And then what happened?

Victorian Road Champs
NTID TT Camp
16th - 18th August 2009

As you have probably heard, Sunday's RR at Portarlington was cancelled due to dangerous weather. It really was quite horrendous, I have never seen winds like it! Trees were having trouble staying upright, so I am not sure how cyclists were going to stay perpendicular to the ground!!
(Taken from Noire Edition 37, see them at: Noire- a webcomic)

Thus, Sunday was an unexpected recovery day.

Monday: we headed to Ballarat to have a look over the Nationals TT and RR courses. This is the year that I am going to front up to for the National TT, glad I saw that hill at the start so I know what I am getting myself in for though! It is brutal! If I can manage that I think I will be able to manage a ride that I will be happy with :) Being realistic, I won't be riding the RR so I didn't take too much notice of the course, although it also has "the hill" and a speedy descent!

Tuesday: testing time at CycleEdge, one 2 minute effort and one 10 minute effort. Having never done these before, I wasn't sure what to expect. The 2 minute one was alright, I was pretty happy with the power output for that one and yes I did need the bucket, thanks for asking. The 10 minute one I was disappointed with, I really struggled to find a gear that gave me a suitable cadence, as a consequence my power outputs was all over the shop and my average was way down on what I normally put out- boo.

Wednesday: official start to my break! Woohoo! Don't get me wrong, I love my bike, but I need a break both mentally and physically. However, don't think I'll be sitting around doing nothing, I have two other bikes that need to be ridden, starting with RAW Track on Friday night, followed up with some mountain biking over the weekend!

Be sure to come back soon for some bike reviews-I have new road and track bikes to tell y0u about!

Thanks for reading, and enjoy your bike- the weather is getting warmer out there so you have no excuse.

It is all fun and games, until someone loses an eye

Victorian Crit Champs
Saturday 15th Sugust 2009
Geelong Botanic Gardens Course
Warmish, little bit breezy.
15 laps of 2.3km oval, sprints every second lap from lap 13-3.

Fast and furious was the order of the race today. The course wasn't technical, you just needed to be careful of the odd hole and the bitumen cutting away to the grass/dirt. There was also a slight rise on the opposite side to the start finish line which had the effect of bringing the speed of the bunch back under control, unfortunately it wasn't enough for anyone to actually get away on.

Nothing got away today. Many tried, including myself, but there wasn't a break to be had for love nor money. It was clear very early on that it was going to come down to a bunch sprint. Also clear from early in the race was that there were a number of nervous bike riders in the bunch, and that combined with speed can be a dangerous combination. The hint of what lay a head was in the couple of adventures I, and several others, went on off the sealed road in acts of self preservation.

Coming into the final sprint, everyone was getting themselves sorted out for the finish and all of a sudden there was that dreadful noise of carbon meeting bitumen. Unfortunately it wasn't one or two bikes, it was about 30% of the bunch that was hitting the ground. I was positioned on the other side of the road to where things happened, yet still needed a brief detour on the grass to not get caught up in things. With all the commotion, I hesitated a little, my initial reaction was that the bike race was over and that sprinting would be a bit hollow. I don't think I was alone in that thought. I did get over my hesitation, though it was a little late, to finish 8th. Given the circumstances, I am somewhat ambivalent about this.

Jenny Macpherson was first over the line, ahead of Peta Mullens and Davina Summers.

The damage to the girls with the NTID group for the weekend included- broken collarbone (Bec Halliday), serious grazing, abrasions and bruises (Sarah Roy), black eye and soft tissue damage (Bron Ryan), and some bruising (Laura Luxford). I believe that there was another broken collar bone and some other injuries. Heal well and swiftly girls.

Who left that there?!

Victorian State TT Champs
Gnawarre to Ceres (outskirts of Geelong)
Friday 14th August 2009
Bit of wind, not warm, but not cold.

Flying in to Geelong on Thursday there was time to get a look at the course before we raced over it on Friday. After seeing the 28 km at about 70% of race pace, I was really looking forward to racing it, although a bit apprehensive about the final 1 km, which was considerably vertical! The first 27 km was going to suit me really well, power climbs, fast descents and some flat bits for charging along!

Friday went to plan with my warm and pre-race preps. Oh, except for needing to get Mick to go back and get my license which I had left in the cabin, oops.

The course went out from Gnawarre for 8km then turned and came back past the start and kept going for another 12 km. As I came back past the start, I was feeling incredibly good, much the same as I had at Calga a few weeks ago. The roads were straight most of the time and you had a good view of who was coming after you had turned and who was ahead. After I had turned I saw Kathy Watt bearing down on Suz Alway- Suz was 2 minutes behind me, Kathy 1 min behind her. Suddenly, along with the other aims of the day, I added the goal of not letting Kathy catch me (and hopefully to finish ahead of her!).

As I passed the start line I was starting to make ground on my one minute marker. It took a little while, but I reeled her in and was still feeling incredibly strong. Down the fast descent I snuck a peek at my SRM, only to see my speed creeping over my previous fastest of speed of 72kph- 76 kph was the max speed for the day, adrenaline anyone?!

Past the 5 km marker I was still riding the race plan and feeling good. Same thing at 3km. Then about 2km, the course started to kick up, that was OK. Then at about 1km it just kept dragging. Suddenly my speed was washing away and I was losing time. The encouragement of the kids at the local primary school had a massive impact on my dragging myself to the top. (OK, maybe it wasn't that bad, but it certainly felt it!) As I crested the hill, I found myself a sprinting gear and made for the finish line quick smart. Sian tells me the disk appeared to be working hard as I took the corner for the finish, and we all know appearance is everything!!

In the end I stopped the clock at 43:55.06, 7th place. I also achieved my impromptu target of not getting caught by Kathy, and I finished in front of her (just!). 96% of the race had gone to plan, damn that 4% for raining on my parade!

SA rocket, Carly Light, continued her awesome form, smashing the field with 41:27.55, Louise Kerr took silver (42:30.20), fellow Canberran Bron Ryan took the bronze (42:54.94) and Sarah Roy was 4th (43:09.09).

One day I will be a better hill climber, until then, sheer power will just have to do!!

A few things I like

So, the last couple of weeks have been all about training and making sure I am as ready as can be for the next NRS round in Geelong (August 14-16). Instead of telling you about how "life is a highway" (yes there has been endless highway kms), and how much fun it is to beat the postie up a hill, here are three things that make these kms bearable. (By the way, these are in no way "cash for comment" items, just things I like.)

1) Elmore Oil. Made in Bendigo, Victoria (Australia), this is my favourite oil for self massage. Pharmacologically I am not sure how the tea tree, eucalyptus and olive oils actually combine to relax tense muscles and even if it is just a placebo effect, it works for me! www.elmoreoil.com.au for more details, don't be out off by the arthritis pain relief, though I am sure it is excellent for that as well, this stuff is gold. Although, it is not quite a complete substitute for Phil, my masseur at Canberra Massage...

2) Bellweather Windstorm gloves. Technically these are mountain biking gloves, however, when it is below zero here I don't really care as long as my fingers are warm. These were an awesome recommendation from Bobby at OnyaBike Belco, and I haven't been disappointed. In fact, rather than find my hands too cold, I actually had to take them off on my way to work one morning as my hands were too warm! And, yes they have a toweling bit for wiping your nose in the cold too! My only complaint is that they can be a little cumbersome when it comes to getting things out of your pockets or unwrapping your food- hot tip, be prepared! And to top it off, they are inexpensive too, RRP $40.

3) My fixxie. The perfect recovery bike for me- enforced small gear all day and no free wheeling! No it is not one of these new fashionable fixxies that has been blinged out, it is a geared bike that has had some corrective surgery to fix it. To be honest, it is the ugliest bike on the road, but so ugly it is HOT! (If it wasn't so cold outside, I'd go and take a photo for you!!) I really do enjoy riding this bike, reminds me of track, and I can feel the benefits of continual spinning that transfer across to the rest of my riding.

Just thought I'd share a few hot tips and mix things up a bit :)

Take care and thanks for reading.