Off in the Off Season

Now is the time to take a bit of unstructured downtime.  Time to recharge the mental and physical batteries so that they have what it takes for my 2013.  Which is going to be huge.  Lining up for a host of big races.  Battle on the Border, Cunningham, BIG TT's, and of course my priority the WEMBO 24 Hour World Champs on home soil at Stromlo.

So what do you do in the offseason?

I think it is whatever you feel like.  Ride, don't ride but whatever you do keep active.

I've been hitting the dirt with my bestie dirt skirt Mifflin.

Cupcakes & Rocks Rock.

Been getting out to a crit or two as well, just to keep the fitness there and to put some hurt on the boyz.

Twilight Series Points Race Podium.  Heat + Gales + Points = HURT.

Twilight Series Race One Podium

Getting stuck into it with TR-Frank.

Hopefully a week of cross training with a snorkel on the Great Barrier Reef will bring me back here ready to roll. 

Can't wait really :)

BCRI Northshore Criterium

Koiled headed out to Hamilton Harbour for the BCRI Northshore Crit.  I was looking forward to a straight up women's race after some of the fun and games mixed racing has been dishing up of late - and I was not disappointed.  

What a great course.  With several tight 90' corners this was a course that gave away free speed to those who could ride the corners.  Locked and loaded that.  Added difficulty points were awarded as one of the water filled barriers was leaking onto the road, creating a wet metal drainage cover in the middle of the last corner heading into the finishing straight - made a mental note NOT to ride over that.

With temperatures well into the 30's it was a sizzling 30min + 3.  I decided to keep the pace up and did a heap of work.  Big props to the Data3 girls who were keen to ride hard and try and start something up.  Excellent racing!  

It is rare we get a prime, and I while some people allow the prime to go and concentrate on the finish - I never let the opportunity go.  What if I did, and I punctured? If you can contest it do - so I did and was surprised to find myself well off the front for the prime with no challengers.   That was one in my pocket.

Coming into the last three laps, I did my best to keep the pace up and make everyone work.  Last lap I figured I would use my mountain biking skills and I sprinted into the first 90' knowing most would not follow at that speed.... Ride of the day goes to Donna from HPRW who had a pedal strike and did exceptionally well to keep it rubber side down (even if a little sideways) in the last lap corners!  Mad skills.

I made it through the second 90' corner and into the straight and consolidated my effort.  I knew the girls would need to surge to get back on and it would hurt. Perfect.  Then I employed a tactic shared with me by my track fiend TRex Stef.  And it worked a treat.  The prime and the win - in a sprint no less. Thanks BCRI - quality race, quality prize money for the ladies, top location!   See you next year.

Dyane Hannan, Rach Edwards and Kirrily Tutt

Operation Leg Ripper.

Interbikin. F' Yeah!

Interbike.  Those who know, know.

The biggest annual gathering (ok, 2nd biggest - eurobike you win) of the bike industry. The highlight of the year for many a bike company, launching new products and new year models.  Wall to wall bike celebrities and amazing amounts of bling - lots of which Australia will never see.   Koiled headed over with our usual brief to hunt out the high end products and see what we might add to our import portfolio delivering on the aim of bringing the best products to our shores.  As frame builders too, it is always important to see what is new and what components we may consider as we build up the trickest bikes going around.

First up - Outdoor demo.  Set about 30mins outside of Vegas in Bootleg Canyon Nevada - this place is home to some of the IMBA 'epic ride' trails.  The place was wall to wall demo bikes and a massive pile of nutrition companies keeping us fuelled for the day.  And rocks. Lots of rocks.




One of my favourite rides was the Spot Honey Badger 29er SS, belt drive.  Some interesting redesign of the rear stays made it one of the most compliant hard tails I have ridden. I could see it being a legendary 24hour bike for those lunartics (Hi Bec!) who are keen on SS. Unfortunately it did not pass the Duggan test with him flatting at the furthest point from HQ.  Damn!  While the 32-19 was a handful for me suffering in desert I still loved this bike.  Belt drive is weird. Quiet. Smooth.  Not completely sure I am ready to trust it yet ... but interesting nonetheless.

Next up plan was to compare the electronic shifting options of shimano and campag.   Campag had Athena EPS setups on Pinarello Dogmas.  This is a contraversial statement - in my hands Dogmas handle like dogs.  My current bike is about a million times more balanced and responsive.  Reassuring.  While I liked the lever redesign on the new EPS, reachable for small hands from the drops,  I did not like the speed of shifting.  It was direct and never missed, but it was slow.   Really slow. As in I just missed a wheel slow.  Not for me then.

kicking back in the SRAM tent while the boys set up my ride.

Another highlight was testing the new SRAM XX1 setup with the new gripshift.  A redesign of the internals, moving away from bearings to a much lighter action is a significant improvement.  I also found the 1 x 11 super comfortable.  Mounted on a Kona Satori 29er dually it was an interesting comparison to my usual 29er dually, the Santa Cruz Tallboy.  The mechanic looked frightened when I asked for a larger size and looking at my pink gear warned me 'it is a lot of bike to handle'.  I smiled.  He is right that it was heavy in the front end and ponderous at low speed but once I had it rolling on the singles it was smooth.  Still prefer my Tallboy hands down though as my kick ass race bike - maybe she needs some XX1 loving for the new season...

Shan preparing an Origin8 Crossbike..... for death.

Shan rolled this one on a crossbike. I wish I had trail pics, because a crossbike on that trail is mental.  True to form the Origin8 also failed the Duggan test, as he folded the chain ring again at the furthest point from HQ.  Walking in the Nevada desert sucks. The other notable ride was my first Tandem attempt on a Co-motion Periscope roadie. I can see why tandem touring is super fun.  Especially on a blinged out custom calfee tandem ..... hmmmm.  Calfeeee....

From the outdoor demo, it was then into three days of indoor, endless bike bling.
Cameras were banned unless you were press - so these few shots were taken with my phone on the sly!

I am in love with Adamos.  Michellie please find me a PINK one!

I have recently fallen in love with ISM Adamos.  And there was a super limited run of euro pink. Time to start begging - a Koiled must have!

Love this frame.  Not a decal in sight but I will bet TR's teeth it is a Pop's Fabrications. Can't miss them.

Cruisers were going off in a big way.  This Soul Cruiser had a couple of positions for BB placement to enable adjustment for laid back mofo's with differing leg length.  Bad Ass.  Mifflin has already ordered one.

The blingest shoes I have EVER seen.  Simmons custom carbons.  Get your feet cast and they fit like a...err.. glove?  WANT.

Designed to coincide with Interbike there was a tour across America of returned service men. This bike says it all. Respect.

Antlers are where it's at.  Apparently.

I cannot imagine why I would ever need one, but fat bikes are cool and in my opinion the surly moonraker is the coolest.  Mostly because I love the gunmetal glitter paint job - makes me think of a 70s t-shirt. 

Actually, now I think about it - if I was lost in the woods and had to make my own rollers from a fallen tree (Stef) then yeah - I totally need a FAT BIKE.

Riding those uneven, rough wooden rollers no hands...... chicks dig skills. 
And that was that.  Great way to stay inspired during an offseason!

State ITT Champs - no words.

I am going to keep this one short. 
Key points. 
1) ITTs really hurt.
2) I am not as bad as I expected to be for my size.
3) UCI rules for technical equipment suck. 

The icing on the cake is the lack of consistency in the comms that are enforcing these rules.  I feel for the largely volunteer organisation that has to deal with the UCI constantly moving goal posts (or is that seat posts?) but the level of stress and inconsistent overscrutineering of effectively amateur events is out of step and in my opinion keeping people away.  I am not sure what the answer is, but perhaps a more pragmatic approach and consistent education/interpretation might help.

warming up and getting my head back in the game

My day in a nutshell - hell. First up, some unexpected bike setup issues of the unadjustable kind.  Fixed by pulling parts and swapping between bikes and a lot of help from Bear and Trickle - HECTIC. Warmed up got it back together and focused. Had rear wheel pulled in the drop out while being held by the wheel rather than the seat post for the start.  For those of you who don't know this means your wheel moves, and in this case jams hard against the frame - equivalent to having your brakes locked on.  Not the perfect start to a ITT.  Especially not when it is followed by having to get off, reseat, remount and get moving again.  I thought my race was over.   This was topped only by having the grudge driven locals head out to pour tacks all over the course taking out many a rider - including my main competition - who after my mechanical had it all but in the bag.  If I catch a volunteer without his hand dangerously close to my ass on the seatpost in my next ITT there is going to be a problem.  Man up people!

All you haters.......

I am proud to be the State Champ for ITT in masters2, but mostly I am disappointed that my ride time did not reflect my capability. It feels like a missed opportunity to post a kick ass number.  Still, all in all a golden day and a reminder of the great support in our team.

Team mates are great - like this one.  Trickle on the countdown.

I am into my offseason now, and next up a junket with Koiled to interbike!  Stay tuned for my roving report on everything awesome.

HPRW Womens Series - Race 3

HPRW Womens Series wrapped up with Race Three at Lakeside with a Road Race.  After a third and a second, I was in the hunt with Simone Grounds and Jess Toghill for good finish.  There was a tiny chance I could tie for first place overall if we managed a Rach, Jess, Simone finish.... somewhat unlikely but a chance none the less.

Conditions were tough with a strong and gusty westerly wind, making a tough job for me even tougher!  It also meant the places where I could usually get an advantage (up the final climb) were going to be neutralised by a strong headwind kicking into descent into the finishing straight.



We lined up ready to go with a few local stars out for a roll - Jane Walker, Corissa Smith and Lauren Leaver were all out for a ride - 45 + 2 laps.  Hang on - that's a CRIT not a RR.  I was expecting longer but hey, ride what ya brung!   We rolled off and Simone signalled her intention by immediately attacking.  Knowing she was one of the few here who could probably TT the entire thing and smash us I knew I needed to be with her.  Suddenly I wasn't too sad about 45 minutes.  It was going to hurt.  I rolled to the front of the bunch and then kicked hard to bridge, trying my best not to take anyone with her.  Now the ladies who went 1, 2 in the last race were off the front.  We pushed hard and it wasn't long until Jess Toghill also bridged and joined us.  The break now had the top three women in the series away and then bunch was napping.  

The break had formed.  Buckle up ladies this is going to HURT.

 I would like to say I was sitting in the break strategising how to win at the end, but the reality was I was 110% on the rivet trying to hold on and not get dropped.  We had a prime, and I decide to watch and see how the ladies wanted to sprint to perhaps get some ideas for the end.  Ok apparently the go is we slow right down, and then only take the sprint out from the 150m.  No wonder I always get smashed!  We continued to work and stay away and somewhere in there we started to lap the other grades, knowing we must be putting a good gap on the rest of our A grade field.

Longest 45 mins of my life.

At this point the field must have realised we were going to stay away and decided to do something about it.  Jane and Lauren worked hard to try and bring us in, but the damage was done.

Jane and Lauren make chase.

Coming into the bell lap I knew my only chance was to completely red line the last climb to force a gap and at least make the girls carry a much higher pace into the sprint. They were likely to get me, but I wanted to make them do it my way.  Both girls were descending faster than me because of a weight advantage and the headwind - but hey, I have to try something!!! I was on the back as we approached the climb, and I was surprised when the girls backed off the pace.  I dumped gears and swung around, did the best I could to bury myself.  I got a small gap but both girls responded hard.  I lead into the straight and tried to keep the pace up.   I could see from the shadows they were closing, and in the end Jess used her kick to get over Simone and I.

The final sprint - Jess getting away over Simone and then me.

A great series for riders of all abilities - HPRW is doing great things for women's cycling in QLD.  Thanks Karen!

Cunningham Classic - it's a Killer!

Saturday saw us line up for the Cunningham Classic - the jewel of the SEQ road racing calendar.  This race was running it's 30th anniversary edition and I can see why so many people love it.

The race runs from Gatton, winding 96km up the range and onto the tablelands before finishing in Warwick.  It is notorious for two reasons.  One is the never-ending climb - first 40km are uphill.  Second is the wind you get when you make it up onto the tablelands.  Always cross or headwind - never a tailwind!

With the weather forecast: -1 (negative one) to 0 (zero) degrees celsius at 6am it made for a seriously cold start but I knew given the climbing I would not be cold for long.  Jersey, knicks and arm warmers would do me.  The rest of Koiled were off in the Masters B1 grade as Shan, Nick, Bear, Tony and Trickle headed off to take their chances.  TR and Jimmy were our awesome Koiled Krew, and had headed up the road to the first feed station.

I waited another 20 minutes before Elite C/ Womens B was called up.  We had around 8 girls racing, most of whom I knew including Uni girls Anne and Britt.  Soon enough we were off.  There wasn't much by way of pace making as the lead car pulled the neutral flag in and set us free, but I knew when we hit the hills it would be on.  I settled in and concentrated on getting my legs rolling.


As we made our way out to the beginning of the climbs no-one wanted to work.  There was one awesome moment when Catriona, Buffy, Jane and myself were towing the bunch and Matt said to me 'only the girls want to work' shaking his head.  Catriona was from out of town, and I had not seen her race before but I was realising she and I were going to be racing.  I liked the way she was riding - consistently trying to go off the front and really giving it some.  I decided I would get into it with her.  I can't even call it mountain biker guilt - it was more feeling like I was missing the fun.


As we hit the climb, the boys went mental.

 I couldn't believe how hard some of the attacks were and I knew the one rule about this race was to 'STAY WITH THE BUNCH'.  Well, the bunch shattered - and all that was left now was about 12 guys.  I was riding well past where I really could, and I started to evaluate my options and my life insurance.
 
Both Catriona and came off the back, by about 100m and behind us was daylight....

I wanted to win the QOM, and had said to my team it was my priority for the event.  I am an idiot - I actually thought it would be a matter of riding up the hill solidly and there it is... but how wrong can you be.  After the ferocious attacks I was left wondering if I could make it up the hill at all!  If I wanted this thing, I was going to have to hurt for it.  Badly. There were no witnesses, and no cameras but this is how it went.  I knew the QOM point was around 41.8km so I watched my computer, covered Catriona and tried to get my body back under control.  I listened to her breathing and knew I could smash a hill better.  I stared at the road trying to see the QOM point so I could time my sprint.  I caught a 200metre sign and that was it - in the dog and out of the saddle.  My legs were screaming but I gapped her and held on.

 

 From there we could see the lead group up the road and we did everything we could to chase back on.  In the end it was Catriona and I for the entire lonely, windblown way.   We had one passenger briefly through the feedzone, but he didn't hang around long.

Steve and Jimmy waited in the feedzone, but I was good with what I had.  They yelled helpful commentary like 'get out of the wind'.  Not quite sure how you do that with a bunch of two!!!!
We both rode honestly helping and encouraging each other for the next 50km.  We found one guy who was cramping and ended up sitting on the back while we swapped the front (try some eLoad!)... but otherwise it was a lonely, lonely road.  Coming into the finish we ended up shoulder to shoulder in a straight out sprint, let the fastest legs win.  Again the koiled cheer squad was on hand with cowbells and encouragement like ' RIDE FASTER'....   should have listened! :P

Congrats to Catriona - well deserved, and super happy 2nd for me and a QOM.  A good day at the office.

Next up HPRW Womens Series Race Three!