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For this blog I thought it would be a good opportunity to take the time and write about my training partner, my own bicycle the Velocite Magnus. One of the most common questions I get asked when I’m out ridding on the road is what bike is that? Its understandable that most people are unfamiliar with the Velocite brand due to the fact that they are relatively new on the market, only forming in 2008. With this Velocite like to state that because they are new on the scene they have no heritage and therefore no legacy to hold them back, and no traditions to satisfy. With this in mind you can see that their 2011 range is very impressive and includes not one but 3 well designed carbon road bikes to take on any riders needs. The Geos is perfect for long and hilly days in the saddle. The Magnus is designed to be one of the stiffest bikes on the planet with only a small weight penalty on the Geos and the 3rd bike, the newest inclusion to the Velocite family, is the Helios Aero. 



With 3 awesome bikes on offer I had the hard choice to pick just one and after long discussions it was the Magnus that finally won and for the last 6months I have racked up a few k’s with the Magnus. Now when a bicycle brand clams that they are one of, if not the stiffest bikes in the world the first thought that pops into mind is in what sacrifice has been taken to achieve this goal. The general rule is, as you increase the frames stiffness you lose a lot of comfort . This is why a bicycle company does not set out to create the stiffest bike in the world but more so the complete package of how well the frame absorbs road buzz vs stiffness and to create this without adding to much weight to the frame. That was my only worry and I was hoping that Velocite had not just set out to create a bike far superior than any other company in terms of how stiff the frame is and just threw everything else out the window. But it didn’t take long for me to realise that Velocite had managed to build a bike that was really comfortable to ride and was on par with my old bike (a Trek Madone). 



Now its time to talk about the bikes main feature, how well it can accelerate. Now I am not just saying this because I am a sponsored rider of Velocite, this is a completely honest review. If I had ever felt the bike was not up to my standards I would say so, but I can’t and for one simple reason - this frame is the fastest bike I have ever owned or ridden. When you kick, it just goes, its not sluggish in the acceleration,. Some bikes I have ridden in the past felt like the rear end is moving and twisting when you jump out of the saddle but not this one. When you race up a hill its rock solid and just goes where you want it to go. With my old bikes you could always feel the rear stays flexing when doing strength endurance efforts in the 53 - 11 but not this bike, its solid. 

It’s now time to talk about the weight of the bike. This is one of the easy things to test, all you need to do is put the frame on some scales and all your questions are answered. At 1080 grams for a medium frame it is not a super light weight bike, but it all so doesn’t fall in the heavy weight category. Now days 1080 grams is average for a top end road bike but you still need to keep in mind that the Magnus is not the lightest frame in the Velocite range. Over all I think the Magnus is a great bike from how stable it is when you are flying around a corner to how well it takes off when you kick back out of the corner. Its obvious that a lot of time and effort has been put in to the design process of the frame to get an all round package and if you were after just one bike to tackle the fast crits and the hilly road races I think this is your bike. On top off all that Velocite have even managed to take a few lessons learnt from the Helios aero and if you look at the rear end of the bike you will see that aero dynamics was in the back of there mind when they took the Magnus to the drawing board. I hope this review has given you some information on a bicycle that is not so common at the local races, but I feel that this will change in the next few years.

If you wont to read an independent review bikerumor did a review on the 2010 Magnus and you can see it herehttp://www.bikerumor.com/2010/11/20/review-velocite-magnus-carbon-fiber-road-bike/ 

Trent

 

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Italian-Ukrainian soul helps Kvachuk win Ukrainian Time Trial Title

 

First victory for Lampre-ISD in this week of National Championships thanks to Oleksandr Kvachuk, who won the Ukrainian title in the time trial competition.

The 27 years old from Poltavka preceded in the race standing Bileka and Chudza: on the 32 km course, Kvachuk recorded a time of 22" lower than Bileka's one.

"After a tough Tour de Suisse, I was quite tired, but today I immediately understood that my legs were very good - Kvachuk explained - The course was fast, but a good reactivity was needed because there were two shorts but tough hills: I was lucky with the weather and everything went in the best way. I'm very happy, this victory is important for my team, that has a Italian-Ukrainian soul".

By Lampre Mailinglist 

 

Quick-Step Cycling team officially announced the team that will compete at the upcoming Tour de France.

"We have a very competitive team for the Tour de France, that will be able to challenge everyone in every situation," said Sports Director Wilfried Peeters. "We will try to race aggressively just like we did last year. The first week of the competition is very interesting. Some of the arrivals perfectly fit the characteristics of our riders. Generally speaking anyway the Tour, throughout the three weeks, always offers good chances to shine for riders who attack like Chavanel, Pineau, Devenyns and Terpstra. We will try to keep up with those who break away from the peloton, and we'll do everything we can to win a stage, this being our main goal for the race. We will also have riders like Boonen, Ciolek and Steegmans in our team, who will be able to try and win sprints should the occasion arise. They will also try different winning solutions in other circumstances. The team will support De Weert in any case in the most difficult stages, and whenever necessary. Engels will be the one to support De Weert mainly, being a rider with great experience. De Weert's main objective will be to try and further improve his placement compared to his last Tour de France. We have an expert and motivated team in general, with everyone being well-aware of their role and tasks. We start this Tour de France in the best possible conditions, both physically and mentally."

 

 

Riders		Tom Boonen (BEL) Sylvain Chavanel (FRA) Gerald Ciolek (GER) Kevin De Weert (BEL) Dries Devenyns (BEL) Addy Engels (NED) Jerome Pineau (FRA) Gert Steegmans (BEL) Niki Terpstra (NED)
Sports Director		Davide Bramati (ITA) Wilfried Peeters (BEL)
Website		http://www.letour.fr/
Stages
02.07.11	Stage 1	Passage du Gois, La Barre-de-Monts - Mont des Alouettes, Les Herbiers	191.5 km
03.07.11	Stage 2	Les Essarts - Les Essarts	23.0 km (TTT)
04.07.11	Stage 3	Olonne-sur-Mer - Redon	198.0 km
05.07.11	Stage 4	Lorient - Mûr-de-Bretagner	172.5 km
06.07.11	Stage 5	Carhaix - Cap Fréhel	164.5 km
07.07.11	Stage 6	Dinan - Lisieux	226.5 km
08.07.11	Stage 7	Le Mans - Châteauroux	218.0 km
09.07.11	Stage 8	Aigurande - Super-Besse Sancy	189.0 km
10.07.11	Stage 9	Issoire - Saint-Flour	208.0 km
11.07.11	Restday	Le Lorian Cantal	0.0 km
12.07.11	Stage 10	Aurillac - Carmaux	158.0 km
13.07.11	Stage 11	Blayes-les-Mines - Lavaur	167.5 km
14.07.11	Stage 12	Cugnaux - Luz-Ardiden	211.0 km
15.07.11	Stage 13	Pau - Lourdes	152.5 km
16.07.11	Stage 14	Saint-Gaudens - Plateau de Beille	168.5 km
17.07.11	Stage 15	Limoux - Montpellier	192.5 km
18.07.11	Restday	Département de la Drôme	0.0 km
19.07.11	Stage 16	Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux - Gap	162.5 km
20.07.11	Stage 17	Gap - Pinerolo	179.0 km
21.07.11	Stage 18	Pinerolo - Galibier Serre-Chevalier	200.5 km
22.07.11	Stage 19	Modane - Alpe d'Huez	109.5 km
23.07.11	Stage 20	Grenoble - Grenoble	42.5 km (ITT)
24.07.11	Stage 21	Créteil - Paris Champs-Elysées	95.0 km
Hotel		29/07 - 04/07 Château de la Verie Route de Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie, 85300 Challans 04/07 - 06/07 Golfe Hotel 91 rue Winston Churchill  Giratoire du Racker  56000 VANNES   06/07 - 07/07 Hôtel l'Abbaye 12, rue Marie-Paule Salonne, 22130 Plancoet 07/07 - 08/07 Novotel Le Mans Boulevard Robert Schumann, Les Sablons, 72100 Le Mans   08/07 - 09/07 Inter hôtel Amarys Le Forum, Route de Montluçon, 36330 Le Poinçonnet-Chateauroux 09/07 - 10/07 Auberge de la Petite Ferme Route du Foyer de ski de fond, 63610 Besse et Saint-Anastaise   10/07 - 12/07 Hôtel du Lac Le Bourg, 15150 Lacapelle Viescamp 12/07 - 13/07 Campanile Albi Avenue delattre de Tassigny, 81000 Albi   13/07 - 14/07 Comfort'Inn 5, avenue des Cretes, RN 113, 31520 Ramonville Saint Agne 14/07 - 16/07 Hôtel de Gramont 3, Place Gramont, 64000 Pau   16/07 - 17/07 Mercure Porte de la Cité 18, rue Camille Saint-Saens, 11000 Carcasonne 17/07 - 19/07 Château-Hôtel du Monard Domaine de la Valdaine, 26740 Montboucher sur Jabron   19/07 - 20/07 Inter Hôtel Gapotel 18, avenue Emile Didier, 05000 Gap 20/07 - 21/07 Hôtel Parlapa Via Fornace 49, 10091 Alpignano, Italy   21/07 - 22/07 Parc Hôtel Central Parc, 05100 Briançon 22/07 - 23/07 Club Med La Sarenne Route de l'Altiport, 38750 Alpe d'Huez   23/07 - 24/07 Domaine des Fontaines Chemin des Fontaines, 38190 Bernin

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Queensland teenager Jay McCarthy timed his sprint to perfection to claim victory in the opening stage of the International Thüringen Tour in Germany.

 

McCarthy, 18, overtook Germany's Theo Reinhardt on the line to win in a time of 4:11:46 with Michael Koch (GER) close behind in third place. The stage covered a 170 kilometre rolling course out and back from the town of Erfurt finishing with three laps of a seven kilometre circuit.

 

"There were a few attacks out on the road with riders chasing intermediate and mountain points but the race regrouped before the finishing circuit," said Jayco-AIS Team Director, James Victor. "Past the finish line each time there was a solid 700 metre uphill pitch at around 13 to 15 percent and that split up the peloton.

"Jay and Pat (Lane) both rode into a lead group of around a dozen riders and Pat rode really well over the final kilometre to control the speed in a bid to set Jay up for the finish."

 

Lane, having done his job for McCarthy, dropped back to finish eleventh, seven seconds behind his winning team mate. The main bunch rode home 21 seconds down.

 

The result puts McCarthy into the yellow jersey of overall leader. He also tops the points and best young rider classifications.

 

It's the first victory in Europe for the 2010 Australian junior road race champion who stepped into the U23 ranks this year but struggled early in the season with a niggling knee injury.

 

Tomorrow's stage is a 22 kilometre team time trial in Streufdorf and Jayco AIS, who won this stage last year, is keen to repeat that result in 2011.

 

The Jayco-AIS riders contesting the International Thüringen Tour in Germany are: Nick Aitken, Alex Carver, Michael Hepburn, Jay McCarthy andPat Lane

 

The Jayco-AIS women's development team has also enjoyed success this month with West Australian Melissa Hoskins sprinting home to win theBegijnendijk kermesse (circuit race) in Belgium.

 

About Team Jayco-AIS

 

Jayco Corporation and the Australian Institute of Sport are backing Australia's next generation of cycling talent across track and road for both men and women under the Team Jayco AIS banner. In 2011, on the road with the men, Team Jayco AIS is registered as a UCI Continental Team in the Oceania Region whilst the women's team will compete in the Australian National Road Series in the Jayco AIS strip. In the fixed wheel arena Jayco AIS will blaze a trail on the velodrome in the UCI World Cup Classics and UCI calendar events. Team Jayco AIS continues the tradition of excellence of Cycling Australia's High Performance Program. For more information and news from the team visit 

 

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 Australia remains the top nation in the latest BMX World Rankings released this week by the International Cycling Union (UCI).

 

In the men's competition Australia, with a total of 2685 points, is 101 points ahead of France (2584) and the USA is sitting third on 2458 points. In the women's rankings Australia's tally of 2865 points is 247 more than the USA's total of 2618 with France almost 600 points back in third with 2045 points.

 

In the individual rider rankings there was more good news for the Australians as they prepare for the UCI BMX World Championships being staged in Copenhagen, Denmark from 27 to 31 July.

2009 Supercross series champion and two time junior world champion, Sam Willoughby, remains ranked second in the world on 938 points, just 20 points behind New Zealand's Marc Willers who took over the top spot after victory in the recent round of the Supercross World Cup Series in Papendal, Holland. South Australian Brian Kirkham (732 points) has moved up from seventh to fourth in the rankings due to making the final in Papendal whilst Khalen Young is the next best Australian with 495 points to be ranked thirteenth.

 

Australia has two other men in the elite top 25 with Luke Madill ranked 20th (402 points) and Josh Callan 25th (307 points).

 

2011 Australian champion Caroline Buchanan posted a third place finish in Papendal to maintain third place on the rankings with 876 points. Her team mate Lauren Reynolds is ranked fourth with 776 points. Rachel Bracken rounds out the top ten ranked women in the world with 561 points. Colombian Mariana Pajon leads the women's table on 968 points, 73 points ahead of Sarah Walker (NZL) who is sitting second.

 

West Australian Darryn Goodwin tops the junior rankings with 425 points, more than 100 points clear of his nearest rival. Queensland's Melinda McLeod is the second ranked junior woman with 435 points behind American Brooke Cain who has 610 points.

 

The Australians are motivated to maintain their nation ranking as this will determine the number Australian riders we qualify for the 2012 Olympic Games in London. The BMX High Performance program and the sport received a welcome boost on the weekend with the opening of a $4.8 million BMX track at the Sleeman Sports Complex in Brisbane.

 

The Australian team will use the track to prepare for the upcoming World Championships.

The track was officially opened by Sport Minister Phil Reeves, State Member for Chatsworth Steve Kilburn and BMX Australia President Barry Knight. Mr Reeves says the state of the art facilities offer riders of all levels a chance to experience a track of Olympic standard.

 

"This BMX track is an Australian first and is great for fans and riders alike," he said. "There are currently 32 BMX clubs across Queensland and the popularity of this sport continues to grow.

"The Bligh Government's investment of $4.8 million is a ripper for riders, and with London 2012 just around the corner it will be put to very good use as elite training squads prepare for the Games.

 

"Queensland will be the training ground for many Olympians and this is also great for grass-roots BMX and the local economy."

 

State Member for Chatsworth Steve Kilburn says Sleeman Sports Complex remains a cutting-edge training venue.

 

"The Bligh Government is currently investing $15.3 million to install a new pool, a water-based jumps facility for aerial skiers and this new BMX track, to ensure Sleeman remains a world-class sporting complex," said Mr Kilburn. "Along with Sleeman's other facilities (pool, gymnasium, catering and accommodation), this Complex is perfect for squad training and the feedback from the BMX community and elite training groups is they can't wait to give the track a good workout."

BMX Australia President Barry Knight says this is another step forward for BMX in Australia.

 

"The building of a Supercross BMX track in Australia is a wonderful facility to support the growing number of club and elite riders participating in the sport. We currently have more than 7,000 registered BMX riders and this number is growing all the time.

 

"Having access to a facility like this will improve riders skill levels, fitness and make them more competitive on the international stage," said Mr Knight. "Coming off the first ever BMX Olympic event at the 2008 Olympic Games, this track will be of exceptional benefit to our Olympic hopefuls for London 2012, giving our riders the chance to train on a world class track."

Quick facts

• $4.8 million Bligh Government investment for the BMX facility
• The track features two start ramps (5m and 8m with an 18/28° sloping angle) with major double-jumps, step ups and a technical 'rhythm section, and riders will hit speeds of up to 60km/h around the 400 metre tracks
• More than 330 registered riders aged from 8 years of age to 45+ from as a far afield as New Zealand, Tamworth, Victoria and regional Queensland competed over the weekend in the opening event
• The popularity of cycling in general continues to grow and the following for BMX (in terms of numbers) in Australia is second only to the United States
• More than 840,000 people use Sleeman every year, and the complex has onsite accommodation for training camps and a number of other facilities (gym, aquatic centre) which could be utilised when riders are not tackling the new track
  Sleeman currently undergoing $17.3 million upgrade– the largest since it was established for the 1982 Commonwealth Games – to install a new pool, BMX track and another Australian first, a water-based jumps facility for aerial skiers
• The new facilities have been developed in consultation with design experts
• from the UCI

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Another Italian race, another lesson or two learnt and an Autogrill. Thursday the 2nd was Republic Day in Italy, hence the public holiday and a reason for a bike race. The scene, 12 laps, 8 of which was on a short flat loop with a few dodgy corners, followed by 4 laps on a larger loop that had a nasty 2.5k broken road section thrown into it and to top it all off the final lap involved a climb to the finish line of 2k.

 

Unlike Australia where you show up to a race perfectly timed an hour out to fit all your normal routines in, here in Italy you get there within 3hours just to be time conscious. First up my team mates and I joined all the other teams in a camp like atmosphere dining hall to chow down some pasta. Then it was onto the team bus where I floated around thinking about the race and taking amble time with pinning on my number to my jersey (good time passer) and soon enough at 3pm it was time for a bike race.

 

The race unofficially started before ‘go’ was even thought about being said to get good position on the start line.  Once we all were settled and everyone had marked her territory the peloton and myself waited another 15minutes for I assume is mental preparation time… The race eventually started and all was tame for the first few laps and I felt good. After 3 laps that feel good feeling vanished. I was suffering stomach cramps. I’m not a cramp sufferer in a race I never have been so this was a new one for me. I thought my race was over at 4 laps, but with a quick word to our team leader a bit of ‘tranquilla’ time at the back and then see how I feel in the next few laps. I suffered a lot in the following laps but at lap 7 I was back on. The race spiced up in pace and with entering the final 4 laps of the big loop it was on like Donkey Kong. With the peloton staying together we hit the last 2k climb to the finish with speed and that’s about where it finished, every girl and here bike clawing up the steep ‘need a 27 tooth cog’ climb. Rasa Leleivyte (Vaiano Tepso Solaristech) took the win. Results went down to top ten…well that’s all I could find, I reckon the 15^th-20^th bracket I fell into.

 

The lesson of the week went to what I drink before the race. The cramps was a result I discovered of downing a few bottles of Gatorade supplied by the dinning hall before the race, I wanted to make sure my hydration safety cap was on. However consuming too much led to mineral salt overdose thus my introduction into the other extreme of the cramping world, lesson noted.

 

After the race it was onto the showers …once they had been found then it was time for a quick Aussie catch up pointing out our highs of the week. The in form Rach Neylan (4^th in todays race) and I discussed the joy of discovering that to get internet on your phone is only 3 euro a week, good bye mindless reading of Italians magazines at the café!

 

Then it was off home but not before the Autogrill. This could be best described in Australian terms as ‘the best bakery in town’ kind of place. Every Autogrill is close to the same in Italy and stocks a healthy supply of focaccias and all other bakery type items, when your on the go it’s the best choice. I now have what I regularly get down pat, placing my order as if I was 13 years old again telling my mum what I want in my happy meal.

 

Finally it was the second good bye to everyone you knew from the race and it was back on the road again. Lucky this time it was only a 2hour drive. 

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West Australian Luke Durbridge is leading the 2011 Royal Smilde Olympia's Tour in the Netherlands after winning the 4.7km prologue in Hoofddorp.

The Jayco-AIS rider clocked a time of 5:53.050 to better the time of his team mate Queensland's Michael Hepburn who was a fraction of a second slower (5:53.660) in second place. Dutch rider Sander Oostlander (De Rijke CTD) was third fastest in 5:59.660.

"I thought that Michael would be faster, but I'm obviously very happy," said a surprised Durbridge after his ride. "I worked very hard towards this and suits me down to the ground being a track rider and it worked out for me here today."

Durbridge and Hepburn were last in Holland for the track world championships where along with Rohan Dennis and Jack Bobridge they claimed gold in the teams pursuit. 

"The course was very good and, with two wins so far here this year, I do like Holland," said Durbridge. 

The prologue was raced through the Haarlemmermeerse Forest and included a challenging climb up Big Spotters Hill.

"The boys are fired up to win," said Team Director Matt White. "It will be difficult because it will be a tough week but we're off to a good start."

The six day, seven stage event continues with a 150.8km stage from Hoofddorp to Noordwijk.

The Team Jayco-AIS line up for the Olympia's Tour is Nick Aitken, Alex Carver, Aaron Donnelly, Luke Durbridge, Michael Hepburn, Damien Howson, Richard Lang and Malcolm Rudolph

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It’s 1030pm and I’m still awake. Normally by now my head has hit the pillow and I’ve passed out for the night… But no, not tonight. After gorging myself on a variety of gels, caffeine and sugary foods accompanied by the constant throbbing of my legs, I have a feeling it is going to be a longggg night. And to top it all off, I am busy trying to rehydrated after forgetting to put on sunscreen in all the excitement resulting in my skin getting a little more than a ‘kiss’ from the sun :S… For those cyclists out there I’m sure you can sympathise with me – this is anticlimax you could say of finishing a Tour.

In 2010 I was watching the Canberra Tour from a lot more comfortable position in the commissaires car as I was still undergoing rehab for various injuries and so was excited to finally be able to race it again in 2011 under the new name of the Loop Canberra Tour. New name and new management meant a new format and for us women, it meant longer distances as well having a 50min crit on the Friday, 114km (it wasn’t 109km-lies) road race Saturday AM and 20km time trial Saturday PM and to finish us all off (literally) an 80km road race on the Sunday with not a meter of flat roads. 4 intermediate sprints and 2 QOMs on the Saturday morning, 2 more sprints and QOMs on the Sunday as well as the very generous time bonuses given on the finish line meant that anyone had a chance to be in the money! I was just out to make sure that ‘anyone’ was the Canberra Cycling Club Team.

The Canberra Cycling Club team on which I was racing on behalf of consisted of Jessie Maclean, who is about to represent the Australian National Team in Europe later this month, Gracie Elvin a ‘mountain biker’ who does more than hold her own on the road and who is also competing in Europe this month and junior rider Alice Wallett, who we are still trying to convince that cycling is better than triathlon :)

It was an epic few days to say the least but I’ve done my best to try and briefly recap all of the stages:

Friday Stage 1: 50min Criterium

There were attacks, people chased them… more attacks and yet more people chase.  Despite it being one of the most aggressive races I’ve been in with some threatening attacks from the Victorian Institute of Sport team (VIS) and a solo effort by team mate Jessie Maclean, from midway into the race it was obvious that it was destined to come down to a sprint finish. I tested out my sprinting legs in the intermediate sprint prime but got a bit excited and started my sprint way to early, getting pipped by Loren Rowney from the Bundaberg Sugar team. I figured that I didn’t have the sprinting form to win a race so I decided that I’d help Jessie Maclean out and shadowed her wheel as we came into the last few laps as she is pretty self-sufficient when it comes to finding a lead out. When the sprint opened up, people were going everywhere on the track. Jessie jumped right and I saw an opening on the left and it was a drag race to the finish with Loren Rowney taking out the win followed by Canberra’s Beck Wiasak and Kendelle Hodges from the VIS. I came in in 4^th whilst Gracie Elvin picked up 6^th and Jessie 7^th. Although we didn’t win, we were in the time bonuses and put ourselves in a comfortable position leading into the road race the next morning. Since Loren Rowney was the overall tour leader and sprint winner, it also meant that I would be wearing the sprint jersey going into tomorrrow’s stage – don’t worry, I had a bit of a laugh too :P

 

Saturday Stage 2: 114km RR

For all those Canberra riders, you would be all too familiar with the Uriarra-Condor loop. If this wasn’t bad enough, we had to complete it twice and since I was in contention for the sprinters jersey I also had 4 intermediate sprints to contest…It was going to be rough to say the least!

Descending down into Uriarra crossing for the first time, it dawned on me that wearing the sprinter’s jersey (although I have to admit, it did look pretty awesome) was going to be more of a burden than a privilege, it meant that I had to contest the intermediate sprints. Luckily for me I had the best wing woman in the peloton to lead me out for them – Jessie Maclean gave me leadouts that Mark Renshaw himself would be proud of and as a result, I accumulated enough points to hold onto the sprinters jersey for another day. I was happy with how I was feeling on the climbs especially after the sprinting and so decided to try my luck in the QOM points as well, I scored some in the first 2 at the turn around and then again at the top of the 3 sisters where I got into a break of 3 riders until midway back to Stromlo Forrest Park but I soon realised that maybe trying to contest both competitions AND make it to the finish alive was a bit too ambitious and so settled for grovelling up the climbs instead.

Going into the last lap it was pretty much a repeat of the previous one – we contested the sprints, the pace was set up the climbs, Jessie Maclean and Kendelle scared us all sh!tless on the descents and by the time we knew it we were climbing the 3 sisters for the last time. I have to admit, I was very surprised to see that we still had such a large bunch, maybe it is just a reflection of the quality of women riders we have coming through at the moment, but all I knew was I didn’t like it…It is common knowledge that I time trial like a brick through water and so I needed as much advantage going into the afternoon’s stage as possible. Having lost their sprinter on the final climb, the VIS were launching attacks in the last few kilometres to try and get a break but to no avail – coming into Stromlo Forrest Park it was going to be another bunch kick. Gracie rolled up to me and said she was feeling good and it was like music to my ears – by that stage I was feeling like poo and so I told her to stick on my wheel on the crit course and I would follow wheels to get her lined up for the sprint. Coming into the final corner, it was the same sprinting ‘tactics’ as the crit and there was no way that I was going to make the same mistake happen twice, I kicked off the wheel in front later with Gracie still attached and sprinted for home – Grace Sulzberger was just ahead and when I rolled past her a few meters for the line, I realised that in my lead out gone wrong – I’d actually won. I’d freaking won a bike race. And not just any bike race, one in my hometown in front of my friends, family and coach.

What went through my head? Well when I put my arm in the air the first thing I thought was ‘bullsh!t. I didn’t just win a bunch kick...’ Then when Grace Sulzberger rolled up and congratulated me I burst out crying – I’m a girl scout I know but winning a race in your hometown is something you dream of doing and it was great for me to finally repay all the people who have stood by me and helped me out by giving them a win. Gracie held on for 3^rd and picked up more time bonuses which gave her a good advantage leading into the time trial that afternoon.

 

Saturday PM: 20km TT

The only thing I could’ve hoped for was for the time trial to be tomorrow afternoon, so at least I could have been leader of the Tour for longer than 2hrs… and gotten a pretty slick white leader’s jersey too. But alas, just when I was feeling on top of the world after my win there’s nothing like a time trial to knock you down again. Although I was riding on one of the fastest time trial bikes available, a tiny Cervelo P3 at 48cm and equipped with 650c wheels, I knew I was going to have to ride the time trial of my life if I was going to stay in contention in the tour. I enlisted the help of super coach MaryAnn Simpson and my twin sister Bron to follow me in the car and yell abuse/encouragement at me to help me stay focused on the 20km solo journey ahead. I was feeling strong going down to the turn around and was happy to be able to turn around without unclipping/hitting my foot (those of you who don’t ride tiny bikes won’t appreciate this luxury…) and on the way back had my eyes set on reeling in the few riders who were ahead of me. I was about to turn around and hit my coach and sister when I figured that if I rode faster, they would probably stop yelling – so I did. I rolled home and am happy to say rode the time trial of my life. I’m not known for my extensively long attention span and this was the first time trial where I didn’t think of what I was having for dinner, count, or even sing to myself. Although it wasn’t enough to match the big hitters, I was stoked and ended up finishing in 7th. Beck Wiasak smoked everyone for the win followed by Allison Rice and Jo Hogan rounded out the podium in 3^rd. Gracie Elvin had an awesome ride and held her own for 4^th putting her 3^rd in GC leading into the final stage, a great position for us!

Sunday RR: 80km

Waking up Sunday morning, probably the first thing I said to myself was ‘thank god we don’t have to race 130km like then men’. Today’s stage was ‘only’ 80km but you’d be hard pressed to find more than a meter of flat road anywhere out on course. The GC leading into today meant that the race would surely be aggressive with 1sec margins separating 4 riders and a big 54sec gap to Beck Wiasak who was now tour leader. With the help from my teammates, I had accumulated enough of a lead in the sprinters competition to have secured the jersey however we weren’t going to let anything go to chance and so sent our junior rider Alice Wallett up the road to ensure no one got in some sneaky extra points. Although the pace was on up the significant climbs, the bunch still remained intact for ¾ of the race. Our priority was to keep Gracie up/improve her position on GC and if possible, get myself further up as well but to do this, we had to drop Beck Wiasak and Allison Rice on the climbs. Luckily for us, the other teams had similar ideas and gradually the elastic band was snapping. Going back up Mt Macdonald with less than 20km to home, Grace Sulzberg and Kendelle Hodges attacked over the top of the climb. I was sitting on the other side of the bunch and all I could do was watch them ride away. I knew that if they were still away going down into Uriarra, the race was over.  It took a while for the bunch to respond but then a paceline was formed going down into Uriarra with our work horse Jessie Maclean driving it on the front. I found her wheel going down into Uriarra before she swung off and didn’t realise how much speed she had launched me down there with…that girl is crazy. I have never descended that fast in my life and at one stage I was convinced I was going to die. But I didn’t. I couldn’t let Jess down after she busted her ass for us and so maintained that speed going into the crossing and drove it up the 1^st sister to try and get rid of some driftwood and to hopefully start to close the gap and keep Gracie up there on GC as for the moment, we were sitting in 4^th position. Frustratingly, the bunch soon lost interest in chasing and it wasn’t until about 5km from home that they put in another last ditched effort. I decided it was better to have one of the team finish up on GC as oppose to both of us finishing lower down and so jumped on the front and gave a last ditched effort to bring it back. Once I blew, I knew my race was over. All I could do was the riders who were left roll past and keep my fingers crossed that they would catch Grace Sulzberger and that Gracie could hold her own in the sprint. When I rolled into the park I heard that Grace Sulzberger had held on to win by 30sec and had consequently taken over the lead of the tour. Gracie Elvin got 3^rd in the bunch kick and unfortunately dropped down to 4^th in GC – by only 2 seconds!!!!

Despite the Canberra Cycling Team not finishing on top spot on the podium, I couldn’t have been happier. We haven’t raced together as a team before and I was amazed at how easily we all clicked and how dedicated everyone was to achieve a team result. In addition to Gracie’s 4^th on GC, we held onto the sprinters jersey and so still made a nice profit for the weekend.

Although I only finished up 7^th on GC, given that this time last year I wasn’t able to ride, I was pretty proud of myself. I’ve still got a lot of work to do before I fly out to Europe on the 22^nd of June to start racing with the UK based Viored Team (post on that to come) but I’m happy with how things are going :)

You can read more about the race at VIS stomper Lisa Jacob’s ride happy blog at http://ridehappy.blogspot.com/ and Bundaberg Sugar Rider Amy Bradley’s blog http://aimzbradley.blogspot.com/

Next up is one of my favourite races – the Cootamundra Haycarters Handicap this weekend! It should be a slightly more relaxed atmosphere than Canberra tour and I can’t wait to try and mix it with the big boys :P

Until next time stay safe and happy pedalling,

Miff xx

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Lisa's Mum is still basking in the afterglow of her fashion-inspired posts on Ride Happy. You may remember her pearls of wisdom on Jersey selection for the recreational cyclist and wardrobe tips for the urban fixie rider. In fact, it is fair to say that Lisa's Mum is held in high regard on the cycling catwalks of Milan. It was no surprise, therefore, when she received the following appeal for advice from a fan: