ON THE ROAD TO RECOVERY...

For those of you that weren't aware, on Monday 5th May I was at work. Now usually I wouldn't complain about this because most of you were probably in the same boat, but on this particular day I was in a fair bit of pain. My back was sore for what I believed was the aftermath of a 6hr MTB Race I had completed on the weekend, and I was grateful to finish work that day and go home to rest it. The following morning I found myself resting again, before and after work, and by the end of the week, when I hadn't touched the bike, I realised that this back pain was different. Sometimes it spasmed, other times it was a sharp stab, but most importantly it lingered. Not only for the day, but for a whole week.

With all this spare time I can even fit in some Media!
Thanks to Kath Bicknell from Flow MTB Magazine for a beautiful 4-pg spread

If you are an avid reader of my blog, you will know that I then attended an AIS study camp in Canberra, and then raced at the Tour of Adelaide. I missed many a session throughout the camp and this recovery allowed me to race the Tour of Adelaide pain-free. But upon my return home, or more importantly my return to work, the pain just kept getting worse to the point where 10-days off the bike has become norm.

This was a pretty big feat for me!

This is the first mention I have made of my back, and for good reason. I thought that if I didn't speak of it, then it wouldn't be real. But it is very much real. It's now been eleven weeks since my back first played up, and my god the time has gone slow. I managed three rides last week and plan to race this weekend in a triple team for the Blores Hill 6hr near my home town of Traralgon. I also started back at work this week after a two week break to recover and believe that I am nearing the end of my treatments.

To help my back, Jarrod has built me some stairs lol

Three months may not seem like a big deal, but it meant that my plans to go overseas were put to a halt, and that my early season base for 2014 has all but gone. Most importantly it means that I have put on 8kg that will be mighty hard to lose! In my time away I have had a chance to 'help' - some call it watch - Jarrod make some advancements on our home reno's and also make some big plans for next season and all I can say is world watch out!


Such first world problems...I'll soldier on and update you all again soon :)

TOUR OF ADELAIDE

The past few days saw the introduction of the first ever NRS race in Adelaide (finally) and it went off with a blast! The three-day tour consisted of a 20km downhill TTT, a 103km Road Race (with some dirt sections) out Woodside, and finished with a 66km Kermesse held on the outskirts of the city. The Target TREK team line-up for the week had a world-class theme with the addition of previous Junior World Champions Ash Ankudinoff (NSW) and Kesley Robson (WA), accompanied by current aspiring Junior World representatives Ruby-Marie Greig-Hurtig (VIC) and Emily McRedmond (WA), plus of course…me!

Ash, me and Kelsey in the Gorge Road downhill Time Trial

After a patchy start which included me leaving my wallet at the Canberra airport, missing the compulsory Team Manager’s meeting and a $391 speeding fine thanks to yours truly Mr. Moroni, I was hoping for smooth sailing when the tour kick started. The TTT was my first ever, so I was grateful to have Ash on board who took control and drove the pace. We had two early causalities in Ruby then Emily, but managed to catch the composite team ahead of us before troubling myself with the final few pinches to the line. I was stoked with fifth place, which was an important result as GC would be close to set in stone with the format of the tour. Polygon won the stage ahead of VIS and Pensar-Hawk.

Tackling the gravel sections with ease..

I headed into Saturday’s road race a little apprehensive. I knew I had lost form since Mersey Valley, but was hoping the shorter gravel climbs wouldn’t cause too many problems. I tried to breakaway early but with everybody wanting to be part of a move it was clear that the ‘right combination’ would be difficult to obtain. I stayed toward the front for the climbs hoping that an opportunity might present itself, but short-lived spurts were unsuccessful for anything other than minor QOM points. But eventually the race lulled and Holden Racing took the initiative and formed the three main breaks of the day.

Amy takes an easy victory in the Road Race

Miranda Griffiths (Holden) was temporarily away with Sarah Roy (Bike Bug), followed by a solo attack by Lucy Coldwell (Holden). But Polygon never panicked and bought it all back together for the second QOM. I hit out early to claim maximum points and the QOM jersey, and not long after Sam De Riter (Holden) rode away solo. I expected the pure climbers to hit out hard on the final two pinches, but instead the pressure to catch Sam was only enough to dwindle the 70 odd down to 20 in the hunt for a tailwind downhill kamikaze finish. I was in great position but my sprinting form only landed me in 6th. A classy win was taken by yellow jersey holder Amy Cure (Polygon) ahead of Ruth Corset (Pensar) and Jenelle Crooks (Pensar).

"...so then my team-mate Sam totally knocked me off my bike!" lol

I loved the 3.3km kermesse circuit. There was a fast roundabout that I just HAD to bunny hop every lap, a right hander made technical by a traffic island and then a long 1km uphill haul to the line. The girls were aggressive so I made sure I was alert. I was happy to follow moves and wait for the right moment, but whenever I saw it, I hesitated and the moment was gone. Bec Wiasak decided to go it solo, and her group swelled for four, and then nine including teammate Ash and I missed all the action...have I lost my race nouse? I think so!

Leaders jerseys line up for the Kermesse
Me, Jess Mundy, Sam, Lucy and Amy

It was an amazingly exciting finish, with the break and bunch coming together in the final hundred meters! Bec and Ash held on to take the top two steps of the podium, while a hard chasing Cure came in third to claim the tour. I rolled in17th, disappointed with my effort, having lost the QOM jersey and any ounce of confidence I had pre-tour. I think I’ve forgotten how to risk losing a bike race in order to win one! Let’s just say that this 7hr drive home to Bendigo has been fairly quiet. I can’t wait to hit the dirt trails on the MTB tomorrow!

Lisa Jacobs and I try to break early in the Kermesse

Congratulations to Amy Cure of Polygon and ex-Bendigonian George Tansley of Euride on their tour victories, and a massive well done to Max Stevens and his team who ran an amazing race with sold out fields. Is there anything Adelaide don’t do well? Needless to say that twitter ran wild in support of this Tour and I know that it will be a prime race on the calendar next year. Hope to see you all there… :)

AIS 'CALCIUM STUDY' CAMP

I receive a lot of unwanted mail. Not just from online shopping websites, fly buys and ‘ways to enhance your sex life’, but also from things that I have subscribed to such as Katmandu, MTBA and specifically for this story, Cycling Victoria. It was odd for me to not automatically delete a monthly update email, let alone begin to read it, and eventually scroll to the last item, the bottom of the agenda you could say, to find out about a calcium study that was to take place at the Australian Institute of Sport.

The food hall at the AIS

I believe in fate and thought that maybe this was a sign. I had just started back racing the NRS after five years away, and thought that this ‘camp’ atmosphere might be my chance to re-discover any passion for road that might still linger. So I rang Eric Haakonssen, the physiologist in charge of the project (and what a massive project it was!) and booked myself a spot on camp. One week before scheduled departure I pulled a muscle in my back. Was this fate too?

'Fate' brought Sam and this magnificent Brownie together...

And so it goes that 31 girls arrived at camp on the Monday, rode out in freezing weather to Stromlo, and completed hill repeats before riding home in both rain and darkness. Thank god I missed that! I flew in on the Wednesday and played catch up by getting bloods taken, skin-folds, bone density scans, completing a skills session and following it up with a V02Max Test. It had been five years since I’d been on the ergo and I hadn’t missed it all that much… Hanging out with girls though? I had missed that..

Testing Day at the AIS Calcium Camp

Through the week I fronted for TTT efforts, complained about my back pain, sat in the van and watched the girls sprint up Black Mountain, flew to Cairns and back to launch the announcement of MTB World Cups coming down under and ostracised my mattress to the loungeroom in our apartment because I had fallen victim to the late night Giro D’Italia, early morning Tour of California and ALL NIGHT (on repeat) World Cup victories by MTB’ers Dan McConnell and Bec Henderson!

Example of binging food on pre-test days

So when Monday came I was undone and sick, which made for poor test results but an interesting study all the same. The purpose of the study was to measure the amount of calcium we lose through our sweat while exercising, and the effect this has on our bones as the calcium is drawn from them. We had two testing days whereby we were put on controlled ‘diets’ – I use this word because we were on rations and STARVING – in the 24hrs prior, with one ‘diet’ being significantly higher in calcium intake. This simply meant that we binged when not under control lol The test consisted of 80mins at 60% of V02 Max watts, followed immediately by a 10min Max TT, with no warm-up or down!

Sarah's eating arm...

They took bloods pre-breakfast, pre-test, during the test, after the test, after the ice-bath, pre-lunch, post lunch and pretty much all through the afternoon. It will take a long time for all of the samples to be tested and analyzed but I’m sure everyone will wait in anticipation for the report. What an amazing effort by the team, namely Laura in nutrition and Erik in Physiology and AIS coach Martin Barras for keeping us in line for the week. So today I will fly to Adelaide to start the third race in the NRS series starting tomorrow. The Tour of Adelaide should be a hoot! (It’s my new-old motto…)

Roomies - Sam De Riter, Liz Fitch and Jo Tralaggan

On a closing note, it was at 2am in the morning, while sleeping on my mattress in the lounge room that I realised how strong my passion is for MTB’ing, and how much I wished I was in Germany instead of Canberra (pretty sure that goes without saying!). This camp has convinced me that road is not for me, but also that not all road riders are douchebags. On camp I met the funniest girl ever in Alice Wallet, the coolest in Sarah, the most enthusiastic facial expressions in Brit Lindores, the unbelievably sweet Liz, the inspiring and very cute Jo, and of course the craziest of them all..Sam, of who’s pink hair I feel indirectly responsible for, but I love it! These girls make you happy just being in their company, but a big shout out to all 31 of you who made it my favourite camp ever at the AIS :)

WOMBAT100

It’s by far the most dreaded race day morning of the year when the Wombat100 rolls around. Although the race venue in Cammeray Waters, just outside Woodend, is only an hour away from Bendigo, it’s the 4.30am alarm that really upsets the body clock and mental state, especially this year on the back of a cousin’s wedding…ouch!

Jarrod and I slept past the snooze and contemplated sleeping longer, and once on the road debated turning around before the halfway mark. A long pause in the car upon parking and even further discussion after entry still didn’t have us convinced that we were racing. At 6.40am we finally got dressed for an unwelcoming 7am start, but this still didn’t mean that I was committed to racing the whole 100kms…

Early on with Row and Tory in tow..

When the gun went off it was obvious that I had only warmed up the 300m from the car park. The men were out of sight immediately (which isn’t the norm for me in a mass start marathon race) but I wasn’t concerned because as my first effort since Cape Epic, I knew I had to let my body settle back into it. Newly signed Target Trek rider Tory Thomas was happy with my initial pace, and followed me through the field, passing Naomi Hansen and eventually catching Row Fry. Row put some men into trouble on the techy sections (that girl is quick) before a surge on fire-road saw her lose contact.

I can’t remember the exact time we lost Row, but it seemed to coincide with the catching of Jenny Fay who was struggling through the single track. It was 18kms in, our bunch had now swollen to 9 and I was feeling great! So great that I went to step out around one of the guys, and as I did I hit a rut and ran off the road into a prickle bush…amateur! I think it took me longer to calm the anger and compose myself then it did to pull the prickles out of my gloves. I quit…

A distorted photo of the damage from that damn prickle bush!

I couldn’t have crashed at a worse time as the majority of the next 10km was fire-trail and I knew the girls would be paced in the bunch. I tried to tempo through to get a solid 50k in the legs and felt good as the road started to climb, and then as I was cursing profanities at god (out loud of course) for making me look like a Gumby in a prickle bush, the figure of Tory was suddenly in the distance. This intense motivation came over me and the chase was on!

I timed the gap at 1:20mins and before the first feed ?kms I had made contact. Tory stopped for a bottle as I rode straight through in pursuit of Jenny who was only 30seconds up the road now. I caught her before the next single-track section but made no efforts to pass. My motivated had now been tamed and I was looking for an easy race ahead of the Australian Marathon Championships in Atherton next weekend. It didn’t take long for a chasing Tory to catch us and suddenly, just 30kms in, this was hotting up to be a good showdown!

Loving the manicured trails and bridges in Woodend

Jenny rode a leisurely speed and we even had a short chat before Tory dared me to do a ‘World Cup overtaking maneuver’. I had crashed once already and didn’t have the balls, so I let Tory pass and the pressure she placed on Jenny was ridiculous(ly good to watch)! After a few tyre rubs and inside skids by Tory, I noticed that Jenny was having problems with her cleats, and a mistake on a log jump saw us sweep past her and out of sight, feeling very at home on single-track :)  Tory pushed the pace and I was glad to follow, and when we hit the fire-trail we were lucky to have some male company to carry us along to the mid-way feed.

It was dejavu. Tory and I had come through Cammeray Waters last year in a battle for second place except this time I had a feeder in Keith Hamilton, and as her husband Tim has his hands full with a baby, she was forced to stop and grab her bottle from the table. This was the decisive point in the race. It gave me a 10-second gap that Tory couldn’t seem to pull back so I capitalised on this and put the pressure on through the fire-trail sections. I rode solid tempo until the main climb of the day and then Mr. Motivation came running back!

My motivated face :) courtesy of MarathonMTB

I smacked it over the long climb to the final feed station and caught a few guys that had passed me earlier. I was bombing if I do say so myself lol A brief bottle stop and a solid tempo for the final 30kms (in great company on course with a newly formed friend in Chris Palmer-thanks for a great day Chris!) and the race was over. It was all sort of a blur. But I had won. In my fourth attempt I had finally broken through for victory at the Wombat100 marking four years of racing on the MTB.

Fellow Target Trek rider Tory Thomas finished in second five minutes in arrears, with a popular Mel Anset claiming third. I later found out that Jenny Fay had pulled out not long after we’d passed her, and that Row Fry suffered a double puncture to come home in fourth (gutsy to finish). Naomi Hansen was also forced to withdraw with an eye injury, and Jenni King had been a DNS. It was a shame that such a great caliber women’s field had dwindled so quickly!

Elite Women's Podium: Tory, me and Mel Ansett courtesy of MarathonMTB

I took some great things from the race. I was nervous before-hand that maybe it was the wrong decision to compete off the back of Cape Epic, but instead it’s given me confidence for the Australian Championships this weekend. I felt well recovered and strong on the climbs and was especially glad to be back on Australian single-track. Thanks to Maximum Adventure for awesome trails once again, and to TREK for designing the Superfly 100 SL…it’s like cheating…

Jarrod was in a sprint for 4^th place but finished in 7^th after some awesome ‘cramp dance moves’ in the final straight, and a special mention to Target Trek rider Chris Hamilton who was 9^th, not bad for his first ever marathon race at age 17!