Bitter Sweet December and onto 2013!

December 2012: The busiest month on the racing calendar – track and criterium events back-to-back! Some good form had started to show in recent weeks, and the graphs were certainly tracking in the right direction too. I was certainly stoked from the results in November, and the vast improvement. A short take on each event for the month of December.. forgive my rambling…

Vic State Track Titles

Kicked off the weekend with the 500TT to rid off the nerves. Still lots to work on winding the gear quicker out of the gate. A state Bronze medal was nice little token. Came the Individual Pursuit, I was feeling slightly under the weather – but tried to shake it off to nerves. 4 laps in, something just wasn’t right. I could no longer lift, couldn’t reach threshold. The last kilo felt like riding into a block headwind! 4:03. I was absolutely disappointed, shattered. The one event I had been training for all year – and I was pulling off quicker times on training wheels the week before! Something was wrong. Awoke the next morning with a nasty sinusitis and head cold. I was keen to make up for the day before at the Points Score, but the harder I tried, the worse the outcome. I finally succumbed to the fact that being sick had gotten the better of me, and the only thing I could takeaway was the experience.

Vic States 500 TT (Photo by David Stannus) 

Vic States 500 TT Podium (Photo by David Stannus) 

National Omnium

Another big one on the calendar. Seen 2 doctors in the span of 3 days – the diagnosis was a sinus and ear infection. Not much I could do about it. The racing was here, it was a once-a-year chance of brushing shoulders with some of the best riders in the world – the goal – to give it my best shot. A small PB in the Flying Lap was a good start. The Points Score was attack after attack after attack – I was ready to throw up 10 laps into the 80 lap race! Ended up losing a lap and made a blunder by not getting on Bec Wiasak’s wheel when she was going for the lap, which would have put me on equal lap standings with the rest of the field. Lesson for next time! The Elimination was a close one. Day 2 kicked off with the Individual Pursuit. 4:07. An absolute disaster! I had gone in not expecting much from being sick, but couldn’t help feeling really disappointed with the ride.  After much debating on whether to continue on, Daryl Perkins finally managed to convince me – “It’s all experience now. It doesn’t matter what the results are today – just do what you can.” And continued I did. I hung on for dear life in the Scratch race – and was certainly stoked to finish. Rounded off the omnium with the 500TT. Despite the performance and the sub-par feeling, I was satisfied that I’d hung on and finished.  

Melbourne Cup on Wheels Carnival

A whole new type of racing here – everything was short, sharp, lots of riders. 4 races – Scratch, Keirin, Win n Out, Handicap. Blink an eyelid, hesitate a second, and the race is over. New experience, new learning. Was exciting to watch the Men’s and Women’s Madison races – would certainly be keen to race the madison next year!

Red Star Coffee Women’s Grand Prix Round #1

It’s been great to see how far Cykel have come in supporting women’s racing. I remember racing their first Women’s crit not too long ago down in Geelong with less than 20 starters. And the first round at Casey Fields had nearly 130 women there!! We kicked off with the Prologue of the course which would split the women into 2 divisions. With the lingering infections, the Prologue did prove to be a really tough one and I just couldn’t get that HR up, ending up in Div 2. It was pretty chaotic with 50 women on that winding course, and it only took one slight wobble to cause a crash. Those track skills certainly came to good use there! After spending much of the race trying to spin out the build up of lactic acid from the track racing, it was great to wrap up a 2^nd place behind Emma Jackson. And team SKCC Red was sitting in 2^nd place in the overall teams classification too!

The final sprint for the line (Photo by Kirsty Baxter)

Melbourne Criterium Sprint Championships

With my local club SKCC putting up $30,000 in prize money for grabs, it certainly promised to be a huge race! The blistering hot weather for the 12pm elite women’s start certainly made things a lot more challenging for the 66 starters. Starting off the back it wasn’t till mid-race before I managed to start moving up the field. The 6 intermediate sprints offering $100 each made for a really fast pace crit, and the hot weather and windy back-straight did take its toll on almost half the field. Still on antibiotics, I was glad to hang in and finish off the race. Great effort and congrats to Nic Whitburn on winning!

Victorian Christmas Track Carnivals  

4 days of racing – Horsham, Bendigo, Shepparton, Wangaratta. First time racing the series, it was certainly a whole new experience! Unlike the fast surface and steep bankings of the indoor velodrome at DISC, each town had its own type of track – some smooth, some rough, some steep, others flat. The races were typically short and sharp, and it was certainly a struggle to adapt. Short fast races, choosing the right gear ratio, lack of steep bankings, bigger tracks, different surfaces – everything was just so different! Nonetheless, it was good fun traveling together with the support of the Quickcyle crew and great to put another learning experience into the pocket.

Sprinting for the line at Shepparton (Photo by David Stannus)

Michelton Winery Bay Criteriums

The famous Bay Crits to kick off each new year. Heard numerous stories of them, and always wanted to give them a shot! Thanks to the support of the Total Rush-Hyster race team, I managed to get a ride at the crits. With our more experienced NZ guest Sophie showing us the route, Sequioa, Lauretta, Josie and I were keen and excited at the opportunity to race against some of the best riders in the country. The circuits were certainly very very technical, and the very fast pace from the start did catch me off-guard. Brakes screeching, riders crashing, and bikes wobbling, I was sure glad to have kept my tyres down and helmet up! Getting caught up behind a crash on Geelong’s Day 1 did take its toll and it made it almost impossible to gain any ground starting from the back on the challenging Portarlington Day 2 circuit and fast-paced Williamstown Day 3 circuit. Albeit not finishing, I did enjoy the opportunity and grateful for the support of the team in providing the eye-opening experience.

Total Rush-Hyster pre-race briefing (Photo by Kim Taggart)  

Stuffed from the heat (Photo by  Kirsty Baxter) 

Wrapping-up and onto 2013…

Well, it’s certainly been a bitter sweet December. Falling sick during the busiest time of the year has been unfortunate in terms of performing to expectations, and I certainly must admit that I did lose the plot for a little bit amongst it all. Convincing and motivating yourself to see the bigger picture and how every experience counts towards the end goal can be difficult, nonetheless, I sure am glad to have pushed on and learn from the experiences.

2012 has certainly been an exciting and challenging year. 2011 was dabbling around, and 2012, I started to focus on just the cycling. The sweet feeling of success moments, the bitterness of disappointments, and the learning experience all put together will certainly go a long way as I continue to mature and develop as a rider. This year certainly wouldn’t have been possible without the help of others, and I’d like to take the opportunity to thank everyone that has helped and supported me along the journey:

-      Coach Simon and the Quickcyle crew - riders and parents

-      2012SKCC Giant Women’s team – riders, sponsors and management

-      BikeNow for their ongoing support

-      The volunteers at all the various bike races and the photographers for capturing the moments 

-      All the old and new friends, competitors and people who have lend a hand along the way

Cycling has truly become a lifestyle, and I’ve certainly grown to love the sport even more. Finally got rid of the cold, and a training block to kick off the new year. A bit more experience, a little more mature,  certainly looking forward to kicking some goals in 2013!!