ToSW - Yellow!

26-27 April 2013: The Tour of the South West. Word of advice from last year’s competitors – it’s windy. And it certainly was, in fact, way windier than I’d thought.

Surfing the wind in the TT (Photo by Jo Upton) 

 Stage 1 – 68km Road Race – Brekkie up my throat, trust your instincts  

It was a mad scramble to make it to the 8am race start – and the howling wind had already swallowed my number plate off the roof rack before we started. A smaller field of 15 women in B grade took the start line and from the gun, we were already battling the wind. The dominant HCC crew were leading out as we approached the first QOM – a 700m 3.8% climb. Both the known climbers – Verita (Total Rush) and Liz Douel (WCC) pushed the pace, but were taken aback by the unexpected head wind up the climb. Instinctively, I clicked into the big dog and did a seated effort, leaving the sprint to the very last minute. I had just managed to take the first QOM points – and boy, I could feel my breakfast already halfway up my throat!! The next section was a block head wind, followed by a strong cross-wind. Coming into the first sprint points, Maartje (SKCC) pulled out a monster sprint, and convincingly took out the first sprint points. 

The next 3 laps – attack, attack, attack. Both Meg Marsh (HCC) and Caroline Phillips (Southern Masters) put in some really strong attacks in the cross-winds sections, nonetheless, the field was quick to react, and nothing really stuck. I tried driving the pace in the gutter, same thing – nothing strong enough to break the field.  And it was getting windier and windier too! Same strategy up the QOM, and managed to take out the polka dot jersey – awesome! On each sprint point, Maartje seemed to be getting quicker and quicker, with each winning gap growing convincingly bigger.

Last lap. 5km to go. Meg was driving the pace up front. Finding shelter was almost impossible, and trying to hold our bikes upright with the cross winds was half the battle. A sudden gust of wind nearly took my front wheel out, and I’d just managed to hold it up. 500m to go as we approached the slight uphill to the finish line. 350m to go – it’s insane to go such a long way out – “trust your instincts” -  but this was the only way I could beat a faster sprinter – now or never.  I kicked hard into the wind. Drove as hard as I could for the line. I pumped my fist - I’d just won Stage 1!!

Meg driving the bunch on Stage 1 (Photo by Jo Upton) 

Pumped to win Stage 1 (Photo by Michael Mcritchie) 

 Stage 2 – 12.7km ITT – Don’t fight the bike

Yellow. I’ve let this slip away before – I wanted this bad. But this was all going to come down to the time trial. I’ve always seemed to hit a rut in races against the clock – pursuits, prologue, time trials – just couldn’t seem to get it. Further, I was up against some very well-known TT riders in the field.

I’d spent ages the night before messing around with the new bike. Getting the brakes to work, making sure the gears worked, trying to fit the wheel in, tightening up the lose headset. No mechanical support unfortunately. Lucky Kosdown TT gurus Shane Miller and Stephen Lane were in the room to offer advice! In my haste to get to the start line, I’d forgotten my TT helmet. Haven’t quite mastered the art of perfection yet.  Bugger. Luckily James Pane came to the rescue and offered me his.

Warm-up done. From the gun, it was a block cross-wind. I quickly revved up to speed. “Don’t go too hard at the start, don’t push too big a gear!” I focused on getting into my TT HR zone and settled into a nice cadence. The cross wind was strong, attempting to menacingly throw me off the bike.  I tucked my head lower. I could see the front-markers in the distance. “Don’t fight the bike!” And as I started to ‘relax’ the shoulders a little, going with the wind, focusing every bit of energy into the legs – it started to fall into place.  The speed on the Garmin kept increasing – I was surfing the wind!!

Unlike previous TT’s where I would be so consumed about trying to catch the riders in front, today it didn’t matter. It was just me, and the bike, and the road ahead. Nothing else. Every time I felt myself tensing, I’d loosen up and bring the focus to just keeping the cadence up. I’d made a big mistake in the block headwind section up the hill. The gear was way too big. I should have changed into the small ring earlier on. Hill done, lucky I didn’t blow the legs, I was nearly home.

The results didn’t come out till the next morning. I wasn’t sure how I had gone. 19.57. I had pulled something out way beyond expectations – I had cracked the TT rut! A win – and I was absolutely stoked!! 

Focus.. (Photo by Michael McRitchie)

Stage 3 – Hang on

Still buzzing from the day before’s result, all I had to do was hold on to the time lead. Racing a crit around a cemetery was kinda spooky. The wet roads from the morning’s rain made for a very fast course, and a nasty 7.5% hill in the middle was going to make for some interesting racing.

A couple of mini attacks up the hill, though a block headwind up the top meant nothing really stuck. I was content with holding on to GC position, and with the fast descent, tried to stay near the front to avoid any mishaps. Intermediate sprint #1 and Maartje won that easy. It was easy to settle into a rhythm – exactly like the hill reps at training – and the 30mins flew by real quick. Before I realised, it was bell lap!

Liz Douel put in a very strong attack up the climb, with Maartje straight onto her wheel. I followed suit, pulling Nina along with me. We managed to get a break before the fast descend, and Liz was still on the front, determined to pull all the way through. Maartje got the jump out of the last corner, and was way too quick for any of us, taking the win with a convincing sprint! I rolled in 2^nd place, with Nina in 3^rd.

I was absolutely stoked to finally wear a Yellow jersey! And a Polka Dot jersey – totally unexpected! After a long run of second places last year – I’ve been training hard on both climbing and time-trialling – the two weaknesses that’s now finally started to reap results at a tour. A great confidence booster to keep training and improving – it’s still a long road ahead to continue achieving my dreams.

GC podium with Carolyn and Liz. 

Yellow Jersey!

Went with the 1 jersey I own, came back with 4 , and a whole heap of nail polish too! :) 

 Huge congratulations to the other podium winners Carolyn Phillips, Liz Doueal, Meg Marsh and Manuela Marasco, and Sprint Jersey winner Maartje Munsterman,  who all raced very strongly throughout the weekend. And to the other women who each made it a great weekend of racing. I was certainly impressed at the organisation of the tour – and to have the sponsors themselves presenting to the winners. The success on the weekend wouldn’t have been without the help of many who helped me focus on racing namely – Gavin Bryant who drove me to and from the race, Ben Pascall and Emma Pane for their support on the weekend, and James Pane for coming to the rescue with his TT helmet. Thanks to Cycling Victoria and the volunteers for the organisation, photographers Jo Upton and Michael McRitchie for capturing the moments (check out Jo’s photo’s here and Michael's site here), and my coach, Simon Quick for all his patience in training to get me here.

A couple more weeks of training, and it’s back to Malaysia to race for the first time! Can’t wait!!!