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. 

Adventures in Western New South Wales

I have spent the past three weeks based in Broken Hill, doing some secondment with with the NSW Mines department. The work has involved doing site inspections of closed mines, to see if any further rehabilitation work is required. Some photos from my adventures ate included in this post. 

I have travelled around the western half of NSW to do this work, from almost the Queensland border to across the border and into Victoria. The places I have visited include Silverton, Mount Robe, Cobar, Bourke, Wilcannia, Menindee,  Ivanhoe, Hay, Goolgowi, Balranald, Moulamein, Touleybuc, Robinvale, Mildura and Wentworth. I have racked up more than 3200km in travel, which has been interesting to see places I've never been before but it has been tiring and not conducive to riding my bike!

As I was away for three weeks, I did bring my bike with me because I didn't want to go that long without riding. However, due to the long days and the amount of travel I've been doing, I think I've only ridden six times in the past three weeks. Usually I would ride six times in one week!

I have discovered that the social part of riding is important to me. It is much more fun to ride with someone. It is not so much fun to ride on straight flat roads by yourself, particularly when you don't realise there is a tailwind until you turn around after 40km and you are struggling at less than 20kph into a head wind ....

I have also discovered that doing more physical work makes me less inclined to ride, as I'm already tired. Also that sitting in a car for hours saps me of energy. Cycling and being active gives me more energy. I also eat much better when I'm riding. I eat because I'm hungry and I need to refuel, not just because I haven't eaten for a couple of hours.

I have really enjoyed my time in Broken Hill, it is a nice sized town and everyone is very friendly. I've enjoyed living in a country town again. But I'm happy to be heading back to Perth, back to my own place, and to catchup with family and friends.

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.

Reflections on Women's Cycling

A few different events recently have caused me to reflect on the state of women's cycling at all levels.

Firstly, I have recently been to a triathlon to watch some friends race. There were many women participating in this event, from beginners getting out on a rusty old bike to elite racers with high tech gear. This is in contrast to most cycling events, whether races or community events, where the women's field consists of a handful of entrants and is dwarfed by the size of the men's field. I started wondering why this is. Why do women participate in triathlons but not cycling events?

One possible reason became apparent at a cycling event I did on Sunday. I completed the 100km City of Armadale Grand Fondo, which was organised by the Perth Integrated Health cycling group. It was a good event, lots of excellent organisation had gone into it. The course was clearly marked with arrows and corner marshals in tricky areas. It was a timed participation event, not a race, but there was one section where we were encouraged to race for the "King of the Mountain" (KOM) prize. This was a section of really steep climbing, which I attacked as hard as I could in the hopes of winning prizes prizes prizes :)

I rode most of the ride by myself, and had a good time in spite of the patches of rain. I had started the ride about 10 min after most of the 100km riders and I was pleased that I gradually caught and passed many of them.

After the ride, I went to the presentation ceremony as I thought I may have a chance of being in the podium finishers for the women's KOM (QOM). However, the organisers had neglected to consider arranging a women's category for the prizes. The top ten men were recognised and presented with a jersey, and the top three men were given cash prizes. As a last-minute attempt to recognise the women, the organisers found a spare Jersey and presented this to the fastest woman. A small gesture.

I would be so interested to understand how the organisers totally overlooked arranging a women's category for the prizes.

For the record, the fastest woman up the climb was the 13th fastest overall up the climb. And the fastest woman for the 100km ride as a whole was the 7th fastest overall. So awesome! I was the fourth fastest woman up the climb and 15th fastest woman for the 100km.

The good news is that after receiving feedback about this, the organisers have promised to do better next year. This may be an opportunity for someone to step up and sponsor the women's prize ..... :)