Life on and off the road

10:50 pm Unknown 0 Comments

Tara - my new ride for 2015
It's only been a fews weeks post crash and it's been all action stations on many fronts.

The first week was focused on assessing current state, verifying the scans and blood tests by the doctor.

I visited the surgeon who inserted the pin from my original crash to assess the impact of the fracture and bent pin. The good news is that the bend is minor enough not to cause misalignment in the clavicle and we can just let it all heal in place.

Then when all was confirmed to be good to go and heal, a little bit of physiotherapy to get some movement back into my neck, upper back and more mobility after coming to a sudden stop at over 40kmph.

When I setup my bike again for the first indoor session there was some great relief to get my restless legs spinning over, the blood flowing after days on pain killers and anti inflammatory drugs.

In summer it is not that usual for me to smash out an indoor trainer session, but the first few sessions have been an awesome endorphin rush. A frustration and emotional release while pushing the pedals from building up over the summer to get ready for my first race and to have that ruined and everything reset.

I've been dieting still and eating fresh, clean foods, my body was in shock and instantly I have been carrying 3-4kg more than usual making my whole body feeling foreign. I'm looking forward to the days where it all feels easy and the only hurt is the self inflicted push of the legs and burn in the lungs... ahhhhh!

A photo posted by Shane Miller (@gplama) on

In the mean time, I've been travelling for work in the last week and unable to carry bike bags so I managed to line up a session at Hall Cycle Training in Perth. These guys have the setup nailed! I rocked up early in the morning in kit with my shoes and smashed out an interval session on cyclops spin bikes with it all hooked up to a resistance power meter that took no prisoners.

The extra nice feature was the session was all recorded and saved back to my Training Peaks account for my coach to check out.

Post by Veronica Micich.


The next session I booked in for was at the Athlete Lab in Sydney. I had a morning free before work to wander in and see a group session in progress. There were rows of cyclists watching race footage and following an interval session all pre-programmed to their FTP. On the massive full wall projection they had each individual's power/speed/cadence up there so they could look at the numbers and just RIDE!

It was a humid morning, but the 50 million fans kept the air moving for my intro session that was located off to one side of the main stage. I have to admit that it was not my best day, but I struggled through the 5min intervals and felt more refreshed after a shower and ready for the day ahead. The workout files can again be hooked up to Strava or Training Peaks.

Post by Veronica Micich.

I'm not a gym girl and wouldn't know what to do in one, but I'm in my element in a spin room. One thing I noticed that impacted me was bike fit. Setting up the position (if you know how you like to ride) is really important for a good session and also for the long sessions to prevent injury.

I'm back travelling for one more week to some different areas in Sydney so I'll see if I can find some more places to check out and spin it up! In the mean time, enjoy the Summer people and I'll see you out on the roads when i can use my left shifter and breaks :)

A photo posted by v0nm (@v0nm) on

I picked up my new bike from The Ride Cycles - Her name is Tara! Fully equipped 2015 Tarmac with:

- 11 speed Shimano Dura Ace
- 40mm Roval carbon clincher race wheels
- S-Works Quark power meter

I'm looking forward to getting back out on the road soon!
Bike build in progress!! Check out that RAD paintwork!

A few extra essential items
The Ride Cycles putting out their best carpet for Tara's launch

Tara and Von at the BelAir lookout in Adelaide last month

Tara resting in the little ring on the side of Willunga waiting for Ritchie Porte to win the stage of the TDU.

Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race 2015

7:57 pm Unknown 0 Comments

First of all - I am so happy to get a start my first 2015 race officially with Building Champions Women's Squad in the inaugural Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race.


Post by Veronica Micich.

I was very excited to ride with our guest and great athlete Rachel Neylan who had been so strong in Ballarat to come second in the National Championships and had competed strongly for our team at the Women's Tour Down Under coming in 5th overall.

It was also great to be back with my regular team mates Minda and Lydia to race along side them and share training stories from the summer.

Fitting in some long training rides and short sharp efforts in preparation for this race, I was looking forward to the awesome gruelling course.

Here are the highlights from GreenEdge:


Unfortunately I got caught up in the crash featured around 2:20 on the video about 13kms into the race. I thought that I could avoid getting caught up in the wheels that were crashing on my right, then I was forced into the grass and I thought that with a bit of CycleCross I'd be ok, until some bikes slid across the grass in front of my front wheel and I got an awesome ramp and air off a pair of Zipp wheels at 41kmph, did an epic flip over the handlebars ending up by the fence.

I picked up the bike, reseated my bottles, checked my wheels and was back on the bike in only 45 seconds. Chasing, chasing, I could see the peloton. I got a mini motor pace and could see the bunch still pulling away. How fast were they racing? My ride was gone in what seemed like an instant and I motored myself along solo to bridge the gap.

Verita Stuart who had been caught up in the crash came past me after Barwon heads and I held her for about a minute then realised I could not go the same pace and we'd lost sight of the bunch. Another 10km or so I did a check on the shoulder and realised it was not so good. The Sag Wagon caught me up and I reluctantly got in the van. My first ever Sag Wagon experience - I was initially angry and then relieved when I started to get nauseous as the waves of pain hit me.

Blue line indicates the original straight line of the pin. Red box shows the new fracture site.

I made it to the finish in time to see my team mate Rachel Neylan being handed the awesome winners trophy and when I jumped the fence to give my team mates a hug I realised how bad my injury really might be. We had some welcome lunch to celebrate Rachel's win that was organised by our sponsors Feelgood Fitness Bendigo. I went home for a shower and to get out of the kit (which did not have a scratch on it) and headed in for the scan to confirm my suspicion that I'd re-broken my left clavicle.

Positive things I noted about the race:
- The team presentation the day before was awesome way to represent the sport, our sponsors and a nice public event. We felt special for those 2 minutes on stage.
- The setup and organisation was the best ever encountered in a race. Separation from the crowds, space to warm up out of the elements without having to pay for the privilege as revenue raising from race organisers.
- Great team entry, accommodation and good amenities for the athletes.
- How lucky we were to race on such prominent main roads I've trained on in high traffic and bad weather over the years.
I've got to take a different path to racing now to what I had planned for this part of the season. A few work trips in February and March with more spin classes than summer deserves, but we will see how I can mix things up for the next quarter instead. 

Thanks for all the well wishes and hits on the site. Over 20k now!! You Rock!



An interview of Rachel with us packing up in the background.
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