Tour of the Goldfields 2014

I was proud to join Building Champions Women's Squad for the final round of the National Road Series. My teamies were the same as Amy's Otway Classic: Minda Murray, Nikolina Orlic and Tayla Evans.

This tour is tough! Not just from the terrain, but typically the weather is pretty bad and the racing is brutal for the teams to deal their final blows to re-arrange the final standings on the NRS leader board.

Specialized Amira ready to roll

Stage 1 - Criterium 20 laps around Victoria Park

This was the stage I was losing sleep over the most. I had not been training for crits and was hoping that magic would happen or it would all come together on the day. I rode into the crit circuit with Nikolina and rode a few laps of the course. When it was time to start they sent us around for a recon and I managed to move up mid-pack on the start line.

An angle of the fast section with Mt Warrenheip in the background

Without ceremony we were off and racing. As per previous years it was fast to the first corner, then we all came to a standstill while we filed nicely around and sprinted to the second corner and came to a standstill to neatly turn and go back to the start. The pace ramped up and up to the first intermediate sprint at 14 laps to go and I managed to ride the wave through that milestone.


On the back of the bunch

I didn't see any accidents which was a first for this crit and all in all the crit went pretty well for the team. I didn't quite make the distance of the full 20 laps before my group was pulled off the course, but did measurably better than last year.

The stage was won by Kimberly Wells from Specialized Securitor.  Results

We dropped into the local Women's Bunch ride to celebrate ROCKTOBER Women's Ride Month.


Post by Gove Cycles & Bike Rack Cafe.

Arthur the owner with Nik and Tayla admiring his bike!

Stage 2 - Team Time Trial 20km


The course for the TTT was the same as the one I'd won the Masters National TT Championships on a few weeks prior so it was very fresh in my mind. The wind direction was what I had trained for in the months leading up so I was pretty confident that we would do a good ride.

We had only practiced once that morning riding together in formation, so it was unknown how far we could push each other above threshold. The main time gains would be made up on the way out into the headwind and we didn't want to lose anyone coming back.


Fence starts were a new addition to my skill set!
As team captain for the stage I ran through a few scenarios with the ladies about how we could indicate we were rolling off, or how to work together on the hills before the start and we nailed every aspect of the ride. One thing to work on is the Turn Around and pacing as a unit, but overall this was the best TTT I've ridden. Having evenly matched riders and positive cohesive group was so motivating. I was ecstatic when we got back in and felt that we had given it a good crack.

It was also great to see a few familiar faces of ladies who we'd met at Gove Cycles, out watching our TTT!

Von on the front setting up a good echelon. 

The overall result was 8th and 2:46 from the winning team of Holden Women's Cycling Team. There were 2 other teams that crashed on separate incidents and had riders that withdrew from the race.

Stage 3 - Road Race 56km Windmill Circuit


Over the last few years this stage has been like a criterium to the first sprint and onward to the QOM. With the brutal headwind, the pace was pretty low heading out and I was able to position well out of trouble. I made it over the top of the QOM with the nervous bunch, however the wind was relentless and we were strung out into the descent.

Narrow roads to the QOM
A few riders struggled to keep contact and half the field was unhitched. I struggled to try close the gap and came un-hitched and dropped off the back of the peloton.

Totally spent, I gathered myself for the chase. It was all downhill with a headwind but they were still getting away from me. Before I knew it, the convoy of cars started to stream around me and without much protection from the wind, I couldn't move up and they took off.

The bunch strung out on the back roads

Later a van came past and yelled that there was a bunch behind me so I had a gel, sat up and jumped on the group of 6 or so riders that were rolling turns into the wind.

Further down the road I saw a kangaroo jump alongside the group and cross over and back in front of our little gruppetto before we outran it. 10km on I started to get leg cramps and stopped pedalling. My day was over and it was going to be a long way home solo.

The winner was Davina Summers from Boss Racing in a fast tail wind bunch sprint. Results

 

Stage 4 - 83km Kryal Castle loops to the top of Mt Warrenheip.


I was ready for this stage and hungry for some better results. Last year I was with the bunch to the last 3 km where it started to climb and I knew that it was possible to do the same.

The start was delayed by 30mins due to critical medical support not being available, but eventually we shrugged off our jackets and rolled out from Kryal Castle. The ripping tail wind was fast and I was ready for the rolling attacks where riders launched off the front of the group, soon to be swallowed back up. The pinch at the river crossing was a critical point and I moved right up to the front to give myself a chance to get over the top as there was a left turn and a sprint point a few kms up the road.

The group winding around to Old Melbourne Rd

Into the next lap, the group had whittled down and I felt good after the tail wind section when I noticed Kimberly Wells wind up and take off. I launched off after her with Carly McKay and a rider from Tazzy. We got a gap before the corner and rolled turns for a few kms up the road. I calculated where I wanted to be for the pinch and in the break blowing myself up was not the right place as it was going to get caught by the sprint point.

I dropped back to the peloton and as predicted the break was swallowed up before the sprint. I didn't make it into the final half lap, as I came unstuck in the cross winds again but I did see a few familiar faces from Gove Cycles ladies shop ride watching from the roundabout.

Kimberly and Carly climbing the pinch

Totally delirious, we followed the final kms of the race back to the car park of Kryal Castle. Ruth Corset won the stage in an epic show of strength.  Results



Overall I can see where I need to improve and the massive gap to leap from club, to state, to national and to elite level. Bike riding takes a lot of hard work and it's a good thing that it is so enjoyable to train and socialize when we're not racing.

The awesome crew from Thule have supported my escapades to do the second half of the 2014 NRS and now I get to repay the favour at the Thule Bright 24 festival of Mountain Bike! It's not really going to be work when they have setup a great spot in the centre of Bright with food stalls, outdoor movies, demo bikes and of course the  Bright Brewery!

Warm-up on the TT bike in the Thule kit!

A big thanks also to Building Champions Women's Squad. Nicole McNamara approached me in April to join them as a guest later in the year and then coaxed me to guest ride for a few more NRS races in 2014. It's been a great introduction to teams racing where I have not had to lead and where I could learn so much more than racing for myself. The ladies on the squad have been so welcoming and sharing, it has been a life changing experience to do good, and do it well. I wish them all the best for 2015 and beyond as I really do see them "Building Champions".

Post by Building Champions Squad.

Australian Masters Road Championships 2014

Most of this second part of the year has been in training for the Master Road National Championships. The preparation was all coming together well, I hadn't got sick over winter or had any crashes or injuries and even better, the race was to be held in my home town of Ballarat. I'd entered all three events (TT, Crit and Road Race) with no real expectations of results as last year I'd come in 5th and 3rd in 2012. It all depended who would ride well on the day.

Post by Kosdown Performance Cycling.


Shane and I headed down the day before the competition to do the warm up and had a special treat to meet up with Stephen and get some pics for the Courier and TV time on the local news channel. I was really excited, but realistically they were scraping for content as the footy season was over!



We were on the news that night and in the paper the next morning which was nice to see and made a bit of a spectacle of us riding up and back a country lane with nobody watching.

I've made the back page of The Courier - I'm big in Ballarat!
Shane got a bit of a write up inside the Sports section

Time Trial

Everything went to plan on the Time Trial except the forecast of sunny 20 degrees was a drizzly grey/cold morning instead. We found a great warm-up place near the start, got the equipment checked early with no problems, warm-up went to schedule with no hiccups and in no time at all the clock was counting down with me on the ramp.


Mad beats - Time to get a good tune stuck in your head!
It was a familiar ramp with familiar people, but I was not used to be held side-on like I have seen at the track. I was a little timid until Dave Morgan reminded me to look up the road!!!


Ready to roll!
I was off and rolling with the tail wind and everything felt great. The next section was side/head wind and I pushed on through it till the roller hills. I passed one rider through there on a road bike and it added to the motivation for the boring long headwind section to the turn around. I'd practiced it enough to know I had to keep aero and keep the pace on, but when I looked up the road there were cones blocking off the road and the turn-around was sooner than I expected. NO WAY!

A moment of confusion while I made hand signals with the marshal to indicate that this was REALLY the turn? Then it was tailwind after I'd turned around and I could get a mini break for a moment, but the visual reminder that there were riders chasing me and others up the road that wanted to be on the top step of that podium too.


Zippedy do dah! Stay aero!

I passed another rider on the way home on the hills and another rider further along... I think, it was all a blur to get to the final corner. I'd taken the final corner in the aero bars before and had almost made it around when that nasty headwind grabbed my front wheel. I wrenched it back under me and just managed to keep out of the gravel to punch hard on the way home.

Every other time this part was a tailwind. I'm not sure how much I had left at this point. I just wanted to get home NOW. When I realised there was a chance of making it under 30minutes it spurred me on. I finished with everything left on the road and gasping for air like a fish out of water with a time of 28:20.92.


Finale! We're done!
Once I composed myself a little more, I rolled back to the car to get on the wind trainer and cool down. All riders were back for WMAS1 and I'd come in fastest by 12.9 seconds (results) and I was now National TT Champion! WinTV completed a good 5minute interview and about 5 seconds of that has been included on the news that night.



It still doesn't seem real now. I've hung the medal up in my trophy cabinet and drunk the lovely wine from Sam Miranda Winery and the record books can do the rest.

Podium Action - 2nd Leanne Davies, 3rd Erin Kinnealy

Criterium

I was feeling a little rushed when it came down to the time to start the crit. Somehow I'd forgotten to organise lunch and I was on the wind trainer trying to coax the legs into getting all speedy and warmed up while I digested a hasty sandwich from earlier. By the time I rolled up to the start line everyone had signed on and I was trying to work out who the competition was. This time we were racing with Masters 2 in a combined group and were identified by headbands.

We rolled out and it was pretty controlled for the first lap, then attacks surged on from different groups but it made no sense that there were ladies chasing down other grades and keeping the bunch together. I tried a few attacks to raise the pace at different points around the course, but nothing stuck and there was not really anyone keen to keep the pace high. I didn't want to get it to come down to a bunch sprint but I was getting chased by everything that moved.


Sure enough the lead-out started, in the last corner before the finishing straight there was a bad move and one girl ended up riding in the grass and lots of shouting going on. This messed up my front runner chance, but I thought I was in for 3rd until just before the line I saw another headband pop into view and I was 4th overall.

The Results online are about as confusing as the race finish!

Danielle Garden - Bronze Womens Masters 1, Veronica Micich - 4th Womens Masters 1. Criterium @ Victoria Park. PHOTO: ADAM TRAFFORD

 Road Race

There was an extra day of rest before the road race. I always said there was NO WAY I'd ever do the elite nationals as I would be dropped on the first lap. Now this was my chance to ride the same course (3 big loops in this case) and put my money where my mouth was. There was massive expectation to win this race for my grade. I reset my expectations pretty early that this would not be the case, but I desperately wanted to get at least a top ten. We were going to race as a whole group of Masters 1,2 and 3 with no headbands and not in number order.


The start line trying to stay calm before the storm
We rolled out quite civilised and set a good tempo up the climb with Bridie O'Donnell and Jessica Toghill on the front until a rider from QLD rolled to the front and proceeded to rip our legs off. I made it up the first section with the group, but after the left-hand turn I was slipping through the pack. By the time the main climbing group had crested the KOM I could just see their wheels and gasp to CHASE! It seemed like there was nobody behind me, but suddenly on the descent we'd formed a group of 6 and managed to catch them in a few kms of hard work.

I'd burnt a book of matches doing this and started coughing up a lung. It hurt so bad to breathe and tasted like blood. In no time at all we were descending into town and taking on the climb again. I started up the front with Nicole Whitburn and didn't quite make it as far as the previous lap before everything was hurting again and I was going back through the pack. By the time I'd made it over the KOM they were out of sight and I noticed a few familiar faces join me for the chase.

Cresting the top of Bunninyong - yowch!

We had a bigger group chasing this time but we never caught the leaders again. Working together through the back section we nearly got to the follow car again, but lost group motivation. The next time we saw the follow car was heading up the hill again for the final lap.

Our group shattered and I just gave it all I could to keep on the pace and keep up on the final climb. We reformed into an even bigger group rolling consistent turns and started sweeping up riders. I was floored when I saw three riders rolling alone with about 10km to go. They were the Masters 1 race leaders! The lady I trailed 1 point behind to win champion of champions jersey was right there... and I had nothing left.


Early on in the race through town

As I helped make the catch right before the descent I couldn't believe it was going to come down to another bunch sprint for medals. I'd ridden the last section a few times ripping out some great sprints so I knew it was possible. We had a mixed bunch in our group, but I didn't think there were any other podium places left for the other grades, so it was a matter of picking through the finishers to get over the line first.

I was on Lisa Hanley's wheel and let her know. When we rolled in faster and surged on I was out of position and boxed in around MAS2 riders and it was all over, I rolled in for 5th overall. (Results - they divided the results)

It was finally over with a tough course and strong competition where anyone of us could have been the winner if it was up to the gods! I was pretty disappointed, but relieved it was all over and I could just rest. I must have been pretty tired when I got back to my parents place I fell asleep outside on the sun lounge fully kitted up.

My mini mention in Shane's article in the Wimmera Mail Times

Well the training will need to step up next year as I move up to Masters 2 category and they are FAST! Looking forward to that journey and I hope you join me on the adventure.

Amy's Otway Classic 2014

The last few years I have competed in Amy's Gran Fondo and had an absolute ball! First year winning the women's team classification and last year just off the podium for 4th in my age category. It is such an amazing course with fully closed roads and we were again blessed with fine sunny weather without much of a strong breeze.

This year I was offered a guest ride for the inaugural Amy's Otway Classic. Same course, 1 hour before the Fondo and racing proper as part of the National Road Series for Building Champion Squad. It was hard to say no to trying to better my result in the Fondo last year to see if I could make it onto the podium. But this was the first year they were going to run this race as a Spring Classic, it was NOT to be missed!!


I arrived Saturday night to watch the hotly contested Amy's Wall which was a 120m hill sprint up a side street off the Lorne main drag. You could pretty much pick any side road to run this kind of competition and it would be a good choice. We found a vantage halfway up to watch the carnage. The first rider snapped a chain and other riders had gear mechanicals. But the victors at the end were Liam   Hill (who was staying with us) and Peta Mullens (freshly back from Europe season).


We arrived at our share accommodation to find a palatial guest house at our disposal for the weekend. A king size bed, private balcony and bathroom was allocated to us and we setup for the race the next day. Many thanks to the friends of BCS for hooking this up for the weekend!

The next morning Shane was on team car duties and we had a full set of soigneurs on the job with Jill and Adam helping out.  Our other guest teamie was Nikolina Orlić and it was team duties for Minda and I to get Tayla positioned well for the sprint at 20km and Nik for the start of the climb at 40km. From there on in - I was not so confident that I would be able to help out much, but I'd give it a good stab.

Tracey Gaudry spoke about the race and then we were off and running!

1.4 kms of neutral to start up and then 40km of roller coaster! I have to admit that I had a lot of fun over this section. Punching over the small rollers, driving the pace on the descents, cruising in the bunch to recover - rinse and repeat. I saw a bike change, a police motorbike wedged into a wall, what sounded like 2 crashes and I just kept moving up. FOCUS. There were a few attacks but nothing was going away before the climb.

Close to the sprint point Minda moved up to the front and set the pace, it took me a few minutes to get around the bunch to join her then take over. I kept it at a slow simmer and then kicked it up a notch at about 500m to go and swung my elbow for the sprinters to do their thing.

Things were going pretty well with Tayla getting up into 3rd or 4th place on that sprint and I went in search of Nikolina. I moved her up to the front and she stayed perched in top 10 position for the first climb.

Nikolina in BCS kit

Unfortunately by this time I found myself about mid pack through the apex of the corner onto the climb, I had a close encounter with the concrete lane divider and was pushed back further. Just to spice things up, someone broke a spoke and pulled over in front of me and then the whole bunch was up the road and I was playing steam train with the stragglers. We'd formed a group of 10 or so up the climb and pretty much stayed together all of the rest of the race.

After the descent, flat section and climb back up Deans Marsh I was starting to get my second wind. We all rolled in to finish 18mins down on the leaders time of Holden's Ellen Skerritt at 3hr15min. I came in 36th place with a slower overall time than last years Fondo, but much better climb times.

Von on far left in the BCS kit

I think it was a great race and well run. The fully closed roads were absolute bliss to be able to climb and more importantly descend using the whole road. One addition would be to open registration the night before so numbers could be pinned and timing chip stickers stuck on with lazer accuracy before  the early start the next day.

With 55 entries in the first year it was great to see so many ladies racing. This will  be an epic one day classic on the women's race calendar for the climbers that will endure. I just hope the weather so good every year!

Next race up for me is the Australian Masters Road Championships (TT, Crit and Road Race) in my home town of Ballarat. The courses are the same as the elite nationals that are run in January each year except for the criterium that is in Victoria Park. Here is the metal race pace version of one lap.

St Kilda Cycling Club (World) Road Championships 2014

I like to support my club in racing most of their events and without bias. SKCC put on some of the BEST local racing right down to the minor details. Safe, Inclusive, Fun, Organised.

We had beautiful weather all weekend and the wind had picked up to a nice ripping northerly breeze. Not only was I excited to start the race, I had not ridden the course, so only knew the distance and that we were doing 3 laps of the main route.
 
The day's lineup
It was great to see the ladies out there again and we were ready to go, albeit without much of a warm up. The 11km to the start of the looping circuit was all head wind. All the ladies grades started together and were playing nicely until the first few kms, then we were all in the gutter trying to find shelter.
 
The calm before the HEADWIND. Photo: Peter Monagle 
 
I'd done a long ride in the hills the day before so I was not sure how the legs were going to go, as I assumed it was a flatter and more rolling course. In the end it was both a good thing and a bad thing that we didn't know what the course was like - We raced the first lap together and we didn't know how it was going to go. Then the second lap it was ON to try keep up with the front runners.
 
Trying to keep my cool - not sure what Bridie is pointing at...  Photo: Peter Monagle
After Bridie O'Donnell had taken off up the hill on the second lap, Margeaux Thompson and Clare Morgan were with her then Hannah Vine jumped across to them. We had almost bridged the gap with Dale, Annie and Brooke but it was all over by the last kicker hill and the tailwind section. There was still 1 lap to go!
 
We'd been dropped from the leaders, but still had to finish so it was "once more with feeling" as the corner marshal put it. I had to chuckle as we were not feeling the gusto at that point. Brooke Anderson and I set the pace up the hills and then worked with Clare Morgan when she dropped back from the leaders to get to the tail-wind section. It was sooooo good to hit that last 11km home with the full tail wind and knowing there was going to be some sweet fresh water at the end.
 
 
By this time Clare and Brooke were recovered from the hills and we were just getting pushed along the downhill home. I had a few stabs at getting the pace higher or trying to initially break away, but for some reason they were not interested in playing that game :) In the end I tried and failed again at about 600m to go and was going about 70kmph across the finish line for 6th overall.
 
There is always a game of patience when climbing, but positioning is also crucial.  Another thing was that I ran out of water - only took 1 bottle. Fail. Many thanks to Clare and Brooke for helping me get back to the finish.

 
I drank about 1 litre of water back at the car and once my system had absorbed that, I was ravenously hungry! The good peeps at SKCC had a free gourmet BBQ and drinks to get us through and safely home.
 
While munching on a vege burger with the lot and some chicken strips, we had the presentations complete with a shower of sparkling white wine. Shane won his race and we had a lovely afternoon drive back to Melbourne with the promise of a nap on the couch to top of a lazy Sunday afternoon.
 
Next Race UP: I've been invited back to Building Champions Squad to join their escapades in the inaugural spring classic NRS race - Amy's Otway Classic.
 

Sam Miranda Tour of the King Valley - Stage 4 - Finale

Stage 4 - Not a Handicap


I was pretty pumped for the final stage. While the CV race was a Handicap of the same course, we were running the final stage on the same course as a scratch race. This was my kind of ride, around 80kms a few punchy hills and a real stab at the finish.

The key parts of the course
Feeling pretty confident and the legs were not too achey at all after a nasty ice bath the night before and a good warmup. We rolled out from the winery start and I was even more attentive to stay up the front today and to keep Tayla out of the wind as much as I could.

Forget the ice bucket challenge! This ice bath was much more difficult!

You can see in the final footage (posted below) that the first kick for the sprint Tayla manages to get up in the points again. Magic legs! Then as I roll past Minda I get the order to close anything down that goes after the sprint. There were a few stabs off the front that I worked on, but closed the main one down.

We made it over the first QOM with no problems, then it was back lining up for the sprint again. I found myself around Nicole Whitburn and moved up the group nicely to get a good position and to see how it would play out. It was not contested by anyone but the sprint leader as she had consolidated her lead, so I moved right up the front to be ready for the next QOM. It was interesting to see how the leaders would orchestrate this one. I climbed steadily without any dramas till they almost sat up and kicked for the line. This caused a major reaction in the group and it splintered behind them. Scrabbling up the QOM behind, I could see wheels dropped on the descent and I missed the main bunch again to chase back on. It was pretty fun though :)

I could see that there was a small break that got away at that point, but the whole bunch had sat up and there was no getting through. Minda and I had a brief chat that we needed to try to close it down or it was likely to stick. I passed on the message to Emma that we needed to get up front now and set to work moving up.

We got a bit of movement happening and some chase action with a few more riders then came into the turn with the head wind home. Suddenly there was not so much interest to keep going with the chase! So there were a few more attempts to jump across that were closed down, a few more riders raising the pace with Emma until 10km to go. It was pretty uneventful finish with the breakaway riders cleaning up the podium.

Overall I finished the stage 64th across the line in the bunch and completed the whole NRS tour in 25th Place and +4:47 from the leader.

My team mates came in:
21. Minda MURRAY (BCS) +4:30
32. Tayla EVANS (BCS) +5:16
34. Georgia VESSEY (BCS) +5:25
51. Emma PANE (BCS) +6:45

Young Rider Classification:
4. Georgia BAKER +37
7. Tayla EVANS (BCS) +2:51

Stage 4 Full Results

I'd like to thanks Building Champion Squad for the opportunity to race as part of a fully formed team. They already had assigned roles so it was easier than in other teams that are formed for 1 day events or tours where everyone is still trying to ride for themselves or find their place. I felt that I actually made a contribution and knew that I was never going to win anything at this level, but could certainly keep up, make the time cut and help a few riders out. They are always on the lookout for new sponsors, so if you can help out there is a link on their page.

Also massive thanks to Thule who were part of the sponsorship of the event, sponsored the U23 category, neutral spares and helped me out for the weekend. I love what they do and if you like MTB, they are sponsoring the Bright 24hr MTB coming up soon!!

I don't think I'll be able to make it up to Canberra, but am certainly looking forward to the next 2 NRS Races in Victoria.

SBS Wrap Up footage of the final race day. I'm in the chase group trying to close the break and again in the end closing footage on the front of the bunch driving the pace. YAY!



Road Trip to Melbourne in full Team Car regalia
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