Santos Women's Tour & helping women cycling



The Santos Women's Tour in Adelaide was announced as a UCI event late last year. This is a massive step up for Australia with the points counting towards selection for Olympics and opportunity for riders to get noticed for selection later in the year.

There was a lot of pressure from the event organisers to have entries in early, before Cycling Australia had even announced a formal National Road Series calendar and the details to register teams for 2016. I had volunteered to assist Building Champions Women's Squad to be their team car for the 2 road races. My Subaru with the Thule racks on top and plenty of space in the back for hydration, I knew they would need the assistance out on the road. Plus I love driving behind the race and seeing it unfold :)



Stage 1 - A crazy 95kms looping around Mt Torrens was going to be hotly contested to set up the overall standings and initial jerseys. It was hot hot hot outside and the nervous energy was rolling off all the riders, staff and organisers. We had 2 casualties in the first lap with Margeaux Thompson and guest rider Emma Pane retiring from the race. The remainder of the team (Kate Finegan - guest, Serene Lee, Liza Rachetto - guest) were sitting in well until the attacks came from Orica and Wiggle. Slowly a split happened and the remainder of the team were in a large group that was chasing. Or so I thought until we were called up to behind the front peloton where Esther Borg was still in the game. Esther popped on the last lap to join the remainder of the team for the same time on the stage. Orica's Katrin Garfoot won the stage from a breakaway group of five riders.

A photo posted by Shane Miller (@gplama) on


Stage 2 - Was a 20km Criterium wedged firmly between the Undies Run and just before the People's Choice Classic. With such a short distance, it would take 25-30mins to finish up and a super fast pace on the flowing circuit. The whole course was lined with people and it was Lauretta Hanson that was the star of the show claiming more points from the intermediate sprints on top of the points from the first day and establishing a firm grip on the sprinters jersey and best young rider. There were 2 main crashes and Serene got caught up in one taking a lot of skin off in the process. She was keen to start the next stage, until the next day when she could not mount the bike. Annette Edmondson (Wiggle) won the sprint finish.

A video posted by Shane Miller (@gplama) on


Stage 3 - A scorching 100km loop around Lyndoch in the Barossa Valley. I did not envy the women on this day. Many withdrew with heat exhaustion, cramping, and still the pace was on for the peloton. This day claimed Kate from our group, Esther dropped off with two Wiggle riders halfway through and Liza stuck it out with true grit - dangling off the back of the peloton. They were in just in sight a lot of the way home, but didn't make contact in the end. Both were starters for the final stage. Lizzie Williams won this stage with repeated attacks from a group of seven riders.


Stage 4 - The final criterium! This one was timed for an hour plus 3 laps. The temp was so high I was munching on a cup of ice on the side lines. I don't recall any race incidents, but do remember Tiff Cromwell doing some ripping attacks to bring back break away groups and attack off the front in her own right. The BCWS women finished in the main bunch and were happy the tour finished up. Kimberly Wells(High5) won the bunch sprint.

Wells taking the final stage win. Photo: Kirsty Baxter.

Overall the team finished up as follows:
54.135Liza RACHETTO (BCS)+21:17
55.133Esther BORG (BCS)+23:09

Overall the Race finished up as follows:
1.25Katrin GARFOOT (OGE)6h52:36
2.3Shelley OLDS (CPC)+0
3.33Lauren KITCHEN (HPU)+0

The girls had a great setup at the Siccaso home base in Henly Beach. A big backyard, tents at each stage with food and drinks setup, mechanic to tune everything nicely, Siccaso car following the training rides, BBQ dinner post race and massage every day! Oh and of course brand new carbon clincher wheels to roll on... nice.

The lovely ladies from BCWS

As I take a step back from helping out one team, I've turned my focus to helping out more women in cycling and I've also had more guys ask me "How can I help women's cycling?".

Here is my list things anyone can do:

1. Follow women's cycling - NRS, VRS, or just those participating at club level.
2. Share and talk about what you like about the women's racing as a fan of it.
3. Offer to volunteer to help a team for a race. Teams are often looking to have extra hands on site as mechanics, swannies for the feed zone, just getting riders to/from races with logistics for interstate riders - esp if there are other races going on in parallel, you can still race and help out in some way.
4. Offer to volunteer to organisers for a women's race - lead car, spares car, registration, corner marshals for women's grades so that the show can go on!
5. Race organisers - ensuring that where there is a guys race, there is a womens race available for participation. (This is mandatory in Victoria for races sanctioned by Cycling Victoria, but not for other states/event organisers "Build it - they will come").

Festive 500 Finale and next challenges

Part 1 of my Festive 500 story can be followed here.

Rolling with my homies - Shane and SLane

Day 5 was determined by the wind. Shane is master at devising routes where we would work into the wind and come home with a tailwind.

The start of the fun bit of the route

The Devil's Kitchen loop was on the cards and has a few features that I find interesting. The tree lined climb up the back near Snake Valley, the kicker hills and steady gradients all suit me well.

A little bit of sand on the corners into the descent









Ripping skids along the bottom of the valley
We totalled 77.7km just 11.1km more than what the devil himself would do for that course.

Day 6 - Another Buninyong ride was on the cards and I found a backroad through Magpie (it's a place) that cancelled out a busy section of highway.

Mt Buninyong from another angle
We were plotting out the course for a nice roll out and about near the nationals official course.

We found Yendon No 2 Road and Wiggins Rd
There are some great roads less ridden out the back of Buninyong that roll and flow really nicely.

A shady section keeping things cool and green
A total of 73.4km on this day. My favourite part was coming down Eureka St at over 65kmph past some authorities that were busy doing their job on the streets of Ballarat.

Day 7 The wind had changed direction so there was a slight coolness to the breeze and we headed out to the windmills. There was a fatal error in Shane's route today that took us towards and past the piggery. The hot stench of the facility was bad riding past it, and when we thought it was over we found they were spraying the piggery water across the nearby fields making us wretch and try to pedal faster out of the downwind!

Old school and new school windmills
Shane showed me a new road just off the road we race around for Tour of the Goldfields that climbs up like steps to the home of wind farms. It was pretty gruelling, but rewarding when the view just kept unfolding around us. When we reached the top we were totally dwarfed by the wind farm to generate electricity that is not used to grind grain or pump water. It is pretty controversial in the region.

Hot morning out with Mt Warrenheip in the background

The morning warmed up and I was in need for an icy drink and had run out of water by the time we headed home. When we stopped at the Learmonth general store an old farmer had a chat to us about the wind farms and revenue that can be generated from hosting them on the land.

Where the temp is > 30 degrees I am on #teamfrozencoke
There was talk of lunch by Lake Wendouree, but I was hot, bothered and saw the new link road that headed straight home. We tapped out a steady pace and I got the QOM for the brand new segment on Strava. Total of 67.1km.

Day 8 was going to be a hot one and there was no escaping it. I needed 51km to finish off the challenge and I was determined. My old favourite loop around Mount Pleasant was on the cards and Sherpa Shane was good to go.



It had been months since I had been up the rolling climbs and it was a struggle, but I made it all the way and collapsed from the lack of cardio at the top of the final kick. Shane caught sight of a flash of red and blue as I caught my breath. We chatted to Brendan Canty about 2016 and the Nationals while I composed myself.

Trying to look composed while Shane and Brendan look cool

On the way home the heat got the best of Shane and I helped him back home via the 7-11 for an emergency Slurpee. It hit a top temp of 43!

Cambered climb carrying kegs
I really enjoyed having the time off work and structured rides each day, the challenge of consistency and partnership of reaching the end goal. It's such a great way to finish off the year with a mini training block and (for me) some base kms.

This sums up my #Festive500 HOT but stylish ;)
The Next Target

There are a few things I am looking forward to in the next 3 months.

1) The Nationals! I love going to watch all the events and this year will be hosting a recreation ride up around Mt Buninyong with BCWS on 9th Jan 2016. Check out the route here on Strava. I might be CX over a few barriers to get around the course but it should be great social ride with some flat sections for chatting and easy rolling turns.

2) Tour Down Under! I'll be taking the week off work to do 3 things I LOVE!
   a) Drive my car like a rally driver in the Santos Women's Tour
   b) Ride Rapha adventure rides in the hills (ok any rides in RADelaide hills are good)
   c) Drive the THULE parade car for the TDU

3) Racing again! I'm going to do a few events that I haven't done before for a bit of variety. Tour of East Gippsland is the first. This will be pretty hard going as I haven't raced anything in Victoria for over 7 months so getting up to any fitness standard will be tough.


The biggest thing on the horizon is the 2016 UCI World Cycling Tour Perth has been renamed to the Gran Fondo World Series. The qualifying event is in March so I will be back over to Perth for the Road Race. Come along and check out the course with me and qualify for one of the biggest events Australia is likely to see that all cyclists can compete in.

2016 should contain more of that winning feeling and less of the daily grind ;)
Now I know you follow me for the bikes

Festive 500 in progress and workout tracking

Summer is a great time to clock up the base kilometres, building endurance, checking out new routes, revisiting old ones and reminiscing about faster segments.

I've been looking for a few ways to track progress and set new challenges and the first challenge for me is completing the Festive 500! The target is 500km between Christmas eve and new years eve.

I started with a few days off the bike due to a small mishap trying to put my bike together and losing part of the seat post clamp in my frame somewhere.

A photo posted by v0nm (@v0nm) on

The day before the challenge we arrived in Horsham in crazy hot heat and did a leg spin in the early evening. This totally shrivelled my hope that it would be easy to clock up the kms on the flat terrain.

Warming up on the Horsham Track - the only action this track will see this Christmas with the Carnival moving to Ballarat instead.

On Day 1 we knocked out 106km in the morning before it got too warm out. I had to get back to work phone calls and I really struggled in the last 20km. It was the first time I had clocked up that distance in months, and was grateful to have Shane nurse and encourage me to the final petrol station outside of town to re-fill bottles and spin easy home.

A small detour in the works to drain a little colour from the landscape

Mt Arapiles - no vert in this hurt

Day 2 was Christmas morning in Horsham and 52km were complete before present opening! I had picked up a new Fondo kit for myself as a present and it was great to ride in something super aero in the head and cross winds. Shane and I shared the load of work and I felt vaguely useful, but it sure took a little while to warm up after such a big day before.

A photo posted by Shane Miller (@gplama) on

Day 3 We had progressed on our regional family tour to Ballarat and it was cold, raining and bloody windy again! Declaring a rest day - there were no complaints. Shane bought a ultrasonic cleaner in the sales and we all got smooth running drive trains :)

Day 4 in Ballarat and it was certainly a good idea to get some vertical ascent. Stephen Lane joined us and we headed out to Buninyong Road Nationals course. I managed a solo lap before catching up with Serene Lee and friends. We rolled 2 laps and showed her the lay of the land, before settling down for coffee. While out and about Peta Mullens was motoring around the course, sharpening up before the big event of Elite Nationals in a few weeks. We rolled back past the Christmas Track Carnival in Sebastopol and that was enough for me in the wind for one day with 73kms in the bank.

Peta looking pro with Shane and I goofing around

I've completed 231kms total and was looking at ways to continue to plan and track this. A basic Strava account tracks the progress to date for a challenge. In past history I have used an excel spreadsheet.

Basic Accounts
I've used Training Peaks over the last year and started to play with Today's Plan to compare the features. The issue I have is that with the basic accounts for these 2 products, is you cannot plan out any future workouts.

With Training Peaks, if you want to alter the planned daily workout (that you or a coach has setup), you can adjust any of the target values. This is not possible in Today's Plan. It reports on what has been executed against the set regime. If you have not purchased a Plan, you cannot setup a target for the day and then upload a ride to see if you have met it. It will just log whatever you have executed.
Also there are no fancy graphs in the basic Training Peaks, only totals for the week.

Premium Accounts
Strava allows you to compare your workout against your previous workout/rides and what the other products don't offer - comparison against other riders. The premium version of Strava allows further breakdown of other riders in your age and weight class, plus all the other goodies that the other players have.

The other main features for these products are - detailed power analysis, future workout planning and adjustment, canned/generic training plans, progress tracking at workout and training plan level.

There are other little unique features that try and differentiate each product, but they are pretty much all equal apart from the price points. I have years of data in Training Peaks, some backlog in Garmin Connect, and patchy coverage in Strava. I haven't worked out which product to use for myself this next year, so I'll keep tracking the remainder of my Festive 500 in Strava.

Progress at snails pace

Instagram: May have put on a few kg being sick and not riding my bike... All the better to fill out this RAD kit!
Thanks to @petamullens for the kitInsiration. Only in my wildest dreams and about 10yrs younger would I ever get to ride for Wiggle Honda #aussie #champ
But I could still kinda wear it for TTs? #motivation #fitspo

I've been to doctors, specialists, had sinus surgery, gone through a round of infection and am on my 2nd round of antibiotics. I think I am on the mend and promising my Mum to take it slowly.

The funny thing is that now exercise is no longer a habit that I could indulge in and spend ALL my time planning training sessions and the next race... I am at a bit of a loss to what to do!

I've been helping out the BCWS get organised for 2016 and we were tracking along pretty good until Specialized pulled out at the last minute and our major sponsor did not come to the party. I've pushed my social networks to the limits with organising a wine drive that was 2x as successful as last year.

Wine Fundraising Drive

It's still something I feel very passionate about - providing opportunities for women to race at all levels in cycling in Australia. I've about exhausted my limit for helping though for the next few months and need to get back on the bike myself. So for 2016 I will be focusing on my riding again and will not be joining BCWS.

Pack er up! Let's get back riding with Tara Tarmac!

Work has been going pretty well and I'm hoping it will continue to do so next year as organising myself and my bike has not been an issue for me in the past and work is flexible - apart from the travel side of things, but I'm not complaining as winter in Perth was just lovely!

Work session in Kuala Lumpur

I've also been keeping busy participating in a spine study with Deakin University and received a free MRI of my spine, looking forward to seeing the results of this.

Next challenge is also investigating which tracking tool to use for my riding? Strava, Todays Plan, Training Peaks? There are so many options with different benefits and price points.

These are not my numbers, mine are much worse

Next year I will also be part of Bicycle Network's - The RACV Ascent. A women's only premium event for cycling that has setup a 100km gran fondo style event in Melbourne's Dandenongs - closed roads, mad beats, delicious goodies, free RACV Bike Assist for the year and free training sessions to get ready and confident for the day. Sounds like a great initiative to me, I doubt they will get large numbers, so it will be an even better experience this first year to get in when it is not crowded.

https://www.bicyclenetwork.com.au/the-ascent/


In the mean time I am also looking forward to the Rapha Festive 500 informal challenge this holiday season. Something about publicly committing to the effort makes it worth going out in 40+ degrees to pump out the kms worth it. Or I might be slightly crazy... Bring on 2016!

A photo posted by v0nm (@v0nm) on

Starting Again




One concept that is pretty familiar to every competitive cyclist is starting again. There are always set-backs to any grand plan and some re-adjustment needs to occur or sometimes you don't quite meet your goal, so it's back to the drawing board to reassess and give it another go. I've observed this in a few occurrences this year.

There have been many failed Everesting attempts that I have read blogs on that have outlined the journey, what they did to prepare, how they went on the attempt, where things started to go wrong and the final decision to pull the pin. Some re-attempt, or try another hill or find another challenge.

I've been involved in and watched massive pile-ups in the National Road Series this year. Coming back from injury is only one part of the equation that is pretty logical, the other part is the mental toughness and psychology behind putting yourself back into race mode, putting yourself back into the danger zone.

This year has been a total rollercoaster for me. Unlike every other year I have raced, I haven't achieved ANYTHING of note on the bike. My biggest victory was a C-Grade Vets win over the guys in Bacchus Marsh. Between, my initial crash in Jan I've been continually sick, so I've focused on work to the point of relocating for 3 months and totally losing all momentum and base I had one the bike.

So, I'm starting again. I've just come out of successful sinus surgery this week. I'll have a few weeks off the bike to recover that I will not fill with work and extra stress and I'm starting from scratch.

I've got all the baggage of winter weight, sickness, failed attempts, crashing, travel and the passage of time to overcome. Not to mention a new home base suburb to find bunch rides to join in Melbourne again!

I haven't set an end goal yet or even my first target, I'm doing that over the next few weeks. But I genuinely do look forward to starting again.
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