Bendigo Women's 3 Hour - Solo Blazers

On Sunday 26^th May, I raced my first mountain bike event! It was a women’s only event hosted by the Bendigo Mountain Bike Club. They offered two distance/abilities – Blazers for beginners and Blitzers for the more intermediate riders. I signed up to Blazers and solo rather than in pairs. As I am new into this sport, I didn’t want the pressure of letting others down.

The weekend before, I joined in a mountain bike skills session by the Bendigo club which went for about 3 hours which helped me dramatically in preparing for the day ahead and understanding the terrain. Much similar to Castlemaine, the course is rocky compared to any green trails I have done in Melbourne. If it wasn’t for the skills course, I don’t think I would have ridden so much of it, I would have been walking and more nervous throughout the day.

I left the house at 6am hoping to get there around 9am. The race briefing started at 9:50am with the race start at 10am. I stopped at Woodend for a break before the turn off the highway towards Spring Gully. I arrived around 9:20am with time to collect my number plate, another toilet stop and to prepare the bike and hydration pack.

I had purchased a new hydration backpack as my Camelbak was too small to carry nutrition and a basic first aid kit. During my past rides, I have been putting my phone, keys, ID and nutrition in my jersey pockets as the small bag could only carry the 2L bladder. Due to the frequent falls, I needed to carry a basic first aid kit. I only needed some alcohol wipes and some large bandaids and hand sanitiser. The Osprey bag had a different hydration spout system where the tube hangs across your chest and held up with a magnet. During the course of the ride, the spout didn’t stay on the strap of the magnet and ended up hanging down for a lot of the day, it was a bit annoying.

I was never nervous leading up to this event as I knew that my aim was to stay upright and do as best as I could. My nerves really increased when I started to prep my bike. When I rode down to the briefing, I saw a few familiar faces and chatted to them. The briefing was informative but there were a few incidences where they mixed up the blazers and blitzers requirements. The blitzers started first. The standing race start (Le Mans) meant that we stood about 100m away from our bikes which were placed on the ground. When I heard that this was the way we started, I placed my bike in a position where it was easy to pick up and facing the right way.

The blazers started about 5min after the blitzers. The run up to the bikes was not great and I didn’t take it too seriously as I didn’t want my heart rate to be sky high. As soon as I got on my bike, I rode behind some of the girls in my group and we came to a halt pretty much straight away due to a few unprepared obstacles from riders ahead of me.

After the lumpy parts of the start, we rode on the section of the course where we joined up with the blitzers and this is where the course became pretty busy with two groups and the faster riders wanting to overtake. The climbs were not too hard, the terrain was pretty rocky and I started to just trust my bike when we reached those sections. There was one part of the course where I unclipped as a girl in front of my had fallen but it became the only section of the course where I unclipped for the rest of the day. I am pretty sure I rode over it during my skills course but I just didn’t want to jeopardise my event. The descents came about half way through the event and it was not much faster than the first half as I am not great at high speeds. There were a few tricky hairpins and falls but I just rode through them at a slow and steady pace and stayed upright.

I looked down at my Garmin after I had finished the first lap and it was about 22min. Based on this timing, I knew that I was able to do 6-7 laps within 3 hours. I consumed a bit of my gel within my flask after 2 laps which was good timing as I felt tired…I had ridden at threshold for 40+min and this is about the duration of my crits. I could see the benefits of being in a team as you can have a chance to take a break. I didn’t want to stop and rest so I kept going. On the completion of my third lap, it was about 1:10. At that time, I was pretty confident that I could do 7 laps instead of 6 and that was my goal.

I couldn’t remember anything interesting from laps 2 through to 7 as it was just about riding the same laps over and over. Not like road riding, mountain biking requires constant mental concentration as you are always required to ride over obstacles. Towards the end of lap 7, I increased my pace as I wanted to finish lap 7 at 2:50 so it gave me a chance to get back out there for another lap which is what I did. I saw a lot of the ladies along the side lines, they were either done for the day or are part of a pairs team. There wasn’t many riders back out during my last lap. I started to cramp badly on my quads especially when I was contracting them.

I thought the last lap was my slowest as I couldn’t pedal hard due to the cramping and I was just tired. But as there was not many riders left, it was a lap where I didn’t have to move to the side much or having to overtake. Throughout the 8 laps ridden, I think the ratio of me pulling over so that a faster rider can overtake to me overtaking someone ahead of me was about 70-30.

I remember being really hungry at about the 2 hour mark and just craving something calorie dense like hot chips. I couldn’t wait for the 3 hours to be done.

When I was finishing my last lap (1:05pm), I was coming in with the dirt squirt (kids) and so it wasn’t the fastest lap. I crossed the line and pulled off the side. I was relieved that the 3 hours was up. The presentations was at 1:30 so I knew that I had time to put the bike in the car and put on a warm jumper. I saw a friend from Footscray CC and she told me that I had come 5^th which was a massive surprise so I stayed around for the presentation so I could see if it was true.

I was very pleased with my results for my first 3 hour mtb solo event. I was proud of myself for pushing through with the aim to get as many laps in within the allowable time as I could. I have already looked into my next 3 hour race in June which is at You Yangs and the race will be on the Kurrajong trails which is very do-able for me. I really enjoyed the event as I was not out there all alone and I was able to push myself to my limit. Mountain biking is still new for me so I am really enjoying the sense of accomplishment for doing something new and out of my comfort zone.

Positives:

• Felt really accomplished for doing an event out of my comfort zone and being able to place (not last)
• I am more confident about the descents even over rocky and loose surfaces. I don’t think I would have entered the event if I knew the terrain was what it was 3 months ago.
• I actually can’t wait for the next race in 3 weeks time!

Negatives (to work on):

•      Need to see what I can do about the cramping. It may be just muscle fatigue as I drank an entire bidon of electrolytes on my drive up to Bendigo.
•      I may not be drinking enough during the event as I had plenty of fluid left in my bladder after 3 hours. I reckon I only consumed 750ml over 3 hours which may have led to the cramping as well.
•      I need to work out a better way to carry my hydration bag as the magnet was not strong enough to maintain the tube across the chest.
•      Still not great on cornering (on descents) and therefore I am still not flowing through the trail. 

I am still aiming to do one ride per week on the mountain bike....until the crit season starts again in October. 

Property Industry Foundation Ride 2018

Again in 2018, my work scored a few tickets for this ride. Last year, I wrote about it here.

I have not done any hilly rides or preparation for this because my body has not cooperated since my surgery in February and 2 bouts of bronchitis. I opted for the short ride which was only 55km but we were in for a 950m elevation day.

I knew I could finish the ride with plenty of time to spare to get ready before the lunch session at 1pm but I was also aware that I will be in a world of hurt as I am not a climber – my legs and lungs really do give out far too quickly these days.

With the location of the ride being at Cape Schanck it was easier to get to compared to last year’s ride at Healesville. I arrived in time to get my things ready, a quick visit to the toilets and then the short ride down to the registration area to pick up the required stickers and timing information.

We took a group photo of all the Probuild riders before the 85km group set off on their ride. There were 3 others from work (whom I knew and work with on various projects) who were doing the 55km ride with me. We started the ride together and kept as a group for about 7km or so before the climbs started and my little weak muscle legs couldn’t keep up. I had let them know earlier on that if I get dropped that they are not to wait for me, I will see them at the rest stop and/or at the lunch.

The route was along Boneo Road which was great as we were in the tailwind and there was a slight descent which meant that our speed was close to 40km/hr without much pedalling and I was with the boys. 

We turned right along Browns Road and this is where I was dropped as there was an incline. There was a left turn up Purves Road which is the back way up towards Arthur’s Seat. The climb was not hard at all, it was just a good ride. I had the fast 85km group go passed me that this point along with other 85km riders along the climb. Once we reached Arthur’s Seat, it was straight down Arthurs Seat Rd which was nice and fast. We then turned right in Red Hill onto Shoreham Road which was rolling hills until I saw the rest stop at Pier 10 winery for a rest stop. I had a few glasses of juice and the group of guys I was riding with thought we could start the ride before the 85km riders arrived but we were held back as there needed to be a lead car in front of us.

We rode off as a group when we were allowed to and the descents down were very fast as my speeds reached beyond 60km/h. I was dropped again when we started the climbs and I was back being a solo rider once again. The rolling hills were great but I started to worry as I was getting a bit over confident. I really didn’t want to crash during this event especially with cars around me.

The final challenge for the day is the KOM climb which is timed. There was no chance that I was to be winning this (QOM) so I just rode it with consistent tempo and keeping my heart rate checked. My cadence went below 60rpm but I knew that I would be able to hold that rhythm longer than if I was to push beyond that.

 The final 1km was along the driveway of the RACV club. I loaded up my bike into my car and took a shower before the lunch event. 

More crit racing updates!

Since my first ever official crit race, I came down with a bout of bronchitis. This is my 2^nd within 2018 but it wasn’t as severe as the episode in June. I only took 2 full weeks off the bike rather than 6.

I eased myself back on the saddle during the Melbourne Cup weekend with a ride with my friend along Beach Road. It was a good leisurely ride which we chatted the entire way through. I then picked up a session on the Wattbike on the Melbourne Cup holiday instead of a ride outside due to the hail/thunderstorm followed by a few laps around Albert Park Lake with the Lead Out Cycling crew.

Footscray Cycling Club hosted a novice crit race of 30min + 3 laps with the first 20min as controlled riding. I had never raced at VU before and because it was rest week for Lead Out, I decided to take up this opportunity to do something different.

The ride started at 12pm so it gave me a sleep in, an actual breakfast and I left the house at 10:30am to arrive in Hoppers Crossing at 11:30 ready for the 12pm start – such luxury!

I recognised a few people there which was good for the nerves and we then rode the course a few times to get ourselves familiar with the route and terrain. There is a small climb in the race which ended up being to my detriment during the actual race.

We left for the 20min controlled ride which was good and we had several marshals with us which allowed others to learn about bunch riding and rolling turns. When the signal was heard that the actual race has started, some were eager to go off and see if they could hold off others. Due to the location of the course and the terrain, it was not easy. This course is windy no matter how calm the general Melbourne area is, this course is just ridiculously windy!

I stayed on the front group for about 5 laps which included a sprint up the hill to test out the legs (and lungs) which proved to be a bad move considering my heart rate shot up too high (around 190bpm) and sadly didn’t go down as we went around the course again. I couldn’t hold on the main group and then pedaled slowly so that I could catch the next train coming through. I ended up riding with the 2^nd group for another 2 laps until I found it extremely difficult to breathe and decided to call it a day. I supported the remainder of the group until the end and stuck around for the awards and photo.

Pinned on number for FCC Crit

Novice Group

Chatty crits

I had pulled a muscle on my lower back during Pilates on Friday morning and I needed that remediated before Sunday’s crit at SKCC so a massage was sorted. I originally booked for a 90min massage but the session ended up being 60min. At the start of the session the massage person asked me something but I totally didn’t understand a word he said and just said “ok” assuming that the message was passed on from the receptionist to him. I was disappointed as the massage was not hard enough and it was only 60min long. I usually will give them a heads up during the start that I would like harder pressure but when I had to say it again, I personally consider that session as not one which would remediate my needs.

Karen and I - again chatting away

I rode down to SKCC at 6:30am and arrived around 7:30am to watch the E graders off. It was an extremely small group of about half a dozen riders as most would have seeded themselves in D grade by now. I picked up my number and waited around for more familiar faces to arrive. We went around the course for our warm up laps (which ended up being 3 laps before we seeded ourselves within our grades and positions. I have never placed myself beyond the back row. I know I should but I just don’t have the confidence.

@Michadventures

The first few laps of the race was difficult to settle into considering I was at the back and felt the brunt of the decelerations and surges. I ended up being dropped after about 6 laps but ended up riding with a friend whom I raced with the day before. As we were in our own little ride group, it was hairy when all the other grades overtook us. This included A grade which were fast enough to over take us about 3 times around the course. We ended up joining another group of womens C who were dropped from the main group and we rode together for the final lap. 
Not only was our race time shorted by 10min due to the late start by E grade but we were told we had 2 more laps when we rode passed but it was incorrect and our final lap ended up being a non-event as the checkered flag came out.

@Michadventures

Cornering skills - still WIP

After the crit, I hung around to watch friends race, grabbed a coffee, stayed for A/C grade with the inclusion of Remembrance day and for Jonathan Cantwell followed by lunch catch up with friends at a café before the ride back home.

I was totally toasted that afternoon. DEAD.

Trying something for the first time - Crit racing

It has been a huge gap in my blogging/reflection writing. My last entry was June after I did some track cycling in a UCI velodrome.

On Sunday 14th October, I did my first crit (criterium) race at a course which I have seen many crashes occur. I have watched the SKCC crit races for about 7 years now, have done a latte lap ride (learn to crit) there 3 years ago and finally a race Sunday.

Crits do not come natural to me - you ride in close proximity to each other, you corner in a group and fast, the intensity of the races are high and you generally do all this with people who are strangers. To give a bit of context, my heart rate was > 170bpm the entire time with 190 at the final sprint.

Due to the Melbourne Marathon, there were plenty of road closures and it was near impossible to drive there and back. I decided to ride in and with the latte laps at 6am, I had to leave the house at 5am. Latte laps is a "learn the skills" sessions by Ridewiser. They teach you the skills you need for cornering and holding the line. To be honest, I didn't learn too much from the latte laps as I had been practising those cornering skills when I joined Lead Out in Jan 2017. I did pick up a few tips about where on the particular course I should aim my eyes at when entering the apex etc etc....It was also good to ride the course and be familiar with the lumps and bumps prior to the race.

We went around the course for about 10km or so from 6:15am - 7:15am. E grade were suppose to start at 7:30 but due to the high number of people from the latte laps entering the E grade race, their race didn't start until 7:45am. All the females who did the latte laps entered so Womens C grade had pretty good numbers compared to last week (8 entries).

A few of us waited around in small groups watching the E grade race. It did appear to be much faster than anticipated as all first-timers needed to race E grade first. I had a muesli bar during this time as I was getting pretty hungry with the 4:40am alarm, 30km already in the legs over 2.5 hours.

When they called for the Womens A, B and C grades, I decided to stay at the back of the group as I am not confident about riding in the middle of the pack especially for the first ever crit.

The first few laps were good and manageable. After 3 laps or so, Womens A grade overtook us but then a few of the C grade women decided to overtake that group (not a breakaway). I could hear a few disgruntle comments from the Womens A grade as well as the C grade marshall who were riding with us. He ended up riding up to them and I think eventually calmed them down to allow for Womens A to properly pass. I was at the back of the split and ended up being the beginning of the 2nd group. I just pedalled consistently and found that I was in a group of 4 and we just did rolling turns. Another rider joined us later and we worked in a group of 5 until the end.

What I thought was 35min + 3 laps ended up being more close o 35min + 1 bell lap and we were told to sprint for the final straight. I was at the back of the group of 5 and ended up sprinting and weaving past to gain places and riding across the line in front. That was a small personal win for me and I really wanted to see where I sat as I had been working on my high power sprints for a while now.

After the race ended, I ended up riding home but really feeling how tired my legs were. It ended up being a 70km day but due to the high intensity, my legs were totally spent. I ended up transferring my membership from Caulfield-Carnegie over to Hawthorn. I found that I obtained nothing from being a member of CCCC but I have seen plenty of support from other clubs. I ended up choosing Hawthorn for a change, their proximity to my house and a few of my friends being already part of the club. A few hours after joining the club I received two emails of welcome and a welcome pack for Women@HCC which was a great support. I am aiming at a Hawthorn CC crit during the season but will need to rotate it between MelburnHurt & the crits on the Wednesday evening.

I have also bought a season pass for SKCC Sunday crits and aim to do at least 5 for the year.

Entry into the world of Road Racing

Despite being in fear and thinking that road racing is not for me, I have actually lined up to two events within the month of May.

The first being more of kermesse-style of event hosted by the Northern Combine series (Brunswick CC) on the 19th May 2018. It was an inaugural event at La Trobe Uni around their campus. Womens C grade (lowest for womens) raced for 45min around a 3km route. Due to the style of the course and the number of corners, climbs and speed humps, it ended up being more of a criterium event rather than a traditional road race.

For my usual routine, I arrived on the course too late for my liking - I was the last one who picked up my race number within Womens C and I rushed for the bathroom as I saw a few girls lining up along to head out.... The anxiety of being late and rush to pick up my race number meant that I forgot to take in any nutrition before the race start time of 10am. I essentially raced on an empty stomach and I felt hungry throughout the event. The group of girls that I saw lining up to ride the course was not the actual race but was a re-con lap which I would have liked to join but was too late.

I found a small group of SKCC women who lined up against the side of the road and I decided to walk myself over and waited with them. The WC group grew bigger closer to the start time and there were a few familiar faces. No one I am close friends with as I don't ride with SKCC nor any of the Northern Combine clubs (Blackburn, Coburg, SKCC etc). I am actually a member of Caulfield Carnegie and I chose them based on their distance from my current address and for the sake of getting a race license.

The first lap of the event was neutral but the speed was noticeably faster than what I would be comfortable with for the whole 45min. I stayed at the back of the group as the main pack were picking spaces to fill with no rolling turns which was what I was expecting for a road race. I couldn't keep up with the main group after 2 laps and ended up riding by myself with a few WC riders around.

One of the stressful factors of this event was that Mens C & D races the same time as we did so there were plenty of groups on the narrow course. Admittedly, I didn't need to slow down but it was just a reaction that I applied on the brakes when the came through and when there were sharp corners.

What I thought was the last lap as we went through withe the mens and I thought they didn't ring the bell because it would confuse them was not actually the last lap at which I placed all energy. When we came through what I thought was the finish straight ended up being the bell-lap which meant that I sprinted to be out the front and was quickly spat out the back by the small group of girls who were drafting me for about 3 laps prior. I ended up being the last of that smaller pack but I do remember passing only one person during that race so I know that I didn't come last.

The only pic of my first Northern Combine race. 

The second race was the Jim Fawcett & Mario Giramondo Handicap race at Kyneton. I ended up choosing to do the short scratch as I am quite new to road racing and they stated that this group will be marshaled and will be working on rolling turns.

I rocked up early enough to register but ended up waiting around for 1.5 hours as WC (short) left 50min after the first group. The rolling turns was not too bad on the flat but I totally lost the group when they were riding up an incline albeit very small...I just didn't have the legs to surge up the hills with the group and got spat out the back with no hope of joining....Alison who was a marshal for the day ended up riding with me. The route distance for the short race was 50km and I ended up turning around at 21km (earlier than the group) under the instruction of Alison. I rode back towards the finish line solo as Alison rolled back to the other girls heading towards me.

Out of the short scratch race, I crossed the line 4th but I turned around early so technically, I would consider that as coming DFL. I wasn't too fazed as I wanted to do this event for the sake of experience as I knew that I would not be placing or gaining points.

Solo ride back to the finish line.....DFL

Things I need to work on are:
- Riding with effort on a climb.
- Holding onto the wheel of the rider in front
- Tempo and holding on to that effort for the race.

What is next on the racing calendar? I will do a few Casey Fields crits hosted by Southern Masters to gain some experience in speed and riding in a group. The next Northern Combine is on the 30th June which is the Alf Walker (Handicap) at Balliang. I know that I don't do well on the climbs of that race but I am confident in the descents and the gravel.

#Festive500 for 2017

Apologies for the delay of this post related to the #Festive500, I avoided my laptop for the holidays. For the 2nd year in a row, I finished the 500km and I completed it over 6 days. The Festive500 is a challenge to ride 500km between Christmas Eve and New Years Eve (8 days). In 2016, I finished this over 7 days with an average of 70km per day but this year, I stepped it up to an average of 80km per day and finished in 6 days.

Day 1
The first day was Christmas Eve (24th Dec) which was a Sunday. I did a solo ride towards Frankston then up to Café Racer and then back home. This was a 85km day but as it was my first long ride since the Giro crash, I took it relatively easy and manageable.  There was a Southerly so the ride down to Frankston was a bit of a tough one. I was mostly in the small chain ring and tried to spin out >80rpm as much as I could.

Day 2
I have been riding on Christmas Day for many years. I have not celebrated Christmas for years and years. The roads was not surprisingly quiet. I rode up to Sharon & Pete's house in Port Melbourne after riding a lap of Albert Park and the group ride went down to Black Rock and back to Port Melbourne. I had a small break at their house and then I ended up riding about 30 or so more around the neighbourhood, relatively relaxed which made up the shortest ride of 80km for the challenge.

Day 3
I didn't get a chance to do many laps of Albert Park Lake on Christmas Day so this day was dedicated to doing laps of the park, incorporating sprints and some skill work. As this ride was done by myself, I could practice on my no-hands on handlebars skills as much as I could. I got up to 6 pedal strokes but I find that my position on the saddle needs to be adjusted so I can remain balanced. I worked on sprint efforts along the pit straight too. I need to find the balance between higher cadence and heavy gears. After doing 30km or so around the lake, I rode down to Mordialloc and then back home which resulted in my longest day of 95km.

Day 4
The 27th Dec was my bday and also a day where strong gusts of hot Northerly winds were present. I decided to stay away from Beach Road and rode towards Studley Park instead. The ride towards Studley Park from home is already 20km. My plan was to ride both Studley Park and Richmond Blvd for 40km and then ride home. I bumped into Nat (from LOC) and we ended up riding together which alleviated my boredom. The ride home was enjoyable as I had a great northerly tailwind. The total ride for the day 83km.

Day 5
I slept in a bit more than the previous days and my friend Dayna messaged me whilst I was getting ready for the ride. We rode together, doing the same route as Day 1 but I had 2km extra as we ended up the ride at her house so I could visit her 10month old daughter.

Day 6
I only needed to do 70km for the day to finish the challenge. Dayna and I planned on doing the same route as Day 1 and 5 so I was sure that I was going to finish the #Festive500 on this day. We ended up bumping into friends and we chatted along the way through and even stopped at Café Racer for a coffee/tea break.

I was so glad I finished the challenge and I slept in for the remainder of the days of the challenge. My glutes really needed a break and I wanted the remainder of the holidays to be dedicated to cleaning my car and my house.


It is too early to plan for #Festive500 for 2018 as I don't know if I will be able to ride during the holidays or not but I will definitely look into either increasing the distance or try and complete the challenge over 5 days (ave 100km per day).

Giro della Donna 2017 - DNF

26^th November 2017 was the day of the Cyclingtips Giro della Donna ride which was a 125km ride with over 2700m of climbing. I did the inaugural event in 2015 as part of my training for Falls Creek (3 Peaks) of 2016. In 2016, I bought a ticket and sold it to a friend due to my lack of motivation for any training post 3 and 7 Peaks and bit the bullet and entered again in 2017.


It was my own program that this was the final event for me in 2017 as I wanted the remainder of 2017 to be about fun-cycling. Since I joined Lead Out Cycling in February of this year, my skills have improved dramatically for my standards having not learnt much in skills when I was a triathlete. Now I can do track turns, rolling turns and descend with better confidence than I have ever been.


Leading up to the 26^th Nov, I had done a 145km Daylesford ride (with 1800m of climbing) which took me out of my comfort zone in terms of distance on the bike as well as hours turning my legs, a 120km Rosewhite Loop around Bright which nearly killed me due to the exhaustion as well as the dreaded Tawonga climb and I started to ride to Kew Blvd for one of the Saturday long rides which made the day long and 40km more than the main set. In 2018, I will need to do more of this as I tend to drive to the training sessions more due to the need to start work early as well as the need for me to attend different sites.


On Saturday 25^th, I took it very easy. I had my nails done in the morning and I went to Southland for a bit of a shop. I had pretty clean meals leading up to the weekend with salads for dinner on most nights due to the heat.


As I drove there early on Sunday morning, I needed a 4am alarm and left the house at 4:45 to get to Warburton by 6am. I made a smoothie for breakfast with avocado, banana and almond milk as my stomach can never take a full breakfast before 10am. The smoothie was filling and I also had a black coffee to keep me awake for the drive. I was busting to go to the bathroom at around 5:30am and couldn’t wait to head into Warburton.
I ended up parking at the usual spot behind the bakery and the set of shops as there is a set of public toilets there which I am familiar with. I saw a few familiar faces so I was content on leaving my car there instead of the designated parking area as the word got around that the carpark was already full. The 125km event started at 7am and the parking was already exhausted, I don’t know how the 60km gravel riders will be parking as their event started at 9am.


I packed my wind jacket for the descent the night before with a pair of gloves and a musette and placed them in the envelope provides. I couldn’t decide on what to wear for this ride. I knew that I would be wearing my Lumiere knicks as they were excellent for the long rides I did prior to Peaks. I ended up choosing one of my Maap jerseys which I bought on sale from Bike Torquay. It was a comfortable size (large), pockets large enough for me to stowe away hours of nutrition along with my wallet and phone and the fabric was made for summer cycling. During the cooler months, I tend to wear my Rapha core jerseys as they are comfortable. I opted out of wearing my new Rapha climbers as the weather was not looking great and I didn’t want to get my new shoes dirty and damaged.

I stuffed my clothing bag into my jersey and rode the 1.5km toward the event village which was at the camping grounds. I was there about 6:30am so I had time to drop off the clothing, eat a banana before I saw a friend from Lead Out with her husband and kids.

The ride started just after 7am but as we were placed at the end of the pacing, we didn’t leave the event village until 7:10am or so. I remember from 2015 that this section of the ride was probably what I could consider to be the flattest although there was a slight incline and rolling hills. The climb started along Reefton where it was timed and I knew that I was in for the start of where I would suffer.

Compared to 2015, I now weigh about 10kg more and although I am stronger on the bike and my legs are more muscular, I am carrying more weight especially around my guts and my chest. No matter how strong I am on the bike, this time around, I needed to carry an extra 10kg on the climbs and I knew that I would not be as fast as my cadence on the climbs have not improved as I have been working on my form rather than the pace.

It took me a while to climb the 20km or so along Reefton but I was lucky enough to not get any flats. The rain started when I was along this climb and it didn’t really stop. I knew that I would be riding much of this ride by myself so I listened to my iPod which I had gathered not having touched it since the training rides leading up to 3 Peaks (Feb 2016). I noticed that when I was riding along with my audiobooks or podcasts, I was not as motivated as I was riding along the pace of the narrator/speaker. The music definitely does help with the cadence and pace.

Once I reached the top of the Reefton climb, there was a feed station where I could fill up my empty bottle and prepared for the second climb of the day. The climb although short, it was steeper than Reefton and this lead to the reduced cadence of my pedals. I really do need to work on increasing the cadence (but how??)

There was a good descent after this climb but the rain had also made the roads wet and my vision unclear and this was where I applied the brakes which lead to my wheels skidding along and I lost control of the bike and slid along my left side of my body with the bike on top for a good 10-20m.

I remember checking that I hadn’t hit my head and luckily I couldn’t feel any headaches or pains. I checked my body for scratches or blood but I didn’t see any big open wounds apart from a few grazes on my elbows and pain on my left thigh and left boob/chest area. I inspected the bike and only found that my hoods were bent towards the middle with scratches along the levers and bartape. Luckily I didn’t see any breakages of the frame visible to my naked eye. I looked over my shoulder to check that no one else was coming around and got off the road to give myself a chance to process that I just had a crash.

I waited for a few minutes and when I was feeling less stressed, I hopped back on the bike and continued along. I noticed that my left shoulder was in a big of a pain but I was confident that it was not broken. I had a small climb to do and I knew that the rest of the ride was downhill towards Marysville. I have to admit, I was no longer confident at the descent as it rain continued and the roads were still very wet. I was worried for myself and how I would finish this event having just crashed and when I finally reached Marysville, I decided to pull out of the event and needed to tell someone that I was done for the day due to the crash. Luckily when I mentioned it to the event staff, they told me that the sag wagon was about 30min away. The rain continued to fall and I waited under a big tree with others who had also finished for the day. My shoulder’s pain grew stronger as well as my chest and it was starting to hurt when I breathe.

When the sag wagon finally came through, we loaded our bikes on the trailer and I gave my spare tube away to a guy who kept getting flats which left me with no spares. I didn’t need them for the day as I was finished on the bike.

The sag wagon drove slow along the course behind the lantern rouges (XXX). We ended up picking up about half a dozen more people along the way and we ended up with a pretty full mini bus along the gravel sections of Acheron Way. The sag wagon didn’t end up along the last 10km of the day up Donna Buang and proceeded to head towards the event village. We still passed several people on the side of the road due to mechanical failures of their bikes but it was not possible to stop due to a full bus and trailer.

When we got down to the event village and got our respective bikes, I headed into the event village to see if I can spot any familiar faces. My friend Cheryl whom I started the ride with, she didn’t make the cut off time up the Donna climb so she was also done for the day early. I didn’t want to wait around for 3 hours to pick up my jacket which was still on top of the mountain so I started to ride towards my car but I ended up getting a flat 100m from the event village with about 1.5km left until my car. As I had no spares at this point, I just walked my bike along the main road towards the car, I really had no choice. Looking back, even if I had a spare, I don’t think I really could be bothered changing the flat in the rain when the car is 1.5km away.

Before the drive back to Melbourne, I changed out of my cycling kit and inspected my wounds. I did get a few bleeding grazes along the thigh and elbow and I did rip several holes into my knicks. Big enough that these knicks will either be thrown away or saved for commuting. If I don’t wear them again within 2 months, they will go into the bin. My chest was starting to hurt more and I found that the movement of my left arm was very restricted.

I prepared for a bath when I got home and cleaned my gravel filled wound in the salted water which was more pleasant than when I tried to clean it with alcohol wipes in the sag wagon. I went for a quick nap after the bath but wasn’t able to fall asleep due to the pain that was in my chest due to the weight when I laid on my back. I took several pain killers that evening to subdue the pain.

Later that night, I wanted to lie on the rug in our lounge room and with sudden movements, I was in a world of pain. So much so I was whaling and howling on the floor with tears down my face. The pain was excruciating and with every small movement, the pain got worse. It felt like someone had penetrated my ribs with a knife. My partner ended up driving me to Sandringham hospital where I was seen by a medical staff which confirmed that I had cracked my ribs but I needed to wait around for an X-ray. We waited around for an hour or so but as I was sitting upright, there was no pressure on my chest and the pain subsided. There were too many emergencies that night in hospital so we ended up leaving as the people ahead of us were still being tended to.

I took more pain killers when I got home and sent a note to work to advise them that I had a small crash and cracked my ribs and would not be at work the next day. If the pain was worse, I would take myself to see the hospital again to assess the damage.

Since Monday, the chest pains are still there and I am still not able to lie on my back without pain. The movements and strength of my arms have improved but I am still not putting too much pressure on the left side. My grazes and healing as fast as they can. I have contacted the organisers of the event to arrange for a pick-up of my jacket and gloves next week when I return from Perth.

I have a chance to purchase next year’s ticket for $120 and there is a 90% chance that I will do this within the next few days. I am a bit hesitant as I don’t want to receive a number as high as I did this year (#35) but still am a hack.

I want to improve within the next 12 months so that I can ride with the main bunch and not get dropped as soon as a climb comes up. I want to also be confident again in my descents so I can make up some time there.

I am off the bike for a week or two as I attend one of my best friend’s wedding in Perth and see how the pain of my chest feels in December. I will be back in time for Lead Out’s recovery week and their Christmas ride on the 9^th Dec. 

Property Industry Foundation Ride 2017

My work received a few tickets for the Property Industry Foundation (PIF) Cycling day on the 17th December 2017.


There were two distances - 50km and 75km with the following elevations 700m and 1300m respectively. The ride is organised by the guys at TKM and so I knew that the ride would be not for the average person to complete in time for lunch. I decided that the 50km would be sufficient and I would make it back for lunch at 1pm.


The ride started at 9am and I arrived a bit later than the anticipated meeting time and parked up the top of the RACV club. I just had enough time to go to the toilet at the main club area and then get my bike ready. I thought I was late as I heard the announcements whilst I was driving up so I was in a slight panic getting ready.


When I rode down to the start, I had enough time to chat to work people, catch up with others I knew and enough time to register and put the relevant registration stickers on my helmet and seat post.

I knew that I was not going to keep up with the majority of the group so I started out the back and rode at my own pace. Within 7km, I was already riding by myself as I am not great on climbs. I didn't mind as it is something which I am used to. The ride along Maroondah hwy was not pleasant but as soon as we peeled off into the wineries from Hill Rd, the ride was pleasant and pretty scenic. The remainder of the ride was challenging with good rolling hills but there was a section of Boundary Road which I had to hop off the bike as it was 17-20%. Within the group I was riding with, only one person rode up the road but he had to ride from side to side of the road and out of the saddle. The road was so steep that everyone struggled to even push their bikes up.

There was a feed station at 35km at which everyone stopped for a feed. I stopped for 10min or so before they made the announcement that the 75km would go off first turning left and the 50km riders would be sent off 5min later turning right.

I rode with a friend of mine whom I knew from triathlon days and we chatted most of the way back to the start. As there were only 9 females within the 120 riders and we finished the ride early, we didn't have to wait for showers to be free and we had plenty of time to get ready for lunch.


During the lunch, there were a few items for auction. I only put a bid in only for a set of 302 Zipp wheels with a RRP of $2100 but my limit was $1500. I didn't end up winning the wheels (which went for $1700) but it was good to participate in the auction and exposure for the company I work for and also being one of the 9 females of the day.


This event raised over $40K for PIF House Program and the Chatterbox Youth Outreach Bus.


With this ride being on a Friday, I didn't end up riding with LOC but did a recovery ride to Studley Park and rode a few laps with friends and then a recovery ride back home which ended up being a 90km day with 1000m elevation. The plan was to ride Donna Buang on Sunday but due to fatigue, I ended up just sleeping in and caught up on housework and life.


I have Giro della Donna on Sunday 26th, really looking forward to this event. The weather forecast is not looking well but at least it is not below 10 degrees.

Ride Daylesford 2017 - Breaking the comfort barrier

On the 28th October 2017, I participated in the inaugural Ride Daylesford. I entered in the 146km event, using it as a training day for Giro della Donna and this weekend's Bright training camp.


A day or two prior to the event, I started to get nervous. My previous long ride was about 100km with about 1000m of climbing and prior to that, most of the 100km rides were relatively flat (Beach road with LOC). The magnitude of this event started to surface, it is 146km, 50% more distance than my previous session and 800m more in climbing...


I arrived in Dalyesford on Friday afternoon and picked up my registration (bike and helmet stickers) along with the shit cheap event jersey. A friend from work showed me how his zipper broke when he tried it on and the same thing happened to me when I tried on the jersey back at the house. I had never had the intentions of wearing the jersey - I refuse to wear something which I have not worn before. The jersey fabric and construction was terrible and the fit even worse. Such a waste of money. I would have happily chosen to put that money towards a charity than to get a jersey made. I understand the policy of the jersey - so they could recognise who was part of the event but we were also decorated with helmet and bike stickers, it is not like they would refuse to help us if we were in trouble or refuse me to access the water at the aid stations?

On the 28th morning, I left the accommodation at 7:00am thinking that it would take me forever to ride to the start (there was a 8% climb). I ended up getting there around 7:10am and had a toilet break and spoke to a few familiar faces. I seeded myself at the 20km/h area. The ride started off being manageable. I am a lot more confident at the descents compared to where I was 12 months ago and I ended up passing many after they passed me on the climbs.


There were a few false flats and rolling hills but as I was riding by myself, I just rode at my own pace and didn't follow any groups as I knew that I was not as strong as the guys. I planned to be self sufficient on the bike and carried enough food for 10 hours and carried 2 bottles of hydration. By the guide, I knew that I wouldn't need to stop at the first aid station so I skipped it in Kyneton. I saw plenty of people who stopped so I knew that they would eventually pass me along the way.


Two of my work colleagues rode passed me and said hello so I ended up riding with them for about 15km until there was a slight climb and I couldn't manage it without being fatigued. I ended up leading a group for the next 15km until the aid station where I pulled in to fill up my empty drink bottle.


The next few km were uneventful, all I was doing was turning my legs. There was a small stretch of the road where the climb was around 15% and that's where the first of the many climbs where some hopped off their bikes. I made a promise to myself that I would not hop off the bike during this ride so I pushed myself as hard as I could, even when the speed is around 5km/hr and my cadence was as low as 30rpm.


Around the 100km mark, I really started to struggle. My arms, hands and feet were swollen and hurt and my mind started to let me down. At this point, I got out my earphones and started to listen to my audiobook to help me through.


The last 20km of the ride was really hard. There were climbs where the gradients were 10%+. Mentally, I was so tired. Physically, my body changed so much from the start of the ride with swollen limbs and bloated belly. Luckily there was an aid station around Hephburn Springs where I could catch a breath before the final climb from Hephburn Spring to Daylesford.


The final climb into the event village was a relief. I knew that I would finish the event close to 3pm but I had not prepared for how uncomfortable I would be. I have to admit that I haven't done anything this intense since I did my long rides leading up to 3 peaks (Feb 2016).


Here are a few comments regarding the event from my point of view:

• I might have to see if I need to increase the calorie intake for big rides like this. For Ride Daylesford, I ate 100cal/hour.
• I need to see what I can do about the swollen limbs. From what I have read online, it comes from too much salt and I did use Hydralyte throughout the ride so I could help with the cramping. The other reason for the swollen limbs is being dehydrated too as it is your body's way of storing fluids.
• As I am buying new cycling shoes, I will need to keep it with the Boa laces so I can release loosen the shoes when my feet swell. 

For Giro della Donna, it is 125km with 2800m of climbing so I will need to do more climbing training. I know I will not be as bike fit as 2015 as I now weigh 10kg more but I am confident that my descending has improved.

Melburn Roobaix 2017

On Sunday, I did my 5th Melburn Roobaix event organised by FYXO.

This is my 5th and the past events are all blogged here:
2013 - My First Roobaix
2014 - The Wet Roobaix
2015 - The Sunny Roobaix
2016 - The Cold Roobaix


A few months ago, I put a call out on Facebook to purchase the Melburn Roobaix tickets when they were released online as I was in work meetings. Luckily a friend who was on school holidays could buy them for me.


As part of this year's entry pack, we received a FYXO Snood which I had used prior to the event, a couple of stickers and the tickets itself. I have always loved the Melburn Roobaix entry packs, you always receive something which you can use on the bike and/or souvenirs.


The 2017 edition occurred on the 25th June. The event started with registration between 9-10am. The Canadian and I parked at our usual spot at Abbotsford as it is between Hawthorn and Brunswick and allows us to park the whole day.


The Canadian rode a shop bike (TCR Advanced) and I rode my CX bike for the 4th time. As I ride my road bike 99% of the time, the CX bike, the Liv Brava certainly feels like I am riding a 20kg steel horse.


The day started out pretty cold so I started the day with my pink woollen gloves, pink gilet over my long sleeved roubaix jersey. I had 3/4 knicks on as I was sure that I would not be too warm and requiring to take off knee warmers if I had worn them with a standard set of knicks.


We arrived at the Hawthorn velodrome around 9:30am and picked up our musettes, chatted with a few friends and then we started off our day. This year, there was 12 sectors again but I noticed that the routes are shorter and didn't go to towards North Melbourne or Flemington.

We completed 3 sectors and stopped for a coffee and a snack at Mavis the Grocer as we didn't have a proper coffee in the morning as we ran out of milk but it also allowed for the crowd to spread out as it was getting really hectic on the roads as well as along the cobbled laneways.

It wasn't too sunny throughout the day but luckily it wasn't raining or windy. We rode along the bike trails at a comfortable speed and finished most of the sectors. We had a quick stop at the section where they gave away free butterbings! Butterbings are these soft brownie cookie sandwiches which are gluten free. They are mix between a macaroon, a brownie and a cookie sandwich. They are delicious!

I bought butterbings the next day from the café at my work

After 3 more sectors, we realised that we were 2 hours early for the end of the event so we decided to stop again for a late lunch at Cornerstone Pizzeria. We ordered the "cornerstone" pizza but I didn't really like it as the pizza was so soggy from the marinated peppers but luckily it was a tasty pizza and I had 2 pieces.


The last 2 sectors were just across the creek from the pizza stop and we arrived at the Brunswick velodrome around 3pm. I didn't ride up too high along the velodrome as it looked so steep! A bit too overwhelming for me. After a lap, we parked the bikes within the Bicycle Network bike parking sections and went for a walk within the velodrome to see what tents were there.


The Canadian and I took some photos within the photobooth before waiting in line to get a coffee prior to the end of the event where the prizes were announced. The grand prize was cold-hard-cash and the cobblestone trophy rather than the trip to Paris-Roubaix this year.


Some of the efforts people go with regards to costumes for the day is pretty good. Some people "make" a bike to ride. One of these notable bikes was from a guy called Jacob and he made a bike around a bed frame. I was actually close to him at a small section of the day and the way he gets on the bike, the way he rides and how he hops off is amazing!