'Good is not good when better is expected' Vin Scully
My A race; the main focus of 2016; that goal right on the limits of my hopes and dreams... whichever way I look at the World Champs, they were always going to demand the very best performance from me. They created that mixture of excitement (how often does a bike race take you to the other side of the world?) but also an intense drive within me, or will to win if you like, which fuelled and focused my training ever since their announcement 12 months before. |
| Getting into the spirit of the Championships |
The preparation wasn't all plain sailing - the training turned out to be the 'easy' part! I've always been a fairly disciplined and focussed person. I was lucky enough to be brought up in the country with animals and Mum's motto was always - if you want the pony you can get up at 06:00am and look after it! And so I did! Over the years the early starts have migrated from looking after the animals, to running and more recently cycling. So, getting up at 05:00 to fit training in wasn't an alien concept to me but as I'm sure you can imagine there were often times when it felt like halfway through the night, it was raining or I just didn't feel like it. However, that rainbow jersey was always there, in the back of my mind, that carrot when I needed it, and one thing was for certain - lounging in bed was not going to help me win it! With the training nailed (well, planned and executed to the best of my ability), a recon trip earlier in the year to achieve not only qualification but some general familiarisation too, it seemed that things were progressing nicely...
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| Not quite the city centre course that was billed |
...Until the unexpected announcement that the time trial course was actually to be relocated to Rottnest island! Bosh! That was left-field to say the least. The fact that the course would be totally different to the test event, which was billed as THE course for the world's obviously wasn't something that we could have prepared for. Rotto is 'only' 19km off mainland Perth but it's still a boat ride away and an expensive one at that. Whilst it creates a picture-perfect TT course, it is also completely different to not only the qualifiers but pretty much any other TT course I've ever ridden. The beautiful Indian ocean sparkles around almost every corner, but those corners are also able to catch you out, they're sharp, often switchback and their surface is gravelly and sandy tarmac. Not to mention the turns, which on every occasion come off a fast descent and the wind - four different directions as you circumnavigate the island. Just in case you were short on things that might catch you out, don't forget to keep your eyes peeled for the island inhabitants - the pint sized kangaroos known as quokkas!
Obviously, I didn't know half these things about the Rotto course before I got there. I had to make my decision on whether to go or not based on a 2D map and a rough calculation of how much extra this announcement was going to cost. The major blow was that my recon earlier in the year was now obsolete and my training hadn't focussed on hilly, technical TT courses (with an ocean view!). The irony is, I would have relished that sort of training if I'd known there was a need for it.
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| Rottnest Island - a real jewel in the Indian ocean |
Anyway, fast forward an awful lot of indecision, initial failed attempts at trying to secure some sponsorship followed by a more successful than I'd imagined 'go fund me' page and I found myself in Perth once again. It's at this point that I would like to thank Richard and his team at the Fitness Warehouse and Paul of KStat Consulting as well as the many friends who backed me - your support was invaluable! The cool spring air and horizontal rain showers were somewhat of a shock to the system after what had been a pretty warm week or two in the UK. Having been pre-occupied with work, how to pack Percy (TT bike) and pretty much everything I needed into the bike box as my hold luggage AND keep it under 30kgs (yep, it was quite a challenge), had clearly meant that I had failed to check the weather properly. It didn't appear that shorts and short sleeve jerseys were going to cut it for the next fortnight!! Thankfully, some of the NZ team were staying in the same accommodation and had packed for an arctic expedition. I was kindly leant a warm jacket, which undoubtedly prevented me from going down with pneumonia!
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| One of the local quokka population |
A recon of the course early on in the week alerted me to the findings mentioned above but also introduced me to another GB team member. Julia, who was to become my partner in crime for the Championships as well as a firm friend. We got lost on Rotto (even I have to admit that is pretty difficult), took apart and built our bikes countless times between us - for the transfers to and from the island and generally kept one another sane when the organisation appeared to be attempting to test our psyche to the limit!
Thankfully, after what can only be described as a boat ride from hell the day before the race - it was so windy that the boat was lurching frantically from side to side and raining that much that we were soaked within minutes of being outside - waking up to sunshine on race day was a true blessing. Despite the fact that we also woke to the announcement that the race schedule would be delayed by an hour, probably due to the weather the day before and the barge being delayed, the atmosphere was pretty relaxed. My start time of 10:43 had become 11:43, so not too much drama for me. My only concern was that the wind direction has a tendency to change around midday which would mean a greater time riding into a headwind. This would be an obvious disadvantage to someone, I just hoped it wasn't me!
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| Focus Face |
After my usual warm up it was time to head over to the start. One last tense moment while the Commissaire popped Percy in the jig to check he was set up to UCI regulations... thankfully the gremlins hadn't visited overnight and tweaked his set up!! It was actually pretty warm stood in the queue for the start ramp; the rain and gales of yesterday had been replaced with 21 degrees of lovely WA sunshine. Eventually it was my turn; all of a sudden the ramp looks steeper and the clock seemed to be ticking down faster! Twenty seconds... all clipped in and ready to go, ten seconds and the Garmin is set to record the forthcoming torture, five seconds and the other commissaire has her hand in front of me ready to count me down 5, 4, 3, 2, 1... charge!!
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| And my campaign is underway.. |
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| Picking up some speed as it flattened out |
The 'home run' of 6km had a flat but very narrow section of road with lots of tree roots and a generally poor surface. By this point I didn't even notice, the focus was the rider in front of me, who I was catching quickly. I passed her and knew I also needed to catch the rider in front of her before it narrowed even more. There was a third rider who I caught and we ended up going into the left hand turn parallel - it went straight into a climb before the final descent and 1.5km run in to the finish. My plan was always to get out the saddle here, blast up the hill and empty the legs completely in the last 1.5km. I left her in my wake as I wound up my surge to the finish. It was hurting, really hurting but it seemed to have gone quicker than I'd anticipated, or perhaps I'd lost track of time? I crossed the line, with mixed emotions - happy that it was over, I hadn't crashed or had any near misses but really disappointed that I'd caught and struggled to pass the French girl where I did and wasted precious seconds in the process.
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| Such a scenic course |
Results were available online, so I logged on with baited breath to see how I'd done. 4th. The place that everyone dreads. At the sharp end of the field but not on the podium and certainly not commanding any rainbow stripes. I was absolutely gutted. One small part of me had hoped that I'd done enough to make the podium at least but it wasn't meant to be. The only consolation was that I had beaten all the Aussies in my category and I had actually ridden faster than the U34s so had I been just a little younger would actually have been crowned World Champion! I later found out that I was also the best placed of all the GB team in the TT, both male and female - however it did little to alleviate the disappointment. I did, however, come away with a lot of positives - I've learnt a lot, ridden a course of a lifetime and have a new focus - attempt to win those rainbow stripes next year!!
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| What an amazing recovery ride... |
The World Champs marked the end of the season for many but not for me. With one race to go, it's time to regroup and get back to one last block of training to try and finish the year on a real high...
