Jo Wall

Back in ‘The Alice’

2011-06-25T01:20:00.000-07:00

I had been keen to do the Red Centre Stage Race for quite sometime now so boarding the plane and escaping to the arid but beautiful interior was exciting.

On the flight up we were able to see the effects of the wet year that we have had, Lake Eyre was pretty much at 100% capacity and it has taken 6 months for the water to make its way down from the north. It was an amazing sight from the air.

I had been in Alice 10 years ago, after finishing uni, I travelled up and worked here for 6 months, it felt nice to be returning to a memorable place where I had spent some time in the past.

We settled into our comfortable cabin at the caravan park and then set about going for a little roll into town to spin the legs, we did a couple of laps of the town and catching up with some of the regulars from the mtb scene and registered for the race.

Alice Day 1

2011-06-25T00:51:00.000-07:00

Race day dawned cool and clear. Perfect Alice weather and great race conditions! We started out at the old Telegraph Station, my old place of work when I was up here, it was nice to see the old buildings and surrounds again.

Dan, myself and Scotty prior to the race start

Today’s stage was 49km, a mix of sandy fire road and some real special Alice single track. I was surprised at the amount of the single track around and also the quality of it. Full of razor sharp rocks and always loose and rutted, meant that you could never fully relax, there was always something round the corner to keep you on your toes!

The start was FAST! Being 3 weeks out of the 24 hour nationals I had my legs screaming very loudly at me in protest in the first 20-30 min. Not having smashed any intensity for some time and still feeling a decent amount of residual fatigue in the legs, I found today tough and uncomfortable, all I could do was to try and stay as consistent and efficient as I felt I could, everything else was out of my control.

After the first half an hour I slotted into third place behind Jess Douglas who was chasing Anna Beck. I was riding the single track smoothly and controlled but found myself floundering in the wind on the open road sections and sandy climbs, it was pretty energy zapping stuff.

Attempting to limit the time losses to first and second I managed to finish third, 8 min off Anna and 6 min off Jess…. It is a long week and I feel today was just the leg opener I needed after the 24hr. Hopefully the body will start to make those wonderful adaptations it does throughout stage races and I will find some more speed and comfort in the next couple of days!

Alice Day 2

2011-06-25T00:46:00.000-07:00

Dan and Jayden (junior Bell'ie) on the regular commute to the race start

Day 2 started with a pleasant rollout under police escort through town for 5km, it gave the legs a good chance to warm up slightly before the hammer was put down!

Today was considerably shorter in distance, 39km, and the quality of the single track was optimum, not as rough as yesterdays stage. I felt I had recovered well from yesterdays race and the legs felt a lot more supple and free. I was feeling more comfortable at intensity but still felt I was not able to sustain it. The first sections of the course went through some deep sandy fire roads, where everyone was trying to get a sit and ride as a group but the sand bought many people undone, crashing, loosing their line, and coming to complete standstills.

My strategy was to stay relaxed, not fight it, so I just drop the speed a little and focused on spinning through till it firmed up. It probably was a bit slower but didn’t unnecessarily expend energy. I ended up riding with Jess though the first sections of single track, but yet again my legs felt drained of all power any time the terrain angled upwards, Jess ended up riding away from me leaving me to ride my own race.

The finish line, taking in the glory lap of the velodrome!

An hour and a half later I rolled into the finish line which was quite exciting as we entered the velodrome and cut a lap to cross the finish line. So I came in 3^rd again today loosing another 4 minutes or so to Jess, so now I sit 9 minutes back from Jess and about 10 from Anna. It was time to head home and get some quality recovery in before the afternoons’ hill climb stage!

The hill climb was exciting! it was a great vibe with lots of locals out lining the climb to cheer all the riders on. It was a 300m length which consisted of a steep and nasty climb to the finish line at the top. Previous records were held by Jodie Willett with 58 seconds and Ben Mather with 42 Seconds. Tough times to beat!

The Caravan Park Crew hanging out on ANZAC hill.

The format was great, starting with the slowest time and finishing with the leaders of the elite men, so it was interesting to watch the riders coming up and the times getting quicker and quicker. I think I was more excited about spectating during this stage rather than racing, my time was slow, 1.22 reflecting how sluggish my legs had been feeling he last two days in the surrounding hills. Anne rode a cracking time of 1.07 but was just hedged out of the stage win by Anna Beck’s 1.04.

Bellie smashing his way to the top!

Alice Day 3

2011-06-25T00:41:00.000-07:00

Well I woke up with a sore ‘froat’ (as Dean calls it!!) this morning which put me in a grumpy mood for the start of the day, it was going to be a hard day and now just a little bit more suffering would be required!!

Today was the longest stage at 77km and was a new stage for this year, they had estimated it to take the winners around 3hrs and 15. On paper it all looked and sounded pretty straight forward, with 17km on sealed bike bike path and then a section of sealed road for 12km. I hadn’t studied the course description too closely and was quite surprised how tricky the first 17km were, lots of steep walking pinches and again some more very rough, sharp and loose Centralian rock! I was aware of being quite conservative here as it would come back to bite me for sure. Everyone was a little more controlled at the start today, Jess had pushed forwards into first position and I found myself riding with Anna Beck, in her yellow jersey, for the first 17km, she seemed to be feeling some fatigue from the last couple of days, we were both about the same pace and it was nice having some company!

We got to the first feed station at 25km and from here we hit the bike track. I felt decent here, just so long as it stayed pretty flat and I was sure we had a bit of a tail wind. I noticed Anna starting to loose contact with me, so I made an effort to stay consistent and strong. Pretty soon I caught up to two fellas who were happy to roll some turns with me, we set a cracking pace, with me dipping into the red zone and starting to struggle quite a bit, but I knew Anna was not feeling comfortable so it was best that we kept pushing. Another rider joined us from behind and said that Anna had joined a strong group of about 8 and were only 200m behind us, I was tempted to sit up and wait so we could move with the larger group but we decided to keep pushing at our pace. I have to buy this lovely guy a beer as he was so accommodating in helping me out, he was happy to sit on the front and drive it, as I was no longer capable of rolling turns with any pace!

So we hit the bitumen and caught sight of the group behind us, it seemed they had caught us, so again we just kept pushing, now with two lovely blokes putting in some solid turns. We were now heading into a head wind and it was very open and exposed on the road. After assuming that the bunch behind were onto us we looked around and they were nowhere to be seen! So we continued to push on and picked up another couple of workers for our roadie bunch.

We got to the second feed zone and saw the approaching bunch about 300m behind, they had pretty much caught us, we were swallowed up and joined their ranks soon after. We continued riding as a bunch on the fire road but it all got smashed up as soon as we made our way up onto the top of the escarpment, it got very rough, loose and tricky again, I was really suffering at this point, my throat felt it had almost closed up and I was coughing up solid chunks of yellow phlem. Some of the descents were really sketchy and Anna Beck opted to walk a couple, somehow I got to the bottom in one piece and also on top of my bike, bonus!

So a gap opened up, it couldn’t be far now so I just pushed on through yet some more sand until I was eventually spat out onto the bitumen road that led me home to the BMX track. I hardly had the energy to pump over the jumps and across the finish line….. so happy to be done, now it was off to the chemist to get some froat gargle!

Alice Day 4

2011-06-25T00:35:00.000-07:00

Today’s set up was quite different, we had two stages on the same course. In the morning we had an Individual Time Trial on a 23km circuit and then in the evening we had a night race on the same course, but going the opposite direction.

The start of the time trial, another perfect blue sky day!

The time trial started in reverse order of where you placed in the general classification so for me being mid field it meant a bit more of a sleep in and a relaxed start to the day. My start time was 10.10am, they were setting people off at 30 second intervals. It was amazing how much warmer it was by this time of day, we got to a max temp of 27, bit of a difference to the cold Victorian weather!

The course was great, on the way out it was quite fast and flowy, the mandatory patches of sand to catch you out and then some quite technical hilly rocky stuff on the way home. I had not pulled up well from the big stage yesterday and was continuing to have issues breathing, so I just dialed it back and enjoyed the trails, not a cracking time (1hr and12 minutes), think I placed fourth in this stage! We then went back to our accommodation to get some quality time in by the pool before we needed to front up and do it all again tonight!

Everyone was feeling very lethargic from this mornings time trial, and not super motivated to get dressed and back on the bike for the second time today, nonetheless we set up our helmets and bikes with our super bright lights and made ourselves ready to do battle with the night!

It was a beautiful warm and calm night, I just raced in a jersey, no undershirt required! The mass start was quite chaotic, there was a mandatory crash off the start line which I managed to avoid, and then it was hard and fast elbows out to gain a good position heading into the single track, the amount of dust that was created from the pack was amazing and I was not at all enthused about being able to see what I was breathing in!

Once we got into the single track it was pretty slow, a bit like world cup racing, with lots of bottlenecks as the whole field tried to squeeze single file into the technical trail. So for a bit it was pretty slow and at some points off and walking. Eventually things spread out and I found my own space, I was really starting to enjoy the night riding, it’s always an extra challenge not quite being able to define obstacles and also what lay around the corners.

About half way through I cam across a pile up where Anna Beck had come down pretty hard, she was quite out of sorts but all in one piece, I asked if she wanted to jump on my wheel and follow me home, she gratefully accepted and she nursed her self home, it felt good to be able to help out even if it was just a little. We later learned that Jess Douglas had also had a pretty nasty off managing to crack her helmet, such are the joys and the challenge of night racing!

Alice Day 5

2011-05-23T00:20:00.000-07:00

Wow it had been a long week and we were finally on our last day.

Today we had a mere 40km estimated to take between 2 and 2.5 hrs, we started by riding the time trial course backwards over all the technical rocky sections and then looped round to the north western side of town to finally finish at the Alice Springs Telegraph Station.

Today I just didn’t really want to get on my bike, my cough had now developed into a snotty and chesty cold and I knew that by continuing to race I would be digging myself an even deeper hole, but it was the last day and I wanted to hold onto my podium position, so off we went!

I felt pretty good for the first hour then by the first feed zone the wheels came off and I just willed myself forward, very slowly getting myself closer to the finish line and also the end of what was an epic week.

I enjoyed the second half of the course, there was lots of new single track and the views were amazing, I contemplated stopping to take some photos but reminded myself that it was still a race!

I had a quite exciting finish, we had to cross the sandy river bed of the Todd river to get to the finish line, and as I was stepping off to run the remainder of the boggy sand Anna Antrecht had managed to sneak up right beside me and we ended up having a little race the last 20m to the finish line! Anna bet me to it and placed third for the final stage with me close behind with fourth!

So I managed to hang onto my third position and was happy for my performance to be what it was for the week, I always knew it was going to be touch and go after the 24hr, but you have to put yourself in these positions to learn and confirm how long it takes for you to recover and be on top of things again.

It was a fun week as always with the team and also an added bonus of having my partner Dan race also. He ended up having a great week and surprised everyone including himself with his result, 4^th in the open men’s category! All in all a great week of racing and i'm definitely motivated to come back next year and have a crack!!

24 Hour Solo Nationals

2011-04-26T21:57:00.001-07:00

We were all sitting round the dinner table on the second last night of the Terra Australis Stage Race, Fenz put it out there; “You should do Solo 24 Hour Nationals!”

The seed was planted, I weighed up the do ability of it... the main positive was that it was during the school holidays, plenty of time to prepare and then also recover, but was I prepared to put myself through all that sustained pain and mental battering??

For some reason the answer was yes?!?! I embraced the opportunity to gain yet again another ‘experience’ and have a crack at different discipline of MTB racing!

We travelled up the Hume to Canberra and upon arrival made ourselves comfortable in the TORQ pit area. We had an amazing set up, Dean had towed the Caravan up which provides some real luxuries; microwave, couches, beds, stereo system, fridge and of course a toilet! Not that I would be spending much time in the caravan over the next 24 hrs!

Chilling out and conserving energy before the race start!

Throughout the last 4 years Stromlo has been a constant in my mtb racing experience. In the past I had raced numerous Cross Country National Titles, a World Cup race, and memorably a World Championship.

It felt nice to be returning to familiar turf to attempt something altogether different!

I had two team mates who were competing also; Mark Fenner (the evil instigator) and newly signed Scotty Chancellor, who is well known for his talent and results within 24 hr racing.

The three crazy ones; Fenz, Me, Scotty

I felt blessed to have an exceptionally dedicated and passionate support crew, they would be relied upon hugely during the course of the race.

Dean: the owner of Torq Nutrition and the and manager of the team

Dan: my wonderful partner

Dave: Dan's enthusiastic and excitable Dad who kept my bikes ticking along perfectly with his attention to detail and skills with the tools

Kerry: Dan's proud Mum who provided continious encouragement great photographic talent and precise timing skills and

Angus: one of Mark Fenner's good mates who helped get all my nutrition requirements just right!

The Pit Crew!

My race strategy?? I basically had no idea, being my first 24hr race, the plan was to ride conservatively so that I could complete the monster! The longest time I had spent on the bike was a 7 hr training ride, so it was going to be interesting!!!

My main competition would be Jess Douglas, she is the current World Champion and had ridden a heaps of 24hr races, she has fierce determination and knows how to win in this discipline, so yes I was nervous and felt like a small fry!

Jess Douglas Current World Champion

The gun went off at 12:03, just after the men's category were sent off. Jess immediately assumed her position at the front of the race and dictated the pace. Being fresh, rested and feeling tip top, it was really hard to hold myself back and take it easy. Jess continued to pull away from me, keen to get a gap, I chose not to respond, it was going to be a very very long race and I needed to conserve everywhere I could.

The other girls behind me had dropped off and I was left riding my own race with no one else around. I would get the time gaps given to me each time I came through the pits.... Jess continued to increase her lead steadily by about 30seconds per lap, so this was how a World Champion races a 24hr race.... I just couldn't match it!

We got through to dusk and the lights went on to my bike, I felt a bit of a lift, simply with the change from light to dark and felt I was riding smooth and consistent. I was conscious of maximising any positive sensations as from here on in it would become more about my mental state than my physical capabilities.

My race was tracking well, my lap times were super consistent, I was eating and hydrating well and I felt pretty good considering I was now in unknown territory. I was working in 6 hour blocks and the second block coming up to midnight I had planned a treat; a quick wash and a change of clothes... I got to midnight and the gap between Jess and I gradually started to break down, I was now gaining 30 seconds a lap.... so no time for my planned treat, things were really starting to happen!

Kerry's teacher skills on the whiteboard recording my lap splits!

I had now reduced what was once a 9 min gap down to 4 minutes, I was pumped but Jess remained illusive and was nowhere to be seen. Finally at 1.30am after 13 and a half hours of racing I came up behind her on the single track, I was blown away, I had actually caught the World Champ!

I made my pass on the fire road and instantly all my pain was forgotten, I felt like I was pedalling on air, it was the most amazing feeling. I made an effort to remain consistent and gave myself the goal of gradually opening up the gap in the next 3 laps, to give myself a buffer.

I got to 3.30 am and had my planned first hit of caffine, ( It was about at this point that Dan told me Jess had gone to the showers to clean up and assess her situation) this carried me through for another 2 hrs feeling great both mentally and physically. I was so surprised and impressed that I was feeling so great at a point in the race where I should be feeling the worst. From 1am til dawn are known as the 'witching hours' the long slog through the dark and the coldest part of the night, I just kept telling myself that when I got to dawn I could expect another positive sensation with the growing light, being able to see the track again and the fact that there would only be 6 more hours of racing to knock off!

The coming of the new day yeeeehaaaaa!!

I did my 'Dawn lap' with a feeling of contentment but started to crash and burn, my body ached everywhere from the repeated battering of the rocks and undulations.

Jess had since pulled out opting to not complete the race which left me way out in front now with nearly 3 laps up on Anne who was in second place. These were all massive positives and it was looking really good to take out the title, but I now found myself experiencing my lowest point in the race.

It was decided that I would jump off the bike, have my planned wash and change of clothes and a hot meal of gnocci with pasta sauce. Being off the bike was great, but I could hardly walk and was really hurting all over.

A fresh change, hot food..... not so motivated to get back on the bike!

After a lap I said to Dean " You need to figure out how much longer I need to stay on the bike in order to secure the win, because I am done!' I was thinking as I was 3 laps up perhaps I could stop at 10.30am. I had so much time up that 2nd place could not overtake me in the time remaining. I was devastated to learn that in order to finish you had to cross the line after 12 midday. I couldn't pull up early even though I had a substantial lead.

So the plan was to do another lap, then have a sit out for 40 minutes then get back on and complete 2 final laps in order to cross the line after the all important 12 O'clock!

Fenz Trying to get my body working again during my lap out.

The final two laps were the hardest both mentally and physically. I no longer had any strength to push the pedals and I was not even moving fast enough to keep warm. Although I knew it was only 2 laps and I was done, it was so hard mentally knowing that I was so close. I so badly wanted to curl into a little ball and let the earth swallow me up!

Crossing the finish line.....done and dusted!!

Congratulating Jason English The mens winner, who is also the current World Champion!

Being awarded the 'Green and Gold' Jersey was an amazing feeling!

Winning the National Title gains you automatic selection to the World Championships and the question was asked of me; " So do you think you'll continue racing 24's and compete at the Worlds?" I concluded with " Not a good question to be asking me at this point in time!"

24 hour racing has provided me with a rich and unique experience where I feel I have been stripped to my very being and learnt so much about my constitution as person. I loved that it was an experience for our group of people and not just myself as a competitor, my pit crew lived through it with me, the highs, the lows, the lack of sleep and of course the elation of winning. Much thanks to my crew!

That is all!

All photos credit of Kerry MacMunn.

Solo 24 Wrap Up

2011-04-25T22:12:00.000-07:00

That is all!

All photos credit of Kerry MacMunn.

Otway...Third time Lucky

2011-03-02T02:17:00.000-08:00

Over the last 3 years The Otway is the one race that has consistently denied me any satisfaction and sense of achievement!

When I first attempted the Otway in 2009 I got 4 punctures on the first 50km and lost touch with the race, completely disheartened I pulled out at the 70km point.

Determined to tick it off my list I made my second attempt in 2010. I had made a great start, climbing well and taking out the KOM at the top of the hill. All was well until I managed to come off on the steep descent in the private property section, knocking myself out and also one of my teeth! Miraculously in a concussed state I managed to make it out to the first check point where I got off my bike and went straight to the Geelong hospital!

So 2011 was all about knocking it off and finishing with all my teeth!

Listening to the rain pounding the roof on Friday night was not a particularly soothing sound, it was sure to be an interesting day! The morning actually dawned pretty dry, quite warm but very windy.The pace was steady up the climb, and I chose to drop back and climb at my own pace, letting the roadies up the front battle it out for the KOM glory.

Nicky Fisher and I ended up rolling turns to maintain momentum until we hit the dirty fire road section, she gaped me on the descents, she was riding like an absolute mad woman!! It was unbelievable slippery and steep and I was just a little cautious with last years memory playing out in my head!

Once we got into the sustained climbing on the freshly graded fire road which had turned into one slick clay pan, I seemed to be rapidly pulling some position back. I entered the muddy fire road section in 8th place and well before the red carpet decent, I had managed to work my way into 2nd place, was quite surprised!!

I managed to hold my position until we were almost at the footy ground, Peta caught me in the single track and we rode together into the first feed zone. Peta took off in front of me and smashed it on the fire road climb, the legs were starting to feel pretty slow on any incline now! It seemed a gap of about 2 min was established and Peta seemed to hold this for quite some time.

Going into the final loop, I gave the fire road climb everything I had, as I figured there had to be a decent amount of descending I was hopeful that I might be able to work at closing the gap to Peta. Sure enough, I caught sight of her at the bottom of the very slippery descent. The sledge hammer was hilarious!!! I could see Peta just 20m up ahead, so close but the harder I tried at moving faster the worse it was. We were both attempting to run but struggling to stay on our feet and keep moving forwards and upwards!!! I worked hard to keep Peta in my sight, she was fighting so hard and managing to gap me on any open sections.

Coming up the final fire road section she slipped out of view and left me to cross the line 20 seconds in her wake! It was great to have such a close race over such a long distance and extended time. We both finished around the 5 hrs and 52 minute mark.

The final placings for the race saw a drastic re-adjustment, and I only learned of this once we had finished. Gracie, who was 4 minutes up on Peta and I had been given a 30min time penalty for taking outside assistance. The race rules were that you could not feed or accept any technical assistance outside the designated feed zones. Apparently Gracie had been given a camel back at the top of the main climb by a team van. She accepted the feed unaware of the penalties that would apply. It was a really tricky situation, I believe that the act did not give her the winning edge, it did not enable her to ride faster and take the win, but on the other hand they are the race rules and the officials needed to be seen to stick to their guns. So unfortunately Gracie was relegated to 6th position which bumped Peta and I into 1st and 2nd.

Regardless of the days result I was just ecstatic to actually get to the finish...... but also with the bonus of retaining a full set of pearly white chompers!!!

So the Otway has been well and truly ticked off.......... until next year!!!

Tour of Timor 2010

2010-09-29T03:57:00.000-07:00

Flying over East Timor in the plane was a harsh wake up call for what the following week was going to involve. I peered out the window and down to the spectacular and severe mountains below, it was beautiful and harsh, my legs began to ache in anticipation!!

On arrival we were greeted by the official welcoming party they were all very excited to see us and had huge happy toothy grins! We were all processed in the VIP lounge and amongst other things we were issued a waiver to sign so we could travel in UN vehicles, these would be used throughout the tour to transport us and our gear, bit different!

Once we had checked in to our accommodation Jen and I decided to head for a spin to stretch the legs and make an attempt at acclimatising to the oppressive heat and humidity. Coming from one of the coldest and wettest winters in Victoria certainly was a shock to the system; Dili was a hot and sticky 36 degrees!!

The road code in Dili is quite interesting, anything seems to go, overtake on the left, right, gutter, any side of the road will generally do and it seems that you don’t need any reason at all to use your horn!!

The animals are actually the main hazard on the road, all villages on the tour route were asked to keep all livestock locked up (most cases this meant in their houses!) so as not to cause accidents to bunches of riders during the race.

The early morning ride down Dili's main street to the race start at the presidential palace.

It was an early start each morning, we had to have bags packed and loaded on the gear trucks by 6am each morning. It was essential that the front gear trucks start at least 2 hrs before we did as they needed to get to the next nights camp before us. Due to the conditions of the roads and the terrain they traveled at a much slower average speed than what we did on the bikes!

The talk of the road conditions had everyone quite intimidated, mainly because the racing would be done In bunches and when in the bunch you have a great view of the wheel in front of you and that is all. The frequency of massive potholes, animals, washouts and land slips put everyone on edge. Some of the potholes we came across were deep enough to stand up in, luckily these were marked with a couple of random rocks placed round the outside of the hole! Never seen anything like it!

Before the race start outside the Presidential Palace.

The tour had 350 riders, so jostling for a good start position was always a good idea.

Day one went from Dili to Balibo, it was the longest day at 123km but considered the easiest due to the profile, it was mainly flat, following the coast line and then climbed up to the Village of Balibo in the last 20km. I found day one really tough, mainly due to the heat and humidity, it was always going to be a day of adjustment, getting the legs going and sorting out adequate hydration. I found the flatter stages along the coast some of the hardest days , the humidity was oppressive, any gain in altitude away from the coast seemed to be much better!

The school kids were ecstatic and no doubt were happy to have the opportunity to get out of the classroom cheer us on (it would have taken all day for the entire field to pass through!)

The energy gained form the locals was AMAZING! Every village we passed through pretty much had the entire population lining the road, cheering , smiling and enjoying what must be a very strange and new spectacle for them. Each village that we stayed in for the night had declared a public holiday for the region as the road had to be completely closed to all traffic and we were pretty much eating and sleeping in the schools classrooms!

It was a real treat to find some tables and chairs to consume our dinner, very civilised!!

Crossing the finish line in Balibo was a huge relief, some serious rest, recovery and chillaxing was required! Just trying to replensidh the energy stores ready to do it all again the next day!

Travelling through Timor we were constantly reminded of the horrific and reccent history that has taken place in this small country. Riding up to Balibo thoughts were of the 5 Australian journalists who were held captive and murdered in the 70's. Throughout many other villages there were carcasses of buildings left in ruin from bombings and just never been repaired or rebuilt. For what these people must been through they are an amazingly peaceful, gentle, shy and most of all a very happy people

This was the sag wagon! They were kept very busy picking up the stragglers and their bikes and giving them a much needed lift to the finishline! The medics dealt with 32 cases of severe dehydration on day one and a couple had to be airlifted back to Dili, pays to look after yourself!

Everywhere we went there was always an audience, the villagers thought of us as great entertainment, they simply stood and stared, it was never intimidating but quite humbling! This bloke was very happy to show off his prize rooster! The people in the background thought the massage tent was very interesting!

While we were waiting for the gear trucks to arrive there was a massive downpour, very unseasonal apparently in the dry season! We all huddled with the locals under the huge banyan tree.

The unseasonal rain caught many people out. Most riders had pre-purchased the camping package which consisted of a roll mat and a mosquito net, three out of the five nights we had rain so it was manic with the organizers sourcing free verandah space, and empty classrooms for people to sleep in, some people were even taken in by some of the locals, lovely people!

I collected 50ml in my drink bottle in only half an hour

The showers were interesting! They were pretty much made out of palm fronds on the ground and walls, then there was a big barrel of water with a scoop to pour water over yourself, sounds quite rudimentary, but to be able to wash away the sweat and pain of the long day was great!

The president made an appearance at most of the villages we stayed at. It is ‘The Presidents Race’ he is passionate about rebuilding Timor and the Tour is just one of many incentives aimed at harboring trust, promoting peace and making vital connections and building positive relationships with other nations. He considers sport to be a great way to promote these values and to showcase Timor as a peaceful, safe and absolutely stunning country. As Timor has been ravaged by war for so long they have not really experienced any forms of tourism. It was an amazing opportunity to see Timor before the people and the places become influenced by many foreign visitors.

Day two was said to be the toughest day of the tour due to the hills, from memory it was 93km but with some massive and very steep climbs. We descended from Balibo which was quite hairy in the big bunch lots of potholes and sweeping half gravel half bitumen corners.

The main climb went for 30km with two ‘King of the Mountain’ sprints in the space of 10km… it was steep, open, exposed and so so hot. But the scenery was amazing When we got to Maliana we travelled along the most spectacular ridge line through many remote little villages, unfortunately I had substituted the space in my pockets for food in place of the camera, so I didn’t capture any of it but I was very happy to have the food that day.

We had a beautiful decent down in to the town of Suia which was just off the south coast, we had crossed East Timor in a day!
Unfortunately one of our team mates Gracie came down really hard on the descent and managed to dislocate her shoulder, so out team was down to 3. On the up side she got be chaperoned by the president himself in his private chopper back to Dili

These boys were very happy that our camp was set up in their school, they got to have two days off school!

This Timorese rider was part of the PNTL (National Police) he explained that this bullet proof looking vest was great for carrying all the food he needed for the day “I get so so so hungry…!!” He just couldn’t fit enough food in his jersey pockets. When I asked if he got hot wearing it he said “It great, it is no problem!”
The Timorese riders had absolutely no idea about race nutrition, I would come across riders who had no water and no food, I gave one guy a caffine gel and 5 minutes later I was left in his dust!!

The start line for Day 3. In the background a new church was in the process of being constructed.

Day 3 was written up as a ‘rest ‘day, being only 67km and 50km of it being flat. I found day 3 the hardest. We were back on the coast so the humidity was unbearable and the road conditions were the worst yet. At one stage it had been sealed as there were the token patches of asphalt but the rest of the road was a myriad of potholes.

As it was flat the pace was being driven and everyone was trying to ride as a big bunch and get a good sit, but the potholes made the bunch really erratic, as the front guys were accelerating out of potholes we were just hitting them so it was like a huge elastic band trying to hold the wheel in front of you and not loose the bunch to be left by yourself.

After 40km of this we then hit the ‘best’ section of sealed road in the whole of East Timor, pretty much smooth hotmix asphalt, beautiful! From here we climbed up to the beautiful village of Ainaro.

Quite a reception on the finish line at Ainaro, having a Timorese commentator had the crowds in!

The local Gals!

Ainaro had many ruins of 16th century ornate Portugese buildings left over from the Portugese occupation. Many of them had been bombed during the more recent indonesian invasions.

The queue for dinner, it was well and truly worth it!

Presentations before the start of day 4. Steele was thinking ahead when he packed all his jerseys in the gear truck and waited bare chested to be awarded the under 23 leaders jersey for the days ride (hope he had sunscreen on)!

The start grid with the top 20 riders ditching their bikes and seeking shade while the role call for the other 320 riders is completed!

Day four was another spectacular hill climbing day. We started climbing immediately out of Ainaro for about 30km then had a series of smooth fast descents down to the village of Aileu.

You can see the road below that I have just ridden up, it winds up, up and more up!

Finally the KOM (King of the Mountain) signifying the top of the climb and the oncoming descent! I actually had to zip my jersey up for the descent, we had gained quite a bit of altitude today, reaching the highest point on the tour at 1900m.

The down begins!

Finally day five! We all had a smile on our dials today, as we were descending back down to the coast and finishing the tour in Dili!

Ahhh the north coast again!

This was the start of the much talked and warned about loose singletrack descent!

Looking back at the last climb on the coast road into Dili, happy to see the back of it!

From this point I could make out Dili in the distance… a very welcome sight to my very sweaty eyes!

The streets of Dili were lined with people like this for many kilometers, as close to the Tour De France as I’ll ever get!

The women’s Teams podium at the final presentations with poor Gracie all stitched up!

The last supper, it was huge, could have fed 3 people easily with my stirfry!

Finish the night off with a very entertaining taxi ride, the most laughs I’ve had for 2 dollars!!

Bike the Rock @Huebach

2010-05-20T02:01:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we made the trip north a couple of hours to Huebach for a German National race. We travelled through Stuttgard which was a rather large city, it is also the home of a lot of major European car companies; Mercedes, Porsche, Volvo, so was interesting to see the massive factories and showrooms on the way through.

The Huebach race is a Hors category race which means that there are heaps of UCI (International Ranking Points) points up for grabs for the top positions. This attracts a world class field, pretty much of the same quality that you would see lining up for a World Cup. So for us Aussies it was another weekend of trying to not lose too much time to World Champions!!

The course was pretty challenging and quite different to other cross country tracks. From the start line it was a relentless grovel of a climb in your easiest gear (and sometimes that wasn’t enough) for up to 15min, then from the top it really only took perhaps under 5 min to get back down to the start/finish. The decent was quite fun though, it had been super wet and slippery the days leading up to the race so it felt quite good to get to the bottom in one piece!!

So it was a tough day, almost seemed not to be racing but just trying to get myself up that hill each lap without blowing a gasket! I ended up being one of the last riders to get though on the ‘lead lap’. That is finishing my last lap on the same lap as the winner, although the winner was a good 15min quicker!!

The Men’s race was hard, they would have had about 80+ riders start and there were only 30 that got to finish the entire race, the rest were pulled of as they were in danger of being lapped by the race leaders!

So Huebach was a good training and a solid hit out before the last World Cup for this trip which is coming up this weekend in Offenburg!

Ski Jumps and Monasteries

2010-05-14T09:05:00.001-07:00

Andy and Rosie lashed out and hired a car for a few days, so having ticked off the training for the day we thought we would make the most of possibly the best weather we have had yet in Germany and hit the road to have a look beyond our regular training routes!

We took one of the main tourist roads that climbs to the top of one of the main ridgelines, all the peaks were around 1000m high. A couple of days ago when we had quite cold weather and heaps of rain they must have had quite a bit of snow as there was patches of snow on the sides of the road. Having had so much bad weather it was a nice change to be up high and actually have a view visibility has been limited due to all the low cloud and fog lately.

One of the highlights of the day trip was the massive ski jump we came across, it was up among one of the ski villages and we were blown away by the sheer size and steepness of it.

Recently watching the winter Olympics I thought I had a fair idea of how big these athletes jump, but seeing it in the flesh was a whole different story, the steepness and length was amazing.

This is the ramp they jump off at this point they can’t even see their landing 80m down the slope, scary!

This is at about the 80m mark where they land it is so so steep!!
Just down the road we came across some ruins of a very old monastery.

Further down the road we came accros some old ruins of a manastery. The Allerheiligen monastery was built in 1191 and is of gothic architecture….. pretty old!!

Further down from the monastery was a nice walk through some cascading waterfalls or wassenfalle.

Apparently they are the largest waterfalls in the Black Forest, cascading for 83m

A Coffee Shop Ride Across the Border.

2010-05-14T08:41:00.000-07:00

So I had a flat ride scheduled for today and thought I would venture across the border into France and go check out Strassbourg.
From where we are staying in Durbach it took me about 1.5 hrs to ride across the farmland between us and the city, the bike tracks are great, you can pretty much get everywhere without using busy roads and being worried about traffic.
I eventually came to Kehl which is the German town right on the border. The border is the Rhine River and once you cross this you are in France.

Crossing the border into France.

The centre of Strassbourg is actually an island as it is surrounded by a network of canals.

The Cathedral is definitely one of the more prominent highlights in the city, towering 143m high above the surrounding city.

The streets and buildings were amazing, and a lot of these were only accessible by foot, or of course by bike!!

Doing all this touristy stuff can be quite tiring so I found a coffee shop and settle in for a much needed coffee and some lunch!

Schwarzwaldverein

2010-05-07T05:56:00.000-07:00

Schwarzwaldverein is the famous ‘Black Forrest’, we are based right on the edge of it and it stretches for 100’s of km north and quite a way also south. It is the perfect training ground, it is really well signed, letting you know how far surrounding villages are so you can never really get lost! They also hold quite a few marathon events in the forest so there are multiple circuts you can ride ranging from okm to 80km+

The forest is beautiful, it is incredibly lush and green and the trails seem to go on forever!

There are also plenty of interesting things along the way, I came across these old ruins in the middle of the nowhere. I couldn’t read the sign as it was all in German but it must have been pretty old as some of the dates mentioned were right back to 1123!

I climbed to the top of one of the higher hills (973m) and found this tower.

It was just like a light house, I was able to climb to the top and appreciate the view. Shame the weather was not so good that day!

The view from the top! It was incredibly windy!!!

The Germans are amazing wood stackers, it seems to be almost an art form! These are everywhere in the middle of the forest, quite strange really, obviously no threat of bushfire here!

Durbach

2010-05-07T05:46:00.000-07:00

We are now in Germany where we will be based for the next 3 weeks. The Offenburg World Cup will be held here in 3 weeks time and it is a great place to be based to get some quality training in.

Durbach is a small quaint village that is surrounded by vineyards, and apple orchards.

The quaint main street of Durbach

We are staying in a small apartment at the bottom of a big German house, this seems to be a very common set up. As it is quite a touristy area, most of the families in the area have a guest house on their property.

This is the families home and farm, quite the set up!

The family we are staying with has 3 generations living on the same property, they have been making wine and schnapps here since 1782! The owner gave us a tour of his distillery, where they make the wine and schnapps, we also had a tasting, the schnapps sure does take your breath away!

About 2km up the road there is Durbach’s ver y own castle, now days they have functions and wine tastings here. It is quite a spectacular view down into Durbach.

Houffalize World Cup # 2

2010-05-07T05:39:00.000-07:00

Wouldn’t you know it, for the entire week we had beautiful warm sunny weather and come race day it had dropped to about 8 degrees was pouring with rain, not the most appealing race weather! I find racing in cold wet weather itself not so bad it’s just the time you need to take warming up getting saturated then sitting around and getting cold waiting for the race to start. It also makes for a huge clea up job after the race, soaking clothing, getting all the grit and mud out of the bikes drive train etc.

As predicted the start loop was absolute mayhem, the 19% street climb was real hard, I pretty much died about half way up and fell back through the field, then the decent down to the course was incredible, at some points I was at a complete stand still as the entire field tried to fit single file into the narrow single track, meanwhile the riders at the front of the race were half way round the course, such is world cup racing!

This is the view from the start loop over to the main climbing sections of the course. The track went up this slope on two different tracks and also down on two different tracks, The organisers like to have it all in a compact area as it is good for the spectators!

Due to the amount of steep climbing the course (290m each lap x 4) it was always going to be tough in the dry but the rain just took it to another level. The steady rain that we had overnight and prior to the race had really changed the way I raced the course, cornering was tricky and quite hard to stay on the bike without loosing traction, the gears I were using were totally different as there was so much more drag due to the mud.

So I ended up being pulled off the course 1 lap down, due to my lap times falling below 80% of the leaders lap time. This is always a frustrating result, not having the opportunity to finish the race can be quite disheartening, but out of 125 starters only 70 odd managed to get through to finish the race.

Having finished my race I always look forward to watching the men’s race, perhaps it’s because I know how much it hurts!! The men have an even tougher fight on their hands, they had 250 on the start line, it was pretty impressive to watch them come up the start climb!

On the Road to Belgium

2010-05-07T05:37:00.000-07:00

After the race at Dalby we had to head home and start the task of packing as we were heading off at 6 in the morning to start the long trip to Belgium. Our long trip turned into a very very long trip indeed! On the drive down to London we had some van troubles. Ian our driver decided it was best to call into his place at Nottingham where he knew a mechanic who could look at it for us, this wasn’t too far out of our way but the van was blowing thick blue smoke and moving at about 50k an hour!

As it turns out it was a quick fix but with the time taken for this diversion we were no longer going to make our original ferry booking. The next ferry from Dover left at 7pm that night so we had a bit of time to kill…. By the time we got over and into France it was a 4.5 hr drive to Houffalize where our accommodation was, so this trip to Belgium was almost as long as the time it took to get from Australia to the UK!

We finally arrived at 4.30 I the morning absolutely ragged, needless to say we had a huge sleep in in the morning!!

Dalby Forest World Cup # 1

2010-05-07T05:34:00.000-07:00

It all came about pretty quickly, having had a pretty disjointed start to the trip. Having only been in the UK for 2 days I found myself lining up on the start grid for the first World Cup, it was quite a surreal feeling. On one hand I was worried with the lack of quality preparation and on the other hand the adrenalin was still pumping having actually made it and it seemed a real novelty to be lining up for this race at all!

Race day threatened with some early rain, but it didn’t eventuate into anything, it was really only a sprinkle, enough to just slightly wet down the course. The women’s race had about 120 entries we are all seeded on our international ranking, being pretty low I was in the last few lines on the grid. I was quite surprised to be lining up right next to many times over World Champion and also Olympic Champion, Gunn-Rita Dahl! She has since taken a break from the sport to start a family and have some time away from professional mountain biking. She was great, we had a bit of a chat, and discussed the predicament of starting this far back from the front, definitely not a position she would have been accustomed to!

Apart from a bit of a pile up due to a crash on the start line, my race went very smoothly, I felt really good and was pleasantly surprised with the fact that I was in pretty good nick considering the lead up! I felt like I was getting quicker on each lap, once I managed to work my way forward and pass a few of the slower girls I was able to gain some momentum and settle into the race. I just managed to finish on the lead lap (You get pulled of the course if your lap times fall below 80% of the leaders lap time.) and crossed the line in 71st position, it is a long way off where I need to be for World Championship selection, but I was happy with how I felt and the form that I’m in, things can only get better from here surely!!

Life in Bourcy

2010-04-29T07:28:00.000-07:00

The place where we are staying is beautiful, it is not flash but it has a lot of character and is very practical! As a group of cyclists we are pretty happy when we find a place with a well decked out kitchen, a washing machine and at least a couple of toilets!! This place has it all, our group has grown now to about 10, and it is nice to be in a place that can cater for all of us!!

Our farm house!

This is the bike shed, heaps of room!

The team photo before our fist ride in Belgium

I am always still blown away by how old everything is here. We are in an old farm house in a very small village called Bourcy, it pretty much consists of a handful of similar farm houses that service the surrounding properties. The stone work is beautiful and this is very typical of this area, there are pretty much no modern buildings or residences to be seen. The country side is beautiful, the paddocks are amazingly green and lush and the cows are the most well feed and good looking cows I have ever seen!

I had been preparing myself for some horridly cold and wet weather, as in previous years the race here has been in pretty testing conditions. Amazingly Belgium has turned it on for us, each day has been blue skies and sunshine, not hot by any means but very pleasant none the less. I think this is all about to change though, the forecast is for very cold wet weather, should makes things very interesting! We are situated a little distance from Houffalize (which is the village where the race is held) but from our back yard there is a bike path that takes us all the way into the town, it is great, I’m sure it is a rail trail as the gradient is quite gradual and flat all the, a perfect way to warm up before hitting the race course!

The Houffalize course is one of the oldest on the World Cup circuit, apparently they have consistently hosted a World Cup race here every year for the last 20 years. It has always been renowned to be the hardest of the courses in terms of it’s climbing. The race starts right in the heart of the village in the main street. The legendary start loop goes straight up a very steep street with a 19% gradient for about 400m, this opens big gaps in the field as the better climbers burn everyone else off and sprint for the start of the single track at the top.

Me looking very relaxed on the 19% start loop, i'm sure it will be a different matter on Sunday!

This particular climb is used in the Leige-Bastonga which is one of the bigger of the spring classics on the professional road racing scene. You can see the names of Frank and Andy Schleck written on the road, this is pretty much a hometown race for them as they don’t live far from here, and the support would be pretty strong for here for these boys!
It is great having the course through the middle of the village, during training sessions it is a bit of a treat to re-group and finish with a coffee at one of the many cafés.

Finally in the UK!!!

2010-04-24T10:37:00.000-07:00

Well it has been an amazing build up to the first World Cup, and at one stage I was certain that I was not going to make it.

I was scheduled to fly out on Sunday night but due to the volcanic ash from the Icelandic volcano all European and Uk flights were cancelled. A couple of us were trying to get into some of the southern European airports that were still open and then contemplating the massive overland journey to the UK. I’m so glad this option did not eventuate as carting a bike box and heavy luggage around train stations is HARD work and it would have been hugely expensive as the cost of land transport had tripled and was jam packed with all the drama of the volcano!
So eventually, after multiple bookings and changes and also a practice trip to the Melbourne airport on Monday night, (only to be told that Venice airport had since closed after we made the booking), I got onto a flight that left on Wednesday night arriving in Gatwick (London) which was extremely exciting and a huge relief.

All 5 of us in the TORQ team were originally scheduled to travel together but with all the flight upsets we were separated, all coming in at different times and into different airports, I landed in Gatwick, Kath and Ray came into Manchester, and Dan and Bec flew into Heathrow!

I have never been to the UK, let alone London, so the train trip to London and up to York was quite an experience! As it happened I was headed to the middle of London to Kings Cross Station in peak hour, this was full on and I didn’t make myself many friends by taking up 4 seats with my bike box and luggage while the rest of the train was packed like sardines! From Kings Cross I got on a train that took me 2 hrs north to Yorkshire, the trains go really fast over here, the 400+ km journey was over in no time!

The English countryside is beautiful, although it is cold and quite bleak, there is still something very pretty about it. Spring has just started, there are lots of baby lambs in the paddocks, daffodils growing on the side of the roads and trees starting to become green and leafy. The villages have heaps of character, they are very quaint and the buildings very old and generally made out of stone.

This is the the view from our cabin, and one of the many phesants that seem to roam around here, strange birds!!

This is the TORQ UK set up, quite impressive really, and it is is great to have a place to hang out and have some support while at the race!

These little contraptions are called 'Nomads'. They are portable bike wash systems that can be plugged into the cigarette lighter in your car so you can give your bike a wash when you have finished riding some muddy trails!!

A few of us enjoying a cool down in the English country side!

Since arriving we have spent a couple of days out on the course practicing and preparing for the race. It is a really fun course with a few tricky bits that keep you on your toes but it is by no means a technical track that requires a lot of skill, It has been beautiful dry sunny weather and it is forecast to be the same for tomorrows’ race day!

We are getting very efficient at packing and unpacking the van each day, it is quite a procedure!

Not Long Now!

2010-04-12T04:03:00.000-07:00

Well the count down is finally on, 5 more days until I fly off to the UK to embark on another overseas World Cup racing experience.

It is a slightly shorter trip this year of about 5 weeks which will include 3 World Cup Races and a German National race.

The WC races are; #1 Dalby Forest in the UK, #2 Houffalize in Belgium, and #3 Offenburg In Germany.

These are the selection races that need to be completed in order to hopefully gain selection to the 2010 World Championships which will be held at Mont Sainte Anne, Canada, during the first week of September.

Our group is quite diverse, consisting pretty much of all the Aussies who will be racing WC's. We have banded together for our travel and accommodation arrangements, quite different to previous years where there has been a 'National Team' which no longer exists due to funding cuts.

So hopefully we will be leaving the cooler weather behind and hitting Europe at the onset of Spring and decent weather, although I hear it can still get pretty cold!!!

Stay tuned for more updates!!!

Life at 3000m

2009-08-19T21:13:00.000-07:00

Upon my return to Australia the pre Worlds organisation starting taking place. I was given the option to attend an additional 2 week training camp at the AIS in Canberra which would have a group of us based in the altitude house and getting stuck into some pretty intense training and testing leading into the World Championships.

After some negotiation and organisation with work I was lucky enough to be released from my duties at school to be part of the training camp! I feel extremely fortunate to have a very supportive Principal, and understanding staff, parents and students who are backing me 100% on my World Championships campaign!

Our huge line up of bikes, both road and mtb that get to live in the lab down stairs.

Upon arrival at the AIS we were briefed on the objectives for the camp and how the first week would pan out. Basically the camp is doubling as 'training' for us as athletes and it is also a unique opportunity for the scientists to gain valuable data and research on a group of elite level mtb athletes leading into a home World Championships.

The gals after our first testing session on the course.

We are living in a house which has 4 bedrooms, a bathroom and communal kitchen, all of these areas are regulated to simulate 3000 metres of altitude. We have filled all beds in the house, our group consists of are 5 girls and 6 guys. They would normally start you off a lower altiude say 1500m and generally get up to around 2000m, but for us they have decided to chuck us straight into 3000m for the entire 2 weeks! To gain the full benefits we need to spend between 12 and 14 hours at altiude each day, so that is typically made up with a game of poker before bed, a nice long sleep, and breakfast in the morning. All our training is done either down in the lab through testing or out on the course and local road rides.

One of our regular evening poker sessions, a great way to wind down while at 3000m!

The theory of living at altitude is to increase the production of red blood cells. It is the red blood cells that carry oxygen throughout the body, so in effect if there are more of them, more oxygen can be distributed at a more rapid rate which is particularly handy when you get really puffed during intense exercise!!

During our first week here, we are going through a very intense 4 day training block. Day 1 involves lab testing where we are hooked up to a machine that measures our Vo2 Max. This is a lab test where you see how long you can ride for while the gearing on the bike continually gets harder every 3 minutes. Once your cadence, or revolutions per minute, fall below 70 the test is over. It is quite uncomfortable as you have to breath through a mouth piece and and every 3 minutes they take your blood to test your lactate levels.

One of the boys completing his Vo2 Max test with the scientists recording all the essential data, ahhhh pain!

Straight after this test we do an 'exhaustion test'. A hard gear is selected based on the outcome of your Vo2 test and basically you ride until the cadence falls below 70rpm and by this point you are well and truly EXHAUSTED, my personal best was 9 and a half minutes!!

After lab testing we head out in the afternoon and do 'paceline' training which is basically a small version of a road race, where we roll through turns at pace, each taking a turn on the front of the group

Out for our afternoon training session, a great way to work up an appetite for another visit to the AIS dining hall!

The Coach came off at 55km an hour and it was not pretty, fortunately he survived with just a couple of broken fingers...... amazing!

Day 2 Is a little more fun but certainly no easier, it is on course testing. We ride out to Stromlo, the race site, and do timed 'splits' (timied sections of the course). These splits are done on the main climb which for us women is up to 9 min and the descent which takes just over 4 min. The first lap we go as hard as we possibly can then get a 5 min break, then we do 2 consecutive laps at race pace (a speed that we can maintain for the entire race).

Testing at the course, doing the weigh in before our timed efforts, and making use of the shelter conveniently placed on the track!

Hmmmmm... now how did that come to get there? Must have been during that spectacular and embarassing crash on course today!

After we have done these two days we start the cycle for the second time, and repeat it all over again for the next 2 days! It is an amazing environment to train in, I am amoungst a group of elite athletes who are all trying to get themselves in the best possible shape before what for most of us will be our biggest race to date. We are all trying our best to increase our home course advantage.

It is a highly competitive environment, our daily results/times are posted in the kitchen for all to see, they are talked about, compared, analysed and commended. You always seem to dig deep and push yourself to find that extra bit of energy and effort when you know your results are being recorded and will be up for all to see! Needless to say we are looking forward to a well earned recovery day at the end of the intensity block.

The much needed coffee shop ride, yay!

Here at the AIS we have everything at our fingertips to help us progress and train as elite athletes; physios, scientists recording all our data, massage, plunge pools for recovery and of course the AIS dining hall serving up fantastic healthy meals with no dishes or cleaning up to do!

The girls braving the cold of the plunge pool, at a chilly 12 degrees!

Gracie enjoying her 3 minutes of spa before she has to brave the plunge pool.

In the recovery centre we do hot/cold this varies but will generally consist of 3 minutes of hot then 3 minutes of cold and is repeated untill you have clocked up a minimum of 7 minutes cold in total. The cold water works at lowering your core body temperature, and the variation in temperature increases blood flow and helps repair damaged and fatigued muscles.

Bigger Fish to Fry

2009-08-19T20:53:00.000-07:00

Since my last blog entry I raced the last Canadian World Cup at Bromont, it was 'interesting' conditions, ended pouring with rain part way into the race which turned the course into another mud battle, seems to be a common theme with these Canadian races! Anyhow, my result was an improvement on my forst world cup race, coming in at 34th, so was happy with the race, nothing went wrong, just got to keep working on getting quicker!!

From Bromont I started the trek home to Australia which again was 'interesting' I had connecting flights from Quebec to Vancouver which is where my international flight departed for Sydney. Getting to Vancouver was quite a mission! My connecting flight to Toronto was set back because they were observing 'tornado'watch and had ceased all operations for 3 hours. So our plane landed and we waited the 3 hours to get to a gate and then disembark. I made it to the gate for my connecting flight to Vancouver only to find out that they had already filled the flight with people who had been bumped off other flights that were behind. As a result I arrived in Vancouver at 2am and had well and truly missed the international flight to Sydney, the next flight would run at midnight the following evening!

I did have a stroke of good luck, I got chatting to an elderly couple, Hugh and Wilma, who very kindly offered me a bed for the night/day and to drop me back at the airport that evening to get my flight home!

Hugh and Wilma were wonderful, they took me home gave me a bed, breakfast, took me on a tour of Vancover and also took me out for dinner! It was a huge random act of kindness!

To finish this last Canadian episode off, whicle I was waiting for my connection to Sydney got a call from Neil Ross the National Coach to say that I had made selection for the National Team, and that I would be racing the World Championships in Canberra in less than a months time! It was great getting this news to travel home with, kind of made going back to winter, no daylight and a week of work more bearable!

So the goal for my Canadian trip had been fulfilled, I had made selection and I would now get the opportunity to don the green and gold and repesent my country in a sport that I love.

Down to Business, Count Down to Race Day...

2009-07-23T19:23:00.000-07:00

So it was time to head back to Mont Sainte Anne and do our final training and preparations before the first of the two World Cup Races that we are here to do. We had to do some precision packing to get everyone in with bikes and bags, it was a tight squeeze!

We arrived on a Wednesday and although the race is on the coming Sunday, things were really starting to buzz around town, all the professional teams roll in with thier big team trucks and trailers, mechanics set up work stations to service all the riders, you start seeing riders out on the course that you have read about in magazines and watched in videos. It is an exciting time and in general there is a sensation of something big is building.

So race day finally rolled around, it was warm and overcast then of course as they were calling us all up to the start grid it began to absolutely hose down, big fat raindrops that would have made any Australian jump for joy, sure made for an interesting race. Ended up loosing most of my gears due to the mud and grass build up in the drive train of my bike, there was alot of running again and I had selected a dry tyre, for use in dry weather, so in the rain I had pretty much no traction, I spent alot of time picking myself up from some pretty spectacular crashes, all soft landings though!

I was happy with my race considering the preparation I have had. I ended up finishing in 40th position out of a field of 76 and third Aussie girl across the finish line, I did loose alot of time on the leaders of the race, and was a long way off the 10% of the winners time (which is the selection criteria to make the National Team and ride the World Championships in September) but all in all I was fairly happy with my race, and quite relieved that I got through in one piece!

So next weekend I get to have another chance at qualifying with the second Canadian World Cup, so fingers crossed for some super speedy legs and a good solid race!

This is the team in the pit area they also call it the 'race village' It is where each professional team have a big truck and tent to service all the bikes and provide a base for the team riders to, chill out, and also warm up before the race.

This is my bike getting some much needed TLC before race day to make sure everything is working perfectly and minimise the chance of any mechanical issues that could slow me down.

This is our TORQ team with the Pro GT International Team along with the mechanics, these guys are all paid 'really' good money to ride thier bikes! Lucky ducks!

This is our poor attempt at having a professional team van, we felt quite ashamed with out set up as everyone else in the street had huge big trucks all painted up in the team colours and design!

At the World Cup races, there are 3 disciplines: Cross Country (my discipline) Four Cross (pretty much like BMX) and also Down Hill.

This is Sam Hill the winner of the Down Hill, pretty much the fastest guy on a bike in the world, and he is a fellow Aussie! He ended up smashing his nearest rival by 3 seconds and in Down Hill racing this is a huge margin!

These guys are lucky It takes them about 4 minutes to complete thier race as opposed to ours which is generally 2 hours, but the potential for serious injury is a lot higher in the Down Hill as you can see by the equipment they are in!

One of the drops on our cross country course, was quite steep this one and very sketchy in the mud and rain on race day!

This section of the course was the most technical section, It is called the 'Squirell' and it was pretty much a waterfall of rocks, quite fine to ride in the dry but on race day it was covered in mud, most people were running down it, which was pretty sketchy in itself! The commissaire (course inspector) said it was too hard and dangerous so they had to build an easier track on the side of this one the day before the race!!

This was the elite men's race only about 10 riders in the field of 120 were riding this section, and alot were crashing, making use of the mats and hail bales on the side!

Needless to say this section drew a huge crowd, everyone want to get a piece of the action!

Me getting into some post race tucker while watching the men's race.

This is Edgar. I always manage to make some fantastic new friends along the way!

Another one of my new friends Cha Cha on a walk to the waterfall!

Blissful Bromont

2009-07-23T18:56:00.000-07:00

We have made the trip back to Bromont to meet the rest of the TORQ team who have now arrived in Canada! So the plan is to spend the following week training on the course and finally soaking in some beautiful summer sunshine, it seems the weather has finally turned it on for us!

We are staying in a lodge/retreat which is set in the rolling hills about 10km from the town centre, it is quiet, peaceful and very relaxing!

This is the local 'swimming pool' which is literally a 5 minute stroll from our accommodation. Perfect for an afternoon swim after a hard training session!

This is our amazing 'bike shed'!!! It has plenty of storage space for the whole team. Generally don't use the front door as they have to pull these open with big ropes, the side door is much easier!!

There are deer everywhere, these ones are regular visitors, they come in and eat the apples that fall to the ground. I'm sure me taking a photo of a deer is similar to a tourist in Australia taking a phot of a kangaroo or even a rabbit!!

This photo is of myself and one of my team mates Tory before training, the after shot may not have been so clean!

Katherine one of my team mates trying to get up close and personal with a deer we saw in the forrest.

The countryside is typically beautiful, rolling green hills, lush forrest, and quite county roads to train on!

Bears, Moose, Waterfalls and a Cathedral

2009-07-09T10:54:00.000-07:00

Every few days, it is time to give the body rest and a chance to recover from some intense training or racing. It is these days that allow for some more time to get out and have a look at the wonderful new places, sights, attractions and in general just broaden the horizons!

This is one of the larger waterfalls in the area 74m long.

There were three swing bridges crossing the canyon, this one was the highest!

These guys are huge, this is actual size, apparently they cause a lot of damage on Canadian roads.

This fella was actually quite cuddly, I’m quite happy not to have seen a real one yet, they are out there!

And of course I had to pop a cathedral in, just for good measure! This is the Sainte-Anne De-Beaupre’ Basillica, it is down in the valley, at the bottom of the hill from where we are staying.

Moving on to Mont Sainte Anne.

2009-07-08T12:35:00.000-07:00

After the race at Bromont we traveled north 3 hours back through Qubec City and onto another ski resort called Mont Sainte Anne. This is where the World Cup race will be held on the 26th of July in a couple of weeks time.

We are using this as a training base for 10 days until we head back to Bromont on the 15th of July.

This is our pickup truck, a pretty big ute! The turning circle is not great and finding parks at the supermarket is pretty challenging!

This is a trail called La Vietnam, It takes 40 minutes of steep climbing to get to the top but the descent is a fantastic reward!

The trails here are challenging! A combination of mud, rocks, steepness and the most challenging are the tree roots, once they get a bit of moisture on then you can sooooo easily lose control and crash!

I decided it was best to walk down this one, it’s too early to go home injured!

They build these structures called ‘Skinnies’ throughout the forest where it gets really wet and muddy, to cross creeks or just to make for really fun riding! This is a very wide ‘skinny’, they do build them a third of this size so it is a real balancing act!

This is my friend Terri showing some style on the skinnies!

Welcome to Canada, Thankyou Very Much!!

2009-07-07T14:24:00.000-07:00

Once we got off the plane in Qubec City, we hightailed it down to Bromont, 3 hrs south from Qubec City, a rather flash ski resort that doubles as a mountainbike mecca during the summer months.

We had our first race here on the weekend, it was a Canadian National race, so quite nice not to have to start with a big World Cup Race first up.
During practice it was blue skys, and the occassional puddle, race day was vastly different! After two days of solid rain, the course was totally transformed. I thought I came here to do a bike race, seemed that I was giving my running muscles a good work out!
The laps took 30+ minutes and I was having to run about 20min in each lap due to the mud being in some places half way up my shins!!
So my race took me 2 hrs and 15min, finishing in 12th place, I was very happy for it to come to an end!!

This is what all the kids do on their school holidays over here, join the MTB school!

This was after one practice lap on the course, after the actual race there was alot more mud!

We were quite happy to take the chairlift to the top instead of the 40min steep climb!

Off to the Land of Squirrels and Maple Syrup

2009-06-24T21:48:00.000-07:00

Finally after the long awaited count down I am off to Canada.
After finishing up school for the term it will be straight onto the plane on Saturday direct to Qubec City. From here we will travel to Bromont where we have our first race the following Saturday, this is a Canadian National Race and it will be a good warm up to the World Cup race which will be held on the same course in 4 weeks time. From here we travel back to Mont Sainte Anne where we will be based for 2 and a half weeks, this will be a solid training block and will take in the first of two World Cup races for the trip. The last week and a half we are back down to Bromont for the second World Cup race, and then it is back to the land of cold, in the wintry down under! So a fairly short trip, but i am definitely excited about getting away and focusing on being an athlete, riding some sweet singletrack and working towards gaining selection for the World Championships, which will be held shortly after in September at Stromlo, Canberra!!

Chase The Sun # 2

2008-06-02T17:46:00.000-07:00

What an apt name for the second race in the Chase The Sun Series! Upon arriving at Lysterfield it was a chilly 8 degrees, the whole area was engulfed by a thick damp fog, and as the day progressed it only seemed to get colder! Finally the sun burned off the fog around 2 o’clock giving us all a much needed lift and a warm fuzzy feeling!
The conditions made for an ideal surface out on the course though, it was super tacky and real grippy! The course itself was great, it had a much higher fun factor than the course used for the last race. There was only one main fire road section in the middle of the course and the rest was predominately fast flowing single track with sweeping bends, and gradual climbs. There were a number of log hops/launchers which were quite fun

also!

A very cool warm up!

Felt had a good representation for the day, I had teamed up with Bec Locke, a contact from the initial Dirt Roads to London Trials, as Jaci Low was unable to make this race. The two girls, Jarrod and Nik, raced together on the very pink matching felt bikes, Jack and Scott the old faithfuls, and Rob Eva came back for more and teamed with Mark Macdougall. We also had our trusty mechanic/photographer Gerrald for support!

In our race the strong combination of Tory and Katherine again set the pace and led for the day, the ever consistent Jenni King and Nikki Fisher followed not far behind in second. We decided that our best fit for the day was looking after third place. We both rode consistently, coming through with similar lap times for the day. We were so excited to receive our trophy, consisting of the subtle overtones of fine outdoor decking!!!

Thanks again to the team at Full Gas Promotions and also the old mates at Felt for supporting nurturing me for the day, (Nik without your warm words of encouragement I’m not quite sure that I would have pulled through!!! Oh and where’s my pink bike, is that coming for Christmas?

Just look at the hurt, dripping off me!!!!

Bendigo 12 Hour of Hard Knocks

2008-05-25T22:58:00.000-07:00

Our local club's 12 hour which was initially scheduled for March was run on the weekend. It was initially postponed due to extreme heat and fire ban issues, this weekend was a totally different kettle of fish, clear crisp skies, frost and bonfires all round!

The event was organised as a fundraiser to help get our local boy, Robbie Hucker over to Italy for the

world Championships in July.

It was a really fun weekend and felt had a huge presence at the race, Matt Wallace and Josh

Fleming teamed with local gun Trevor Watchman to take out the men's pro 3's, Jaci Low rode a com

mendable 12 laps solo, and myself along with the city

SLACKER'S, Nik and Muz made up the numbers in the mixed fours category!

The course was great as a home track always is. Lots of rocks, fast flowing descents, and short punchy climbs, I take my hat off to all the solo riders as it was

really quite a demanding course to ride repetitively.

Felt City was set up and we had a had huge presence for the day. The racks were chock a block full of felt bikes.

A big thanks to Muz and Nik for making the trip to the country and helping get the felt name out and about, we must definitely do it again sometime!

Chase The Sun # 1

2008-05-12T16:53:00.000-07:00

Sunday was the first of the Chase the Sun Enduro Series, for me it was the first enduro event that I had raced with the support of the Felt crew. It was great to touch base with everyone again and to also meet some new faces.

Jaci Low and myself were entered to do the Elite Female Pro Pairs, which I was looking forward to, having only ever raced against Jaci. It was nice to be able to combine our skills in a teams event.

I started the ball rolling with a couple of laps off the start line. There were pile ups and congestion a plenty, lucky there was a decent amount of fire road to sort us all out quite quickly! After coming off our initial set of doubles were we found that we had lost contact a little with the other girls, Jaci also came in off her second lap with a deraliuer that decided it didn't want to work, lucky Rob Eva of SRAM got her back up and running in no time with a replacement!

After a couple of hours we had slotted our selves into second place behind the Torq team of Kath O'Shea and Tory Thomas, but with the King and Fisher Duo very close behind! It was tight racing from here on in, with minutes separating 2nd and 3rd place. Niki Fisher allegedly flatted on the course which gave us a little breathing space but the inform Jenni King soon managed to close the gap and put some time into us.

At the days end we rolled into transition in 3rd place just a couple of minutes off second. The winning combination of Kath and Tory from Torq was just too hard to beat, both recently returning from a stint of fast World Cup races in Europe.

It was a nice change having 4 competitive women's teams at an Enduro, it actually became all about racing, whereas usually there is only one strong combination and the guess work and excitement is taken out of the race. So well done girls, women's mtbing is coming together quite nicely.

Big thanks to the Felt Team for supporting Jaci and I and also big ups to Full Gas Promotions for organising another fun event. Look forward to seeing you all at #2 on the 1st of June!

State Championships – Upper Beaconsfield

2008-04-27T22:01:00.000-07:00

Result – 2nd - Elite Women

Overall State Series Winner

The last round of the Summer State Series, was more like a mid winter race, cold and wet under ominous and threatening skies. The weather didn’t put any of us hardened mountain biker types off though, we were all out in force to contest the Title of State Champion!

In the end the weather was kind to us, we didn’t get any rain and the track actually dried up nicely throughout the race. Going out for my warm up lap, I was quite impressed with the tightness and techi-ness of the course. It looked to be a lot of fun, but also potentially very fatiguing with numerous logs to hop over and a very tight steep switchback climb to negotiate.

I led for the first 2 laps with Jenni King hot on my tail, as much as I tried to drop her, she was determined to stick on my wheel and watch for any signs of weakness. The third lap I started loosing speed on the climbs, and I was feeling the early onset of fatigue as a result of not getting great recovery after last weekends big ride at the BMC 100.

Jen put a decent gap on me and I found myself riding out the race in no man’s land, feeling like I was towing a bathtub and trying my best to ignore the screaming protest my legs were putting out!!

So Jenni deservedly took out the State Championship Title, and my second place secured the position of State Series leader. There is a first time for everything!!!!

The BMC 100k

2008-04-20T22:12:00.000-07:00

A couple of months ago myself, Rob Eva and a couple members of the Woodend mtb club, went for a super trail ride in the Wombat State Forest. As this was the first time I had ridden in the area I was blown away by the super quality of the single track in these parts. I had to come back, and so here it was that I found my self on the start line for the inaugural BMC 100km!

Myself and a few eligible veterans from the Bendigo mtb club, decided to make a real weekend of it, and went down to camp on the Saturday night, It was a great way to soak in the atmosphere of the event and beat the early morning drive from home.

The 7 am start was rough! The sun was barely popping it's head up and the air was icy, very hard to get out of my sleeping bag. I aimed for a fast start so as I could get myself a bit of a gap to work with early on. This I achieved by employing some roadie tactics on the fire road, and hanging out with a few of the fellas!

I hit the first section of single track with lots of piece and quiet and a clear trail ahead, it was awesome, easily the best single track I have ridden here in Australia! As the day progressed my nearest rival Bec Locke made contact with me twice, buzzing my rear tire on the long sustained fire road sections, but getting lost in my dust as soon as we hit the single track. It made for an exciting race where I was literally on the each of my seat, and my limits, the whole day. I was constantly glancing over my shoulder in a paranoid state to check if Bec was gaining on me!

By the time I hit the 80 km checkpoint I was well over done; feeling like I was towing a bathtub and getting thrown around like a sack of spuds through the rough ball breaking pine forest section. A lot of the climbing was done in this section and I can tell you it was very sloth-like!

I was so glad to get onto the wombat trail, must have been about 5 km of sweet flowing single tack all the way home to cross the finish line in a well earned 1st place. It was a superb way to finish off a super cool fun 100 km mtb race!

Thanks to all those involved for getting this event up and running and big, huge thanks to the dedication and passion of the Woodend mtb Club who are behind the construction of the very, very nice single track in the area!

A Wintery Weekend at Woodend!

2008-04-13T21:35:00.000-07:00

I had to think twice about packing an undershirt for Sunday's race at Woodend, but commonsense and previous experience convinced me of the reality, of course it was going to be cold!

The Rocky Riders club put on the 5th round of the State Series, and it went perfectly, they were so efficient that they conducted the presentations before we could all manage to get cleaned up! Thanks to all those involved in making the day happen, all went very well.

The sweet trails of the 'Wombat were not able to be used due to permit issues, but the replacement course was a blast. The track wound in and out of the pine forest with a good percentage of tight, fast, loamy, single track, which made for great traction and exciting cornering. The fire road climbing was friendly and gave you a chance to see if your nearest challenger getting too close for comfort!

I started the race as I meant to finish, getting to the single track first and not handing the lead to any who would try and take it. I managed to put a decent gap on by the 4th lap and stretched this out a bit more in the 5th, rolling across the finish line in a clear first place. All in all it was a good old fashioned long race (2hrs) leaving me feeling like I had done some solid work for the day!

As I haven't managed to get some pictures of my self racing I recommend looking at the ones Stephen Rowe snapped on the day at www.rockyriders.com

The Big Hill Marathon

2008-04-01T18:31:00.000-07:00

Well the morning was definitely crisp and clear for my first marathon MTB race, it even felt as though a light frost had crept in overnight, far too premature if you ask me!

The start was kind of novel lining up with all the punters, everyone trying to beat each other up the first climb without blowing each other up, very different to women's cross country races!

It was nice to be able to work together, and chat to people throughout the day and interesting to read others signs of distress, hunger flats and fatigue! I was amazed by the amount of forest out there, at times it felt like I was riding through the middle of the Otways, it was lush and very beautiful!

So I just tapped away for the day, not having done a long race before I was conscious of eating, drinking and pacing myself to get through the day in a controlled and measured effort. I didn't see any of the other girls out there, except for Naomi whizzing past me on the first climb, so it was really just me and the many men!

I rolled across the line in second place and a quicker time than I had aimed for, so all in all it was a good day. I would have to say the hot shower at the end and the bananas and muffins at the food stations were definitely up there as highlights for the day!

Huge Thanks to Big Hill Events and everyone who was involved in making the day happen, and of course thank you to the team at Felt for getting me to my first long MTB race!

A Warm Welcome To The World of Felt!

2008-04-01T18:25:00.000-07:00

As of March 2008, I have become one of the members of the 'Felt Family'! I would like to extend a huge thank you to the team for taking me on as one of their sponsored riders, exciting times ahead!