2013 Eildon Tour

13-14 July 2013: Over the past two weeks, acclimatising to the cold winter again after a month in hot and humid conditions has been a real struggle. I was just starting to get the hang of layering up again – just in time for the Eildon tour! It was great to be back for the second time – and with more than double the number of women competitors, Blackburn’s continuous support for women’s cycling, more prize money on offer and iPads up for grabs, the racing was promised to be bigger, better and lots of fun!

Stage 1 ITT:

“Let’s see what you can pull off at this temperature. Make sure you’re well warmed up,” said my coach, Simon. The challenge was set. 11 degrees or 40 degrees - I was ready for it. From the gun, I kicked off and quickly found my rhythm. 12km, short, sharp, no room for error. Focus. Don’t fight the bike. Now just pedal and give everything you have!

At the turnaround, I was feeling pretty good. Time to lift the pace. With a slight incline on the return leg, it was going to be a little harder. I spotted some front markers and focused on reeling them in, bit by bit. Lift the cadence, put in just a little bit more. KM to go, time to go wild. And before I knew it, the time trial was over!

I glanced down at my Garmin. More than 1.5 minutes quicker than last year – I was stoked! The electronic timing meant results were up pretty quickly as I made my way to the hall. A few pats on the back – I had done better than I’d expected and was now leading the tour! (Many thanks to Alistair Donohue who very kindly lend me his schmick looking disc and front wheel!)

The Time Trial - thanks to Allistair for the wheels!

Stage 2 Road Race:

Still rapt from the morning’s results, I was keen for Stage 2 to get underway. From the gun, it was Attack after Attack after Attack.

The stronger girls of Sam De Ritter and Shannon Malseed from Holden Cycling and Carley Mckay from Kelly Cycle Coaching were surely on fire. The girls were keen to get a breakaway going and holding on to GC meant I was constantly under threat.  I attempted to get away on the little lumps, but again, was quickly closed down. Both Rachel Ward and Simone Alexander were also keen to not let any breakaways go and joined in the counter-attacks.

After 2 laps of the pondage loop of attacks and counter attacks, it soon became evident that it was going to come down to a hill sprint up the dam wall. The girls who were sitting behind started moving up to the front of the bunch for position. The pace started backing off. 600m to go at the start of the hill – Tessa launched an attack and got the jump on the rest of the bunch. Georgina followed closely behind going round the outside. With the top of the crest in sight, I knew it was too late – I’d miscalculated the jump. I kicked to get over the top and crossed the line in 3^rd place.

Stage 3 Hillclimb Road Race:

The next morning’s rain and wet roads did not dampen our spirits. “Please descend carefully:” was the commissaire’s advise to us with the slick roads and off-camber bends on the descend.

With 1 pondage loop before the climb, no one was keen on launching any attacks. The bunch soon started rolling turns and we got a good pace going. With not long to go before the hill, the rustle of gels, food wrappers and girls emptying their bottles were heard throughout the peloton. Time to get as much energy in – the Skyline climb was not be underestimated!

As soon as we reached the bottom of the 7km climb, Sam kicked and took off taking Tessa and Georgina along with her. The km long 9% pinch tore the field apart. As soon as it “flattened” out a little, Francesca managed to jumped across to the front 3. I could not quite find the jump but continued pushing on. I had Caroline and Shannon to work with for a while.

The front 4 were starting to get a gap on us. Soon Shannon kicked and took off, though just hanging off the back of the front 4. Caroline and I pushed to hold the 20s gap they had on us, conscious that we could not let the gap grow any bigger. Tessa who was a GC contender was in the break – and I knew I had to catch on no matter what. As soon as we reached the top, the girls had disappeared down the other side of the hill. Time to chase – and chase hard!

I took the descend as fast as I dared, constantly aware of the wet and twisty roads. Unfortunately, I could not take Caroline along. I spotted Francesca who had gotten dropped near the bottom, and knew the girls wouldn’t be too far off. At the bottom, I spotted them – just 12s ahead. Francesca managed to get onto my wheel. “When you’re this close, you’ve got to give everything to get back on, no matter what!” Simon’s advice to us whilst we were watching the Tour de France the night before. I clicked into the biggest gear I could push and time-trialled my way across, determined to bridge the gap.

I breathed a sigh of relieve as soon as I’d caught the girls, though it was short lived. With 6 of us now in the break, we were keen to stay away, knowing there was still a field of riders chasing behind. We managed to get a fast rolling pace going and worked the break. The kms ticked down quickly. After riding solo the year before from the top of the climb, I was sure glad to have a great bunch of girls to ride with!!

We worked out that my GC position was secured – and the contention for 3^rd  podium place would come down to the bunch sprint. Sam, Shannon and I managed to scramble a train together in the final kms launching Shannon for the stage win! I hung on for second with Tessa closely behind. 

Over Skyline... 

A nice surprise!

I certainly surprised myself this weekend and stoked to come away with the Tour win! It was a great boost of confidence psychologically. Thanks to all the girls that made it a great weekend of racing and congratulations to the other podium winners – Tessa, Shannon, Sam and Simone. Many thanks also to Blackburn CC together with CV, and all the volunteers for organising the race. And a huge thanks to my coach Simon for his tireless support at the race, his words of wisdom and for continuously pushing me to chase my dreams.

With the rest of the winners from the various age-groups

Trophy, jersey and envelope - winning! :) 

Malaysian Road and Track Nationals 2013 – ITT Champion

June 2013: I waited in anticipation for the results to be announced. My legs were still screaming from the ride. The new shirt I had just changed into was soaked with sweat again from the heat. It was a long wait.

Pre-time trial

35.2km. The longest Individual Time Trial I’d ever attempted. Dad had driven me out to have a look at the course the day before. The Kangar-Chuping Highway in Perlis (a northern state in Malaysia, next to the Thailand border) – flattish, wide open roads. Out and back, 2 flyovers each way.

I managed to borrow a rear disc from the Selangor state team. I’d yet to ride a road one before, though it wouldn’t be too dissimilar to the track. I kept focussed on the ride ahead – letting the coaches and support crew work out the logistics. I even had a support follow car too – sweet! From the gun, I quickly built up to speed. A minute in, before I realised I had yet to start my Garmin – grrr. Alright, time to stay focused.

I could feel the lactic acid slowly building as I kept ramping up the speed. Focus. Breathe. Keep spinning. Go harder. Shut up legs. I was in ‘the zone’. Every time there was a slight drop in pace, the guys in the car would yell. I pushed on. I had caught the last of the 7 head starters just after the turnaround – it was now time to face the headwind - alone. I was now the rabbit, with greyhounds hot on my heels. Keep going!! I’d somehow managed to roll over a couple of cat-eyes on the road, and that sure jolted me. Come one – stay focus. 10ks to go, 5ks to go. The guys in the follow car were going wild cheering me on!! My glutes were screaming, but I somehow managed a grin. “Pain is only temporary” - I was on fire! 1km to go – and with every bit of energy – I drove for the finish line! Done!

“You’ve just won the Malaysian 2013 National ITT! Congratulations!” I could hardy believe my ears – I was absolutely stoked!

With Azian - we were stuffed after the race

The Selangor support crew

 

Elite Women TT Podium

Stoked to win the gold!

The month of June sure has flown by fast as I sit here in the airplane on my way back to Melbourne. It’s been a busy, exciting and eventful month of racing and training in Malaysia. A few days of acclimatisation, before kicking off with the South East Asian Track Grand Prix. I walked into the Kuala Lumpur velodrome for the first time, a 333.3m outdoor track. My biggest challenge was the heat and humidity, nonetheless, I was keen to get into the racing. The GP kicked off with the Points Score. I managed to score a couple of points in the first half of the race, but a slight mistake halfway through, and I was starting to get caught out by the quicker sprinters. I was still trying to ‘know my competitors’ and the skills of using the banking that I’d learned in the indoor velodrome were not quite working here. A number of mistakes lost me valuable points. Nonetheless, the earlier sprints managed to pull me through and I secured the Bronze medal – my first one racing in Malaysia!! In the Scratch race later that arvo, I missed out on another medal by a tyre’s width. Nonetheless, a good day of racing, lots of lessons learned and a great experience.

The inaugural 2013 Malaysian Track Nationals kicked off 2 days later. The Individual Pursuit started off the events for me. Without much experience on the outdoor track, gear selection was a big guesstimate. I qualified in 2^nd place, with less than half a second from Jupha. Nonetheless, the Finals didn’t quite go as I’d expected - I couldn’t spin the smaller gear quick enough in the tailwind section – leaving me settling for the Silver medal. Later that afternoon, I managed a Bronze in the Scratch race. Thanks to one of Malaysia’s top sprinters Josiah Ng, we managed to get a bigger crowd on the last day, together with pumping music and an emcee. That sure got the adrenaline fired up for the Points Score that morning! Sitting down with Simon to go through the race recording of the mistakes in the GP race a few days prior was a great learning experience for today’s race. Together with Jupha, we took a total of 3 laps on the field!! I did try every trick under my sleeve to get over the top of Jupha, a former track sprinter, for sprint points. A good try, but I did end up settling for 2^nd place. I was happy nonetheless, and it was a great experience to be working with Jupha in taking the laps – hopefully in many more races to come. 2 Silvers and 1 Bronze – it has been a successful Nationals!

Jupha, Lauretta Eva and myself 

On the KL velodrome

Sprinting against Jupha in the Point Score (Photo by Baikbike.com)

Hand in hand with Jupha (Photo by Cycling Malaysia Magazine)

Track medal and winnings

Day after it was back onto the road bike – the Road Nationals were to be held a week after! It was great to have the opportunity to partake in the new Sentul Race Series ITT that weekend. Fully closed roads in the heart of KL city – 25km race – awesome! A great way to get the road legs fired up again and test out the TT gear in the lead up to the nationals the weekend after. The form and strength was building up nicely till the Wednesday, when unfortunately, a touch of wheels by a rider on a training ride sent a number of us tumbling down. I flew over the top and crashed hard on my face – taking lots of skin off – face, elbow and shoulder. The next day was agony with the road rash and swollen eye, and the pain-killers made me very sick in the guts. Nonetheless, I was lucky to bounce back quickly! My legs had somehow escaped unscathed. Together with my parents and coach Simon, we made the long drive up to the northern state of Perlis on the Friday. There were certainly lots of stares at rest-stops along the way – well, it did look liked I was punched in the face! But I was determined to start the race the next day.

Glasses were wrecked :(

Face plant!!

A little sluggish start to the 132km road race, a 6x 22km circuit, but I soon got the legs going after the first lap. There were many girls from the other states whom I’d never met before, and I wasn’t quite sure of their strengths. An early break of about 7 riders got away, but we managed to bring them back about halfway through. It was then that news spread – a solo rider had gotten a 2 minute break on the peloton! As the km’s ticked down, I joined my training partners to work the break back. A few small groups did get away, but they were all quickly swallowed by the peloton. There was clearly a lot of team tactics going on, and the pace would surge and back off, surge and back off. I attempted a couple of breaks, but to no avail. I was lacking that extra ‘zipp’ that day, and was clearly a very marked rider. With a lap to go, attacks and counter-attacks by Maziyaton and myself, and we managed to split the field to 10 riders. With a couple of km’s to go, we spotted the breakaway rider. We tried pulling the break back, but was constantly blocked by the breakaway’s team mates. No one really wanted to burn out too many biscuits! And the rider only had 10s ahead!! It eventually came down to a bunch sprint for second place, and I managed 5^th!!! From barely being sure whether I could start after the crash, I was happy with the result.

At the start line of the Road Race

With my parents and coach after the road race

It was certainly great to wrap up the month of racing against the top elite cyclists in the country with a National Title!! It’s been a successful month of racing – and I’d like to say a big THANK YOU to all that have helped and supported me along the way – my coach Simon Quick for all his guidance, coaching and tireless support at all the races over the past 1.5 years; parents for their support – it was their first time watching me race on the road, and it was awesome to have them there to share the moment; all the coaches, support crew and riders in Malaysia for the training rides with MSN, the Selangor team for looking after the race entries and logistics; coaches Darryl Perkins and Gary Hammond; SKCC for developing my passion in the sport; Northcote CC for the Thursday night racing environment to learn and race the track; Jason Nichols for the bike fits and inspiring words; Donatas Bludzis for keeping me in form; fellow cyclists, friends and family members for all your ongoing support.

Perseverance, drive and self-belief have paid off in my pursuit of my cycling goals. Nonetheless, this is only a small stepping stone in my journey as I continue to chase my ambitions and race at the international level. For now, it’s back to work and training.