Omnium!

Sat 19 Nov: Victorian Women’s Omnium at DISC. 5 events – best all round cyclist takes home the championship. I couldn’t help thinking about the event the whole week prior. It was like that something that sits at the back of your mind – constantly popping up.  I was really nervous yet really looking forward to the race – half of me wishing I had had taken this up earlier in the year. The 2 months of prep had gone by really quick – working with Simon to put the mental, physical and tactical building blocks together in that short time– and Saturday’s championship certainly arrived sooner than expected.

Race bike ready to go for the 500TT and Flying 200

Event 1: 500TT

2 laps. Flat out. Focus. I’ve come to love that sound of the starting gate. The 5 beeps - that final countdown before you kick off.  Sitting down waiting for my turn – I could feel my heart pounding. Put my hand on my chest. Breathe. 5,4,3,2,1 – I was off. Just rev, just rev. Come on Grace. The bell rung – that gave me the next boost. And then it was over. Just like that. I looked up at the scoreboard. 43.6s. Disappointed.  My start had let me down. 12^th/16. It had come down to tactical error.  I was close to the bottom of the ladder. Shake it off. I still had 4 more events to go.

Event 2: Flying 200

I was a lot more calmer now. Starting to loosen up a little. The flying 200 is one of pure speed. Winding up in that 2.5 laps to a maximal effort. Technique, technique – which line you took in the wind up mattered. It wasn’t just all about that final 200, but how you build up towards that maximal effort. 2 laps to go – I climbed to the top of the banks. I could hear Gary Hammond down below screaming ‘up, up, up’. I was going a little too slow, needed to wind up the gear a lot more.  And now. I got out of the saddle. Used the track as best as I could. Bell rung. And I was off. Had to go flat out. Stopped the clock at 13.9s. Finished a little better this time round. – 1.75s off the leader. Still 10^th/16. Again, technique was where I had come undone. 

Event 3: 5k Scratch

20 laps. Just like the weekly club racing. I was feeling a little more confident here. With them mixing up the U19s, Elite and Masters women we had a really big field. Pace was kept high. Everytime I rolled through, I tried to keep my position at the top of the field. Constantly trying to fight for a position. Finding the gaps. Who’s wheel to follow? Which gap to squeeze in? Yet, it was exciting. Those split second decisions all mattered. Bell lap. The sprinters were climbing over the top of me. I should have made the move earlier. Too late. No room to move – had to follow the wheel in front. 40m from the finish. I heard a yell of ‘up’ from underneath me – someone was trying to come through from underneath and then bam. A crash just next to me. Oh crap. It all happened so quick. No time to look, I drove for the finish. Finished 7^th/16. Much better this time round. I was pumping with adrenaline now.

All ready for the 2k Indiv Pursuit - 

Event 4: 2k Individual Pursuit

8 laps. I had been waiting for this event. Another gate start. This time much more prepared – nerves were shaken off. Go. Lap 1: I was down on schedule. Lifted the pace. Lap 2. I was now faster than the schedule. Good – hopefully I had made up the time I had lost on Lap 1. Lap 3 – another one faster than schedule. Great! I was pumped. But, I had totally lost count of the number laps I had to ride. Didn’t know where to look. I was strarting to get distracted. Lap 4: Another one above schedule. Good. But how many laps left? How much more in the tank? Really distracted now. Lap 5: Above schedule again. I really wanted to scream at Simon as I rolled past him. How many laps? Why wasn’t he telling me how many laps?  I could feel a bit of lactic acid building in the legs – breathing was starting to get heavy. Lap 6: There it was. That magic number I was looking for. 3 laps to go. On the board. Found it. Despite the lactic build-up, seeing the number of laps to go was almost surreal. I had finally found the answer I was looking for. And I think I pulled back just that tiny little bit to keep a bit of reserve. Bad mistake. Lap 7: Downhill. I was now down on schedule. Oh crap – all that hard work in the previous laps – spiralling down – fast. Legs were burning. Come on. Just focus. Lap 8:  Bell lap. Had to give everything I had. Every little bit. I had to empty the tank. Lifting each leg was hard. Just had to drive to the finish line. 2:47. I was stuffed. Finished 8^th/16. A little slower than I had hoped. Yet, I knew I had given everything I had on that last lap.

Event 5: 10k Points Race.

Finally – a longer race! 40 laps. I had managed to spin the lactic acid out from the previous race. I was certainly pumping now. Gear felt good – legs felt like they were floating. Race started. Got pushed onto the duckboard – first blunder. Crap. Jumped back in immediately. Sprint 1. Sprinters went. Finished 6^th. I wasn’t worried yet. Every intermediate sprint I tried – managed somewhere in the top 6. 10 laps to go – a lot of the sprinters had now dropped off. Good. I saw the girl I was trying to beat drop back.  3 laps to go – I was pulling the front. Not quite sure what to do. To roll up? Or just hold an easy pace up the front?  I opted for the later. Backed off the pace. Bell lap – I waited for the jump before I went. Wrong move. Should have gone earlier. Finished 8^th/16.

Overall, finished 8th/16 and 5th/7 in the Elite Category. I certainly enjoyed every single bit of that day.  From the highs to lows, the satisfaction to the disappointments, I enjoyed every minute of it. The omnium is certainly a great mix of events with races against the clock and bunch races. Just the learning in itself was brilliant – I felt I had just matured a lot more in just one day. Coming out now with times on the board, a whole long list of things I want to work on, and new goals and challenges set – I’m certainly looking forward to the next training session and the next race on the track. Mega thanks to Simon for his help that day – coach, mechanic, mentor – supporting me through the whole day, taking my times, changing my wheels and chain-rings – I almost felt like a pro for a day. And congrats to Shannon McCurley, Laine Hammond and Jessica Laws who took 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd respectively.

Next up – Metros Championships coming Saturday. 500TT and 3k Individual Pursuit. Will be going in with a whole lot more confidence – and certainly with a whole new challenge to beat the times I had last weekend!