Podium Practise

Victorian State Track Titles
DISC
19-21 December.

Three days, three events: 10km Scratch Race, Individual Pursuit and 25km Points Race.

Friday: The state titles started very promising with a silver medal in the Elite Women's Scratch Race. Congratulations to Tess Downing who took the gold and whom I couldn't quite get over in our sprint to the line.









Saturday: Whilst the pursuit has been occupying the bulk of my training focus lately, it has been something of a disappointment on race day. I qualified for the bronze medal ride, but was unable to achieve a result. Somewhat frustrating, yes, but not the end of the world.









Sunday: To make up for Saturday's poor showing, I had the Points Race to make things right on Sunday. This was a tough race, made worse by the small bunch putting up a fight when Tess and I, later joined by Chloe McConville, initially refusing to let us catch them! We eventually got there, but it seemed to take forever!! Tess had a clear win going in to the final sprint which I needed to win to claim the silver. Somehow I found something to come over the bunch to take the final sprint and the silver medal! Might have had something to do with my brother, his fiance and my niece along with Matt screaming in the stands and the support in the infield- thanks Pothole, Lyn and Matty :)

So despite Saturday's "failure" (I've told you before I am an over achiever!), it was a pretty successful trip to Melbourne! Full results can be found at Vic Cycling.

Have a very merry Christmas everyone!


















Photos (l to r): Top: Trying to get G'd for the Scratch Race as it got later and later on Friday night- Pothole looking somewhat bored!; Leading the Scratch race; Elite Women Scratch Race Podium (Nicole Whitburn, Tess Downing, myself)
2nd row: Pursuiters everywhere: Alex Carle (4th U19 Women), Myself (4th Elite Women), Matt Miesel-Dennis (Diesel)
Bottom: Points Race Podium (Tess Downing- gold, myself silver, Chloe McConville-bronze couldn't stay); with my niece, CJ.

Playing with fire!

Melbourne Cup on Wheels and Revolution 4
Hisense Arena, Melbourne
Wednesday 17th December

MCOW is the warm up carnival before Revolution at Hisense Arena. And was a good opportunity to get the car legs moving- Matty Meisel-Dennis and I had driven down from Canberra on Tuesday.
Three races in the afternoon session for me- elimination, wheelrace and a scratch race. Knowing that I had tougher races ahead of me in the evening I was probably a little more conservative than I would normally have been. I ended up 4th in both the elimination and scratch race, both times I think as a result of holding back a little, should have given a little more to get a few $ though :) The wheelrace was a bit of a disaster! I am flattered that Peter Tomlinson holds me in such high regard that I got to start of scratch, however with a Malaysian sprinter in front of me with no intention of working together, a big gap to the cover to get to anybody else, plus the front markers close to one another and well organised, Kendelle Hodges and I had nothing and just had to watch the race get away from us! Oh well, you win some, and you don't!

A short break and then it was time to get ready for the evening's fun. Revolution is an entertainment event, it is about putting on a show! And what a show was put on. Apparently there was 5000 spectators! For me and my limited experience, that is huge! The infield was packed with the corporate sponsors having a three course meal at one end and a bar at the other end- not sure that it was the nicest experience for dinner with sweaty smelly bike riders about 1m away dripping sweat as they sat on their rollers! And, with the attraction of seeing Robbie McEwen, Bayden Cooke and Graeme Brown, along with a whole stack of up-and-coming riders, there were a lot of people in the stands as well, in fact the start had to be delayed to get the last of the spectators inside! Needless to say it was a pretty awesome atmosphere!

The elite women's endurance field of about 15 featured Megan Dunn (triple 2008 world junior gold medalist), Belinda Goss, Rochelle Gilmore, Peta Mullens, Tess Downing, Lisa Friend, Jessie McLean, Tiffany Cromwell, Liz Greghouris and me (there were some others, but I don't have the start list). Our two races for the night were both short- 15 lap scratch race and a 30 lap points race (sprints every 5th lap)- and were going to be fast! First up was the scratch race. The start was reasonably routine, everyone rolling through taking their turn, then we got bored and the attacks started. Nothing got away- the race was too short to let anything get away. In the end it came down to a bunch sprint which Megan took out over Tess. Myself, I kind of pedalled out on the last lap and could only manage 8th in the end. Not too unhappy about that though, this was a classy field to be mixing it with.

The points race started around 10pm, just in time for bed!! The pace was still fast as well. The first 2 sprints I was in with the bunch but not far enough towards the front to get any points. Then there was the bit of the race that I was back in the box, I was tired, I was on a bad wheel that I couldn't get around and I was thinking of calling it a night. After a bit of a TTFU conversation with myself, it was decided- I was invited here to race and race I was going to do! Somehow I managed to find some more in me and get on with the bike race! There was 10 laps to go and got back in the main bunch and started following some decent wheels, that made such a difference. Second last sprint, was in a reasonable position to have a go was 5th over the line, damn, not enough for a point! Then we were down to 5 laps to go and the pace stayed on. I managed to time my run at the final sprint pretty well, and just missed out on taking 4th place in that sprint. So whilst I didn't end up with a notable final result, there were a lot of things to take out of this race and a lot of mental toughness developed! Possibly had something to do with racing with flame throwers in the in-field!

We hung around to watch what had been talked up as the event of the night- the men's maddison. And can safely say it didn't disappoint!

This link will take you to the SBS highlights of the MCOW final, won by Josiah Ng of Malaysia. Note the flame throwers in the back-straight :)

Firing on all cylinders requires getting in and out of the box

So after being sick with flu for a week, coughing up a lung everytime I did anything and losing a phenomenal amount of fluid through my sinuses, it was time to get back on the bike. Surprisingly the moto efforts didn't hurt my legs so much as my lungs and after every effort I spent a fair bit of time coughing and spluttering on the grass at BundaDome and hoping that this would go away before I headed to Melbourne.

The Wednesday night crit was more of the same- trying to have a bit of a dig without leaving too much of my lungs on the crit track. Unfortunately for me I missed the break, but Bron Ryan and Bec Henderson from my Onya team were away in it so I was kind of happy to let them go. 6^th at the end of the night and at least one and a half lungs left in my chest! But I was starting to feel a bit healthier on the bike which was a good thing as there was only a week before I hit the boards at Hisense Arena in Melbourne for Revolution 4.

The wind on Saturday made training a non-option at BundaDome due to danger of being flicked off the bike! Which meant back-to-back moto sessions on Sunday and Monday and capped off with the Vikings Monday night ITT. Sunday's session was good, and I was definitely feeling back to full health, which was an awesome feeling. Then Monday's session rolled around and suddenly I was in the box,-at the time it was a pretty big box! The first km of every effort was possibly the worst training I have done in a long time. All I could think was “man this was hard and so better not be a sign of a bad week- surely it could only get better!” I did my best to recover during the day before going out to smash it up at the ITT. By resting I mean, packing all the stuff required to head to Melbourne on Tuesday, and maybe sneaking in a nanna nap!

Before I knew it, it was ITT time and it was blowing a gale! Oh dear, could today get any better! The ITT course is out and back along Uriarra Rd and whilst there are no big hills, it is anything but flat (see profile below- coming soon). As always I was riding fixed gear, and the first 6km was directly into a block headwind that was getting stronger. Yep, day is definitely getting better.. At least it would be a taily on the way back! As expected it was a tough slog out, the wind was getting stronger and at times I was wishing for a derailleur! I caught a few of the people ahead of me before the turn around so that was good for the confidence which the wind had been trying to strip away! Then it was back with the taily which helped me recover a little, though as I approached the last 2kms I was starting to feel the damage that the wind had done on the fixed gear. There were two people left in front of me- Lewis Hopkins who had passed me and was spinning along on his U17 gears and the guy who was first away and I was closing in on him. After passing the front marker, there was a stretch of descent which would have been nice to freewheel down, but instead my legs were spinning at about 130rpm! Kind of fun and kind of hairy! Then over the finish and some heavy braking and back pedalling to try and stop the weapon- always tough on the downhill! In the end, the time was 19'37”, disappointingly a little slower than last time out, but given the box I was in after my morning session and the weather I really can't complain. And it was enough to be fastest female on the day, so no real complaints!

The only way now is out of the box and I am definitely pumped and ready for Revolution. Bring on Wednesday night!!

Sick and it sucks

After managing to dodge the colds and flus of winter, I have come down with one now. It started to hit me Sunday night and has only just started to leave me alone now :( Perhaps the sore throat I had on Saturday morning on the way to the pursuit was a sign of things to come...?

I had hoped to have recovered enough on Wednesday but alas that was not the case. Disappointingly I have withdrawn from Friday's Omnium in Sydney. I think this was the best move given that I have a massive week of racing coming up in Melbourne in two weeks and I want to make sure I am 100% to get back into training on Monday and be ready to hit the boards at DISC flying!

Next on the calendar: local crits and ITTs
17th Dec Revolution round 4 and Melbourne Cup on Wheels
19th-21st Dec Victorian State Titles

Finding my inner pursuiter... I know you are in there!

Alright, I am a little behind with my updates here so bare with me and I'll bring you up to speed.

After getting home from Adelaide somewhat exhausted I went out and posted my first time of the season for the Vikings Monday Night ITT- 19'27" over the undulating 12km course. Not too shabby given my fatigue, but will be aiming to bring that under 19' soon. And on the same day Matt left for his two week work visit to Chile (photo below is the telescope where he will be based).


Wednesday night crits are in full swing and as a bit of a confidence builder I won round 4 (19th Nov) and placed 4th the following week. Here is a link to Greg Long's awesome crit photos. Pretty happy with that really! Wednesdays are usually my heaviest training days so being able to back in the crits is a nice feeling.

Other than that is was bum on saddle and training for NSW Pursuit which was held on Saturday (29th November). Coming into this I was feeling like I was finding some good form and was determined to better the bronze medal I won last year in my first outing in this event. Unfortunately, fate saw things a little differently and 4th was the best I could do.

In a nutshell the day went something like this. I had a good warm up and was mentally well prepared for qualifying. The schedule was set and at first it was looking good, but things started to go pear-shaped at the 2km mark. In the end I missed qualifying for the gold/silver ride by about a second. Bugger.
Mechanic extraordinaire, Reggie, getting the wheels ready

Toireasa Gallagher and I went into the bronze ride with only 100th of a second separating us, so it was going to be close to see who got the medal. Maybe it was Toireasa's experience, my fatigue from being possibly over-geared in the qualifier, whatever, Toireasa got over the line ahead of me. Frustrating, but not as disappointed as I could have been. At the moment, I am determined to ride the time that we have set by the end of the season. I know there is a pursuiter inside, it is just a matter of looking at all the data that we have accumulated and tweaking a few things in training.

The pursuit titles were followed by Clarence St Cup- nothing like a bit of carnival racing to put things right! First up was a keirin... hmm not sure that this will become my next event, but a bit of fun even if I was last over the line! Then a "Miss'n'out" elimination race. The first two laps of this I was kind of sitting in and not doing much, but that was a bit of a dangerous option for me, so the plan changed to dominate on the front. And what a plan that was! As the sprinters fought over not being last over the line behind me I tapped away safely on the front and when the bell went for the last lap picked it up a little more to secure first place. The final two races were the women's wheel race, which I didn't quite have the legs for, and the motorpaced scratch race (think keirin for endurance riders!) finishing in 5th place.


Pothole (coach) and Joel (NSW Scratch Race Bronze medalist), hatching something for later in the evening ;)

Congratulations to Alex Carle for taking silver in the 2km pursuit in her first attempt at the event! And to Joel Stewart for bronze in the NSW Scratch Race.


JW19 2000m pursuit podium: Alex Carle (silver), Megan Dunn (gold), Chloe Geyer (bronze)

Next up- NSW Omnium Titles, Friday 5th December.

Only those who dare to fail miserably can achieve greatly (Robert Kennedy)

Oceania Track Champs
Adelaide SuperDrome
13-15th November

My competitive, over-achiever nature means that I sometimes find it difficult to accept that even though there may not be a result, every time I set out on the bike- either on the boards or the road- it is still a step towards the greater goal. And that is precisely why it has taken a little while to get this post up, I've been trying to find some perspective.

The plan was always for this trip to Adelaide to be about getting amongst the scene, getting time on boards and really more a training exercise than racing for results. So with that in mind, this is how the week panned out.

Thursday 13th: 20km Points Race
This was the last event of the night, and due to crashes earlier in the program we didn't roll away until after 10:30pm!! That is well past bed time for most bike riders so none of us were particularly impressed! The pace was one from the get go and for the first 30 laps it was difficult to tell when the sprint laps actually started we just seemed to be going fast the whole time. About half way through Davina made a move off the front in an attempt to take a lap, initially I had thought I'd try and go with this but was stuck in the middle of the bunch and wasn't able to go. Unfortunately for D this didn't amount to the lap but she did pick up some handy points to put her in 4th at the end of the night. I went off the front with a Kiwi girl with about 15 laps to go. We got about a half lap on the field before they decided that wasn't what should be happening and reeled us back on the sprint lap. The hammer went down for the sprint lap and pretty much stayed down for the last 10 laps. About 4 to go I was spent, had to let the bunch go and call it a night. All things considered, I was pretty happy with how this panned out.

With Davina before the start of the points race

(photo from Davina)

Friday 14th: 10km Scratch Race
Second last race for today's program, but we were away a bit earlier, thankfully! The plan was to race aggressively and see what happened- which seemed to be the plan of everyone else in the race. There was a lot of attacking, chasing and counter attacking but nothing stuck. It was a bunch sprint for the line which I was 10th over. Given my lack of ability to sprint well on the track I was pretty happy with this finish.

Saturday 15th: 3km Individual Pursuit and Women's Omnium
I really should have given a lot more thought to my entries for the final day of competition, I wouldn't advise doing an IP and an omnium on the same day! But rather than think about what could have been, there were a lot of positives from the day (in hindsight :p). I now realise how vitally important a good warm up is for a good pursuit, and how much damage will be done by doing the first 2 laps way way way to fast! I can now say that I have done a flying 200m- I had never done one prior to this one in competition, but hey, you have to start somewhere! Though I never realised they were quite so technical! Reckon I could nail it with a bit of practise though!

Photo with my mum after racing had finished on Saturday night- looking a bit tired!

Despite posting a shocking time for my IP, on the whole I am not too unhappy with my omnium performance, given that I hadn't done a flying 200m or a 500m TT before! I got through it and was 10th overall. Lots of things to improve on but consequently the only way is up from here! I think my overall performance would have been helped if I had had a better scratch race but after the 3km pursuit my legs were a bit cactus and I couldn't hang on for the last 200m of the what turned out to be a 3 lap sprint!

3km IP- looks a bit a lonely out there! (photo thanks to Davina)

Lots of people contributed to this week and I'll try not to forget anyone:

• mum and dad (photo at right) for coming down from Menindee to see me and watch me race
• Tammie Ebert and the NTID program for $ support, chaffeuring and team mum
• The NTID sprint boys- Maddison, Nathan, Boxy and Coops- congrats for your medal haul and thanks for letting me hang out with you
• Hilton and Bob- thanks for your advice and mechanical expertise
• Davina- thanks mate
• Michael Hardy for calling my pursuits and general advice
• Coaches Pothole and Dean- you guys do a great job (one day I'll get it together to make you look good!!)
• Mick and the guys at Onya Belco for everything bike!
• Matt (you know what you do!)
  

Boxy, Madison and Coops lined up for their Keirin final- Maddison (2nd from top) took gold and Coops (bottom of track) got bronze.

Hey, that's me in the paper!

"Barwick's front-running display a winner"

BY CHRIS DUTTON
CYCLING

10/11/2008 1:00:00 AM

While her world-class competitors fell around her, track cyclist Bec Barwick avoided two dangerous crashes to win the 19th Tour de Femme yesterday.

A crucial breakaway 5km into the race proved the difference as Downer resident Barwick beat triathlete Jennifer Dixon in a sprint to the line to claim her first Tour title.

A record 677 competitive and social riders, aged 10-70, jostled for position in the opening stages of the 20km race.

With her more fancied opponents in a group of more than 50 riders, Barwick made a break and challenged her rivals to stay with her.

Dixon was the only one who chased Barwick and managed to stay with the eventual winner until the last 100m.

Barwick finished in 32min 10sec with Dixon two seconds adrift. Just six seconds separated the top eight riders.

''It was an early break and it went and stuck so that was pretty cool,'' Barwick said.

''We had a little... plan... to be aggressive and I went and that's pretty much it.

''The crash was well behind us so we didn't even know it had happened, that's what's nice about being out in front of the field, you stay out of trouble.''

The top four seeded riders became tangled in the chase group minutes away from the finish line at the Canberra Yacht Club.

Two-time winner Chloe Hosking, Australian elite squad member Vicki Whitelaw, third seed Myfanwy Galloway and junior star Rebecca Henderson fell before they could mount a challenge for the lead.

Whitelaw failed to finish while the other three managed to cross the line in the top 20.

''It's unfortunate but there may have been some riders a little inexperienced about riding in packs,'' Hosking said.

''That's cycling, it's the way it goes sometimes.''

It was a change in luck for 28-year-old Barwick who finished 16th in 2006 after being caught in a similar crash.

She normally races on the track in individual pursuit and will compete at the Oceania Track Championships in Adelaide on Wednesday.

Tandem riders Kerry Knowler and Brandie O'Connor were the first to cross the line in 31.53.

They were bewildered when they finished almost two seconds ahead of Paralympian Lindy Hou.

''I don't know what happened,'' Knowler said. ''I think we went so fast because we were scared and didn't want anyone to pass us.''

O'Connor, who is visually impaired, collected her third Tour de Femme but her first with Knowler as the pilot.

llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll lllllllllllllllllllllAT A GLANCE19th Tour de Femme: Tandem: 1 Knowler/O'Connor 31min 53sec, 2 Hodges/Hou 33:47; Individual overall: 1 Bec Barwick 32:10, 2 Jennifer Dixon 32:12, 3 Gracie Elvin 32:16

Suck it up, Princess

Reality Check (RC): Bec, I think we need to have a little chat.
Bec: Oh, yeah, what's up?
RC: I think you are taking this pursuit business a bit too lightly.
Bec: What do you mean, lightly? I have been training pretty hard and doing everything I am meant to be doing. It's all been going pretty well, don't you think?
RC: Yes, but a little too well. I get the feeling that you are forgetting how tough this race is meant to be. You seem to be getting through your training a bit too comfortably for my liking.
Bec: What do you mean? I've been in the box since Wednesday's crit.
RC: Doesn't count. What you do with your pursuit, that is what counts.
Bec: Oh, what are you going to do about it?
RC: Here, catch this?
Bec: What the...? What's this?
RC: That is a shocking time for your trial pursuit.
Bec: That was a bit harsh. Did you have to devo me that much?
RC: You deserved it.
Bec: Oh, are you sure?
RC: Yep.
Bec: Geesh, alright, if you say so.
RC: Actually, it looks like you are getting over that kick in the pants. Take this.
Bec: Man, what'd you knock me off my bike for?
RC: Reinforce my previous message.
Bec: What?!
RC: You can't take this sport for granted.
Bec: Reality, you suck.
RC: I know, aren't I grand?!
Bec: No, I hate you.
RC: You say that now, but you know you need me.
Bec: You know what Reality, I am so going to prove you wrong. I am going to ride the target time whether you like it or not, and I am going to keep loving this pursuit. You can go to hell. I am so much better than you think.
...
...
...
RC: Told you you needed me. ;)

Wagga Wagga Golden Wheel

Saturday & Sunday 1-2 November
Details and results here: Wagga Cycling Club

Track carnivals are loads of fun- generally lots of racing, racing with the boys and some dollars to win as well. It is a pretty laid back atmosphere with everyone out to have a good time and hopefully take home a bit of coin. The 2007 Wagga Wagga Golden Wheel was my first ever track carnival, so it was nice to head back this year, and thankfully the weather was much kinder. Last year Saturday's program had to be cancelled due to wet weather and Sunday's was drastically reduced to fit in some racing for everyone. This year it was all blue skies, despite the BOM forecasting thunderstorms, and then a bit of wind towards the end of Sunday- good times!

My race line up went something like this:
Saturday: 10 lap moto race, 4 lap handicap, 2 lap handicap, 5 lap Golden Wheel heat, 5 lap Golden Wheel final, 15 lap scratch race
Sunday: 8 lap scratch race, 2 lap handicap, 5 lap Rules Club heat, 5 lap Rules Club final, 10 lap scratch race.
NB: a lap around Wagga is ~420m, it is also a flat track.

Results wise- frustratingly I was often 4th or 5th and just out of the dollars for the smaller races, hmm too much pursuit training and not enough sprinting!! Highlights for Saturday: making it into the final of the Golden Wheel for the second year (one of 2 girls in the final, Megan Dunn was the other) and then finishing just behind the boys that won; placing 3rd in the scratch race (I thought I was second but Carly McCoombe was on the bottom of the track and they gave it to her). Highlights for Sunday: making the final of the Rules Club Wheel race and hanging on for 4th place after the train went through! Hence the podium photo! (More photos in the photo album link on the right.)

All up, it was a fun weekend. Made some finals, rode well, won some dollars and had a good time! Looking back at the number of rides I had, no wonder I was a tired bike rider on Sunday night!

Now the focus has shifted somewhat- Oceania Track Championships are next week! And whilst this is not an even that we have targeted specifically for riding target times in the pursuit, it will give me a good opportunity to see where I am at after all this training. Special thanks to Davina for giving me the nudge to go, hope that she is recovering from her broken wrist and is able to ride in Adelaide. I am starting to get a little excited about it!

One of my best friends is...

a bucket.


Another week and just for something different, more training!! There was also a race on Wednesday night, but I already told you about that. For various reasons this week I ended up on the ergo 3 times this week, that is OK, after the time spent together with my broken wrist, the ergo and I are pretty good mates. This week however, we had to introduce someone new to the relationship, enter bucket. I won't go into too much detail, but the sessions this week have all been hard, hard, hard and when the going gets tough, well, things get a bit anaerobic and a bit lactic and a bit messy. So, a bucket is now one of my mates when I am on the ergo, along with my mp3 player.

But, enough of that. It has been a good week of training and it will be much the same for the next few weeks, but there is a fair bit of racing coming up. Most of the events are in the calendar to the right, but here's a preview:
Nov 1-2: Wagga Wagga Golden Wheel Track Carnival
Nov 9: Tour de Femme
Nov 13-16: Oceania Track Championships, Adelaide.

And now for something completely different.

This is a peanut butter and choc-chip biscuit- possibly one of the tastiest post-ride treats. Here's how you make them:

1. Heat oven to 200C
2. Combine 1 cup of brown sugar, 200g crunchy peanut butter, a teaspoon of bicarb soda and a lightly beaten egg.
3. Stir in 250g dark chocolate chips
4. Roll teaspoonful amounts into small balls and place on a baking tray that has been sprayed with a little oil and lined with baking paper
5. Press lightly with fork
6. Cook for 8-10 minutes until golden

7. Cool and enjoy :)

Don't talk to me about the nutritional value (or lack thereof) of these, I said at the start they are a treat!!

Thanks for reading and have a great week :D

Stromlo Ladies Night- Welcome home Vicki Whitelaw!

Women's A grade Criterium
40 minutes + 2 laps
9 ladies on the line, about 9C and blowing a gale!

OK, so first up for the non-cyclists, here is the wikipedia definition which sums it up pretty well:

"A criterium, or crit, is a type of bike race held on a short course (usually less than 5 km), often run on closed-off city centre streets. Race length can be determined by a total time or a number of laps, in which case the number of remaining laps is calculated as the race progresses. Generally the event's duration (commonly one hour) is shorter than that of a traditional road race. However, the average speed and intensity are appreciably higher. The winner is the first rider to cross the finish line without having been "lapped.""

The purpose of Stromlo Ladies Night was to introduce local women to Crit racing on our purpose built track at Stromlo Forest Park. Despite the atrocious weather there were heaps of women out to have a go, which was great to see. This was a great initiative by Vikings Cycling Club, and hopefully we'll see a few more in future.

On to the race report. Being the "premier" grade they saved us until last . Originally we had been scheduled for 40 minutes + 2 laps, but earlier in the week it became apparent that there wasn't going to be the daylight to go that long, so we were down to 30 minutes + 2 laps. At 7pm we rolled down to the start line, only to realise that the the majority of the girls who normally would race A had stayed home, did I mention it was freezing and windy! So with 9 of us on the start line, it was decided that 20 minutes + 2 laps would be more than enough in the conditions- that worked out to 1 lap per person, + the 2 laps at the end!


The race unfolded like this, Vicki attacked, we went with her, Vicki attacked, we went with her... someone else might have attacked, we covered... you get the idea. Then Susie attacked, we covered and Vicki promptly counter-attacked- nice move Vic. So, Vicki took Chloe Hoskings and Bron Ryan with her and I decided to let that one go. Individually, bad move Bec, but Bron is newly recruited to OnyaBikeBelco, so nice team move Bec ;).The rest of the race involved Jessie McLean, Susie and I rolling around together, while Vicki, Chloe and Bron did the work up the road. In the end, Bron did too much on the front, and Chloe rolled them both. Official results:
1. Chloe Hoskings
2. Vicki Whitelaw
3. Bron Ryan
4. Bec Barwick
5. Susie Boer
6. Jessie McLean
7. Myfanwy Galloway
8. Laura Medley
8. Kathleen Miles

Welcome home Vicki and thanks for shaking up our bike race!

The highlight of the night was watching the twins- Jacqui and Alex- in B in only their second crit having no idea what to do (I shouldn't laugh, that was me 12 months ago really) and coming home with a win and third place!

Photos (top to bottom): Contemplating the weather at the start with Laura; Chloe getting the better of Vicki; Jacqui on the way to her first crit win, Alex took third (this photo from Vikings Photo Album).

Smile :)

(I "borrowed" this from the daily webcomic blog Kitten and Snake.)

Made me smile, hope it does the same for you! Have a great day!

Riverina Championships

10km ITT + 42km RR
Wantabadgery (near Wagga Wagga)
Sunny and Hot!


The focus for these 2 races was obviously the ITT with the RR being a bit of a bonus while we were there. The ITT course at Wantabadgery is perfect for me- false flat, being slightly downhill on the way out and then uphill after the turn around. Running fixed, the only concern was the wind, which seemed to be a head wind both ways- not sure what was going on there!

The race itself was pretty straightforward, I was racing in D grade, since there was only 2 women competing it was against the men or nothing and I was 4th away. The main competition for me was actually the U17 boys that were racing. I had a cracker of a start and remember thinking how much fun this was (hmm, did I mention it was hot? :p). I had passed 2 people in front of me within 2km and picked off another one after the turn around. U-bolts on a fixed wheel are a bit of fun and I certainly lost a bit more time than I would have liked at the turn around, but that didn't seem to worry me too much. The SRM output showed that I finished fast up the "hill" and I certainly felt strong despite the wind. Official time for the 10km was 16:09.07min, which gave me first place (and would have had me in the top 8 of the other 3 grades as well!). I had hoped for a 40kph average, but the wind made that a bit ambitious for me today.



Unfortunately I didn't get as long as I would have liked between the ITT and the RR, but that is the fun of double header racing and you take what you get I suppose. There was about 18 started (I think) and the pace initially was pretty sedate, that was OK I needed to ride the ITT out of my legs before the going got going, unfortunately 6km from the start there is one of the steepest, nastiest little pinches I think I have ever encountered in racing, it just kind of went straight up. This is when I realised that my legs really did a bit longer to recover from the ITT, and slowly the bunch got away from me as they approached the top of the pinch, and with a long fast descent on the other side, all I could do was suck it up and chase! So this became my second TT for the day! (of course I could have just turned around and rolled back to the start as I really wasn't going to catch them, but where would the fun be in that!) So chase I did. And I kept chasing slowly picking up other guys who had been spat out, first one and then another 2. A four person paceline is so much more efficient than just me in the wind! As we covered the last 15km our little time trial team had become about 10, a mix of D and C grade. By the final 1km we had spat a few of those out and the final sprint was the 4 of us that had come together after the KOM. After some poor positioning, I really need to learn how to make others come through and take a turn/get off the front!, I ended up 2nd in our little sprint, which worked out to be 7th overall. Not too unhappy about that at all, given the disaster at the start!


All in all it was a good weekend for Onya Bike Belco- my results here, and also at the Scott 24hr Mountain Biking: first in the Male Musketeers (team of 3) and the Mixed Musketeers, fifth Mixed Team of 4. Nice work everyone!

Training, training, training

As the title suggests, that is about all that has been happening on the bike in recent times (and I figure you probably don't need to hear about that, it is not that interesting!). Though I have to say it has been lots of fun for me- seriously! It is a lot of fun being on the bike, and especially fun, and rewarding, to see improvements.

The last couple of weeks has been all about building strength- hill sessions, track sessions and weight sessions- all with the aim of making me stronger and it is such a buzz to see the results (thanks Pothole). I have gotten faster up Stromlo on a bigger gear each week.

Here is the view I get at the end of my SEs on Stromlo. I do like cycling Canberra.

My pursuit efforts on the track have gotten faster on the massive gear I have been pushing around BundaDome, and the power output is approaching the target average of 400W (thanks for the SRM Tammie).



Photos: Canberra's Velodrome- Bundadome, home of brown snakes, speed bumps and grass growing on the surface (!) and with the recent birthday wishes from the locals!

Weights wise, all my strength exercises are using weights exceeding my body weight (thanks Dean). All in all it is looking promising for a good track season-fingers crossed!

A quick update from last post, I have beaten spring! My asthma has settled down and the season didn't get the better of me! Bec 1- Spring 0.

After all of this we figured it was time to go racing. The race this Sunday will be the Riverina Championships at Wantabadgery (near Wagga Wagga)- first up will be a 10km time trial, which I will do on the weapon which has now been converted for track, so I'll be riding fixed!, followed by a 47km scratch race not long after that. Then there is a well earnt recovery week.

In updates off the bike, wedding plans are coming along well- we had meetings with the Minister and the caterers last week and everything appears to be on track there. I had a job interview last Thursday with the Department of Health and fingers crossed they will give me job! And my thesis is progressing, maybe not as fast as it could but surely!

Next up will be a race report and photos from the weekends racing in the spiffy new Onya Bike Belco kit (thanks Mick)!

Spring loves me, Spring loves me not...

Spring loves me:
The days are getting longer so I don't have to have lights on my bike all the time.
It is getting warmer, so I don't have to look like the Michelin man to keep warm on my bike.
It is windy- but for every head wind there is a tailwind at some point of your ride.
The magpies start swooping, but it is warmer, you don't need your lights to get to and from work, and dodging them increases bike handling skills :P

Spring loves me not:
The flowers are starting to bloom and the place starts to look alive again, but this is where it all goes bad for me... The pollen upsets my asthma and makes it difficult for me to ride my bike :(

It has been week of good solid kilometres, and I'm feeling pretty happy with my effort for the week in fact! This was my first solid week back on the bike for base kilometres since the accident, which, incidentally, was 4 months today. Admittedly we are still finding the right balance of work and rest, but on the whole I am feeling pretty good here on Sunday night after a good number of hours training this week.

The problem however has been my asthma. Normally the pollen and dust and the other spring time enemies don't bother my asthma too much at all, but this year is different. Unfortuately on Saturday's ride there wasn't much I could do to overcome it, I'd taken my puffer but there was not much else to do except just keep tapping at my own pace, which was VERY slow, to get over Mt McDonald. It all settled when I got home and out of the pollen-laden wind, but it was still very frustrating nonetheless- it is an odd feeling when your legs want to go but your lungs just can't! Not surprisingly, it happened again today. Hopefully it will pass soon and I can get on with riding my bike, although until then I think I'll have to stock up on anti-histamines as an extra help to my normal meds.

So, spring loves me not, but it is not going to have its way and I am going to beat it into submission! Stay tuned to see how I go with that one, but 'til then, take care :)

A change is... like a holiday!

So it has been a little quiet here in recent time, probably because there has not been much bike action! Lots of other things doing however!

There was a week off the bike, then a couple of weeks with some easy kilometres, which started well and then went a bit pear-shaped and my motivation to get on a bike got up and left me! In a nutshell a bit of "I just couldn't be bothered"! But don't worry, I'm over that bit now!

The change that I needed came in the form of my mountain bike. I really do love the dirt! I am not the greatest mountain biker, I am pretty strong from all my other training, but I am not so good when it gets technical on the way downhill-not that I let that stop me! Anyway, back to the point, after cutting a lap of Sparrow's Hill track (home of the 2009 Mont 24hr MTB event) on Saturday afternoon and a lap of Stromlo on Sunday (home of the World Cup round the weekend before and various other events), I found the drive to get back on the road and get my km's done! So, it is true what they say about a change!!

And, despite there being not much bike action happening recently, there was plenty of things going on around our house. My mum came to visit which was very nice, especially since I hadn't seen her properly since Christmas. Emma also came to visit and ther was lots of wedding organising achieved, including my dress and one for the bridesmaid (Emma) and my mum! In fact most of the big things are organised for that, so I can sit back and relax on my bike!

Now you know why there hasn't been much posted here! Km's start again on Tuesday, which means that track season is getting closer, and I can't wait!!

Until next time, thanks for reading and have a good day :)

Lessons in keeping the bike upright!

Australian Cycling Grand Prix Time Trial, Ballarat, Vic.
Friday 15th August
27.4km loop course with lots of corners
Raining, windy and cold!

I was so excited about this race! I had learnt my lessons from the disaster a couple of weeks ago, had had a pretty stress-free week at work and had been stomping through my training. And, more than anything else I was going to enjoy this race no matter what! OK, that sounds a little nuts, but I don't think there is really any other way to approach a race.

The flight down to Melbourne was good and uneventful, I even managed to get a little more sleep. A slight hiccup with the rental car saw us end up with a Fairlane Ghia in place of the lost Corolla- we weren't complaining, this thing was plush :) . Unfortunately we had miscalculated how long it would take to get from Melbourne to Learmonth, and were a little later arriving than expected. That was OK, Matt and I are approaching "well oiled machine" status when it comes to pre-race prep. There was a downside though, I had a rather truncated warm-up which was not ideal in the bitter conditions.

After a bit of a wobble down the ramp I was away as number 7, somewhere in the middle of the field. The aim today was to stay relaxed and ride as well as I could. Conditions were tough out on the course. It had stopped raining by the time I started, but there was still that horrid drizzle around that covers your glasses and makes it very hard to see. In hindsight I possibly should have made better use of the tail wind in the first part of the course, and I should have been more conservative in my gearing for the hill about 2/3 of the way through, and maybe I could have been more aggressive in the second half of the course, but it is always easy to say that now, and these are definitely things to remember for the next race. Apart from over-gearing on the hill, the toughest part of this race was the wind. The amount of energy I spent trying to hold my bike vertical was unbelievable. Apart from causing me to almost kiss the road a number of times, the wind made it really difficult for me to find a good rhythm to power home, especially when there were 2 or 3 riders within passing distance! I got one of them, but frustratingly couldn't get the next (the other had a technical problem, and had to withdraw).

At the end of the day I was 6th, which, given the last couple of months, I was pretty happy with. Since this was only the 4th competitive time trial I have done I had no expectations going in to this race, the plan was to have a better ride than NSW titles, and that was what I did. From a development perspective there is plenty to improve, and that is enough to keep me looking forward to the next race and get me through training.

Full results and report can be found at cycling news: well done to Bridie on a sensational ride and the other podium finishers, Stephanie and Davina.

Special thanks to the people behind getting me ready for this event (and all the others)- John Forrest (Pothole), coach and Dean Redzic, strength and conditioning coach. You guys do an awesome job and certainly makes my job on race day a bit easier! Thanks :D

Thanks for reading, catch you next time :)

Puncture repaired!

TVCC Uriarra Scratch Race 37.7km with C Grade Men and a few hills...
Sunday 3rd August

After spending the week feeling sorry for myself after the poor race I had in Gosford and then sucking it up and getting on with it, I headed out for a local club race on Sunday. I had very few expectations going into this race- it was going to be hilly and I have done very little work on the road, let alone in the hills in recent times (I'll let you figure out why that would be the case...) I had hoped that there would be some other A grade women out for the race, but knew the odds were in favour of me being the only one. The race director gave me the option of racing with B grade women or with C grade men, knowing I needed some intensity before the GP Crit in Ballarat next weekend I opted for the C grade men.

The race was pretty straight forward. Team Bike Culture had a guy away and controlled the pace- actually kept the pace down to pedestrian. This cracked me so I had a bit o a dig off the front, didn't get away (never thought I would), but at least lifted the pace so B grade women didn't overtake us! Got reminded of how important it is to a) be near the front for a hairpin turn & b) pay attention so as to not get stuck behind a slow wheel if an attack goes!

In the end I stuck with guys until the climb over Condor, just didn't quite have enough to hang on going up hill- no surprise there! But I was able to keep going without going too far backwards from them- a couple of minutes down on the first bunch, but that is OK. On the whole I was pretty happy with how this all went. I got up and over all the hills pretty comfortably and on the whole managed the changes of pace pretty well, which is really what I wanted from today.

I was a little frustrated by the Team Bike Culture approach. It is all well and good to have your team and be organised to race together, but it makes it a little biased if you are the only team there and you number about 1/3 to 1/2 the bunch! I know their argument will be that others should get themselves organised and that is fair enough. Just to my mind seems a little unnecessary to be the only team for a club race with 16 starters! (Alright, that is my rant as the lone female in the bunch!)

After this weekend's efforts- motorpacing on Saturday and a long 115km with a race in the middle on Sunday- I am feeling more confident that what happened last weekend was really just a bad day and there is nothing to be seriously concerned about. One more hard week of training, followed by some recovery and then off to Ballarat to redeem my TT pride and have a stab at this crit!

Thanks for reading and have a great day!

"My legs had a slow leak"

NSW ITT Champs Sunday 27 July

Without question this was the worst race of my life. It has taken me a little while to decide if I would put anything here about it, but figured if I only wrote about the good stuff, the few people that bother to read this might think I am some sort of freak that only ever does well! To give you some perspective and convince you that I am not exaggerating, I was so far behind the other riders Matt was asking the officials if they had heard of any accidents on the course! Oops, it was a bad day!

I am not going to go into details, but there were a lot of things that went unnoticed during the week that contributed and a lot of lessons learnt from the experience of Sunday- so it wasn't a complete waste!

A special mention to Matt, Susie, Dean and Glenn for helping me put it all in perspective and get over it. (The title of this post is courtesy of Glenn when we were briefly dissecting what happened, quite fitting!)

In other news, Matt and I, and a number of people from the lab, attended Rob and Alicia's wedding on Saturday (see photos). The bride looked stunning and Rob scrubbed up pretty well too :P. The ceremony was lovely, held at the Catholic church in Holt, followed by a very fun reception at Old Parliament House. After Sunday's effort, I regret that we couldn't stay longer at the reception, from all accounts it was a blast!

L to R: Rob; Alicia with her Dad; the happy couple; the bridal party- Paula (Rob's sister), Claire (Alicia's sister), Alicia, Fr Michael, Rob, Anthony (Rob's best mate), Sebastian (Alicia's brother).

"Did you two play trains?"

CCC Mini Mike- 52km scratch race, Sunday 20th July

Today was my first road race back. Until today the longest ride I had done on the road was 55km, so I wasn't all that keen to race the 83km Iron Mike. I met up with Narelle to cruise out to the race and on my way to meet here noticed the temperature at the ABC studios- 3C! It was cold! Especially cold compared to Dapto yesterday!

After a bit of "discussion" with the club president about my grading for today- normally I would ride women's A grade, but given I hadn't seen a hill in months I thought it would be better to enter a race that I could finish then start a race knowing I was probably going to pull out.

The Women's B race had about 12 people start and we stayed together until the climb out of Uriarra Crossing. Surprisingly I got out of the crossing pretty comfortably and was feeling pretty good along the false flat. We rolled along at a pretty comfortable speed to where we thought we should be turning around. Gracie (Miesel-Dennis) and I commented that we thought we should have seen the other bunches ahead of us and that it was odd we hadn't. Down into Condor Creek where the turn around should have been and there was no one there! This was the advertised turn around, but obviously wasn't what was actually happening today! The turn around ended up being about 5km further down the road at the end of the sealed road, and, incidentally up another hill! That climb felt pretty good, I found a good rhythm and away I we went, again dropping some more girls.

After the turnaround there was a long descent along road that hadn't seen any sun and it was cold! In fact it was at this point that I realised I hadn't really gotten warm and was wishing for spectators, a la Le Tour, to hand me a newspaper ;) Back along the false flat and we were a group of 5 through the crossing. I was heading towards the box as we began the ascent of the three sisters, but was determined to make it to the finish with Gracie. Over one sister and then the second, that was alright, backed it off a little for the third one and was pleased to be over them; the bunch was down to 4. Gracie had been looking to go off the front as we went over each of the hills, but I didn't have the hill legs. There was one more rise in front of us and the suggestion was made that we could drop the other 2, knowing that it was relatively flat for the final 7 km away we went. We left the other 2 girls with ease and continued to play trains all the way to the finish. My intention had been that the 2 of us dead heat over the line, but I didn't realise that Gracie had run out of gears (U17 restricted) before the line and I ended up about a 1/4 wheel ahead- sorry Gracie!

Oops, I had burgled B grade women, not really my intention, I just wanted to be out racing!

Overall pretty happy with my first race back, and first win in the Onya jersey. My body held up to the ride in the hills pretty well, seems as though I haven't lost too much from being confined to the ergo. My wrist was a little sore and swollen, which had been expected after the conversation with Phil on Friday, but I think in the long term this would have been very good for building the strength up again.

Found Susie hanging around the finish line and decided that I was still cold and it must be time for coffee! Despite opting for the shorter race, I managed over 90km for the day and about 4 hours of ride time. I will sleep very well tonight :)

Timetrialing in the sun

Illawarra Club Time Trial Championships, Saturday 19th July.

It was an early start to the day to make sure we got the obligatory trip to the Farmers Markets done before heading off to Dapto. There was also a quick trip out to Onya Bike Belco to grab some new sunglasses and shop jersey- thanks for opening the shop early Mick! Then the Tardis was packed with everything that I needed for the race along with Matt's parents who were coming along to watch.

Matt's mum and dad, Alan & Sandra- up there amongst my top supporters!

The 2 and a bit hour drive ended up with a temperature change of about 10 degrees- I still can't believe how much warmer it was on the coast compared to Canberra. I had packed all my longs and my wind vest and ended up racing in just my skinsuit! The trip took a little longer than anticipated so it was a bit of a rushed warm up and prep, but it was alright in the end.

Right: They're nice sunglasses! Thanks for the Serfas Miradors Mick, they're awesome!

It was about 26min after the first rider went off that I was away- the long course riders had headed off first for their 2 laps and I was about the 5th last away.

There was a cracking tail wind to get us going for the first 5km, which helped make up for the shortened warm up. At 4.5 km the course took a sharp right and headed along for another 4.5 km, but with a bit of a head-crosswind and a bit more undulating. Just after the bend a guy who, from his number, should have started about 1 min after me, came past- where did he come from?!! I kept with him pretty much until the turn around atop of a little steep bump then had to recover a little and away he went. The return along that stretch of road had a bit of tail-crosswind so a good chance to get some recovery and my legs were feeling pretty good despite the undulations. It was along this stretch that the guy from 30sec in front of me, whom I had caught on the way out, started to hang around and annoy me! He was obviously stronger on the hills, but I was getting away the rest of the time. Was a bit distracting but also helped to drive me as I was not going to let him pass me and get away! Back through the left hand turn and onto the final 5km. Whilst I think this was overall downhill, the same cracking tailwind from the way out was now a block headwind to the finish line. I was still feeling pretty good and managed to stay focussed on keeping in front of this guy hanging around my rear wheel! Despite my best efforts the wind pulled my average speed d0wn- I as aiming for 40kph but had to settle for 39kph in the end, must have been Susie's wheels that made the difference there! The final 100m to the finish line involved an all out sprint from me to ensure that this guy who had been hanging around from getting over me at the end (yes I know I had already beat him, but there were people there to watch me and you have to look good for them!!).

I told you, you are not going over the line in front of me!!

Above left: Only 29mins to go!

I think I can safely say that I had nothing left at the end of this race so I had timed it all well and all in all I was pretty happy with how it all panned out. The bike ran like an absolute treat, except for the bars moving due to the very very rough road! In the end I was about 5th fastest overall from a mainly male field, and I was happy!

This morning's process was reversed and the Tardis got us home in time for Ana's graduation party.

Four days, and counting!

That's how long until my first race back, and I am a little excited! It will be my first race on the "weapon" and will hopefully make the last 7 weeks spent training on the ergo in the shed worth it!

I took the new bike out on the weekend to check the set up and make sure everything was all set for racing on. And, with only one slight mechanical issue requiring minor adjustment to the rear derailleur, it was perfect. Not only does this bike look fast, it goes fast! It was such a great feeling to a) not just be out of the shed on a bike but b) to be on a bike that just felt like it wanted to go fast! Seriously, I cannot wait to race this bike on the weekend.

Am also pleased to report that I wasn't as apprehensive about being out on the road as I thought I may have been. To bring some of you up to speed... about 2 months ago I was hit by a car while out training on my bike (car failed to give way to me on a roundabout). On the whole I was pretty much OK, except I had broken my left wrist in about 7 places in both the ulna and the radius. Other than that, some minor lacerations and a lot of bruising to my lower body. I spent 3.5 days in hospital- 2 days waiting for surgery and then recovering. The open reduction, internal fixation, where they put a metal plate and 7 screws in, took 4.5 hours. They had originally thought it was going to be about 1.5 hours of surgery but it was much worse than anticipated when they opened it up. The image on the left is a scan of the X-ray taken post-op.


After that there was a lot of frustration as I struggled to get things done with one hand! In the end I was in a cast for 4 weeks and a splint for 2. Once the splint went on, physio started to get the movement back in the joint which had pretty much seized up. I had about 2.5 weeks off training and then started to smash it up on the ergo 5 days a week and in the gym the other 2 days. The splint has been off for almost 3 weeks and the range of motion in my wrist has improved dramatically, to the point where I was allowed to get back on the bike a week earlier than anticipated. I still don't have complete movement in my wrist, but it is getting better and I am starting to be able to bear weight with my left hand again. It also stands up to being on the bike pretty well, so long as I steer clear of the big bumps!
The image on the right is the 3 inch scar on my left arm that makes me look like a bit of an emo! There were 12 stitches along there after the plate had been put in.



That's all for now. Next time should be a race report!!

Take care and have a great day ;)