Peter Stevens Road Race

Yesterday I raced in the Peter Stevens Memorial Road Race at Gumeracha, SA. This was a graded mass start event ie you are just racing the people in your grade. Before hand, I was not sure whether or not I would be D or C  grade, as at the Alphutte Classic, I was in the group of riders who are on the fence between the two and I suffered keeping up. So I was kind of hoping to be in D grade as I was not feeling that keen for a 72 km smash fest.

When I arrived I discovered C grade had such a big field it had been split into upper and lower-C1 and C2, and I’d been placed in C1. This shocked me and I realized that I was going to have to believe that I could keep up, if I were to have any hope. I reasoned with myself that the NRS women I have been racing would be B/C grade and I had proven I am able to keep up with them, so I could give keeping up with these guys a fair shot. Still, I was prepared to be in the hurt box from the start.

Soon into the race I discovered I felt quite good and had a lot of punch for the climbs and any attacks. I also felt far more confident than I’ve ever felt on a bike before, persisting to stick to wheels that I wanted and not let people steal them from me. My positioning the whole race was worlds better than I’ve managed before (much easier with only 22 people in your field rather than 67 at Battle on the Border though). My race consisted of 4 laps and so I got to practice my positioning into the final corner a few times before the final uphill sprint to the finish, which was handy!

The race was mostly calm and not too difficult, most attacks were solo and did not last, and I was able to pick up the pace when I needed to and quickly worked out which wheels were the safest options to a) not crash and b) not miss any attacks which might stay away. On the 3^rd lap up to the finish line area, a break of two went and I was left in no man’s land in 3^rd. A man caught me by the top and tried to work with me to catch the other two but I had lost my legs and wanted them back in a few hundred metres for the next climb. So I recovered and waited for the bunch, in the hope that we would reel the 3 guys out the front back in. It took us most of that lap, and the pace was fairly high but I was glad to start the final lap knowing I could get a decent position because there wasn’t anyone up the road. I managed to position myself really well coming into the last few kms but was swamped at the final corner and a few guys tried to take it too fast and I had two guys out to my right in the gravel and another two to my left with the wobbles, and so I hesitated momentarily trying to find a gap so I could sprint, and lost contact with the top three guys. I worked my way through the rest of my bunch and had a sprint finish with another guy which I took out (rare moment) for 4^th place, $80 and memory of what the power of belief can do!

Doing this race was extremely good for me. I proved to myself that I have the confidence to position myself well in a smaller bunch and that I can keep up with people I didn’t think I could. I love to see improvements, and this was a noticeable one! After I finished racing, I got to watch Roey smash it up in A grade to finish 2^nd, and so we came home with $180 between us and I think we were both pretty happy.

The past week I have finally been able to train properly again because I don’t feel under the weather, and life has been swell. However I have been reminded that I am here for uni, and not riding and need to remember to keep a balance between riding, uni, college life, studying for uni and spending time with friends and Roey. With uni exams coming up, and a lot of SA cycling racing, things are going to get super busy for me so I’ve got to make sure I keep switched on and manage things as best I can.

There are heaps of people I need to thank in SA for helping me to develop into a cyclist and I hate just mentioning some names, knowing I’m missing others that I appreciate too, so to anyone who has been friendly to me, thank you! Obviously I need to thank Liz and Specialized for all their support and great equipment-I could never have imagined myself on such a fantastic team with top gear, particularly the bike. I’d still be stuck on my Giant which breaks down every few weeks.. but also Chris Taylor, Lucky and Roey for their attempts to make me more confident at cornering, descending and sprinting. It may not look to them as if I am improving at these areas but I know I am and so appreciate their help heaps! Plus we have heaps of fun, which is the main thing to me! I also really need to thank Carla ‘CJ’ Franson. This girl has become such a close friend and is so much fun to be with but is also really supportive and we can quite literally talk about anything. She also inspires me out on the bike because she does not give up and just works so incredibly hard. I often think about this when I’m hurting or off the back because I know Carla would do everything she could to get back on, and so I should too. Thank you to Roey, for being such a top guy J

I also could never forget the people back home-my parents, my step dad, my brothers, my sister-in-laws, my close friends, training friends, Natalea and Tom Doering. These people continue to be amazing and I miss them heaps! I can’t wait to see them again in July. Before then though, I have uni exams, lots of racing and the NRS Canberra Tour and I am keen to do well in all of these. Once I tick them all off, it’s home time for either two or four weeks. Woo!

Challenges

You know a lot has changed in two weeks when you see that the 3rd stage of a tour is 'only 85 km' and feel relieved..

You know a lot has changed when you are on the start line of a criterium at a national road series event when you can see the man who tried to convince you to enter a local E grade criterium series a year ago but you were too scared to do that..and although you only last 7 minutes of the race before being pulled off the course, you actually enjoy it and wish that it were training so you could keep turning the corners.. (?!)

..and you know nothing has changed when you get two punctures in under 24 hours...or/and when you see grease covering your hands, face and even your knicks..

Just over two weeks ago, I did my first open road race which happened to be the 2^nd stage of a 3 stage tour, the Mersey Valley Tour. Over the last 3 weekends I have raced two TTs, four road races, a local handicap race and attempted a criterium. That amounts to a nice 433 km of racing. It would be fair to say that my body has no idea what has hit it and I am feeling extremely flat. Between all these races, I have been unable to do any proper sessions other than soft pedalling because I just constantly feel tired and have no punch. Not only has this been physically challenging, but it has been difficult for me to comprehend.  I am not used to training so little and having complete days of rest but still feeling terrible. I am also quite over just soft pedalling. As a triathlete I used to train 11 times a week, so doing 7 rides a week feels silly and then to still need complete days of rest has been hard for me to understand. But slowly I am learning to just listen to my body and not worry about training so much. After all, my training leading up to Mersey Valley after moving from Tasmania was all over the shop but I still got myself into pretty good form (for me).

When I chose to become a member of the Specialized Womens SA team, I realized I was going to have to face a lot of my fears. I realized that I was going to be putting myself out of my comfort zone time and time again and that I would make a lot of mistakes and probably commit social cyclist suicide at times (I am quite a hubbard). I think it’s hard for people around me to remember that I have been in this sport racing for two weeks and that has proved a little difficult at times too.

Facing my fears

For some strange reason, the more that I rode my bike back home in Launceston, the more scared and unconfident I became in my bike handling abilities. I have an incredibly deep fear of crashing, causing a crash, watching others crash and of cornering at any sort of speed. For all those years I spent as a triathlete, I never bothered to truly face these fears because I figured for non-drafting triathlons I did not have to worry about cornering etc. But I still hated it. I knew it was there and it played heavily on my mind every bunch ride because I was constantly trying to prepare myself for every upcoming corner so that I could let everyone around me know to slow down and sometimes I’d just pull out of the bunch and turn from the back and catch back up. Despite the fact the riders were always supportive of me and knew I was terrible/unconfident of cornering, it concerned me greatly that I could feel fine for most of the corner then suddenly panic and touch the brakes or not turn the last bit of the corner and aim for the bushes…

When I finally found bunches in Adelaide, I would have no idea where the corners were and so I had to believe in myself a lot more or I would probably crash or cause one. Awfully slowly I have become more confident in my abilities and am trying to eliminate this deep fear of mine or at least learn to deal with it appropriately. It has provided me with a lot of challenges in racing though and I honestly believe that in both Stage 3 of the Mersey Valley Tour and Stage 2 of Battle on the Border, I physically had the ability to finish with the main bunch. My extreme lack of confidence, knowledge and skills is leaving me on the back of the bunch and so every time we turn a corner, go up a hill, go down a hill, if there’s a crash or mechanical etc, I have to chase back up and I am wasting so much energy. I know what people are saying is true, you’ve got to position yourself at the front. I am listening, but I just can’t work out how on earth to get there, which is super frustrating because it seems like I’m not listening to people like my team manager, which is not true. Until I gain more confidence to get extremely close to other riders and squeeze through gaps etc and get closer to the front (or at least the middle) I am going to keep wasting a lot of my ability and this is frustrating.

My team- mates talk about planning ahead but all I think about is keeping up. I have no idea what’s about to happen or any of that tactical side, I just ride my bike as fast as I need to in order to keep up. In stage 3 at Battle on the Border, I was in the final bunch of 30 and for those final few kms I quite literally picked my lines based on which one looked less likely to have a crash. I was so stoked to be there the thought of trying to get a good placing evaded me until the final 3 kms, where I finally realized that I could actually get a decent place and positioned myself well for top 15 until I was surprised to encounter three corners leading into the finish and lost quite a few spots.

For the criterium, I knew it was so important for me to be in the top twenty or so from the start line if I had any chance of finishing. I got to the line 20 minutes early and was in the top ten but when we pushed off for our neutral half lap to the start/finish line, I had trouble clipping my foot in and ended up at the back for the real start. I knew inside I had already doomed myself to only lasting in the race for a few minutes but I was hoping I might be able to move up but this wasn’t to be. I was pulled out after 7 minutes with four other girls and by the end only about half the field remained. Again, I was really frustrated because I felt so strong and finally felt like I had some punch. I was motivated from keeping up the day before and was ready to go, even if I was petrified of the fact it was a criterium (ie lots of cornering!). The positive that I got out of those 7 minutes though, was that I enjoyed it and this is a fantastic start to slowly getting over my fears. Roey had told me to imagine I was him cornering and it really did help, I might have to try that one more often.

The 3 nights I spent on the Gold Coast with my team -mates and soigneur Mic, were just amazing. I suffered- to keep up, chase, and make it to the finish; I avoided crashes, I gained confidence, I learnt heaps more, and I was very slightly better with my nutrition. Far above all of this though, is my love for my team. Liz, Carla, Stacey, Kimbers and Mic are just so much fun and so supportive. The way they race and conduct themselves is inspiring and the fun we have off the bike is unbelievable. I will miss the next tour due to uni exams and I am going to miss being with them. The Canberra womens tour in July will be my next NRS race. In between now and then I will have a few handicap and graded races in Adelaide, as well as two tours which I am very excited for. It’s not all easy, but it has been so worth it J