Our first experience as the ‘Perform Group’ National team saw the five of us meet at the Canberra airport on Wednesday evening before venturing to the new AIS dining hall for dinner. It was here where we got our first chance to mingle and become enthusiastic about the weeks to come. Let me introduce you to our team members (from left to right).
Firstly...me. I‘m 19, an all rounder from country Victoria possessing some track experience. I also suffer from obsessive compulsive disorder…well inclinations. Kate Mercer, the first of three from the Sunshine Coast, possess’ vast strength on the bike and knows how to deliver on a climb. At 27 she is renown for her addiction to ’Sex and the City’ and chocolate. Ruth Corset, 33, is also from Queensland. With two beautiful girls, now 3 and 5, she has callous courage and speed up a climb. Although a new addition to cycling she is predicted to become the team’s mother figure. Belinda Goss, 23, is our most experienced member. The Tasmanian has the speed to steal victory and seems to draw inspiration from the most gorgeous of possessions, a young lion ‘Simba’.
Louise Kerr, the last of the Queenslanders, is less than a week from 20. Lou is relatively quirky, passionate about her Nintendo and has been labelled our time trial specialist. Tiffany Cromwell (not pictured), 19 on Friday, ventures from South Australia. What she lacks in size she makes up for in domestique ability and is notorious for unique fingernail designs and shopping dependence. With Michel Vermande and Paul Brosnan sharing coaching duties of the team while on tour, Warren McDonald will be our overseer. Also joining us will be the experienced and talkative mechanic Darryl McCulloch and newly on the scene Athalee Brown as our gorgeous soigneur.
While Ruth drove the pace in the lead breakaway, claiming all 4 QOM’s, Lou had managed to get in with the chase bunch, doing her best to bring back the group of six. They stayed away and our previous GC position was now replaced with Ruth in 4th, Lou in 6th. After protesting some dirty sprint action Ruth finished second to Grace Sulzberger in the day’s stage…impressive.
Kate had been to see a doctor the week prior and acquired a prescription for antibiotics. She decided to do a hit out in the Time Trial and pulled up poorly; however, she still thrashed me in 16th, and decided to give the tour a miss catching up on some much needed sleep. In the meantime Bel was showing promise and almost ran a top 10. Ruth was placed second of the ‘Perform Group’ girls, decked out with a time trial bike and disc wheel she surprised even herself for GC contention, finishing 8th, 1:12mins off the podium. Our star of the day Lou, rooming with the sick one, put in a blinder of a ride to claim third. Outclassing Kathy Watt by half a second she’s proved that some serious training since China has put her in good stead for France.
Following the media shots we had a small press conference where Wazza, Ruth and I prepared short speeches for the reporters on hand. Some final footage capped off the day’s requirements before we returned home to complete a short session indoors. But first I had to change a tyre; I had punctured during takes, not a good start to the weekend.