Everyone always talks about the post-race comedown. I wonder if the better the race, the harder the comedown. I experienced a pretty epic comedown this week. From sky high this time last week, to wanting to quit by Thursday. I'll admit that I can be a little melodramatic at times(!), but that doesn't really change how I was feeling on Thursday. A few things contributed to the crash, which are irrelevant for the purposes of this blog post, but I can honestly say that I spent some good quality time on Thursday thinking about what on earth I wanted out of cycling, and if this was the best I could ever be, maybe I should refocus my priorities and get back to the reality of my non-cycling life.
But I let Brad talk me into coming along for the Norman (the Friday morning Vikings ride for those not in the known) and I had a lot of fun. Nothing much to write about, other than the fact that it was a really fun ride with some really top people, which just put me in a much better mood / frame of mind re cycling. And as I'd already entered the Eurobodalla interclub (which comprised a 50km handicap race on the Saturday and a criterium on the Sunday) I headed down the coast on Saturday morning for a weekend of coast fun, with a bit of bike racing interspersed.
Even though I knew I was going to race at the interclub, I somehow thought it was going to be a nice gentle race down the coast (mixed up with sun, fun and beach-time relaxation with the crew and my family). I know "race" and "gentle" are pretty much mutually exclusive, but in my head I think I had taken a break from racing last Sunday somewhere towards the top of Mt Hotham. So no one was more surprised than me to find that I'd been put in a pretty harsh handicap (known as Block or Chopping Block). I thought all the girls would have been put in the same group, but somehow I found myself the only girl in a group of super fit boys in the second last group away, 20 minutes behind the first group to leave (and 5 minutes behind Brad, Dees and Rob, who I usually train with and are much the same speed as me).
I didn't whinge to the race organisers about my handicap, but I certainly whinged to everyone else I knew (sorry team!). But I was strangely complimented by the fact that the organisers had bothered to look up the results of Bright and think it was worthy of a hard handicapping, which somehow appeased part of my post-Bright comedown issues. That said, I was worried that I was way out of my depth, so I decided that my goal was basically to stay with the group as long as possible, and if I felt OK, to try and do some work with the group. As with all handicaps a further goal was not to get caught by the bunch starting after mine (which was Scratch (the last bunch starting for those not familiar with the terms) and was made up of the Suzuki and Ollo Industries boys and even a Jayco rider or two!).
As we were waiting at the start line, we started to witness the generous handicaps to the earlier groups - there were groups over halfway through their first lap (the course comprised 3 laps of a relatively hilly 17km course) before we'd even started. But then we were off. And gee we were off! The boys hit it very hard from the start, averaging 42kph for the first 5km. My heartrate spiked pretty early because of this and I really started to feel the pace during the second and third 5km sections. I pulled some turns with the boys for the first 10km, but had to sit back for the third 5kms as I was in a world of pain and doing everything I could to hold the wheel in front and get enough oxygen in to keep upright. An added complication of the course was the various hot-dog turns. As noted in previous posts, I'm a bit challenged when it comes to u-turns, and I ended up taking each turn very wide, which meant I lost a lot of places and had to accelerate hard out of each turn around to catch back on again, which really saps your energy. Lesson learnt for me re the importance of practising hot-dog turns now as I don't really want to have to go through that everytime I need to turn a bike around in a race again in the future.
As the race progressed, it became obvious that we'd gone out too hard too early, and there were limited riders in our group that had the fitness to keep working at the pace that had been set. There was one rider in the bunch that took on the "bunch captain" role, and did his best to keep it under control, but I think the bunch generally didn't have the skill / fitness to ride the way he intended so we weren't working together as well as we should have. I did a fair bit of work for the group on the front (probably more than was expected from me being the only girl in the group), but I found it hard to control the pace on the front as I'd end up surging a bit (and was tapped on the bum by the bunch captain and unequivocally told this mid-race!). I think this was lack of experience from me (it was only my third handicap), but also lack of confidence in my speed: I was so convinced that I was the slowest rider in the group that I honestly thought I'd have to keep pushing the pace even when rolling the lead just to keep the pace steady. I'll try to chill a bit in that regard in future. :-)
We started to pick up some riders that had dropped off earlier bunches, and while we were closing on the bunch that started 5 minutes before us, we never really got close to them. At about the 47km mark, we saw the bunch in front coming back the other way and knew it was game over. A few of us in our group sat up for a bit at that point and recovered to the last turn around, before getting back to business of getting the race over and done with as quickly as possible. I was pretty pleased to get to the finish line and hear that Brad had claimed 2nd overall, and Dees 2nd female, just less than a minute before my bunch. Top work VCC!!
As for me, I was pretty stoked that I'd managed to hold onto my bunch for the whole race. Average speed was 36.5kph for 52km with 605m elevation and I sure worked for it. Strangely my legs didn't hurt after the race, but my pectorals sure did for gripping onto my drops for dear life for nearly an hour and a half and not wanting to let go of the wheel in front of me. Who would have thought you could get such a good upper body workout from cycling. :-)
The next part of the interclub was the crit this morning. The organisers ran separate women's and men's grades, which was great, but the turnout from the ladies was a little disappointing, with approx 7 riders in WB and only 5 in WA. I quite enjoyed watching the WB crit, which kicked the morning off. Tegan, Ches and Ange put on an excellent demonstration of Valkyrie / Siren domination (Tegs took out the win) and it was awesome to see how far they've all come since the start of the Valkyries not so long ago. Nice work ladies!
My own crit was rather uneventful: I spent a fair bit of time on the front for the first part of the race, testing my legs and the girls in my grade. I could tell which girls would be my biggest threats from the first lap and knew my best tactic was to go for a breakaway as I didn't think I'd be able to outsprint them. I put in a few little sprints out of the only corner on the course to see how they'd react, and decided that my tactic would be to try and go clear when I saw 2 laps to go. Stupidly, I jumped when I saw the sign saying 3 laps to go, not 2. But I got a good gap on the girls, and while I wasn't increasing my lead over the first 1.5 laps of the 3 laps to go, I was keeping them at the same distance so thought I might just get away with it. The only problem was that I had to slow down significantly with 1.5 laps to go as a truck was reversing into a driveway (the crit was held in the industrial estate in Moruya). I slammed the brakes on, and weaved around the front of the truck, but my advantage over the other girls was significantly whittled away because of that. And I still had a lap and a half to go! I dug deep (so deep in fact that I hit a new max heartrate!) and managed to hold on for the remaining lap and a half to claim 1st place. Phew! I was quite pleased given that I don't usually like a crit.
So somehow I've gone from sky high last weekend to bottoming out on Thursday to re-inspired for more racing this weekend. I'm really glad I got back on the racing horse (even if it was somewhat harder than I really wanted) this weekend as I've tapped back into my enthusiasm / love for the bike / love for racing in general. I'm still not quite sure what I'll target next race-wise, but I know that whatever I end up targeting, I'll have a great group of friends to train and race with. And that's (more than) half the fun. Thanks team!
Showing posts with label race report. Show all posts
Showing posts with label race report. Show all posts
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Monday, December 5, 2011
Tour of Bright: Mission Accomplished
Stage 1: The Gaps Loop
Stage 1 was a 91km ride, which was over generally flat-undulating terrain, but marked with a Category 2 climb halfway through the ride, and then an uphill Category 1 climb to finish the stage. There were also 2 sprints during the course: one at the 10km mark and the other at the 77km mark.
My goal for Stage 1 was to basically win the Queen of the Mountains (QOMs) points, but also try and put some time on the other girls to get a time advantage going into the subsequent stages. Deciana was also going for the sprint points for this stage. I wasn't sure quite what I was supposed to do to assist Dees in this regard (knowing the theory that I should have tried to save my legs for the hills), but upon advice from Jason Mahoney (the Uber Coach) we agreed that I should give Dees a lead out for the sprints as it meant that I could not only dictate the pace, but also stay up the front and therefore out of trouble in case someone came down during the sprint.
So anyway, we rolled out of Bright at 7:35am, 10 minutes after Women's A grade. It was quite a cool morning, and given my (and Dees'!) tendency towards disorganisation, we started the Stage at the back of the bunch. I stayed at the back for 5-6km as we rolled through town at a gentle pace in perfect 2 x 2 bunch formation. The only problem with that was that I was freezing! I ended up moving to the front of the bunch at about the 6.5km mark to try and pick the speed up a bit not only in anticipation of the sprint, but also to try and keep warm! Over the next few kms I wound the pace up, and ended up stringing the bunch out behind me. I checked over my shoulder on a few occasions and could see Deciana sitting comfortably in third wheel, so kept the pace up thinking we weren't far out from the sprint.
The only problem was that the sprint was actually at the 12km mark rather than the 10km mark, so I was feeling a little wearier than intended by the time we finally saw the sign noting that the sprint was 500m ahead. With about 300m to go, one of the girls jumped and another 4 attempted to respond to the jump to fight out for the sprint. Deciana responded really well and was coming through solidly and looked as if she was going to win the sprint, but ran out of room and ended up coming 2nd in the sprint by less than 5cm. It was super impressive to see her power and sustained acceleration coming up to that sprint!
Just after the sprint we took a right hand turn towards Rosewhite Gap (the Category 2 climb of the Stage) and it was clear that no one really wanted to sit on the front along that section. I was still trying to recover from my previous 5-6km on the front so sat back in the bunch, but it was clear some of the girls were pushing forward in the bunch, which meant I was further back in the bunch than I really wanted to be. So I pushed forward again and took another big turn on the front with Dees on my wheel, and then she took a turn to give me a bit of a break before we hit the hill (she and I ended up spending about 90% of Stage 1 on the front!). Dees continued on the front for the first part of the climb up Rosewhite and then I went around her so she could sit on my wheel and we could try and keep the pace moderate for as long as possible (thereby making sure Dees would have as best chance as possible to be with the group for the next sprint point, which was in between the two climbs for the day).
Unfortunately one of the girls touched wheels as we were climbing up Rosewhite Gap and came down, knocking another girl down with her. I was relieved to have been sitting comfortably on the front of the bunch at this point! Fortunately the girls that came down were ok and ended up finishing the Stage.
After a few kms, some of the other girls started pushing forward (there were only approx 5 girls left in the group at this point), which I took to mean that the QOM wasn't far off. I sat in for a little bit watching the girls, but then started to feel a little boxed in so moved out around the group and accelerated up the hill. I kept a solid pace for a few pedal strokes, and looked around to see a few of the girls try to come with me but it was clear they didn't have the legs (I was very appreciative of all of those Red Hill sprints Jason had made me do at that point!). I crested the QOM line with probably about 20 metres gap on the other girls, which certainly filled me with confidence. I took the descent very easily to give myself an opportunity to recover and also to enable Deciana to chase back onto the group before the next sprint. Sure enough, just before we hit the flat section again at the bottom of Rosewhite Gap, Dees went sailing past me so I grabbed her wheel and we were away again.
Once we'd regrouped at the bottom of the hill I had a quick look around and it seemed that we were down to 10 riders. I sat on the back of the group for a bit recovering a little more, but then moved back to the front to share the work on the front with Dees. We knew that the next sprint was at about the 77km mark, so we rotated the lead until about the 73km mark, where we agreed that she would sit in and I would gradually wind the pace up for the sprint. Unfortunately the sprint wasn't at the 77km mark though - it was at the 80km mark, which meant I had a pretty solid and long lead out for the sprint! We caught the WA bunch just before the town of Tawonga and had to slow up a fair bit while the lead cars sorted out whether we were to pass them or not (they were clearly just out for a dawdle before hitting the hills). The instruction came for us to pass WA, and I must say it was kind of cool passing their bunch and having all of these super fit and pro women giving us a cheer as we went by.
Finally we hit Tawonga and we could see the sprint line up ahead. Dees jumped pretty early, but I think that actually worked in her advantage as she has a deadly long sprint on her while the other sprint contender had a quicker but shorter sprint. It was awesome to watch from behind, and none of the rest of the bunch could see who was ahead at any time it was that close. Turns out Dees got it by about the same margin she'd come 2nd in the first sprint: 5cm. Go D-train!! Super impressive.
And then for some more recovery as we headed towards the feed zone before starting the final climb of the day up Tawonga Gap. The WA bunch passed us again just before the feed zone as we were recovering from the sprint, which was a little chaotic as I'm pretty sure they didn't wait for their lead car to give them the all clear before passing us. Oops!
Just after the feed zone we took a right hand turn to start the climb up Tawonga Gap. It didn't take long after we hit the climb for the group to start shedding riders. I sat at the back for the start of this climb, happy for the other girls to dictate the pace to give myself a little more time to recover from my long lead-out before the sprint. Just before we hit some windey sections with a few hairpin bends in them, we had a very near miss with a touch of wheels and a girl nearly coming down on top of me. I decided at that point that I didn't want to sit at the back anymore. So I moved around the group and picked the pace up slightly, just as the gradient also picked up a fair bit (going from approx 8% to 13-14% in the corner). I cleared the corner and looked back to the group and saw that I already had 50m or so on the other girls and that they were struggling to respond. I hadn't intended to go clear of the group at that stage, but decided not to waste my advantage and kept going. And then the Commissaire moved in behind me after the next corner, which I took to be a sign that I had a pretty decent gap on the other girls.
I kept plugging away at the hill feeling really good. I didn't know exactly how far I had to go on the climb, so I tried to keep working hard, but not too hard, in case one of the other girls caught up and I needed to be able to respond. But then I went past a sign saying 1km to the QOM, and then the Commissaire drove up beside me radioing in that I was coming up towards the finish (she was such a lovely commissaire - lots of encouragement after she'd finished radioing). It wasn't long until there were people lining the road towards the summit and the cheering started and gee that buoyed me on. Seeing Jason M cheering with a big smile on his face was a good feeling too: I knew he believed that I'd do well at Bright and it was nice to be living up to his expectations.
I ended up crossing the finish line 1:09 ahead of the other girls - a very welcome advantage going into the final 2 stages.
Stage 2: Time Trial
My only goal for the time trial was not to lose much, if any, of the time advantage I'd gained from Stage 1. The time trial course was an undulating 15.7km out and back course. It was really windy by the time the time trial was on in the afternoon, and it looked like it was going to be a tailwind for most of the way out (which was slightly more uphill), and then headwind the whole way back.
Deciana and I did a bit of a warm-up, which unfortunately was a bit too much of a warm-up as we nearly missed our starts! Oops! Dees literally rolled straight to the top of the ramp and off when we finally arrived at the start point.
There were two challenging parts of the TT course for me: the held start and then rolling down the TT ramp (I'd only done 2 held starts previously and never on a ramp!), and then the turn around point as I'm really not renowned for my ability to do a hot dog turn (ie, a u-turn) on a bike. I've been told I looked pretty apprehensive waiting at the top of the ramp for my start and I think the person who said that was being polite. I was so relieved when I made it down the ramp that I actually gave myself a cheer, and then got focused on time trialling.
To be honest, there's not much to write about for the time trial as the goal is just to go as fast as you can. And that's exactly what I did. It didn't take long until I started to pass a few riders, which is always a good feeling. I saw Dees coming back the other way from the turn around just as I was approaching the turn around and she was looking really strong. I managed the turn around without unclipping a pedal or falling off (one of my goals for Bright accomplished!) and then got focused on the return journey, which was a fair bit faster despite the head wind.
I came up to the finish line and was watching the clock: Jason M had told me that I'd probably be able to go sub-25 minutes for the TT. Sure enough, I crossed the line in 24:58. Sometimes I wonder if Jason is psychic. :-) We had a chat and debrief post-TT, before I headed home. It wasn't until I got home that I realised I'd actually won the TT by about 20 seconds (Dees got 3rd in 25:23). Not quite sure how I pulled that one out, as I've never been renowned for my time trialling abilities! Maybe I do just have a good race focus after all. The good thing about winning the TT was that it meant that not only had I not lost any of my 1:09 time advantage that I got during Stage 1, but I'd actually increased my lead to 2:15 going into Stage 3. Yay!
Stage 3: Hotham Ascent
We were the 2nd last bunch away on Stage 3 and were met at the start line with the news that the stage had been cut short (by approx 8km) due to freezing conditions on Hotham and very high winds. I was a bit relieved and disappointed at the same time: I was ready to take on the challenge of Hotham, but 8km less climbing pain (particularly when the 8km consists of a few quite steep climbs punctuated by some sharp descents) is never a bad thing when you already have two stages in your legs.
The first 26km of the stage consisted of rolling terrain, punctuated by 2 sprint points - the first at the 16.5km mark and the second at the 26km mark. Similar to Stage 1, I took quite a long turn on the front coming up to the first sprint, gradually winding the pace up to lead Deciana out. Unfortunately neither sprint was to be hers on Stage 3, as the girls were all sprinting on tired legs from their efforts over Stages 1 and 2, and it seemed that they started sprinting a bit later in the piece, and Dees' long sustained sprint seemed to get edged out by the girls with their quick accelerations. She ended up getting 3rd in both of them though, to claim 2nd in the sprints competition overall. Go Dees!
The climb up Hotham starts pretty much as soon as the second sprint is over. Having done the lead out for the sprint, I ended up having a bit of a gap on the other climbers in the group coming towards the first pinch up Mt Hotham. I was half tempted to sit up and let the girls catch back on, but decided to keep going and force them to chase me a little bit up this steeper gradient and tire themselves out a bit. It took less than 1km before the initial group of 5 climbers was down to 3, and then it was just me and one other girl. I could hear her breathing hard and knew she wouldn't be able to hold on for long. We chatted briefly, and I offered to ease the pace up so that we could stay together and work together on the false flat section after the Meg (one of the QOMs for Stage 3), and I could hear her try and put in, but mentally she was already done by that point and she dropped off my wheel and yelled at me to keep going. So I did.
I quite enjoyed the first part of the Hotham climb - it averages 6.6%, which is a gradient that seems to suit me. I found a good rhythm going along this section and, while I was pushing myself, I still felt that I could have picked up the pace if required. It didn't take long until I came across a sign noting the QOM was just 1km up the road, which meant that the Meg was just around the corner. I'd heard horror stories about the Meg, largely because it comprises a relatively sudden increase in gradient, which if you've been sitting at or above your threshold over the previous 6.6% section, can be enough to pop a lot of riders. The Meg apparently averages 9%, but I did look at my Garmin on a few occasions going up there and saw figures as high as 18%. I was understandably pleased to crest the Meg and be cheered by the lovely volunteers counting QOM points.
After the Meg I'd been told that the gradient backed off to an average of 1.8%. But unfortunately it didn't back off when I expected it would have - I kept seeing gradients of 6-7% on the Garmin, which as noted above I don't mind, except that mentally I'd thought it would be basically flat. The earlier men's grades had already started descending down Hotham by the time I was at this section, and lots of them were shouting encouragement at me as they went flying by, which really helped me keep motivated.
Finally the gradient did back off, and at about this point I saw a VCC jersey up ahead. I caught up to the rider, and realised it was Boz (VCC icon!), who told me that he'd sat up and waited for me so that he could ride behind me and assist in case I had a mechanical / flat tyre or something over the final 10kms of the Stage. Such a lovely gesture and so indicative of the level of support the V-Maxx squad gave me over the 20 weeks leading up to Bright. Fortunately I didn't have to call on Boz though.
The last 10kms were actually pretty fast as we had a bit of a tailwind and it was a genuine false flat. I loved this section. I loved how my bike was feeling under me, how I felt riding it, the view, the sound of the wind in the trees, the encouragement from other riders, just everything. I felt so lucky to be participating in the race, and just couldn't stop smiling (and have the photos to prove it!). It was an awesome feeling coming into the finish, first seeing Jason Mahoney clapping and then hearing the VCC crew cheering. It turned out I won the stage by just over 2 and a half minutes, and the overall general classification (GC) by nearly 5 minutes. Woot!
General
Noting the length of this post, here are a few quick thank yous (and sorry if I've missed anyone):
* my family (Andy & the kids) for facilitating and enabling me to train and then race in my first tour - you guys rock;
* the V-Maxx squad generally for their humour, dedication, company and general entertainment - you are a great bunch of people;
* Jason Mahoney, Uber Coach, for not only the awesome program that transformed me from an unfit ex-cyclist to a relatively fit cyclist in what felt like a few short weeks, but also for the support generally and for believing that I'd be able to do it;
* B-Rad (aka my Girlfriend) for being the best training buddy a girl could hope for. Come rain, hail or shine you'd be there pushing me, keeping me company and being my mate. I hope you know how much I appreciate it, and I hope that I've been at least half the training buddy to you that you've been to me;
* Scotty for all the bike love you've given my numerous bikes over the past year - because of you I always run smooth; and
* Dees for being an awesome team mate in my first tour - I'm so super keen to do it again with you soon now that we agree I'm not the world's worst lead out. :-p
Monday, November 21, 2011
ACT Hill Climb Championships 2011
On Saturday I competed in my first ACT Hill Climb Championships. The format for the race was basically an individual time trial, where competitors ride off at 30 second intervals within their relevant race category and go as fast as they can to the top of the climb. The race course was from the bottom of Corin Road to just past the Corin Forest Recreation Centre, which is roughly 12.5-13kms, with an average gradient of approx 4.5% but with some steeper sections getting up to 12-13%.
Most of the Vikings met up at Point Hut Crossing and rode up to the start line / registration desk together (we call this the race bus). What was clear from the start was that it was going to be a pretty warm race - it was already over 22 degrees when we were riding in at 8am (and given recent temperatures in Canberra it felt all the warmer).
Some of the girls and I had been chatting on the race bus about what category to enter: the usual grades weren't being run as it was the ACT Championships, so those under 30 would all be racing each other in the "Elite" category, and those over 30 could either enter Elite (if their licence had the option) or their relevant "Masters" category. This is quite significant as there were medals up for grabs for each category (and what girl doesn't love a bit of bling!?). After a moment of indecision I decided to bite the bullet and enter Elite, despite me being more than old enough to race in a Masters category. Most of the Valkyries that raced had to enter Elite through default (due to them being under 30) so we were all going up against each other in the fight for bling.
We did a bit of a warm-up up and down Corin Road waiting for the start, checking out the wildlife which included a flock of emus! I've been down to Corin quite a few times and have seen quite the array of wildlife, but never emus before. It was pretty amazing.
And then it was time for the Elite women to start (both the men's and women's Masters categories started first). It was a held start (where someone holds your bike so that you can clip both pedals in and push off as fast as you can). I found it a little disconcerting as it was only my second held start and it did feel a little bit like I was going to tip over on the start line, but fortunately it went off without a hitch. I was the 3rd rider to go, so the first girl had a minute head start on me, and the second 30 seconds.
I kicked it pretty hard from the start, as I know I'm not as strong on the lower flatter sections of the climb as I am when the gradient becomes more consistent so I wanted to minimise any advantage any of the more powerful girls would have had on me over these sections. But it's always a fine line between kicking it hard v kicking it too hard (particularly too early). I think I may have been borderline going too hard too early, as my heart rate spiked pretty quickly up to 185+bpm, and once it goes up it's hard to get it back down again in a race situation.
I caught the rider who started 30 seconds before me pretty early on, and then focused on catching the rider who started a minute ahead of me. I passed her at about the 3km mark, and then focused on trying to maintain my momentum, keep my heart rate consistent and catch some of the Masters category men who had started before the Elite women.
I know the Corin climb quite well, having done it quite a few times recently, and I think this definitely worked to my advantage. But it doesn't meant the climb didn't hurt any less! The conditions were really not optimal: my Garmin was telling me the whole way up that the temperatures were pushing 30 degrees and it only seemed to be getting windier and windier (typically of the headwind variety!). I had a few moments during the first 5kms wishing, almost praying, for a mechanical or even just a flat tyre so that I would have had a legitimate reason to quit.
Fortunately I kept going as the second 5kms didn't seem to hurt quite as much as the first 5km. I was watching my 5km splits closely and trying to gauge how I was going speed-wise for achieving my goal of doing a PB. Unfortunately where I usually measure my splits from and where the race started were at different points so it was hard to compare times directly, but I could tell that I was struggling to achieve my sub-36 minute goal, particularly when I hit the steepest part of the climb (just past Billy Billy Creek) where the wind seemed to be howling down and doing its best to push me back down the hill.
The only saving grace of cresting the Billy Billy Creek climb was that I knew it was the last big climb of the course: after that the terrain is really only undulating for the last 2kms or so. I took a moment to recover at the top of Billy Billy Creek and then kicked the gears up and tried to push towards the end, still fighting the headwind. Competitors that had already finished and spectators were on the right-hand side of the road just before the finish line (it was an uphill finish) and it was great to hear them cheering for me as I was going past. And then it was over - hoorah! I hopped off my bike pretty much straight away and desperately hoped no one expected me to be able to speak anytime soon as I could barely breathe. I wasn't sure if I wanted to lie down or keep walking (I was feeling a little nauseous at the time!) so I compromised by leaning on my bike and puffing frantically, using hand gestures to try and communicate with anyone who seemed inclined to talk to me at the time.
Once I'd sufficiently recovered I wandered down to where everyone else was enjoying an ice cold soft drink and some lollies to watch / cheer for everyone else as they finished their races, and to debrief our own races. And that's one of the things that made the slog up the hill worthwhile.
Presentations were held not too much later, and it turned out I'd won Elite women in a time of 36:23. I was obviously very pleased to have won, but was also a little bit disappointed not to have achieved the sub-36 minute time I was hoping for. I know the conditions were against me in going sub-36 with the wind (and heat to some extent), but I'm still a little disappointed and even frustrated with myself. Oh well, I'll just have to get back out there and have another go some other time. :-)
All in all it was a good day of racing for the Valkyries (in our new Siren kit!) with Deciana also winning Masters Category 1, and Tegan coming third in Elite (with Ches and Anna finishing not too far behind her). Top effort ladies!
Most of the Vikings met up at Point Hut Crossing and rode up to the start line / registration desk together (we call this the race bus). What was clear from the start was that it was going to be a pretty warm race - it was already over 22 degrees when we were riding in at 8am (and given recent temperatures in Canberra it felt all the warmer).
Some of the girls and I had been chatting on the race bus about what category to enter: the usual grades weren't being run as it was the ACT Championships, so those under 30 would all be racing each other in the "Elite" category, and those over 30 could either enter Elite (if their licence had the option) or their relevant "Masters" category. This is quite significant as there were medals up for grabs for each category (and what girl doesn't love a bit of bling!?). After a moment of indecision I decided to bite the bullet and enter Elite, despite me being more than old enough to race in a Masters category. Most of the Valkyries that raced had to enter Elite through default (due to them being under 30) so we were all going up against each other in the fight for bling.
We did a bit of a warm-up up and down Corin Road waiting for the start, checking out the wildlife which included a flock of emus! I've been down to Corin quite a few times and have seen quite the array of wildlife, but never emus before. It was pretty amazing.
And then it was time for the Elite women to start (both the men's and women's Masters categories started first). It was a held start (where someone holds your bike so that you can clip both pedals in and push off as fast as you can). I found it a little disconcerting as it was only my second held start and it did feel a little bit like I was going to tip over on the start line, but fortunately it went off without a hitch. I was the 3rd rider to go, so the first girl had a minute head start on me, and the second 30 seconds.
I kicked it pretty hard from the start, as I know I'm not as strong on the lower flatter sections of the climb as I am when the gradient becomes more consistent so I wanted to minimise any advantage any of the more powerful girls would have had on me over these sections. But it's always a fine line between kicking it hard v kicking it too hard (particularly too early). I think I may have been borderline going too hard too early, as my heart rate spiked pretty quickly up to 185+bpm, and once it goes up it's hard to get it back down again in a race situation.
I caught the rider who started 30 seconds before me pretty early on, and then focused on catching the rider who started a minute ahead of me. I passed her at about the 3km mark, and then focused on trying to maintain my momentum, keep my heart rate consistent and catch some of the Masters category men who had started before the Elite women.
I know the Corin climb quite well, having done it quite a few times recently, and I think this definitely worked to my advantage. But it doesn't meant the climb didn't hurt any less! The conditions were really not optimal: my Garmin was telling me the whole way up that the temperatures were pushing 30 degrees and it only seemed to be getting windier and windier (typically of the headwind variety!). I had a few moments during the first 5kms wishing, almost praying, for a mechanical or even just a flat tyre so that I would have had a legitimate reason to quit.
Fortunately I kept going as the second 5kms didn't seem to hurt quite as much as the first 5km. I was watching my 5km splits closely and trying to gauge how I was going speed-wise for achieving my goal of doing a PB. Unfortunately where I usually measure my splits from and where the race started were at different points so it was hard to compare times directly, but I could tell that I was struggling to achieve my sub-36 minute goal, particularly when I hit the steepest part of the climb (just past Billy Billy Creek) where the wind seemed to be howling down and doing its best to push me back down the hill.
The only saving grace of cresting the Billy Billy Creek climb was that I knew it was the last big climb of the course: after that the terrain is really only undulating for the last 2kms or so. I took a moment to recover at the top of Billy Billy Creek and then kicked the gears up and tried to push towards the end, still fighting the headwind. Competitors that had already finished and spectators were on the right-hand side of the road just before the finish line (it was an uphill finish) and it was great to hear them cheering for me as I was going past. And then it was over - hoorah! I hopped off my bike pretty much straight away and desperately hoped no one expected me to be able to speak anytime soon as I could barely breathe. I wasn't sure if I wanted to lie down or keep walking (I was feeling a little nauseous at the time!) so I compromised by leaning on my bike and puffing frantically, using hand gestures to try and communicate with anyone who seemed inclined to talk to me at the time.
Once I'd sufficiently recovered I wandered down to where everyone else was enjoying an ice cold soft drink and some lollies to watch / cheer for everyone else as they finished their races, and to debrief our own races. And that's one of the things that made the slog up the hill worthwhile.
Presentations were held not too much later, and it turned out I'd won Elite women in a time of 36:23. I was obviously very pleased to have won, but was also a little bit disappointed not to have achieved the sub-36 minute time I was hoping for. I know the conditions were against me in going sub-36 with the wind (and heat to some extent), but I'm still a little disappointed and even frustrated with myself. Oh well, I'll just have to get back out there and have another go some other time. :-)
All in all it was a good day of racing for the Valkyries (in our new Siren kit!) with Deciana also winning Masters Category 1, and Tegan coming third in Elite (with Ches and Anna finishing not too far behind her). Top effort ladies!
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Tour of Two Rivers - Giro del Bellbridge
The final stage of the ToTR saw just two of the mighty Valkyries making the 4hr trek out to Albury, due to some scheduling conflicts, but KateM and I were lucky enough that her parents live half way to Albury so we stopped overnight for a home cooked meal and some time in their outdoor hot tub.
We discussed our strategy and tactics in detail and its interesting how much we have learned just over the stages of this tour; so we had a range of strategies, contingency plans and things to avoid to ensure a good result.
My focus, as it has been the whole tour, was on seeing if I have come far enough in training to get ahead of the lovely Jen from Griffith CC after coming so much closer at Coota in Stage 4.
I was feeling reasonably strong and mostly not sore (except for some shoulder and neck weariness from smashing out some roof painting with Cheska) but not being a climber I was realistic going into the race that hills are more Jens forte than mine.
I just hoped there might be some longish, flatter sections where I could use my strengths. My hopes were a bit dashed though when I realised that the start line was basically the foot of the steepest climb (7 or 8% over Talgarno Gap) which wouldn't give me time to warm into the race. I was also pretty concerned that I had neglected to bring any of the 5000 ventolin inhalers I own...
Arriving in Bellbridge to drive to the Bethanga start line though, the hills were completely daunting, and all around us. Driving over the hilltop finish all flagged and ready to go the smooth winding roads through bright green hills looked straight out of the TDF, and I began to get pretty excited about what would be some epic hilltop finishes.
At rego I was pleased to see that the women stalwarts of the ToTR had all turned up including 15 year old future star Elle Irvine, her mum Leanne and of course Jen Massey. Along with Kate and I there was one other local woman racing who looked a heck of a lot fitter (and on a seriously blinged bike) than the rest of us.
We lined up for the start in our combined Men's D/Women's B and C bunch and the old psychological banter started "you're not a climber, these girls are all really light, you'll get dropped on the first hill"
But this time there was another voice. I channelled the wisdom of our coach and heard "pick a good wheel, get away quickly off the line and just get on a good wheel".
So, we rolled away and I got straight on a wheel of one of the d grade blokes we have made friends with over the tour and set off, thankfully he knew I was behind him and kept it manageable, but pretty soon we were at the climb.
All of a sudden the unknown woman took off and attacked straight up the steep section like it was nothing, very quickly gaining a 20m lead on the whole bunch. The blokes initially didn't react until she was really opening up a decent lead so (looking a bit stunned) they had to respond and spat me out the back.
I heard Simon saying don't panic, keep going and we will try and catch them on the descent and so I kept it at a hard but manageable pace and soon enough we were over the crest and starting to move again, and lo and behold - there was Jen, also spat out the back, with a big bloke halfway between us. This is my chance I thought.
He picked up speed to go around her, so, keen to avoid my tactical mistake at Coota where we winded up towing her back into the race, instead of sitting on his wheel, I attacked further around on his right and suddenly we were ahead and she hadn't gotten on.
GO Go Go I screamed at the guy, which to his credit - he did (sometimes being a girl is very useful) and we were smashing it down the hill. Using our TTT skills as soon as I sensed him flagging I got on the front and smashed it then called him up as I tired. It was an epic pace line chase for a good ten kms being just off the bunch and we got within 30m at one point but hit a long climb and couldn't quite get on.
My new impromptu companion was riding an italian Basso bike, and I'm sure I even heard an italian accent on him.
There was a geat moment once I marshalled him to work for me as domestique when he suddenly be came just as excited about our epic chase as me and started yelling just as much as me "Ah-come on. We a gonna chase this bunch down!!! Lets go Lets Go!!!"
So exciting and perfect for a Giro, in the style of the Giro de Italia.
Wanting to stay away I kept us working and taking turns all the way into Bellbridge and around Lake Hume till we started to come around the loop and - on an amazing fast windy descent I suddenly realised I was having the time of my life and WOoHOo I took off!!!
Turning back towards the start line I realised I'd worn my buddy out and I would have to go it alone. Crossing the start line for lap two I felt tired in the legs but surprisingly confident. I knew what I had to do, I knew I could manage Talgarno Gap again and the Long undulation to Bellbridge and just comforted myself that if I managed to stay away for all that - it was only a 2.5km climb equivalent to stromlo. So I pushed on, working to keep the effort up and focusing on a high cadence. I saw another guy from MD dropping out but otherwise I was completely alone and a huge headwind had picked up.
As I approached the final climb my head checks got more frequent. Jen was nowhere in sight but I knew I couldn't out climb her and that shed be working to catch me on the final hill.
Finally it was time and I made the left up the 9-10% start feeling dead but was suddenly buoyed by the sight of another bloke ahead. If I could pass him, that would mean I'd come ahead of three blokes and all but one of the women. So I turned on my stromlo drill focus. Stick to a cadence, stick to a consistent heart rate and keep it steady - only 2.5km to go.
Little by little I edged past him and then it was 1km to go, and then a sharp switchback at 600m for the final pinch.
Worried that he'd chase me I got out of the saddle to open the gap up - which is when I realised I could see the whole valley - and that's when I realised that the rest of the women's field was nowhere in sight.
Reaching the top was a pretty big moment for me, after working so hard to improve through this series and I was especially grateful to the Griffith CC guys for waiting around to cheer the women over the line, as the marshalls had all left and weren't there to record places.
I'm pretty proud of how far I've come. Its been tough, but the view is certainly worth the climb.
Well done to Kate who smashed C grade again and took out the C grade series.
Can't wait till next year.
We discussed our strategy and tactics in detail and its interesting how much we have learned just over the stages of this tour; so we had a range of strategies, contingency plans and things to avoid to ensure a good result.
My focus, as it has been the whole tour, was on seeing if I have come far enough in training to get ahead of the lovely Jen from Griffith CC after coming so much closer at Coota in Stage 4.
I was feeling reasonably strong and mostly not sore (except for some shoulder and neck weariness from smashing out some roof painting with Cheska) but not being a climber I was realistic going into the race that hills are more Jens forte than mine.
I just hoped there might be some longish, flatter sections where I could use my strengths. My hopes were a bit dashed though when I realised that the start line was basically the foot of the steepest climb (7 or 8% over Talgarno Gap) which wouldn't give me time to warm into the race. I was also pretty concerned that I had neglected to bring any of the 5000 ventolin inhalers I own...
Arriving in Bellbridge to drive to the Bethanga start line though, the hills were completely daunting, and all around us. Driving over the hilltop finish all flagged and ready to go the smooth winding roads through bright green hills looked straight out of the TDF, and I began to get pretty excited about what would be some epic hilltop finishes.
At rego I was pleased to see that the women stalwarts of the ToTR had all turned up including 15 year old future star Elle Irvine, her mum Leanne and of course Jen Massey. Along with Kate and I there was one other local woman racing who looked a heck of a lot fitter (and on a seriously blinged bike) than the rest of us.
We lined up for the start in our combined Men's D/Women's B and C bunch and the old psychological banter started "you're not a climber, these girls are all really light, you'll get dropped on the first hill"
But this time there was another voice. I channelled the wisdom of our coach and heard "pick a good wheel, get away quickly off the line and just get on a good wheel".
So, we rolled away and I got straight on a wheel of one of the d grade blokes we have made friends with over the tour and set off, thankfully he knew I was behind him and kept it manageable, but pretty soon we were at the climb.
All of a sudden the unknown woman took off and attacked straight up the steep section like it was nothing, very quickly gaining a 20m lead on the whole bunch. The blokes initially didn't react until she was really opening up a decent lead so (looking a bit stunned) they had to respond and spat me out the back.
I heard Simon saying don't panic, keep going and we will try and catch them on the descent and so I kept it at a hard but manageable pace and soon enough we were over the crest and starting to move again, and lo and behold - there was Jen, also spat out the back, with a big bloke halfway between us. This is my chance I thought.
He picked up speed to go around her, so, keen to avoid my tactical mistake at Coota where we winded up towing her back into the race, instead of sitting on his wheel, I attacked further around on his right and suddenly we were ahead and she hadn't gotten on.
GO Go Go I screamed at the guy, which to his credit - he did (sometimes being a girl is very useful) and we were smashing it down the hill. Using our TTT skills as soon as I sensed him flagging I got on the front and smashed it then called him up as I tired. It was an epic pace line chase for a good ten kms being just off the bunch and we got within 30m at one point but hit a long climb and couldn't quite get on.
My new impromptu companion was riding an italian Basso bike, and I'm sure I even heard an italian accent on him.
There was a geat moment once I marshalled him to work for me as domestique when he suddenly be came just as excited about our epic chase as me and started yelling just as much as me "Ah-come on. We a gonna chase this bunch down!!! Lets go Lets Go!!!"
So exciting and perfect for a Giro, in the style of the Giro de Italia.
Wanting to stay away I kept us working and taking turns all the way into Bellbridge and around Lake Hume till we started to come around the loop and - on an amazing fast windy descent I suddenly realised I was having the time of my life and WOoHOo I took off!!!
Turning back towards the start line I realised I'd worn my buddy out and I would have to go it alone. Crossing the start line for lap two I felt tired in the legs but surprisingly confident. I knew what I had to do, I knew I could manage Talgarno Gap again and the Long undulation to Bellbridge and just comforted myself that if I managed to stay away for all that - it was only a 2.5km climb equivalent to stromlo. So I pushed on, working to keep the effort up and focusing on a high cadence. I saw another guy from MD dropping out but otherwise I was completely alone and a huge headwind had picked up.
As I approached the final climb my head checks got more frequent. Jen was nowhere in sight but I knew I couldn't out climb her and that shed be working to catch me on the final hill.
Finally it was time and I made the left up the 9-10% start feeling dead but was suddenly buoyed by the sight of another bloke ahead. If I could pass him, that would mean I'd come ahead of three blokes and all but one of the women. So I turned on my stromlo drill focus. Stick to a cadence, stick to a consistent heart rate and keep it steady - only 2.5km to go.
Little by little I edged past him and then it was 1km to go, and then a sharp switchback at 600m for the final pinch.
Worried that he'd chase me I got out of the saddle to open the gap up - which is when I realised I could see the whole valley - and that's when I realised that the rest of the women's field was nowhere in sight.
Reaching the top was a pretty big moment for me, after working so hard to improve through this series and I was especially grateful to the Griffith CC guys for waiting around to cheer the women over the line, as the marshalls had all left and weren't there to record places.
I'm pretty proud of how far I've come. Its been tough, but the view is certainly worth the climb.
Well done to Kate who smashed C grade again and took out the C grade series.
Can't wait till next year.
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Corin Classic Race Report
This morning I did my first WA road race and it was a good one. :-)
Coming into the race I was pretty apprehensive. I've been training pretty consistently, and have done a fair bit of work down at Corin recently (it's one of Canberra's longest climbs and is great preparation for Tour of Bright, so when the program says "include a long climb like Corin", it would appear that I like to include more than 1 of them...). It had been "suggested" that I should step up and race WA for this race, which I thought was a compliment in itself, but I still wasn't convinced. It didn't help that I had a rotten hills session on Thursday where I just couldn't seem to get myself moving, which hadn't done wonders for my confidence. But the WA course was a bit longer than WB (54km v 25km), which I thought would be better training for the Tour of Bright, so I bit the bullet and registered for WA.
The one advantage for me in riding WA was that it was combined with MC. Pretty much all the guys that I train with in the V-Maxx squad are MC, so at least it meant I'd have some friends on the road. And I was lucky enough that my bestest training buddy Brad decided that he'd ride for me (as my Super Domestique!). In consultation with Jason Mahoney from Argonaut, we decided that Brad's job was basically to protect me for the first 40km (which was undulating) before we hit the climb (approx 13.5km), making sure I didn't get spat off in the event of a rapid accelleration, and to generally protect me in the bunch. My job was to stay with the bunch until the climb and then get some practice in racing up a climb with a group.
The combined MC / WA was quite large, with approx 25-30 riders in it (definitely the biggest bunch I'd ever ridden in), although there was only 1 other WA rider. It was a little disconcerting heading off at a rate of knots with that many people around me but it didn't take long until some sort of rhythm had formed and the ride was relatively smooth. I felt pretty comfortable heading out towards Tidbinbilla (with my heartrate largely in recovery - E1), although I was conscious of the fact that it was mostly downhill, so knew I'd have to work a bit harder on the return journey.
The bunch was pretty much still together coming into the first turn, and someone within the bunch yelled out to neutralise around the turn so that everyone could regroup. I wasn't opposed to this as I was in the middle of the bunch at this point and don't have the world's best turning circle (understatement of the century!), so it was nice to see the bunch sit up and wait until everyone had pretty much regrouped before getting back down the business of racing. Unfortunately the other WA rider dropped off at around this point so we didn't get to spend much time racing together.
The return journey was a little surgey, and there was one hairy moment when the fellow in front of Brad touched his brakes for some unknown reason, and Brad nearly ran up the back of him, with me nearly running up the back of Brad. But we all stayed upright, and just watched a bit more carefully from then on in. I must say it was nice being looked after by Brad and some of the other VCC riders - I basically had Brad in front of me, constantly checking over his shoulder to make sure I was still with him / OK, and Chris behind me, giving me instruction on where to sit within the bunch. I could get used to that! :-)
But we all knew that the race would get interesting once we hit the climb up to Corin. And as predicted, as soon as we turned the corner into Corin, the pace picked up a fair bit. Brad jumped on the front and pushed the pace, hoping to shed a few riders fairly early to make it easier for me and another VCC rider. This worked pretty well, but another rider attacked straight off the back of that on a fairly solid uphill section, and I didn't have the legs to go with this attack. So I just kept plugging away up the hills, and it didn't take long until a group of 5 of us had formed and started climbing together. I had a bit of fun practicing some race climbing tactics at this point, and we even managed to pick up a few riders from the earlier attack. We stayed together until about the halfway mark of the climb, before I went clear of the group and kept going solo. I found it a fair bit easier to work on my own at this point, as the gradient was a lot more consistent and I could just get myself into my own climbing style.
At long last, we hit Billy Billy Creek, which marks the last big hill that forms part of the Corin climb. I'd been making up ground on the rider in front, and tried pretty hard up this section to reel him in, but it wasn't to be. Another rider caught up with me just past the crest of the Billy Billy Creek section, which was great as it meant I could get a bit of a draft on the flatter / undulating sections before the uphill finish, before overtaking him again towards the end.
And then it was over. I was pretty relieved to have finished, as Corin is always a pretty tough climb. I ended up coming 1st in WA, and 5th overall in MC, which is far better than I expected I'd do. I suspect that's largely because of how well I was looked after by my fellow VCC riders, so I hope they know how grateful I really am for their support. And I even managed a PB up Corin too, but that was just gravy!
So all in all, I'm pretty stoked with today's race. It's a good mark of how far my training has come in the past 13 weeks, but it's also a little bit auspicious for me in way as the Corin Classic was the last race I did last year before I got hit by a car and then had my extended period off the bike. So I kind of feel like today's race was a sign that all of the horrible-ness that came with getting hit by a car is now well and truly behind me, and I'm now fully prepared to get on with the job of riding my bike to the best of my abilities. Bring on the next few weeks of training!
Coming into the race I was pretty apprehensive. I've been training pretty consistently, and have done a fair bit of work down at Corin recently (it's one of Canberra's longest climbs and is great preparation for Tour of Bright, so when the program says "include a long climb like Corin", it would appear that I like to include more than 1 of them...). It had been "suggested" that I should step up and race WA for this race, which I thought was a compliment in itself, but I still wasn't convinced. It didn't help that I had a rotten hills session on Thursday where I just couldn't seem to get myself moving, which hadn't done wonders for my confidence. But the WA course was a bit longer than WB (54km v 25km), which I thought would be better training for the Tour of Bright, so I bit the bullet and registered for WA.
The one advantage for me in riding WA was that it was combined with MC. Pretty much all the guys that I train with in the V-Maxx squad are MC, so at least it meant I'd have some friends on the road. And I was lucky enough that my bestest training buddy Brad decided that he'd ride for me (as my Super Domestique!). In consultation with Jason Mahoney from Argonaut, we decided that Brad's job was basically to protect me for the first 40km (which was undulating) before we hit the climb (approx 13.5km), making sure I didn't get spat off in the event of a rapid accelleration, and to generally protect me in the bunch. My job was to stay with the bunch until the climb and then get some practice in racing up a climb with a group.
The combined MC / WA was quite large, with approx 25-30 riders in it (definitely the biggest bunch I'd ever ridden in), although there was only 1 other WA rider. It was a little disconcerting heading off at a rate of knots with that many people around me but it didn't take long until some sort of rhythm had formed and the ride was relatively smooth. I felt pretty comfortable heading out towards Tidbinbilla (with my heartrate largely in recovery - E1), although I was conscious of the fact that it was mostly downhill, so knew I'd have to work a bit harder on the return journey.
The bunch was pretty much still together coming into the first turn, and someone within the bunch yelled out to neutralise around the turn so that everyone could regroup. I wasn't opposed to this as I was in the middle of the bunch at this point and don't have the world's best turning circle (understatement of the century!), so it was nice to see the bunch sit up and wait until everyone had pretty much regrouped before getting back down the business of racing. Unfortunately the other WA rider dropped off at around this point so we didn't get to spend much time racing together.
The return journey was a little surgey, and there was one hairy moment when the fellow in front of Brad touched his brakes for some unknown reason, and Brad nearly ran up the back of him, with me nearly running up the back of Brad. But we all stayed upright, and just watched a bit more carefully from then on in. I must say it was nice being looked after by Brad and some of the other VCC riders - I basically had Brad in front of me, constantly checking over his shoulder to make sure I was still with him / OK, and Chris behind me, giving me instruction on where to sit within the bunch. I could get used to that! :-)
But we all knew that the race would get interesting once we hit the climb up to Corin. And as predicted, as soon as we turned the corner into Corin, the pace picked up a fair bit. Brad jumped on the front and pushed the pace, hoping to shed a few riders fairly early to make it easier for me and another VCC rider. This worked pretty well, but another rider attacked straight off the back of that on a fairly solid uphill section, and I didn't have the legs to go with this attack. So I just kept plugging away up the hills, and it didn't take long until a group of 5 of us had formed and started climbing together. I had a bit of fun practicing some race climbing tactics at this point, and we even managed to pick up a few riders from the earlier attack. We stayed together until about the halfway mark of the climb, before I went clear of the group and kept going solo. I found it a fair bit easier to work on my own at this point, as the gradient was a lot more consistent and I could just get myself into my own climbing style.
At long last, we hit Billy Billy Creek, which marks the last big hill that forms part of the Corin climb. I'd been making up ground on the rider in front, and tried pretty hard up this section to reel him in, but it wasn't to be. Another rider caught up with me just past the crest of the Billy Billy Creek section, which was great as it meant I could get a bit of a draft on the flatter / undulating sections before the uphill finish, before overtaking him again towards the end.
And then it was over. I was pretty relieved to have finished, as Corin is always a pretty tough climb. I ended up coming 1st in WA, and 5th overall in MC, which is far better than I expected I'd do. I suspect that's largely because of how well I was looked after by my fellow VCC riders, so I hope they know how grateful I really am for their support. And I even managed a PB up Corin too, but that was just gravy!
So all in all, I'm pretty stoked with today's race. It's a good mark of how far my training has come in the past 13 weeks, but it's also a little bit auspicious for me in way as the Corin Classic was the last race I did last year before I got hit by a car and then had my extended period off the bike. So I kind of feel like today's race was a sign that all of the horrible-ness that came with getting hit by a car is now well and truly behind me, and I'm now fully prepared to get on with the job of riding my bike to the best of my abilities. Bring on the next few weeks of training!
Saturday, September 17, 2011
Club Road Champs - race report
Lots of Valkyries made it out to the Club Road Champs in glorious sunshine today. It was such a welcome change from what felt like such a long and cold Winter.
The VCC race-bus had a leisurely warm-up ride (of about 20km) out from Stromlo Forest Park to Uriarra Homestead for the start of the race. I was excited about the start of the race, but also a bit nervous so it was great to have the V-max guys there to chat to and take my mind off the race.
More friendly faces when we arrived at Uriarra Homestead. I had a quick chat with Jason Mahoney from Argonaut Cycle Coaching (who wrote the very comprehensive training program that I'm following with the V-max squad) at the start of the race about tactics. I'll be completely honest - I'm new to tactics, so it was great getting some quality advice from someone who is starting to know my strengths and weaknesses quite well. It also helped put the race in context and gave me something to focus on and made me feel a little more in control of my race than I would have otherwise felt.
The pace at the start was reasonable and it felt more like a bunch ride than a race, that is until we hit the first hill. It soon became evident who was feeling strong and which riders I was going to need to watch out for. The bunch stayed pretty well together up the first climb and then the descent down the other side. But it was this descent that ended up separating the group on the return journey. As we were getting towards the top of the climb I realised that I was in a group with 4 guys and that there was a bit of a gap back to 6th. We mobilised when we hit the top of the hill and started pacelining down the other side and all the way along the road back towards Uriarra Crossing to try and maintain / increase our gap.
We turned around just before the descent down into Uriarra Crossing and that's when we realised how windy it actually was out there. One rider and I somehow managed to go clear at this point without trying. He tried to convince me to keep working with him, but I realised we still had over half the race to go and I told him that I thought we should sit up and wait for the rest of our group of 5 (which is what we did). It was tough going back up the false flat into that headwind, and it was clear that quite a few in our group were suffering. We dropped one rider just after we completed one full lap and then were down to a group of 4.
One rider attacked on the hill heading towards Condor Creek, but we decided not to chase him as we knew he'd been suffering into the headwind previously and was unlikely to be able to stay away solo. Sure enough, we reeled him in on the return journey to Uriarra Crossing and it was clear he was in the pain cave. Our group of 4 stayed together for a shortwhile during this section, but then one rider (who was clearly the strongest of our group) attacked and I decided to go with him. I was slow in responding to the attack though as I was 3rd wheel when it happened, so I had to work pretty hard to catch back on again. But then I was on and we were off (or at least, he was off with me on his wheel).
We hit the last turnaround and then back into the headwind. I was definitely feeling that wind this time around, as my legs were pretty fatigued and had been threatening to cramp for quite a few kms by this point. But the advantage of a turnaround is that you get to see how far back the chase group is, and we realised that we'd probably won the race at this point. But we didn't slack off - we kept going and had a bit of fun trying to chase down the end of the grade in front of us.
I was most relieved to see the finish line ahead, when the guy I was with told me we should finish the race off properly, even though we were in different grades. So we kind of went for a sprint. Well, he went for a sprint, and I attempted to sprint but my calves cramped like they never had before and I rolled over the line in serious pain. At least the race was over though so I could stop and have a proper stretch and then a race debrief with Jason and the rest of the V-max guys (who had also had a good race by the sound of it).
It was great watching the end of the race. 3rd and 4th came in about a minute or so after us and it was a really close sprint finish. The rest of the ladies came in a little while later and they all looked like they'd enjoyed themselves and raced well.
We all enjoyed a general catch up and soft drink while we were waiting for the results / presentations. As it was Club Road Champs there were medals on offer, except unfortunately the VCC medals were locked in an evacuation zone in Mitchell after the toxic fire on Friday so we all settled for a hearty handshake instead. And then we hopped back on our bikes and headed back to Stromlo Forest Park, eagerly chatting with each other about how our races had unfolded, how we felt and most importantly what we were going to eat for dinner.
It was a great day all round!
The VCC race-bus had a leisurely warm-up ride (of about 20km) out from Stromlo Forest Park to Uriarra Homestead for the start of the race. I was excited about the start of the race, but also a bit nervous so it was great to have the V-max guys there to chat to and take my mind off the race.
More friendly faces when we arrived at Uriarra Homestead. I had a quick chat with Jason Mahoney from Argonaut Cycle Coaching (who wrote the very comprehensive training program that I'm following with the V-max squad) at the start of the race about tactics. I'll be completely honest - I'm new to tactics, so it was great getting some quality advice from someone who is starting to know my strengths and weaknesses quite well. It also helped put the race in context and gave me something to focus on and made me feel a little more in control of my race than I would have otherwise felt.
The pace at the start was reasonable and it felt more like a bunch ride than a race, that is until we hit the first hill. It soon became evident who was feeling strong and which riders I was going to need to watch out for. The bunch stayed pretty well together up the first climb and then the descent down the other side. But it was this descent that ended up separating the group on the return journey. As we were getting towards the top of the climb I realised that I was in a group with 4 guys and that there was a bit of a gap back to 6th. We mobilised when we hit the top of the hill and started pacelining down the other side and all the way along the road back towards Uriarra Crossing to try and maintain / increase our gap.
We turned around just before the descent down into Uriarra Crossing and that's when we realised how windy it actually was out there. One rider and I somehow managed to go clear at this point without trying. He tried to convince me to keep working with him, but I realised we still had over half the race to go and I told him that I thought we should sit up and wait for the rest of our group of 5 (which is what we did). It was tough going back up the false flat into that headwind, and it was clear that quite a few in our group were suffering. We dropped one rider just after we completed one full lap and then were down to a group of 4.
One rider attacked on the hill heading towards Condor Creek, but we decided not to chase him as we knew he'd been suffering into the headwind previously and was unlikely to be able to stay away solo. Sure enough, we reeled him in on the return journey to Uriarra Crossing and it was clear he was in the pain cave. Our group of 4 stayed together for a shortwhile during this section, but then one rider (who was clearly the strongest of our group) attacked and I decided to go with him. I was slow in responding to the attack though as I was 3rd wheel when it happened, so I had to work pretty hard to catch back on again. But then I was on and we were off (or at least, he was off with me on his wheel).
We hit the last turnaround and then back into the headwind. I was definitely feeling that wind this time around, as my legs were pretty fatigued and had been threatening to cramp for quite a few kms by this point. But the advantage of a turnaround is that you get to see how far back the chase group is, and we realised that we'd probably won the race at this point. But we didn't slack off - we kept going and had a bit of fun trying to chase down the end of the grade in front of us.
I was most relieved to see the finish line ahead, when the guy I was with told me we should finish the race off properly, even though we were in different grades. So we kind of went for a sprint. Well, he went for a sprint, and I attempted to sprint but my calves cramped like they never had before and I rolled over the line in serious pain. At least the race was over though so I could stop and have a proper stretch and then a race debrief with Jason and the rest of the V-max guys (who had also had a good race by the sound of it).
It was great watching the end of the race. 3rd and 4th came in about a minute or so after us and it was a really close sprint finish. The rest of the ladies came in a little while later and they all looked like they'd enjoyed themselves and raced well.
We all enjoyed a general catch up and soft drink while we were waiting for the results / presentations. As it was Club Road Champs there were medals on offer, except unfortunately the VCC medals were locked in an evacuation zone in Mitchell after the toxic fire on Friday so we all settled for a hearty handshake instead. And then we hopped back on our bikes and headed back to Stromlo Forest Park, eagerly chatting with each other about how our races had unfolded, how we felt and most importantly what we were going to eat for dinner.
It was a great day all round!
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Stage one, Tour of Two Rivers
Todays race was a win for Epic Valkyrie tactics!
Arriving at the race we realised as soon as we got out of the car that today would be all about the wind. The gale today made the Stockingbingal handicap seem like a pleasant breeze. We sussed out the competition and there were four or five women in C Grade and me and one other woman in B. All the women were grouped to set off in the men's D bunch.
On the line I had a good position and knew that the pace would be intense off the line as I had a fair suspicion that the bunch would split early.
I was right and out of the gate into a cross wind the pace was hard but manageable but the wind made the bunch horrible.
No one wanted to pull turns and when they did the bunch was sketchy and really strung out. In an echo of the famous D Train I pulled quite a few epic turns which meant that I was prob working a bit harder than I should (although I could hear Brad in my head saying "remember Rach, what would Boz do?"). With that in mind I started trying to avoid turns which is a skill all it's own and I was pretty proud that I actually got a bit aggressive in a men's bunch and stole some wheels successfully which I was pretty proud to pull off in a race situation.
I stuck on D a fair while till shortly before the KOM my HR went above where it was at Coota and i blew up, and dropped off. Just like at Coota i thought NOOOO and gave it some efforts to get back on which i did and i would have hung on but the wind was INSANE!! and although I yelled at the three on the back, they wouldn't hold their wheels so I couldn't get a good draft and dropped off. Once i dropped off i had really bad chest pains even when my HR slowed to 138bpm and sat there for ages and it was SO painful so i slowed right down and took it as evidence of the last few weeks of exhaustion.
Once i knew i wouldnt get back on I cruised till a big bloke came by and I sat really computably in his echelon It was pretty funny as he tried repeatedly to surge and drop me but in such a massive draft I hung on easy. Some marshals came past and I slowed down for a chat about the rules of scratch where they suggested I could turn early if I wanted as long as I removed my number but I kinda felt like finishing. The big guy got away while I was chatting but we were nearly at the turn and all of a sudden someone was behind me.
I looked back and there was this tiny 15year old from womens C who had obviously been working her guts out to chase me down! I was so impressed I slowed down so she could sit in. We turned and pretty soon caught the big guy for a nice draft as I taught the junior where to sit in the echelon.
Meanwhile KateM approached the turn with a commuter in fluoro.
We rode along as a trio for a while when i started to do the math. O wasnt sure if the points for top ten were split by womens grades (in which case id be 2nd by default) or whether all the women would be lumped together. I realised this meant i was likely towing this junior in (who was amazingly strong) and risking a place.
It occurred to me that now might be a time to try a Lisa-cadel O'Grady breakaway.
I've never tried to breakaway from anything but I figured the tricks were : sudden, fast, and go hard enough and fast enough that the surprise of it psyches them out and they dont chase.
I looked ahead and wondered when you are supposed to attack and figured a good time would include the end of a climb and followed by a downhill. Sadly the course was dead flat and I knew the real issue was that once I went I'd be in the wind alone.
Nevertheless I wanted to have a go so I quietly clicked up the gears and then BANG! straight into the Simon Dwyer sprint drills and to my amazement I opened up a fairly big gap, and then held it for quite a while. Pleased that it had worked I eased up again and soon KateM (in her first ever road race) had caught on with the yellow commuter.
It was obvious fairly quickly that she was experiencing the kind of race bullying that so many women put up with before they learn (as Valkyries) to tell d***heads to F*** off.
Worried she had been having a rough time I offered to drop off with her but she was DETERMINED to teach him a lesson.
Stoked that she was refusing to let him demoralize her I wondered what tactics we could use.
The commuter was pushing everyone into a shitty and sketchy echelon where he kept getting cranky at everyone and getting on front.
Realising that he would take turns thinking we didn't know what we were doing I thought we could play it smart, let him do the work and sit in to beat him in a sprint.
Unsure if Kate understood my plan, I sat in on her wheel and refused to pull turns despite his calling me out.
I also figured they'd be pushing to get the other girl ahead of us on the line so the plan was to hang in, avoid work and keep the pace constant so that the others were working and would be in the wrong position for the sprint.
It worked like a charm. Kate pulled epic determined turns meaning I could conserve and try to work out how far away we were.
Suddenly about 800m out the junior had a respectable attack but not fast enough to be a surprise and gave me the tip that we were nearly there.
With the energy I'd saved thanks to Kates hard work I got straight in the drops and gunned the sprint drills we have practiced in training.
The big guy who had mostly sat in tried to challenge but couldn't hold it and thanks to Ange B who had dropped a chain and had to turn early and was standing on the lone so that I knew where it was, I got over the line first of the last bunch.
There wasn't any prize money in it as the other B grader and one C grader who might find herself bumped up pretty soon had held on to D grade, but it was an EPIC tactical win in my book, and has finally helped KateM realise that she, is a bike racer.
ROOAAAAAAAARRRRRRR!
Go Valkyrie, Go Siren.
Oh and the commute? Dropped like a stone. After the race I congratulated the junior who said it was her first race, to which I suggested she talk to the national talent ID Program. Once again, the country clubs were stoked to see us there.
Arriving at the race we realised as soon as we got out of the car that today would be all about the wind. The gale today made the Stockingbingal handicap seem like a pleasant breeze. We sussed out the competition and there were four or five women in C Grade and me and one other woman in B. All the women were grouped to set off in the men's D bunch.
On the line I had a good position and knew that the pace would be intense off the line as I had a fair suspicion that the bunch would split early.
I was right and out of the gate into a cross wind the pace was hard but manageable but the wind made the bunch horrible.
No one wanted to pull turns and when they did the bunch was sketchy and really strung out. In an echo of the famous D Train I pulled quite a few epic turns which meant that I was prob working a bit harder than I should (although I could hear Brad in my head saying "remember Rach, what would Boz do?"). With that in mind I started trying to avoid turns which is a skill all it's own and I was pretty proud that I actually got a bit aggressive in a men's bunch and stole some wheels successfully which I was pretty proud to pull off in a race situation.
I stuck on D a fair while till shortly before the KOM my HR went above where it was at Coota and i blew up, and dropped off. Just like at Coota i thought NOOOO and gave it some efforts to get back on which i did and i would have hung on but the wind was INSANE!! and although I yelled at the three on the back, they wouldn't hold their wheels so I couldn't get a good draft and dropped off. Once i dropped off i had really bad chest pains even when my HR slowed to 138bpm and sat there for ages and it was SO painful so i slowed right down and took it as evidence of the last few weeks of exhaustion.
Once i knew i wouldnt get back on I cruised till a big bloke came by and I sat really computably in his echelon It was pretty funny as he tried repeatedly to surge and drop me but in such a massive draft I hung on easy. Some marshals came past and I slowed down for a chat about the rules of scratch where they suggested I could turn early if I wanted as long as I removed my number but I kinda felt like finishing. The big guy got away while I was chatting but we were nearly at the turn and all of a sudden someone was behind me.
I looked back and there was this tiny 15year old from womens C who had obviously been working her guts out to chase me down! I was so impressed I slowed down so she could sit in. We turned and pretty soon caught the big guy for a nice draft as I taught the junior where to sit in the echelon.
Meanwhile KateM approached the turn with a commuter in fluoro.
We rode along as a trio for a while when i started to do the math. O wasnt sure if the points for top ten were split by womens grades (in which case id be 2nd by default) or whether all the women would be lumped together. I realised this meant i was likely towing this junior in (who was amazingly strong) and risking a place.
It occurred to me that now might be a time to try a Lisa-cadel O'Grady breakaway.
I've never tried to breakaway from anything but I figured the tricks were : sudden, fast, and go hard enough and fast enough that the surprise of it psyches them out and they dont chase.
I looked ahead and wondered when you are supposed to attack and figured a good time would include the end of a climb and followed by a downhill. Sadly the course was dead flat and I knew the real issue was that once I went I'd be in the wind alone.
Nevertheless I wanted to have a go so I quietly clicked up the gears and then BANG! straight into the Simon Dwyer sprint drills and to my amazement I opened up a fairly big gap, and then held it for quite a while. Pleased that it had worked I eased up again and soon KateM (in her first ever road race) had caught on with the yellow commuter.
It was obvious fairly quickly that she was experiencing the kind of race bullying that so many women put up with before they learn (as Valkyries) to tell d***heads to F*** off.
Worried she had been having a rough time I offered to drop off with her but she was DETERMINED to teach him a lesson.
Stoked that she was refusing to let him demoralize her I wondered what tactics we could use.
The commuter was pushing everyone into a shitty and sketchy echelon where he kept getting cranky at everyone and getting on front.
Realising that he would take turns thinking we didn't know what we were doing I thought we could play it smart, let him do the work and sit in to beat him in a sprint.
Unsure if Kate understood my plan, I sat in on her wheel and refused to pull turns despite his calling me out.
I also figured they'd be pushing to get the other girl ahead of us on the line so the plan was to hang in, avoid work and keep the pace constant so that the others were working and would be in the wrong position for the sprint.
It worked like a charm. Kate pulled epic determined turns meaning I could conserve and try to work out how far away we were.
Suddenly about 800m out the junior had a respectable attack but not fast enough to be a surprise and gave me the tip that we were nearly there.
With the energy I'd saved thanks to Kates hard work I got straight in the drops and gunned the sprint drills we have practiced in training.
The big guy who had mostly sat in tried to challenge but couldn't hold it and thanks to Ange B who had dropped a chain and had to turn early and was standing on the lone so that I knew where it was, I got over the line first of the last bunch.
There wasn't any prize money in it as the other B grader and one C grader who might find herself bumped up pretty soon had held on to D grade, but it was an EPIC tactical win in my book, and has finally helped KateM realise that she, is a bike racer.
ROOAAAAAAAARRRRRRR!
Go Valkyrie, Go Siren.
Oh and the commute? Dropped like a stone. After the race I congratulated the junior who said it was her first race, to which I suggested she talk to the national talent ID Program. Once again, the country clubs were stoked to see us there.
Saturday, September 3, 2011
GCC Interclub Handicap - Race Report
Well, I had a top day at Breadalbane today at the GCC Interclub Handicap. A swarm of Vikings, (and more importantly Valkyries!) headed over for the event, with some of us driving over in convoy to Collector and then enjoying a 17km warm-up ride to Breadalbane on undulating country roads, with minimal traffic and majoral farm-life (cows and sheep galore!). I knew it was going to be a fun race at registration as the GCC reps on the rego desk were lovely and there were lollies.
There were 5 mins between each of the bunches, and I was in the 3rd bunch away. We rolled out and very soon had a well-working pace line formed. Everyone seemed very strong in our group, and there were quite a few big blokes that were pushing the pace up pretty early. I was feeling good though so kept pulling turns, and our Vikings / honorary Vikings crew were working really well together looking out for each other and giving advice re tactics, including when to respond to attacks, etc (big thanks to our lovely coach Simon D in this regard!). We hit a fairly flat / downhill section (which I must admit I didn't notice was downhill until the return journey!) and at that point I pretty much stopped pulling turns at the front and enjoyed getting a draft from a few of the bigger riders in the group.
Everyone had been talking about a hill at or near the turnaround, so I was most relieved when we hit a bit of a hill and I could see the bunch in front as I thought it was a good sign we were nearly halfway through the race. Sure enough, we started climbing and one of the GCC riders (# 17) went off the front, making it clear he was a pretty good climber. I tried to go with him but didn't really have the legs, so sat up and waited for everyone else at which point the Lee-train (we had two awesome Lees in our group!) came through and dominated and brought us all back together again.
We all enjoyed a brief moment of respite at the turnaround before we seriously started to think about catching the group in front. The turnaround was also good as we could see how much we had on the group behind, which didn't seem to be much at all! We decided to get a wriggle on to see if we could stay away and then our Vikings-train hit the gas and we were off. We then hit a fairly solid hill, which turned out to be the hill that everyone was talking about. I had seriously not noticed that we had descended down the hill on the way to the turnaround so was really surprised when I found I had to suddenly put in the hard yards and go uphill. I was still feeling pretty strong, so tried to sit on the front of our group and pace-make, and give the group in front plenty of warning when we were coming past so they could make the jump onto the back of our group. GCC rider #17 attacked at about this point, which was probably particularly good tactics on his part, but particularly poor on mine. I was shattered and didn't have the legs to go with him. But the gradient eased off a fraction, and a paceline started up again. I very much enjoyed the respite provided by Dave and Rach at this point (thanks guys!), but the gradient soon picked up again and I got back down into chase-mode. I had pretty much reconciled myself that I wasn't going to be able to catch GCC-rider #17 and basically sat up to go back to our group, at which point another GCC rider caught up to me (GCC-rider #18) and I jumped on his wheel for a free-ride up the rest of the hill. It hurt a lot staying on his wheel, but he was a big guy and I thought that if he managed to catch up to #17 then there would be no stopping the pair of them on the downhill, so I dug deep and hung in (only just, believe me!). We caught #17 near the top of the hill and I enjoyed a brief recovery section before I realised that #18 had started riding backwards (or so it seemed) and I was going to have to stop free-loading and start doing some work.
So #17 and I started pulling turns and somehow dropped #18. We were certain that we'd be caught by the group on the downhill as the two of us probably weighed not much more than a combined 100kgs. But we kept going, and going, and going. Each time I rolled off I'd look around and comment that I still couldn't see the chasers. The only problem was that I wasn't sure how far the race was, and I hadn't reset my Garmin after my warm-up, so I had no idea how much longer we had to go to the finish. I felt my legs starting to cramp on one of the final undulating sections, but somehow managed to stave it off to get over the line.
Coming towards the finish I was on the front, and knew it was going to be a sprint finish and the odds were stacked against me getting up. I started accelerating, trying to drop #17 as I knew he was tired and hurting, but he managed to dig deep enough to get around me and cross the line about half a wheel length in front of me. We chatted briefly at the end (when we had our breath back) and he was a lovely guy and I was really pleased for him that he'd raced so well as it turned out it was his first race back after a serious illness.
It was great watching everyone else coming through the finish line. Some excellent sprint finishes from some of our Vikings guys, but I think the day actually belonged to the ladies, with three of our ladies finishing in the top 10 overall (nice work Lee and Rach!). Goes to show that a race like a handicap can really be anyones if people work together properly and organise their groups. As for me, I was just lucky that it was hilly enough for me to get a gap and that I had such a great crew to work with for the first 2/3 of the race (and a big shout out to rider #18 for towing me back to the lead rider so that I could be part of the breakaway in the first place!). So thanks team!
We enjoyed some more Goulburn hospitality in the form of a BBQ after the ride, and then the Collector convoy jumped back on their bikes and tried to run the sunset gauntlet to get back to our cars before sundown. More beautiful country scenery, more fantastic company (albeit slightly more relaxed than during the race) and more great time spent riding our bikes.
Top day all round. :-)
There were 5 mins between each of the bunches, and I was in the 3rd bunch away. We rolled out and very soon had a well-working pace line formed. Everyone seemed very strong in our group, and there were quite a few big blokes that were pushing the pace up pretty early. I was feeling good though so kept pulling turns, and our Vikings / honorary Vikings crew were working really well together looking out for each other and giving advice re tactics, including when to respond to attacks, etc (big thanks to our lovely coach Simon D in this regard!). We hit a fairly flat / downhill section (which I must admit I didn't notice was downhill until the return journey!) and at that point I pretty much stopped pulling turns at the front and enjoyed getting a draft from a few of the bigger riders in the group.
Everyone had been talking about a hill at or near the turnaround, so I was most relieved when we hit a bit of a hill and I could see the bunch in front as I thought it was a good sign we were nearly halfway through the race. Sure enough, we started climbing and one of the GCC riders (# 17) went off the front, making it clear he was a pretty good climber. I tried to go with him but didn't really have the legs, so sat up and waited for everyone else at which point the Lee-train (we had two awesome Lees in our group!) came through and dominated and brought us all back together again.
We all enjoyed a brief moment of respite at the turnaround before we seriously started to think about catching the group in front. The turnaround was also good as we could see how much we had on the group behind, which didn't seem to be much at all! We decided to get a wriggle on to see if we could stay away and then our Vikings-train hit the gas and we were off. We then hit a fairly solid hill, which turned out to be the hill that everyone was talking about. I had seriously not noticed that we had descended down the hill on the way to the turnaround so was really surprised when I found I had to suddenly put in the hard yards and go uphill. I was still feeling pretty strong, so tried to sit on the front of our group and pace-make, and give the group in front plenty of warning when we were coming past so they could make the jump onto the back of our group. GCC rider #17 attacked at about this point, which was probably particularly good tactics on his part, but particularly poor on mine. I was shattered and didn't have the legs to go with him. But the gradient eased off a fraction, and a paceline started up again. I very much enjoyed the respite provided by Dave and Rach at this point (thanks guys!), but the gradient soon picked up again and I got back down into chase-mode. I had pretty much reconciled myself that I wasn't going to be able to catch GCC-rider #17 and basically sat up to go back to our group, at which point another GCC rider caught up to me (GCC-rider #18) and I jumped on his wheel for a free-ride up the rest of the hill. It hurt a lot staying on his wheel, but he was a big guy and I thought that if he managed to catch up to #17 then there would be no stopping the pair of them on the downhill, so I dug deep and hung in (only just, believe me!). We caught #17 near the top of the hill and I enjoyed a brief recovery section before I realised that #18 had started riding backwards (or so it seemed) and I was going to have to stop free-loading and start doing some work.
So #17 and I started pulling turns and somehow dropped #18. We were certain that we'd be caught by the group on the downhill as the two of us probably weighed not much more than a combined 100kgs. But we kept going, and going, and going. Each time I rolled off I'd look around and comment that I still couldn't see the chasers. The only problem was that I wasn't sure how far the race was, and I hadn't reset my Garmin after my warm-up, so I had no idea how much longer we had to go to the finish. I felt my legs starting to cramp on one of the final undulating sections, but somehow managed to stave it off to get over the line.
Coming towards the finish I was on the front, and knew it was going to be a sprint finish and the odds were stacked against me getting up. I started accelerating, trying to drop #17 as I knew he was tired and hurting, but he managed to dig deep enough to get around me and cross the line about half a wheel length in front of me. We chatted briefly at the end (when we had our breath back) and he was a lovely guy and I was really pleased for him that he'd raced so well as it turned out it was his first race back after a serious illness.
It was great watching everyone else coming through the finish line. Some excellent sprint finishes from some of our Vikings guys, but I think the day actually belonged to the ladies, with three of our ladies finishing in the top 10 overall (nice work Lee and Rach!). Goes to show that a race like a handicap can really be anyones if people work together properly and organise their groups. As for me, I was just lucky that it was hilly enough for me to get a gap and that I had such a great crew to work with for the first 2/3 of the race (and a big shout out to rider #18 for towing me back to the lead rider so that I could be part of the breakaway in the first place!). So thanks team!
We enjoyed some more Goulburn hospitality in the form of a BBQ after the ride, and then the Collector convoy jumped back on their bikes and tried to run the sunset gauntlet to get back to our cars before sundown. More beautiful country scenery, more fantastic company (albeit slightly more relaxed than during the race) and more great time spent riding our bikes.
Top day all round. :-)
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Goulburn handicap
Yesterday Rach, Tegan, Maja, Liz and I (and Simon!) headed away from the sunny blue skies of Canberra with a really solid Vikings contingent and headed to rainy rainy Goulburn for the Windellama 50km handicap.
Apart from getting absolutely soaked, it was excellent fun (actually I think the rain added to the fun, especially some of those limited visibility descents). The Valkyries plus Milto made up the whole of E grade (I'm pretty sure there wouldn't have been much of a race without the Vikings!).
Highlights:
- The beautiful old couple arguing about how to start the race - 'ready, set...' 'no! aren't you going to count down from 5!?' 'oh, alright! 5,4,3,2,1 go!'
- Sitting on Bec's wheel down the hill and getting up to 60kms/hr - my new speed record:)
- Tegs and I had a very exciting 5 minutes riding with the fast kids before we lost them up that second hill.
- Maja was a legend for not turning back early, despite invitations from the driver behind her.
- Finally getting to visit the greengrocers/cycle shop that I've heard so much about.
Things I learnt this time:
- A towel is a really good thing to pack for away races, as well as a nice warm change of clothes (as is checking the weather report before you leave home).
- In the last 3kms of the race, don't take a turn on the front unless you have the extra energy.
- Be careful not to accidentally find yourself at the front of a fast bunch and getting in the way:)
- Getting soaked is not that bad when you're working hard enough to stay warm.
Thanks guys for a great day - can't wait til next time!
Sunday, July 10, 2011
DBR Tour Final Stage - 30 min Criterium
V is for Valkyrie Vikings
The apparent temp was minus 2 or something, and it was beginning to rain as we set out on the last stage of the DBR Tour.
Exhausted, the Valkyries lost the main bunch on the first lap, and there was some serious confusion between the pre-race briefing which had said we would get pulled off if we were lapped by other riders so once I got lapped by the main bunch I basically stopped pedalling thinking it was all over. The other two B graders I was riding with continued on and it took me about five more laps to work out that they weren't pulling B grade out and were expecting us to finish.
I'm afraid the confusion and frustration of not knowing what was going on proved really challenging for me, so i had some pretty dirty looks on my face coming past the line - apologies to our team mates, supporters and coach who were standing there, it really was awesome to have you guys cheering us on.
At any rate, we actually finished the whole thing so im pretty proud of myself for completing the whole tour, and of my teammates for their awesome work.
I'd like to thank (in no particular order):
Our coach Simon Dwyer, for getting us here
Deciana for leading me out for 40.1km in the road race earlier today (i owe you many beers)
Anna for her inspirational finish despite a serious bonk that lasted her for about 20kms yesterday
Verity - if you hadn't entered, I wouldn't have had the guts
Andrew for helping me after the 80km RR when I completely lost my shit
Our sponsors; DBR & team fitness
Steven for keeping the bikes slick
Angie & Rosemary for all the efforts in the RR this morning
Cheska for the enthusiasm (and quality sledging - I'm pretty sure you won)
ALL the VIKINGS who were hollering from the course and waving from the lead and spares cars while marshalling - im pretty sure the out of towners knew we were famous
All the V-Mobile and VCC blokes who have supported us and mentored us through our training over the last 8 weeks
All the volunteers and marshalls everywhere and especially Cherrie for making it happen
Nige Huckstep for making us famous over the PA
Ross and Milto for the loan of TT helmets
Lee Sheather for your messages of support
Brad Drew for the loan of awesome Europro shoe socky things and knee warmers
Ian Downing for fixing my headset and putting my bike together so it just rides like a dream...
Simon's dog Watson
Mum, Ramsey, Alexandra & Kieran for coming out to watch
Jane and Sue Powell for the encouragement (and directions when i realised i had messed the course up)
the people who made the Bolognese for the OM NOM NOMs
anyone at all who has helped us over the last few months that i may have inadvertently forgotten in post race fog
the marshall at Coppins Crossing who gave me all his water when i was about to keel over
Bec Doolan for her support
All the Valkyries for cheering us on
Ben Long, for letting me join V-Mobile when id never climbed a hill before
the Vikings Cycling Club, for being Rad
And I'd like to give a very a special extra mention to Chris K for tirelessly turning up to the Valkyrie Skills group for the last 8 weeks so i could concentrate on hills, I really wanted the squad to keep going but I couldn't have trained properly without a trusted mentor to work with the SKillez girls.
And my last very big giant thanks goes to Brad Drew - lets just say we couldn't have done it without you, your enthusiasm, your mentoring, your encouragement and your sprints on the hills are what helped us survive through the tour.
We did it.
DBR Tour Stage 3- 40km Road Race
Big mental challenge for this one being tired plus early Start in the morning.
- great teamwork on the way out, thanks to Angue and Rosemary for pulling turns, the first 10km I thought I might not even make it at all.
Awesome race bunch work out to the first QOM up uriarra, we had those girls working really well.
Race champ award goes to Deciana for leading me the whole way and letting me have the final sprint.
Strong finishes from Verity, Ches, Angie and Rosemary.
One stage to go. Post race beers- 530 at All Bar Nun.
- great teamwork on the way out, thanks to Angue and Rosemary for pulling turns, the first 10km I thought I might not even make it at all.
Awesome race bunch work out to the first QOM up uriarra, we had those girls working really well.
Race champ award goes to Deciana for leading me the whole way and letting me have the final sprint.
Strong finishes from Verity, Ches, Angie and Rosemary.
One stage to go. Post race beers- 530 at All Bar Nun.
Stage 2 - 80km Road Race
Major points to Anna who finished despite an epic bonk an an absolute world of pain.
My bad luck continued with an almost DQ at the start line, turns out my brand new, warranty replacement helmet has no Aus standards sticker, then I got the course wrong and rode in to SFP and stopped for a good ten minutes - not taking off agai til Angie, Rosemary, Ches and Verity had passed me...sigh. I then set off again with no water Gavin sculler all mine thinking I was done. Oops.
Well done to Dec, verit, Ches and Angie all finishing strong.
Today I am using two good luck charms; one being my lutle fellas dog tag and the other being a plan to hang on to the D Train!
Brrrrr it's cold out there.
My bad luck continued with an almost DQ at the start line, turns out my brand new, warranty replacement helmet has no Aus standards sticker, then I got the course wrong and rode in to SFP and stopped for a good ten minutes - not taking off agai til Angie, Rosemary, Ches and Verity had passed me...sigh. I then set off again with no water Gavin sculler all mine thinking I was done. Oops.
Well done to Dec, verit, Ches and Angie all finishing strong.
Today I am using two good luck charms; one being my lutle fellas dog tag and the other being a plan to hang on to the D Train!
Brrrrr it's cold out there.
Friday, July 8, 2011
DBR Tour Stage 1 - Epic Fail
-staying up til midnight with friends helping to put bike together, lack of sleep and an untested bike was a stupid idea. But I could have told me that... Failing to prepare is preparing to fail etc, and I knew it wasn't smart but that's trying to race bikes and also having a career.
-borrowing lOvely white Rapha knee warmers makes you realize what great friends you have, but then getting grease on one of them then adds the stress of spending pre race time handwashing rather than getting to the race to warm up, so not ideal.
-borrowing someones TT Bars and having them put on your bike only to have them confiscated as illegal also not ideal and the time spent removing them really cuts unto a warm up, but live an learn etc.
-lack of proper warm up was just asking for the asthma attack from the beginning of the TT
-shake all that off and TRY to race only to drop the chain on the second hill was probably the last straw though.
-fortunately, managed to book in with the bike whisperer tonight who has also diagnosed faulty brakes, loose headset and incompatible shifters. FFS.
-borrowing lOvely white Rapha knee warmers makes you realize what great friends you have, but then getting grease on one of them then adds the stress of spending pre race time handwashing rather than getting to the race to warm up, so not ideal.
-borrowing someones TT Bars and having them put on your bike only to have them confiscated as illegal also not ideal and the time spent removing them really cuts unto a warm up, but live an learn etc.
-lack of proper warm up was just asking for the asthma attack from the beginning of the TT
-shake all that off and TRY to race only to drop the chain on the second hill was probably the last straw though.
-fortunately, managed to book in with the bike whisperer tonight who has also diagnosed faulty brakes, loose headset and incompatible shifters. FFS.
Monday, July 4, 2011
My first cycling tick – an ITT
Saturday’s time trial was over the same course as last weekend’s club time trial (see Rach’s post from last week). The women’s elite course started at the top of Urriara Crossing, headed straight down Uriarra road, past the homestead with a hotdog turn at 7.5kms near Condor Creek. This made for a 15km lap which we completed twice.
I was a little bummed we didn’t start until 1030 (the juniors started first), especially as I had to be showered and at work by 1pm, but it was really good to have a group of Valkyries and V-mobile guys to wait with. The guys were called up pretty quick and before I knew it we were on. It was my first ever held start (hadn’t even practiced one!) but it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.
By the time I got back I felt strong enough to do it again. I couldn’t remember seeing Linda (she started a fair bit after me) however I found out later she missed the turnaround point at the end of the first loop and nearly rode down to Uriarra crossing. It wasn’t until the final turnaround point at the Condor Creek end when I again heard Pat and Brad’s booming encouragement for both me and Linda that I realised Linda was right on my tail. She passed me at some point on the way back but this just gave me something to target, and for the last k or so I got down into the drops and gave it everything I had and managed to just pass her near the end. She obviously still got a better time but I wouldn’t have pushed that hard if she wasn’t in front of me – thanks Linda, you were my rabbit to chase!!
1) Just because there are signs everywhere on the road indicating a cycling race is on and the speed has been changed to 60kph doesn’t mean a crazy 4WD with a trailer wont race through the marshalling area at 100kph and knock out a witch’s hat. In short - stay off the road if you’re not riding.
2) I can ride at 30kph and drink at the same time
3) I can do both a held start and a hotdog turn
4) It is so good to be part of a squad and have the V-mobile guys to mentor us
5) Linda – missed the first turn around point and still got an awesome time for her first ITT; she may be quiet and sweet but she’s a tough little gem on the bike!! (Though this is becoming more and more apparent)
6) I need more ks in my legs!!!
Valkyrie results - ACT Time Trial Championships
30km course, two laps along the false flat and back. Conditions were a bit better than the week before - not as windy and no fog which was nicer to race in.
I was having a rough morning and actually missed the start, I think not having Ches in front of me meant it was hard to keep the pace up - certainly having a target really helps in an ITT.
Big well done to Linda H and Maja in their first ITTs - great results girls!
7th Rachel 675 01:01.35
8th Francesca 671 01:07.05
9th Verity 676 01:07.35
10th Linda 715 01:09.02
11th Maia 290 01:12.29
I was having a rough morning and actually missed the start, I think not having Ches in front of me meant it was hard to keep the pace up - certainly having a target really helps in an ITT.
Big well done to Linda H and Maja in their first ITTs - great results girls!
7th Rachel 675 01:01.35
8th Francesca 671 01:07.05
9th Verity 676 01:07.35
10th Linda 715 01:09.02
11th Maia 290 01:12.29
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