Sponsorship, speed and Saturday's bunch ride

So I thought I would post about what for me was a really satisfying weekend on the cycling front.

It started Friday night at Siren Bar and Restaurant (http://www.sirenbar.com.au) where we met our new sponsor, and officially became the Siren’s!! I think that place is AMAZING! Worth the drive if you are not from the north side – really modern with an awesome deck and open fireplace. Can’t wait to ride there for breakfast in our new kit!!! - and can’t wait to try some of their cocktails.... they looked amazing!!!!!

Saturday we met at 9am for the Cotter/Urriara loop and it was my first time. See Ange's post below. Thanks for the post Ange – I totally forgot about my little outburst going up the three sisters... in my head I had planned a more appropriate expression of my difficulty but somehow in the time it took to get from my brain to my mouth it had been converted to something a little more passionate! I don’t necessarily think the 3 sisters alone are that much of a big deal but more because they are at the end of the ride that makes them challenging. I was also surprised at my efforts up Mt Macdonald.... while I LOVED the decent I was partly dreading the fact I’d have to climb back up, but it really wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be (and no where near as bad as Red Hill... (my nemesis!). Thanks so much for the ride ladies – and Simon! We had a really good bucnch going and was REALLY good to have Linda with us again. I had sooooo much fun!

I was down the coast Sunday so didn’t do the PROD – would love to hear how it went though - but I did get out for a ride from Broulee to Moruya along George Bass Drive. Not a long ride (hour) but I was happy to have my legs ticking over given I was only there for the day after arriving late Saturday night. I felt good on the bike – and, Simon, I think I’m starting to see some of our sprint training translate into my riding speed which is really motivating! Am really looking forward to tomorrows session!

So, all in all, a really good weekend – sponsorship, excellent bunch ride Saturday and noticing improvements in speed Sunday. The only disappointing thing is that I have acquired a (faint) jersey tan line on my arms! NOOOOOOOOOO!

See you all tomorrow!

Week 1 Sprints OPH

This morning’s sprint session was fantastic!! It was so good to have so many people to train with!

Attendees

Cheska, Anna, Cherrie, Jane, Rach, Ange, Liz, Tegan and Maja

Most of the group met at ANU and rode over to OPH however I met the girls there. I think I was a little late and missed the first drill however when I arrived we paired up and did a few loops working on bike bending around OPH – basically being in a hard gear and slowing down to the point of nearly stopping before pushing out a standing sprint in the drops. We then rode up to federation mall where we did 3 by 10s (again in the drops) up the incline and recovered the rest of the loop (10 revolutions in standing attack sprint, 10 seated sprint and the final 10 out of the saddle again). This was lots of fun as we did it in pairs however I noticed my loss of power as the reps went on! We then headed out to Mugga Way and did some bunch riding. I found myself at the front and Rach was by my side keen to control the pace with little sprints every now and then – I held in for a few but it got me a little unstuck and I dropped off on the last little ascent of Mugga way. Needless to say, the descent back to Deakin shops was a lot of fun with some friendly sprinting rivalry between Liz and Ange – great to watch!

We met up with the Vmaxxers at double shot and ended the session with a well earned breakfast and (for the first time for me) a few stretches!

Was a really great session today – thanks so much to everyone! Was one of those sessions that got me really pumped!

Sprint Training

Awesome coached session today at Stromlo Forest Park, with Simon unveiling his new look, post thesis!

Valkyries present were:
Anna, Francesca, Tegan, Rach and Liz.

We learned some valuable new sprinting drills which both gave us better technique and also had us working at a high intensity in short intervals.

We practiced one legged pedalling for a smooth stroke, rapid easy gear pedalling for cadence and speed, jump start Bike Benders for strength and kick, and then 'tenner sprint drills which had everyone working at their peak.

We then combined these techniques with our best Cavendish and Renshaw impersonations and ran lead out trains, repeatedly imitating the final two laps of a crit race.

Excellent session and thanks to Simon for the great on the bike coaching! I really felt my technique improve by the end and was surprised how much i was yanking on the bike in the sprint position.

Cornering and crit attack practice at Stromlo

Sundays training session was a difficult one for me, the weeks total kms were at a reasonable 250km target and after the race on Saturday I was pretty shattered.

I made the mistake of thinking the ride from Dickson to SFP would be a good warmup but i reality by the time I arrived with honorary Valkyrie Paddy for company - I felt shattered.

Sunday was actually the first day in a long time where I've actually really truly had sore legs - as opposed to just feeling a bit soft), and that's a good thing, because I hope it means that the sprinting on Red Hill really translated into something...I guess we will see this weekend.

Verity, Ches, Anna and I were the Valkyries present for this coached session, and helping us out were Coach Simon, World Champion Sue Powell (fyi - having World Champions at your training is pretty friggin ace), Alex, Paddy and maybe others but my memory fails me right at the minute...

We practiced holding form and 'Chase the Rabbit' with Paddy as the rabbit. I bonked on the first lap but Ches and Anna were in fine form.

The session was mercifully short, and finished with some lead out sprints - on each lap it was one of the Valkyries turn to sprint and i drew the card for the last lap. This suited me well as I barely hung on for all the laps prior - but:

A funny thing happens when the end is in sight. Rounding the top corner I suddenly remembered that based on average results in the last 8 weeks of training and racing - I had th potential to put up a pace the other girls couldnt sustain (give or take their ability to follow their lead out riders wheel).

So as we rounded the corner I started yelling to Alex, Up, Go GO GO GO, each time he increased the pace, I called again (which led to a few surprised looking head checks from him - he seemed to be saying "More Speed? For Real??"

I'm pretty sure I even yelled to him "Go, the other girls can't hold on". (sorry ladies).

We  managed to break away with a decent lead, but Paddy (leading out Verity and Ches) was quick to respond and my undoing was Collarbone Corner.

At this much faster pace, I didnt start wide enough and s left a giant gap for Paddy to pull Ches through in front of us.

I wasnt giving up though - I was absolutely determined that the last 8 weeks of training and being ahead of Ches (friendly rivalry in a squad is SO BENEFICIAL), and indeed the months of training since February when Ches was concentragin on Rowing weren't going to be defeated in a crit sprint.

So I hun on and as we rounded the last corner in to the sprint straight, she was a few metres ahead - but this is where I remembered my first (and only other) crit race ever, where someone pipped me in the last two metres and I'd had no idea, so I screamed past Alex (poor use of a lead out guy at this point) and HAMMERED it up the straight.

Paddy, doing a casual headcheck spotted my attack and yelled to Ches to push it which she did - I caught her at the line but she made it across the line first with my wheel in line with about the middle of her bike.

It was an awesome sprint.

Things learned:

• Always sprint the whole thing, you never know when a surprise attack is coming
• Ride behind your lead out guy rather than next to him when it really counts (d'oh)
• When you think you've got nothing, throw down the hammer
• Having a squad makes training awesome, the encouragement, the friends and the rivalry.
• Having a really awesome and supportive Club like Vikings RULES because great riders turn up to help us at practice.
• World Champions go really really fast

Go Valkyrie Vikings

Saturday's Crit training session

Look out, we are doing Science

Following Saturday's ITT we headed back to SFP for some crit training. After the ITT and the ride back to SFP I really felt like I had nothing left in the tank, but knowing I would get a lot out of it just tried to keep going.

We started with some skills drills, and were split into pairs with the great guys who volunteered to help us out. We rode next to our partner with one hand on their shoulder, shoved them a bit, and practiced leaning into them. Unfortunately that's where Linda came off her bike, but thankfully she was okish, and is hopefully on the mend.

From there we moved onto some laps of the crit track, practicing cornering and taking good lines, stealing wheels, keeping on the wheel in front (which I struggled with as my legs were telling me to its too hard, just take a break) and just getting used to people riding around us and gradually taking corners faster and faster. I think that by the end we were all much more confident on the track...and had made some good attacks.

Thanks Simon for the great coaching and to all the guys that came and gave us tips, encouraged and motivated us.

I was well and truly done at the end of the session.

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 sooo nervous as I parked my car at Uriarra Crossing but was greeted very quickly by Pat from the V-Mobile crew and he helped put me at ease and helped me find my way up the hill to the registration desk. One by one the rest of the Valkyrie’s arrived – I was really pleased when I saw Linda as I knew this was her first ITT as well. In keeping with their excellent form Verity and Ches rode out to the start and Rach arrived a little later.

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.

I had read Rach’s post from last week so I was in the know about the “soul destroying” false flat at the start, so I didn’t find that as too much of a shock... I also may have driven the course during the week to see what was in store for me ;) haha. What I found really surprising, however, was that most of the ride out to the turnaround point was really hard! I don’t know if there was a wind or if it was up hill but I was about ?500m away from the turnaround point when I started to think I would not be able to make two laps of the course. I was feeling pretty disappointed but I think that only lasted about a minute as I saw Pat and Brad coming towards me on their way back from the turnaround point and, with the loudest booming voices, they both yelled “GO MAJA GO GO GO!” It was so encouraging!! So I had a bit more heart pumped into me and once I turned around I was surprised at how easy the return ride was. I held a good speed, not quick enough, however, as Ches and Verity managed to catch and over take me, always in fine form these girls!! I also saw Rach heading out on her first lap after starting late – she was so focused!!!!

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!!

Things I learned:

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!!!

Climbing Reps - Variation

This morning was an awesome and really fun training session.

Maja showed some great gains on her hill fitness, Anna and Verity were attacking each other on Redhill then sprinting it out in the end, and I put in six efforts - most of which I was pretty proud of including one real attack that managed to surprise our brilliant mentor Brad.

New skills tried today were sprinting up a hill whilst holding the drop bars - thought it would be really shaky but actually wasnt too bad.

For me, after I had such a lame week last week - with bad weather in the first few days and then total lack of motivation the rest of the week (although our Coach did remind me I did pretty well in the ITT on sunday so not all bad), but it felt good to be training properly and with the group again today.

Post training coffee at Double Shot in Deakin was a nice catch up and we all agreed that having people to ride with makes it so much better - the dual effect of friendly company and the competitiveness of thinking "she's doing training, i'd better go too so she doesnt out pace me" are pretty beneficial!!!

There has also been a bit of Secret Janing* although we might have to rename it Secret Veritying, I did extra hill reps on Mon and Tues to make up for last week (which is why Coach is currently threatening to confiscate my bicycle unless I promise to rest on Friday) so I thought I was leading on secret hills, til Verity revealed she was doing secret BLACK MOUNTAIN reps yesterday!!!!

Super hard woman award goes to Verity attacking hills and sprinting with needles in her legs?!?!? Jens Voigt isn't even that hard.

Thanks Brad for writing a training report on Facebook for me to plagiarise.


Note:
Secret Janing*

*The not very secret practice of doing extra hill reps because you are hardcore. Usually involves inviting people along and telling everyone about it afterwards. May result in climbing hills like Lisa Keeling, who is an expert at Secret Windtraining.