Team Time Trial: Chasing the Llama

"Smile of pain with team-mate Von" (Photo by Shane Miller)

Sunday 24th July - it was pouring rain when I got out of bed. Hmm..should I race? It sure didn't look like that rain was going to stop anytime soon. I had just only recovered from a viral infection. Hmm...the body was feeling a little tired.


Nah, no excuses, I have to. It's about commitment. There was no way I could let my team-mate down. We had been planning this for weeks. Supposedly a 3-women team, unable to find a team replacement meant we were down to 2 people - Von Micich and I.  All we needed were 2 people to finish, well, we were going to start with 2, and definitely finish with 2. 


And so, I began the drive down to Bunninyong. It was pissing down all the way there. And Bruno Mars' "The Lazy Song" started playing on the radio. Gosh...so much temptation to turn around.  No. Just like how I would in bike races, I started counting down the number of k's till I arrived. 


Upon arrival, we immediately got together and signed up. The air was cold, but the rain had just stopped, and the sun was just trying to break through the clouds. Phew.  It was pleasant surprise to have Gaelene, the SKCC Women's Cycling Organiser, there to set up a marque for us to warm up under. 


SKCC 2. SKCC 2. The guy on the microphone had started calling us out. "Only 2 of you?" he asked. "Yes!" we piped. "Watch out for those hills out there!" he replied. "Yes, we'll be fine!" 


5, 4,3,2,1..off we went. Having done a recce of the course, Von led us out - and soon we were on our way. A couple of revs in, and finding the right gears, we both settled into a nice rhythm. One of us would pull up the front for a while, the moment the speed started to lull, the other would drive up the front. We both knew each other's strengths, and played it out as best as we could. 


As we kicked over one of hills, it was a nice surprise to see Shane Miller on the side road with his camera in hand. "You're doing well girls!" It was pity his team had pulled the pin on him that morning - and so he ended up being our spare's vehicle, support guy, camera man - all on 2 wheels! As we rode pass him, he would jump on his bike,  and stay a little behind shouting out words of encouragement. Come a hill, he would then zoom pass us, and ride up a few hundred metres in front - and it soon became about chasing the Llama down. 


20ks in - we were doing really well. I was sure glad that we had fixed our TT bars on - zooming down the hills on TT bars was just plain awesome! As we rounded the bend with 5kms to the turnaround point - I was starting to spin out. Click down, no one more, one more down. We had a massive tail wind on our backs.. brilliant! Well for 5ks that is. 


The moment we turned around - smack! A massive head wind in our faces. Immediately our speed was less than half of what were pushing just a few minutes earlier. Hands on TT bars, backs fully aero. And with only 2 of us, it was going to be a tough. Whenever either was pulling a turn in front, it was copping the full blast. Just getting up to pull a turn was tough, holding it was even harder. "It'll get better once you hit the corner!" Shane screamed behind us. Spin, spin, spin. 

Phew, it sure felt better once we hit the 30k mark - next challenge, the hills that we had just came flying down! That massive head wind had sapped a lot of our energy, and now, the countdown began. 


My gut was really starting to play up from some weird virus I had caught 2 days before. All I could do was just lean over the bars, suck my drink bottle bit by bit,  and tried my best not to throw up. Just focus on the road in front. Just focus on chasing down Shane. Just focus on Von's wheel.  "15ks to go!" Von yelled out behind. It was great to have a team-mate's support. 


Up ahead in the distance, we saw our longest and biggest climb of our day. Oh..my..gosh.. "Just pace it up!" And so, in silence, heart rate racing,  only the sound of our deep breaths - we both slowly but surely spun our way to the top. Phew. Down the hill, up the hill. More undulations. We both started trying to laugh off whatever tired-ness we had.  When we caught and passed one of the men's team in front of us, that really lifted our spirits!


Not long more. Kicking over the last hill, and as I was just about to throw everything into the last 2ks, I saw the finish line up ahead. Hm..sooner than expected!  We both drove as hard as the legs would allow us - and crossed the line together. 

We ended up finishing 4th - piped by a mere 28s from 3rd place. Although just a little short, we were both absolutely stoked with the result. Knowing we weren't on the best machines out there,  both of us having only taken up racing in recent months, and with only 2 starters, our aim was to give it our best shot. And we sure did!! 


The feeling of finishing  a race well with a team-mate brought back good ol' memories of my younger days with my handball team. Winning races is sweet, but winning with team-mates is an even sweeter feeling. Thanks Von for the awesome  support along the way, the encouragement to keep pushing through and for sticking it together right till the end. And the Llama, Shane - massive thank you for supporting both of us all the way through - it really made a difference!!

"With the rest of the SKCC chicks that took part" (Photo by David Heatley)

Woodend: All about focus!

I woke up on the right side of the bed that morning - body was feeling great, I had a good week of training behind me, I was feeling somewhat confident, and was just really looking forward to the race that day. 

The circuit: Woodend. Some small pinches, nothing too long - great! Getting somewhat lost on the way, not having an idea what the start time was, nor where the start line was - well, a sunny day and meeting some good mates made up for all the morning's hustle. 

All ready for the day's race (Photo by Marisa Farell)

The ride out to the start line made for a great warm up. The race finally kicked off and I was in a group of about 15 or so riders. Unlike the week before, I only had 1 other SKCC ally today. The usual chit-chat to start off, before some early attacks were launched. A solo rider was soon off on his own, but the groupetto held pace always keeping the solo-rider in sight. 

The race course was a little dodgy - with potholes all over the place, and gravel around all the corners. I made a point to keep on the outer side of the peloton to allow room to manouvere. As we started hitting the short climbs - it soon became an attack-lull-attack regime. This week, I was certainly ready for those attacks! 

Going into the 2nd lap, an unexpected rider broke away from the peloton. He slowly drifted away from the group -  Could this be my chance of another duo break?  As we hit a section where there was slight cross-wind, I kicked and managed to jump away from the group. Hands on drops, fully focused on the road in front, I was soon off on a solo chase. Spin, spin, spin. Shut up legs. Spin, spin. 

Pretty soon I caught up with the solo rider, and after sitting on his wheel for a while, I signalled for him to roll turns. Alas, after a couple of minutes, the peloton started coming closer and closer. The wind had gotten the better of us - and we were soon re-grouped with the peloton again.  

The next 25ks saw a few more attacks - and riders not really wanting to pull too long a turn. The pace was increasing, and having done a few attacks up the front, I was starting to tire. "Just focus on the wheel in front..just focus.." An attack would go off - should I jump? No, let someone else jump. Another attack - should I jump? No, be patient. Just focus. 

Finally, with 1km to go, I jumped onto a break. 500m from the finish, there was a nice short pincher. And the pace blew. Riders started attacking - everyone was out of the saddle. All the guys were powering through. I stuck in as long I could, but a bunch of 4 soon gapped about 2 bike lengths in front. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see another rider trying to come over me.

Just focus on finish line! As his front wheel drew an inch in front of mine,  I gave one last kick and sprinted. 100m, 50m..come on...just a bit more. 5th place - yess!! Ah..nothing like the sweet feeling of adrenaline from a sprint. Next race - Team Time Trial!

South Gisborne - a race of attrition

"In a world of suffering" (Photo by Marisa Farrell)

8.5km loop with a nasty little 1km pinch in the middle - this race was set to be a tough one. Multiple laps of this course - it was going to be a race of attrition.

A nice and sunny day for racing, though a nasty head-wind on the climb signalled a tough day out on the bike.
A strong St Kilda Cycling Club presence was certainly felt across the grades, and I was sure proud to be dawning the club kit that day. Nevertheless, being the only girl in the huge field of men surely brought out the usual nerves.

The race kicked off on a nice pace - and with winds constantly changing directions througout the course, I tried to stay in the middle of the peloton as best as I could. We had the usual cyclist who would attempt to overtake on the wrong side of the road, but the men were certainly more aggressive and constantly yelled at him to get back in. I had managed to ride with one of the guys on a training ride earlier in the week, and tried to stick on his wheel.

About 3 laps in, a solo break tried to get away. It was a fella SKCC rider, and I knew something was amiss when we had 2 guys up the front holding the pace of the peloton. Nevertheless, the pace quickly pushed higher and I was slowly being pushed to the back of the peloton. As we hit the hill on the lap, I felt my back wheel locked, and just could not find the right gears. Jelly legs - arghh..- probably from too much good food from my recent trip to Malaysia. =p

I quickly tried to suck some drink in and started chasing the peloton down. I had one other guy rolling turns with me, and we managed to keep the peloton at 10-15s in sight. Seems small, but with 2 people trying to close a gap on a peloton of more than 15 riders, the battle just got tougher and tougher. Halfway through, it was my turn to pull and I tried kicking in hope of closing the gap before a tight corner. As I approached the corner, I looked behind - oh no, I had just lost my ally. He had pretty much disappeared off the course. To wait, or not to wait...hmm... A couple of head turns, I knew he probably had given up, I had to chase solo.

Hands on drops, head down - I tried to focus on pushing through the headwind. I tried digging in on the climb in hope of making the time, but I was starting to run out of steam. Pretty soon, the peloton in another grade passed me. A couple of riders cheered me on to not give up, but the energy was slowly diminishing and I knew I had to eat something if I was to finish the race. Once the peloton in the higher grade caught my grade, it was pretty much race over as the guys started to push the pace higher.

Well, giving up is never my thing, and with less than 17ks to go, all I had to do was focus on 1 lap at a time. Every corner I turn, I was hoping to catch a glimpse of the bunch - but soon they were no where in sight. I was quickly running out of k's to chase. Ended up finishing just over a minute down. Well, races of attrition on lapped courses are tough - but yet, you certainly come out a much stronger rider.