This month is all about preparing for my busy end of season schedule through September and October, starting with the Cootamundra [NSW] 120km handicap at the end of the month, then in September the 90km Parramatta NSW Champs, National Club’s [QLD], the highlight of the season Grafton-Glenn Innes 160km [the best women's race in Australia] finishing off with the Victorian Open.
It’s all about intensive training now tapering down for the upcoming racing blitz.
It has not been the best of years cycling wise after starting out promisingly with a 16th at the Australian road champs and being competitive at the Geelong Tour and World Cup first round and the Canberra Tour in April was also rewarding but since then I have been battling with bouts of viral illnesses which hopefully I have finally seen the end of; maybe I rode the bugs out of my system in the July 165km Muswellbrook Explorer where I was the second woman to finish behind NSW’s Laura Bortilozzi [Randwick Botany]. This is how it went:
There were about 90 men and women in division 2 for the start, a chilly morning but sunny; a slight wind which turned to strong and stayed with us as a head and side wind for the first very hard 90km.
The men drove the pace from the gun, determined to get rid of the slower riders and at 10km into the race the bunch was strung out in a single line, the potholes in the road started and the riders started falling off the back due to the pressure on the front. As the road conditions worsened trying to find a piece of road without a pothole was very hard and riders were hitting holes and getting flats consistently, more like Paris-Roubaix. All I was focusing on was holding a wheel, not hitting a hole and staying out of the wind.
At around 20-25km I was staring to struggle with my heart rate consistently at 188-190bpm as I looked back I realised that there were only about 25 riders left in the pack and I was lead woman. Not long after that the pace and wind became too much and I could not hold onto the men any longer. I found myself in no mans land until Laura and a group men joined me to my relief. However, the climb through Owen’s Gap reduced us to six and the inexplicable attacks with still 100km remaining left just Laura, one vet and me. We worked together for many km’s focusing on the large bunch tantalisingly just out of reach in front.
At 70km remaining Laura turned on the power on a long climb and opened up a two minute gap which she held to the finish.
I did not have the legs I was hoping for but considering my health at the time, it was a fairly uplifting result and has spurred me on for the final races.
Statistics:
Total Time- 5hr24’
Average speed-31.5kph
Average Heart Rate-165bpm
Maximum Heart rate-192bpm
Since then training has been about developing strength and power and maintain health. Working full time at Sutherland Shire Hospital as a radiographer on a 24hr, 7 day a week shift cycle and still race at the top level is not easy but support from my coach, family and friends and Mark and crew at Moruya Bicycles keeps me going and I can’t wait to tackle the Gibraltar climb in the Grafton.
Also racing and training in the Eurobodalla is enough to foster anyone’s joy in cycling, so I get back to home as often as I can; there is not many of us but the racing is always hard and fun and thanks to former Eurobodalla member Luke Dale [Illawarra] for accompanying me on those tough off road mountain climbs last week. It was great to share this incredible landscape with a fellow cyclist as well as the pain.
Cycle safe all
