2014 in Review

Well if you had have told me what this year had in store for me, I would never have believed it or could have fitted it all in.
  • Started a new job as a Senior Delivery Project Manager for Microsoft Australia.
  • Competed in 41 races (not including stages in Tours)
  • Cycled over 13,000kms 
  • 540 hours on the bike
  • Currently holding 211 Strava QOM's
  • Riding my bike in WA, SA, VIC, ACT, QLD
  • Australian Masters 1 Time Trial Champion
  • Victorian Masters 1 Metro, Road, Time Trial and Criterium Champion
  • St Kilda Cycling Club Time Trial Champion 
  • My first bike review published in RideOn Magazine



Mega thanks to Kosdown Performance Cycling for supporting me for the last three years. Kosmos Samaras is a great supporter of developing racing cyclists and David Downie (the owner of Kosdown) is a great supporter of cycling. Shane Miller has encouraged me to keep pushing boundaries and my fitness goals and Stephen Lane has supported and helped me to achieve them! I'm a big fan of everything these guys do and will be there to cheer them on too.



2015 Plans:


  • Continuing on as a Specialized Women's Ambassador.
  • New Cycling Team - Building Champions Women's Squad. Three of the KPC riders are now on this team (Lauretta, Emma and I)!
  • Spectating at the Road Nationals in Ballarat and Tour Down Under.
  • Racing the National Road Series Races.
  • Racing Victorian Road Series Races.
  • Racing the 2015 Tour of Fiji and learning more about the country.
  • I'd like to extend my riding adventures to Tasmania and Northern Territory for the first time.

Thanks to all my supporters online and on the roadside. I'm looking forward to more cheers and fun this year!

Riding with my BCWS Chicks

Shimano SUPERCRIT 2014

I was trying to pretend that the Shimano Supercrit was not going to be a big deal. My legs and lungs were still suffering after Tour of Bright and travel to Perth for work and I've just been feeling tired. Then the preparation for the day started up and slowly I started to feel excited... the last race of the year!

The SKCC criterium circuit is great for me with its wide sweeping corners, long straights and fast finish. I had heard the preparations for the day were big, but the setup was MASSIVE! Double decker viewing platforms, team tents, massage station, food trucks, drinks and ice-cream.

We met up at the Flight Centre Active Travel tent for a few team pics and to register, then I quickly departed to a quiet spot to warm up properly and not get distracted and nervous. The women's field was huge with 65 starters.



The BCWS ladies lined up on the front of the grid and shuffled mid pack after the neutral laps and the pace slowly wound up each lap. It was windy in the main straight and nothing was getting away. There were actually good opportunities to move up on such a wide straight circuit, but you had to be very aware of the way the bunch was surging and darting across to not cross any wheels.

There were plenty of attacks, but it was almost like that swarm of machines from the matrix that swallows itself and feeds on itself - There was no leader. I was buoyed by the fact I'd made it halfway through but there were more sprint laps to come and I started to scramble at the back. At around 10 mins to go there was a crash in the middle of the pack on a corner. I slowed to dodge around the bikes and riders blocking the road, but the race was gone. I rolled around to the commissaire at the start line to get a lap out, but 6-7 of us that were held up were denied.



Back into the race we went, and the pace picked up again as the last 3 laps got faster. The whole bunch was strung out and by the time I came out of the back straight, the leaders were going into the final corner! In no time at all I'd made up a few more places finishing mid pack and doing my own victory salute for the final race of the year!

I was still pumped from the atmosphere, mad beats, commentary and caffeine high days later. I hope that next year I'll be fitter, stronger, more confident and in form to give this a real stab instead of just hanging on and following wheels.

It's pretty great to be involved with companies that love and support what you do. So it was great to have a little bit of space to meet up, the ladies warm up and catch up with Josh and the gang from Flight Centre. We will be doing more with these guys in the coming year. If you're planning travel, you can go through him too on the BC Womens Squad contact form.

Now I'm looking forward to enjoying my food, rides and adventures before the seriousness sets in again for 2015 season. Happy Riding and Adventures to all!
 

Tour of Bright 2014

It's the last tour of the year. It's mega mountain stage finishes. It's a massive classy race that was one of my first goals on the bike - Finish Tour of Bright. This year's goal - finish Tour of Bright in A Grade.

At the end of last years tour I was pretty sure that I was not going to enter again. But after 6 months when entries opened up, race amnesia had set in and all I could remember was sun, hills and needing a drink on Tawonga.

The grading system was back in full swing and my entry was moved from B to A. In addition I was invited back to join the Building Champions Women's Squad to flesh out the team.

It was great to see Minda, Tayla, Georgia and Nik again. We also had a new teamie from NZ, Lydia Rippon who is a great little climber.

Stage 1

Post by Building Champions Squad.

The first stage is my cup of tea - A 13.6km Time Trial. I knocked 0:01:34sec off my time from last year. I had better power, pacing, new Specialised Shiv TT bike, new skin suit, helmet but it was not quite enough to crack into the top 20 in A-Grade. I rolled in 23rd, 0:01:47 off the winner - elite National TT Champion Flick Wardlaw. (Results)

Post by Jo Upton Photography.

I can already see the things I can improve on for next year: position, end of race pacing, helmet and making sure I'm at the start line on time ;)

Stage 2

The next stage was the 93km Rosewhite loop. I felt really comfortable in the group however it was pretty rude awakening to have 60+ riders on 1/2 the road when we had the luxury in the National Road Series to have rolling road closures. Interestingly the entry fee is about the same!

Looking over my files from this year and last year the race in B-Grade played out almost exactly to the minute to the A-Grade race... well from my power/speed metrics.

The pace was steady heading out from Bright with a few attacks pinging off the front, but they were all chased down and nobody was interested in going solo for so long. The new sprint point was interesting as it was on a fast bit of road and we could all see where it was before it came up.

I expected the competition to be white hot on Rosewhite, but it was very steady and I hung on at threshold with the group all the way to the last 200m where they kicked and I dropped off to chase back on the descent.

It was so flowing and fast to the Kiewa Valley Hwy, that I went to the front and rolled turns with my team mates over the rolling punches. That was the nicest moment in the whole tour. When we turned onto the Highway back towards Tawonga the peloton kept on the pace but it was really hard to move up as the group was kind of static.

The pace picked up for the sprint and I still had trouble moving up after that with the small climbs coming out of Tawonga. The stage took us 02:35 to get to the base of the Tawonga climb. Almost exactly the same time as B-Grade last year but at least this year it was overcast and I had drink in my bottles still. I think it was the first time I have climbed that side and not been fried by the sun!

As the tail end of the group turned the corner I could see the leaders already up the road and turning the first hairpin! I climbed the hill at the same pace as last year and was relieved to get to the end as it was threatening rain.



Sure enough it started to pour down and my team mates urged me to descend in the rain. It stopped by the time we got to the bottom and met Nik and Emma who paced us back to town. It was great to see them and to have a friendly wheel.

Stage 3

It rained all night and all morning. I was secretly hoping the stage would be called off, but they shortened it to finish just past the toll booth at the road to Dargo.

There was enough of a break in the rain for us to have a dry start on wet roads. The good thing was it was warm so we rolled out without warm warmers, dodging puddles. The peloton pace was ON from the gun and we were scrambling in neutral to get onto the group. Out the road it was very hard to move up to contribute. The times when I could, I had to go up the windy side and then attack to close down breaks or jump on them as they started.

As it came close to the sprint, the pace dropped so I moved up and jumped on the front to lift it up as everyone was looking side ways as to who would move first. We reached the base of the climb 12mins faster than last year and it was gogogo from there. I was at the back when we started and climbed through the tail of the group to the boom gate. By then I could see the leaders disappear around a few corners but they were long gone, ascending like angels.

I really don't know how they do it?! I enjoy climbing hills but when they take off, it must be the power to weight - they just FLY!

In previous training I'd had a 11-25 cassette on going up The Meg climb and the 200m seemed like a special kind of hell. This time I had on the 11-28 and while I was maxing out going up there, I was able to pass a few ladies and spin over the top. Make no mistakes though - this is the back of the pack and it was cat and mouse with the remainder of riders as I solo'd to the top.

Halfway through the false flat it started to rain. It got very cold and I started to have a very bad day. The ladies dressed as bananas at the drink station looked nice and warm and I asked them for a hug to warm up when I passed by.

Cold, wet and muttering like a mad woman (C) Peloton Cafe

There was no let-up in the drizzle or the gradient, but I was going to finish my first A-grade race on a very hilly course. It really started to rain in earnest and I just got over the finish line, ate a sandwich and got some less-wet windproof clothes on. As Shane was also racing there was no car to pick me up. The tour doesn't offer any way off the mountain either, so I put my wet gloves back on and took off my glasses to try and get down safely.

Post by Building Champions Squad.


Minda and I regrouped and found the van with Emma, Nik and the rest of the team mates there. We were shivering in the sun as we wrung out our socks. I giggle now, but it really did suck.

Post by Building Champions Squad.

I think I told Emma that I loved her about 50 times on the drive back to Bright with the heater on 35 degrees and we were still freezing. I managed to warm up my hands enough to hi-5 Georgia for a ripper climb. She came in 8th on the stage and made it up to 11th overall on the tour. I'm so impressed and wish I had the youth and low body weight to do that!

Overall I came in 50th in A-Grade which is the bottom quarter. I'll never be competitive in a hilly race against the mountain goats, however there are other ways I can contribute in a team in a race like this with amazing riders of high calibre. I'm really happy to be able to be part of the team and watch our climbers battle it out up the road. There will be more hills ahead in 2015 and more to come. I'll just have to work out a way to get up those hills faster ;)

Bress Mega Criterium and St Kilda Crits

It's raining crits! Officially October is the start of the criterium season. We are spoilt for choice with weekly club crits from Hawthorn, Coburg, Carnegie, Southern Masters, and my own Club St Kilda.

More often there is a feature crit that pops up and the Bress Mega Twilight Criterium filled a spot on the calendar where the Femme Vitesse would have been. I hope that the Women's only crit series comes back in full force next year.

It was a squeeze to get out of Melbourne, warmed up and ready to race for a 6pm start on the Friday, but it was worth it.

Post by Bikebug.

Harcourt pulled out all stops with a jumping castle/slide, BBQ and the Tavern refurbished and opened up with a beer garden overlooking the circuit. To top it off the weather was warm and the pear ciders were flowing! MAGIC

With equal prize money for men and women, the $3-4000 for first place would be hotly contested. I was pretty comfortable riding the course as it was the same that I had raced on for the Masters Crit Champs that I had won in April.

The race was fast and furious up the small incline each lap. There were attacks and counter attacks that were enjoyed by the Tour de Bress riders that had finished their fundraising ride from Macedon to Harcourt earlier that day.

Post by Bikebug.

Eventually a breakaway of  Miranda Griffiths, Nicole Whitburn, Georgina Beech, Liz Doueal got away and the remainder of Bike Bug team closed anything down that tried to upset the chase. I overworked myself on the front trying to close the gap and spent the rest of the weekend coughing up a lung!

A photo posted by Cycling Victoria (@cyclingvictoria) on

Overall I really enjoyed the race and it was a great atmosphere and turnout. I'm super proud that Victoria can offer equal prize money in new events like this and I can't wait to see an up and coming chick walk away with a big novelty cheque that I know could cover a big portion of bike racing expenses for the year. Awesome stuff!!

Women's Results
1st 37 Nicole Whitburn Carnegie Caulfield
2nd 35 Elizabeth Doueal St Kilda
3rd 31 Miranda Griffiths St Kilda
4th 34 Georgina Beech St Kilda
5th 42 Jessica Lane Carnegie Caulfield
6th 43 Prudence Rothwell St Kilda
7th 40 Elizabeth Hall Hawthorn
8th 41 Ruby Greig-Hurtig Carnegie Caulfield

SKCC Crits


Post by Kirsty Baxter Photography.

There are many things I like about crits. They are:
  • an awesome workout,
  • mentally challenging-tactical,
  • most often technical,
  • over before you know it.
I'm usually pretty impatient and want to just keep attacking and chasing things down so I was super patient at my first appearance at the St Kilda Crits on Sunday.

Post by Kirsty Baxter Photography.

Our first 10 minutes were pretty cruisy, then it was a combination of surge attacking or high paced rolling and counter attacks for the remainder of the 50 minutes plus 3 laps.

Post by Kirsty Baxter Photography.

The amazing weather continued and without too much wind we had a great morning out to battle to a bunch sprint finish. The podium was:
1st Nicole Whitburn
2nd Amy Bradley
3rd Josie Simpson

Bike Adventures and Melbourne Kermesse Championships

Life has been a little topsy turvey lately and I've had awesome opportunities to travel with my bike and check out more of Australia.

Thule soft bike bag with internal mounting bracket that turns into a bike stand. 

Queensland

I've been to Brisbane and checked out the paths, a roll up to Noosa and checked out the local crit track.


Post by Veronica Micich.

Western Australia

I've been to Perth and rolled Kewdale Masters/vets and finished top of the bunch on the "non race" Papas ride around the river.

Post by Unicorn-Specialized.

Post by Unicorn-Specialized.

Australian Capital Territory

I've been up to Canberra and found Red Hill climb and tried to beat the PM's time up there. Raced the Stromlo Crits in Women's A grade and got smashed by Kimberly Wells.

Post by Veronica Micich.



Victoria

I made it back to home to race the Melbourne Kermesse Champs as a guest ride with Building Champions Squad today. It was a great race with the big guns coming out for some good hard racing.

The course was a nice open sweeping route which suited me and we had a great cross head wind on the downhill section which meant there was a fast tailwind finish. I'd like to come back and have another race when my head is a little clearer after the fun headcold I've had, but I was really happy that I could respond to the attacks, read the race right and move up when I could.

It was a great chance to catch up with the BCWS ladies again too!

Post by Building Champions Squad.

I also got a one-off writing gig for Ride On magazine to trial and review a bike. Thanks for the great feedback on my first published article! It's a lot harder to write than I first thought :)
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