Form Finding

There has been some discussion about form and how to get it/keep it/not lose it amongst some of my mates.

The obvious suggestion was that is has to be earnt. Well, derr! thanks Steven!

But my favourite was from multiple world champ Sue Powell*- Form... comes and goes but you know its there.... lurking somewhere.... just waiting for you to bring it slowly and carefully out of its box. Don't want to scare it away again.

The last couple of weekends I have been coaxing mine back (it has definitely had a long enough break!!). First up was a handicap out in Goulburn. Yes we went that far just to get to a flat race!!!

At times race conditions seemed like this! (Photo from freefoto.com)

Whilst the weather was abysmal, the racing was fun. For the most part my legs were at the party, at least until the 52nd kilometre. From 52km to the end (55km) they'd had enough. I really can't complain about that, there were lots of positive signs there and form was definitely sniffing around!

The skies as we headed back from Goulburn. (Thanks to Eric Li for the photo)

The following weekend was a double header of racing for me with the Capital Winter Sports Festival. A 10km mountain bike time trial on Saturday and then a 50km road race on Sunday.

The MTB course wasn't too technical but I am glad I rode it on the Tuesday before (part of that may have been because I was in the sun and everyone else was at work!!). Not being the greatest mountain biker this race was about racing for training and having fun (and getting Matt on his bike). I can't complain about the result (I was 2nd female) and in fact it was one of the funnest races I have ever done! If you haven't done a mountain bike time trial before, go and do one!
(Bit of extra plugging for the Bilbys Triathlon Club who expertly hosted the event.)

Thanks to the Canberra Cycling Club for the closed road event on Parkes Way on Sunday... is it showing my age if I say I miss the Parkes Way TT course?!! I thought I might have got bored on the 5 x 10km course, but that only happened briefly. The course whilst generally flat was made interesting thanks to the block headwind/cracking tailwind! The bunch set off at a cracking pace and for a fleeting moment I thought my form had been spooked and my race was over before we had done too many laps at all. But then we all settled down and found some rhythm. The last lap was probably the slowest of the day and I think the headwind as we sprinted to the end caught a lot of people out. End result was I was 10th across the line and first female. There were lots of positives after the weekend, but as ever, I am still learning in this sport and there were some mistakes made at the end which have left me with the "what ifs". But, there is always next time!

Most importantly, form is returning and racing is where it is at!

*Sue will be competing at the Para World Champs in Denmark next week. You can follow the action on Sian's (para super coach) blog or at the UCI pages (links on Sian's blog). If you are especially lucky I might pull something together about Sue for here!

Now that winter is over...

Recent state of my blog, sorry about that.

So much has been happening, but so little as well. Shortly after I wrote the post below, I had my wisdom teeth out. The timing of this was perfect- the le Tour was just starting to heat up and I didn't have to try and juggle training with late nights in front of the tv!!

In case you missed it, perhaps you live under a rock and this is the only thing online you read, Cadel Evans finally got to stand on the top step of the Champs Elysees!! And I am pretty sure the whole of the Australian cycling community stood there with him! (and a whole lot of the non-cycling community too!)

Thank you Cadel! I even enjoyed the sound of Tina Arena's voice

Then we got to the end of July and that was the end of my training break. The 3 weeks off the bike were absolutely essential for mental and physical refreshment. The year to date had been up and down in terms of injury and illness and there had been a lot of frustration from a lack of results. This break was perfect for allowing me to regain my focus and motivation; and work out what I really wanted to do on the bike.

Training recommenced at the start of August and I have been loving every minute of it. There has been some local racing and a whole lot of riding happy (thanks LJ). I have some goals and a couple of potential events for spring and summer and for the first time in a while I am enjoying the company of my bikes.

Admittedly training needs to ramp up a bit now, but I think that I am finding the right balance between work, life and bike and that really is the most important place to be!