As I exited the Atlanta, Georgia airport I was assaulted by the smell of fried food and the sting of humidity. Had I just stepped into an oven? Where was I? It quickly became clear that I had entered into another universe where fast food restaurants were not only on every corner but every five feet and Confederate flags still fluttered in the breeze many MANY years after the Civil War had ended. Welcome to Georgia y’all! The jet lag, nervousness, and heat hit me like a punch to the face. The main event had finally arrived: US Nationals.

I was very fortunate to have my lovely mum accompany me to Georgia. Without her, I probably would have succumbed to severe boredom, morbid obesity, and/or dehydration. After a night in Atlanta, we were off to Augusta which is a city well known for hosting the PGA Tour Masters and being Hulk Hogan’s birthplace. Augusta is a perplexing city where a block of old southern mansions is situation next to a ghetto. A city where hip restaurants are sprinkled throughout an abandoned downtown. A place where you cannot purchase fresh fruit nor vegetables but is home to one of the most famous and exclusive golf courses in the word. It is also the home of Fort Gordon, an army base where the Nationals Road Race was held.

Upon arrival in Augusta, my mum and I went downtown for lunch and then I drove to Fort Gordon to ride the course. Since it was early evening by the time I arrived, the weather was nice and I had fun exploring the huge army base. Seeing soldiers running around with machine guns was a bit scary but luckily none of them came after me. That night, my mum and I went downtown again to eat tasty Mexican food, mix with the locals, and watch the women’s criterium. The next morning, I went on a two hour ride around the course and felt sick from the heat and humidity. It is really draining riding in those conditions and I couldn’t wait to get back to the hotel and take an ice bath. That afternoon, my mum and I drove to the cute little town of Aiken, South Carolina. We had a late lunch at an organic cafe (the cafe was founded by a guy from Santa Cruz, CA) and sat outside in the shade enjoying our free range hamburgers and fresh picked blueberries. After exploring (we may have done some shopping as well…) Aiken, it was back to the hotel for an early night.

The next morning, my alarm went off at 4:30am (1:30am California time). I ate approximately one loaf of bread, a box of blueberries, a bit of chicken, and drank a coffee and a root beer before rolling out of bed. Strange meal. I woke up feeling excited and nervous as I had no idea what to expect. When we got to the course, I was attacked by red fire ants while trying to get my gear out of the trunk. The attack was quite serious and I jumped around the parking lot most likely causing all the other riders to think they were about to race against a psychopath. By the time I had killed the last ant and was covered in bites, it was ten minutes until start time. Luckily, the attack of the killer ants allowed me to forget about my nerves, As I rode to the start line, my mum headed to the feed zone with a cooler full of bottles.

There were eighty of America’s top riders in the field, including an olympian and many past national champions. The top American teams were all present and a few riders who race professionally in Europe flew in from overseas for this one event. Needless to say, the race was hard. My goals for the day were to stay hydrated, keep a high cadence, stay in a good position, and try and remain in the front group. I achieved all of my goals but the crazy thing is, I don’t remember much from the race. What I can tell you is that it was fast (average speed = 37.3kph) and relentless  (lots of short and sharp climbs). I was so delirious from the heat that all I was thinking about was drinking enough electrolytes. I drank eight bottles in the 3 hours and 10 minutes that the race lasted and then I drank 1L of Pedialyte at the finish. To be honest, I didn’t feel great the first three laps. I felt sick to my stomach due to jet lag and the heat. With two laps to go, I finally woke up. The last lap of the race was incredibly fast, crazy, and fun. To make a long story short, I ended up finishing in 25th place, 9 seconds behind the leader. I was very happy with the result and proved to myself that I can race at that level. I felt a lot more comfortable in the bunch and confident in my own abilities. A much different experience than the Tour of New Zealand!

In conclusion, the trip to Augusta was quite an adventure and my mum and I had a lot of fun! I’m not sure when I’ll next be in the south but I will miss the cornbread, warm nights, and southern hospitality. Other than that, I’m pretty happy to be back in California! Later y’all!

Two days later and my legs are still extremely sore from the weekend! The Mt. Hood Cycling Classic was a challenging stage race the took place in and around Hood River, Oregon. It was one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever visited although the weather was less than desirable. I arrived in a torrential downpour and driving from the Portland airport to Hood River was almost as scary as time trialing in 45mph crosswinds. I was lucky to be able to stay with a gracious host in Hood River whose house was stocked with good coffee, organic produce, and delicious chocolate. His home also overlooked the breathtaking gorge and was close to all of the stages. When I arrived in Hood River, I was really nervous about the tour and not feeling confident. I don’t like traveling without a team and racing on my own. Factor in the rain and wind and I was wondering why I flew to Oregon! However, by Sunday I was sad to leave.

Stage 1 was a 90km road race with a decent amount of climbing through the Columbia Hills. The course wasn’t too technical but the wind and rain definitely made it difficult. My legs were feeling pretty good but I was nervous at the start. I’ve become accustomed to riding in perfect California weather and these new conditions plagued me with anxiety. Aliston Tetrick and Rhae Shaw from Exergy Twenty12 executed a genius plan and ended up in a three person break with one other rider. I was in a bad position when Tetrick went and just couldn’t hack the pace when Shaw went a couple of minutes later. I tried staying on her wheel up a short and sharp climb but the lactic acid monster attacked my legs. I did end up in a four person break chasing the leaders but we were eventually caught. I ended up finishing with the peloton and the three leaders gained a good chunk of time on the rest of us. I was pretty angry that I missed the break but the legs just hadn’t woken up yet!

Stage 2 was a 30km time trial through the scenic gorge. It is considered one of the most beautiful time trial courses in America. I woke up that morning to gale force winds and I couldn’t decide whether or not I should use my Zipp 404′s and risk getting blown off the road. Well, I risked it and I almost got blown into the gorge four times. Despite being twenty seconds late to my TT start time due to a mechanical issue (yes, I’m an idiot), I finished 9th in the TT and had a lot of fun even though it was the hardest time trial I’ve ever done. It was straight into an insane headwind and coming into the crosswinds while cornering was extremely scary. My wheels started whistling and I was pedaling sideways into the wind. The course also had riders racing through a small dark tunnel at 60kph. Despite all this, I can honestly say I enjoyed it.

After some quality rest and recovery, the downtown Hood River criterium started at 6:45pm that same day. By that point, my legs were feeling strong and I was having fun. My nerves weren’t too bad and the wind had died down a bit. The atmosphere for the criterium was amazing. People lined the streets, music blasted, and Full Sail beer was flowing! It was a technical 1km course with some climbing and a tricky corner known as “carnage corner”. There were three crashes during the race and I was lucky enough to stay upright. I attacked, sat on the front, and then managed to screw up the last lap to come in 9th! I am finally starting to like racing criteriums and that was probably one of the most challenging and fun ones I’ve participated in. With the time trial and crit that day, I ended up spending a lot of time at threshold. By the time I got home, I was ready to eat some chocolate chips and pass out.

Entering the final day, I was sitting in 7th on GC and I knew I’d have to make up time in the final stage to move up. There was no chance I was going to podium unless I switched out my bike for a motorcycle but I was hoping to move up two or three spots. To put it simply, stage 4 was insane. The course was 115kms long with 2,500m of climbing. That, my friends, is a lot of climbing! It was a tough and technical mountain stage on secondary roads that were plowed a few days beforehand due to excessive snow. The descents were fast and highly technical and the stage profile looked very scary! However, it ended up being my favorite stage. The sun was finally shining and my legs felt fresh. The scenery was absolutely breathtaking and I really enjoyed the climbs. The race started out slow and then it got really hard once we hit the first climb. The peloton broke up and I was in a breakaway with the Exergy girls and two other riders. Kelli Emmett managed to break away on her own and I had to decide whether or not to chase her down with Rhae Shaw. Rhae was going hard up the climb and even though I felt good, I didn’t want to risk going with her and blowing up. I knew I wouldn’t be able to get a top 3 on GC so I played it safe. It was a race of attrition and for the final 60kms, I was with a group of five riders which included Alison Tetrick who was 2nd on GC. I was on the front for the entire final climb, gradually increasing the pace and slowly dropping riders. Tetrick was on my wheel and I knew she would attack with 1km to go and that she’d probably beat me. However, I decided to stay on the front and push the pace in order to drop those other riders who were slightly ahead of me on GC. With 1km to go, Tetrick did indeed attack! The last kilometer was up a steep dirt and gravel hill. When Tetrick went, I followed her with one other rider. We dropped the other rider and then Tetrick dropped me! She did the exact same thing to me at the Wente Valley Road Race… The girl has got lots of power. I ended up finishing 4th in the stage and moved into 5th overall, 18 seconds out of 4th.

After the final stage, it was a rush to the airport followed by a meal of sausages and beer. Not a great choice but it seemed like a good idea at the time. I learned a lot during the Mt. Hood Cycling Classic and it was great to race against such a talented field of riders. I felt like I got stronger and more confident throughout the tour and hopefully I can carry this momentum into Nationals.

After an exciting weekend of racing, I am now finally settled into my new apartment in Menlo Park, California. I don’t think I could be in a better location. For a girl who loves to climb hills, it’s hard to beat this spot! Not only am I close to endless miles of scenic climbs but I’m also within walking distance of five frozen yogurt shops and three decent coffee shops (hard to find in America)! There are tons of cyclists in the area and drivers are more likely to give you a friendly wave as opposed to flipping you the bird. Today I had a tough and fun four hours of hill repeats and now I’m struggling to move. It was my first hard workout since Monday. The last two days consisted of recovery rides and trips to IKEA (not very relaxing).

I am happy to report that I am now the Northern California/Nevada District Champ! Sunday was the annual Mt. Hamilton Road Race from San Jose to Livermore. The course was tough: 100kms and 2,000m of climbing on beautiful yet unforgiving roads. The Mt. Hamilton climb was extremely long, the descent was very tricky, and the pace was hot! Luckily, my awesome teammates were there to support me and set me up for the sprint finish. Read the full race report here:

http://norcalcyclingnews.com/2012/05/28/mt-hamilton-womens-p123-report/

Following Sunday’s smash fest was a fast paced criterium in Morgan Hill on Monday afternoon. It was great having my family there to support me! I woke up feeling like I’d been trampled by a wildebeest but after a morning spin on the trainer, I was ready to rock come four o’clock. The race was a lot of fun and the Stevens p/b Pactimo team was happy to have one of our riders on the podium for the second day in a row. Chasing down a break on the final lap really took it out of me and the Chipotle burrito post race was heavenly.

In other news, I am back on the gluten train… Toot toot (train noise, not the other noise). My wise coach told me to stop eating Mexican three times a day and to start eating more Italian food. He asked me how many Mexican cycling champions I knew of and that question led me towards bowls of pasta. Oh gluten how I missed you! I feel amazing and quite like a happy human carbohydrate.

These next few weeks will be intense. I have the Mt. Hood Cycling Classic and US Nationals coming up. Time to climb, climb, climb until I cry! Yee haw!

This past weekend I had the pleasure of competing in the Mariposa Women’s Stage Race in the beautiful Yosemite Valley. It was a three day event and by the end of the final stage, I was exhausted! I was lucky to have my hubby Lukey accompany me to the stage race. He did a great job driving, preparing ice baths, putting up with my nervousness, and supplying me with food. On Thursday evening, we arrived in Turlock, California. Right off the freeway we found the hotel I had booked. Turns out it was more of an opium den than an actual hotel and we quickly transferred to another establishment before we were involved in a knife fight. After that first adventure, the rest of the trip went smoothly.

On Friday morning, I woke up and did 45 minutes on the trainer. At noon, the time trial began. It was my first time using clip-on TT bars and it felt nice to be in a more aerodynamic position. The course was relatively flat and I felt pretty strong. I ended up getting 9th in the stage, which I wasn’t too happy about but at least I got to test out my saucy skin suit! I am really looking forward to getting a proper time trial bike and helmet. That night, we drove to Groveland and checked into a cute bed and breakfast. After taking an ice bath, Luke and I drove to Yosemite National Park. It was so beautiful and definitely worth the trip!

The next morning, I woke up early and started preparing for stage two, a 12km hill climb. This was the stage I was most looking forward to since I love climbing hills! After 30 minutes on the trainer while listening to Skrillex, I was ready to climb! At 9am, we descended the long and windy mountain and ended up on a bridge overlooking an amazing canyon. However, we weren’t able to enjoy the view for long. Once the whistle was blown, it was on! 1km into the race, Kelly Crowley attacked and I was right on her wheel with one other rider. The three of us broke away from the rest of the field and we didn’t see the peleton again. It was a lot of fun (and painful) and I was happy to finish in 3rd and move up on GC.

After finishing stage two, I took another ice bath and ate a lot of bread. At 2:30, stage three began in a new location an hour outside of Groveland. The sun was shining and my legs felt strong. There were a few attacks that were brought back but with about 40kms to go, Molly Van Houweling from Metromint went off on a solo breakaway and nobody chased her down. In hindsight, I should have given chase. Lesson learned… I lost two minutes on that 90km stage. I ended up finishing in 3rd again and was tired after a long day in the saddle.

Waking up at 6am on Sunday morning was not ideal. I entered stage four in third place on GC and this made me very nervous. Metromint riders dominated the field in numbers and they had a rider sitting 15 seconds behind me. Without team support, I wasn’t sure what was going to go down. I wrote down on my arm the numbers of the riders to watch and tried to pump myself up for the 105km stage. In all honesty, I was really nervous and couldn’t get down my oatmeal… Time for this girl to toughen up! Once the race started, it was pretty evident that everyone was tired. Nobody tried any attacks on the first lap but then on the second lap, Rikke Preisler from Metromint attacked with a girl from Red Racing. Rikke was wearing number 13 and that number was on my arm! Nobody gave chase but when I heard they had a 45 second advantage I bombed up the hills to catch them and half the peleton was dropped in the process. The rest of the race was pretty calm and slow without much action. I contemplated trying to break away to gain back two minutes and finish in first on GC but I wasn’t confident enough to go without teammates and I didn’t want to risk losing a podium spot. I was also feeling the 2,000 meters of climbing in my legs that day… It wasn’t an easy stage! I was happy to finish in second place in stage four and second overall on GC. Yay, finally a podium! It was a great few days and I learned a lot.

I have been enjoying the last couple of easy recovery days and am heading to Tahoe tomorrow for some more altitude training. Woop Woop! Oh, and no big deal BUT I did meet Tom Boonen (world #1) yesterday at the Tour of California! AHHHH!

‘

The sun is shining in California and I could not be happier. It has been in the eighties and sunny everyday and I’ve been loving my hard training sessions in the beautiful mountains. This past week I have been sleeping ten hours a night, eating a smoothie and gluten free waffles for breakfast every morning, and heading out the door for three to five hours of training. This splendid routine has made me feel a lot stronger. It has been nice staying in one place and doing hard sessions again. After a couple of crazy months, it’s great being back on a consistent training schedule.

My smoothie obsession began thanks to my brother Greg. He makes protein smoothies every morning and night. Unfortunately, I don’t allow myself to have three scoops of ice cream in mine like he does, but they still taste pretty good. I have been loading up on organic berries, yogurt, and hemp protein. Yes, hemp protein. It is rich in iron and hopefully not THC or else I’ll be in big trouble if and when I get drug tested. A smoothie in the morning with waffles and a smoothie after training. Ahh delicious! I have been trying to incorporate more fruits and vegetables into my diet since I feel like 50% of my diet is comprised of energy gels and sports drinks. I don’t remember seeing these items on the most recent USDA food pyramid.

Enough about smoothies and onto something more exciting. Saturday was the annual Cat’s Hill Criterium in downtown Los Gatos. It was definitely the hardest crit I have ever raced since there was a 23% hill in the middle of the circuit and the roads were filled with cracks, potholes, and asphalt. Despite this, it was great to race in my hometown and I was so happy to have family and friends there cheering me on. Hearing my name being called out when I approached the hill definitely motivated me to climb faster. There was a huge crowd, the sun was shining, and the pain was endless. The entire course was only a mile long but each lap felt like ten miles. The pace was hot from the start with Vanderkitten attacking left and right. It took me awhile to wake up but about halfway into the race, I started feeling good. I was climbing well and feeling strong. Marley, my teammate from Stevens p/b Pactimo, was in a break with three Vanderkittens for much of the race and when the break was brought back, Bridie O’Donnell decided to attack with three laps to go. I chased her down and expended most of my energy in the process. Tricked by my mentor! With two laps to go, everyone was in pain and a good number of the field had dropped out. I didn’t position myself well coming into the final descent and corner and ended up coming in fifth. Jazzy from Vanderkitten took the win and collapsed on the pavement afterwards. Yes, it was tough. Overall, I was happy with how I raced and it was fun going up against all the talented Aussies in the field (two Aussies and one Kiwi on the podium). Vanderkitten raced really well as a team and they deserved the win.

Starting on Friday, I will be competing in the Mariposa Women’s Stage Race near Yosemite. It looks like it is going to be a really fun and challenging race. There are four stages over three days and it kicks off with a TT on Friday afternoon. Luke is coming with me for support which will be great (well, maybe not so great for him since I can get a bit moody after a hard day on the bike). I have had a couple of intense sessions over the last couple of days and will need a but of recovery before heading into Mariposa. Until then, it’s all about the smoothies and Skype sessions with Wazza.

Well, a lot has happened since my last post. First of all, I am now a married woman! Luke and I were married on April 7th in my parents’ backyard. It was a small and beautiful wedding and the weather was perfect. I couldn’t have asked for a better day!

After a few crazy weeks of wedding planning, bachelorette shenanigans (I won’t go into details) family bocce ball tournaments, and numerous visits to steakhouses, I was ready to get back into proper training mode. Unfortunately, after three days of consistent training I contracted the stomach flu via a dodgy burrito. To make a long story short, I headed into the Sea Otter Classic without much preparation. Oh, that reminds me… I’m staying in California for the summer. Originally, I was supposed to be back in Australia right now but due to a variety of reasons, I will be staying in California for the next couple of months.

The Sea Otter Classic is held every year in beautiful Monterey, California. The atmosphere at the race is awesome, with thousands of people gathering to watch the road cyclists, mountain bikers, and even downhill skateboarders (they wear pretty cool one-piece leather suits) bomb down The Corkscrew at Laguna Seca. The four day stage race was tough but a great learning experience. I came into the race without much preparation and was up against super American teams like NOW/Novartis, Exergy 2012, Primal/Map My Ride, and Vanderkitten. Overall, I was happy with my performance, especially during the road race. I had a few mishaps (jammed Ui2, flat tire down a descent) but overall, it was a fun tour and I learned heaps from racing with such a talented field of riders. Racing in the US is a lot different from the racing I’ve done in Australia. It is more aggressive and I seem to spend a lot more time at threshold… Ouch! The highlights of Sea Otter were probably bombing down The Corkscrew on my new Zipp 404s and hanging out in the Specialized athlete tent!

After Monterey, I drove straight up to Tahoe with my Nana. I spent five days training at altitude and eating tons of home cooked German food. It was a great way to boost my red blood cell count (who knows if this actually happened but I’ll pretend it did). After Tahoe, I felt very refreshed. Sea Otter really wore me down and I needed some quality recovery. There ain’t nothin’ like eating sauerkraut in a snowstorm to make a girl feel better!

After driving home from Tahoe, I had twelve hours until my next race. While at Sea Otter, I met the director of Stevens p/b Pactimo and I was asked if I’d like to race with the team in some of the upcoming US events. The Wente Valley Road Race, which was held yesterday, was my first race with the team. All of the girls on Stevens p/b Pactimo are incredibly friendly women and very talented athletes. I had a lot of fun racing with them yesterday. The course was pretty hard with 1,500m of climbing over 100kms in hot conditions. Once again, we were up against some of the girls from NOW and Exergy2012. The race was action packed from the beginning with two of my teammates getting into a breakaway that lasted until the final lap. In the final 10kms, the leading six riders were all brought back together. It was me, my teammate Heather, Devon and Beth from NOW, Alison from Exergy, and Molly from Metromint. Nobody made a move until we hit the bottom of the final climb and then it was time for pain! I ended up finishing in 4th place right behind Devon, Beth, and Alison. So close to the podium… Ah well, next time. All of the Stevens p/b Pactimo riders finished in the top 10 and we worked really well as a team. It was a great race!

The weather in the Bay Area is supposed to be beautiful this week so I am looking forward to getting some quality training in. I’ll be receiving my training plan for the next six weeks from Coach Wazza today… Woop Woop!

It has been almost a month since my last blog and a lot has happened in that time. I am now writing from my hometown of Los Gatos, California where I am getting married this Saturday! Needless to say, things have been a bit crazy around here but I have really been enjoying my time at home, on and off the bike. Before leaving Melbourne, I had my biggest week ever on the bike. 650kms in 7 days was a lot of fun and pretty painful! The week culminated with a ride up to Kinglake (oh, and climbing the hill 3 times) with the BG lads. 160kms/2,500m was no small feat and I was very happy that Daniel Strauss gave me some of his babka! By the time I landed in California, I was ready for a little bit of time off the bike. Soon after arriving, I jetted off to Mexico with my mum, Nana, and great-aunt for five days of eating fajitas and lying on the beach. It was great hanging out with those awesome women and I was very impressed to see my 75-year-old great-aunt complete an hour long cycling class after just having finished chemo a few months ago. Very inspiring! After arriving home from Mexico, I hopped back onto my bike and managed to get a few training sessions in between my dress fittings. Unfortunately, the weather was not too good and I did a lot of sprinting on the wind trainer while watching Lady Gaga’s live in concert DVD. I managed to get a few good training/dance sessions in and annoy the hell out of my little brother, so I’d call that a success. The weather the past week and a half has been absolutely beautiful and I’ve been able to go on a lot more rides. Last week I did 500kms and enjoyed every minute of riding through the beautiful Northern California hills. Apparently Bridie O’Donnell brought the nice Melbourne weather with her and ever since she landed in SF, the sun has been shining. I can’t emphasize how breathtakingly beautiful it is here. There are endless miles of quiet tree-lined roads, never-ending climbs, and twisting descents. I have a 12km climb that averages almost 6% 3kms down the road from where my parents live… Heaven! Lots of pro women live and train in Northern California and I’ve spotted a few superstars, including Loren Rowney and most of Team Vanderkitten out training. Last Sunday I went on a great ride through the hills with Bridie, Katheryn Mattis, and a few other girls. It was a great ride and cool to go out with a bunch of fit chicks on a lovely Sunday afternoon! Now the chaos is about to begin… Wedding weekend! Although there will only be 35 people in attendance, 1/3rd of the guests will be Australian so you know it’s bound to be a party! The next few days I am going to enjoy spending time with my friends, family, and husband-to-be and let my bike bathe in the warm California sun.

Last week I was absolutely exhausted and enjoyed a couple of days off the bike and a few easy rides. Apparently, I turned into a bear preparing for hibernation. I found myself stockpiling food, eating, sleeping, and not doing too much else. On Friday, Lincoln at Bike Gallery built my new Specialized SL4 Amira with Ui2. Although I loved my previous bike, the SL4 is amazing! Specialized Amiras are women specific bikes and thus, conform perfectly to my shape (long legs, short torso). The matte black paint job is tres cool and so is the Shimano electronic group set. As soon as I saw my new black stallion, I couldn’t wait to go for a ride. A new bike was just what I needed to snap me out of my post-New Zealand funk. I was ready to get off the couch, put a smile on my face, and conquer the Dandedongs. When I awoke the next morning full of enthusiasm, I looked out the window to see black clouds. I rugged up, headed to the hills, and was drenched within 45 minutes. However, I was having so much fun on my new bike, the freezing rain didn’t stop me. I spent four and a half hours in the Dandies and another four hours there with Bridie on Sunday. Although the weather was not ideal, the Dandedongs were absolutely beautiful when enveloped in fog. Very zen. Also, nothing really seems hard after New Zealand so a little rain (aka a lot of rain) wasn’t going to stop me. I had a great weekend of training and I am excited to have a few more solid sessions this week on my new bici before I fly to California on Monday. Thanks Speciailzed!

To put it simply, last week was the hardest week of my life. The Tour of New Zealand was not only physically demanding, but mentally challenging as well. I had to push my body to it’s limits and battle nerves, fear, pain, sadness, and disappointment. I rode through a rain storm with blood dripping down my arm and a cracked helmet, narrowly avoided crashes (and succumbed to one), witnessed girls face down in a ditch with blood covering their faces, descended a hill at 75kph, and felt an indescribable emotion as I crossed the finish line on the last day of the tour. I was exhausted enough from the emotional highs and lows of the week, not to mention the 600 kilometers I rode. In New Zealand, I learned a lot about cycling, teamwork, pain, determination, and life. At certain points during the tour I was so scared and nervous my legs were shaking uncontrollably. The funny thing is, now that I’m home, I cannot wait to race in a tour again. Despite the risks involved in racing, there is nothing quite like the feeling of pushing yourself to the edge and crossing the finish line. I could probably write a thirty page paper about everything that went on last week but I’ll try and keep it concise.

I traveled to New Zealand not knowing what to expect. I have trained hard the past few months and thanks to my coach, Warren McDonald, I was as prepared as I could have been at this point in my cycling development. In addition, thanks to the boys at Bike Gallery, my bike was ready to rock! The tour started on Wednesday evening with an individual time trial. The weather was insane and we raced 7.1 kilometers in a torrential downpour. Everyone was worried about taking the corners, especially the last off canter one. I ended up finishing in 23rd place out of 71 starters and was ecstatic. I could barely see where I was going during the race and took the corners fast but luckily I was able to stay upright and get a good time of 11:23. Unfortunately, my luck would not last.

With 1km left to go of the neutral 15kms at the beginning of stage 2, a crash occurred on a sharp corner in the rain. Four of us went down and my head smacked the pavement hard enough to significantly crack my helmet. The crash happened in slow motion and was totally unavoidable since a girl fell off her bike right in front of me. After I slid across the wet pavement, adrenaline kicked in and I jumped up. I realized I hadn’t broken anything and watched in silence as Jules fixed my bike. I then held onto the team car and was dragged to the start of the race. Unfortunately, the peleton was long gone by that time and I was in a state of panic as Jules paced me behind the team car at breakneck speed. To make a long story short, the commissaire made an error and told the team car to drop me with three girls that had already been dropped from the peleton. As this gentleman apologetically admitted after the race, I should have been paced back up to the convoy. I naively gave chase and was at threshold for an hour before I realized there was no way I would ever catch the peleton unless I installed a motor on my bike. I rode 140kms/1,600m by myself that day and lost all hope for a decent finish in the general classification. As I crossed the finish line, I wanted to cry (okay, I may have cried a little)… It was the hardest ride I’ve ever done and I was dripping blood everywhere and had a huge bump on my head. The adrenaline had worn off and I was in a lot of physical pain. Emotionally, I was an even bigger mess. After a great first day, stage 2 had been an absolute disaster. Luckily I have awesome teammates who were very supportive that night and made me feel better about having such a bad day.

I woke up on Friday with a sore head, neck, shoulder, and hip and wasn’t sure if I should continue the tour. Rachel Neylan, my roommate, told me to toughen up so I ate approximately one million grams of carbohydrates for breakfast and put on my kit. Stage 3 was basically stage 2 in reverse. I was in a mental fog that day and paranoid about crashing again. My worst fear almost happened as a rider plowed into me 15kms into the race, causing three riders behind me to go down. Luckily I was on the drops and was able to maintain my balance but the girls behind me were not so lucky. One girl broke her wrist and another cracked a rib. At this point I was again ready to get off my bike and retire. Witnessing so many crashes and blood had really started to take it’s toll on my mental state. However, despite my queasiness I kept going. The peleton split in two that day and I was with the chase group after we all got dropped on one of the first climbs. I tried to chase the peleton with an Italian rider but as I was slowly learning, once you get dropped, it is very hard to get back on. All day, fifteen of us worked together to battle the insane 45kph crosswinds. It was interesting trying to communicate with the Italian, Japanese, and Chinese riders in the group but somehow we all managed to work together, form an echelon, and roll turns to the finish line at a cracking pace. Stage 3 was one of the toughest stages for me since the wind was absolutely crazy and I was hurting from the previous day’s crash. Luckily, I got a massage from the Italian masseuse that night!

On Saturday, the weather was a lot calmer and I managed to stay with the peleton until the final kilometers. I got dropped earlier in the stage but chased, made it through the convoy, and rejoined the bunch. Drafting from team car to team car at high speeds was exhilarating! Unfortunately I had nothing left for the final 3kms that day. I just didn’t have my normal power and I’ve never been so frustrated. My body wasn’t doing what I knew it was capable of but at least I was making some improvement since the crash. That night I went to bed feeling defeated but woke up the next morning refusing to get dropped!

The final stage of the tour was my best stage. I finished with the peleton (averaging 38kph for 110kms) and did well in the final sprint to come finish 22nd. The pace was hot all day and the climbs were tough. I tried to position myself better than I had the previous days and this seemed to help immensely. The weather was also sunny and calm which definitely made things easier. Although it was a great finish, the stage was not without disaster. I witnessed my teammate, Lucy, crash and Miranda and I almost went down with her. It looked like she’d hit the deck pretty hard and I was shocked to see her make it back up to the peleton with holes in her kit and blood dripping everywhere. Tough chick! As we all crossed the finish line in one piece, everyone looked extremely happy and relieved. I wanted to pump my fists in the air but then I remembered I finished very close to the bottom of the general classification!

When all the results were in for the week, Holden Cycling did better than many people expected. Miranda Griffiths finished 6th, guest rider Rachel Neylan in 12th, and Lucy Coldwell in 22nd. Steph Ives and I were happy to finish the tour and will be back next year to hopefully secure top twenty-fives as well! A big thank you goes out to team manager Jules Knuppel who did it all for us this week… Jules drove the team car, washed our bikes, did our laundry, filled our biddons, cleaned our wounds, and counseled us. Steph’s parents were also extremely helpful! We may not have had our own mechanic or masseuse like the other teams but we were able to survive le tour. I did my best to befriend the mechanics of other teams and got looked after by Marino, my sixty-year-old Italian mate. Saying “ciao” and smiling lots will get you places with the Italians and I am so thankful for all their help, generosity, and humor. The Hotel Coachman also did a great job in supporting the riders. The rooms were nice and they fed us plenty of potatoes.

Everyone will have their own personal version of the tour and my teammates all raced incredibly well. Each one of them had their emotional and physical highs and lows just like me. I will never forget the events of last week and I am really happy to be home in one piece. One of the most important lessons I learned during the tour was to not be so hard on myself. Cycling is an unpredictable and dangerous sport and sometimes you can be extremely unlucky while other times luck will be on your side. Even if you’re feeling great, you can still be brought down in a crash. I’ve learned to keep things in perspective and even thought this tour didn’t go my way as an individual, my team performed very well and we all supported and worked for each other. Cycling is a team sport and everyone has their good and bad days. The important thing is to put the team first and ride for and support each other. I also learned a lot about tactics, positioning, and race strategy and I have so much more to learn. Racing is completely different to training and there is no doubt that my race brain needs some educating. Finally, I realized that there are a lot of extremely talented female cyclists in the world and I am going to need to continue to race and train hard if I want to compete on an international level. Having said that, I also need to invest in time. Knowledge comes with experience and as Wazza always tells me, I need to be patient.

Now I am ready for a few days of rest, recovery, and detox from caffeinated energy gels. Thank you to all those who supported me throughout the tour; your kind words and encouragement were much appreciated. Sorry Wazza for all my frantic Skype calls and e-mails… You’d make a good psychologist. Bridie O’Donnell, you’d make a good psychologist too. I could keep on writing but if you want to hear more stories, just ask me. There is a lot more that happened off the bike!

I have arrived in Palmerston North and it feels good to be here! My bike arrived in one piece and overall, I had an easy trip from Melbourne. Despite attempting to board the wrong flight to Auckland, everything went smoothly. Every team competing in the Women’s Tour of NZ is staying at the same hotel. The Coachman is quite nice and somehow I ended up in a room with two queen beds… Bang! My roommate, Rachel Neylan, placed 3rd at Nationals this year and I am looking forward to learning from her on and off the bike. Rachel races professionally in Europe and is also a physiotherapist. No doubt she’ll be full of good information! We also share the same coach, Wazza McDonald. Tonight all the teams are having dinner together. It’ll be fun to scope out the competition I ran into the Italian team earlier today and they look very professional! The team has at least four coaches/mechanics traveling with them and all the riders were wearing arm and leg warmers in the heat today. Ciao! The Chinese team arrived the same time I did and some of them look as through they’re related to Yao Ming. Tall chiquitas! I am excited and nervous and eating lots of gluten free ginger cookies to carbo load and calm my nerves. Stage 1 is tomorrow… A 7.1km prologue time trial at 6pm. Special thanks to Bike Gallery for prepping my bike for le Tour! Oh, and the rumors are true… There are HEAPS of sheep in New Zealand!