Eildon Women's Tour - another 2nd!

For the first time this year, Blackburn club hosted a Women’s Grade at the Eildon Tour.  2 days, 3 stages, and $1000 in prize money just for the women, it was hard to resist! I’d caught a nasty cold in the days leading up to the tour, nonetheless, I was still keen to race.

Day 1: 12km TT

Love the artwork by Michael. Check out his new site here. (Photo by Michael Mcritchie)

With the accommodation nearby the start line, it was a bonus as we could warm up there. Despite the predicted showers, the skies were clear for the start. I was 2^nd last of the mark, but with TT gun Lauretta (Kosdown) only 2 riders ahead, she was going to be hard to catch. I caught my minute person within a few k’s and the rest of the ride out felt good. I found myself pushing just that little harder, taking it to the next level as the km’s ticked by. Nonetheless, as I took off from the turnaround point, my cold had started to get the better of me. With one airway blocked, breathing through my mouth only wasn’t going to cut it – I simply could not dig any deeper! I could feel myself wriggling on the bike trying, which simply made things worse. With about 3km to go, Rachel caught and passed me. All I could do was try as best to focus on position and spun to the finish. Congrats to Lauretta who took home the win in 18:03. I just scrapped through for 3^rd on GC 1:25 down, behind Rachel (in2sport).

Day 1: 53km Road Race

The afternoon’s race was a 53km stage - 2 flattish pond loops with a power hill climb finish up the Eildon Dam Wall. The bunch of 9 were happy to roll turns till we got to the first little hill out of Thornton. Unfortunately, Ruby had a puncture (with no neutral spares vehicle) and we had dropped one of the other girls, leaving 7 us. We continued to roll turns, keeping the pace fairly high – no one was too keen on launching any attacks. As we came around the second time to the Thornton hill, I tried to maintain a solid tempo from the front. Just as we crested over the top, Laine came flying past – “Come on! We’ve dropped some of them!” We immediately put the pressure on, and it was now 4 of us in the break – Rachel, Jamie, Laine and I. We continued pulling some solid turns for the next 10ks before the turnoff to the Eildon Dam Wall. Just as we turned, the skies opened and it sure was spitting hard on us! From here, the race was on – neither of us wanting to do too much at the front – each waiting for that next move. As we hit the first kick up the climb, Rachel attacked but I managed to jump onto her wheel, with Laine and Jamie just behind. She was certainly putting the pressure on throughout the next section of the climb. My back brakes had started to rub from the grit and rain and it certainly did bother the other riders more than myself! I waited, and waited.  Just as we approached the next kicker, I clicked into gear and jumped, managing to get a descent gap before the bridge. From there on, I spun as fast as I could, unable to shift into the big chain ring, as I heard them getting closer and closer from behind trying to close the gap. I kicked again for the finish – and, I had just won my first road race this year!! Still gasping for air, I was absolutely stoked!

The jump just before the finish of Stage 2 ( Photo by Michael Mcritchie) 

Up the top of the Eildon Dam Wall (taken a few days earlier) 

Day 2: 75km Road Race

Today’s race was a 75km stage – with 1 pond loop, followed by a climb up Skyline before looping back down to Eildon. With 8 starters today, everyone was content with the easier pace before we hit the climb. As soon as we hit the first steep section, Rachel took off with the entire bunch strung out. And just like the TT, I was struggling with my blocked airways.  I could not quite keep up with Rachel, and hung around for a bit to wait for the next rider. Nonetheless, the gap had certainly begun to string out and Rachel was starting to disappear around the corners. By now, I was starting to get nervous. If I hung around for too long, I wasn’t sure if I would catch Rachel – and decided to go after her solo. Once I hit the top of the climb, I got my first time check, I was 1:30 down. Knowing Rachel’s TT abilities – I had to close the gap on the descend – or my GC chances would be lost. If Rachel won today’s stage, we would be equal on GC points, but she would win the tour overall as it would be a count-back on time to the TT stage. 

Managed a grin up the top of Skyline ( Photo by Michael Mcritchie)  

I took off on the descend as fast as I dared. I eventually caught a follow car – brilliant – but to my dismay – it was a junior rider from a different race.  Not too long later, I got my next time check – I was still 1:30 down, there were 2 riders 1:00 behind and the rest were about 4mins further behind. I had no choice but to continue chasing – constantly hoping that the riders just behind would catch me so we could work turns. The painful chase, and I eventually got to Thornton. With 8ks to go, I got my next check – I was now 2:30 down from Rachel – and the bunch were 1:00 behind. Knowing there was no way I could close down the gap, my chances of winning the tour was over. I no longer needed the points for 2^nd place and with Laine needing the points to move up on GC, I sat up and waited for the bunch – just keeping every finger crossed that she would be in it. The bunch eventually caught up with Laine, Lauretta and Ruby in it and we continued rolling towards the finish. Laine won the bunch sprint ahead of Lauretta and myself. Huge congrats to Rachel who won the stage today – it was certainly painful riding those 40ks solo!

Laine on her way to winning the bunch sprint ( Photo by Michael Mcritchie)   

Overall, Rachel won the tour, followed by myself, Laine, Lauretta and Jamie. Thanks to the Blackburn Club for hosting the tour, the sponsors for their support, and all the officials and volunteers for their time. And my team SKCC/Giant for supporting me at this race. Also, big thanks to Simon for his advice and help at the tour – and it was certainly great to see the rest of the Quickcycle riders securing podium places in other categories too!! Another 2nd place finish (the sixth one this season!), a little annoying being bridesmaid, yet a constant drive to train that little bit harder each time. Everyone enjoyed the weekend  - nonetheless, after 11 days of racing and training, I was certainly glad to be home! 

Open Women's Podium - Lauretta, myself, Rachel, Laine and Jamie

Laine and I with our trophies with the RACV tour sponsor's banner

DBR Canberra Tour - one step further!

Phew…10 days, 2 tours, plus hell week in between – it sure has gone by quick! Been hit badly by the winter flu bug, so a little late on the updates.

13-15 July 2012 – DBR Canberra Tour

My second NRS tour for the year – my goal was to do better than the last one in Tassie. With 4 of us from the SKCC/Giant team, Maddy, Heidi, Jussie and myself, together with Sam from LivGiant, we were lucky to have the support of team manager Gaelene and DS Stuart supporting us at the tour. The road trip up was long – countryside and more countryside (some little pranks did keep us occupied for a while)– nonetheless, we were sure glad to arrive in Canberra!

Day 1: 15.5km TT

Gritting my teeth on the TT

A morning recce at the course – and boy, I didn’t realise it was that hilly! And out and back meant that whatever we went up came down so some good news there. Managed to score a back wheel Zipp 808 from Sam who had a spare wheel – thanks heaps buddy! My usual warm-up and I rolled down to the start line. They were checking bike measurements and helmet stickers. Turned out that my TT helmet didn’t have an Australian sticker in it – and I wasn’t allowed to ride! I was fuming, cussing, whatever you name it. Bought from my local bike shop, how could this have happened?? Lucky Stu was at the start line, and he quickly ran to pick up road helmet from the van - I eventually made it to the start – just! It might have been a good thing after all as I certainly was well warmed-up with my heart rate pumping from anger as I took off. The first couple of rollers, a little too excited, and my legs nearly blew off from the lactate. Just spin! I pretty soon found a rhythm and the rest of the ride out felt pretty good. Come to the turnaround, and as the kilometres ticked down, I was starting to lose concentration…again. These periods of mind-lapsing are certainly something I’ll need to work on. Hill after hill, I eventually made it to the final downhill and crossed the finish line. I ended up finishing in 26:56, +3.52 from TT gun Beck Wiasak. Nonetheless, I was pretty happy with the improvement from Tassie. As Stu was tidying up the van – guess what he found in the rubbish bag? My helmet sticker!!! It had gotten stuck to the plastic bag I had put my helmet in. Who knew those new stickers were easily removable. Grrr!!!!!!!

Day 2: 80 km RR

The start of the 2^nd day was fast!! 2 loops out to Uriarra Crossing, with 4 climbs in total. I managed to hang on to the main group to the base of the first climb, and dropped off just as we hit the KOM. Nonetheless, I managed to bridge to a chasing group, and it wasn’t long before we caught the main bunch again. The second major descend came a little sooner than expected and cross-winds strung the bunch out. As I tried to manoeuvre my way through, one after another rider started wobbling in front of me and were pulling off the course from punctured tyres! That certainly did throw me off my nerves a little and by the time I hit the base of the next climb –the bunch had disappeared up it! Turned out some pranksters had thrown tacks on the road! I had burned up more biscuits than expected and I was stuffed by this point of the race. It wasn’t too long before I dropped off from the group I was with, and was soon caught by another group. A refuel at the start of Lap 2, and I was good to go again. The group’s pace was certainly much slower than race pace, but nonetheless, it was certainly better than riding alone. We picked up a couple more girls on the way and with the race no longer in contention, all we wanted was to just finish the race.

Glad to have finished the road race! (Photo by Sulla Schilt)

Day 3: 40km RR and 40min+3 Crit

The only morning start to the tour, and it certainly was a little chilly! Nonetheless, the legs were surprisingly feeling ok this morning and I was keen to get going. Today’s road race was a reverse of the day before’s – but just 1 loop. Phew! A little embarrassing start as I struggled to clip in to my pedals – and just like that I’d gone from a place upfront to mid-field (and they caught it on TV too!). Come to the roundabout, and I’d lost a couple more spots. Everyone was trying to get to the front before the road-works section. It’s these little things that you learn along the way that adds to the learning experience as a rider. The group were soon back together and it was mostly downhill for the first section. The first steep climb of the day, I hung on for as long as I could before the main field attacked leading into the KOM. From there on, I managed to pick up a few riders along to way as we worked together in the chase. We soon caught another group just in front and I was glad to spot team-mate Heidi amongst the group. From here on we worked, and managed to stick together till the end.

The afternoon criterium proved to be fast from the gun. With the winding course and huge group, positioning was the key for the race. I tried going around the outside to get up front in the first few laps, but was swept to the back each time we hit the first left hander. The Boss Construction/ Nutrixion and Suzuki/Trek teams were certainly doing a great job and keeping the pace real high for their sprinters! It wasn’t after a couple of laps before I realised that the best place to move up was through the centre, but by this stage the pace had really picked up. The bell lap came around pretty quickly and once we hit the last corner, I knew it was too late – if you weren’t in the top 6 spots, it was game over – and I rolled through to the finish.

These work boots sure kept me warm and cosy on those chilly Canberra mornings! 

With team-mate Maddy and Heidi and team van Jens - all glad to  finish the tour in 1 piece! :) 

Overall the tour was another great learning experience and I was certainly happy with the steep improvement from the Mersey Valley Tour in Tasmania 2 months prior. It’s one step at a time. I’m already looking forward to next year’s tours – hopefully with a lot more kms and a lot more experience under the belt. Huge thanks to the SKCC/Giant team for providing the opportunity to compete against a high-level playing field, both Stuart and Gaelene for their amazing support at the tour, and my team-mates Heidi, Maddy, Jussy and Sam for the experience!