Lessons learned...

Five weeks is not enough time to get in world cup form (who would have guessed?).
Euros are really fast uphill (i kinda knew this one already).
National champs are 6 months away and I have some work to do.
Ultimately, mission achieved. Raced 2 world cups, got 6 UCI points (estimated cost $750 per point!) and got some valuable experience. It's also made me determined to get some of our young Aussie girls over here racing. I spoke to Gunn Rita today and she has such great memories of a year spent living in Sydney as a 19 year old, she is looking forward to coming back soon. I said Australia would love to have her so let's see if we can get this happening.
A big thank-you for all the supportive messages from home. I have a couple more nights sleeping on Jared Grave's couch then home baby! Can't wait to see my girl and catch up with great friends. Ciao.

Sent from my HTC

Lessons learned...

Five weeks is not enough time to get in world cup form (who would have guessed?).
Euros are really fast uphill (i kinda knew this one already).
National champs are 6 months away and I have some work to do.
Ultimately, mission achieved. Raced 2 world cups, got 6 UCI points (estimated cost $750 per point!) and got some valuable experience. It's also made me determined to get some of our young Aussie girls over here racing. I spoke to Gunn Rita today and she has such great memories of a year spent living in Sydney as a 19 year old, she is looking forward to coming back soon. I said Australia would love to have her so let's see if we can get this happening.
A big thank-you for all the supportive messages from home. I have a couple more nights sleeping on Jared Grave's couch then home baby! Can't wait to see my girl and catch up with great friends. Ciao.

Sent from my HTC

One down...Nove mesto na Morave

Implementation of the UCI's new race rules has definitely changed the game. Shorter laps makes a fast start even more important to avoid getting pulled out by commissaires before the final lap. The steeper course favours the pure climbers and technical ability counts for nothing if you're stuck behind a muppet on the singletrack descent.
Only racing the last 2 world cups makes a good start difficult. Less UCI points means you start at the back and a year of racing enduros has done nothing for my speed over a 1km start loop. I managed to pick up 9 places early on and just when my endurance was kicking in it was over. The marshal steps in at the end of the 3rd lap, directs me off the course and my race is done.
Positives: I rode all the lines I'd planned to, cleared the obstacles and had a safe race.
Negatives: I need to get some raw speed back and that is not going to happen in a week.
All that aside I am pretty happy as I've only been on the PCS program for 8 weeks and I'm racing world cup - sweet! Wait until I've got 6 months worth in the legs!

Sent from my HTC

Waiting

I don't mean to sound ungrateful, but this cycling game can be pretty boring at times. Someone asked me what I do when I'm not racing - do I just go out partying? That made me laugh.The first half of this week has been interesting but once race village opens its all business. You want to spend as much time as possible getting familiar with the track, but not too much time or you'll get tired.
If you're not on the track or getting your gear fixed, you're putting your feet up in your small room, with a small tv and its sole channel in a language you don't understand. I brought 3 books and I'm already through 2 of them. Free WiFi is awesome but there's only so much Facebook you can do on the HTC before your eyes hurt.
So you lay in bed and read, or listen to your ipod and you try not to eat. Or think about eating. You've seen the climbs out there and you need to be a lean racing machine so stop looking at that block of dark chocolate. God. So bored.
I spoke with Ralph Naf or the Multivan team today. They're staying in the hotel right beside the track. I wonder if he has this problem. Probably not. With an international team at your disposal you definitely have at least one channel of your chosen language and a lap top for movies. I wish I had a laptop. Good looking man, Ralph Naf. Great skin. So bored.

Sent from my HTC

Rain, rain, bugger off!

It's colder here than in Brissy and a damn sight wetter. Euro summers are so changeable. Give me consistently hot and wet in Qld any day.
I'm over the jet lag, now just the virus to go. Fitting in some touristy stuff I've seen the Cistercian monastery and the 5-point-star shaped Church of St John. The latter is conveniently placed on Zelena Bora (Green Mountain) making it perfect for my hill sprints this morning - thanks Lonely Planet guide! My Czech is getting better and I can now ask for coffee, wine, the menu, the bill and can almost pronounce the name of the town I'm staying in, Skrdlovice.

Sent from my HTC

The story so far...

Performance is a combination of preparation, persistence and a bit of good luck. The latter seemed to have deserted me as I woke with a headcold the day I was to fly to Germany. It found me again when I got the whole middle row of seats to myself on the Brisbane to Singapore leg of the flight. Sleeping horizontally was bliss especially as the flight departed at 2.30am. I imagine this is what business class is like, but apparently the wine is better there.
I had the usual pre-trip meltdown, wracked with motherly guilt and anxiety. Some amazingly well-timed messages of support reminded me that I'm off to 'do my thing' so I had every reason to be confident & relaxed, though easier said than done.
Since starting up with Donna Dall at PCS coaching I've felt stronger and fitter than ever, although with only local recent racing its hard to gauge if that perception is translating into reality. Only one way to find out - world cup on Sunday!

Back on the rollercoaster

Ever since I started mountain-biking people asked me how far I wanted to take it, to which I replied “as far as I can”. This means as far as my physical ability will take me, but also with regard to my family, professional and financial commitments will allow. I’ve never been in a position to just eat, sleep and breathe cycling because I’m a parent and have responsibilities, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Being a ‘pro’ and completely consumed by your sport also struck me as pretty one-dimensional too and I’m not sure I would function well like that.

We all love our chosen sport and that sometimes blinds us to the fact that not everyone else finds it that enthralling. While 60,000 people will fill a stadium to watch 26 men with no necks chase a ball around for 80 minutes, mountain-biking has a more modest following. I think that more people are likely to PARTICIPATE in our sport though than simply sit on their butts and watch. Regardless of this sponsorship is still very hard to come by. I’ve been really lucky and had assistance since day one with bikes, equipment and servicing, which are the big expenses. Once you start competing nationally add in flights, accommodation and loss of income, the dollars rack up pretty fast. Before Merida Flight Centre came on board, I was about to quit competitive riding on the recommendation of my bank manager!

If you have aspirations to compete internationally, that is just a world of pain. I came to the conclusion long ago that the way through the financial hardship was never going to come from the AIS or companies with a commercial interest (women’s mountain-biking, you must be kidding), but from someone who just loved cycling or sport and wanted to see others do well. My entry into cycling was facilitated by my old running group PCRG who all chipped in and bought me a MTB to rehab my running injuries when my last bike was stolen. This same group of people then all dug deep again to fund my first trip to the 2008 MTB Marathon World Champs in Italy, even though I’d abandoned their sport a couple of years before. The Riders Club paid my airfare to my first National XCO series round in Adelaide in 2007 which kicked off the next 4 years of competing all over the country. This is small club of great people who first welcomed me into mountain-biking, back in the days when club President John Pinnell would outride me with one-arm (NB: He still gives me a run for my money).

This year has been mixed for me in mountain-biking results. My form at Nationals was not what I’d planned and then I headed to South Africa for the Cape Epic where Naomi and I had some great results despite me being seriously underprepared. The event was a great test of mental toughness though and a couple of months later I was fit and strong, taking out the 24 hour. I don’t have a burning desire to be a 24 hour racer, it was more a case of being fit, needing to find an event (with prize money) and wanting to make a mends for my DNF at my first 24 solo. It was also a chance to hang out with some ‘grass roots’ mountain bikers. I’ve never been that comfortable around ‘elite’ riders and to be honest I wouldn’t know Julian Absalon if I tripped over him. It took me an hour to work out I was talking to Gunn Rita Dahle and she’s one of my heroes!

Entry into the Australian team this year was very doubtful as recent World Cup experience is a prerequisite for selection. Enter, my client and friend (he would not want to be named), who refused to give up and has put up a substantial amount of funding to help with travel costs and is exploring other avenues to get help with expenses. We’re not all the way there yet but there comes a time when you have to say “fuck it, let’s do it” (Sorry, Richard Branson, I think I stole that). Plane tickets are booked and I’m getting accommodation sorted on short notice so hopefully I don’t end up sleeping the in the hire car. Selection for World Champs has passed but there is a small event in London next year that I will still be in the running for.

Sometimes it’s easy to get disheartened and give up on goals, especially when the people around you, although you love them to death, don’t really understand why you flog yourself for no financial reward. It only takes one person to believe that the goal is worthwhile and that you can achieve it, to get you back on track. So a huge thanks to my mate and I can’t wait to head off on another adventure.

(Note: The final 2 rounds of the world cup are in Nove Mestro Na Morave, CZ on 13 August and Val Di Sole, IT on 20 August)