Helen for allowing me to stay at her house with the team for this week in what has been a beautiful host home. Watching the sunset over the desert every morning sure made my Mum jealous!
Results: McClellan Road Race - 4th
Strava: #mcclellanroadrace PRT
Re-watch Live Stream: Anniston Cycling Classic
Sunny King Criterium | Alabama Cycling Classic
Saturday 8th April | Anniston, AL, United States | PRT
Team: Peta Mullens, Lizzie Williams, Liza Rachetto
Director: Jono Coulter, Mechanic: AJ
Alabama Host Family: Kelle and Clyde, sons Shae and Skylar and dogs Max and Sam, oh and Granny!
Additional Guests: Courtney, Laura and Shae's girlfriend Meredith
It was so fitting that when I came to Alabama I would see a photo of 'Mr KFC' 'Colonel Sanders' in the basement of our host house. I figured they were just really passionate about fried chicken in the south, but it turns out Kelle's father was the president of KFC! I was a little starstruck and suddenly craved fried chicken. But I wasn't in Alabama for the local cuisine, I was here because Liza said there was some decent money up for grabs so Lizzie and I jumped on board! And when I say decent I'm not lying; there was a $24,000 prize pool for the Elite Women across the two days which was EQUAL to the Elite Men. Boom!
I could brag about our mansion forever, or I could boast about the amazing training roads, but I think I was most excited about the southern accent.. oh what am I saying, the mansion was awesome! Every time we rode up the long path and driveway to our house I would say 'oh I'm just casually cruising home to my mansion'. It was a shame we didn't get to use the pool, in fact on the first day there was a freak storm pass through that called for a state wide emergency which seemed a little over the top, but we are in America. We were also bordering the Talladega National Forest and I'm kicking myself that I didn't find the time to be a lame tourist and visit the speedway, next year.
The criterium course was pretty cool; a little narrower than most courses in the US and a little rougher, but there was a nice long drag to the finish line which would make for a tough finish. The race was pretty steady in speed but marred by three crashes. The first two crashes were serious enough that they neutralised the race and the third saw Liza come down in the final lap, totalling the spare bike because she'd already damaged her race bike in her first crash (not on a great run at the moment). Lizzie had crashed during the race and unbeknown to her had cracked her down-tube, but in the mad rush of the pits and the dimming light she hadn't noticed and she was VERY fortunate to make it to the final lap unscathed.
United Health Care were the aggressors of the race but the speed of the peloton meant that nothing got too far. They were the only team strong enough in both strength and numbers to lead out in the finale so I lined up near the blue train with Lizzie on my wheel. In the last lap we lost each other (which is understandable if you saw the state of her frame) and after the crash on the third to last corner I looked back and couldn't see any minties, so I made the call to sprint to fifth again. Well I didn't deliberately sprint to fifth but that's just where I'm at right now I suppose. Lauren Hall (UHC) took the victory, Erica Allar (Rally) was an impressive second as a solo rider and Kendall Ryan (TIBCO) finished third. While Liza attended first aid and Lizzie thanked god for surviving on a wrecked frame (she still got 10th), I went to doping control.. again. They tested just ONE female for the entire day of racing and of course it was me. To make it worse I only managed a partial sample at first.. argh such a late night..
Results: Sunny King Criterium - 5th
Strava: #sunnykingcriterium PRT
Re-watch Live Stream: Anniston Cycling Classic
I could brag about our mansion forever, or I could boast about the amazing training roads, but I think I was most excited about the southern accent.. oh what am I saying, the mansion was awesome! Every time we rode up the long path and driveway to our house I would say 'oh I'm just casually cruising home to my mansion'. It was a shame we didn't get to use the pool, in fact on the first day there was a freak storm pass through that called for a state wide emergency which seemed a little over the top, but we are in America. We were also bordering the Talladega National Forest and I'm kicking myself that I didn't find the time to be a lame tourist and visit the speedway, next year.
The criterium course was pretty cool; a little narrower than most courses in the US and a little rougher, but there was a nice long drag to the finish line which would make for a tough finish. The race was pretty steady in speed but marred by three crashes. The first two crashes were serious enough that they neutralised the race and the third saw Liza come down in the final lap, totalling the spare bike because she'd already damaged her race bike in her first crash (not on a great run at the moment). Lizzie had crashed during the race and unbeknown to her had cracked her down-tube, but in the mad rush of the pits and the dimming light she hadn't noticed and she was VERY fortunate to make it to the final lap unscathed.
United Health Care were the aggressors of the race but the speed of the peloton meant that nothing got too far. They were the only team strong enough in both strength and numbers to lead out in the finale so I lined up near the blue train with Lizzie on my wheel. In the last lap we lost each other (which is understandable if you saw the state of her frame) and after the crash on the third to last corner I looked back and couldn't see any minties, so I made the call to sprint to fifth again. Well I didn't deliberately sprint to fifth but that's just where I'm at right now I suppose. Lauren Hall (UHC) took the victory, Erica Allar (Rally) was an impressive second as a solo rider and Kendall Ryan (TIBCO) finished third. While Liza attended first aid and Lizzie thanked god for surviving on a wrecked frame (she still got 10th), I went to doping control.. again. They tested just ONE female for the entire day of racing and of course it was me. To make it worse I only managed a partial sample at first.. argh such a late night..
Results: Sunny King Criterium - 5th
Strava: #sunnykingcriterium PRT
Re-watch Live Stream: Anniston Cycling Classic
Joe Martin Stage Race
Thursday 30th March - Sunday 2nd April | Fayetteville, AR, United States | UCI 2.2
Team: Peta Mullens, Lizzie Williams, Beth Ann Orton, Liza Rachetto, Starla Tendergreen, Ivy Audrain, Lindsay Bayer, Scotti Lechuga
Director: Jono Coulter, Mechanic: AJ, Photographer: Justin Weeks, Soigneur: Katy Simmons, Doctor: Dr. Baker
Pre-tour Host Family: Katy and Neil
Host Family: Cindy and Paul
HIA Velo Factory Visit
It was a pretty unique experience to visit my first carbon fibre manufacturing company. It's one thing to say that a bike is 'hand-made' but then to see people actually cutting, moulding, heating and sanding carbon throughout different stages of the process what really intriguing to me. Well the hand-sanding just bought flashbacks of renovations really! Earlier this year we received the 'Founder' frame which as the name suggests was their first template, but we were able to see their latest creation the 'Alpha' under their sub-brand 'Allied Cycles'. But despite all of the science in the factory, the paint booth and their 'chrome effect' paint job were probably still the coolest parts. Thanks for having us guys!
We have 11 riders and 4 staff on our permanent roster, which would usually be a lot of names to remember except I met half the team in Australia and have stalked the remainder on Instagram. I'm yet to meet Julie in person but I get her daily dancing Insta-chats so we're like besties! We aren't the biggest team, we don't have the biggest budget and if you exclude our roles as professional athletes we still have fourteen jobs between us (Lindsay brings the average up with three jobs!). We have an amazing director Jono ($5 please), a full-time mechanic AJ (apparently he has a real name-Andrew Morrison), photographer J-Weeks who is trying to turn me vegan (he must like a challenge), a Dr. Baker (who isn't above handing out bottles) and a rotating roster of soigneurs. But we are a passionate and gutsy team determined to leave our mark on AND off the racing scene.
Joe Martin was a great tour to kick-off racing in the states with a time trial, two road races, a criterium and being the 40th edition, it all ran predictably smoothly. My last month of training has been a transition block so I was grateful not to jump into the mountains or multi-day criteriums, instead I jumped into a Stage 1 uphill time trial which wasn't so bad being under 5km; in fact if I came back next year I would nearly target it. I used it as a 12-minute opener for the road race and surprised myself with a 28th place from 80 starters. Our GC rider Scotti had finished in 13th, which was similar to last year where she raced up to 2nd overall by the final stage. So we decided to throw a few cards on the table tomorrow..
Stage 2 had shown a 16km climb in the middle of the day. I was told it wasn't a 'real' climb, but after racing it I've decided that American's must have a different definition of what a climb is, it HURT. I followed a dangerous move on the earlier steeper slopes but after 20minutes at threshold I was pretty useless. Luckily Scotti was feeling ok and launched off the front.. solo.. for 40kms! United Health Care were quick to start a pace line and draw her in before Lindsay launched solo and led up until 1km to go! The finish was a little messy but I found the wheel of the pink jersey, Ruth Winder (UHC), before the final 200m climb to the finish. After she rode me off the wheel to victory and three others flew by I finished 5th, Lizzie 6th and Starla 9th. The finish didn't go as planned but it proved we had options with three in the top 10.
Stage 3 was made up of two circuits of the Hogeye Loop, with short, sharp hills before a fast paced road to the finish. Following Dr. Bakers orders Scotti had withdrawn from the tour overnight with a fever, but we were still seven strong and had talked long and hard about a concerted lead out today. For a long time it looked like we might've wasted our time with talks of a bunch finish after breakaways dominated the day. Starla was with a dangerous group of four that came back early in the day, while Beth Ann was one of the last survivors of an 80km break. We had the best train with 1km to go but when it got messy we all lost each other a bit and ended up sprinting each other.. oops! Still a 4th for me and 5th for Lizzie.
Stage 4 bought us a criterium, on what could've been the toughest circuit I've ever raced on. It was a sub 3-min course, with the notorious 200m N Church Avenue climb, which we had to tackle 16 times! Occasionally the race would split due to attacks, but the 33km/hr average was making it tough to stay away and gives me very little to report on. Liza sweet talked the guys in the pits to rejoin after a mechanical, Ivy was taking bacon handouts on the climb and the cash primes were only $50 so we'll jump straight to bell lap shall we? Lindsay was amazing in the finale; first reeling in a late attack by Tayler Wiles and then stringing out the bunch for Lizzie and I to hold good position. The pace lulled with 400m to go so I called Lizzie 'up' and she launched me into the final corner in second wheel at 200m to go. Perfect. Instead of calling it 200m to go, I'll call it a 30-second hill sprint and believe me when I say there was no 'launching' involved this time. I rolled across the line for another 5th with Ruth Winder (UHC) sealing the stage and the overall classification.
Despite missing out on UCI points by one or two places every day, including finishing 11th on General Classification, we were happy as a team. Not only were most of us racing together for the first time, but we'd only just met five days ago! This morning Liza, Lizzie and I have hit the road with AJ and Jono en route to Alabama. The five of us will be on the road together for the next six weeks, jumping from one host house to the next as we race our way to the West Coast to our final destination; the Tour of California. For some reason I feel that the life of a pro-cyclist wouldn't be complete without the road-tripping, and America certainly delivers in spades. No complaints here though.. I've got unlimited wi-fi, Haribo gummy bears, a $2.37 Walmart pillow and a bench seat all to myself!
Results: Stage 1-28th, Stage 2-5th, Stage 3-4th, Stage 4-5th, General Classification-11th
Strava: Stage 1, Stage 2, Stage 3, Stage 4
It was a pretty unique experience to visit my first carbon fibre manufacturing company. It's one thing to say that a bike is 'hand-made' but then to see people actually cutting, moulding, heating and sanding carbon throughout different stages of the process what really intriguing to me. Well the hand-sanding just bought flashbacks of renovations really! Earlier this year we received the 'Founder' frame which as the name suggests was their first template, but we were able to see their latest creation the 'Alpha' under their sub-brand 'Allied Cycles'. But despite all of the science in the factory, the paint booth and their 'chrome effect' paint job were probably still the coolest parts. Thanks for having us guys!
We have 11 riders and 4 staff on our permanent roster, which would usually be a lot of names to remember except I met half the team in Australia and have stalked the remainder on Instagram. I'm yet to meet Julie in person but I get her daily dancing Insta-chats so we're like besties! We aren't the biggest team, we don't have the biggest budget and if you exclude our roles as professional athletes we still have fourteen jobs between us (Lindsay brings the average up with three jobs!). We have an amazing director Jono ($5 please), a full-time mechanic AJ (apparently he has a real name-Andrew Morrison), photographer J-Weeks who is trying to turn me vegan (he must like a challenge), a Dr. Baker (who isn't above handing out bottles) and a rotating roster of soigneurs. But we are a passionate and gutsy team determined to leave our mark on AND off the racing scene.
Joe Martin was a great tour to kick-off racing in the states with a time trial, two road races, a criterium and being the 40th edition, it all ran predictably smoothly. My last month of training has been a transition block so I was grateful not to jump into the mountains or multi-day criteriums, instead I jumped into a Stage 1 uphill time trial which wasn't so bad being under 5km; in fact if I came back next year I would nearly target it. I used it as a 12-minute opener for the road race and surprised myself with a 28th place from 80 starters. Our GC rider Scotti had finished in 13th, which was similar to last year where she raced up to 2nd overall by the final stage. So we decided to throw a few cards on the table tomorrow..
Stage 2 had shown a 16km climb in the middle of the day. I was told it wasn't a 'real' climb, but after racing it I've decided that American's must have a different definition of what a climb is, it HURT. I followed a dangerous move on the earlier steeper slopes but after 20minutes at threshold I was pretty useless. Luckily Scotti was feeling ok and launched off the front.. solo.. for 40kms! United Health Care were quick to start a pace line and draw her in before Lindsay launched solo and led up until 1km to go! The finish was a little messy but I found the wheel of the pink jersey, Ruth Winder (UHC), before the final 200m climb to the finish. After she rode me off the wheel to victory and three others flew by I finished 5th, Lizzie 6th and Starla 9th. The finish didn't go as planned but it proved we had options with three in the top 10.
Stage 3 was made up of two circuits of the Hogeye Loop, with short, sharp hills before a fast paced road to the finish. Following Dr. Bakers orders Scotti had withdrawn from the tour overnight with a fever, but we were still seven strong and had talked long and hard about a concerted lead out today. For a long time it looked like we might've wasted our time with talks of a bunch finish after breakaways dominated the day. Starla was with a dangerous group of four that came back early in the day, while Beth Ann was one of the last survivors of an 80km break. We had the best train with 1km to go but when it got messy we all lost each other a bit and ended up sprinting each other.. oops! Still a 4th for me and 5th for Lizzie.
Stage 4 bought us a criterium, on what could've been the toughest circuit I've ever raced on. It was a sub 3-min course, with the notorious 200m N Church Avenue climb, which we had to tackle 16 times! Occasionally the race would split due to attacks, but the 33km/hr average was making it tough to stay away and gives me very little to report on. Liza sweet talked the guys in the pits to rejoin after a mechanical, Ivy was taking bacon handouts on the climb and the cash primes were only $50 so we'll jump straight to bell lap shall we? Lindsay was amazing in the finale; first reeling in a late attack by Tayler Wiles and then stringing out the bunch for Lizzie and I to hold good position. The pace lulled with 400m to go so I called Lizzie 'up' and she launched me into the final corner in second wheel at 200m to go. Perfect. Instead of calling it 200m to go, I'll call it a 30-second hill sprint and believe me when I say there was no 'launching' involved this time. I rolled across the line for another 5th with Ruth Winder (UHC) sealing the stage and the overall classification.
Despite missing out on UCI points by one or two places every day, including finishing 11th on General Classification, we were happy as a team. Not only were most of us racing together for the first time, but we'd only just met five days ago! This morning Liza, Lizzie and I have hit the road with AJ and Jono en route to Alabama. The five of us will be on the road together for the next six weeks, jumping from one host house to the next as we race our way to the West Coast to our final destination; the Tour of California. For some reason I feel that the life of a pro-cyclist wouldn't be complete without the road-tripping, and America certainly delivers in spades. No complaints here though.. I've got unlimited wi-fi, Haribo gummy bears, a $2.37 Walmart pillow and a bench seat all to myself!
Results: Stage 1-28th, Stage 2-5th, Stage 3-4th, Stage 4-5th, General Classification-11th
Strava: Stage 1, Stage 2, Stage 3, Stage 4
Golden Triangle Epic
Saturday 25th March | Bendigo, VIC, Australia | National XCM Series
The past two weeks were tough. It's not nice to lose a little bit of love for anything, especially for a sport that has bought me so much joy. In some ways I was happy that I was racing the Golden Triangle Epic; I knew a 100km XCM on home soil would perk my confidence, I wanted to redeem myself from the weeks prior AND there was a 1K cash bonus up for grabs. On the other hand I just wanted to run back to my road bike and hide for a little while. But alas, the prospect of money won me over.
I live just 1.2km from the race start so naturally I was extremely late. Despite the generous 9:30am kick off I still managed to miss the race briefing, failed to sign on (thanks Joel, you forged it nicely) and rolled onto the line with just enough time for a Norm Douglas interview and we were off! I'd thought about race tactics but had never settled on a real plan, so I did what I felt obliged to do on my local trails.. lead. Funnily enough the first 10km of trail was all new to me with a lot of double track, so it probably wasn't the smartest tactic but it was a nice game of spot the bunting and follow the arrows anyway. I pushed hard for the first half hour, really hard actually, so I was pretty frustrated to turn back and see the top girls coping with the pace just fine; Brodie Mai, Em Viotto, Mel Ansett, Kathryn McInerney, Harriet Smith and Briony Mattocks slightly tailed after 10km.
At this point I reflected on having three days off earlier in the week and thought maybe that wasn't smart, and then I remembered I did three hours the day before and thought that wasn't a great idea either. I started to imagine ways in which I could win in a sprint and wondered if I would T-Bone someone on the final wall ride if it came to it (the answer was probably not). Then I slapped myself (mentally) because we were only 10km into the bike race and the negative thoughts weren't helping me. So, tactics? Ok. The terrain in Bendigo is quite unique. It's relatively flat, flowy and rocky which makes it quite conducive to riding in small groups because it's way too easy to follow lines. Simple, ride them off the wheel so that they can't follow your lines. But executing this tactic was harder than I'd hoped.
I put a bit of pressure on and the gaps started to form. I put some more pressure on but the gaps didn't grow, Em and Brodie were on form. We raced through a few technical water crossings (that can easily catch you off guard when you don't know they're coming and you don't know the line) and a small mistake gave me a gap, so I went into attack mode. I locked the suspension out, drifted through corners, sprinted over climbs and gasped for recovery on the descents. Eventually I distanced Em but Brodie was sticking like glue! The gap grew slowly from 20 seconds, to 30, to 40 back to 30...
I had to stop for cars at the road crossing, then when I arrived at feed they hadn't unpacked the bottles yet so I scurried in desperation to find my esky with my head craned to the trail, waiting for Brodie to come racing toward me. I was starting to wonder which of us would crack first, because I'd been sitting on 180bpm for 1hour now and I knew I couldn't hold it forever. As the trails wore on it was impossible to get a time check until we opened out onto the power line climb after 30km. I could see nearly 2minutes behind from the top and I was in the clear. Phew!
I pushed on, confident that I'd broken the cord, but it was premature of me. The gap had been exactly 2minutes at the power line, and with only 2minutes more back to fifth the race was on. On a normal day I would've backed off and settled in, but I felt myself getting slower and slower despite the effort I was putting in, so I knew there'd be no 'intentional' cruising today. At the halfway point I had just 3 minutes to Em. If I'd had known that at the time I would've panicked. I'd put everything into that lap, including my local knowledge of the lines, when best to eat, easiest places to drink etc. and still Em and Brodie were on the hunt. So now that I'd raced for 2h22m as hard as I could, I got ready to suffer through another lap, and boy did I suffer!
I'd had a small procedure on my left tricep the day before which was initially just bruised, but eventually my whole arm went numb. I started to cramp in the left calf at the 70km mark but fought through it only to have it escalate to the groin. I'd given my body eight gels of which four were caffeine, and over five litres of liquid yet still I felt like I was dying. In the final ten kilometres my feet started to cramp and as much as it hurt to pedal, I knew if I stopped to freewheel through a corner or simply rest, my groin cramps would kick in and they were immobilising. My second lap was 13 minutes slower than my first and when I climbed off my bike I was ruined. After 5hrs of racing I won by 8 minutes, with second to fifth less than two minutes apart (until Brodie went the wrong way in the final kilometres). It's possibly the closest I've ever seen a National Women's XCM podium.
I had no idea what was happening behind but I was stoked to see Em come home in second. Kathryn and Mel rode together for the entire day with just 8 seconds separating them, and Briony flew home for fifth. A few of us girls have had some tough results lately so it was nice to get though such a brutal race and be able to share war stories at the end. Another story worth mentioning is that the Men's winner, Brendan 'Trekky' Johnston, won his 54th XCM race (in a row I think)! He was followed home by Bendigo locals Ryan Standish and Tasman Nankervis, and then race veterans (I think it's safe to call them that) Murray Spink and Adrian Jackson duked it out for the final podium places. With those guys still competitive in Elite, Jarrod was able to take out the Masters 1/2 category.
But that was yesterday. Today I'm enduring a 40 hour Sunday, which doesn't sound so bad expect that 27 of those hours have been spent either in a car, on a bus, squeezed into a plane or hiking between terminals. But it was all worth it because I'm back in the United States! More specifically, the tiny town of Little Rock, Arkansas, where Bill Clinton lived and served for 12 years as Governor (interesting fact). For the first time in a long time I'm without my main man Jarrod, and have instead traded up for a slightly more tanned and healthier influence, teammate Lizzie Williams. Of course he never misses a party and will join us in five weeks, but in the meantime let's get to racing our bikes! We kick it all off with a 4.8km uphill time trial on Thursday at the Joe Martin Stage Race.. my favourite lol
Results: National XCM Series Round 2, Golden Triangle Epic, Elite Women 1st
Strava: 100k Epic w 30k of cramps
I live just 1.2km from the race start so naturally I was extremely late. Despite the generous 9:30am kick off I still managed to miss the race briefing, failed to sign on (thanks Joel, you forged it nicely) and rolled onto the line with just enough time for a Norm Douglas interview and we were off! I'd thought about race tactics but had never settled on a real plan, so I did what I felt obliged to do on my local trails.. lead. Funnily enough the first 10km of trail was all new to me with a lot of double track, so it probably wasn't the smartest tactic but it was a nice game of spot the bunting and follow the arrows anyway. I pushed hard for the first half hour, really hard actually, so I was pretty frustrated to turn back and see the top girls coping with the pace just fine; Brodie Mai, Em Viotto, Mel Ansett, Kathryn McInerney, Harriet Smith and Briony Mattocks slightly tailed after 10km.
At this point I reflected on having three days off earlier in the week and thought maybe that wasn't smart, and then I remembered I did three hours the day before and thought that wasn't a great idea either. I started to imagine ways in which I could win in a sprint and wondered if I would T-Bone someone on the final wall ride if it came to it (the answer was probably not). Then I slapped myself (mentally) because we were only 10km into the bike race and the negative thoughts weren't helping me. So, tactics? Ok. The terrain in Bendigo is quite unique. It's relatively flat, flowy and rocky which makes it quite conducive to riding in small groups because it's way too easy to follow lines. Simple, ride them off the wheel so that they can't follow your lines. But executing this tactic was harder than I'd hoped.
I put a bit of pressure on and the gaps started to form. I put some more pressure on but the gaps didn't grow, Em and Brodie were on form. We raced through a few technical water crossings (that can easily catch you off guard when you don't know they're coming and you don't know the line) and a small mistake gave me a gap, so I went into attack mode. I locked the suspension out, drifted through corners, sprinted over climbs and gasped for recovery on the descents. Eventually I distanced Em but Brodie was sticking like glue! The gap grew slowly from 20 seconds, to 30, to 40 back to 30...
I had to stop for cars at the road crossing, then when I arrived at feed they hadn't unpacked the bottles yet so I scurried in desperation to find my esky with my head craned to the trail, waiting for Brodie to come racing toward me. I was starting to wonder which of us would crack first, because I'd been sitting on 180bpm for 1hour now and I knew I couldn't hold it forever. As the trails wore on it was impossible to get a time check until we opened out onto the power line climb after 30km. I could see nearly 2minutes behind from the top and I was in the clear. Phew!
I pushed on, confident that I'd broken the cord, but it was premature of me. The gap had been exactly 2minutes at the power line, and with only 2minutes more back to fifth the race was on. On a normal day I would've backed off and settled in, but I felt myself getting slower and slower despite the effort I was putting in, so I knew there'd be no 'intentional' cruising today. At the halfway point I had just 3 minutes to Em. If I'd had known that at the time I would've panicked. I'd put everything into that lap, including my local knowledge of the lines, when best to eat, easiest places to drink etc. and still Em and Brodie were on the hunt. So now that I'd raced for 2h22m as hard as I could, I got ready to suffer through another lap, and boy did I suffer!
I'd had a small procedure on my left tricep the day before which was initially just bruised, but eventually my whole arm went numb. I started to cramp in the left calf at the 70km mark but fought through it only to have it escalate to the groin. I'd given my body eight gels of which four were caffeine, and over five litres of liquid yet still I felt like I was dying. In the final ten kilometres my feet started to cramp and as much as it hurt to pedal, I knew if I stopped to freewheel through a corner or simply rest, my groin cramps would kick in and they were immobilising. My second lap was 13 minutes slower than my first and when I climbed off my bike I was ruined. After 5hrs of racing I won by 8 minutes, with second to fifth less than two minutes apart (until Brodie went the wrong way in the final kilometres). It's possibly the closest I've ever seen a National Women's XCM podium.
I had no idea what was happening behind but I was stoked to see Em come home in second. Kathryn and Mel rode together for the entire day with just 8 seconds separating them, and Briony flew home for fifth. A few of us girls have had some tough results lately so it was nice to get though such a brutal race and be able to share war stories at the end. Another story worth mentioning is that the Men's winner, Brendan 'Trekky' Johnston, won his 54th XCM race (in a row I think)! He was followed home by Bendigo locals Ryan Standish and Tasman Nankervis, and then race veterans (I think it's safe to call them that) Murray Spink and Adrian Jackson duked it out for the final podium places. With those guys still competitive in Elite, Jarrod was able to take out the Masters 1/2 category.
But that was yesterday. Today I'm enduring a 40 hour Sunday, which doesn't sound so bad expect that 27 of those hours have been spent either in a car, on a bus, squeezed into a plane or hiking between terminals. But it was all worth it because I'm back in the United States! More specifically, the tiny town of Little Rock, Arkansas, where Bill Clinton lived and served for 12 years as Governor (interesting fact). For the first time in a long time I'm without my main man Jarrod, and have instead traded up for a slightly more tanned and healthier influence, teammate Lizzie Williams. Of course he never misses a party and will join us in five weeks, but in the meantime let's get to racing our bikes! We kick it all off with a 4.8km uphill time trial on Thursday at the Joe Martin Stage Race.. my favourite lol
Results: National XCM Series Round 2, Golden Triangle Epic, Elite Women 1st
Strava: 100k Epic w 30k of cramps
National XCO MTB Championships
Sunday 19th March | Canungra, QLD, Australia | UCI CN
Results: Australian XCO Championships Elite Women 4th
Strava: First time riding Garmin-less by choice but here's the course the day prior
Strava: First time riding Garmin-less by choice but here's the course the day prior
Oceania XCO MTB Championships
Sunday 12th March | Toowoomba, QLD, Australia | UCI CC
There wasn’t a single second of the Oceania XCO course that I enjoyed. The climbs were hot, slow and rocky. The descents were.. well hot, slow and rocky! I was reminded just how demanding the sport of MTB’ing is and for the first time in a long time, I didn’t enjoy it. I was reminded of my past two Oceania titles, where I’d had absolute shockers despite being in awesome form, and I wondered why I’d come back to it all..
At the end of last season, after looking over the finances, it was obvious that I couldn’t afford to do a European World Cup MTB season in 2017. In fact, had I not visited the US last year and won a good chunk of money, I wouldn’t have been able to afford the domestic season just gone. I weighed up my options and decided I would return to the US with a Professional Road Team. However, I still wanted to race the World XCO Championships in Cairns, Queensland, in September, so I would need to race the MTB Oceania and National titles as a minimum for potential qualification. My results in these races wouldn't be as considered as my 21st at the World Championships last year, so I decided my training would remain focused on the road season, and I would roll with the punches on the dirt.
Despite going into the race with quite low expectations the punches had hurt more than I expected; more like a knockout than an eight round spectacle. It’d been eight months since I raced on the XCO scene and a long time since I had raced in 80% humidity. I arrived on the Friday night for a Sunday race so I only spent one day on course. The Trek Racing guys showed me the lines on their warm up lap, which coincidentaly doubled as my race pace lap, and then I rode a lap with the Torq team, mainly because I hadn’t seen the girls in a long time and we had gossip to catch up on. It was just as I remember, hard.
The good news was that we were racing at 8:30am which meant that it was a bit cooler and less humid. The temperate only reached 24C during the 4-lap race but it still felt like a race of attrition. I decided I would go out slower. I knew my heart rate would spike in the conditions and that the course was tough to recover on. The only issue with going out slow, is that sometimes you just get slower! After a short fire trail climb to start I entered the single track in fifth behind Bec Henderson, Samara Sheppard, Holly Harris and Anna Beck. I made so many mistakes on the first climb and the harder I tried the more mistakes I made. It was obvious that I was out of practice.
I spent the first lap trying to hold off Kathryn McInerney. She would chase me hard on the climb and I would try to hold her off on the descents. I was on a dual suspension so was able to put a bit of time into her on the rough ‘pedal’ sections and hold steady in fifth. I moved into fourth when I passed Bec with mechanical issues, but she quickly passed me back, and then I graduated back to fourth when Anna withdrew after a few crashes on course, re-igniting a recent shoulder injury. I fell to fifth when Eliza Kwan powered past me on course and with a bit of daylight behind I was able to settle in (at 180hr of course) and ride steady through to the finish. Consolidating a podium didn’t feel like an achievement when I was over nine minutes down though.
So back to that question, why did I come back to XCO? Well if I put aside the aspirations for World, Commonwealth and Olympic Games.. because it’s my family. I crashed on the couch with the Trek Racing Australia team and they treated me like their own. We burnt Pizza’s on the BBQ, they taught me the rules of Rugby and team manager Peter Dowse even washed my bike and fed me during the race. I got to catch up with all of my friends, from the elites to the age groupers to the parents and team owners and even downhillers, and we laughed and cheered and smiled and all of that corny stuff, and I was reminded why I love it all so much. It’s no longer about the racing for me, or perhaps it was never about the racing, perhaps it was always about the people. I feel lucky that I will always be part of such a special family.
Results: Oceania XCO Championships Elite Women 5th
Strava: Hot, humid and hopefully forgetful
At the end of last season, after looking over the finances, it was obvious that I couldn’t afford to do a European World Cup MTB season in 2017. In fact, had I not visited the US last year and won a good chunk of money, I wouldn’t have been able to afford the domestic season just gone. I weighed up my options and decided I would return to the US with a Professional Road Team. However, I still wanted to race the World XCO Championships in Cairns, Queensland, in September, so I would need to race the MTB Oceania and National titles as a minimum for potential qualification. My results in these races wouldn't be as considered as my 21st at the World Championships last year, so I decided my training would remain focused on the road season, and I would roll with the punches on the dirt.
Despite going into the race with quite low expectations the punches had hurt more than I expected; more like a knockout than an eight round spectacle. It’d been eight months since I raced on the XCO scene and a long time since I had raced in 80% humidity. I arrived on the Friday night for a Sunday race so I only spent one day on course. The Trek Racing guys showed me the lines on their warm up lap, which coincidentaly doubled as my race pace lap, and then I rode a lap with the Torq team, mainly because I hadn’t seen the girls in a long time and we had gossip to catch up on. It was just as I remember, hard.
The good news was that we were racing at 8:30am which meant that it was a bit cooler and less humid. The temperate only reached 24C during the 4-lap race but it still felt like a race of attrition. I decided I would go out slower. I knew my heart rate would spike in the conditions and that the course was tough to recover on. The only issue with going out slow, is that sometimes you just get slower! After a short fire trail climb to start I entered the single track in fifth behind Bec Henderson, Samara Sheppard, Holly Harris and Anna Beck. I made so many mistakes on the first climb and the harder I tried the more mistakes I made. It was obvious that I was out of practice.
I spent the first lap trying to hold off Kathryn McInerney. She would chase me hard on the climb and I would try to hold her off on the descents. I was on a dual suspension so was able to put a bit of time into her on the rough ‘pedal’ sections and hold steady in fifth. I moved into fourth when I passed Bec with mechanical issues, but she quickly passed me back, and then I graduated back to fourth when Anna withdrew after a few crashes on course, re-igniting a recent shoulder injury. I fell to fifth when Eliza Kwan powered past me on course and with a bit of daylight behind I was able to settle in (at 180hr of course) and ride steady through to the finish. Consolidating a podium didn’t feel like an achievement when I was over nine minutes down though.
So back to that question, why did I come back to XCO? Well if I put aside the aspirations for World, Commonwealth and Olympic Games.. because it’s my family. I crashed on the couch with the Trek Racing Australia team and they treated me like their own. We burnt Pizza’s on the BBQ, they taught me the rules of Rugby and team manager Peter Dowse even washed my bike and fed me during the race. I got to catch up with all of my friends, from the elites to the age groupers to the parents and team owners and even downhillers, and we laughed and cheered and smiled and all of that corny stuff, and I was reminded why I love it all so much. It’s no longer about the racing for me, or perhaps it was never about the racing, perhaps it was always about the people. I feel lucky that I will always be part of such a special family.
Results: Oceania XCO Championships Elite Women 5th
Strava: Hot, humid and hopefully forgetful
Otway Odyssey and the Great Ocean Gravel Grind
Saturday 25th - Sunday 26th February | Forrest, VIC, Australia
Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race
Saturday 28th January | Geelong, VIC, Australia | UCI 1.2
Team: Peta Mullens (AUS), Lizzie Williams (AUS), Beth Ann Orton (USA), Liza Rachetto (USA), Starla Tendergreen (USA), Ivy Audrain (USA)
Director: Jono Coulter (AUS), Mechanic: Jarrod Moroni (AUS), Soigneur: Geoffrey Stubbs (AUS)
We committed to a lengthy team meeting. We drove the course the day prior and spoke about it in the van for over an hour. We then rode the final 30kms to gauge the wind and discuss the pivotal points for the finale. The girls had ridden most of the course in the week leading up and Lizzie and I had both raced it before but discussing our thoughts as a team was important. Lizzie and I shared our knowledge of the course, the race, the wind and our predictions on how the Australian and European teams would execute their race plans. When we sat down for our final meeting we discussed what people wanted personally from the race and what they thought they could contribute. By the end our roles were clear, some even said it was the best team meeting they'd ever had. We were ready.
The team was ridiculous. When the race split early Beth-Ann made lead group with me. When it came back together Starla was my wingman. Ivy had a good dig before the second sprint and Liza covered the moves and went back for bottles. Lizzie ran third in the QOM before covering the most dangerous break of the day and then somehow Beth-Ann bridged to that break! Unfortunately it all came back together, Lizzie went for more bottles, Starla and Liza continued to wreck themselves covering moves and we communicated like we hadn't before. It was like we were a different team from the week prior and I was so proud. As exciting as the race was, we were all together as we the hit the rolling roads with 30km to go and there was a sense of anticipation in the bunch. I found Lizzie's wheel and got ready to head into the war zone...
The race has what we call a 'classic' style finish because it's HARD. Essentially it's 10minutes of climbing effort in just 20minutes and yes, the other 10minutes is also pretty bloody tough! A glance at the menu:
18km to go - at the end of Barabool Road in cross winds, Ceres Climb - 1.5km at 5% which takes just under 4minutes
12km to go - a quick descent into a left hand roundabout, Scenic Road - 700m at 7% (max 17%) which takes just over 2minutes
9km to go - Queens and Melville - only a short 200m but with a max of 24% it's steep, about 1minute to ride
6km to go - Cement Works - 600m at 5% with sections up to 14% which takes 2minutes
So the tension was building in the bunch as we sped down Barabool Road where the race had split in the previous two editions. The attacks were still coming; first Beth-Ann who stayed away for a few kilometres and then Lizzie, and Lizzie again! She came back to me of course and my nerves started to build. There was so much pressure I thought I would vomit, I felt ill, but following Lizzie kept me calm. Unexpectedly the bunch didn't split on Ceres Climb, instead Gracie Elvin (Orica-Scott) attacked and one of the pre-race favourites Lucy Kennedy (High 5) rode across to her. Of course Orica-Scott had many cards to play so Gracie just sat the wheel while Lucy drove the pace to a 15sec advantage.
Again, the nerves built. 'Please don't vomit.. or crash'. We raced into the penultimate roundabout amongst some serious lead-out trains. Canyon-SRAM were on the right and Lizzie took me around on the left. I hit the corner third wheel and readied for the onslaught. At first the pace felt sedate (it wasn't, we rode this climb 20 sec quicker than last year) but then the attacks came when the climb kicked up. Then the thought's crept in 'I can't do this, I'm not a climber' followed by 'dig deeper, don't quit!'. So I dug deeper, sprinted over the crest, chased a few lengths on the descent and then I looked back. I had made the lead group of 10! 'Okay, recover, your heart rate is 193bpm'.
But on short climbs there are small gaps. There was a chase group of 10 coming across including last years winner Amanda Spratt (Orica-Scott), in form sprinter Chloe Hosking (Cippolini) and talented Japanese climber Mayuko Hagiwara (Wiggle High 5). As we hit the next climb I wasn't keen on being jumped so when the road kicked up at Queens I made a bit of an effort and went to the front. Emma Pooley (Holden Cycling) must've liked this move because she bounced straight off it and went solo. As Kennedy gave chase I grovelled to hold a wheel and when we got over the top, I was still in the race but this time we had swelled to 12 with Hagiwara and Katie Hall (UHC) coming across. My HR still 190..
Now I was panicking. I had only one kilometre to recover and I knew EXACTLY was was coming; the Cement Works climb. The winning move has always been made here and in that short descent the thoughts came creeping back 'I'm not a climber, I'm just not good enough to beat these girls'. My confidence was shot and I positioned myself near the back. We swept down the descent and as we made the right hand turn onto the climb the chase group made contact. But simultaneously at the front of the group Annemiek Van Vleuten (Orica-Scott) had attacked into the corner and onto the climb. By the time they reached the summit it was Kennedy AGAIN leading the chase with Van Vleuten, Ruth Winder (UHC), Janneke Ensing (Cippolini) and Hagiwara establishing a 10second lead. Ensing would have an immediate mechanical while Pooley pushed on solo with a 30sec lead. The five of them would go on to duke it out and Van Vleuten would win from Winder and Hagiwara in an exciting and long sprint finish.
I was exhausted at the top of the climb. My heart rate only peaked this time at 188bpm and my legs were shot. I was only 5 watts off my peak 2minute power so not surprisingly I had nothing to contribute. By the time I semi-recovered our group of 11 seemed too disorganised to make it back to the 'race'. Attempts by Alice Barnes (Drops), Dani King (Cylance) and myself were nullified by Orica-Scott and UHC before Suzanna Zorzi (Drops) eventually rode away to finish 6th. We would be caught by a group of 26 including Lizzie, making us 35 strong in the race for seventh. Ultimately on paper I finished 32nd after rolling across the line; Lizzie had made an awesome dig with 1km to go and I couldn't help but want to watch in the hope that she would hold on but she was swamped with 50m to go! Besides, another failed sprint was the last thing on my mind. I wanted to make the 'selection' and I felt like I'd done that to some extent. Mission successful(ish)!
So I now have nine weeks away from the road scene which is lengthy, hooking up with my #minties again at the end of March for a training camp leading into the Joe Martin stage race in April. This week I'll have somewhat of a rest period and then nail three solid weeks of gym and strength work while the season allows for it. I then head into a four week MTB block concluding with the Australian MTB Championships before jetting off to the US. I'm more motivated than ever to knuckle down and commit to this season.. contradictory to this I just had Coco Pops for breakfast.. oops.
Results: Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race, 116km
Strava: CEGORR UCI 1.2, that last hill got me REAL good, 32nd
The team was ridiculous. When the race split early Beth-Ann made lead group with me. When it came back together Starla was my wingman. Ivy had a good dig before the second sprint and Liza covered the moves and went back for bottles. Lizzie ran third in the QOM before covering the most dangerous break of the day and then somehow Beth-Ann bridged to that break! Unfortunately it all came back together, Lizzie went for more bottles, Starla and Liza continued to wreck themselves covering moves and we communicated like we hadn't before. It was like we were a different team from the week prior and I was so proud. As exciting as the race was, we were all together as we the hit the rolling roads with 30km to go and there was a sense of anticipation in the bunch. I found Lizzie's wheel and got ready to head into the war zone...
The race has what we call a 'classic' style finish because it's HARD. Essentially it's 10minutes of climbing effort in just 20minutes and yes, the other 10minutes is also pretty bloody tough! A glance at the menu:
18km to go - at the end of Barabool Road in cross winds, Ceres Climb - 1.5km at 5% which takes just under 4minutes
12km to go - a quick descent into a left hand roundabout, Scenic Road - 700m at 7% (max 17%) which takes just over 2minutes
9km to go - Queens and Melville - only a short 200m but with a max of 24% it's steep, about 1minute to ride
6km to go - Cement Works - 600m at 5% with sections up to 14% which takes 2minutes
So the tension was building in the bunch as we sped down Barabool Road where the race had split in the previous two editions. The attacks were still coming; first Beth-Ann who stayed away for a few kilometres and then Lizzie, and Lizzie again! She came back to me of course and my nerves started to build. There was so much pressure I thought I would vomit, I felt ill, but following Lizzie kept me calm. Unexpectedly the bunch didn't split on Ceres Climb, instead Gracie Elvin (Orica-Scott) attacked and one of the pre-race favourites Lucy Kennedy (High 5) rode across to her. Of course Orica-Scott had many cards to play so Gracie just sat the wheel while Lucy drove the pace to a 15sec advantage.
Again, the nerves built. 'Please don't vomit.. or crash'. We raced into the penultimate roundabout amongst some serious lead-out trains. Canyon-SRAM were on the right and Lizzie took me around on the left. I hit the corner third wheel and readied for the onslaught. At first the pace felt sedate (it wasn't, we rode this climb 20 sec quicker than last year) but then the attacks came when the climb kicked up. Then the thought's crept in 'I can't do this, I'm not a climber' followed by 'dig deeper, don't quit!'. So I dug deeper, sprinted over the crest, chased a few lengths on the descent and then I looked back. I had made the lead group of 10! 'Okay, recover, your heart rate is 193bpm'.
But on short climbs there are small gaps. There was a chase group of 10 coming across including last years winner Amanda Spratt (Orica-Scott), in form sprinter Chloe Hosking (Cippolini) and talented Japanese climber Mayuko Hagiwara (Wiggle High 5). As we hit the next climb I wasn't keen on being jumped so when the road kicked up at Queens I made a bit of an effort and went to the front. Emma Pooley (Holden Cycling) must've liked this move because she bounced straight off it and went solo. As Kennedy gave chase I grovelled to hold a wheel and when we got over the top, I was still in the race but this time we had swelled to 12 with Hagiwara and Katie Hall (UHC) coming across. My HR still 190..
Now I was panicking. I had only one kilometre to recover and I knew EXACTLY was was coming; the Cement Works climb. The winning move has always been made here and in that short descent the thoughts came creeping back 'I'm not a climber, I'm just not good enough to beat these girls'. My confidence was shot and I positioned myself near the back. We swept down the descent and as we made the right hand turn onto the climb the chase group made contact. But simultaneously at the front of the group Annemiek Van Vleuten (Orica-Scott) had attacked into the corner and onto the climb. By the time they reached the summit it was Kennedy AGAIN leading the chase with Van Vleuten, Ruth Winder (UHC), Janneke Ensing (Cippolini) and Hagiwara establishing a 10second lead. Ensing would have an immediate mechanical while Pooley pushed on solo with a 30sec lead. The five of them would go on to duke it out and Van Vleuten would win from Winder and Hagiwara in an exciting and long sprint finish.
I was exhausted at the top of the climb. My heart rate only peaked this time at 188bpm and my legs were shot. I was only 5 watts off my peak 2minute power so not surprisingly I had nothing to contribute. By the time I semi-recovered our group of 11 seemed too disorganised to make it back to the 'race'. Attempts by Alice Barnes (Drops), Dani King (Cylance) and myself were nullified by Orica-Scott and UHC before Suzanna Zorzi (Drops) eventually rode away to finish 6th. We would be caught by a group of 26 including Lizzie, making us 35 strong in the race for seventh. Ultimately on paper I finished 32nd after rolling across the line; Lizzie had made an awesome dig with 1km to go and I couldn't help but want to watch in the hope that she would hold on but she was swamped with 50m to go! Besides, another failed sprint was the last thing on my mind. I wanted to make the 'selection' and I felt like I'd done that to some extent. Mission successful(ish)!
So I now have nine weeks away from the road scene which is lengthy, hooking up with my #minties again at the end of March for a training camp leading into the Joe Martin stage race in April. This week I'll have somewhat of a rest period and then nail three solid weeks of gym and strength work while the season allows for it. I then head into a four week MTB block concluding with the Australian MTB Championships before jetting off to the US. I'm more motivated than ever to knuckle down and commit to this season.. contradictory to this I just had Coco Pops for breakfast.. oops.
Results: Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race, 116km
Strava: CEGORR UCI 1.2, that last hill got me REAL good, 32nd
Santos Women's Tour Down Under
Saturday 14th - Tuesday 17th | Adelaide, SA, Australia
Stage 1 - 106.5km Road Race | Hahndorf-Meadows
Stage 2 - 32.3km People's Choice Classic | East End, Adelaide
Stage 3 - 92.4km Road Race | Tanunda-Lyndoch
Stage 4 - 43km Criterium (1.2k circuit) | Victoria Park, Adelaide
Stage 2 - 32.3km People's Choice Classic | East End, Adelaide
Stage 3 - 92.4km Road Race | Tanunda-Lyndoch
Stage 4 - 43km Criterium (1.2k circuit) | Victoria Park, Adelaide
A new family for 2017 in Hagens Berman Supermint
Wednesday 18th, October
I’ve spoken about my career on many occasion, to many reporter, online and in magazines, on talk shows and radio. I’ve answered the simplest and hardest of questions along the way and I have always answered honestly. But for the longest time I’ve wanted to tell my story in my own words. From my childhood, to my time with the AIS, about my ‘retirement’ and my years with Wiggle-High 5. Over the next few weeks I’ll be posting five ‘chapters’ about me and my journey through life, but for today, I’ll just say a few words about my new signing with Hagens Berman Supermint.
I live my life not like an adult, but like a child who plays with books.
An adult would read a book in sequence but like a child I just go to my favourite picture on the day. An adult would draw something they’d pictured in their mind, but like a child I’m just joining the dot-to-dot and getting excited about the picture I see at the end. An adult would colour between the lines, but as we all know I don’t like to do that either! I’m quite happy as a child, I’ll leave the adulating to later…
For me, my decisions are simple. I’m not ready to settle down and work a 9-5, hanging out for a few weeks of holidays a year and panicking about paying off my house so that I can spend my life savings on a few unexpected children, and then when they grow up and move away just living out life waiting to die. I know that sounds sombre but while I’m in my prime I want adventure. I want success. I want to race my bike and I want Jarrod to be there with me. And so I wanted a team that wanted that for me. And Hagens Berman Supermint is that team.
The team will come out to Australia for the summer which is super exciting! After that I’ll hang at home for a few MTB races including the National Championships in March before flying to Arkansas for a training camp with the team. I’ll stay in the US for four months, until late July, with races like the Tour of California and Philly Classic the big draw cards. From there the focus will be on the MTB World Championships at ‘home’ in Cairns, Australia. A top result here would hold me in good stead for the Commonwealth Games in 2018. I also dream of racing the Road World Championships in Norway... we can all dream right?
But my season is rarely measured on results and PB’s. Of course I’ll work my ass off to be the best I’ve ever been, and under the guidance of coaches Mark Fenner (FTP Training; on-bike coach) and Sam Leslie (myPhysio; strength and conditioning coach) I know that it’s possible, but I want my teammates to remember me for more than my bike riding. I want them to remember that I was always up for an ‘all-you-can-eat’ challenge, that I liked to pee-stop every hour, that I cry in 95% of movies (not just the sad ones) and that I’m an awful singer. It’s a new beginning and I’m really excited.
I live my life not like an adult, but like a child who plays with books.
An adult would read a book in sequence but like a child I just go to my favourite picture on the day. An adult would draw something they’d pictured in their mind, but like a child I’m just joining the dot-to-dot and getting excited about the picture I see at the end. An adult would colour between the lines, but as we all know I don’t like to do that either! I’m quite happy as a child, I’ll leave the adulating to later…
For me, my decisions are simple. I’m not ready to settle down and work a 9-5, hanging out for a few weeks of holidays a year and panicking about paying off my house so that I can spend my life savings on a few unexpected children, and then when they grow up and move away just living out life waiting to die. I know that sounds sombre but while I’m in my prime I want adventure. I want success. I want to race my bike and I want Jarrod to be there with me. And so I wanted a team that wanted that for me. And Hagens Berman Supermint is that team.
The team will come out to Australia for the summer which is super exciting! After that I’ll hang at home for a few MTB races including the National Championships in March before flying to Arkansas for a training camp with the team. I’ll stay in the US for four months, until late July, with races like the Tour of California and Philly Classic the big draw cards. From there the focus will be on the MTB World Championships at ‘home’ in Cairns, Australia. A top result here would hold me in good stead for the Commonwealth Games in 2018. I also dream of racing the Road World Championships in Norway... we can all dream right?
But my season is rarely measured on results and PB’s. Of course I’ll work my ass off to be the best I’ve ever been, and under the guidance of coaches Mark Fenner (FTP Training; on-bike coach) and Sam Leslie (myPhysio; strength and conditioning coach) I know that it’s possible, but I want my teammates to remember me for more than my bike riding. I want them to remember that I was always up for an ‘all-you-can-eat’ challenge, that I liked to pee-stop every hour, that I cry in 95% of movies (not just the sad ones) and that I’m an awful singer. It’s a new beginning and I’m really excited.
Oklahoma Pro-Am Classic
Friday 3rd - Sunday 5th | Oklahoma City, OK, United States
My season was well planned this year. Not too much racing, not too much travel, and a focus on the two World Championship titles I’m to be racing during my 10-week stint in Europe. The plan was that post La Bresse World Cup I would head to Livigno with eight other Aussies and Kiwi’s for a training camp at altitude to get me into top form. But during our week in France we discovered that there was still snow in Livigno, and the weather in Europe in general had be wet and dismal. This sparked a rare ingenious thought by Jarrod (who would use any excuse to escape Europe) that we should go to the US. Random right?
He studied the racing calendar and decided that we could potentially head over for two weeks of criterium racing including the Oklahoma Pro-Am Classic and the Tulsa Tough series. If we squeezed in a club race it would be a total of seven races in ten days. After requesting host housing and booking some cheap flights we were all systems GO! Four days later we were on a plane to the U.S and knocking on the door of our to-be hosts Andy Chasteen and his 6-year old daughter Maverick. Andy played host to eight people over the weekend, photographed the racing, shot all of the video content for the DNA Racing crew AND raced Men's Cat 2, even after he fractured a few ribs. American's... always showing off lol
Friday night bought awesome crowds with the race being held in conjunction with a street festival. There was a huge $11,000 prize purse so racing was fast from the gun with 35 girls in for a show. It took me a while to settle in and gain the confidence to cover a few small attacks on the climb around the back of the circuit. These moves hurt me BAD and I never really recovered. I snivelled wheels in the final 10 minutes while a solo move went by Katherine Sherwin and eventually Skylar Schneider bridged across, which left us sprinting for third. I stepped out of the back straight wanting to lead into the final corner but stepped straight back in! I was still third through the corner and miraculously got passed by three girls in the final 150m straight which I thought would be an impossible feat, but I managed it lol So 8th for me and a very descent $450USD.
Saturday was another 50 minute criterium but this time during the day. After two big days on the bike and only 4hrs sleep (late night caffeine for racing will do that to a girl) I struggled to get myself motivated. With the Friday night being the only race in the National series, the 6-women team of ISCorp had headed home so it now seemed like a more even playing field. I managed to avoid the three crashes, win a prime while most girls were re-joining from the crash and even try a few sneaky breaks but nothing was sticking. The team of Visit Dallas DNA Pro Cycling went to the front for a full lap leadout which paid dividends when their sprinter Tiffany Pezzulo won the kick. Truth be told I was WAY too fay back and although I actually had a kick in the finish straight, it was only enough to snag fourth and take home $275USD for the day.
Sunday was a turnaround. I was super motivated before the race and snuck in 2hrs before the whistle went. I'd decided that today would probably be a sprint, so I literally sat on the back for the entire 50 minutes. I did launch a counter attack into the final corner at one stage just to see just how fast I could take it in practice for the finish, and I found myself solo and thought that was a good sign. I let them drag me back within the lap and continued to sit in and wait for the expected sprint. In the final five laps there were some serious moves go and I told myself to be patient. I covered a small gap when I couldn't handle it anymore but I didn't do the work that the other favourites had to, which meant I could launch down the inside on the final corner and boom...winner! Cari Higgins (United Health Care) and Flora Yan (Dallas Racing) completed the podium and I was rewarded with a $600USD pay day (slowly paying for our flights).
Just because we loved Andy so much we stayed for a few extra days and raced their local Tuesday night Wheeler Criterium. I had some pretty good legs and managed to take a lap in the women's field, before jumping into the Men's 1/2/3 for 30minutes and toasting myself. Interestingly enough I averaged the EXACT same power in both races - 207 watts (actual power). So it's been a solid 20hr week with four races, good tanning and a happy headspace. Not quite the altitude camp in the mountain ranges of Livigno that I was planning but I'm still 'making Lemonade'.
So now we’ve arrived in Tulsa and will be staying with yet another awesome host couple, Camilo Arellano and Jennifer McConnell; who bought us little welcome packs for our stay because American's really are that nice. We're here for the thee-day cycling festival Tulsa Tough, which includes Fondo's, fireworks and of course some racing. It’s considered one of the biggest weekends of criterium racing in the U.S with a field of almost 100 Pro 1/2 Women competing for a huge prize pool of nearly $40,000USD wow! The Friday night will be raced under lights, and Saturday evening we line up again, but the real party kicks off on Sunday. I won’t spoil all of the stories about Cry Baby Hill but let's just say that the official hashtags of the event are #tulsatough #crybabyhill and my favourite #takemondayoff haha
But looking ahead, for those that have been asking, our two-week getaway will end after Tulsa. We head back to Switzerland for Nathalie's 30th, then straight into a four-week race block which includes the XCM World Championships in Laaisac, France; the XCO World Championships in Nové Mesto, Czech Republic; and two short road tours with the Roxsolt Team thanks to Kelvin Rundle, before flying back home to Australia on the 19th of July. There will be no rest for the wicked when I get home either... stay tuned.
Friday, Day 1 Midtown, 50mins Women's Pro 1/2 Results here
Saturday, Day 2 Film Row, 50mins Women's Pro 1/2 Results here
Sunday, Day 3 Automobile Alley, 50mins Women's Pro 1/2 Results here
He studied the racing calendar and decided that we could potentially head over for two weeks of criterium racing including the Oklahoma Pro-Am Classic and the Tulsa Tough series. If we squeezed in a club race it would be a total of seven races in ten days. After requesting host housing and booking some cheap flights we were all systems GO! Four days later we were on a plane to the U.S and knocking on the door of our to-be hosts Andy Chasteen and his 6-year old daughter Maverick. Andy played host to eight people over the weekend, photographed the racing, shot all of the video content for the DNA Racing crew AND raced Men's Cat 2, even after he fractured a few ribs. American's... always showing off lol
Friday night bought awesome crowds with the race being held in conjunction with a street festival. There was a huge $11,000 prize purse so racing was fast from the gun with 35 girls in for a show. It took me a while to settle in and gain the confidence to cover a few small attacks on the climb around the back of the circuit. These moves hurt me BAD and I never really recovered. I snivelled wheels in the final 10 minutes while a solo move went by Katherine Sherwin and eventually Skylar Schneider bridged across, which left us sprinting for third. I stepped out of the back straight wanting to lead into the final corner but stepped straight back in! I was still third through the corner and miraculously got passed by three girls in the final 150m straight which I thought would be an impossible feat, but I managed it lol So 8th for me and a very descent $450USD.
Saturday was another 50 minute criterium but this time during the day. After two big days on the bike and only 4hrs sleep (late night caffeine for racing will do that to a girl) I struggled to get myself motivated. With the Friday night being the only race in the National series, the 6-women team of ISCorp had headed home so it now seemed like a more even playing field. I managed to avoid the three crashes, win a prime while most girls were re-joining from the crash and even try a few sneaky breaks but nothing was sticking. The team of Visit Dallas DNA Pro Cycling went to the front for a full lap leadout which paid dividends when their sprinter Tiffany Pezzulo won the kick. Truth be told I was WAY too fay back and although I actually had a kick in the finish straight, it was only enough to snag fourth and take home $275USD for the day.
Sunday was a turnaround. I was super motivated before the race and snuck in 2hrs before the whistle went. I'd decided that today would probably be a sprint, so I literally sat on the back for the entire 50 minutes. I did launch a counter attack into the final corner at one stage just to see just how fast I could take it in practice for the finish, and I found myself solo and thought that was a good sign. I let them drag me back within the lap and continued to sit in and wait for the expected sprint. In the final five laps there were some serious moves go and I told myself to be patient. I covered a small gap when I couldn't handle it anymore but I didn't do the work that the other favourites had to, which meant I could launch down the inside on the final corner and boom...winner! Cari Higgins (United Health Care) and Flora Yan (Dallas Racing) completed the podium and I was rewarded with a $600USD pay day (slowly paying for our flights).
Just because we loved Andy so much we stayed for a few extra days and raced their local Tuesday night Wheeler Criterium. I had some pretty good legs and managed to take a lap in the women's field, before jumping into the Men's 1/2/3 for 30minutes and toasting myself. Interestingly enough I averaged the EXACT same power in both races - 207 watts (actual power). So it's been a solid 20hr week with four races, good tanning and a happy headspace. Not quite the altitude camp in the mountain ranges of Livigno that I was planning but I'm still 'making Lemonade'.
So now we’ve arrived in Tulsa and will be staying with yet another awesome host couple, Camilo Arellano and Jennifer McConnell; who bought us little welcome packs for our stay because American's really are that nice. We're here for the thee-day cycling festival Tulsa Tough, which includes Fondo's, fireworks and of course some racing. It’s considered one of the biggest weekends of criterium racing in the U.S with a field of almost 100 Pro 1/2 Women competing for a huge prize pool of nearly $40,000USD wow! The Friday night will be raced under lights, and Saturday evening we line up again, but the real party kicks off on Sunday. I won’t spoil all of the stories about Cry Baby Hill but let's just say that the official hashtags of the event are #tulsatough #crybabyhill and my favourite #takemondayoff haha
But looking ahead, for those that have been asking, our two-week getaway will end after Tulsa. We head back to Switzerland for Nathalie's 30th, then straight into a four-week race block which includes the XCM World Championships in Laaisac, France; the XCO World Championships in Nové Mesto, Czech Republic; and two short road tours with the Roxsolt Team thanks to Kelvin Rundle, before flying back home to Australia on the 19th of July. There will be no rest for the wicked when I get home either... stay tuned.
Friday, Day 1 Midtown, 50mins Women's Pro 1/2 Results here
Saturday, Day 2 Film Row, 50mins Women's Pro 1/2 Results here
Sunday, Day 3 Automobile Alley, 50mins Women's Pro 1/2 Results here
UCI MTB World Cup XCO #2
Sunday 22nd May - Albstadt, Germany
I often say, post World Cups that I don’t feel part of the bike race. This time around, I may not have been part of ‘the’ bike race, but I did feel part of ‘a’ bike race; just a small and slower version lol
World Cups are a funny thing. Every little thing counts. Months of training and racing and dedication all build up to 90 minutes of racing, sometimes even less. This time around I was quite relaxed, because my preparation has been SO poor that I couldn’t expect anything special. My training and motivation post-Cairns World Cup has been ridiculously low. Organising Europe was stressful, my diet turned to shit and I put on 2kgs, and with the weather forcing me indoors for training most days I’ve lost a lot of fitness. But now that I’m here.. time to re-focus!
The second World Cup of the year saw a return to Albstadt in Germany. It’s a different type of course well-known for it’s steep climbs and steep descents. It isn’t the most technical circuit until you try to ride it in slick conditions with a heart rate over 180bpm, so it’s an honest course and I actually really like it. After a cold, wet and muddy week the sun came out for race day, as did the crowd, and near on 90 girls were ready to battle it out. Interstingly I was pretty much gridded in my UCI position in 48th, but the only thing I could think of on the start line was… oops, forget to have a gel... GO!
In Australia I feel I am rarely challenged. That’s not saying that racing comes easy, just that others are often happy to let me lead or set the pace. And when I race against Bec we’re very civilised. In World Cups it’s completely the opposite. It’s a sprint into every climb, every bit of single track and every descent. Even when climbing in a line of five or six girls where you have to stall on the corner because you’re following in close succession, it’s a sprint and hard brake into the stall just to hold your position. Usually I hate this, but it was nice to be a part of it.
My start loop was clean and I felt ok, so I was surprised to see that I was back in 49th. My first lap was pretty demoralising with 8 girls flying past me on the climbs, but I eventually settled into my pace with a group at my speed and came through 57th. I yo-yoed on and off that group until the third lap when I started to feel pretty good, so I put in an effort and by the end of lap 4 I was chasing the top 40 down the finish straight.
I was eating and drinking and chasing and feeling good, but the last two laps bought a crash, a few cramps, and I started to fall back through my original group, damn. I just went through the motions to eventually crawl through in 50th. It was the longest 1h44m of racing of my life lol Now 50th may seem like a pretty disappointing result on paper. But i’ve raced twice in Albstadt, on the same course, finishing 34th on both occasions and NOT on the lead lap. It proves that in an Olympic year, at a European World Cup, the standard and depth of MTB’ing is at it’s highest.
So in breakdown, I’m still losing about 20seconds per 3minutes of climbing to the lead 10 girls. Make no doubt about it, there’s a lot of work to be done, but with another World Cup this weekend, and the World Championships still 5.5 weeks away hopefully I can start to close that gap. We’ve made the trip across to La Bresse and are shacked up in a chalet with some fellow Aussies and a few NZL’ers so hopefully we have some good course time today while the sun in shining! Signing off...
Results here: Elite Women
World Cups are a funny thing. Every little thing counts. Months of training and racing and dedication all build up to 90 minutes of racing, sometimes even less. This time around I was quite relaxed, because my preparation has been SO poor that I couldn’t expect anything special. My training and motivation post-Cairns World Cup has been ridiculously low. Organising Europe was stressful, my diet turned to shit and I put on 2kgs, and with the weather forcing me indoors for training most days I’ve lost a lot of fitness. But now that I’m here.. time to re-focus!
The second World Cup of the year saw a return to Albstadt in Germany. It’s a different type of course well-known for it’s steep climbs and steep descents. It isn’t the most technical circuit until you try to ride it in slick conditions with a heart rate over 180bpm, so it’s an honest course and I actually really like it. After a cold, wet and muddy week the sun came out for race day, as did the crowd, and near on 90 girls were ready to battle it out. Interstingly I was pretty much gridded in my UCI position in 48th, but the only thing I could think of on the start line was… oops, forget to have a gel... GO!
In Australia I feel I am rarely challenged. That’s not saying that racing comes easy, just that others are often happy to let me lead or set the pace. And when I race against Bec we’re very civilised. In World Cups it’s completely the opposite. It’s a sprint into every climb, every bit of single track and every descent. Even when climbing in a line of five or six girls where you have to stall on the corner because you’re following in close succession, it’s a sprint and hard brake into the stall just to hold your position. Usually I hate this, but it was nice to be a part of it.
My start loop was clean and I felt ok, so I was surprised to see that I was back in 49th. My first lap was pretty demoralising with 8 girls flying past me on the climbs, but I eventually settled into my pace with a group at my speed and came through 57th. I yo-yoed on and off that group until the third lap when I started to feel pretty good, so I put in an effort and by the end of lap 4 I was chasing the top 40 down the finish straight.
I was eating and drinking and chasing and feeling good, but the last two laps bought a crash, a few cramps, and I started to fall back through my original group, damn. I just went through the motions to eventually crawl through in 50th. It was the longest 1h44m of racing of my life lol Now 50th may seem like a pretty disappointing result on paper. But i’ve raced twice in Albstadt, on the same course, finishing 34th on both occasions and NOT on the lead lap. It proves that in an Olympic year, at a European World Cup, the standard and depth of MTB’ing is at it’s highest.
So in breakdown, I’m still losing about 20seconds per 3minutes of climbing to the lead 10 girls. Make no doubt about it, there’s a lot of work to be done, but with another World Cup this weekend, and the World Championships still 5.5 weeks away hopefully I can start to close that gap. We’ve made the trip across to La Bresse and are shacked up in a chalet with some fellow Aussies and a few NZL’ers so hopefully we have some good course time today while the sun in shining! Signing off...
Results here: Elite Women
UCI C1 - Coupe de France VTT - So 'NOT' Pro
Sunday 15th May - Ussel, France
Three years ago when Jarrod and I first ventured to Europe, we really weren’t sure just how long we’d stay for, so we booked a one way ticket to Brussels. When it finally came time to book a flight home we realised just how cheap it was to book a return, so we did exactly that and have been booking return’s ever since. This means that every year our tickets are Europe-Melb-Europe. This worked a treat last year when we decided to cut the trip short and come home early, but it meant that come May this year we were locked in. We booked our tickets through ‘last minute’ which meant that we could change the date of our flight for a fee, but not the destination airport. This is why we flew into Brussels.
Secondary to this, because we book our flights so far in advance we have no idea what the minor race calendar is i.e races outside of the World Cup season. So when the schedule was released and we realised there was a ‘Coupe de France’ on in Ussel we were hell bent on getting there. We knew the simple plan of catching a train down to Lyon in France would become a shit fight, but car hire is also super cheap in France and we’d be returning there in July for the XCM World Champs, so we committed to the idea. So for those who asked why we didn’t pay the extra to fly direct to France, that’s the reason..
It was a 2hr drive from Bendigo to the airport, a 2hr wait for boarding, a 7hr flight to Singapore, 5hr stopover, 13hr flight to Heathrow, 1hr stopover, then a 6hr wait at Brussels airport for our baggage. There had been a strike in London the day prior so we had to wait for the backlog before our luggage arrived on the third flight. To make things worse, we were stuck between passport control and customs. Because of the added airport security they weren’t allowing passengers to re-enter the airport to collect luggage; you either had it forwarded to an address, or you waited it out. That meant that dinner was from a vending machine, which I normally wouldn’t complain about but after two days of plane food I was ready for something a little more gourmet.
Eventually we had all of our luggage but In the meantime we’d cancelled our online reserved train tickets to Lyon. When we went to purchase a new one at the office it was closed for renovations, but we found a little Frenchman on what we thought was the right platform (we guessed right) and we were on our way. Little did we know that the seats on our train were sold out and we had to stand for near on 4hrs through to Lyon. When we arrived it was raining and we were exhausted. The 700m to our hotel seemed like a marathon and dragging the bike boxes nearly broke us. We were sore, tired and hungry. We slept like babies. The next morning we were on a tram to the airport, a bus to the car hire and eventually en route to Ussel.
This is the reality of NOT being on a professional team. I’ve seen both sides of the coin. Professional teams would fly earlier, direct to their location, possibly with spare bikes and drivers to pick them up. They would have a massage to rub the flight out of their legs rather than a 30min cruise at 9pm in the rain (my welcome to Europe this year). They usually don’t cook their own dinner, or wash their bikes at the car wash, or wait at the laundromat for an hour to make sure they have clean kit for race day. They don’t make up their own bottles, change their own tyres, worry about avoiding péage tolls on the way to their next location or where they might find a few minutes of free wi-fi (ok maybe they still worry about the wi-fi) lol But I choose this option because I LOVE mtb’ing and unfortunately I’m not a professional.
Anyway.. once in Ussel we met up with Nathalie Schneitter; our Suisse host from last year, and Sandra Waliter; a Canadian MTB’er here for a World Cup stint. We stayed in a cute little cottage about half an hour away in Eglétons and the power only went out once lol We hit the course on Saturday and it was awesome. The first half weaved around a camping ground with tents and fisherman, while the second half went bush for some tight undulating single track. In the wet it was tough; off-camber and tree roots galore. By the time we rode a second lap it was close to dry and really good fun. The longest climb was probably 30 seconds, but the short sharp pinches would be draining. Laps were going to be 20 minutes in the dry making it a 5-lap race and with 70 women in the start chute it was an inspiring affair.
So onto the race which I’ll keep short. I felt horrible in my warm up, probably the worst I’ve ever felt.. in my life. But motivation was high because I was in France and as the No.1 UCI ranked rider I was called up first to the line! I had a smooth start before settling into fifth. On the flatter section of the course I felt ok, and rode smooth over the steep climbs at the feed station into fourth. But the lactic building in my legs began to burn and one by one I was passed on the following climbs. My legs screamed in pain and when the feeling didn’t let up on the short descents I knew the three days of travel were responsible. As I slipped out of the top 10 toward the 20-min mark I knew I would DNF, it was just a matter of when. I eventually pulled out just shy of three laps and cheered Nathalie and Sandra to third and fourth place!
At the very least it was a fun weekend away with an old friend and a new one, and nice to settle back into the European way (we’ve already had two ‘bank holidays’). Thanks to my chauffeur Jarrod, we’ve successfully made the 7hr trip across to Solothurn, Switzerland. Last year we were based here, living with Nathalie and making memories. This year we’ll do some short visits and bunk up at her parents house, including the next four nights leading into the weekend of the second World Cup in Albstadt, Germany. At last year’s race I had my best ever World Cup start there before breaking my cleat and crashing nine times so here’s to hoping that doesn’t happen again, because it hurt.. a lot lol
Secondary to this, because we book our flights so far in advance we have no idea what the minor race calendar is i.e races outside of the World Cup season. So when the schedule was released and we realised there was a ‘Coupe de France’ on in Ussel we were hell bent on getting there. We knew the simple plan of catching a train down to Lyon in France would become a shit fight, but car hire is also super cheap in France and we’d be returning there in July for the XCM World Champs, so we committed to the idea. So for those who asked why we didn’t pay the extra to fly direct to France, that’s the reason..
It was a 2hr drive from Bendigo to the airport, a 2hr wait for boarding, a 7hr flight to Singapore, 5hr stopover, 13hr flight to Heathrow, 1hr stopover, then a 6hr wait at Brussels airport for our baggage. There had been a strike in London the day prior so we had to wait for the backlog before our luggage arrived on the third flight. To make things worse, we were stuck between passport control and customs. Because of the added airport security they weren’t allowing passengers to re-enter the airport to collect luggage; you either had it forwarded to an address, or you waited it out. That meant that dinner was from a vending machine, which I normally wouldn’t complain about but after two days of plane food I was ready for something a little more gourmet.
Eventually we had all of our luggage but In the meantime we’d cancelled our online reserved train tickets to Lyon. When we went to purchase a new one at the office it was closed for renovations, but we found a little Frenchman on what we thought was the right platform (we guessed right) and we were on our way. Little did we know that the seats on our train were sold out and we had to stand for near on 4hrs through to Lyon. When we arrived it was raining and we were exhausted. The 700m to our hotel seemed like a marathon and dragging the bike boxes nearly broke us. We were sore, tired and hungry. We slept like babies. The next morning we were on a tram to the airport, a bus to the car hire and eventually en route to Ussel.
This is the reality of NOT being on a professional team. I’ve seen both sides of the coin. Professional teams would fly earlier, direct to their location, possibly with spare bikes and drivers to pick them up. They would have a massage to rub the flight out of their legs rather than a 30min cruise at 9pm in the rain (my welcome to Europe this year). They usually don’t cook their own dinner, or wash their bikes at the car wash, or wait at the laundromat for an hour to make sure they have clean kit for race day. They don’t make up their own bottles, change their own tyres, worry about avoiding péage tolls on the way to their next location or where they might find a few minutes of free wi-fi (ok maybe they still worry about the wi-fi) lol But I choose this option because I LOVE mtb’ing and unfortunately I’m not a professional.
Anyway.. once in Ussel we met up with Nathalie Schneitter; our Suisse host from last year, and Sandra Waliter; a Canadian MTB’er here for a World Cup stint. We stayed in a cute little cottage about half an hour away in Eglétons and the power only went out once lol We hit the course on Saturday and it was awesome. The first half weaved around a camping ground with tents and fisherman, while the second half went bush for some tight undulating single track. In the wet it was tough; off-camber and tree roots galore. By the time we rode a second lap it was close to dry and really good fun. The longest climb was probably 30 seconds, but the short sharp pinches would be draining. Laps were going to be 20 minutes in the dry making it a 5-lap race and with 70 women in the start chute it was an inspiring affair.
So onto the race which I’ll keep short. I felt horrible in my warm up, probably the worst I’ve ever felt.. in my life. But motivation was high because I was in France and as the No.1 UCI ranked rider I was called up first to the line! I had a smooth start before settling into fifth. On the flatter section of the course I felt ok, and rode smooth over the steep climbs at the feed station into fourth. But the lactic building in my legs began to burn and one by one I was passed on the following climbs. My legs screamed in pain and when the feeling didn’t let up on the short descents I knew the three days of travel were responsible. As I slipped out of the top 10 toward the 20-min mark I knew I would DNF, it was just a matter of when. I eventually pulled out just shy of three laps and cheered Nathalie and Sandra to third and fourth place!
At the very least it was a fun weekend away with an old friend and a new one, and nice to settle back into the European way (we’ve already had two ‘bank holidays’). Thanks to my chauffeur Jarrod, we’ve successfully made the 7hr trip across to Solothurn, Switzerland. Last year we were based here, living with Nathalie and making memories. This year we’ll do some short visits and bunk up at her parents house, including the next four nights leading into the weekend of the second World Cup in Albstadt, Germany. At last year’s race I had my best ever World Cup start there before breaking my cleat and crashing nine times so here’s to hoping that doesn’t happen again, because it hurt.. a lot lol
UCI MTB World Cup XCO #1
Sunday 24th April - Cairns, Australia
I don't usually get nervous, but World Cup races seem to make me sick with anxiety, cause sleepless nights, and bring out the highly strung, on-edge part of my personality for the good part of five or six days leading in. For this reason I try not to spend too much time on course over-analysing things. The 'official' training usually kicks in on the Thursday after the UCI have inspected the track and made the final decisions on bunted lines, but I prefer to get on earlier in the week to get my head around the technical sections without the added intimidation of my peers watching on. Of course I ride the course in it's 'official' state for my pre-race efforts, but rock gardens and drops off rarely change during the course of the week, weather pending.
Jarrod and I arrived on Wednesday and were greeted at the airport by Aimee, a friend of mine from the road scene. She had agreed to house and chauffeur us for the week and conveniently lives in Cairns,although her recommendations for restaurants would suggest she's a poor local lol We got on course late in the afternoon for two laps and although the course was clearly short and obviously tough, I loved it. It's the only world cup course where the entire climb is majority singletrack and a short bit of double track. There are alternate limes offering passing opportunities but as a whole it's technical, draining and so hot and humid.
The only feature in the first half of the course is named 'Rodeo Drop' and until the dust became unsettled it was relatively straight forward (although two of the women on the podium chose not to ride it). When I followed Jarrod over it on Wednesday my heart stopped, but after a few attempts I got my speed right and enjoyed the challenge. After a 5-minute climb you reach the descent, which is made up of three features in quick succession; 'Crocs Teeth' which is a newly introduced rock garden and probably the most difficult, the 'Croc-Slide' which is straight down a steep rockface into a berm, and the famous 'Jacobs Ladder' which was recently tamed down with a bit of dirt-filling. We then snaked down 'Catterpiller', boosted a few doubles (not the last two big ones though, I haven't mastered the act of jumping) and rolled around a 3-minute flat, grass paddock to the finish. You can see most of the course in this video.
Despite the amazing track I wasn't feeling pumped up for the race, just the sickening World Cup nerves I mentioned. I was starting in 29th which meant I was 4th row on the start grid, and the 3minute start lap around the paddock allowed a good opportunity to move through the field. I had a good start and was picking my way through when a German swerved into me and we clipped bars. I went flying across the peloton taking down Katerina Nash and Jenny Rissveds, who left a lasting tyre burn on my left bicep as a reminder. I think I felt worse about their World Cup hopes than mine at that point and while I got up swearing about the situation, they carried on calmly and fought back to 9th and 10th, from what was essentially last place (out of 48 starters)!
Aside from a broken shoe (that I didn't change) the crash was just an inconvenience and I started to move through the field again. There were a few more close calls through the whoops as people scurried for lines and girls burped their tyres, but then we were at safe base when we bottle-necked and the walking began. I remounted before Rodeo Drop but later on had to walk parts of the climb. Finally we hit the first descent and although I was hard on the brakes, at least I was moving again and up to 36th. I lost count on lap 2 of how many girls took A lines they couldn't ride up the climb to T-bone me, or simply try to push me off the side of the cliff when I was already stuck behind a line of five people with no-where to go. I was passed by four girls on the climb and was so frustrated that when I saw a tangle of six girls at the top of the 'Croc-slide' I just rode over the top of them and kept on my way. I passed two more before the finish and I was up to 31st.
On lap 3 I was grateful to be on my own and held a solid tempo, then on lap 4 passed another two girls. I made big in-roads on the descent on lap 5 but dropped my chain on the 'Caterpillar' before rolling over in 28th. I had lost most of my fight on lap 6 and as I celebrated the final descent I heard a bang, which was the sound of my tyre blowing after slicing the side wall and.....crash.... I came down hard and blunt but got up quickly. I rolled cautiously to the feed (because I pay for my wheels) before a quick change and a sprint around the paddock to finish in 32nd. On paper it's not great, but my lap times were a little more promising. I'm still not worthy of a top 20 but I feel I'm getting close if the pieces fall into place. But it wasn't all bad news and somber feelings on the weekend. As a country we were amazing.
Unless you've been living under a rock you would know that fellow Australian Rebecca Henderson had a stomping ride and after leading for the first lap and battling with former World Champions, she finished in third. Most of you won't realise how huge this result is, but she has become the first Australian born female to EVER podium at a MTB XCO World Cup in it's 27-year, 130+ race history. I like to pick my battles, and I'm sensing that this isn't a great battle to be in. The slither of hope I had for racing in Rio on the dirt is well and truly gone and obviously I'm disappointed, but I'm ridiculously excited about the prospect of screaming at the TV as Bec goes for Gold in Rio.
Results: Elite Women
Jarrod and I arrived on Wednesday and were greeted at the airport by Aimee, a friend of mine from the road scene. She had agreed to house and chauffeur us for the week and conveniently lives in Cairns,although her recommendations for restaurants would suggest she's a poor local lol We got on course late in the afternoon for two laps and although the course was clearly short and obviously tough, I loved it. It's the only world cup course where the entire climb is majority singletrack and a short bit of double track. There are alternate limes offering passing opportunities but as a whole it's technical, draining and so hot and humid.
The only feature in the first half of the course is named 'Rodeo Drop' and until the dust became unsettled it was relatively straight forward (although two of the women on the podium chose not to ride it). When I followed Jarrod over it on Wednesday my heart stopped, but after a few attempts I got my speed right and enjoyed the challenge. After a 5-minute climb you reach the descent, which is made up of three features in quick succession; 'Crocs Teeth' which is a newly introduced rock garden and probably the most difficult, the 'Croc-Slide' which is straight down a steep rockface into a berm, and the famous 'Jacobs Ladder' which was recently tamed down with a bit of dirt-filling. We then snaked down 'Catterpiller', boosted a few doubles (not the last two big ones though, I haven't mastered the act of jumping) and rolled around a 3-minute flat, grass paddock to the finish. You can see most of the course in this video.
Despite the amazing track I wasn't feeling pumped up for the race, just the sickening World Cup nerves I mentioned. I was starting in 29th which meant I was 4th row on the start grid, and the 3minute start lap around the paddock allowed a good opportunity to move through the field. I had a good start and was picking my way through when a German swerved into me and we clipped bars. I went flying across the peloton taking down Katerina Nash and Jenny Rissveds, who left a lasting tyre burn on my left bicep as a reminder. I think I felt worse about their World Cup hopes than mine at that point and while I got up swearing about the situation, they carried on calmly and fought back to 9th and 10th, from what was essentially last place (out of 48 starters)!
Aside from a broken shoe (that I didn't change) the crash was just an inconvenience and I started to move through the field again. There were a few more close calls through the whoops as people scurried for lines and girls burped their tyres, but then we were at safe base when we bottle-necked and the walking began. I remounted before Rodeo Drop but later on had to walk parts of the climb. Finally we hit the first descent and although I was hard on the brakes, at least I was moving again and up to 36th. I lost count on lap 2 of how many girls took A lines they couldn't ride up the climb to T-bone me, or simply try to push me off the side of the cliff when I was already stuck behind a line of five people with no-where to go. I was passed by four girls on the climb and was so frustrated that when I saw a tangle of six girls at the top of the 'Croc-slide' I just rode over the top of them and kept on my way. I passed two more before the finish and I was up to 31st.
On lap 3 I was grateful to be on my own and held a solid tempo, then on lap 4 passed another two girls. I made big in-roads on the descent on lap 5 but dropped my chain on the 'Caterpillar' before rolling over in 28th. I had lost most of my fight on lap 6 and as I celebrated the final descent I heard a bang, which was the sound of my tyre blowing after slicing the side wall and.....crash.... I came down hard and blunt but got up quickly. I rolled cautiously to the feed (because I pay for my wheels) before a quick change and a sprint around the paddock to finish in 32nd. On paper it's not great, but my lap times were a little more promising. I'm still not worthy of a top 20 but I feel I'm getting close if the pieces fall into place. But it wasn't all bad news and somber feelings on the weekend. As a country we were amazing.
Unless you've been living under a rock you would know that fellow Australian Rebecca Henderson had a stomping ride and after leading for the first lap and battling with former World Champions, she finished in third. Most of you won't realise how huge this result is, but she has become the first Australian born female to EVER podium at a MTB XCO World Cup in it's 27-year, 130+ race history. I like to pick my battles, and I'm sensing that this isn't a great battle to be in. The slither of hope I had for racing in Rio on the dirt is well and truly gone and obviously I'm disappointed, but I'm ridiculously excited about the prospect of screaming at the TV as Bec goes for Gold in Rio.
Results: Elite Women
Australian XCM Series Round 3, Golden Triangle Epic
Saturday 16th April - Bendigo, Victoria
The Golden Triangle Epic is a tough race. We may have no hills in Bendigo, but that also means we have no descents. It's 5hrs of rocks and pedaling and it's 'hard yakka' on the body. But I love it because it presents a different sort of challenge; one of balanced nutrition, hydration, concentration and measured efforts when it matters. And it's in my backyard, powered by the same passionate guys that support me year in and out including event sponsors Torq Nutrition compliments of Dean and Gen, and the Maxxis, Birzman combination thanks to John and the team from Bikecorp.
The event grows every year and for the first time doubled as a National XCM round, which meant the Elite riders were here to battle for both series points and the $6000 cash prizes on offer. The 'main event' is the 106km made up of two laps, with 53km, 30km and 15km options also available. The reason for the longer loop is that if you were one of the 23 crazy son's of b***hes who decided to do three laps, you would complete a full 100 miler and receive a 'finishers medal' and a bit of coin. The remainder of the categories fight it out for a further $5000 cash and bucket loads of prizes. The event centre was a cool little village at the oval across the road from my house, which had an awesome vibe thanks to some live music in the afternoon, on-site commentary by Norm Douglas and the usual food stalls and demo-bike tents that let you know you're at a bike race.
I was completely torn about racing the GTE. I knew I shouldn't race the 100km but maybe I could get away with holding back in the 50km.. ultimately I had the morning road bunch on my program with an afternoon sprint session on the trainer. As a local, I know just how hard and draining the trails in Bendigo are and after last weekend's marathon it would be impossible to recover in time for the first World Cup in Cairns next weekend if I was to dig deep all day. It was just one hour before the start when I put my name on the list, not because 'late entries' are a winning formula for me, but because the $1200 on offer for first place would go a long way toward my trip to Europe. It's a harsh reality but financial decisions have become a big part of my life, for better or for worse.
So the leisurely start time of 9:45am rolled around for the 10 Elite Women, who start in a seperate wave to age-group women and 15-minutes ahead of the Elite Men. The field included reigning champion Jenni King and NZL 'housemate for a day' Samara Sheppard. I cruised on the front for 10-minutes before Samara put the pressure on and split the field. After 10km we'd forged a small gap over Jenni and a reasonable lead to the rest. When we had to dismount for a road crossing I took the reign and put a solid half hour in at 180bpm, forging a hard earned 2-minute lead. I felt good but was having nervous arguments in my head.. 'calm down Peta' vs 'but it's $1200' vs 'save yourself' vs 'she's catching you'.
As we neared the end of the first lap I started to feel pretty ordinary and decided to switch off the burners and focus on minimising the damage to my body. In the first lap of 2h22m I drank 1.5litre of energy and had four gels, two of them caffeinated. In the second lap of 2h38m I drank 1litre of energy, 1litre of water and downed a can of coca-cola. I had five gels on that lap, two of them caffeinated, to total nine for the race. Despite being the only girl who can carry two drink bottles on my bike, I still started cramping at the 80km mark and finished the race covered in salt. Gratefully I had a 6-minute lead after the first lap so I knew I could start to conserve, and with 4-minutes up my sleeve as the cramps came on I was able to switch off completely and ride most of the final 90-minutes at 150bpm. It was nice to finish the race feeling capable, only half-exhausted and $1200 richer.
Most people struggled with hydration and nutrition, my tip is that you can never eat or drink too much. I only lost 400g after 5hrs of racing which is pretty impressive if I do say so myself. Sometimes it's not the heat as much as the lack of opportunity to drink. With so much singletrack it's hard to get the fluids in, but the club do provide bottle-drop stations every 10-15kms with extra water and provided food so take a second to stop, re-fuel, maybe oil your chain and your body and bike will love you for it in the long run. The best idea going around is the complimentary 'coke esky'. Jarrod tells me he bathed in it on his second lap when he cooked the goose 10km from home lol
Back to the race, it was just 2-minutes later when Samara rolled in and although we headed straight home to shower, only a further 7-minutes to the nearly sprint finish of Mel Anset and Anna Beck. Bec Locke was a further 10-minutes back comfortably claiming fifth to complete the podium. It was a shame to see Jenni King withdraw after a lap due to injury, and to hear that local girl Bec Wilkinson had her crank fall off on the first lap. But being her first marathon she went back out with a 10mm allen key and stopped for some bush mechanics every time it came loose... what a trooper! A big congrats to the peeps in my corner who also won their categories; Tasman Nankervis in the Elite Men, Peter Casey, Ev Van Den Brooke and John 'how are you a Super Master' Flood, even after a puncture. Oh and to Tayla Evans, who not only rode her mysterious MTB but finished the 50km.
The day was topped when Jarrod won the Veteran 100km Men's Race, and then stole my thunder by winning the random draw prize... a brand new Trek donated by Cyclespace valued at $3500! It's already on eBay with every dollar going toward our trip to Europe, and here's a shameless plug... if you'd like to help the cause you can head over to my donate page to make a contribution, every penny counts!
When I left the event site to finally get some food into me, I saw the familiar faces of the guys who put so much into the event still working hard taking down bunting. Without naming the entire club, Joel Rockes is the main man behind the mask and does a magnificent job of running arguably the biggest club-run event in Australia (aside from CORC who pretty much cater to a city!), as does his right hand man and club Vice President Stu McGregor. Garry Lewis and Ronnie McCulloch spent endless hours 'de-rocking' the course, of which the locals appreciated more than the visitors who still think it's rocky lol To Russ Parsons, who along with the guys above spent a week putting out arrows and will spend the next week pulling them down. To Rim Martin, Dave Macauley and many more who make the event come together, and to all the on-the-day volunteers who forego the chance to race themselves, like my No.1 fan Keith Hamilton at feed zone 1 and 3.
If you couldn't make it, put it on your bucket list! See you next year...
Results 100km Category.
Results All Categories.
The event grows every year and for the first time doubled as a National XCM round, which meant the Elite riders were here to battle for both series points and the $6000 cash prizes on offer. The 'main event' is the 106km made up of two laps, with 53km, 30km and 15km options also available. The reason for the longer loop is that if you were one of the 23 crazy son's of b***hes who decided to do three laps, you would complete a full 100 miler and receive a 'finishers medal' and a bit of coin. The remainder of the categories fight it out for a further $5000 cash and bucket loads of prizes. The event centre was a cool little village at the oval across the road from my house, which had an awesome vibe thanks to some live music in the afternoon, on-site commentary by Norm Douglas and the usual food stalls and demo-bike tents that let you know you're at a bike race.
I was completely torn about racing the GTE. I knew I shouldn't race the 100km but maybe I could get away with holding back in the 50km.. ultimately I had the morning road bunch on my program with an afternoon sprint session on the trainer. As a local, I know just how hard and draining the trails in Bendigo are and after last weekend's marathon it would be impossible to recover in time for the first World Cup in Cairns next weekend if I was to dig deep all day. It was just one hour before the start when I put my name on the list, not because 'late entries' are a winning formula for me, but because the $1200 on offer for first place would go a long way toward my trip to Europe. It's a harsh reality but financial decisions have become a big part of my life, for better or for worse.
So the leisurely start time of 9:45am rolled around for the 10 Elite Women, who start in a seperate wave to age-group women and 15-minutes ahead of the Elite Men. The field included reigning champion Jenni King and NZL 'housemate for a day' Samara Sheppard. I cruised on the front for 10-minutes before Samara put the pressure on and split the field. After 10km we'd forged a small gap over Jenni and a reasonable lead to the rest. When we had to dismount for a road crossing I took the reign and put a solid half hour in at 180bpm, forging a hard earned 2-minute lead. I felt good but was having nervous arguments in my head.. 'calm down Peta' vs 'but it's $1200' vs 'save yourself' vs 'she's catching you'.
As we neared the end of the first lap I started to feel pretty ordinary and decided to switch off the burners and focus on minimising the damage to my body. In the first lap of 2h22m I drank 1.5litre of energy and had four gels, two of them caffeinated. In the second lap of 2h38m I drank 1litre of energy, 1litre of water and downed a can of coca-cola. I had five gels on that lap, two of them caffeinated, to total nine for the race. Despite being the only girl who can carry two drink bottles on my bike, I still started cramping at the 80km mark and finished the race covered in salt. Gratefully I had a 6-minute lead after the first lap so I knew I could start to conserve, and with 4-minutes up my sleeve as the cramps came on I was able to switch off completely and ride most of the final 90-minutes at 150bpm. It was nice to finish the race feeling capable, only half-exhausted and $1200 richer.
Most people struggled with hydration and nutrition, my tip is that you can never eat or drink too much. I only lost 400g after 5hrs of racing which is pretty impressive if I do say so myself. Sometimes it's not the heat as much as the lack of opportunity to drink. With so much singletrack it's hard to get the fluids in, but the club do provide bottle-drop stations every 10-15kms with extra water and provided food so take a second to stop, re-fuel, maybe oil your chain and your body and bike will love you for it in the long run. The best idea going around is the complimentary 'coke esky'. Jarrod tells me he bathed in it on his second lap when he cooked the goose 10km from home lol
Back to the race, it was just 2-minutes later when Samara rolled in and although we headed straight home to shower, only a further 7-minutes to the nearly sprint finish of Mel Anset and Anna Beck. Bec Locke was a further 10-minutes back comfortably claiming fifth to complete the podium. It was a shame to see Jenni King withdraw after a lap due to injury, and to hear that local girl Bec Wilkinson had her crank fall off on the first lap. But being her first marathon she went back out with a 10mm allen key and stopped for some bush mechanics every time it came loose... what a trooper! A big congrats to the peeps in my corner who also won their categories; Tasman Nankervis in the Elite Men, Peter Casey, Ev Van Den Brooke and John 'how are you a Super Master' Flood, even after a puncture. Oh and to Tayla Evans, who not only rode her mysterious MTB but finished the 50km.
The day was topped when Jarrod won the Veteran 100km Men's Race, and then stole my thunder by winning the random draw prize... a brand new Trek donated by Cyclespace valued at $3500! It's already on eBay with every dollar going toward our trip to Europe, and here's a shameless plug... if you'd like to help the cause you can head over to my donate page to make a contribution, every penny counts!
When I left the event site to finally get some food into me, I saw the familiar faces of the guys who put so much into the event still working hard taking down bunting. Without naming the entire club, Joel Rockes is the main man behind the mask and does a magnificent job of running arguably the biggest club-run event in Australia (aside from CORC who pretty much cater to a city!), as does his right hand man and club Vice President Stu McGregor. Garry Lewis and Ronnie McCulloch spent endless hours 'de-rocking' the course, of which the locals appreciated more than the visitors who still think it's rocky lol To Russ Parsons, who along with the guys above spent a week putting out arrows and will spend the next week pulling them down. To Rim Martin, Dave Macauley and many more who make the event come together, and to all the on-the-day volunteers who forego the chance to race themselves, like my No.1 fan Keith Hamilton at feed zone 1 and 3.
If you couldn't make it, put it on your bucket list! See you next year...
Results 100km Category.
Results All Categories.
Australian XCM Championships
Sunday 10th April - Derby, Tasmania
It’s certainly no secret that I love to race. Training for me is just a means to be able to race in good condition. In 2014 I had more than 100 race days on the road and MTB and was cooked come World Championships in September. My coach, Mark Fenner, made it very clear that I can’t sustain a season like that with the combined travel and work duties I have at home. Note to self: race less.
So last year I tried to do just that, which didn’t turn out that well when I found myself finishing an eight-week MTB race block with a four-day stage race, and not just any stage race but the Alpentour Trophy! Of course coach Fenz said he didn’t recommend it, and I fell in a heap for the rest of the season. Lesson learnt this time right?
So again this year I’m making an attempt to race less, which is why I decided that post National and Oceania Championships on the dirt, I would schedule no racing for the four week training block leading into the first MTB World Cup of the season in Cairns, Australia. I'd under performed based on my expectations at these races and it was time for me to focus on the big goal. But after two weeks of being committed I was just ITCHING to pack my bags, get away and wreck myself on unsuspecting trails. Come Friday I couldn't handle the itch any longer and after getting the go ahead from Jarrod and my coach, I booked a flight to Tasmania for the Saturday morning, en-route to Derby for the Australian Marathon Championships.
I wasn't worried about the lack of taper, traveling the day before the race or not having seen the course. I was really confident that I could win the race, probably more confident than I've ever been, which is nice because belief is something that I often struggle with. The last minute decision meant that I could race without pressure or the anxious build up and from all reports it sounded like the course was made for me. Regardless, I knew I still had stiff competition in Jenni King and after having battled her for a jersey on many occasions I knew she wouldn't go down without a fight!
So finally Australia has come to the realization that a Marathon doesn’t have to be 100km. In fact the women's race was 70km, made up of one 10km lap and two 30km laps ascending a total of 2000m. The race started up a 7-minute tar turned fire-trail climb leading into the Flickity Sticks flow trail and Sawtooth descent to the start-finish. The larger laps saw us climbing for an hour on mixed terrain but with plenty of fire-trail, traversing the top for 15-minutes on the Atlas trail, then descending to the finish for over half an hour on some pretty wet and technical trails by XCM standards.
I'd gone over the race tactics in my head. I could either follow for the first lap to sight the descent with the girls who had seen it, or I could forge my own way, attempt to hold a lead on the climb and see the descent for myself, all-be-it cautiously. The only female I considered following down the descent was Jenni King, otherwise I felt I'd still be the fastest down there site unseen. So that was the plan.. follow Jenni.
The start was given for the small field of 13, and I found my way to the front behind an eager Cristy Henderson and in-form Imogen Smith. Cristy seemed to be working hard so after 3-minutes I did a quick glance over the shoulder to see how everyone was tracking and there was no-one on my wheel, just a decimated group behind. I was feeling really comfortable but at the same time not sure if the climb went for 5-minutes or 50-minutes, but to show that I meant business I took the lead anyway and only Imogen could follow. Race plan out the window... lol After just 7-minutes I was surprised to turn off into singletrack and find that we'd already forged 30sec back to the main contenders of Eliza Kwan, Briony Mattocks and previous winner Jenni King.
Usually flowy singletrack is hard to gain time on, but I kept the pressure on by pedaling at every opportunity and holding momentum. I also knew that I was the only rider with a clear trail; everyone else would be attempting to pass one another. I covered the first 10km in 22-minutes with a 50-sec advantage to NZL'er Kim Hurst and just 30-seconds seperating 3rd-9th place. I pushed on for the next 15-minutes up the Axe Head and Long Shadows single-track climbs before eventually hitting the road climb. I settled in, composing myself and finding a rhythm. I had another gel, was drinking religiously and looking back.. a lot. Even on the longer section I never saw anyone and there were no official time gaps at the top of the climb, but Strava tells me that I had 4-minutes on eventual 3rd and 4th place-getters Briony and Eliza.
The climb suited me. It wasn't too steep and it darted in and out of singletrack on occasion. When it flattened out I felt even stronger and aside from two small and silly crashes I was feeling good. I knew I 'should' reach the top about the 1h20min mark and when I saw the 'Altas' signage I was relieved. I assumed the trail that we had climbed all this way for was a pure descent, but it was another 15-minutes of technical single-track before we descended the rooty, wet and dark trails. I was VERY cautious. Duncan Giblin, Tasmanian, time-keeper, photographer, event organiser and all-round nice guy had given me great advice about the surprise 'obstacles' around each corner and about being in a small gear to pedal out of anything I wasn't prepared for. It worked perfectly and I made it down unscathed.
The awesome trails took us all the way to the feed zone transition and 40km into the race. I never knew where I stood or who was chasing because time gaps are impossible to give when you're leading and there's no phone reception, but it was a post-race shock to find out it was already 4-minutes. The descenders had come to the fore on the muddy trails with Jenni moving into second, Eliza and Anna Beck locked together 2-minutes behind, and Imogen and Henderson a further 2-minutes down. Briony had some work to do after the descent, trailing a potential bronze medal by 3-minutes. Unfortunately Kim Hurst and Kelly Bartlett (3rd at the time) were both riding out of their skin but suffered mechanicals and were forced to withdraw on the second lap.
Headed out onto the final lap, knowing the complete course, and realising that there was only 1 hour of climbing to go, I set out to hurt myself and aimed to negative split. I downed my traditional dose of 2 No-Doz tablets to keep me alert, and another caffeine gel for good measure. Sarah Riley passed off a few bottles and I was ready for the worst kind of battle, one against myself! I climbed 10 seconds faster than my first lap, traversed across the top in the same time and descended 2-minutes quicker. I sprinted through singletrack and rode to the top of each crest like it was my last. I dug deep all the way to the finish. I was stoked with my race (although I still felt I could've climbed better on the steeper sections) and after three months without a National Title, I finally have one back. I was getting lonely without the green and gold!
There wasn't the excitement that I expected though. The truth is, I expected to win, and so the only emotion I felt was elation. It sounds a little mundane and ridiculous but I've won nine National Titles now and their importance to me ranks coincidentally on how unlikely a winner I was. I was excited about how fast I rode and took pride in comparing final lap times to the men, and I will ALWAYS be proud to wear the green and gold, but it just wasn't the same feeling I got when I won my first Junior Track Title in 2006, or my Elite Women's Road Title in 2015. The biggest difference was despite not having my family there, or a 'team', or Jarrod (who was aptly replaced by Anthony Shippard), I still had my 'MTB' family to share it with.
I was excited to watch the podium stream in starting with second place Jenni King. This chick is an absolute trooper. Not only did she come into the sport late, but she's been at the top for what seems like forever, and she's always gracious in victory and defeat. Most of you wouldn't know that she rides and races everyday in pain due to an injury sustained in a crash two years ago, and I'm not sure how many more opportunities I'll have to race her again, but I hope one of those is the Commonwealth Games in 2018! She admitted to not having a great day which had her finish an abnormal 12-minutes behind. It was 5-minutes later when the 'real' race rolled in, with the remainder of the podium all within 40-seconds of one another! Briony had made a HUGE move from 7th to 3rd, Eliza finished 4th and Anna 5th. Probably my favourite podium ever!
But no more sappy stories... the clock is ticking.
Just one week until I head to Cairns for the first MTB World Cup and one month until I fly to Europe!
Results: Elite Women
So last year I tried to do just that, which didn’t turn out that well when I found myself finishing an eight-week MTB race block with a four-day stage race, and not just any stage race but the Alpentour Trophy! Of course coach Fenz said he didn’t recommend it, and I fell in a heap for the rest of the season. Lesson learnt this time right?
So again this year I’m making an attempt to race less, which is why I decided that post National and Oceania Championships on the dirt, I would schedule no racing for the four week training block leading into the first MTB World Cup of the season in Cairns, Australia. I'd under performed based on my expectations at these races and it was time for me to focus on the big goal. But after two weeks of being committed I was just ITCHING to pack my bags, get away and wreck myself on unsuspecting trails. Come Friday I couldn't handle the itch any longer and after getting the go ahead from Jarrod and my coach, I booked a flight to Tasmania for the Saturday morning, en-route to Derby for the Australian Marathon Championships.
I wasn't worried about the lack of taper, traveling the day before the race or not having seen the course. I was really confident that I could win the race, probably more confident than I've ever been, which is nice because belief is something that I often struggle with. The last minute decision meant that I could race without pressure or the anxious build up and from all reports it sounded like the course was made for me. Regardless, I knew I still had stiff competition in Jenni King and after having battled her for a jersey on many occasions I knew she wouldn't go down without a fight!
So finally Australia has come to the realization that a Marathon doesn’t have to be 100km. In fact the women's race was 70km, made up of one 10km lap and two 30km laps ascending a total of 2000m. The race started up a 7-minute tar turned fire-trail climb leading into the Flickity Sticks flow trail and Sawtooth descent to the start-finish. The larger laps saw us climbing for an hour on mixed terrain but with plenty of fire-trail, traversing the top for 15-minutes on the Atlas trail, then descending to the finish for over half an hour on some pretty wet and technical trails by XCM standards.
I'd gone over the race tactics in my head. I could either follow for the first lap to sight the descent with the girls who had seen it, or I could forge my own way, attempt to hold a lead on the climb and see the descent for myself, all-be-it cautiously. The only female I considered following down the descent was Jenni King, otherwise I felt I'd still be the fastest down there site unseen. So that was the plan.. follow Jenni.
The start was given for the small field of 13, and I found my way to the front behind an eager Cristy Henderson and in-form Imogen Smith. Cristy seemed to be working hard so after 3-minutes I did a quick glance over the shoulder to see how everyone was tracking and there was no-one on my wheel, just a decimated group behind. I was feeling really comfortable but at the same time not sure if the climb went for 5-minutes or 50-minutes, but to show that I meant business I took the lead anyway and only Imogen could follow. Race plan out the window... lol After just 7-minutes I was surprised to turn off into singletrack and find that we'd already forged 30sec back to the main contenders of Eliza Kwan, Briony Mattocks and previous winner Jenni King.
Usually flowy singletrack is hard to gain time on, but I kept the pressure on by pedaling at every opportunity and holding momentum. I also knew that I was the only rider with a clear trail; everyone else would be attempting to pass one another. I covered the first 10km in 22-minutes with a 50-sec advantage to NZL'er Kim Hurst and just 30-seconds seperating 3rd-9th place. I pushed on for the next 15-minutes up the Axe Head and Long Shadows single-track climbs before eventually hitting the road climb. I settled in, composing myself and finding a rhythm. I had another gel, was drinking religiously and looking back.. a lot. Even on the longer section I never saw anyone and there were no official time gaps at the top of the climb, but Strava tells me that I had 4-minutes on eventual 3rd and 4th place-getters Briony and Eliza.
The climb suited me. It wasn't too steep and it darted in and out of singletrack on occasion. When it flattened out I felt even stronger and aside from two small and silly crashes I was feeling good. I knew I 'should' reach the top about the 1h20min mark and when I saw the 'Altas' signage I was relieved. I assumed the trail that we had climbed all this way for was a pure descent, but it was another 15-minutes of technical single-track before we descended the rooty, wet and dark trails. I was VERY cautious. Duncan Giblin, Tasmanian, time-keeper, photographer, event organiser and all-round nice guy had given me great advice about the surprise 'obstacles' around each corner and about being in a small gear to pedal out of anything I wasn't prepared for. It worked perfectly and I made it down unscathed.
The awesome trails took us all the way to the feed zone transition and 40km into the race. I never knew where I stood or who was chasing because time gaps are impossible to give when you're leading and there's no phone reception, but it was a post-race shock to find out it was already 4-minutes. The descenders had come to the fore on the muddy trails with Jenni moving into second, Eliza and Anna Beck locked together 2-minutes behind, and Imogen and Henderson a further 2-minutes down. Briony had some work to do after the descent, trailing a potential bronze medal by 3-minutes. Unfortunately Kim Hurst and Kelly Bartlett (3rd at the time) were both riding out of their skin but suffered mechanicals and were forced to withdraw on the second lap.
Headed out onto the final lap, knowing the complete course, and realising that there was only 1 hour of climbing to go, I set out to hurt myself and aimed to negative split. I downed my traditional dose of 2 No-Doz tablets to keep me alert, and another caffeine gel for good measure. Sarah Riley passed off a few bottles and I was ready for the worst kind of battle, one against myself! I climbed 10 seconds faster than my first lap, traversed across the top in the same time and descended 2-minutes quicker. I sprinted through singletrack and rode to the top of each crest like it was my last. I dug deep all the way to the finish. I was stoked with my race (although I still felt I could've climbed better on the steeper sections) and after three months without a National Title, I finally have one back. I was getting lonely without the green and gold!
There wasn't the excitement that I expected though. The truth is, I expected to win, and so the only emotion I felt was elation. It sounds a little mundane and ridiculous but I've won nine National Titles now and their importance to me ranks coincidentally on how unlikely a winner I was. I was excited about how fast I rode and took pride in comparing final lap times to the men, and I will ALWAYS be proud to wear the green and gold, but it just wasn't the same feeling I got when I won my first Junior Track Title in 2006, or my Elite Women's Road Title in 2015. The biggest difference was despite not having my family there, or a 'team', or Jarrod (who was aptly replaced by Anthony Shippard), I still had my 'MTB' family to share it with.
I was excited to watch the podium stream in starting with second place Jenni King. This chick is an absolute trooper. Not only did she come into the sport late, but she's been at the top for what seems like forever, and she's always gracious in victory and defeat. Most of you wouldn't know that she rides and races everyday in pain due to an injury sustained in a crash two years ago, and I'm not sure how many more opportunities I'll have to race her again, but I hope one of those is the Commonwealth Games in 2018! She admitted to not having a great day which had her finish an abnormal 12-minutes behind. It was 5-minutes later when the 'real' race rolled in, with the remainder of the podium all within 40-seconds of one another! Briony had made a HUGE move from 7th to 3rd, Eliza finished 4th and Anna 5th. Probably my favourite podium ever!
But no more sappy stories... the clock is ticking.
Just one week until I head to Cairns for the first MTB World Cup and one month until I fly to Europe!
Results: Elite Women
Victorian Enduro Series Round 1
Sunday 20th September - Barjarg, Victoria
I always have intentions of having a long off-season but my 'want' to race outweighs my smarts and I find myself finding reasons why I should race; the reasons why I should race Enduro come easy though. Firstly, it's predominantly downhill so I don't need a great level of fitness. Secondly, it's a super fun weekend and a chance to work on my skills on my beautiful Yeti SB5C. Thirdly, the prize money is tops this year at $5000 cash for every round thanks to Ben Watkins and the Alpine Gravity team! So off I trotted on the 2.5hr drive to Barjarg with swag in tow for a weekend of low-core camping.
This round was structured with shuttles for practice on Saturday and an untimed liaison ride/walk up on the Sunday. There were four runs of varying difficulty from 4-7mins in length, which are added together and the winner is the person with the lowest accumulative time. For this reason practice is pretty crucial, but I left it until the last minute (as per usual) and only got in three runs. I had to prioritise and got lucky with Duncan Murray and Dale Lecluse (big thanks to the boys for babysitting me all weekend) taking me through Stage 1 and 2, before rolling down Stage 3 to re-cap on last years course. Stage 4 would have to wait until race day...
Stage 1 was the first of two 'Enduro' stages, which in short means that there's enough pedaling to make you wish you were fitter. Pushing the big bike is made hard due to the different set-up; the front end is slack and the suspension 160mm, but the way the bike allows me to ride is ridiculous. I can ride rocks drops and gardens that I would never attempt on my cross country bike, stuff it all up and the bike never fails. I got down clean and safe and loved every second of it. Stage 2 was the 'downhill' track and although it sounds gnarly it's just a little steeper and had three rock drops, each one progressively bigger than the last. I was disappointed with this run (sad face). I didn't crash but I missed three of my lines including the first drop, which meant I had to launch it off the third drop that I hadn't tried in practice to make up for it (and save my pride). I went into the half-day 'break' with a 42second lead over Phillipa Rostan after 10mins of racing.
Stage 3 was an 'Enduro' trail so again more pedaling. I remembered the tricky part of the course that weaved around a few large boulders where I crashed last year and tried to come into that sucking in deep breaths and picking my way around the rocks. I still came in too hot though and crashed out. It was a quick remount followed by a second crash, and after bouncing down and around the corner I finally got my second foot clipped in. The rest of the run was super smooth and apart from the disappointment of the crash I think I nailed it. I hadn't seen Stage 4 so I held up the white flag up and rode conservatively. The guys told me the 'Flow Trail' was only a 4min run so I knew I couldn't lose my lead unless I did something stupid. I noticed my body seizing up in the final run, and my feet cramping thanks to the carbon soled cross country shoes I chose to ride. There are so many muscles engaged that I don't normally use so after a long day I was pretty glad when I crossed the line safe and sound with a 1min28sec lead.
It was an awesome weekend on the bike sealed with a handy $1000 novelty cheque! Results can be found here if you scroll to the bottom and if you're up for a good time on new trails, or think you're handy enough to take home a pot of gold, then check out the season calendar that was announced today here. I now have a few more weeks of unstructured training, gym and a full-time gig at the bike shop before returning to racing for the Australian Enduro Championships in Cairns! Whoop!
This round was structured with shuttles for practice on Saturday and an untimed liaison ride/walk up on the Sunday. There were four runs of varying difficulty from 4-7mins in length, which are added together and the winner is the person with the lowest accumulative time. For this reason practice is pretty crucial, but I left it until the last minute (as per usual) and only got in three runs. I had to prioritise and got lucky with Duncan Murray and Dale Lecluse (big thanks to the boys for babysitting me all weekend) taking me through Stage 1 and 2, before rolling down Stage 3 to re-cap on last years course. Stage 4 would have to wait until race day...
Stage 1 was the first of two 'Enduro' stages, which in short means that there's enough pedaling to make you wish you were fitter. Pushing the big bike is made hard due to the different set-up; the front end is slack and the suspension 160mm, but the way the bike allows me to ride is ridiculous. I can ride rocks drops and gardens that I would never attempt on my cross country bike, stuff it all up and the bike never fails. I got down clean and safe and loved every second of it. Stage 2 was the 'downhill' track and although it sounds gnarly it's just a little steeper and had three rock drops, each one progressively bigger than the last. I was disappointed with this run (sad face). I didn't crash but I missed three of my lines including the first drop, which meant I had to launch it off the third drop that I hadn't tried in practice to make up for it (and save my pride). I went into the half-day 'break' with a 42second lead over Phillipa Rostan after 10mins of racing.
Stage 3 was an 'Enduro' trail so again more pedaling. I remembered the tricky part of the course that weaved around a few large boulders where I crashed last year and tried to come into that sucking in deep breaths and picking my way around the rocks. I still came in too hot though and crashed out. It was a quick remount followed by a second crash, and after bouncing down and around the corner I finally got my second foot clipped in. The rest of the run was super smooth and apart from the disappointment of the crash I think I nailed it. I hadn't seen Stage 4 so I held up the white flag up and rode conservatively. The guys told me the 'Flow Trail' was only a 4min run so I knew I couldn't lose my lead unless I did something stupid. I noticed my body seizing up in the final run, and my feet cramping thanks to the carbon soled cross country shoes I chose to ride. There are so many muscles engaged that I don't normally use so after a long day I was pretty glad when I crossed the line safe and sound with a 1min28sec lead.
It was an awesome weekend on the bike sealed with a handy $1000 novelty cheque! Results can be found here if you scroll to the bottom and if you're up for a good time on new trails, or think you're handy enough to take home a pot of gold, then check out the season calendar that was announced today here. I now have a few more weeks of unstructured training, gym and a full-time gig at the bike shop before returning to racing for the Australian Enduro Championships in Cairns! Whoop!
Amy's Gran Fondo and Amy's Wall
Saturday 12-13th September - Lorne, Victoria
Amy's weekend is a special one. It's a chance to honour Amy's memory, celebrate road safety and appreciate the beauty of the Great Ocean Road. Of course it's more than a ride, it's a festival of cycling with the NRS Amy's Otway Tour being incorporated across the weekend. Also part of Saturday's festivities is Amy's Wall presented by Cycling Tips. The short 18 second sprint up the hill isn't to be talked down and after a tight battle I was able to run away with the win (and a $300 novelty cheque) ahead of Bec Locke and Olivia Gollan. For those that don't recognise that name Liv was a National Champion, Olympian and of course a friend of Amy's so it was lovely to see her race up the wall. Also in action in the Men's four up final was Jarrod! A bit of a mechanical failure saw him fall from first to last in the final metres which was very anti-climatic...
For the majority of the 6000 cyclists the Wiggle Gran Fondo is not a race, however it does double as qualification for the Amateur Road World Championships to be held next year in Perth, so not everyone is there to take in the view. As per the UCI regulations we are set off in waves according to age; for Jarrod and I we start in the first wave of 19-34 (until next year when the old man moves up). The waves set off a few minutes apart so although you can see your immediate age group competition it's impossible to know who the overall leader is. For me the overall wasn't even on today's radar. Instead I was looking forward to my first road race in my Wiggle Honda Australian National Champion jersey! With the kit being ALL white I was grateful for the sunshine.
I rode at the front, was coy in the crosswinds and after what seemed forever found myself at Apollo Bay with the leading Men. I was proud to have made it this far but now the real test started; Skenes Creek Climb. In previous editions I've raced the climb in quest for the QOM prize but today I pulled to the side defeated before it even started. People came flooding past including Victoria Veitch; the only other 16-34 female who had made lead bunch along the coast. I'd thought that there might be a possibility to win my age group even in my current state, but seeing her ride away so easily broke my heart a little. Luckily Jarrod was there for motivation! He willed me onto the back of a bunch that had me at my limit, but then in my comfort zone when we hit the long descent. I made up the minute I'd lost plus some and was now the only female in my group. This was only the halfway point at 55k so I certainly wasn't confident...
I sat mid-pack with about 60 men, although only 10 of them were actually swapping turns so naturally I didn't feel obliged to help. A few times I ran into trouble but the bike-bug boys were there to save me. I was in a world of pain. There are two types of pain. A 'fit pain' with lactic acid, muscular pain and a high heart rate- the one I'm used to. Then the 'unfit pain' where you hunger flat easily, your body shuts down and your heart won't beat any faster. I was experiencing the latter one. My brain shut down and the messages being sent to my legs were either delayed or non-existent. I just felt empty. To put it into perspective I looked like Chris Froome. I ran through my six gels and 1.5litres of fluid before the final turn; the landmark for the last 12km climb. I ruined myself over a few rises before the elastic bank snapped and then it was Jarrod's job to babysit me the final 6km. Of course I sprinted him to the finish and miraculously we rode a few minutes quicker than last year! I held on to take out the 19-34 age group and managed to snag the Overall as well. A cheeky $1000 pay day. Brief results here.
Two weeks of torturous racing have hurt me though so I've decided to withdraw from the Kowalski Classic this weekend and start my proper off season! That doesn't mean I'll be on the couch though, instead I'm back on my much loved Yeti SB5 for some Enduro runs in Barjarg. For those that still haven't worked out what 'Enduro' is- we ride a few tame downhill sections and the person with the lowest accumulative time is the winner. This year the Alpine Gravity crew have taken out the shuttles on race day so in true Enduro fashion we have to ride to the top of the mountain for our untimed liaison stages. Full face helmets are compulsory and preferably a little more than 100mm travel! Entry details here.
For the majority of the 6000 cyclists the Wiggle Gran Fondo is not a race, however it does double as qualification for the Amateur Road World Championships to be held next year in Perth, so not everyone is there to take in the view. As per the UCI regulations we are set off in waves according to age; for Jarrod and I we start in the first wave of 19-34 (until next year when the old man moves up). The waves set off a few minutes apart so although you can see your immediate age group competition it's impossible to know who the overall leader is. For me the overall wasn't even on today's radar. Instead I was looking forward to my first road race in my Wiggle Honda Australian National Champion jersey! With the kit being ALL white I was grateful for the sunshine.
I rode at the front, was coy in the crosswinds and after what seemed forever found myself at Apollo Bay with the leading Men. I was proud to have made it this far but now the real test started; Skenes Creek Climb. In previous editions I've raced the climb in quest for the QOM prize but today I pulled to the side defeated before it even started. People came flooding past including Victoria Veitch; the only other 16-34 female who had made lead bunch along the coast. I'd thought that there might be a possibility to win my age group even in my current state, but seeing her ride away so easily broke my heart a little. Luckily Jarrod was there for motivation! He willed me onto the back of a bunch that had me at my limit, but then in my comfort zone when we hit the long descent. I made up the minute I'd lost plus some and was now the only female in my group. This was only the halfway point at 55k so I certainly wasn't confident...
I sat mid-pack with about 60 men, although only 10 of them were actually swapping turns so naturally I didn't feel obliged to help. A few times I ran into trouble but the bike-bug boys were there to save me. I was in a world of pain. There are two types of pain. A 'fit pain' with lactic acid, muscular pain and a high heart rate- the one I'm used to. Then the 'unfit pain' where you hunger flat easily, your body shuts down and your heart won't beat any faster. I was experiencing the latter one. My brain shut down and the messages being sent to my legs were either delayed or non-existent. I just felt empty. To put it into perspective I looked like Chris Froome. I ran through my six gels and 1.5litres of fluid before the final turn; the landmark for the last 12km climb. I ruined myself over a few rises before the elastic bank snapped and then it was Jarrod's job to babysit me the final 6km. Of course I sprinted him to the finish and miraculously we rode a few minutes quicker than last year! I held on to take out the 19-34 age group and managed to snag the Overall as well. A cheeky $1000 pay day. Brief results here.
Two weeks of torturous racing have hurt me though so I've decided to withdraw from the Kowalski Classic this weekend and start my proper off season! That doesn't mean I'll be on the couch though, instead I'm back on my much loved Yeti SB5 for some Enduro runs in Barjarg. For those that still haven't worked out what 'Enduro' is- we ride a few tame downhill sections and the person with the lowest accumulative time is the winner. This year the Alpine Gravity crew have taken out the shuttles on race day so in true Enduro fashion we have to ride to the top of the mountain for our untimed liaison stages. Full face helmets are compulsory and preferably a little more than 100mm travel! Entry details here.
Dwellingup100
Sunday 6th September
As a road rider I have always been fit; long days in the saddle and ten day tours tend to do that to you. It wasn't until I was half way through the Dwellingup100 yesterday that I realised just how much of my 'emergency' endurance base I've lost after undertaking an entire XCO race season. It's not a bad thing when I usually only have to get through 90min of suffering, but when you toe the line prepared for a marathon it's a scary prospect. I was faced with 104kms, 1200m metres of climbing and the famous Western Australian pea gravel!
The race is staged in Dwellingup, just over one hour South of Perth. We were lucky enough to be staying with friends Shane Miller and Von Micich in the city so we were able to drove down in the morning which meant an early start for a jet lagged couple. The weather played a few tricks on us but when we marshaled at the start the sun came out and the clothes came off. With a lot of single-track and minimal climbing the course actually suits me to a tea, so when we rolled out of town in conjunction with the men's field I glued myself to second wheel. Of course this isn't where I belonged, but the guys humoured me and let me have it anyway.
For the first 15 minutes on open roads the bunch was civilised; although it was still quick enough for me to realise that I had forgotten to swap out my front 28 tooth chain ring... rookie error on a somewhat flattish marathon course. But that was all irrelevant when the race blew apart on the first climb and I was VERY quickly distanced first by Jenny Blair and then Karen Hill. Being the competitive person I am I didn't want to miss out on all the fun so I raced along like I was fit and healthy and eventually caught back up with Karen 20 minutes later as we entered a fairly long single track section. She made a small mistake on a tight corner and I raced away on the wheel of a few men and amazingly caught up to Jenny Blair. It was at this time that I knew I had made a mistake. Although I felt amazing at the time and rode with her for about 40 minutes I now realise it must've been due to the slightly descending single track because at the 40km mark it all turned sour!
My legs started to cramp. First my left calf, then my right calf and eventually my left foot. The repetitive jolting on the rough course was causing my left shoulder and wrist to weaken which would be so unbelievably painful later in the race and as it turns out still a problem today. It wasn't long until severe arm pump kicked in and as time wore on, chaffing and pressure from the saddle became quite unbearable. If I sat I was in pain, if I stood my arms gave way, and if I pedaled I cramped. I freewheeled a lot at first but eventually managed to balance it all; when I wasn't cramping I was tethering on the edge of cramping. I punished six gels, one bar and drank 3litres. I was in what we like to call 'survival mode' all be it for three hours...
Meanwhile in the actual bike race Jenny had left me for dead. Soon after I came across Jarrod who was track side with a puncture. He had a Focus Raven shipped over to Perth to replace his stolen bike in Italy and was running tubes. He had been sitting in 6th when he punctured but I'd selfishly taken our spare (we only realised 5 minutes before the race we didn't have two) so he'd been waiting for me for 12 minutes! I handed it over, told him I was cooked and left him. He came flying past me later on and after a short chat decided I was way too slow, as did Karen, and finally Briony Mattocks. At about the 50km mark I came across Jenny who was struggling with a puncture and after a fleeting few words where I told her I was of no help, I rolled out and said I'd see her soon. I did, twice. The first time she was rocketing pass and the next she was withdrawing from the race after her back gave out.
While I was tackling demons the race was heating up. At the 60km mark Karen had a 3 minute lead on Briony with a further 3 minutes back to me. By their own reports Karen was dying and Briony was flying. I was double dying as I watched the minutes turn to hours and the kilometers tick by. Eventually I met the finish line. I wanted to sprint I was so overjoyed and for a minute I thought I might cry. I was lucky to still claim third place in the Elite Women, a lengthy 14 minutes behind the two leaders in Briony Mattocks and Karen Hill who dueled right to the final kilometre finishing just 20 seconds apart! Full results can be found here. (Strava file here). Jarrod had bursts of inspiration and rolled home in 16th, finishing 2nd in the 30-39 behind local and friend Daniel Helm.
So the big question.. did I re-discover my love for MTB'ing? Let's just say I re-discovered the 'adventure' of it...
Next weekend is Amy's Gran Fondo. Entries are open until Wednesday midnight.
The race is staged in Dwellingup, just over one hour South of Perth. We were lucky enough to be staying with friends Shane Miller and Von Micich in the city so we were able to drove down in the morning which meant an early start for a jet lagged couple. The weather played a few tricks on us but when we marshaled at the start the sun came out and the clothes came off. With a lot of single-track and minimal climbing the course actually suits me to a tea, so when we rolled out of town in conjunction with the men's field I glued myself to second wheel. Of course this isn't where I belonged, but the guys humoured me and let me have it anyway.
For the first 15 minutes on open roads the bunch was civilised; although it was still quick enough for me to realise that I had forgotten to swap out my front 28 tooth chain ring... rookie error on a somewhat flattish marathon course. But that was all irrelevant when the race blew apart on the first climb and I was VERY quickly distanced first by Jenny Blair and then Karen Hill. Being the competitive person I am I didn't want to miss out on all the fun so I raced along like I was fit and healthy and eventually caught back up with Karen 20 minutes later as we entered a fairly long single track section. She made a small mistake on a tight corner and I raced away on the wheel of a few men and amazingly caught up to Jenny Blair. It was at this time that I knew I had made a mistake. Although I felt amazing at the time and rode with her for about 40 minutes I now realise it must've been due to the slightly descending single track because at the 40km mark it all turned sour!
My legs started to cramp. First my left calf, then my right calf and eventually my left foot. The repetitive jolting on the rough course was causing my left shoulder and wrist to weaken which would be so unbelievably painful later in the race and as it turns out still a problem today. It wasn't long until severe arm pump kicked in and as time wore on, chaffing and pressure from the saddle became quite unbearable. If I sat I was in pain, if I stood my arms gave way, and if I pedaled I cramped. I freewheeled a lot at first but eventually managed to balance it all; when I wasn't cramping I was tethering on the edge of cramping. I punished six gels, one bar and drank 3litres. I was in what we like to call 'survival mode' all be it for three hours...
Meanwhile in the actual bike race Jenny had left me for dead. Soon after I came across Jarrod who was track side with a puncture. He had a Focus Raven shipped over to Perth to replace his stolen bike in Italy and was running tubes. He had been sitting in 6th when he punctured but I'd selfishly taken our spare (we only realised 5 minutes before the race we didn't have two) so he'd been waiting for me for 12 minutes! I handed it over, told him I was cooked and left him. He came flying past me later on and after a short chat decided I was way too slow, as did Karen, and finally Briony Mattocks. At about the 50km mark I came across Jenny who was struggling with a puncture and after a fleeting few words where I told her I was of no help, I rolled out and said I'd see her soon. I did, twice. The first time she was rocketing pass and the next she was withdrawing from the race after her back gave out.
While I was tackling demons the race was heating up. At the 60km mark Karen had a 3 minute lead on Briony with a further 3 minutes back to me. By their own reports Karen was dying and Briony was flying. I was double dying as I watched the minutes turn to hours and the kilometers tick by. Eventually I met the finish line. I wanted to sprint I was so overjoyed and for a minute I thought I might cry. I was lucky to still claim third place in the Elite Women, a lengthy 14 minutes behind the two leaders in Briony Mattocks and Karen Hill who dueled right to the final kilometre finishing just 20 seconds apart! Full results can be found here. (Strava file here). Jarrod had bursts of inspiration and rolled home in 16th, finishing 2nd in the 30-39 behind local and friend Daniel Helm.
So the big question.. did I re-discover my love for MTB'ing? Let's just say I re-discovered the 'adventure' of it...
Next weekend is Amy's Gran Fondo. Entries are open until Wednesday midnight.
European sign off and summer calendar announced..
Friday 28th August
It’s been a long time since I wrote a ‘blog’ and I think it’s about time to put fingers to the keyboard again.
I’m in Solothurn, Switzerland, which has been our base for most of the year. By ‘our’ I mean me and my partner Jarrod; who doubles over here as my mechanic, driver, manager and souigneur. Although we’ve spent most of our four-month stint overseas hotel hopping, it was nice to have a base to store our belongings and somewhere that we could call ‘home’. And an added bonus was that we were living with the much loved Nathalie Schneitter whose friendship has certainly made the trip worthwhile!
It’s nine days until the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in Andorra, of which I was selected to race. But it’s only four days until I fly home to Australia. The decision to pull out of the World Championships was actually an easy one. Not only would my result be embarrassing (the last six weeks have seen my results plummet to the point where I DNF’d the final World Cup in Val di Sole, Italy), but the two week stint would cost me in excess of $2,500 and I find it unjustifiable to spend that much money on bad memories.
So instead I’ll start my off-season a little earlier than expected and in a slightly different manner. Jarrod and I will only fly home as far as Perth, where we're stopping off for a week to prolong the return to cold weather in Bendigo and to ‘participate’ in the Dwellingup 100; a National Series marathon that Jarrod is yet to tick off the bucket list. It was my return to racing following a back injury two years ago and I really suffered through it (read about it here). I assume this time will be no different after a two-week hiatus from the bici. The purpose of the event is to help me find my love for MTB’ing again after a roller coaster season, so thanks to Tony Tucknott for making it possible!
So on reflection it’s been a long season. I wouldn’t say that I’ve overdone it, or that I’ve raced too much (lord knows I’ve raced a lot more in the past). I just think that perhaps my racing could’ve been blocked better and after ten months the body needs more than a few days rest. The continuous mental strain of preparing for one important race after another has drained me to the point where I have no mental fight left in me and my body is empty.
But looking ahead I’m excited to return home, recover, get back in the gym, and of course get my arse back into ‘Ham Land’ to pack some meat and earn some coin to do it all again next year! I get to escape for a few of my favourite stage races including the Pairs format at Hellfire Cup (thanks to Dunc and Sarah), and of course the Cape to Cape and the Forrest Festival (of which Jarrod is yet to miss a year). So if you’re looking for a few races to add to your bucket list perhaps you can steal an idea or two from my 17 week calendar here!
I’m in Solothurn, Switzerland, which has been our base for most of the year. By ‘our’ I mean me and my partner Jarrod; who doubles over here as my mechanic, driver, manager and souigneur. Although we’ve spent most of our four-month stint overseas hotel hopping, it was nice to have a base to store our belongings and somewhere that we could call ‘home’. And an added bonus was that we were living with the much loved Nathalie Schneitter whose friendship has certainly made the trip worthwhile!
It’s nine days until the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in Andorra, of which I was selected to race. But it’s only four days until I fly home to Australia. The decision to pull out of the World Championships was actually an easy one. Not only would my result be embarrassing (the last six weeks have seen my results plummet to the point where I DNF’d the final World Cup in Val di Sole, Italy), but the two week stint would cost me in excess of $2,500 and I find it unjustifiable to spend that much money on bad memories.
So instead I’ll start my off-season a little earlier than expected and in a slightly different manner. Jarrod and I will only fly home as far as Perth, where we're stopping off for a week to prolong the return to cold weather in Bendigo and to ‘participate’ in the Dwellingup 100; a National Series marathon that Jarrod is yet to tick off the bucket list. It was my return to racing following a back injury two years ago and I really suffered through it (read about it here). I assume this time will be no different after a two-week hiatus from the bici. The purpose of the event is to help me find my love for MTB’ing again after a roller coaster season, so thanks to Tony Tucknott for making it possible!
So on reflection it’s been a long season. I wouldn’t say that I’ve overdone it, or that I’ve raced too much (lord knows I’ve raced a lot more in the past). I just think that perhaps my racing could’ve been blocked better and after ten months the body needs more than a few days rest. The continuous mental strain of preparing for one important race after another has drained me to the point where I have no mental fight left in me and my body is empty.
But looking ahead I’m excited to return home, recover, get back in the gym, and of course get my arse back into ‘Ham Land’ to pack some meat and earn some coin to do it all again next year! I get to escape for a few of my favourite stage races including the Pairs format at Hellfire Cup (thanks to Dunc and Sarah), and of course the Cape to Cape and the Forrest Festival (of which Jarrod is yet to miss a year). So if you’re looking for a few races to add to your bucket list perhaps you can steal an idea or two from my 17 week calendar here!
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