Sam Miranda Time Trial and Road Race 2013

3:09 pm Unknown 0 Comments

I have been excited about the Sam Miranda weekend of racing for months. It was a tough race last year when they combined A- Grade women with B and C. This year the A- Grade women had an NRS teams race that I was itching to be a part of - but my fitness is not there yet so I had to be patient and keep riding at my current level. There would be enough fun to be had anyway!

There has been a lot going on with Shane after his crash. His clavicle moved out of alignment and was not healing the best requiring surgery. It was all scheduled for Saturday and I'd be home in time to pick him up. An earlier spot opened up for Friday morning and it threw my weekend out of order. I nearly cancelled everything to stay at home, but my awesome family stepped in and Shane had a harem of Micich women to attend him.


Time Trial


I dropped Shane off at the hospital and started the drive to the TT in Cheshunt, about 30km further down the road from Sam Miranda Winery. It is a beautiful area that was not diminished by the light drizzling rain. When I arrived I drove the course out and saw the little wineries dotted along the 16km road that started to climb slightly in the last 3km. (course profile)


OMG top of the TT course after 3hrs in the car! WooHoo!


It took a few minutes to unpack the car on the muddy ground and setup a warm up spot out in the drizzle. Rego was supposed to open at 12pm, it opened up 30minutes before my start making it difficult to rego and get my warm up done so I'll be ready to hit the line HOT. Thanks to team mate Tully Lyster who registered on my behalf and pinned on my number while I was on the trainer. It made a massive difference in that critical window of time. Great to be part of the KPC team on and off the bike.


The start felt awesome, as I rolled off the ramp - no nerves this time! I got into a good rhythm and could see my 30 sec chick, Jo Riley up the road. I caught her at around 3.5km in and kept the pace going, keeping motivated and punching up every rise. The last section toward the finish flattens out a bit and I remembered to use my gears as Tully flashes past me to take out B-Grade 1st place. It's the finish!!


A good ride! I was really happy to have a warm and dry jacket at the top, thanks to Paul Taggart from Total Rush. The results were going to be published online when all racing was finished and the race organisers could get within mobile reception range. When I saw the times, I knew they were out by approx 30 seconds which would have altered the podium positions. I contacted Cycling Victoria who were already on the job to resolve the timing issues and they corrected those riders affected. I came 2nd by 1 second in the Women's TT.

The sun was shining at Sam Miranda Winery for the presentations for the TT the next morning.




Road Race



It was nice to jump onto the stationary trainer in the sun for a change as I warmed up, a quick change of thermal layers and I was surprised to hear in the bathrooms from Kim Wepasnick that they were thinking of combining the B and C grade start at 11:30, bringing the B-Grade start time forward an extra 10 min earlier. That cut down the warmup even further and I scampered back to the car to get all my food before the new start time! I mentioned the difference to Doug Armstrong at the line, but his notes said both departing at 11:30am.

First 10km of the 102km (ride profile) were just rolling turns, I misread my race notes I'd posted to my top tube and thought there was a sprint, but that was 20km in! Oops, I had stirred up the pace line for a little while :) I came 3rd in the sprint for B-Grade to Anna and Nina.

A little worried about all these hill-climbers, I launched an attack around 33km that split the bunch for a bit, but they came back together just before the first real Queen of the Mountain (QOM). I was in struggle town, but fought my way back to the bunch with Nicky on the descent.

Things really settled down to a cruisy pace on those long straights out to Strade Nero. I slid up the outside of the bunch as I saw Simone lead out Anna for the next sprint at 44km. I was sitting on Anna's wheel and came through 2nd conserving for the final 2 climbs from here on in.

Anna and I were chatting on the front when the road kicked up again around 47km in and I said "I'll chat later" as the climbers started filtering to the front and I started going backwards. I could see them just up the road but I was not closing the distance on the 2nd QOM. Janet Keily passed me over the top and I caught her again on the descent down to the right hand turn. I saw Nicky was still with me as we started to climb.

The Strade Nero was in better condition than last year. Firm packed and a little squishy, you had to pick a good line and STOMP up the grade that just kept pushing back on you. I picked up 2 riders from the lead group, but the lead group were out of sight by the time we crested the top. Janet, Nina and Danae bombed down the hill and I was YAHOOOing as we went. 40+ kms to the finish from here.

The 4 of us rolled sporadic turns trying to work out who was in the lead group until the sprint at 87.2km. There was a bunch of men that came around us a few kms before the sprint. Janet picked up the pace, I jump over her wheel and keep the momentum going, Nina launched past me to the sprint line - we're out of points by this time and the guys have taken off up the road. I look behind and we had dropped Janet and Danae.

Nina and I worked TT turns for the next 10km and we could see the guys bunch still ahead of us and their lead car is behind another bunch. It's OUR lead bunch!!! The car drops out of the gap and we accelerate to jump to the car, it's 5km to go and we can make it back into the race!! I'm excited that we've worked out butts off and it might yet pay off!!

Coming up along side the commissaries' car he shouts something like we can get around the bunch, so Nina and I filter into their pace line, we get sworn at/cheered on by some guys and pop out the front. I take the lead and bridge to our bunch, going past them who look like they are standing still!

There is a combo of swearing and cheers from our ladies group at our appearance, we're about 2km to go and the women's bunch picks up speed and swarms past me. I struggle to hang on and am at the back as we hit the 2nd last corner. I've used up everything to get back to the front and roll in at the back of the men's group that has now mixed in and have possibly lead out the chicks at the front! Oh well, maybe they will change up the start order next time so the finishes are kept separate.

I rolled around to the group puffing on the side of the road, Nina made it to the front and contested the sprint against Anna and Simone! What an achievement, I felt like all our hard work was not for nothing if we were there at the end :) The photo finish had my mate Anna in first!! She also picked up another sprint point on the road taking that jersey too.

When I got back to the car, I had an SMS from Shane couch commentating and confirming he'd seen the online results and I'd came in 5th (still in the prize money). Fantastic result considering over 50km of chasing.

The main tent had a spot to hand back transponders and get a free lunch which was greatly appreciated! The hot food went down a treat and I saw Sam from Hydralyte there who will be at Amy Gillett Grand Fondo too. Just after I said a big thank you and goodbye to Sam from Sam Miranda, the NRS women's race finishes and I jump straight into the car to head back to Shane in Melbourne.

... Things you think about when going max on the bike - why is there a worm on my shoe?

Victorian Masters Road Race and Time Trial Championships

10:17 pm Unknown 0 Comments

I love that feeling you get the moment you close the car door/front door and step out of the wind after a hard ride. It's all silent, your legs and lungs are tired, your cheeks are pink and starting to tingle from the sweat salt crystals forming and it's all over. I got to experience that twice this weekend at the Vic Masters Championships.

The weather was a pretty big player in the variables this weekend. A massive storm Friday night had blown a tree down in our yard, but not blown itself out by the time we'd driven to Lang Lang. It was blue skies and a pretty steady wind. As per usual the main topic of discussion was "what front wheel will be best for the Time Trial?"

I was assigned #1 and ready to set a good time. My progress has been slow and steady back to some form. I'm not where I was this time last year, but my last 2 Time Trials have been great pacing and pushing the level were I'm at right now.

Low and Aero

Really happy with the warmup and had my gear all ready, I rolled up to the start line as the last rider off. All the nerves settled as I had a chat to the officials and I was racing.  I caught the rider who left 1 min in front of me halfway though the 22km course. But with the way the wind played out, it was only a race to 19kms, with a tailwind home.

That final tail wind straight was not uneventful with only a single lane road, I had a truck laden with fresh veggies from one of the local farms come head on and only veer out of the way about 10m in front of me while I was ripping towards the finish line. I wasn't playing chicken on a TT rig! Further along I had two kids heading the same way on mountain bikes try in vain to "race" me and wobble all over the road that I gave a wide berth with 1km to go.

I crossed the finish line at 52km p/h and saw Shane sitting in the car a little further down. I waved and cooled down to the corner, then turned around to spin back to him. What I noticed when I got closer was the car was now stuck nose deep in the soft edge of the skinny road, totally dug in and obstructing half the road! WTF?!

Thankfully a local stopped and helped tow him out of the ditch a few minutes later. Lesson learnt after all the rain, the shoulders are a bit soggy!

Muddy subie, puffed Von, happy bike

All the hard work paid off with a GOLD in the TT. The official timing were a little out across the board, but the placings were ok and I was definitely a little slower than last year.

It was pretty warm on Sunday and the wind was still blowing, stronger than the day before! It was very reminiscent of last years Vic Masters Road Race, but half the distance.

The course was a beautiful circuit, that I found hard to appreciate. I'd genuinely love to come back to do the course again. Shane's assessment from the profile, that it was going to be dead flat - was not quite the case :)

We went out as a small group whittled down to 6 due to non-starters. Unfortunately they did not start us together with the larger group leaving after us. Finding our feet through the gravel in the driveway, and it was straight into the headwind, then when we turned into the tail wind it was ON!

We lost one rider rolling turns at low 40km p/h, I wished for a little minute the whole race would be like this. However after we turned the corner into the side-head wind and started rolling turns with the five of us, it was not so bad. Over a small lump, I thought that Shane was right about his paper assessment of the course profile, then I saw it. Don't panic! I wasn't sure how my legs were feeling after hammering myself in the TT the day before until we hit the main climb. 2 kms at 5.6% was like a slap in the face.

We'd lost another rider and there were 4 of us now. A slight reshuffle of places on the road and two riders shoot off the front and I'm dangling behind 3rd place. A kind word of encouragement from my competitor did nothing for my legs, and I could not go with them. I kept climbing solo and there were some nice winding green hills, then hit the ridge line and had to drop back into the valley.

At this point I am glad that I was solo as it was the most sketchy dry descent I've ever done with the cross winds trying to whip at my front wheel. I was leaning nose to stem and still getting swept across the road. Then it was flat to the finish and wind in every direction - trying to claw away at each kilometre. It was an interesting experiment of trying to mash away at a heavier gear to get back faster or spin a little more to get a little more balance and control.

At about 4km to go before the delicious tail wind section I lost concentration and my front wheel caught in a gust and slipped out. I felt the whole bike slip sideways in slow motion. As soon as I stopped pedalling I was at a standstill, unclipped mid-air and put my foot on the ground like nothing had happened. Mad ninja skills. A kilometre down the road it almost happened again and I stopped on the side of the road for one second to take stock. Nobody in front of me, nobody behind. I guess I have no choice - finish!

That crazy footage of dutch riders in crosswinds as seen on bigringriding

When the final corner came up I screamed thanks to the marshals and spun from 20 to 42 km p/h and was in HEAVEN! After the final left turn to the finish I felt a bit more like myself and crossed the line having earned every single km that I rode.  I came in first for my category, but I think anyone brave enough to finish deserved a medal.

Looking like I'd been assaulted by the wind, but nicely recovered with a Torq shake

GOLD - hard earned.

Amy's Grand Fondo 2013 Test Ride

9:42 pm Unknown 0 Comments

This weekend I spent with my super commuter mate Deb who loves her road bike and is attempting her first mass participation ride.  We spent a lot of time gossiping and also went over a few of the finer points of long distance road riding.

We went through how to: 
  • Bunch ride and what to concentrate on
  • Sit in a rider's slipstream so to save some energy in headwind sections
  • Pacing on longer climbs, cadence, posture
  • Descend on hairpins, sweeping corners, keeping momentum on rolling hills
  • When to eat and nutrition on the bike
Von and Deb on tour (nutrition pictured may/may not have been consumed)

It was great to clock up the kilometres and pass on all the small stuff that I've picked up and been told by others over the years in a low stress weekend over the route of the Amy's Grand Fondo course.



This year I have been invited back to Amy's Grand Fondo to be a part of the Hydralyte Women's Team after we won that category last year and I'm looking forward to setting a comparable time. We had such a great time in 2012, I hope the weather holds out and we get a head wind along the coast and a tail wind inland when you need a bit of a pep up!

I have to admit this is one of the nicest courses I have ever ridden, with full road closures for the entire 120km, feed stations, toilets on route and the most picturesque with both coastline and forrest. I highly recommend you come and join in the fun at Amy's Grand Fondo.

Me in my most winning moment with medal, jersey, trophy and giant novelty cheque. Shane being my podium chick with his own giant cheque for winning his age category.

Wangaratta Time Trial Open

5:55 pm Unknown 0 Comments

I was really looking forward to the Wangaratta TT. More time on the TT bike and another Open level competition, it was going to be great to get out there earlier and support our team mates who were competing in the Junior Vic State TT and Road Championships.

We were lucky enough to stay with Tony again and enjoy the space from the city, coffee in Wangaratta and a quick stop by Wes at West End Bike Hub. A short hello turned into a mini shopping expedition with all the unique items they have in store. 

The grey weather made warming up at the sale yards hard. The course was 19km T shape that started and finished in the grounds, I'd practiced my turns (6 for this route), but not in the drizzly conditions that started out for me. 

My new custom Kosdown Disc Zipp Wheel - custom made by Dyma 

The start of the ride felt great with another tail wind to keep momentum up. I passed one lady before the turn around.  The battle would be won or lost on the main section of road that was mostly headwind. My mind wandered at one point and I remember a guy passing me. Was he in my grade? Why as he slowing down? I nearly caught him when he turned on the gas again at about the halfway mark. 

I had negotiated the last hairpin and had what felt like nothing left in the tank but it was the tailwind playing with me! I heard someone cheer me on the second last turn, I tip toed around as I couldn't see with the drizzle and eyes streaming like my nose!

The last main section home felt fast! Riders were still coming out for their rides and I was flying home. All too soon the last turn came up in a blue and I braked hard as someone screamed for me to keep going through the finish. I sprinted out of the saddle and kept banging down through the gears to the line. Done!

Shane rolled out to start as I got back to the car. I was freeeezing cold, my whole body started to shake and felt really sick so I wrapped as many layers on as I cooled down. 

Bat Bike all tarted up with Thule and Kosdown

As I started packing up I heard the A-Grade men announced that they were finishing. A few came in and then I heard the commentator say that Shane had crashed on the last corner. It was too far away to see or get there, then I saw him roll across the finish line. What a relief!

Unfortunately the reality was not so good as he's now broken his collarbone, and I've ended up with a head cold. All fun and games in this crazy sport. The race reality was that we both came 3rd in our grades!! (Yes, even with his crash!)

The coveted podium envelope - collected by team mate Stephen Lane while we were at the Hospital

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