Forrest Grape Ride

My goals for the Forest Grape Ride were to ride as well as I could and enjoy the event. I wasn't driven to qualify for the UCI Gran Fondo final so that took some of the pressure off, but I did want to do a respectable ride and try to stay with my age group for the flat first third of the race before the climbs started. I knew I'd be riding at my own pace up the climbs.

We found out when we arrived at the race start that men and women from each age group would be starting together. When I assembled in my age category, I also discovered that even with the men it was a quite small group - only 20 riders all up (note to the organisers - it is very helpful to know things like starting grid order and start list before you arrive on the start line, as it can play a big part in race tactics and mental preparation).

We got the 5 sec countdown and then our age category set off! A very informal race start. I started at the front of the grid, but that may have been a mistake as the other women set off very quick and I was hard pressed to keep up with them. I kept expecting some guys to come past and help but they didn't! So I spent the first few kilometres of the race trying to bridge a gap to the front few riders in my age group, who had already started working together and rolling turns. Eventually I eased off as I was just burning myself up and not making any ground. Then the rest of my age group came past and I managed to get on the back.

The first 15km or so was heading east into a headwind. I was the last rider in our group and it was all I could do to stick with them. I was not right at my limit, but I was certainly working a lot harder than I'd intended for this stage in the race! I'd say it was about equivalent to a C grade race, which is a grade above what I normally race.

Then we turned and headed north, with the wind coming from our right. The thing with a cross wind is that you don't get much protection from having a rider in front of you, so you have to work almost as hard as if you are on your own. And they were still riding faster than I could do on my own - which meant I was working way too hard trying to match their pace so I could have the protection of the group, but not actually getting any protection! So I dropped off the back of the group, and another lady dropped off the group a short time after me.

I wasn't close enough to catch up to the other lady, but then a guy from our group who'd been dropped much earlier caught up to me and I got onto his wheel, then he pulled me up to the other lady and she joined on the back of me. The guy was riding a great pace, hard enough that I couldn't come past to do a turn in front but not so hard that I couldn't keep up. He was also riding very steadily so I was confident sitting right behind his wheel. Kudos to you, man in the navy blue kit!

Eventually the age group behind caught up to us (40-44 year old). I managed to pick up my pace and get into their peloton, and said hello to Sam. I stayed in her peloton for a little while, it was a nice big group so I had a lot of protection from the wind. But they were surging and I had already pushed myself hard to try to stay with my group - I didn't have the legs or the mental drive to dig deep to stick with them, so eventually they surged too many times and I dropped off the back.

I then found myself riding behind the guy in the navy blue kit again, so that was quite nice. I stuck with him until approximately the 35km mark where the first hill into Picton started. He got out of the saddle and started sprinting up the hill, but I knew it was too long for me to be pushing hard all the way up, so I dropped off and let him go.

The next 10km or so were the main hilly twisty roads along the coastline west of Picton. I had decided before the race that I'd be riding this section at my own pace, steady up the climbs and cautious down the winding descents. And that was what I proceeded to do. I got passed by pretty much all the other age group riders along this section, but I wasn't worried. Any notion I may have had of getting a podium in my age category had gone out the window in the first 2km of the race, so it was back to Plan A - enjoy the scenery :) And the scenery was lovely, tree ferns on one side and aquamarine mirror-like bays on the other side.

Near the halfway point (50km) the road flattened off for a nice section along the coastline. It was about this point that a lady from my age group caught up to me from behind. It was the same lady that had dropped off the main group at the same time as me back in Blenheim! I didn't realise she was still behind me. So we proceeded to ride side by side along the flat coastline road and introduce ourselves. Her name was Ruth, she'd come from Auckland with her husband to do the ride. We had a nice chat and realised that we were quite well matched in pace, and established an unspoken agreement to ride together.

Closer to Havelock there were some more twisty hilly sections. I slightly backed off my pace so that I didn't drop Ruth, who had confessed that she wasn't so great up hills. We got through that section, through Havelock, then up a nasty little kick to turn left onto the highway and back towards Renwick.

At this point, about ten people caught us up from behind, so we found ourselves in a nice little peloton. It was great to have a bigger group to draft behind for this highway section, but it didn't last long - they were just a bit too fast for me. Plus the wind, which we'd expected to be a tailwind in this section,  turned out to be a cross headwind. Nasty! After pushing to stay with the group, eventually I had to let them go - and Ruth dropped off at about the same time as me, as well as one other guy. So there were three of us, all pretty stuffed and sore, but all willing to work together to get through the next 20km to the finish.

In the nature of cyclists, without any need for discussion, our little trio started swapping off turns, each of us taking a turn on the front into the headwind, then the next rider taking over as we rolled to the back of the group for a little reprieve. We were working very well together, getting a good break between turns, but it was slow going into the wind and on very coarse roads. At least it was relatively flat, but that also meant there was no hiding from the wind!

I was counting down the kilometres by this time, my bum was sore from the rough roads and I just wanted to be finished. But each time I looked at the distance on my Garmin, less than 1km had passed since the last time I looked! We were also working so hard in the wind and on the rough roads that I couldn't get a chance to swap over my water bottles, and I was running out of water in my first bottle.

Then another group caught us from behind. We got onto that group, what a relief! But again, it didn't last long. The front half of the group had been working hard pulling the rest along, and I think they wanted others to help them out. When no more help came through, suddenly the pace surged - I pushed hard to stay on, as I really wanted to finish with my new mate Ruth. But I just couldn't keep up to the wheel in front. Ping - the elastic broke and I was off the back of the group. Then about two seconds later, I saw a gap open in front of Ruth and I knew she couldn't hold the pace either.

So Ruth and I found ourselves together again, this time with no one else to help. We were both getting quite tired by this stage, about 10km to go, so we just kept taking turns and doing what we could. We could see a few riders in front of us but neither of us had the power to try to bridge across to them. Then eventually we caught up to one guy who I'd seen pass me about 60km earlier. He got onto the back of Ruth and I, and he took the chance to recoup some energy.

After regaining some energy, the guy came to the front to do a turn, but he surged as he came though and I couldn't follow his wheel. Then Ruth tried to bridge the gap but she couldn't do it either. Somehow I got past Ruth then managed to get onto the wheel of the guy, but Ruth just couldn't quite stick there.

Then I saw the bridge that I knew was just up the road from the winery - only a few kilometres to go! This guy was moving pretty quick but he provided a good slipstream so I managed to stay on his wheel. We turned into the winery road, then another big group came past and it all got a bit messy on the twisty road into the winery. Anyway, I wanted to sit up a bit so I could finish close to Ruth.

I came across the finish line and pulled over - I was so happy to be off my bike! Then I saw Ruth finish only moments after me. She came over to me and we exchanged big hugs and thanks and contact details so that we could keep in touch.

Ruth and I finished fifth and sixth out of six women in our age group, which I'd expected. When I looked at the results I was surprised to see the fourth rider in our category was only ten minutes in front of us.

I found the ride surprisingly tough - I attribute this to the rough roads, which are hard on your body and sap your energy, as well as the hard first 20km of the race when I was pushing to stay with my age group.

I was happy with my ride, as I met my objectives to ride hard and pace myself well, plus enjoy the scenery. As a bonus, I got to meet a rider who was almost perfectly matched in pace to me, and have her companionship through most of the ride.

Letape Australia - 3 December 2016

My big comeback ride this year after recovering from my cycling accident in January was L'etape Australia. A distance of 157km with 2,800m of climbing, including two "KOM" climbs - it was a tough one.

I'd been feeling a bit nervous the day before, so I decided to try some visualisation. I spent half an hour or so the day before the race picturing the start line, riding at a comfortable tempo pace up the first climb, working in a group along the flats, and descending with confidence. I also pictured how much I'd eat and drink and which feed stations I'd stop at. The visualisation helped with my nerves as I felt like I had a plan for the race, and more control over the outcome.

It was an early start in the morning, up at 4:30am NSW time to get ready and get to the start line before the road closures kicked in. Good thing I had arrived a few days earlier to adjust to the time difference. Carol and I made our way to the start line and found Sam and Richard, then we were off!

Right off the start line, there was a 3.5km climb to get warmed up. Good thing really, because it was a bit of a chilly morning with fog on the mountains still when we left! The climb also split up the peloton very nicely - I had been worried about starting in groups of 800-1000 riders, but it was very well managed and not congested at all. I settled into a nice steady pace for the climb and was pleased to see I was holding my own - getting passed by some people but passing a number of people myself.

After the climb, we had a lovely 15km or so of mostly downhill, where I recorded my max speed of the day - 75.3kph! I'm super pleased about this highest speed as it has been a bit of a mental barrier to go downhill fast after coming off.

We then went through Jindabyne, and up and down a few more climbs. By this stage I had more people passing me than I was passing, because the groups that started behind me had caught me up. At some point Chris Frome passed me as well but I didn't see him as it was just a blur of fast riders.

After turning into the Eucumbene Road, the road was relatively flat for 30-40km until the sprint point at Berridale.

My race plan was to ride the first section at my own pace, then hopefully get into a group with a few other people for the flatter sections between 40-75km. Thankfully, I was able to execute this plan. I had a group of half a dozen guys pass me on a climb at the start of the flat section. As the road flattened off, I managed to catch back up to them and join into the group.

It was a good group, with the guys in front working in pairs at a solid steady pace then peeling off. I was a bit worried about whether I'd be able to hold the pace when it came to my turn on the front, but the guy next to me was great and we just rode at my pace.

When we peeled off the front, I realised how big our group had become. It was at least 30 people by this time. I went to the back, relieved my turn was over. It was a bit more chaotic at the back though, so I spent the next 20km or so trying to keep a safe distance from the bikes in front and save my energy. I watched the wind direction and tried to stay on the side out of the wind. There was a bit of yoyo-ing - they would speed up going downhill or be a bit strong going uphill, then I'd have to work a bit harder to catch them back up, then I'd be on the brakes again. But I decided it was worth it to stay protected in the group, as most of the time I was spending very little energy.

Then we went around a corner or maybe up a longer hill. The group got away from me and although I was working at around 75% pace, I couldn't catch them. There was me and another girl off the back, and we looked at each other and realised that we weren't going to catch them. This was only about 5km before the sprint point at Berridale, so I wasn't too worried.

We continued to work together and chat a bit until we got to Berridale. I did the slowest sprint I've ever done through the 350m sprint point - I was the 10th slowest female through the sprint segment overall! But I figured what is the point in sprinting when I have mountains to climb, I decided to save my energy.

Berridale was my first planned feed station stop. I considered continuing on, but with the chaos of being in a group I hadn't been able to eat anything much for the first 75km (2 and a bit hours) and I was getting hungry. Good thing I'd done some carb loading the day before to get me through.

So I stopped at the feed station, scoffed a quarter of my vegemite roll, filled my empty drink bottle with water and mixed in my drink powder. It was a quick stop and I was soon back on the road again.

The next 30km until the first hard climb of the day were more undulating than the previous section, so I wasn't too worried about riding on my own. But I was soon passed by three guys who I tagged along with, and for the next 25km I was riding in small groups - moving up to the next group on the climb, or getting dropped on the descent, but mostly managing to stay out of the wind and ride at my tempo pace.

There was a feed station 2km before the hard climb, Col de Beloka. I decided to stop because I needed to go to the toilet and my lower back was feeling a bit sore. Having done a recon ride of the climb a few days earlier, I knew it would be taxing on my back so I took the time to get off the bike and stretch while in the line for the toilet. With relieved back and bladder, I extracted my bike from the bike racks and went on my way.

Everyone was trepidatious approaching the Col de Beloka. At least I knew what was coming: a slight downhill riding in the big chain ring, then a slight corner and suddenly the road points upwards at close to 18% gradient. At this point you really want to have good control of your gears and be able to quickly get into the small chain ring and your easiest gear. You also want to have even more gears!

I'd been having some trouble with dropping my chain in the past few weeks, but I'd worked out how to manage it, so thankfully I had no troubles clicking down through my gears. I was also riding my bike that had been set up for climbing, with compact chain rings and a 32 tooth cassette on the back. Even with my (easy) gearing, my cadence going up the climb was around 50rpm. I was doing much better than a lot of people though - about 2/3 of the riders were walking up! And some of those that were riding didn't look that comfortable, doing the zigzag across the road to try to reduce the steepness of the gradient.

I just kept going at my steady-steady pace, reducing my cadence to keep my power within manageable levels. I did record my highest heart rate for the ride going up this climb though! It was getting quite warm by this time, around 30 degrees, and there wasn't much shade.

The climb is very tough for the first 1.5km, then flattens off for around 1km. There were some people sitting in a ute and cheering at this point, which was very welcome.

The spectators and volunteers were outstanding throughout the course. You'd be riding along a road in the middle of nowhere and there would be a small gravel road with a volunteer stationed there to make sure no cars entered the road! All the driveways in the middle of nowhere also had sandwich boards up to tell the residents that the road was closed. And at all the small towns and major crossroads there would be a group of spectators, most of them dressed in yellow (the colour of the Tour de France) with cow bells and kids yelling "you're doing a great job!" It was a fun distraction from the challenge of the ride, and very appreciated.

The last 800m or so of the Col de Beloka kicked up steeply again to around 10-14%. But it wasn't as long or as steep as the bottom section and I knew it wasn't far to the top.

At the top there was a drink station. I hadn't planned to stop here, but I was hot and I knew the heat could impact my performance. So I stopped, finished off the last of one of my drink bottles, then refilled it with water. I squirted some water over my back and neck to cool off, had another quick bite to eat, then continued on my way.

As soon as I started the descent down from the Beloka Ridge, there was a headwind. I kept down in my drops, trying to stay aero and keep my speed up. I noticed that when guys got to the top of a climb, they would stop pedaling, sit up and have a drink. Whereas when I got to the top of a climb, I'd get straight into my big chain ring, in the drops, and keep pedaling. So I was passing a lot of people on the downhills in this section.

It was about 25km to the base of the next BIG climb, the Col de Kosciusko. I keep up a good tempo pace, riding mainly by myself. My goal was to drink a whole water bottle of drink mix over those 25km, then refill at the last feed station at the base of the Col de Kosciusko. I also planned to get a few snake lollies at the feed station to give me a sugar burst as I was going up the climb.

At the feed station I saw Sam and Richard! It was the first time I'd seen them since they rode away from me heading up the first climb of the day. Sam said she was struggling a bit, and they were just leaving the feed station, so I let them go and got on with refilling my drink bottles.

On my recon ride I'd made it up this climb in just under two hours, so I figured I could do it with one sports drink bottle and one drink bottle of water. I thought I'd appreciate the water to cool myself down or to drink something that wasn't sweet!

Sadly there were no lolly snakes at this feed station, so no extra sugar hit for me. Oh well, nothing to be done but head up the mountain! Looking back at my data after the ride, I was pleased that with four stops at feed and drink stations I was only stopped for a total of 25 min.

So up the mountain I went. I was still feeling ok - not a bundle of energy, but everything was still working well. I knew from my recon that the first half of the mountain climb (12km) would be tougher, with little reprieve, and in the second half there were a couple of downhill sections for a bit of recovery. So I set off at a conservative but steady pace.

I caught up to Sam and Richard somewhere in the first 5km of the climb. I rode next to Sam for a short while, but there wasn't much help I could offer her at this stage. I told her that the smoothest bit of the road was the yellow line markings, I thought this would help her psychologically and give her something to focus on. I then continued on at my pace, sticking to the yellow centre line where possible.

Heading up the climb, I had the pleasure of passing most people. There were a few who kept pace with me, and a few that I played leapfrog with - I was riding at a steady pace, but they would ease off and I'd pass them, then they'd speed up again and pass me. But most people were struggling by this point - quite a lot would stop for a break on the side of the road, and I saw at least two guys vomiting - yuk! I also was very satisfied to recognise a few guys who I'd seen riding away from me in the first 10km of the race - now I'd caught them and I was riding away from them 😃

It wasn't easy going though - I was in my easiest gear, and every so often I'd get out of the saddle for a bit of relief. It was hot, so I'd also spray myself down with my water bottle when I got the chance. There were also SO MANY flies that I was riding holding the handlebars with one hand and swatting flies with the other hand. Then I'd turn a corner and be confronted by a headwind. The wind was actually nice because it was cooling, and it was strong enough to blow all the flies away.

Approaching the first proper downhill section on the climb, I was a bit nervous as on the recon ride we'd had a crosswind on the downhill sections and it was strong enough that I'd been nervous and on the brakes for fear of getting blown off the road. But today we had a proper headwind - I'd never been so pleased about a headwind! I wasn't getting blown off the road, and if I felt like I was going too fast I could use the wind to slow me down. No braking on the descents for me today!

I enjoyed the brief respite on the downhill sections. At the 5km to go mark I was still feeling good and thought about starting to push on harder. But 5km is a long time when you're averaging 13kph going uphill, so I contained myself and kept on at a steady pace.

At 2km to go we went through a small town called Smiggin Holes. There were groups of people sitting in deck chairs on the side of the road, cheering us on with the good news that it was only 2km to go, and the last 1km was downhill.

Another 500m or so up the road, I looked at the time - it was 1:59pm. We'd started at 7am so I thought "now it is time to push hard and see if I can get under 2 hours". I didn't have a lot of extra energy at this point, but I picked up the pace gradually to the top of the hill. Then the downhill started - I was straight into the big chain ring, into the drops, and pushing as hard as I could. I didn't have the legs to get out of the saddle to sprint, and it was 500m to the finish line, so I just went as hard as I could.

I finished at 2:01pm, but as we had a rolling start for 500m or so before the start line this morning, my official race time was 6:58. This put me in the top 40% of females in terms of total finishing time, but for the two KOM sections I was in the top 27% of females (ranked 33 out of 132). Across the whole field (including guys), I was in the top 46% overall finishing time, and the top 28% for the two KOM sections. I was super happy to finish under 7 hours, and even happier to see that my climbing was my strong point in the ride.

This was a very well organised event and the local community really got behind it with decorations in the towns and lots of cheering as the ride went past. There were also loads of volunteers who did a great job. The other highlight of the event was the course, it was very scenic, diverse and challenging, and it was such a pleasure to ride on fully closed roads.

Tour of Margaret River - November 2015

One of the things that makes the Tour of Margaret River a special event is that everyone has their own stories to tell. Four stages over three days, with 71 riders in the women's category and 448 in the open category - it is an epic event. And with each rider busy trying to recover and prepare for the next stage, many of these individual race stories don't come to light.

This is my story.

I had chosen not to register for the Tour of Margaret River, as it was close to the end of my road race season for the year, and I knew I would be ready for a rest by that stage. I was going to go and support my good friends in the Roues Chaudes Cycling Club, helping them out by cooking meals and anything else that was needed. Then two of their team members were hit by a car when participating in a charity bike ride in Esperance. They were unable to compete - this was less than two weeks before the race. So I decided to step up and fill in one of the places in their team. We had a team of five in the end (the teams are supposed to be six).

Finbar RCCC Women's Team, with RCCC President Dan O'Donoghue

Stage 1

The first stage was a prologue, a very short individual time trial. It was only 7.5km long, but included a lot of climbing up to the golf course at Augusta. It was an unusual format for an individual time trial - it was actually more like a team time trial, as each team started together, but each rider would be given an individual finishing time. It was a good format to start the race, as our team could suss out who was where in terms of climbing ability. One of the strengths of our team was that we were quite well matched. However, as I expected, I was the weakest in climbing ability. As soon as we hit the climb, I dropped off the back of our team and watched them ride away. I knew I would have to ride the climb at my own pace. 

I kept climbing, and about halfway up the climb I caught up with one of my teammates, Annie. We are fairly well matched - today, she stuck on my wheel as best she could up the climb. I just kept going at the fastest pace I could sustain. Then as it flattened out I eased off a touch to let her catch her breath, and she then took over some of the pace making. We also caught up to our teammate Jen not far from the finish, she had had some trouble breathing or we never would have caught her. The three of us finished close together. 

I was very happy with my efforts for Stage 1, and also pleasantly surprised to see that I was ranked third in my age category after the first stage. 

Stage 2

Stage 2 was the team time trial proper. It was 50km, undulating along Caves Rd from Augusta to Witchcliff. The team time was taken from the 5th rider to cross the finish line - so with only five riders in our team, we had to stick together. Stage 2 was held in the afternoon after Stage 1 in the morning, so it was a tough day. 

We agreed on some call words: "ease" if the pace was too fast, "up" if the pace was too slow, "on" - every rider to call when they got back onto the back of the paceline, and "off" if a rider dropped off. We also agreed on the order of riders in the paceline, to protect the slower riders from surges after they had done their turn, and try to position people behind riders they were comfortable to follow. This worked really well, as we all stayed together for the whole stage. I was one of the slower riders, so I did have to call out "ease" a few times, but the ladies were really good and kept a nice consistent pace up the hills. I also did shorter turns that the other ladies to protect myself and so that they could keep the pace up. 

One of the things that I took away from this stage is that I can push myself harder up hills that I think I can. It was really great training to force myself to stick to the wheel in front of me going up the hills, to manage my effort so that I could still recover but push myself harder than I normally would. I got to know Leila's rear wheel very well, as sometimes that was all I could focus on. 

Towards the end of the Stage, we turned into Redgate Rd. There was one hill on this road, it was tough work to stay with them up this hill. After the hill, I was third rider in the line. Then Margot pulled off and it was only Leila in front of me. I was thinking "please stay there Leila" - I didn't know if I would have any energy to do another turn on the front. Then Leila pulled off, and it was my turn. We still had 2km to go, but I knew I couldn't pull off the front as I would never be able to get back on. Leila had picked up the pace, so I just kept going as hard as I could. I know there was a motorbike cameraman taking photos at this point, but I couldn't even lift my head to glance at him. 

We were very happy with the outcome of this stage, as we finished 4th fastest women's team. 

Me leading our team (briefly) in the team time trial 

Stage 3

Stage 3 was the longest and hardest stage of the tour. It was a little over 100km, a circuit starting in Nannup, heading southeast to Greenbushes, Marrinup Ford, Balingup then back to Nannup. It was very undulating, with two long and challenging climbs. The first climb was only 2km into the race, but luckily for me the women didn't race up it too fast, so I could stay within contact of the peloton. However, they punched out the last 200m and over the top of the climb, so me and a couple of other women had to work together to chase back onto the peloton. 

The race organisers set off the women's teams first, in two groups with 30 sec gap between groups. Then the men's teams set off, with only 30 sec between the slower women's group and the fastest men's group. As expected, it became somewhat of a handicap race - when the fastest men's group came past our peloton, less than 10km into the race, the women's peloton merged with the men's and those that could hang on, did. 

I stayed with this group for only a couple of kilometres. I was towards the back of the group, which makes it harder as the pace fluctuates more. Plus, every time they went up a climb it was a hard effort for me to maintain their pace. Keeping pace with my team in the team time trial in Stage 2 was good training for what I had to do in Stage 3! 

So about 10km into the race, I dropped off the back of the women's peloton. I was then riding solo for a while, trying to catch my breath and happy to be riding at a strong but consistent pace, rather than the surges I was experiencing in the peloton. Then the next fastest men's group came past. They were too fast for me to catch onto solo, so I let them go. But when the third group came past, I was ready and I got into their group. Unfortunately, after I'd been in this group for a little while, a couple of the guys to my right and in the front of the peloton when down. I could see it happen and I braked hard and looked for an exit to the left. But by that time guys behind me had come around me and crashed in front of me and I had nowhere to go. I tumbled sideways, but luckily I didn't have any serious injuries or bike damage. My knee was a bit grazed and I was a bit shaken, but after a couple of deep breaths and a quick check that my bike was in one piece, I jumped back on and took off, to minimise my time losses. 

Most of the rest of the race way spent riding solo, getting caught from behind by groups, and sticking with them as long as I could. I felt like I did a lot of riding by myself until about halfway along South West Highway towards Ballingup. Thankfully a group caught up with me on that road, as it was quite hairy riding along the major highway by myself with only a narrow shoulder to ride off the carriageway. I stuck with this group until we left Ballingup and headed up another hill. I had been working pretty hard and I just couldn't stay with them up the hill. 

I found myself with two other guys, one of whom was riding at a perfect pace for me. We stuck together and swapped off turns as best we could, playing leapfrog with the other guy whose pace was fluctuating a lot more - he would power up a hill and then slow down. After a while, the three of us were caught up by another good-sized group of about 10 riders. This was a terrific group for me as they were riding at my pace, and there were quite a few strong guys driving the group. The terrain was also a little more forgiving, as the hills in this section were quite short, so I could power up the hills with the group, then recover a bit on the downhill. I actually found I was a stronger climber than a lot of the guys, so that was a nice change for me. 

Breathing hard uphill

It was a relief to be in a peloton that was riding at my pace, finally. However, I was getting hungry and it was hard to find a chance to eat anything on the undulating terrain, so I was getting a bit grumpy. I really wanted this stage to be over. I managed to get in a gel at about the 80km mark, which was a good move. As we got closer to Nannup the hills started getting longer and steeper. I managed to stay with the front guys from our peloton for a little way up the hills, but then I couldn't push any harder and I got dropped. I found myself in no man's land, faster than the slow climbers but not fast enough to keep up with the front guys. Riding by myself again, I couldn't see anyone else nearby so I just stuck to my pace up the hills. Some of the hills were so steep I ran out of gears, and I was mentally telling myself "just pretend it is an SE training session", with a cadence of 60rpm. Then on the downhills I would aero-descend, trying to catch my breath and give my legs a rest. 

I didn't know exactly how far this stage was, but I started to see more farmland and homesteads, so I figured we were getting closer to Nannup. Thank goodness! I finally finished, in a time of 3:20:30. To my surprise, I was only two places behind the lady who was first in my age category, and I had jumped ahead one place on the General Classification, to be second in my age category. 

I was amazed to find that I had finished only 20sec behind my teammate Leila, and my teammate Annie was only 50sec behind me. These time gaps seem so small over 100km, but I certainly didn't see these ladies on the road once we split up. I was amused to learn after the race that Annie had seen me crash, and actually stopped and asked me how I was. Quite a few people were asking me how I was, and I guess my focus was on checking myself and my bike over and getting on with finishing the stage, so I never even looked behind me to see who was asking. Maybe if I had, we could've ridden out the stage together and had a much more fun day! 

Stage 4 

Stage 4, thankfully the last stage, was a 64km road race from Yalingup to Witchcliff. This was another undulating stage, heading down Caves Rd, but thankfully there were no really long climbs like we had in Stage 3. 

The organisers had changed the start order for this stage, the women's groups started behind all the men's groups. I guess they didn't want the women drafting off the men; instead we had men drafting off the women. We passed a couple of slower groups of men and a few of the riders tagged onto the back of our peloton. 

This stage started with a climb out of Yalingup. I got tailed off the back of the peloton on the climb, but I wasn't too far back and I quickly rejoined the main group. It was such a relief to be able to ride with the main women's peloton for the majority of this stage. It was also interesting to witness some of the race tactics. There were 2-3 teams who were stronger than the rest of us, so there were a few breakaways who were then dragged back by the other strong teams in the peloton. At one point, one of the riders from the team who was leading the General Classification came down through the peloton and asked if any of us wanted to work. I thought that was pretty cheeky, considering we were working hard enough thank you very much just trying to stay with them. Everyone was pretty tired by this stage, particularly after the grueling Stage 3. 

Riding at the tail end of the peloton

The organisers had brought into the race a few pro riders, which various teams had bid to have riding on their team. On Stage 4, we ended up with Luke Durbridge riding in our peloton for about half the stage. He was riding with one of the slower men's teams so when we passed them early in the stage, he and a few guys from their team sat in with our peloton. I was thankful to have him there, as on one of the tougher climbs when I had been dropped from the back of the peloton, he towed a lady from his team back into the peloton, and I sat on her wheel and got back in as well. It's not every day that you get to sit on Luke Durbridge's wheel :) 

My legs were too tired to get out of the saddle and power up the climbs on this stage, so I was climbing in the saddle and using a high cadence to generate more power. On the last climb on Redgate Road before the finish line, the peloton pushed hard so I got out of the saddle and powered up the climb as hard as I could. I stayed with the peloton up the climb, but I didn't have anything else left to give, so they dropped me as they crested the climb. I also knew it was less than 5km before the finish, so I figured I could manage that on my own. Then a few other riders came past, and we worked together for a couple of kilometres, but as we were all so stuffed by this point, we couldn't push hard to hold the wheel in front. Our little group splintered, and I finished the stage solo, only 45sec behind the main peloton. I didn't realise I was actually the first woman in my age category across the line on this stage, beating the lady who was 1st on GC by almost 2 min. 

In the end, I finished 2nd in the General Classification for my age category, only 2:06 behind 1st place. I was very happy with this result, particularly considering I hadn't actually planned to do this event. I was in good form but I was also still a bit tired from doing Cape to Cape less than two weeks prior. Funnily enough, after the final stage, my teammate Annie and I had exactly the same time in the General Classification. She managed to stay in the peloton on the final stage, so that offset the time that I was in front of her on Stage 3. I finished 23rd overall in the women's category, out of 68 finishers. 

Podium for my age category 

Pretty chuffed with my rather large medal! 

AVCC National Championships - Road Race 29 Sept 2014

Last day of the AVCC National Championships today - the road race out at Chidlow. It was another rainy start to the day - raining all morning and the further east I went the wetter it got! It rained quite hard at the start of my race, but then the sun came out and it was fine for the rest of my race.

Only five of the women in our peloton turned up to ride the road race today, due to varying reasons. There were two fast ladies - Erin Kinnealy and Amanda Nabi. Plus myself, Margot and Leila. We had four laps of the course, a total of 71km. We mostly stayed together for the first lap, although Leila struggled on the hills. I think she gave everything she had yesterday at the crit! She was dropped early then came back, but then was dropped again before the end of lap 1.

On the second lap, Erin attached early - on the first short sharp hill. Amanda followed and I did my best to go with them. But Erin picked a really good place to attack - not only was it a hill, but the road was bumpy and slippery from the rain. I jumped out of the saddle to sprint up the hill after Erin, and my back wheel started slipping and sliding on the road like a bucking bronco! So I sat back down and powered up from a seated position, but that short pause was enough for Erin and Amanda to get a gap on me. I pushed hard for the next 3km, but couldn't quite catch them.

I looked behind me, and I had dropped Margot. She was at least 100m behind me. I decided to push on. I figured I could probably time trial better than Margot, and if I kept in front of her, I would win third place for the race. I only had another 50km to go - not much more than a 40km time trial!

So the second lap I pushed hard, at time trial pace. I figured once I got out of sight of Margot it would be harder for her to chase me. Without having a visual on her "rabbit" to chase, I thought I could probably get away.

Laps 3 and 4 I continued to try to push hard, but I was getting tired. The dead roads didn't help, my arms were sore from trying to tuck in and get aero on the descents on rough roads! However, I had the thought always that Margot would suddenly appear behind me, so that kept my pace up at a reasonable level. I kept checking behind me, and it wasn't until I was about 10km from the finish that I thought "ok, I've got this".

The last 15km I was counting down the distance to the finish. Tired arms, tired legs, sore back. But I still managed to put out a pretty respectable sprint to the finish line for the spectators!

I finished third overall, I've no idea how far behind Erin (first place) and Amanda (second place). I'm told they stayed together for the race and sprinted it out at the finish. Margot finished a few minutes behind me, and Leila was about 10min behind me. I got silver in my age group (Amanda was in my age group).

So, a weekend of three different styles of races, but I essentially did three time trials! Very happy with my one Gold National Champion medal and two silvers. Thanks to Sam Davis from Hall Cycle Training for my coaching, and to our sponsors Nicheliving, Puravida Energy, GoodEarth Hotel, Hays recruiting, The Vic Hotel and ThyssenKrupp.

A very special mention to Leila Spurgeon who won the Bill Long shield for the most meritorious performance across the whole championships. This is a huge honour as it is selected from all 165 riders who participated in the event. Leila was a well-deserved winner. In the time trial she rode so hard that we dropped her on the recovery ride back to the registration area. In the crit, she rode out of her skin to hang on for 40min with A-grade women, and then backed up to ride in the hilly road race today. Leila struggled on the hills today and was dropped on the first lap, but she continued on and finished the race. The referees followed her for the last lap, asking if she was ok - her response was yes, she would finish the race, but she was just going a bit slowly!

Leila is also a regular racer in the Perth racing scene, she races the UCI qualifying event, she races the West Coast Masters CC races often, and enjoys mixing it up with the old boys in D Grade :)

What a terrific example of a woman who enjoys the racing opportunities in Perth and works to the best of her ability with a positive attitude.

AVCC National Champs - Criterium 28 Sept 2014

The second of three races in the AVCC National Champs today. It was a Criterium on a nice flowing circuit in Rockingham. The sun even stayed out for most of the race, although when it did rain it felt like needles on my bare arms!

My race ... Didn't quite go the way I had hoped. As there were only a few women in each age group, they combined the 30-45 year olds. And the fast ladies in my race took off right from the start line. I'm looking at you Melissa Robinson, Erin Kinnealy and Amanda Nabi! I don't think I ever really got on the bunch, so I'm not sure if I can say I was dropped. I could see them riding away from me and I just couldn't do anything about it! I was trying but apparently not hard enough.

So, the first 10 min or so of the 40 min + 2 laps race was a solo time trial. I could see Shannon Arnott ahead of me, and I think I was gaining on her about 2m per lap - very gradually! Then eventually Shannon sat up and waited for me so that we could work together. She knew that if I finished the race I would get the silver medal for my age category, but because there were more women in her age group she was already out of medal contention.

We worked together well, swapping off turns about once a lap and getting lots of cheers from the crowd as we went past the start/finish line. That continued until about 5 min before the end of the race, when we were lapped first by Erin Kinnealy (who had about 30 sec lead over the pack), then by the rest of the field.

Shannon and I passed a couple of other riders over the next few laps as they got dropped from the bunch. Kudos to Leila Spurgeon and Margot Biggs who stayed with the bunch until almost the end of the race. Also Cathi Dixon rode very well (from the brief glimpses I got), coming back from injury.

Shannon and I finished together. The race was won by Erin Kinnealy, with Amanda Nabi second and Mel Robinson a close third place.

On the plus side, I was really happy with my cornering and it is nice to get a chance to practice cornering on a safe circuit. Oh and I got a very nice silver medal to go with my gold one :) Looks like I'll need to do some more sprinting practice before the crit season starts ...

Road race is tomorrow ... I expect it will be another hard day in the saddle!

AVCC National Championships, Perth - Individual Time Trial 27 Sept 2014

It was crazy weather for a bike race. Heavy rain and strong winds. The rain was so heavy on the drive out to the start at Chidlow that I had to pull over at one point.

My warmup was only 15min, but then I headed down the road in the wrong direction to the start line and ended up at Great Eastern Highway! So I had another 15min flat out to make sure I got to the start line on time! This actually worked out well because I had a good warmup and less time standing around getting cold before my start.

There were only two women in my age category - myself and Amanda Nabi, who is significantly faster than me. So I figured I only had to finish and I'd get silver, and how hard I rode wouldn't matter. But I have been training hard and feeling good, so I wanted to ride to the best of my ability.

Amanda started 1 min behind me, and passed me at the 5km mark. At this rate I figured she would be at least 5 min faster than me overall, how depressing. I continued on, trying to keep pushing down the hills as well as up, and Amanda quickly moved out of sight.

The course was 12.5km out, then a U-turn and back to the start. As I headed back after my U-turn, Amanda was stopped and trying to fix some problems with her wheel. I felt bad for her, but there wasn't anything I could do to help. I also thought - if I can stay 1 min in front of her then I might win the gold medal!

There was a head wind on the way back, which also drove the rain into my eyes. So I hunkered down as low and aero as I could and half-closed my eyes to protect them. And I powered on. I couldn't see much ahead, let alone the numbers on my Garmin, so I just went hard. I kept thinking Amanda would be coming up behind me any minute, and I didn't want to get to the finish and be slower than her, and think "gosh if only I'd gone a little bit harder".

When I got to 3km to go I was counting down the kilometres. I kept powering on. At 500m to go I picked up the pace. It turned out the race was 25.3km so I actually still had 800m to go! Keep going, don't ease up until you cross the finish line! Phew. My power data shows that I averaged 10watts higher on the way back than I did on the way out, which goes to show how hard I can go with the right motivation!

I crossed the finish line and waited to see how far back Amanda was, but it turned out her mechanical issues were serious enough that she couldn't ride so she didn't finish the race. Which means I got the gold medal and National Champion jersey!

I'm really excited to be a National Champion. Even though in the end how hard I raced was irrelevant to the race result, I know I raced damn hard so I feel like I've earned it!

Well done to everyone who raced today in very ordinary conditions. And a HUGE thanks to the organisers and volunteers from West Coast Masters Cycling Club and AVCC who stood around getting cold and wet while marshaling and manning the start and finish lines.

Great to see some of the old guys still out and racing - the oldest age category was 80-85. The 70-75 year olds looked positively sprightly! Inspiring. 

Also a special mention to Deb Kempe who trains with Hall Cycle Training and was the FASTEST WOMAN on the day. What an honour for a lovely humble lady.

Amy's Gran Fondo - 14 Sept 2014

It has been a long time between cycling adventures but this one was a terrific event and a wonderful weekend away with cycling friends.

Amy's Gran Fondo is held on the Great Ocean Road in Victoria on FULLY CLOSED ROADS! I did the full Gran Fondo, which was 110km. It is a community participation event as well as a qualifying event for the amateur international UCI championships.

The race started in Lorne on a day with prefect conditions. No wind, sunny skies and not too cold. We set off in our age categories, youngest to oldest, with one minute between groups. I was in the third group to go (35-39 year olds). We set off fast! Males and females were in the same group, so of course the pace was a bit quick with boys setting the pace. I think I stayed on the back of my age group for about 5km. 

I should point out that the first 36km was along the Great Ocean Road towards Apollo Bay. Beautiful scenery if you had time to look, but very undulating. Up and down and around corners. The hardest bits were the long uphills. Maybe only 500m, but long enough that I couldn't sprint up them. Which meant I got dropped off the back of the group. 

However, it wasn't long until the boys from the next age group came past. A big fast peloton, I managed to get a good spot about halfway down the bunch. I stayed with that group for another 5-10km. It was fine except for the uphills ... Then we came to a longish hill and I just had to go up at my pace. Goodbye peloton. 

But that was okay, cos coming up behind was the next age group 45-49 year olds. I got in their peloton and continued on. And so it went for the first 36km, getting in with groups and getting dropped. 

At 36km, we hit the start of the big hill on the course. It starts in the little town of Skenes Creek, and this is where we turn inland to the Otways. The climb is 10km long. It is not terribly steep, mostly around 6-8% with some flatter sections and some maybe a bit steeper. I knew I had to just take the climb at my own pace, so I rode along at a steady pace. Playing leapfrog with other riders - I would pass them, then one minute or maybe five minutes later they would pass me. 

I was pretty happy with my efforts on the climb but I was tiring towards the top. After the official end of the climb the road keeps undulating for another 5-10 km before the actual descent. I was pushing on at my own pace, trying to eat and recover a bit. Then a group of about four riders came past with a woman amongst them, she said "jump on with us, come on, you can do it". So I did. That little bit of encouragement got me going strong again. 

Then came the descent, which was terrific fun. Closed roads, no fear of traffic. Sweeping corners and a gradient that was not too steep but steep enough. Steep enough to pick up a bit of speed. Pedal hard, get aero, sweep through the corner. Check behind that there is no one coming, onto the right hand side of the road to get the best line for the corner. Look through the corner, lean the bike over, weight hard on the outside pedal to improve grip and balance. I was lucky I wasn't in a group at this point as I could pick my own line through the corners and really enjoy it. 

After the descent I was fired up and I was tackling the undulations. Hard up, fast down. Then the road got a bit flatter and a small group caught up to me. I was a bit annoyed when the guys pulled in front of me and slowed down. I was faster than them on the descents and on the climbs, I was sure. I keep coming out and around them. Then we got swallowed by an even bigger group, and although I was free-wheeling in their peloton, I realised that I couldn't out ride them. So I sat in and conserved some energy. At this point we were at the one flat section of the ride, so it actually worked well to be in a group. 

The flatter section lasted for around 10-20km. Somewhere in amongst this group I exchanged words with the guy I was riding next to. Something along the lines of "gosh this road is rough" and other typical things you say in the midst of a Gran Fondo. I was also having a bit of trouble with my gears, which he commented on. 

Then we must've gone up a hill and both got dropped from the group. He said to get in his slipstream for a bit to save some energy for the last climb, and take in some food. Then another group came up from behind and we joined in with them.  

Then we went up a hill and I dropped my chain going into the small chain ring. I had to pull off the side of the road to fix it, and watch the peloton ride away. The guy I'd chatted to was such a gentleman that he stopped with me. He said he couldn't leave me by myself. I got my chain on after a couple of tries, then I had trouble getting clipped into my cleats. I have new cleats and they are very stiff. I got one side in, then my new friend pushed me up the hill as I clipped in the other side. What a nice guy! 

The next 10km we chatted to distract ourselves from the upcoming climb at the finish and enjoyed the views. At 10km to go the road went up again, and pretty much stayed that way. We stopped chatting. But we did keep pace together. I was riding at the pace I wanted to, hard but not too hard, and it seemed that it was the same pace he wanted to ride at. Also finally I was passing some people! I had spent the whole ride getting passed by others, and now the riders I was amongst where more tired than me or worse climbers than me. 

The last 1km I'd been told was quite steep for 500m then flattened a bit but was still uphill to the finish. At this point Jayson, the guy I'd been riding with, said "off you go, don't let me hold you back". So I did. I heard him yell encouragement as I picked up my climbing speed. I passed a few riders, and eyed off two riders ahead of me with green labels on their bikes (in my age category). The 500m sign came quickly, then 200m to go, then I was out of the saddle and sprinting past the two riders in my age group. Yes! 

Past the finish line I found a place to stop and wait. It seemed to take a long time but finally I saw Jayson riding up. He came up and we thanked each other for the company on the ride and parted ways. 

This is one thing I love about epic events like Amy's Gran Fondo, other UCI qualifier events, Three Peaks. There is that bond that you feel with fellow riders because you are all attempting this challenge. You are all pushing yourself and dealing with what the event, the road, the weather or your body is throwing at you. 

The best bit about finishing at the top of a hill was the descent back down into Lorne. So much fun! Like the previous descent, I had some road space so I could pick my line and enjoy the corners and the speed. 

Then back into Lorne to relax in the sunny warm afternoon with my cycling friends, new and old, who had challenged themselves and were all winners. 

For those who like the stats, I came 9th in my age category, which was one place too low to qualify for the UCI finals, with 32 ladies in my age group. Eighth place was only three minutes in front of me. Maybe I could have beaten her if I hadn't dropped my chain, if I'd tried harder, if I hadn't thought I was so far back in the field it didn't matter. Or maybe not. I could qualify in Perth. But I don't want to race the UCI finals again until I can be somewhat competitive. Just scraping through in qualifying is not it. 

I'll be back to Amy's Gran Fondo. It may just be my favourite event so far. And I'll be looking to beat my time of 3:45. And have fun doing it! 

Thanks so much to the crew from Hall Cycle Training who I shared this cycling adventure with. It was a really great group with a mix of abilities - our finishing times ranged from under 3 hours to 5:58! But we all challenged ourselves and had fun. The trip was even better than I hoped and I look forward to making it an annual event on my cycling calendar. 

Goldfields Cyclassic - 31 May to 1 June 2014

This weekend I participated in the Goldfields Cyclassic. It is a handicap road race with two days of racing. The first day is from Kalgoorlie to Menzies, which is 132km. The second day is from Menzies to Leonora, which is 105km. The race originated in 1928 so it has a long and distinguished history. It is also the richest handicap race in Australia, with $40,000 in prize money across the two days.

In a handicap race, the lower (slower) grades start first and the higher grades start with a time delay. If the handicapper gets it right, the higher grades will catch up the lower grades close to the finish of the race, and the whole field will come together. In the races this weekend, there was 8-12 min between each grade off the start line. On Saturday, all the grades came together and there was a bunch of around 50 people sprinting for places at the finish. On Sunday, C grade caught D Grade, but A and B grade didn't catch them.

Another feature of the race was the sprint points. There were 3-4 sprint points each race, where the riders in the lead group could compete for sprint prizes and a sprint jersey.

I was racing in D Grade. On Saturday, I stayed with the D Grade peloton until the first sprint point, which was 16km into the 132km race. I had been feeling not that great, probably not fully warmed up as it was a bloody cold morning. I saw a few people going for the sprint and I thought "oh really? No thanks". But the problem was that most of the bunch picked up the pace, and those of us that didn't - got dropped. There were a couple of other guys with me, so we worked quite hard together to try to get back on, but without success. As the kilometres went on, we picked up a few other riders who had dropped off D Grade, and we grew to a large bunch of around 12 riders.

It was great to have a group to ride with, as there was a cross head wind on Saturday which would've been miserable by yourself. Actually I was pretty miserable even with a group. At the start when we were riding hard, I wasn't enjoying the pace because I didn't know if I'd be able to keep up. Then, after I got dropped and our group grew in size, it became easier. People were doing longer turns on the front at a slower pace and there were more people to do turns. Then I had too much time to contemplate everything that hurt - my bum, my feet and toes, my hands. The roads were made of coarse bitumen so they were quite rough and unforgiving to ride on. And the scenery didn't help - unchanging woodlands under a dull grey sky the whole way. The most exciting things we saw were a mine site and an abandoned house. That was it for 132km. Saturday was definitely a day where I struggled mentally and didn't enjoy myself. 

After my race on Saturday, I had no expectations or plans for Sunday. In my warmup I felt like crap, my quads were quite sore. But at least the sun was shining and it was warm. D Grade started off quite quick. There were a couple of little hills in the first few kilometres, and a few gaps formed in the peloton. Then the gaps became a split. I managed to bridge over to the front half with a couple of other guys, and that was the last time we saw the other half of D Grade until after the race. In the front half of D Grade we were left with about 25 riders, so it was still a big group and it was a strong group. We were doing rolling turns and I was working hard but coping. There was a head wind, so it was hard at the front for a minute or so, but then you would get a good recovery until your next turn. This continued on quite well until the wind changed direction and became a cross head wind. Then I found I was working hard on the front, plus working hard in the "recovery" lane of the pace line, and only getting half as much recovery time. I was working hard but coping. I didn't know how long I would be able to keep going at that pace, but I figured I would just keep going until I couldn't anymore.

When gaps started to open in front of me in the paceline and I couldn't close them, I knew I had reached the point where I needed a break. I pulled out of the paceline the next time I got to the back and sat on the back of the group with another guy to recover. It is still hard to keep on the back of a paceline, particularly in a crosswind, but not as hard as doing a turn on the front. I managed to have something to eat and drink and my heart rate gradually lowered. When the moment presented itself, I felt up to joining in the paceline for a few more turns. This continued for some time, I would do a few turns, then rest for a bit. I managed to stay with the group past the first sprint point at 40km. Then we got word from the support vehicles that C Grade was only 2km behind us. We kept working together but we were all mentally preparing ourselves plus getting in some more food while we could.

When C Grade passed us, I got on the back of the group okay. I stayed there for a couple of minutes, maybe. Enough time for me to think "yep this is fast but this is okay so far". Then I dropped the wheel in front, or maybe we went up a slight rise. All I know is that suddenly there were two bike lengths between me and the peloton. I was trying hard to get back on but just not getting there. I looked around and there were a couple of guys behind me. One of them came to the front but he went past so fast I just couldn't get on. Then that was it, it was me and one other guy, with 50km more to go.

We worked together well, swapping off turns and working at a similar pace. Then we met up with another guy, then two more, and we had a nice little group. We worked hard on the front and had a good recovery period before our next turn. We picked up a few more riders, and had up to eight. Coming in to the last 5km our pace picked up and we dropped a few people. Then we had a sprint for the finish line through the streets of Leonora, with crowds of people cheering us on.

My ride on Sunday was less miserable than Saturday, I think because I was working harder. It still wasn't exactly fun. It was satisfying to see that my endurance training has established a really good base fitness and I felt better as the race went on. I also managed my food and hydration throughout the races really well. This was an event that I really wanted to do, so I'm glad I did it, but I have no intention of doing it again!

Well done to the organisers as it was a very well run event. And thanks to South Perth Rouleurs for an excellent weekend. The buses, bike transport, accommodation and meals were all well organised and it was a great, friendly, easy going group of people. Plus it was great to have people to commiserate with a debrief after the races.

UWCT Perth Qualifier - Road Race - 29 March 2014

We were racing within our age categories for the UWCT Qualifier and the State Road Race championships. However, the women 19-49 all set off in one peloton. In my age category were two other women, the same who did the time trial. So I knew if I finished, I would get a podium for the UWCT, which is a qualification for the world championships final, and I would win the State Road Race championship (as the two competitors in my category don't have WA State racing licenses).

The race was 81km long, 10 laps in total around a course that included Perry Lakes, Oceanic drive, West Coast Highway and past Challenge Stadium. The last 5 laps deviated from Oceanic drive up the entrance to the Quarry Amphitheater and down Reabold Hill. It was a nasty steep climb, up to 14% gradient which was seriously hard work! Out of the saddle, even with my compact chain ring and 32 cassette! Even before we reached the big climb, the road along Oceanic Dr was quite undulating.

The starting list for the women's road race was a who's who of women's A grade racing in Perth, plus some interstate riders who were state champions and National champions. I knew I wouldn't be able to stay with the fast ladies for the whole race, and particularly not when we got to the last 5 laps with the hard hill each lap. My race plan was to ride as hard and smart as I could to stay with the peloton for as long as I could. Then I would continue to ride relatively hard to the end of the race to do justice to a podium finish!

I managed to stay with the peloton for two laps. The third lap along undulating Oceanic Dr, I couldn't keep with them. The fast ladies were also good climbers and every time the road went up, they pushed the pace. I pushed the first two laps but couldn't stick with them the third time. It was good timing for me though, as two of my Hall Cycling Training team mates also dropped off the peloton at the same time. Leila and Sophia and I formed a little group and we worked together for the rest of the race.

We pushed reasonably hard for the next lap, but we were still losing ground on the peloton and we lost sight of them in less than a lap. The rest of the race, we worked together very well. We were well matched in strength/fitness so we took turns on the front and worked within our limits. The three of us were happy to be riding in a little group, rather than by ourselves. We knew we were the last of the riders from our initial start group, so there was no point racing at full pace. We rode around 80% pace, so we weren't exactly dawdling either!

About 3 laps from the end, we picked up one of the other ladies who had been dropped. She was pretty happy to join us, and after some rest on the back she ended up doing quite a bit of work on the front of our group.

I felt pretty good, and towards the end of the race I was feeling relatively better than the rest of my group. I was getting up the big climb in front of the rest of the group by a good 5-10 metres! I think my climbing and endurance training for 3 Peaks was helping.

For the last 2km I picked up the pace, then Leila came through and did a strong turn on the front. Tracy, who we had picked up 3 laps from the end, came past for a sprint finish. I decided not to contest the sprint as I wanted to finish with Leila and Sophia in respect for the work we had done together. I also didn't think there was much point in sprinting for third last position!

It was good to work with my teammates through the race, having some protection from the wind, riding in a little echelon in the cross wind, and riding at a pace we could all maintain. Thanks ladies, great work!

Presentations will be in Kalamunda tomorrow after the finish of the Grand Fondo, but published results indicate I was third in my age category in the UWCT and State Road Race champion in my age category. Another good day on the bike!

UWCT Time Trial - 28 March 2014

The day dawned still and fine for our time trial at Rottnest. Perfect conditions, no wind until the last couple of km of the course.

I did a warmup lap of the course, which was much nicer than the lap we did last night in 35kph winds! Then I made my way to the start line, getting there about 20 min before my start. I felt so much more relaxed and organised than last year. I actually missed my start last year so getting there early was much less stressful!

The first rider set off, and then my nerves kicked in. I started 8 min after the first rider. Soon it was my turn to walk up the stairs to the top of the start ramp. A lovely gentleman holds your bike so that you can clip both feet into the pedals. Ten seconds to go. Start the Garmin. Five seconds .... and I'm off.

For the first 5km I focused on sitting at the right power level, not going out too hard. I was feeling good. The next 5km are the most interesting part of the course, we go out around Parker Point, which has a few fast corners, then some of the longer hills. On the hills, I was focusing on keeping my power within a manageable level going up, and pushing hard to pick up speed going down.

I saw the 10km to go sign (halfway point) and thought "Oh good that's the hardest part over". I was wrong. The hardest part of the course may have been behind me, but the section from 10km to go to 5km to go was tough mentally. Tough to keep working at the same power level.

At the 5km to go point, we turned into a rather narrow path with lots of tree roots. But from that point, it is a little easier to push through the pain, as you know it is not far to go. And mostly downhill. Sadly it was also mostly into a headwind.

2km to go. Across the causeway. Crosswind, try to tuck down and get more aero. 1km to go, push harder. 500m to go, go legs, you can see the finishing chute, come on, keep going, all out now. Up the finishing chute and over the finish line. Done.

I was relatively happy with how I'd ridden. Until I looked at my time and compared it to last year. I was 34 seconds slower this year. With an extra year of training and experience behind me, plus this year I had a time trial bike and fast race wheels. Last year I did it on a road bike. My reasoning is that last year I really wanted to qualify. I also didn't have as much data to guide me during the ride last year, so I just pushed as hard as I could the whole way, with my competitive edge driving me on.

What did I learn from today? That I'm not pushing myself hard enough!

The day wasn't all bad though. There were only three women in my age category, so I was guaranteed a podium finish even though I was 4min slower than 2nd place. But it was also the State time trial championships, and only women with a WA State race license qualify in the state Champs. Neither of the other two women in my category had the right license - so I got a surprise gold medal for my age category! Pretty chuffed.

Road Race tomorrow, it will be a hard day.

Pemberton Classic Road Race - 2 March

The day dawned cool and cloudy for Part 2 of the Pemberton Classic, the road race. I was racing in Women's B Grade, and for the road race we were grouped in a peloton with boys under 15s and girls under 17s. Because of the younger categories, we had a neutralised start up to the top of Pump Hill for the first time. So, we started on the edge of town near the Caravan Park, rode west out of town up Pump Hill, stopped at the top, regrouped, and then started our race.

We did one short lap, which was only about 8km, and we all stayed together for that. We had about a dozen women in B Grade, plus about 3 under 17 girls and 2 under 15 boys. We then went through the start-finish line again and back up Pump Hill, this time at race pace.

I started the hill at the back of the group, but I could see that a few of the women near the front were taking off pretty quick, so I got out of the saddle and quickly made my way up to about 4th wheel. It was a pretty hard hill, probably less than 5 min but pushing as hard as I could the whole way. When I got to the top, there was a small group of about 3-4 riders who had broken away down the road ahead of me. This included the super lightweight under 15 boys, and a couple of ladies. I couldn't tell if they were in the women's grade or under 17s - it turned out only one of them was in the women's grade.

I found myself with a nice little posse of three riders: Margo, Jane and myself. We have raced and trained together so we were all happy to work together. However, after I had done about 2-3 turns on the front I realised that I was going to struggle to keep the pace. Margo and Jane were good enough to ease back a bit and keep pulling turns, and let me rest on the back. This was going ok, then another rider or two joined us and sat on the back. I decided it wasn't fair to let Margo and Jane keep doing all the work, so I pulled through and did another turn, and the rest of the group came through and worked as well. Unfortunately for me, I just couldn't keep the pace. I stopped doing turns and sat on the back, but even that was a bit too much. Gaps kept opening between me and the group, and eventually the gap became two bike lengths, and then I was off the group.

I still had more than half the race to go, I think I'd only done about 15km of the 42km race by this point. I figured the rest of the race was going to be on my own, so I just hunkered down in the drops and pushed on at just below time trial pace.

After a while, I heard Nat behind me, telling me to jump on the wheel. She had three other women with her, but after I sat on the back for a minute I could see that the other three women were either not capable or not willing to work. By this stage I was feeling pretty ok, so I came through to the front and worked with Nat.

This was my favourite part of the race, Nat and I were working hard, working together, swapping off turns on the front. It was great to be working with a teammate, even if we weren't in contention for podium positions.

We worked well together, then there was a tough slightly steeper and longer 'undulation'/hill that we had to contend with, and one of the ladies who had been sitting on the back the whole time decided she wanted to breakaway up the hill. We clawed her back and caught our breath, then prepared to start our little group working together again. Nat went to the front and pulled a strong turn. Unfortunately, a bit to strong for me, I just couldn't hold on, so I found myself on my own again.

I was about 12km from the finish at this point, because I remember thinking "its just a commute distance to go". So I just pushed on at almost time trial pace again, not going flat out, but still working hard. I continued in this fashion by myself for the rest of the race, with the obligatory out of the saddle effort to the finish line to please the crowd.

I was happy with my race. I had no expectations prior to the weekend. I decided I just wanted to go down and race, have fun, and what happened. I was really happy to be near the front of the race at the top of Pump Hill. Now if I can only stay at the front until the end of the race .......

The Pemberton Classic was a great event. The road race route was quite scenic, karri trees on the way up Pump Hill, and cows and wineries through the rest of the course. The locals really get on board - there were tons of old painted bikes hanging up outside cafés in town, and there were hay bales with big signs on the course "viva la Pemberton Classic". There were even hay bales arranged in the shape of a teddy bear!

Well done to the organizers and all the sponsors - there were many of them!