The Age Old Question

That's right, I have been sent down to here to Athens, Georgia so that Air Canada could challenge me with the age old question: Why is it not okay for me to fly without my baggage, but a-okay for my baggage to fly without me? Now, I suppose in all reality, I should be pleased that I even made it down here to Athens yesterday. My plane was late leaving Calgary so I was forced to do the 2000m-dash-with-shuttle-ride-to-terminal-2 in the Toronto airport before smiling nicely at the customs guard while dragging my bag and bike box through immigration only to arrive at the departure gate and have the woman in charge of boarding tell me that I was to be on the next flight. Well, conviniently enough, the plane was still nicely at the gate - the problem was that she had been "paging me since 1:10 (for info I deplaned the previous flight at about 1:25) and so I had been taken off the flight". They had been paging me because of the gross incompetancy of the women who I paid for my bicycle - she forgot to take the expiry date of my credit card. Alas, I made it safe and sound to Atlanta yesterday afternoon slightly after 4pm local time - the same cannot be said for my luggage.

Bike and bag showed up 18 hours later. This is life I suppose - but why do the airlines HATE ME? They left my bike in Melbourne on the way to New Zealand, they left it in Vancouver on the way to San Diego - it must be some kind of karmic kick in the pants...maybe I should be nicer to people? So as I'm putting my beautiful bike together, I discover that the idiot Air Canada baggage handlers have decided to leave a lasting impression on my paint job. I keep telling myself that it is only a bicycle....it's only an inanimate object - I'll get over it - but it's only a week old!!! The bottom line is that I hate airlines. Point final. And Air Canada is the WORST of about 11 evils - and part of its evil is that it's unavoidable. Maybe I should start a letter writing campaign - what am I going to change? I don't know, but if I learned anything at the University of Victoria, it's that I should protest anything and everything, even if there is no good reason.

With that off my chest, I'm going to go enjoy a beautiful ride through the scenic areas of Athens, Georgia. It's lush and green and should give me a good chance to acclimatize to this here weather (it's only 23 out and it's supposed to be colder tomorrow). Out the door I go!

Walking in a Winter Wonderland...

So it's been awhile...the title of this post was supposed to be something about being back in Cowtown and enjoying the hoopla of the Red Mile and being right in the action of the Flames first playoff game. And while that is going to be a major topic here (I'm going back to my roots man) it is actually snowing here. Now, for those of you from Calgary, I know this isn't a huge surprise - and while I enjoy being home....the trainer just doesn't do it for me so much. To give those of you who aren't regular frequenters of this part of the world, the temperature here yesterday was 20C and tomorrow we are supposed to hit a high of 9C - but today there are flurries. No, not yummy McDonald's McFlurries but snow falling. But that subject has been exhausted - plus I'm heading out of the city next Thursday - maybe it's a blessing so that I can get all my errands done (you may notice that I am currently on the computer and not doing ANYTHING productive). Having said that, it might also be God reacting to the accountants at work who want me to come in today - still not thinking that's high on my list of things to do (but don't tell anyone!!!)

So the Flames won their first playoff game at the Dome last night! Carmen was kind enough to slave over the keyboard yesterday to procure the coveted tickets. We were in "the zone" which meant that we were in first come, first serve seating and ended up two rows from the very top of the stadium - but hey, we got to see the WHOLE ice rink. If you ask my honest opinion, the Flames were lucky to squeak out with the win. There were times where their playing was a little lack lustre. They need to shoot the puck more - too much pansy assing around in behind the oponent's blue line. Superb playing came out twice to kill 5 on 3s and if they had played with that intensity the whole time they would have dominanted, as it was they scored a pretty good goal in the second period only to be answered by the Mighty Ducks in the third. The ducks goal a pretty awesome experience - not only was the goal pretty lame (mind you, a goal's a goal!) but the entire stadium was silent - only the red goal light went on. Definately intense - I wouldn't have wanted to be a Duck's fan in there - in fact I don't think there was a single Duck fan! Calgary went on to score in the first overtime to finish off the game and send all the happy fans off to spend time with the Calgary police force down on 17th ave - definately a whole lot of alcohol was consumed (oh yeah, and did I mention that my opinion of the Flames not playing great wasn't a popular one amongst the crew I went to the game with?)

The truly interesting part about what was going through my mind as we were watching the game was that I was thinking about what those boys endure as professional athletes. I was thinking about the amount of travel, what it would be like to hit the ice, night after night and have to refocus with the crowd being so intense. Maybe it's cause I'm reading a sports psych book at the moment, but I was somewhat wrapped up in the behind the scenes footage!

And to address the fact that I haven't really updated this thing for about a month I'll give you a breif synopsis of what I've been up to: sleep, eat, work, train. Not terribly interesting - hence why I didn't feel that you needed to be bored with reading about how I was terribly exhausted from travelling, racing and now I was doing other people's taxes (which reminds me that I need to do my own today at some point). After two weeks of feeling like I might have mono again, I'm back at 'er and feeling pretty good - I'm on the new bike and pretty stoked to head down for the Athens Twilight crit. Should be good times! Oh yeah and check out what Becca bought me for Christmas - isn't it kick ass? All the cycling pins for the Beijing Olympics - definately cool! K, well I've wasted more than enough time, so I'm going to go jump on the trainer - for those cyclists out there - enjoy your ride and remember: Calgary is NOT a good place for a cyclist - stick to winter or indoor sports!

Tough Day at the Office

Southern California has finally returned to the weather that the postcards and television shows promise (speaking of So Cal and TV - I'm finally caught up on my OC episodes). On Friday morning the pro peleton took to the street of Redlands for the Redlands Bicycle Classic - abbreviated. Not that I can really say that, as this is my first experience, but all the same it has been shortened to a 3 stage event (read, not a prologue and two stages, but rather a three stage event). Now many of you may think that I am crazy, however that slight difference cost me a weekend of sitting on the sidelines. While some people, like Amber Neben and my teammate Alisha Lion, experience success on the 5km hill climb, I did not. It was a painful experience that ended up taking me 15 seconds too long - the charming officials decided to enforce the time cut. Translation: the end of my weekend. I won't go into what a bastard move I feel that was, or how the officials said that they imposed is as we were "sandbagging it" which would imply that I wasn't going as hard as I could - which I was...however, I think I might be a little tired.

This here - I'm trying a new thing, just for Lisa - I'm going to try to seperate my paragraphs more...lemme know how it works out. So yeah, my weekend finished really before it started. It did mean, however that I got to ride the old Oak Glen course - and really, from what I've heard, you haven't really done Redlands unless you've gone on a group ride while the race is still going on. This isn't to say that I was happy, or proud, or not incredibly pissed off that I didn't get to start the beautiful crit in downtown Redlands (it was a super COOL course from what I could see). But I've realized that there is only so much racing that one girl can get through - and I've hit my limit. So it's time to head home and train, get my bearings under me and go get some RESULTS for the rest of the season. Besides, I hear what doesn't kill you makes you stronger... ;)

The San Dimas Stage Race: COLD and WET

A picture of me leading the field at San Dimas http://www.cyclingnews.com/photos.php?id=photos/2006/mar06/sandimas06/sandimas063/JI6V2647
My North American season has officially begun! Friday afternoon saw my first race on this continent, and to be honest, right after I finished, I was quite aware that I would not remember it as a highlight of my 2006 cycling season. To my credit, the course wasn’t exactly hand built to my personal strengths – a 6.2km uphill TT. On the upside, I didn’t finish last – only 54th of 65 starters…so I did beat people. Just as I was starting up the mountain in the small suburb town of Glendora, California the rain started to pour. The temperature was decidedly un-Southern California and a small part of me thought that maybe I had a hope as the small climber girls might not have enough body fat to make it up the hill – alas they did…it was actually coming down that was the hardest part! Luckily I had my super-mom support and she was waiting for me about halfway down with a nice warm gortex jacket – perfect for the conditions. I then made my way to the van (I really must get a pic of it onto here) and warmed up with the help of some miso soup and the heater while I awaited Chris’ return.
We awoke Saturday morning to frigid temperatures, but the skies were clear. I tried to warm-up prior to the race, but even after 20 minutes of riding, my muscles still felt cold – really I felt right at home! I will interject at this point that these are by FAR the coldest temperatures I have encountered since leaving Calgary in August where it spend the better part of a month around 10 degrees and raining. So we rolled off to check out the loop, which we would complete 8 times for a total of approximately 92km. As was expected, we rolled along quite comfortably for the first chunk of the lap until we hit the major obstacle on the course – a climb of just over 1km. It was short enough that I could roll up the first bit without too much trouble, only starting to feel the burn a few hundred meters prior to the 200m to the top of the KOM. At that point, I would try to settle into a rhythm before powering over the last 100m with everything I had. The good news is that my climbing is coming along quite nicely (contrary to what Friday’s TT results would lead you to believe) as I was able to make it over the climb in the top half and usually in the second group of girls. The frustrating part was that I was routinely at the front of the second bunch over the top and would have to lead the charge down the hill to catch the front group. With KOM primes on laps 2,4,6 and hot spot sprints on laps 3,5,7 the action of the race was sure to serge. However, on the second of the KOM primes, the pace was high overtop of the hill and the field was split decisively with 7 girls going clear up the road. Next over the crest was a group of about 5 girls, followed by my group. With some excellent chasing spearheaded by the girls from America’s Dairyland we caught the smaller group in front of us, but the 7 girls up front we not to be seen again. The teams did not seem to be interested in chasing – mostly as the major teams of Lipton and T-Mobile were well represented with 3 and 2 girls in the break respectively. The hill continued to prove to be a challenge and we managed to whittle away the remainder of the field. The last time over the hill I pushed with all my might and managed to make it over with the front group. As we descended and hit the finishing straight, I saw the girls fighting for position, and I really should have made my way up there. Unfortunately, I was a little rusty with the finish line positioning, as I haven’t seen the front of a race for a while now! I made my move to get up there a little late and with 100m to go my legs were toast. I pushed to the finish line, but a few girls squirmed past me as I finished 19th. But the real surprise of the day was that the finish moved me up to 36th on GC – confirming just how bad my TT was the previous day.
With the hilly stages out of the way, I was stoked to hit the crit course on Sunday afternoon. The weather was once again chilly (and for those of you who have limited sympathy for me, please remember that while it may be colder up north, you are not necessarily trying to spend time outside in spandex in 5 degrees and raining) as we took to the line for a 50-minute race. Things started out quite nicely after what I had been exposed to in Australia and on the third lap I decided to have a go at stringing it out. I attacked through the start/finish taking 3 or 4 girls with me, however it was not to be and within a lap we were brought back. A lap or two later saw the first hot spot contest, as I had already had a good effort, I decided to let the other girls go for it. Unfortunately for me, right after the sprint, Anne Samplonius of Team Biovail decided to counter taking 4 others with her just as the rain (and hail) started to fall (including the on fire Lisa Sweeney!) As I was resting in the pack, I saw the move go, but was unable to follow and figured that the girls would respond anyway…but no such luck. I tried my best to get up there and I managed to help bring back a break off group of 3 girls, but the 5 were long gone. After that, things were decidedly frustrating in the pack. Lipton was represented in the break, along with Dairyland and CPT Colnago and for whatever reason T Mobile was uninterested in chasing. I tried my best to get the group fired up to chase, but anytime I put in an effort, I would find someone covering me (I would later find out that they were girls protecting the break mostly). The race itself was very different from anything I had experienced in Australia – mostly as I wasn’t killing myself just to stay on. It was decisively less aggressive and the net results was me feeling rather frustrated. On the final lap I tried to position myself going up the hill, but taking the wide line wasn’t the best call. As we raced down the hill I was smushed between a couple Lipton girls who, as I found out a little too late, weren’t all that interested in sprinting. I came out of the corner and tried to make up some space, but only managed to cross the line in 15th overall. Not too shabby, but not really what I had wanted either.All in all it was a solid weekend of racing. I think it was important in my development as a rider as I am now confident in my ability to play ball with the big girls. I am, however, looking forward to having a team to ride with next weekend at Redlands as I believe this is the first set of racing I’ve ever done where I can see the benefit of a team. I’m happy with my showing, especially in the roadrace, as I feel in prior years I would not have been able to stay with that front group. I’m off to a solid start and the fun is yet to come!

One More Sleep

I can't believe it. Almost 6.5 months have passed since Chris and I boarded a plane to come to the land down under and now it's only one more sleep until we return to North American soil. The last week has been gorgeous - I've been unbelievably boring, but the landscape has been incredible! Thursday morning we jumped on an 11 hour train that brought us from Wellington to Auckland, well a town just south of there to be more exact (I can't remember the name, but I can tell you that when pronounced by a New Zealander our stop and the one before sounded really similar and Chris and I tried to get out at the wrong one!) We're staying with the Williams' (Liz who we were staying with in Melbourne - her family) and they are incredible. We went for a ride yesterday and it was unbelievable! The terrain is all rolling - but hard rolling - the hills go up, up, up then down, down, down! The entire train trip was pretty - rolling grass carpet. I believe that trip may have actually cost me money though as I'm now convinced I would like to return here to ride sometime! :P I'm still shaking out the cobwebs from racing (I slept 12 hours last night) and we'll head out on the road after we get to a bike shop this morning as Chris snapped his shifter cable while riding yesterday. We have one obstacle left: how to get to the airport - I'm going to see what I need to bribe Andy, Liz's bro, into getting us there! And so I'm signing off from what will likely be my last post from the southern hemisphere - it's been great...I love it...but I'm stoked to get home and see everyone!

Time to Sleep

After two weeks of being a full on pramateur athlete (that is an amateur who must ride with the professionals), I’m ready for a good long nap. This afternoon Chris and I moved all our crap up 48 stairs into our new abode for the next couple of days, which is actually the house of one of the guys who Chris met in the feed zone over the last week. Five people live in this house (of which we have met only 3 to date) and they have been kind enough to let me be a vegetable on the couch for most of the next 48 hours. Yesterday I toed the line yet again with a collection of the world’s finest female cyclists, and someone up near the front decided to make the day miserable from the start. Right as the car pulled away and we headed into the first climb, 1km from the start, things started to go nuts. The course was a 6.2km loop through the CBD of Wellington (for my true blog fans, you will remember that CBD stands for Central Business District and is a fancy name for downtown). The first climb was a three-part climb of just over 500m gradually increasing from about 6% to almost 10% at the top (that felt even more difficult as the race went on). After the climb we whizzed down the other side for the better part of a minute before taking a sweeping left-hander up the feed zone hill. This hill wasn’t quite as steep and wound around for another 5-600m before shooting you onto a fast downhill and then back into the city for about 3km of crit-style speed. The start/finish was super classily placed on the steps of parliament (which proved to be a great viewing area for the final sprint!) and there were people lining the streets throughout the course. So yeah, right from the gun the heavy hitters decided to make today a selective race. The first three laps were completed around 10:00 which is an average of over 40km/h. The field strung out in a single file line throughout the flat sections and then blew up good going over the hills. I was positioned alright through the first lap and after the hills on the second lap was set up for a good position before a girl “gumbied” (nice word eh? Thanks Josie!) and crashed right in front of me. I managed to avoid hitting the ground, but I did get shuffled towards the rear at this point. Unfortunately, that positioning gerfuffle proved to be the beginning of the end as on the next lap a number of riders in front of me were gapped and while I made it over the first hill with the main pack, I had some difficulty regaining my composure on the downhill and struggled down on the flats. Early on in the next lap I was dropped and tried to fight back with about 7 other girls, but I didn’t manage to stay with the group (although they did make it on to another group shortly thereafter). That was more or less the end of my race. I kept the effort level hard as I wanted to get a good workout in with my last race of this block, but was lapped by Sarah Ulmer before too long. Now, while that does not sound terribly dignified that I was lapped, I will point out that Sarah did manage to chump the international field and lap all but 39 of the 111 starters on the day. I’d like to give some props out to my composite teammate and sweetheart Tina Pic for a 5th place finish on the day to place her in 4th overall for the race to be World Cup leader. Everyone in the field agreed that today was unbelievably difficult (it’s nice to hear that the big girls found it really challenging as well) and as I may have mentioned, I’m a little tired! Having said that, the last two weeks have been an incredible learning experience. I haven’t felt so young and new to the sport of cycling in a long time. I know that I have a great deal to learn, but it’s nice to see that I’m only a few steps away from “making it”. The girls at the top are most definitely faster than me, but it’s a level that I can understand and that I believe that I will be able to attain in the near future. I’ve met a load of super incredible people – friendly, encouraging – it’s been great. I’m motivated to hit the road (after my nap) and do a good block of work this summer to take one more step towards international success.

Windy, Windy Wellington

Once again, we have found ourselves a new home - this time in the Angus Inn Hotel in Lower Hutt just outside of Wellington. The scenery has been fantastic, with the weather a little colder than we are used to, but all in all New Zealand is living up to its hype. In just four days I've determined that I definately have to come back to do some further exploring at some other point. The hills look inviting for training and the mountains growing out of the ocean are picturesque.
Having said that, it hasn't been smooth sailing...I'm happy to report that the Aussie attitude towards customer care has indeed transferred over to the airline industry where, as per expectation, we encountered a great deal of hullaballoo in getting the bikes on board. However, a long walk to a different terminal by Chris and two new shiny bike boxes later (retail $16.00) later, we were on our way...unfortunately the bikes weren't. Despite our appearance at the airport 3 hours prior to departure, we arrived in Wellington to be greeted by only one of our bikes. Now, out of a possible four, would you guess which one arrived? That's right, none other than Chris' track bike...talk about useful! Luckily our road bikes showed up about 12 hours later (just in time for the downtown parade), but my track bike would be another 24 hours in arrears. You might not think that to be a problem, but my tools and all my cycling kit was in that box - hence an issue...but I made it through. Is does make me ponder the fact that they will let you stay seated on the runway for hours if you make it to the plane without your bags on board, but they can choose to delay your bags??? I will NEVER understand the airline industry!
Anyway, with all that behind me, on Wednesday night with took to the first stage of the New Zealand Trust House Tour being a criterium right here in downtown Lower Hutt. The course was awesome - nice and technical and exciting. The race itself was quite tame as a group of 8 got off the front with all the major teams represented, so people were minimally motivated to chase. As I was just trying to get my legs underneath me, I was okay with that! I was well positioned throughout the race until about 3 laps to go when I was pushed right into a massive pylon and forced to come to a complete standstill before heading wide off course. I didn't realize just how good my position had been up until that point as a good 60-70 riders must have passed me. In the end, it didn't make a difference as the commissaires made a mistake and pulled all the riders except for those lapped off course (which was completely contrary to what they had mentioned in the manager's meeting). Consequently, those of us in the bunch all tied for 9th position (good thing that they spent thousands of dollars putting state of the art computer chips on our fork blades!) Speaking of managers - Chris has been fantastic! He's been running around like a pro and helping us out a great deal - three cheers for Chris! Unfortunately, in all the bustle, he has not had time to find his camera and so we are yet again pictureless...sorry!
Anyways, so yesterday was the famous double day - starting with a 100km roadrace in the morning, followed by a 1 hour crit in the evening. With only a few hours between the two, we ended up racing almost 150km! Now, that's a big day! The roadrace went okay. We all rolled along the undulating terrain for about 50km before hitting 20km of real hills. They went up and up and culminated on what felt like a mountain pass. Early on I was shed off with a group of other girls, but we managed to make it over the obstacles and rolled in nicely, 15 minutes behind the frontrunners. Not stellar - but stronger than I would have done last year. I just need to learn to push myself that little bit harder on the hills - I think my lack of confidence and experience at being able to stay in the pack on climbs shined through!
Once in the town of Masterston we were fed finger foods as a turn around before the crit. The crit was a thing of beauty - unreal fast and fun technical corners. It was fast enough that I saw a few good names blow up - including Rochelle Gilmore who saw her demise directly in front of me. I spent most of the crit near the mid to rear (I was sure that Chris would heckle me for it), but funny enough, when it was strung out, that was the most consistent speed. I had a good time picking one or two girls off each corner and slowly yo-yoing through the bunch. The best compliment I received however, came from Tina Pic (who is not only 4 time US crit champion but one of the NICEST people in the world!) who said that I was riding well. She complimented me on my positioning in the roadrace...good to see that I've re-established my confidence in the pack - it's just so much fun moving up through it! With one lap to go, one of the Chinese riders let a gap go as she was being dropped. I gave it my all to close it, but apparently the average speed for the lap was 47km/h, and as you might have guessed, I didn't succeed. I did managed to hold steady though, so that was good. Which leads us to the final stage this morning - the time trial. I can only hope that it was more successful than my TT last weekend, and due to the number of no shows and others who decided that it wasn't worth blowing the energy before Sunday's World Cup event, I feel that I might be charging up the GC - maybe top 75??? We haven't got the results yet, so I'm just not sure. The wind was howling, but I gave it a go and hey, I got a finish for the Tour, which is more than I can say for a good deal of the 124 starters. A finish is always a strong thing to have under my belt and I'm stoked for Sunday which will bring us around a 6.2km circuit 20 times. Apparently there are 2 power climbs per lap, but I can only imagine that 40 power climbs will zap the legs! I'll let you know...until next time!

FIRST WORLD CUP FINISH

So I might have crossed the line in 76th place (of 144 starters), just over 8 minutes back, but I finished! I had 3 goals going into the race:
1) Stay with the front group for 4 laps (half of the race for a total of 60km), and
2) If I did get dropped to ride in within the 5% time cut as to get a finish and to ride it in with a group.
I succeeded on both accounts! The first 4 laps of the race were relatively tame and the field stayed in tact. The course had one hill in it similar to the hill in the tour de Delta, but a little bit longer and a bit steeper (for those of you in the bike game), and another gradual hill used for the feed zone. All in all, it was apparent that a sprinter could win on the course (as Ina Teutenburg showed quite aptly), but with the right tactics, the hill is hard enough that it would be possible to drop the pure sprinters. So yeah, the first 4 times up the hill were more relaxed - not to say that it was easy - but I chugged overtop of the hill in the middle of the bunch. Watching Ina was a little like a clinic on sag-climbing (where you start the hill at the front and let yourself lose ground over the climb as it allows you to take the hill easier) and it was interesting to see that one of the other T-Mobile girls was always a little farther behind - presumably to be there to bring it back if there was a split that Ina didn't make. On the 5th lap, the heavy hitters in the race decided it was time to turn up the heat. The field was strung out through the feed zone. Of course this was the lap that I was convinced that I needed a feed - and in doing so, I hit the bottom of the climb farther back that I had on the previous attempts. Consequently, as I crested the hill, I was in a group that had been somewhat detached from the front 50 or so riders. This made the jaunt over the cresh and onto the next bit of false flats absolutely lovely and not at all unbearable...luckily, we caught up in not to long. But I did say that it was on, and the next lap over the hill I was gapped again, and this time it had nothing to do with my positioning! Having said that, when I got to the top, I saw I was in good company and felt pretty horrible trying to hold the wheel in front of me. I looked up and understood why that was when I saw that it was Tina Mayolo-Pic trying to bring us back. This time we weren't as lucky as the front group kept pushing and it took us most of the rest of the lap to catch back on (probably 6 or 7 km). We had made contact through the start/finish and I realized that I had made a fairly decisive split - as I was moving through with the top half of the field...unfortunately, the little legs died out not long after and I found myself all alone on the race course. Strong winds and the fact that I had already done 90km made it a bit of a slow go, but luckily I was caught by another group not long after. I road it in with this group (perhaps known as the groupetto as the girls were rather adament that we take the hill chilled out - which I was fine with). I kept rotating through the front of the group though, as I was determined to get a real finish! In the closing kms the speed picked up in the group and I know it's lame, but I figured that I might as well stay at the front, seeings as I had been up in the top 15-20 of the group since I joined it (I wasn't to find out just how many girls were actually in my group until I looked at the results!) A few girls actually sprinted to the line, I tried just to rev it up so not too many girls passed me, but at the same time, I knew that it was in bad form to actually sprint (this may sound a little silly to those who don't bike race, but really, we're not in the race anymore!) So I'm quite stoked with the result - first of many World Cup finishes I'm sure, but this is a step that I needed to take. I'm off to New Zealand this afternoon and hopefully there will be more learning and exciting racing to come!

Geelong Tour – the racing has begun!

Well here we are again – and so soon – racing time’s a here! I’ve been chilling with Chris and our flatmate (here in the caravan park that is) Trudy since Monday and well to be quite honest, the walls are starting to look a little boring! Trudy has also been riding on my composite team (Team Cheerwine/Bicisport) and we are right next door to two of our other teammates Kerry and Kelly – who are a total blast! The team is rounded out with Helen Kelly and Suzanne Ljungskog (two time world champion and a complete sweet heart). Really teamwork is a non-issue as the ability levels are the full range and the top teams (T-Mobile, Nurnberger, Nobili, Univega, Team NZ, and so on) are so in charge that we’re left to be – quite eloquently pack fodder…and that is the role that I have been taking quite seriously all week! ;)
The starting stage was an 8km TT along the banks of Portarlington. I road out there with the girls and got ready for my first Eddy Mercx style TT– meaning no aero equipment. My ride was there – nothing special, but I wasn’t 5 minutes behind the leader either – so first stage – check – on to the next. Without too much ado (we must have had at least 3 hours rest – and that was only because we were early in the start order) came stage 2 – a criterium around Portarlington. The course was 1km in length and was built on the side of a hill. At the time, I thought that it was somewhat massive, but after having ridden it again today, it wasn’t that bad – I might just have to blame it on the super fast girls! The major challenge came from the fact that the hill started after coming out of a greater than 90 degree turn, and with 140 girls on course, it’s kind of like a standing start going up a hill. I started the stage about 2/3rds of the way back and spent the first 8-10 laps trying to move up. Now, first the good news: I managed to make it into the group of girls who ultimately finished the crit; and the bad: in getting up to that group, I killed myself to get up there and ended up dropping off the back. It was okay though as I was joined by at least 40 of my closest friends and really the important part – there were plenty of girls who were dropped before me (note: the organizers have had their hands full getting the regular results set and so those of us from about 80 back aren’t actually placed properly…) So it was a solid start to the week and I was looking forward to the following day’s flat stage with a sprint finish!!!
But alas, my fun was somewhat spoiled during the stage 3 Barwon Heads Circuit race – and rather early on. With our second day in a row of overcast skies, we started off with the full tour roster as it was not possible to be time cut in either the TT or the crit on the previous day. The field was a little jumpy and I was eager to get up closer to the front, but was trying to move up the middle of the pack. As I was doing this, the police motorbikes were trying to make it to the front of the group. The first cop made it known what he was trying to do by honking his horn and sneaking up on the right of the pack. However, our second friend the police officer wasn’t quite as lucky – he started to follow the first chopper when all of a sudden a parked car jumped in his way…and you say – well Jen, was he not “parked” and I say “yes, yes he was” – but the police guy was taken a little by surprised and consequently tried to squeeze a little farther in on the road. As you may have figured out – this is where things went wrong – the motorcycle went down and ended up hitting a girl – consequently causing a crash. So here I was, only 5km into an 80km race and sitting on my bum beside a cornfield (well, it might not have been a cornfield as I’m in Australia – but it has the same effect!) In a bit of a daze-like-panic, I jumped to my feet and tried to get my bike running again – alas, it was being cranky and the chain’s crankypants attitude required about 10s of consoling prior to me jumping back on the machine. And so began the time trial back up to the group (mind you, I did have a television camera on me at the time, so maybe I’ll get some air time – that could be cool!) Unfortunately, despite a worthy fight with the caravan, I would be denied my prey. I was lucky enough about a lap later to find a buddy (a victim of a puncture) who ended up towing me around the course (I did my best, but she was definitely stronger than me). We worked well and kept at it, but ended up losing over 18:00 to the pack (which for 75km ain’t too bad I might add – seeing as there were 120 of them and only 2 of us), but it was more than the allotted 10% of the time and so we were not allowed to start the final stage. I was definitely disappointed with this news, but my teammates were really supportive, which was great, and I was able to take the time to sit back and recover in time for Sunday’s World Cup race – which is what I’m doing right now. Chris has been a phenomenal soigneur and our other support staff have been great as well. Can’t wait to give the course a go on Sunday – I’m aiming for a finish!

Penguins!

Yes, indeedie – right here in Australia! You don’t have to go all the way down to the Antarctic to see the little cuties – plus here in Oz you get to see “little penguins” (how original eh? Yet another display of Aussie language dumbing things down to the lowest possible denominator: bird flu (not avian flu), Poppy day (when you wear poppies…we in the land of the Canuck call it Remembrance Day) but the good news is they are indeed little – standing at only about 20cm in full height.
So here’s the drill – you drive down to Phillip Island which is located about 1.5 hours south of Melbourne, purchase a $17 dollar ticket from the tourist center and gather down on a concrete amphitheatre and wait until the sunsets. Just after the sun goes down, the penguins congregate about 400m off shore where they form “rafts” of penguins and come into shore together. Once on the shore (soliciting many ooohs and aaaaahs from the onlookers), they gather together in groups anywhere from about 5 to as many as 20 to make the dash across the sandy part of the beach (probably about 30m in length). Watching them waddle across the sand (the ones with the big bellies getting left behind!) is adorable, but it must be rather energy draining for the little things. They do indeed walk like penguins (which is convenient as a whole type of walking has been named after them!) and every so often, they decided part of the way to the shelter of the bush that they are in danger. When this occurs the little things scamper back to the water’s edge at about five times the speed they had originally been moving and wait (presumably to recover) until the coast is clear. Much in the same way, once they have made it to the safety of the bush, you can see clusters of penguins recovering before the longer, but safer journey to their burrows (yes, they live in little holes under the ground – weird eh?). A steady stream of penguins roll up on the beach for most of an hour and while I am unsure of exactly how many we saw come out – apparently the evening prior 511 penguins hit the beach. The “Penguin Parade” was definitely worth our expenditure – plus the area down on Phillip Island is absolutely gorgeous – which is good as it provided some photographic targets, as we weren’t allowed to take pics of the penguins (the flashes scare them!)
So I figure that’s our last tourist stop here in Oz – which is kinda scary, but I’m starting to get ready for the World Cup as we head out to Geelong in a week – and start racing in 8 days!!! That having been said, once at the tourist destination, I remembered what drove me nuts about seeing those types of attractions. First off, it’s the Chinese New Year – so needless to say, it was rather busy…and like all good mobs – the people at the attraction felt that the rules were beyond them. They weren’t tricky rules, but sometimes “be quiet and sit down” although it seems to work on kindergarten kids, is a little lost on adults…I tell ya! :P Definitely a must see though – gotta love the penguins!

The 129th Austral: Australia’s Oldest Wheel Race

Tonight saw us heading back to the track for some old time wheel race fun. After the weeklong escapade in Tasmania, it felt rather old hat really, well except for the fact that we were frolicking in the Vodafone Arena which will be used for non other than the Commonwealth Games track competition in about a month’s time. As a side note, if I had $5 for every time someone asked me if I was here for the Comm Games…Anyways, the event had a large media draw – but as can be expected, the women’s races were merely an afterthought (I will refrain from complaining bitterly at the sexist nature of this sport – and in a country that easily boasts the world’s best women cyclists…but I said I would refrain). The real draw was the men’s sprints – the film-guy from Channel 10 actually told me that he was there to see if Shane Kelly and Mark “Frenchie” French were going to knock each other off their bicycles – have a bingle, if you will. Alas, no such luck – although the Japanese riders did have a good go at taking as much of the field out as possible – a special props go out to the guy who took out two guys a lap and a half after the end of the race – super class!
So I’m sure you’re wondering how my races went – without a doubt…well the good news is that I have indeed improved since leaving Tassie 5 weeks ago. I feel better, am going faster – bad news: I still didn’t manage to get any kind of result out of the deal. The evening started with a good warm-up, in which I was pleasantly surprised to feel my legs were ticking over well despite a good deal of hill work at the beginning of the week. Yes, all that warm up for 18 laps of a 250m track. I’ll grant you, they were a tough dozen and a half – but only 18 all the same.
First up on the night’s agenda was the 12 lap scratch. Based on how I had felt on the track Thursday night and my experience in Tassie, I decided to play it cool during the scratch. To my pleasant surprise, I felt stellar throughout the race. Unfortunately (there does always seem to be a BUT in my stories doesn’t there?) I got a little boxed in a gapped with about half a lap to go. In all reality, it was my fault – I really should have moved up with 2 to go as I was feeling good – but as I said to Liz, the beauty of bike racing is that there is always a “I could have done that better.” So the last lap had me trying to close a 10m gap on the front 5 girls – I managed to shrink it considerably, but was left to cross the line in 6th place. I was actually quite pleased with the race.
About an hour passed before our wheel race during which I went up and visited Chris (the somewhat power-drunk folk at the velodrome wouldn’t let him onto the infield). I was place on the 40m mark with the girl in front of me a mere 5m ahead; I closed the gap pretty quick and we were well on our way. The girl in front of me pulled up just as we were closing the gap on all the front markers and I kept going to pull us even with just over 2 laps to go. Just as we made contact, one of the front girls attacked and managed to stay clear for the win. I got stuck high for the last 500m and consequently was not able to finish as strongly as I would have liked, but to my pleasant surprise, only 1 of the girls from my group finished ahead – and it was Liz (she started on the 10m), so I was happy for her.
We’ve made it home and it’s another one of those late nights. I’m too hyper to head to bed quite yet, but the miserable choice in television programming suggests to me that I should probably hit the hay and read a little more of the Memoirs of a Geisha. Oh yeah and for good measure, I’m going to plug http://www.womenscycling.net/ as their writer was kind enough to make me feel special and interview me…maybe there will be something cool!

World Records Falling from the Skies

Well we might not have been able to make it out for the Commonwealth Games, but we managed to make it out to the Commonwealth Games Swimming Trials the other night. Yours for only $38 a head, we were privileged to the wonders of Australian swimming – translation: the fastest national competition in the world. That is, we got to witness it from high up in the bleachers – row W to be exact – as for like all Aussie sports they come out in swarms to bring in the records - and this week was no different. During the week of racing at least 3 world records have fallen here in Melbourne including Leisel Jones’ 200m breaststroke which at 2:20.5 (I believe – and for the record, that’s faster than I ever managed to swim a 200m freestyle…not by much mind you…) she took over a second off her previous world’s best. It was phenomenal to watch as in doing so, Ms. Jones also blew away the rest of the field by over 7 seconds (and yes, one can only presume that the second place person will qualify for the Games and most likely do very well!) and so we’re thinking she most likely wasn’t even tapered – there’s a scary thought for you! So yeah, lots of stars in the pool – we saw the “Thorpedo” give ‘er a go in the 100m freestyle semis (he won the finals the next evening) and Libby Lenton attempt to reset her world record in the 100m freestyle, which she set the previous evening in the semis at 53.42. Unfortunately, she didn’t quite hit the mark – only 53.5 – but it was enough for the win and rather impressive all the same.
That night I went home and dreamt of swimming – it was kinda freaky actually…don’t think my love for the pool will ever die. I just can’t get over how young some of the kids making the finals seem – when you’re in a sport like cycling you forget how young some of the swimmers can be (Leisel Jones attended the Sydney Olympics at the age of 14). A few of the girls in the finals were born in 1992 – that is 11 years younger than me! Which frightening enough makes them 13 or 14 – so yeah, I’m feeling a little better now, that is rather young… But the evening was well worth it (although I would have loved not to have paid – a women walked up to us in the foyer of the pool asking if tonight’s tickets had been free as she had 2 extra she was looking to give away…grrrr!) I can only imagine just how exciting the actual Games are going to be!
Back to cycling…you knew you couldn’t avoid it! I’m off to race in the Vodafone Arena tomorrow night in the Austral Race – which is, for you trivia buffs, the longest running wheel race in Australia. The Vodafone Arena will be the home to the Commonwealth Games in just about 6 weeks – I’m actually pretty stoked to race. And while I’m thinking about it – our roommate Liz will be competing in the sprints and 500m TT – you can check out an article on her here http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/sundaystartimes/auckland/0,2106,3557372a6469,00.html – she’s my new STAR! As you can see – the city is starting to anticipate the excitement – plus we’ve hit the final week countdown until the Winter Olympics!!! Oh yeah, and I bought a new saddle today – it was somewhat of a necessity as my last one had completely disintegrated with the top layer peeling off at the tip with much of the foam coming off with it – but the new one is super pretty – it's Specialized and white and grey and pink - what more could I ask?! Alright, I’m going to sign off now as if I get into anymore of the details of my life it’s going to get rather mundane – but I’ll definitely let you know just HOW COOL the Austral is. Toodles (my tribute to Chris…)

On Fire in Adelaide

Keeping with the cycling agenda, one would think that this would mean I am going fast...however I literally mean that I think I was ON FIRE. We were lucky enough to head over to Adelaide for what was apparently one of the worst heat waves in 3-4 years...oh yeah and we were racing in it as well! So first things first, Adelaide is an amazing city. I know that practically every place I've been in Australia I've been impressed by it and thought that I might be able to live there, but Adelaide definately takes the cake. Despite people telling us that it was a bit of a lame city (well I must admit, I didn't check out the nightlife...but honestly, it wasn't on my list of things to do), it was our favorite city by a long shot. The population comes in about that of Calgary and the city is well structured with its roads (that is quite a treat here down under). We were lucky enough to stay with friends of Alena and Ryan's (whom they met on their Feejee Experience) just outside of the downtown core - and at the foot of a rather amazing mountain. Unfortunately as I was racing I didn't get to check it out, but apparently it's some of the most amazing riding around.
The racing, on my part was a little lacklustre. Be it due to the extreme temperatures (oh right, I'm not sure I mentioned that it was 43 degrees on Saturday - 43 degrees - VERY HOT!) or to the fact that it is only January - I had 15 minutes of thunder...and then I wilted off into oblivion...essentially off the back. We competed in 3 races - on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday - each day with respective temperatures of about 38, 41, 43 - all of which were raced in the heat of the day (5:00 for the first, and 11:30 for the other two) - oh yeah and the heat didn't come down at night...it was only a balmy 30 in the wee hours of the morning and the a/c left quite a bit to be desired! So yes, started the first race - pretty much setting myself up for heatstroke as we were on our bikes for over an hour prior to the start. Not my smartest move, and I definately paid for it as I watched my heartrate rise unnaturally high and then my legs give out. I figured that perhaps my day was over when I started getting heart attack symptoms! So that was day 1 - 15 minutes in the group....kinda boring - just exploded.
Getting ready for day 2, I was determined not to make a similar mistake - so I shortened the warm-up had an entire cooler of cold liquids and took her chill. Judging from the first part of the race, I seem to have adapted quite well. As is common in Australian racing, right off the gun of this triangle criterium course (one of the sides was uphill at about a 2-3% grade) people were attacking. I had the presence of mind to make my way to the front on the hill and I sat in the top 5-6 riders (the fields were just over 40 each day) for the next couple of laps. On about lap 4, Alexis Rhodes attacked on the hill and there was a little hesitation from the group - I figured I would give it a go and I jumped on her wheel. To my surprise, we actually got clear and for the next 5-10 minutes I was in a break with Alexis Rhodes, Nat Bates, Kate Nichols and my friend from last week Leanne Manderson. It was pretty cool and it's been immortallized on cyclingnews.com in this picture http://www.cyclingnews.com/photos/2006/jan06/tdu_women06/index.php?id=tdu_women062/DSC_9369 - and also an article with my name in print at http://www.womenscycling.net/2006/EventsPages2006/TDU/Race2.htm - unfortunately, as these things go, I exploded at about the 15 minute mark (yet again) and road it in until I felt a little dizzy from the heat at which point I exited the course. An action for which I am still kicking myself, because if I had kept going, I would have been in the top 20 and in the money...never leave a course unless someone is pulling you off...I really should know that by now!
So for those of you who can read patterns - guess what happened on day 3 - the hottest of the hot. The race was aggressive, I road the first half without any issues and then imploded phenomenally at about the 15 minute mark. What can I say? The girls are fast and I was born in the cold land of Canada...it's been a good learning experience! And hey, at least I'm not the guy on the South Australia.com team for the Tour Down Under who passed out on my bicycle from the heat and crashed at 70km/h....good times!
We're now settling back down in Melbourne for the next month of hard training before the insanity begins - gonna work hard, and get fast....maybe I should start doing rides over 15 minutes long ;) hee hee - man times flys when you're having fun...I mean really, check out Chris' hat! (it was one of the ones tossed from the parade that preceeded the JCTDU - Jacob's Creek Tour Down Under) -editor note: the picture was substituted for a pic of Ryan - can't find the other one....Oh yeah and as one final aside - the girl who won the 3 race series made $10,000...I mean really life's good! I'm gonna come back here when I'm FAST! :P

Tassie Wrap Up

Well it's better late than never right? That appears to be my mantra at the moment as I finally get the wheels going again after returning to the mainland a week ago - yes a full week ago. After spending time learning about wheel races and remember what it is to go FAST again, I have pretty much been sleeping for the last week - oh yeah and finding a place to live in Melbourne, and training...sounds rough - at least for an athlete ;)
As an appropriate wrap up, I've been trying to decipher the lessons I've learned over the week of racing as to improve upon my results when I return (as I promise you I will) and to give as a guide to any poor North American who thinks it is a good idea to go race Aussie freaks in the dead of winter. Now, don't get me wrong - by freaks I mean the good kind, the freak of nature that I always wished I could be. I'm talking about the Leigh Howards of the world (of which there may only be one) who can compete with some of the fastest men in the world at only 16 years of age, and the Ben Kerstens who can close a 30m gap like it ain't no thing (he does make me think of Dan though who would always get frustrated when Jim Fisher was dropped in a Tuesday night crit - "but you can go over 60km/h for a minute - how on earth can you get dropped? You should be able to close that gap easily" he would say). And the question arises, how does a mere mortal like myself compete with a system that pounds speed and mileage into kids at such a young age?
For those aspiring to compete at the carnivals, I shall start with this - SPEED. Get your leg speed up and work on sub-maximal starts. As the pushers hurl you up to over 20km/h you don't need to go from a dead stop, but getting up to speed quick is the key. Second of all, work on you anaerobic capacity. With most of the races ranging from 2-5 minutes going hard for short bursts is what you are doing - good training, but tough to get off the couch and do. Additionally, everyone here can sprint, so don't count on blowing the field away - as I said earlier, I am in an upsidedown world where my strengths are no longer useful...maybe I will get some Aussie influence while I'm over here.
With those two suggestions encompassing what I think YOU can do to compete, I must make comment about the system over here. I have found myself wondering, over the last 2 weeks, if I had been born in Australia would I still be racing? Would they have found me to be talented enough to put into one of their State institutes at the tender age of 16 (in this hypothetical situation I probably would have started riding earlier!) to rear my cycling talents. All the girls that I was racing where there, not representing teams, but rather their State institute - they have clothing and bikes and one can only presume coaches. I, in fact, would love to sit down and chat to one of the coaches here. Do they do things differently, or do they simply run enough athletes through a sufficiently difficult program that they produce the vats of talented, fast cyclists that they do? The closest to this kind of information we received was from Mark Jamieson's mother who mentioned that he was off to a two week Commonwealth prep camp and as long as he didn't get sick, he was going to compete - they would tell him in which events upon completion of the camp. As an aside, I give a big shout out to Mark as he is super personable and also one of the hardest bike racers I have ever seen. In one of the 16km scratch races, he broke away with a few other fellows from the gun only to drop each one of them and get caught with less than 5km to go. Somewhere near the end, the pack caught and passed him, but he didn't give up and with 3 laps to go he re-caught them. Upon catching the pack he went uptrack and attacked again. It didn't work, but man, it was impressive!
Anyways, I think there is much that we can learn, as Canadians, at both the macro (system) and micro (athlete) level on how they develop their cyclists. Speed from an early age and unbelievable role models seem to be the ticket. On Saturday Alena, Ryan, Chris and myself headed out to the Bay Criterium Series to watch Robbie MacEwan take out the 4th of 5 races. It was pretty incredible to watch as there were at least 3 tour riders in the field (also Baden Cooke and Simon Gerrands - who you ask - that's right, random Australians that we have never heard of ride the tour - and do well!). However, the highlight of the day was in fact getting to talk to the veritable voice of cycling - Phil Liggett. He's a super dude - was awesome with us - chatted a wee bit about Lance. In fact he told us that he was in Calgary for the Cancer fundraiser earlier this year - the funniest comment coming from Lance in a shock of dismay at having to get on his bike when it was -2!
The bottom line is - this is a cycling inspired nation! Coming here has bolstered my desire to be fast and given me a watermark for what is necessary to be world class. Racing over here is like nothing else I've seen - aggressive and fast - and I can't wait to race again (which will luckily be soon in Adelaide). Any bike racer would be lucky to make the journey to the land down under - I'm sure I will come back smarter and faster - not to mention more inspired!

The Rain Delay - Gotta Love the Track!

So I thought that I would spare you all the crazy minute details of the second night of racing at Devonport as it was much the same as the previous night. I did, however get in a break during the scratch race with Katrina Heir (attending the Commonwealth Games for Scotland in the TT and pursuit) and we were away, but got reeled in with 1 to go. The crazy part is, that's probably the closest that I will come to winning a race here (in a break I mean)! So that was great - I also made the final for the 2000m wheel race where I was in good position with 1 to go but just couldn't stay on top of the speed - at least I know what I need to work on for the next little bit! So that's the short and sweet version of that evening. The definate highlight of the evening however, were all the adorable little kids who wanted to get a high-five as you rolled around to your event. Made me feel like a rock star - loved it - I wanna come back here next year! On a less positive note, yet equally outstanding, my lungs are dying - too many people smoking where we were warming up combined with a solid week of track - yeah the hack is back! Both Chris and I are hitting our groove a little more - but I really do think something is a little wrong when the only place I feel normal at the moment is on my bike saddle...a form of psychosis I tell you.
Yesterday saw a change of venue as we got to do a crit in downtown Bernie. It was "hot dog" shaped, which was a nice way of saying one long road with a U turn at each end. This resulted in an absolutely painful acceleration at the end of each straight - have I mentioned that the girls here are fast. It's the first crit in a long time that I have started hoping that I can stay in. As a result, I was probably a little more conservative that I normally would have been - but I still gave it a go once. It didn't last long though, as Belinda Goss attacked (in a much more convincing fashion I might add) just after and we got a bit of a gap - but the girls weren't going to let her get away. A little while later the field did let 2 girls get away and we were left sprinting for 3rd. I finished up 6th behind Belinda Goss, Peta Mullens and Jessica Berry in the field sprint - just out of the money, but I figure it was a better finish than I have seen prior to then. So that was my New Year's Eve. We were in the hotel room by 9:30 and called it a night shortly after that - we are party animals! Only to wake up this morning to pissing rain. We went into Bernie (where the carnival was supposed to be held) and grabbed a coffee at the McCafe where we ran into a commissaire and were told that the races were postponed until tomorrow - so I think Narnia is on the plan for today.
Oh right! And a Happy New Year to everyone at home! This will probably be the longest year of my life - only because I get to start it 18 hours before those of you in Calgary! 2006 has been rainy to date, but I figure things can only get better *as long as it doesn't snow here*!
And with a few thoughts to leave you with - here are a few games that I have started playing since I got to Australia - quite funny really:
1) How many BTs on the track at once? Chris figured that he got up to 9 in the A grade scratch race the other night
2) How many Lance Armstrongs are on the road? Very rarely do we do a ride where we do not see at least one Postal/Discovery/Yellow yersey (or combination of the 3) rider on the road
and finally 3) Fake or not? This one can only really be played at the beach. And while it may seem in poor taste for me to mention this one - you would be truly surprised at the number of visible female augmentation we have been witness to in Oz. Maybe it's easier to justify if you live in a bathing suit...

SOOO cold!

Okay, so it's only Australia cold, but really, what’s going on? I think I’m having flashbacks to Nationals in ’99 – it’s supposed to be summer…but it’s cold! But it’s not racing so the show must go on. Another night and more racing – and I’m improving slowly but surely. My lightning wheel race (1000m) heat went really well. I caught the girls on the mark ahead of me (I started on the 25m) and then we quickly caught the girls ahead. Honestly, it could not have gone better – so I finished 3rd in the heat behind Jessica Berry and Belinda Goss so on through to the final. The final was less successful. There was a group of 7 girls from the back markers – but for whatever reason, the other girls didn’t really want to work. I ended up taking 2 pulls in 500m – so I did my part, but we aren’t going to catch the frontrunners if the fast girls aren’t willing to work. I was however, much happier with the state of affairs this evening. Right now might be the time to point out that we were talking to a new buddy of ours who said he has won 4 or 5 of the wheel races. However, in order to do this, each time he had to pay off at least 6 people in order to do it – so yes, it’s a bit of a gong show to say the least!My second, and only other race (which has proved to be a point of contention with all the female riders – we have an international caliber field, but as it the case so many times in women’s cycling we are not given the respect in terms of number of races and prize money that we deserve) so yeah, second race was a 4km scratch race. It was fast (again!), but I felt that it was my best race to date. It was a little sketch – I absolutely love that I have to turn my bike – that’s not normal – the banking usually helps you out a little more. But I made it to the end – unfortunately though I was shuffled to the back in the closing laps and didn’t get a good position going into the sprint. That having been said I moved up through the field during the sprint AND we dropped people that weren’t me! I was pretty stoked – still haven’t got my podium though!

Day 2: the Silverdome - yes, I'm still cycling, but doesn't it sound important?

The second night of racing proved to be as educational as the first – only this time my inner fire is starting to burn. With my self-confidence on the track returning, I was pleased to get to race in a most beautiful facility. The Silverdome in Launceston is an absolutely beautiful track – it feels incredibly fast and the atmosphere is awesome! The afternoon session started at 2pm, but I only had one event to contest – the Elimination. Now, anyone who knows the events, understands that tactics play a huge role – quite often more than fitness itself. I, myself, seem to have an interesting affliction of either doing incredibly well, or quite badly – my mid-range is somewhat limited. Unfortunately, this evening proved to be more of the latter. Off on the neutral lap, I thought that I was in good – sitting pretty in the top 5 girls near the bottom of the track, but the positioning was indeed too good to be true. Just before the end of the neutral we were swamped by the back half of the field overtop and I ended up in the back-half of the field – somewhere I didn’t really want to be with this kind of speed on hand. I managed to fight and play the devil for about 5 rounds, with my luck soon running out. On the lap I was eliminated I probably could have shot a gap coming around corner four between one of the Scottish girls and the field – but at the time I felt it was a little dicey, and didn’t really want to be known as the girl who caused the crash…but in retrospect perhaps I should have gone for it! :P
So, with the first race out of the way, I got to deal with the most exciting part of the evening – my new Kenda stuff has arrived!!! I’m super excited – nothing is more fun than new team stuff – so I got to sport it for the first time in the scratch race. After a more than humbling experience last time, I decided that I might as well try to give it a run off the front. Under the advice of a fellow competitor I also geared up – I believe that both the change in mentality and the slightly bigger gear helped me to fend for myself much better this evening. I did manage to pry myself off the front for about a millisecond – but the group was just moving too fast and I was countered immediately. However, the group did stay together and it came down to a bunch sprint. In the final lap there was some potentially bad clashing directly above me, so I backed off a little, but came around to finish 7th – not bad, but improvement is definitely being made.
Bring on the final event of the evening – the 2000m wheel race. Anger is the only way I can sum up how it went down. Off the line I somehow managed to drop the two girls starting on the 50m mark with me, while at the same time get more gapped by the rider on the 60m mark. Consequently, I ended up giving it my all for a lap and a half before the other 3 back markers caught up. By this point I was somewhat cooked and jumped on the back of their train. Unfortunately, despite the draft, Jessica Barry (who started on the 30m mark, and I can only imagine got a bit of a boost from the other two girls on my mark getting a slow start) road me right off her wheel. The whole experience was rather humbling, and needless to say, we didn’t make it up to contest the sprint. Therefore no final…but the positive part is that I was angry about it. How is that good you ask? Well, the thing is, the other day I was resigned to the fact that the other girls were faster than me, now I’m starting to get a little feisty and expect things of myself – I’ll be rocking by the end of the week! (because we all know that physiology can definitely change in a 7 day period…)Next it’s off to Devonport tomorrow – another day, another chance to get better…and I was to WIN! :P

Boxing Day - First Day at the Races

And I'm trying to recover. Man, was today ever an eye opener - I'm just not used to getting beat quite so much on a track bike. It's like all the Aussie's have my exact skill set (all speed and bike handling) it's just that they are better at it - I was humbly reminded that while I missed out on the Canadian 500m National Title, I would have been like 8th in the Australian junior field. The speed is just unreal - and I don't like being dropped on the track!!! :P But I figure that I will race into it.
Part of my performance (or lack thereof) has to do with the type of racing they do over here. Most of it is handicapped as to allow the up and coming riders (such as a U17 girl I was chatting to before the final of the 2000m wheel race) to race with world class competitors (Belinda Goss is the heavy favourite in most of my races after having medalled in the scratch race at the first world cup). The organizers decided that I would be placed on the 25m mark (that would be 25m in front of the fastest girls on the scratch line) for the 1000m wheel race and as follows, the 50m mark of the 2000m wheel race. It will be interesting to see if they keep that mark for me in the days to come.
Racing at the Latrobe Recreation Centre started this morning at 10:00 with my first race being the 1000m wheel race (in case I have not made it clear, a wheel race is the handicapped race). My first jaunt on the track in Australia was a little lacklustre. After two months of long miles, the kilo that I was subjected to was a little on the harsh side. I managed to catch the Kate Cullen (attended the last world cup for the UK - competing with the Scottish team here in Tasmania) relatively quickly, only to get blown off the wheel in a bit of confusion about 400m in - I never really recovered and consequently did not make the top 7 in order to move on. Chalking it up to experience, I looked forward to the slightly longer 2km wheel race later in the afternoon.
Luckily, the 2km did indeed treat me better. I was at the 50m mark with a (very nice) girl from New Zealand named Rosie McCall - and together we were able to make up the majority of the handicap - however the speedsters on the 230m mark managed to elude our efforts and stay away. I squeaked into the final, finishing 7th in the heat with a turn of speed at the end (it was nice to feel fast comparitively!!!) The final played out similarly, but Rosie (who also made it through) had 4 or 5 girls behind us. Again we were unable to catch the girls who had started on the 230m mark, but this time I was blown off with just under 1 lap (approx 400m) due to a bit too long a pull into the wind on my part followed by the last lap speed serge.
After a bite to eat and a little recovery time, I was ready to tackle the 3km scratch race. I felt fairly strong and in control - I was riding my own race - but again the final serge of speed caught me out as the wind blasted me on the final lap. However, despite this, I feel like it was a solid day of racing on my part and the lack of results are more due to the excellent calibre of the field.
Just one day here and my outlook on track racing has changed a little. First off, my legs are not that big - most of the girls here are about my size, but with larger legs...and they are beating me. Second of all, I totally understand how the Australian dominate any racing that is FAST. From a very young age they are teaching their athletes to go fast over very short distances - and then you can extend the distance - a great example of this is Jesse McLean - one of the other competitors here is a former World Junior Pursuit Champion (from only a few years back) - but I'm starting to get it. Finally, track racing can be interesting to watch. The thousands of people who attended today's event (and I would guess that they weren't all here to watch the "chop" and running races!) are a testament to this - but then again, all the racing is geared towards the crowd. Short, fast, exciting and anyone can win - top this off with an announcer that must have experience at a horse track and it was quite the spectacle!
Chris had a similarly "for experience" day. He felt that a combination of an overly optimistic marking from the officials (he was looking for something a little more than 180m over 3km - those boys are cooking!) combined with some of the fastest racing he'd ever experience led to a painful, yet fun track experience. He had varying levels of success in the men's 2 and 3km wheel races as well as a 5km scratch race - not exactly his ideal set of races!
Tomorrow we get to rest up to prepare ourselves for a 5 day run of racing (Chris and I are definately feeling the intensity!) As for the picture - it is a Tasmanian Devil. Now I realize that the tasmanian devil has NOTHING to do with today's post - but Becca had made a special request and how could I possibly refuse???
Signing out from a girl who hopes my fast twitch muscle fibres wake up!

Christmas Eve in a Wind Storm

Well it ain’t snowing – mind you, sounds like it might not snow in Calgary either – but the rain is pelting against the door and we’re in high Christmas spirits. Checked in this afternoon to our home for the next week of track racing at the Bass and Flinders Motor Inn in the scenic town of Ulverstone, Tasmania. Seems like it’s going to work out well – making due with only a microwave and a bar fridge for our Christmas feast – however, we do have lots of garlands and Christmas Carols. Berdt is super festive as you can see – surprisingly enough only a few people have commented – we think they are under the impression that we are nuts!
On food related topics – Chris has been keeping up his protein intake over the last week – this hit home particularly when I was checking through my pictures and found three in a row of Chris eating various meals. We didn’t, unfortunately, get a picture of the BBQ Chris cooked up while we were in Hobart consisting of 2 steaks, 2 lamb chops and 4 beef sausages – and all that for only $6.47…we also had vegetables, but that’s of no consequence. Now, the impressive part being that I only ate 1 steak and half a sausage – leaving the rest to Chris – which he finished off quite handily. As my dad put it – it was most likely equivalent to about half the protein my sister ingested the entire time she was in China (which was about 3.5 months)…so yeah, he’s trying to become a bodybuilder – or at least that’s the best I can figure!
I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas – definitely weird not to be home but “I’ll be home for Christmas, if only in my dreams”…

Berdt Goes to the Doctor

Great news! Chris and I gave ourselves a starter motor (plus installation labour) to each other for Christmas - isn't that romantic??? Yes, I am stoked. I am also happy to report that after a 3 hour car hospital visit (with a much shorter surgery time of just over 15 minutes - we were there for when he woke up in case he was frightened and couldn't figure out where he was), I had a successful start this afternoon. No coughing, no studdering, in short, no sickly noises - only the hum of the Ford Falcon engine (after 310,000 km - a threshold we officially surpassed earlier this week). It is only a transplant - slightly used if you will - but hopefully it should work out well - at least we don't need to fret about stalling, or getting off the ferry anymore. Besides, Chris was just getting too darn good at the push start ;)
In other arenas (we have covered the car, so naturally the next news to share is about bicycles) we climbed Mount Wellington yesterday - I believe it may actually be the highest peak in Tasmania - and it's well worth it. Two hours of climbing put you just over 1000m above sea level and you can see forever! It's gorgeous....it was however, a little chilly coming down seeings as we didn't have to pedal for 20km!
Today we have the great stocking mission on tap. Chris and I will set off into the great metropolis of Hobart (population of just over 100,000 I believe) and stuff the greatest stocking ever (barring yours Momma!) - I can't wait - it's gonna be SOOO much fun. I do, however, need to get off this computer in order to do that though - so if I am stranded without internet until after Christmas - Merry Christmas all. I will be thinking of you as the sun beats brilliantly (the UV index down here is off the map!) or the rain pelts down on us (in which case it gets unbelievably cold!), but I wish you all the best white Christmas ever - I'll let you know just how weird it is to be in the middle of summer!
I would also like to give a shout out to the city of Hobart - it's really very beautiful and the people are amazingly friendly. We both have really enjoyed staying here - it's A1!
Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!