Justine Leahy

Got my...body back!!!

2010-09-22T12:55:00.004+10:00

It's taken several months of commitment and hard work, but I've finally got my 'fit body' back. Any female who's body has had 'better days' can relate to this comment. It's also taken some getting used to. For the past 3 months I haven't liked my 'race' body - the core strength work that I've needed to do has meant that I no longer have that 'hourglass figure' - I'm more straight up and down. The strength work on the bike and improved riding technique has meant that my already developed (big) butt has somehow taken on a mind of it's own and has 'further developed' (the kind words of my chiropractor...translation meaning my butt is bigger). I have realised that, when developed, ones glutes actually sit as high up as your hips - after complaining to coach Tory about this new development, she exclaimed great pleasure with my newly acquired 'shelf'....SHELF I say - what a totally unglamorous word. I simply refer to it as my 'muffin tops'. Unfortunately my 'shelf' meant that my work pants were becoming uncomfortable. A good reason to take 4 weeks leave, I say. Thankfully, the increased intensity/duration of my rides (assisted by not working) and more time working my upper body at the gym (Coffs Coast Health Club) has resulted in a far more impressive body.

3 weeks out from the Worlds - all going pretty well, and then it started raining in the middle of a block of long rides...DAMN!!!

I'm enjoying being the full-time athlete - wake, ride, eat, sleep. The dogs have enjoyed having me around a bit more, even though I have been spending long days in the saddle. I had been doing most of my training on my own, but then managed to coax a fellow Worlds racer to join me on a 6 hour mtb ride near Bellingen. We enjoyed the ride, especially the cake shop stop in Bello 2 hours in. On the way out the climbs were interspersed with short descents. The final 6 hour ride clocked up 2,300m climbing - lets hope this can be useful during the 24 hour.

The idea was to back this ride up with a longer or harder ride the following day. Initially my riding buddy was all in for this, but I think I broke my new riding friend on our first ride cause he pulled the pin on the following day. I'm still a bit worried that it wasn't the hard ride that turned him off, but my company... : (

5 weeks out from World Solo 24 Hour Championships

2010-09-05T20:22:00.004+10:00

It's been a busy 3 months since my last post. A brief summary:

5 days in Mt Beauty with coach Tory Thomas, her husband Tim, and their fantastic fur kids. This time was finished off with the Albury 6 Hour. I was still really fatigued after a hectic 9 week program - a program that saw me doing long rides week after week, and what local racing I attended was a matter of hanging in there. Warming up with Tory was a sign of things to come - my legs were fatigued and I was not in a good state of mind either. I completed the prologue and the first lap, and pulled out - I had nothin'. But that allowed me to assist Tim in supporting Tory, and catch up with Albury locals I hadn't seen for many years. Tory raced consistently, took out the Female Solo win, and also took home the Fastest Female prologue lap, beating teams riders and fellow former Torq team mates in the process.

After a well needed recover week, I was back into training. 8th August saw the Coffs Harbour Marathon - a 100km event on the local flowy trails of Pine Creek. This event was 4 x 25km laps. I was feeling strong and fresh in the warm up (something that I hadn't felt for months), and I was looking forward to the event. I hung with the other girls for the first lap, but realised that I didn't have the speed to be able to maintain that pace for another 3 laps. I backed off to a pace that I was still working at, but could maintain for the remainder of the race. I was feeling strong for the entire time, until the last 8km. I didn't eat going into the final lap (a lesson learnt) and blew up. The hills were actually hurting me and I didn't like it. I finished 4th in Elite Women.

A week later was the Appin 400 - a 400 minute (6hr 40min) event on an extremely demanding course south of Sydney. I entirely enjoyed the course, even though by 5 hours in my upper body was in agony. Mum offered to support me for the event, which meant that I was riding strong the whole way - no missing feed stops this time. I finished feeling tired in the legs, but surprisingly good compared to previous events. I finished 2nd in Elite Women behind Katrin van der Spiegel.

It's now early September, 5 weeks out from the Worlds, and I can finally leave the demands of work behind me and focus entirely on myself and my training. Ride, eat, sleep, beach with dogs - oh to have the life of an unemployed person.

The Long Training Rides

2010-06-13T15:15:00.003+10:00

The past 2 months have flown by. The weeks are filled with hard and easy rides during the week, then long days in the saddle on the weekends.

3 weeks ago Evan and I travelled to Central Victoria for the Bendigo 6 Hour. A great few days of fun rides around Castlemaine, where I found I was either over the front wheel or over the back of the saddle for all of the rides....great times of technical, flowing trails.

The 6 Hour was held in our old backyard in Sedgwick. For 2.5 years our property backed onto the trails of Sedgwick State Forest, and I had so much fun enjoying these trails again. 6 hours of hard-packed singletrack/fire trails and rocks. I found the course physically demanding, but so much fun. I finished 2nd behind Jess - I was pretty shattered but glad of the outcome.

Since this race I have been spending my weekends on long rides. Below are a couple of photos from yesterday's ride out the back of Nana Glen, heading towards Lowanna. Hard climbs, fast technical descents. Thanks to Boris, the local endurance motorbike man, for all the great single track in the middle of nowhere - makes the 1.5hr climbing worth while!

Have come a long way already, with still a lot more climbing to go.

Scody High Country Cycle Challenge 2010

2010-03-21T12:48:00.006+11:00

So, what do mountain bikers do for holidays? Go riding, of course. I needed a holiday desperately, and wanted to go away somewhere, and that's when I found the Scody High Country Cycle Challenge. It is a road event based in Mansfield, North East Victoria. Beautiful country, diverse, and totally awesome road riding. And it was even better to be there on a holiday, rather than all previous times with DSE fighting fires.

The holiday began with a visit to my family and dropping off the 'kids' at Puppy Hilton (mum's place), where they would be spoiled rotten for 2 weeks. A quick visit to Mt Beauty and some MTB-ing on the way through - why wouldn't you? - and then onto Mansfield where Evan & I enjoyed the roads, and the MTB trails around Mt Buller.

Evan was to ride the SHCCC with myself and my brother, Gav, however he was whisked away to the world of Elite MTB-ers at the final round of the National Series. So it was just Gav and myself doing the event - 185km on Saturday, 125km on Sunday.

First day was Mansfield - Mt Buller - Jamieson - Mansfield. The event began with a hiccup - I'd forgotten my glasses so we had to swing by the cabin on the way through town - so we missed the bunch ride out to Merimbah. As I found out, no big deal. With this event being my first road event, I've decided I don't rate bunch riding....too risky with too many numpties, way too close for comfort. Gav was strong on the Mt Buller climb - he'd been concerned he didn't have that sort of climbing in his legs, so he'd put in some pretty hard training days on the bike in the Blue Mountains, and it paid off....he had to hold himself back to ride at my pace! He'd made a friend with a chatty bloke named Jamie, and this made the climbing go quickly for him. A quick re-fill of bottles and we were ready to decend. At this point I came into my own, and smoked Gav on the 16km decent. A combination of the perfect bike fit - I LOVE my Cannondale feminine Synapse - and several years of chasing Evan down Bruxner Park and Ulong road decents. The remainder of the ride undulated and was enjoyable, knowing that the 900m incline was over.

Sunday was another gorgeous day of sunshine and very little wind for the Mansfield - Whitfield - Mansfield ride. We rode with the bunch for 30 minutes, then tried to get away from them....it was mayhem. Once we got to Tolmie the majority of riders turned around and headed back to town. There were very few continuing on for the entire ride, which made it SO much better for Gav & I. The decent to Whitfield was great fun, particularly passing so many riders who were using the 10km decent as recovery - bugger that! I didn't care if I crawled back up it on the return trip, but damn I was going to get as much speed out of the decent as I could! Returning back to Mansfield was quiet and enjoyable - Gav was still out-climbing me but I didn't care. Just short of Tolmie we caught up with a bunch of 4 older guys - we decided that Gav would go off the front for the last, flatter 15km and the guys would take us down the decent. Oh sweet rolling for 10km! And true to form, Gav took the front and drove us home, dropping me twice in the final 8km section. But we all rolled into town together, having shared a great ride.

We're going back next year without doubt - the smooth roads, the pleasant climbs, the scenery, the towns people, and the perfect time of year in NE Victoria.

The Closing of 2009 and 2010 Begins

2010-01-07T16:44:00.004+11:00

2009 presented very little racing for me - a couple of local races and 2 x 24 hour races.

The Australian Solo 24 Hour MTB Championships was the race where it all came together. After competing in 3 previous 24's, this was the race where my support crew got it right; I got my nutrition and hydration right (other than a couple of self-exploding bananas on the first couple of feeds); the bikes ran perfect; my support crew got poll position; it poored for 2 hours but I didn't want to stop - I only wanted to rain to stop; I had a strong finish in the last 5 hours, picking up another position; I finished the event with nothing left in the tank. And all this was done with very little training in the legs and going into the event feeling fatigued. I finished in 4th. I also finished in First Aid and on oxygen. And one toenail less.

The Scott 24 Hour Australian MTB Championships was 6 months later. 6 months of no riding. 3 weeks before this event I wasn't competing in it. 2 weeks before the event I decided that this event had only 2 purposes:

Qualify for the 2010 World Championships
Work on my weaknesses

With a lot of teamwork with my support crew and hard work on my part, both of these were achieved.

So what does 2010 bring for me? Hopefully no fires!! But more importantly more of a focus on this year's racing goals.

March 2010 Scody High Country Cycling Challenge (Mansfield) - 2 stage road event of 185km & 125km
June 2010 Mawson Marathon (South Australia) - 350km mountain bike event
October 2010 World Solo 24 Hour MTB Championships (Canberra)
November 2010 Sydney Fat Tyre Festival 8 Hour (Ourimbah)
Other MTB events that come up throughout the year & local MTB racing

I look forward to reporting on my progress towards the Worlds. At present I'm doing approximiately 2 hours a day on the bike, with strengthening gym sessions with the assistance of Coffs Coast Health Club.

See you out on the trails, and hope everyone has an enjoyable 2010!

Scott 24 Hour Australian Mountain Bike Championships

2009-10-21T18:46:00.008+11:00

Feeding time at the zoo - about 6 hours in, just going into night

My brother Gavin and Evan looking after me

Starting out with a smile and my new sponsor's logo !!!

I QUALIFIED !!!! Yes, I have qualified (again) for the World Solo 24 Hour Championships. These will be held at Mt Stromlo, Canberra in October 2010, and I will be there.

This information leads me to the story of the Scott 24 Hour on 10th & 11th October 2009. Why was I doing another 24 hour event in 2009? To qualify - that's it folks. I now have 12 months to prepare for the Worlds without having to do any other 24's between now and then - a great relief considering it takes sooo long to recover from 24's.

I was feeling fresh in the legs the days before the event - a good sign. I'd had a shocking 6 months prior to the event with very little training/motivation/desire - all I wanted was bed. So 2 weeks prior to the event I made my decision to race, with the following two goals:

To qualify for the Worlds
To work on my weaknesses

To ensure that I kept to the plan, my good friend Megs offered an idea to tape a note to my handlebars saying "Keep it light and fun". Great idea, but I could do better than that - I had Sesame Street Bandaids !!! So Oscar the Grouch and Elmo were stuck to my handlebars, the reminder to keep it fun.

The first 6 hours were good - consistent lap times and enjoying the ride. Around 7 hours in I came back from a lap and was flat - the lack of eating/drinking spots on the course meant I was only consuming Endura and not solid food. My support crew decided that they would stop me for a minute or two each lap and feed me at the tent - this proved to work well and I picked up significantly and was happy to keep lapping.

Night came, as did midnight. From midnight on my mind went blank......pedal, drink, eat, pedal, pedal, drink eat..... I have no idea what was happening or where I was placed - all I had to do was what my support crew told me. I had a short 15 min break sometime in the dark - it was nice to stop but COLD getting going again. Typical Canberra weather - definitely a 2 dog night!!

During the darkness when I was starting to struggle with darkness and fatigue, I shone my helmet light onto Elmo....."hello Elmo.....he-lloooo Elmo.....tickle me Elmo" - yes I was going balmy but it made me happy!! My mind was kept busy with a fact that few people will ever experience - I couldn't stand on my own without being supported; I couldn't walk on my own without being supported; but throw my leg over my bike and off I went for another 7 hours of riding......WOW!!!!

The birds began cheeping and daylight began. I still had 6 hours to finish. Each lap was approx. 1hr 30min. I tried to work out how many more laps I had before the end - it took me the entire lap to work this out, and still didn't come up with an answer. At 7am the crew were doing the figure for me, and asked me to go and do a lap that was a bit quicker.....WHAT??!!!! OK. At the end of this lap I was told that I could afford to do one slow lap and then finish after 11am to qualify. My support crew had made the decision to give up 4th position and finish 5th (still qualifying), but finishing happy, with a quicker recovery time. I was very happy with only one more lap. I stopped and chatted; checked out the view from the top of Mt Stromlo; smelled the Lavendar growing; and walked the horrid, rocky switchback climb.

I finished 5th, qualified for the Worlds, and rode a 24 hour event pretty much on psychological strength rather than physical strength. To others, my result may have been disappointing going on past finishes. To me, it was an amazing achievement, knowing that up until 2 months ago I struggled to get out of bed each day, let alone leave the house to ride my bike.

Thankyou to my sponsor, Coffs Harbour Health Club - your support and guidance is greatly appreciated. And a HUGE thankyou to my bestest brother Gav, his special care-giving partner Mel, and my forgiving partner Evan - thanks guys for getting me there....I couldn't do it without you.

3 weeks into my 5 weeks from hell

2009-03-24T11:23:00.000+11:00

I’m over the hump of a very chaotic and emotionally draining 5 weeks – only 2 to go before I can completely relax.

My 5 weeks from hell began when I acknowledged that I had to let go of my brother and remove myself from his train-wreck of a life. Against my better judgement, I tried to be there for him, and all it did was suck the life out of me. While this was going on I was sent to Victoria to undertake building impact assessments on the houses that were destroyed or damaged in the fires. The days were not long, but it was draining on the emotions seeing the devastation, asking people re-live that time for them all in the name of research, and then watching them begin the clean-up process of their pile of rubble that was their beloved home.

I returned to work to a very hectic workload that had built up while I was down south. Normally my out-of-work time is my own, however numerous nights were spent preparing for (and stressing about) a job interview that I had a 9 hour round trip to get to. And I can’t forget that Beep has a big show at Easter, so she has to be exercised an hour each day to get her looking good for Erica. I’d really like her to do well, cause Erica has had a rough year after losing her house in the fires – she deserves some good things to come her way.

This was the turning point – I was over the ‘hump’ of my 5 weeks.

Evan headed to Thredbo for the MTB Oceania Champs, leaving me with Beep in season and the 2 week process which fluctuates from Beep wanting to rip Buzz’s face off, to very suggestively flirting with him. You’d think that Buzz would be confused by all this, but as soon as she swings her rear end near him and makes him feel manly, he quickly forgets the last week of PMS snarls.

So work is still very busy, Coffs Harbour is out of fresh ‘roo meat (so Beep’s not getting her protein for muscle building), and Justine is attempting to continue her training through all this for the Solo 24 Hour Championships at Easter. You’ve probably already guessed that the training has been shelved a bit, so I’m going into this event with the attitude that “all I have to do is roll around for 24 hours and qualify”.

Victorian Fires

2009-03-11T20:27:00.005+11:00

This is the vegetation immediately adjacent to the house below

This house was featured in 'The Age' as an amazine example of a save

Some of the friendly locals at a house that was successfully defended

Note the destroyed houses in the background

Crew members Craig and Andy
Pre-fire mud brick home

Same mud brick home post-fire

PLEASE remove gas cylinders from beside house during a fire - check out the roof that was blown off when the cylinder vented

Geographically challenged team relying on technology (note it didn't work...)

Just when I thought I'd escaped being whisked away from my everyday life whenever fires hit Victoria, an opportunity of a life time came up, and it was one that I couldn't resist. So this meant that I've had a bit of a sojourn from riding for the past week.

I dodged being deployed to Vic as crew or IMT, but was offered a the opportunity to be on the Building Impact Assessment Team. The Bushfire CRC initiated teams to assess the impacts on the buildings that were destroyed or damamged during the recent fires. The research will be used to assist putting together the story as to why some buildings were damaged/destroyed, why some survived, and what can be done to prepare buildings and the community for such events.

A Couple of Weeks Holiday

2009-02-13T20:38:00.005+11:00

Typical Central Victorian riding - Jubber Land, Campbells Creek

Evan and I thought we'd make a road trip of the MTB Nationals and Mt Buller round. After settling the dogs with my mum (much to her stafford's delight), we headed to Canberra for the Nationals. Mt Stromlo gave as good as it gets in the way of weather - hot, dry, sunny and windy. I enjoyed a few mtb rides round some of the 24 hour trails, and didn't enjoy the couple of falls that I had. Mind you, I was one of many that came away from Stromlo with grazes and bruises.

We made a mad dash to Castlemaine for 2 days to enjoy some awesome riding and not-so-awesome 43 degree temperatures. We managed to time the visit with the regular Wednesday Night Ride - some great trails in the pineys followed by a welcomed swim at Golden Point Reservoir.

We were looking forward to escaping the heat of Central Vic as we headed for Mt Buller, however the normally pleasant summer of the high country was abnormally hot also. Evan concentrated on photos while I enjoyed a few laps of the XC course and a leisurely ride to Mt Stirling and back.

A quick visit to Panther Cycles on our way home made the whole trip worth while - my new Cannondale Synapse road bike was waiting for me!! I had to wait till getting back to Coffs to ride it, but what a ride it is. For those who have ridden Coffs roads, you'll know just how rough the bitumen roads are. But I am lost for words in describing how smooth the Synapse makes these rough roads. I now realise that I had every reason to feel like I was riding a jack hammer before, and my whinging and complaining was totally justified!!

It was a nice break away, but it's always nice to come back home - and we realised that we're finally calling Coffs Harbour 'home'.

2009 is here....and my new bike is nearly here too!!

2009-01-07T20:22:00.004+11:00

After a very hectic weekend at a Stafford Show in Queensland, I ended up with a cold that has hung on for 3 weeks. Finally a trip to the chiropractor and the chemist put me back on the bike and ready to roll into 2009.

And I've been hugely surprised that I didn't lose too much whilst I was sick. A weekend of strength work and a 120km ride didn't seem to phase me too much - although the couch was looking pretty good by Sunday arvo.

And there's nothing more motivating than looking forward to getting my new bike. My trusty steed is being upgraded to a new Cannondale Synapse Feminine Carbon 5. And she's lookin' pretty nice too!!

JP Morgan 8 1/4 Hours of Power - 3rd Solo Women

2008-11-25T19:25:00.006+11:00

The face says it all at the end of the race...

This event was held at Ourimbah State Forest, near the coastal town of Wyong. My practice lap was totally awesome - it was really difficult to not go hard on the hard-packed, flowing track. It had sections of trail that were reminiscent of many trails in NSW and Victoria - Killingworth, Yellowmundi, Castlemaine, Bendigo, Whittlesea, Mt Beauty.... But, even with this world of awesome trails, I had an angry race, which was unfortunately not to my benefit.

I was fatiguing on the climbs by the third lap, I was fed up with people, and then it rained. By 5 hours in I was contemplating pulling out. 6 hours in I found out I was coming 3rd. With only 3 more laps to finish, it was too late to pull out. So I got some food in and plodded through the first of three at a very slow pace. With only 2 laps to go I pulled my finger out and did a hot lap, followed by another.

I finished in 3rd, and walked away having learnt alot. I also learnt that a 5 1/2 hour drive straight after the race is crap!!

The end of a week

2008-11-16T19:30:00.004+11:00

I've had a mixed week - time off work, time on the bike, and some beach relaxing too. Evan needed some bodies on bikes for a few photos, so Evan, Brad & myself headed out for a mtb ride. Evan's comment was 'challenging hills' - my experience involved biting the head stem for way too long, then walking the remainder. The first hill ascended 170m, followed by...well, more hills. But the photos were worth it, apparently!!

Sunday gave us a local race at the 'Cows with Guns' course - this time with a few extra kms of new track. Rain last night meant that the new sections made for hard riding, and the old sections were as trecherous as always in the wet with dozens of tree roots.

My aim was to stay upright so that I am fully functioning for next weeks 8 hour at Ourimbah. After a full week on the bike my legs were tired, so all I had to do was go out and ride, spend some quality time on Dale, and work on consistency in my laps. All of this was followed by several hours of pancakes with some very good friends.

Road Training

2008-11-09T12:18:00.003+11:00

The last month on the bike have been up and down, in more than one way. I've been fitting in a good week on the bike, then the next is a week of interrupted training (but I guess that's life). And as the pictures portray, I've been up and down with the local Coffs terrain. These pictures are from Ulong climb - a non-stop 10km climb that takes about 45min. But what a beautiful environment.

I've been a bit put off one section of road since a nasty incident with a 4wd - he nearly hit Evan & myself on a 100km/h stretch of road. What's really funny is the freakin' idiot was stupid enough to park his 4wd outside the Coramba Pub 10km down the road!! We livened up the normally sleepy pub whilst trying to get someone to own up to driving the 4wd...

Australasian Police & Emergency Services Games

2008-10-14T20:07:00.005+11:00

On 12th October 2008 myself and 3 other employees represented the Rural Fire Services in the XC Mountain Biking in the APES Games. The RFS came away with Gold and Bronze medals.

I had a home course advantage, with the event being held at the technically demanding Pine Creek course. 7km of fun flowing single track, pimped with a few long crossings that would have landed you in the drink if you strayed off the 1 foot wide plank.

Due to my recent return to the bike and regular training, I went into the event pretty tired in the legs. As I summed it up, my legs were as tired in the last lap as they were in the first. However my laps were consistent, I was able to work the technical aspects of the track, and I had a great time riding and chatting with like-minded people.

It was only on my last lap that I started to knock off a couple of competitors - those endurance legs are slowly returning to their former glory. I made a tactical sprint 10m from the finish line, giving me 1st in the Women, and 2nd in the Mens 35 - 39 category. My moment of glory was a moment of embarrassment for my competitor, whose children then chorussed 'You got beaten by a girl, dad!!!'.

Filming of "Sydney Weekender"

2008-10-14T19:46:00.003+11:00

I get to have my 30 seconds of fame this weekend on the travel show program, Sydney Weekender. Keep your eyes peeled to Prime TV, Saturday 18th October at 5:30pm, when Mike Whitney and the crew visit Coffs Harbour.

It was a fun day, with lots of laughing and the occassional ride. I was a bit nervous when it came to filming the chat with Mike, but he made me feel completely comfortable, and really is a nice, easy going guy. And for someone who hasn't been riding very long, he had the clipless pedals mastered early in the day.

The first full week back

2008-10-06T18:49:00.003+11:00

Today is the end of my first full week back on the bike, and I'm shattered. Saturday was going to be a fun 2 hr mtb ride with friends, riding some of the Mountain Marathon track. An hour in and I was falling back on the hills....2.5 hrs in and I was out the back!!

Sunday we were back on the road bikes doing a usual loop. I was slow on the climbs, but still enjoying the afternoon ride. And then this morning we got caught out in the rain which brought our ride up a bit short time wise, but I must admit that I was quietly thankful.

A rest day tomorrow, then back into a full week again.

Photos

2008-09-26T21:13:00.002+10:00

Evan's been creative and cutting my head off again. But atleast I got some photos out of it.

Progressive return to riding

2008-09-21T15:14:00.003+10:00

A return to the bike, although it's not so much that I'm feeling on top of the bronchitis....more so that I'm over not being on the bike. My chest still rattles when I cough, and most breaths feel like I've got a mobile phone in my chest that's stuck on vibrate, but I'm returning to riding after 5 weeks off.

Brett and Roz bradley (and baby Gus) came to stay for a week, as Brett was racing the Coffs Mountain Marathon and it was a great opportunity to catch up with them.

Under direction from the physio I'm restricted to short rides every other day so as to not flare up the tendonitis in my knee after so long off the bike. Tuesday presented us with the warmest spring morning yet, so a cruisy 40km ride was the start of many. Thursday was a flatter town 40k's. And Saturday started out as a nice cruisy 60km roady to Mylestom and back, however having caught up with a road tandem, it was on. They had the weight advantage on the decents, so we jumped on the back and then took turns on the flatter and hillier sections. It was a harder ride than expected, but great fun.

Next week will ber similar again, aiming for a longer ride next weekend.

2008 a write-off...but bring on 2009!!!

2008-09-07T19:47:00.006+10:00

2008 has been a really difficult year for me. Firstly tearing the cartilage in my knee, and subsequent surgery, that kept me off the bike for 5 months. (What seemed to be) a slow recovery and intense rehabilitation followed, only to be marred by a fall in my first competitive event. The fall resulted in tendonitis in my dodgy knee. 5 weeks later, still restricted to easy, relatively short rides, I went into the BMC 8 Hour with virtually no training and pulled off a win. With only a minor flare up of the tendonitis, I was feeling like things were looking up for me. I should have known better - a week later I had the 'flu which developed into bronchitis for the last 4 weeks and haven't even touched the bike. And just to top off a fine year, I have injured my shoulder which has resulted in having no strength in my right arm....more rehab exercises. At least I feel like I'm getting my moneys worth out of the physio - 3 injuries attended to at the one visit.

Once again I have had to re-think my goals for 2008, and have pretty much written off any competitive events. Instead, I have chosen to use 2008 as a life lesson (still not sure what I was meant to have learnt), and have entered events that can be used as 'building' events, rather than aiming for any wins. And these just so happen to be in Western Sydney and Victoria, where I'll be visiting and racing with all my old riding friends!! : )

Being the anally-retentive control freak that I am, it's been really hard to accept that I don't have control over everything in my life. Things happen, and I'm having to learn to accept this and be flexible.

So, I plan to enjoy the remainder of events for 2008, I'm getting excited that the weather has finally hinted Spring is here, and I'm looking forward to getting some k's in the legs, although going on this weekend's efforts of 2 x 2hr rides, it will be a slow progression. My lungs burnt the whole way, and I had no strength in my legs. But we've all got to start somewhere....

Snuffle...sneeze...cough

2008-08-29T18:06:00.006+10:00

After getting flattened by the 'flu, I've been left with a horrible bark for 2 weeks. I haven't been game to get out on the bike during the week - the cold temps would only send me backwards. So it's been easy windtrainer sessions, aqua aerobics and core strength sessions at the gym. Oooh, and back to Body Balance again which is sooo nice.

It's been nice to have so much time with the dogs too. With Evan in Beijing for 2 weeks, the dogs have been a bit more demanding than usual. And as you can see from the photo, work has quietened down a bit! I finally got my own emergency vehicle...

I'm hoping that some reasonable weather will hit us from now on and I can get back to being on the bike each day....and start building (again!!!).

2008-08-11T14:37:00.002+10:00

It's been a mixed week for Evan & myself. I'm still restricted with my riding, so I've still been enjoying the sleep-ins and heading out on the bike after work. But even with the added sleep, I had been feeling pretty run down and this weekend it all fell apart and I got sick.

We enjoyed an awesome 3.5hr mtb ride exploring out Central Bucca way, and found some great, fun single track and lots of fire trail climbs. Sunday morning I was chesty and sluggish on the bike, so we restricted it to a 1.5hr flat roadie. By afternoon I was tucked into the sofa bed vaguely watching the women's Olympic road race.

And if getting sick wasn't enough, we're dealing with Beep in season this week. I feel sorry for her being stuck in the house for 2 weeks when the sunny days are gorgeous. But she's stuck with fully supervised outside time, with Buzz is being the ever-protective male, checking out any strange scents and noises.

An easy week

2008-08-03T20:39:00.003+10:00

The alarm went off many mornings, but I just wasn't waking up. This combined with physio instructions for a light week on the bike meant I had sleep-ins all week (I was quietly thanking the physio).

So the week can be summed up with a couple of light 30km roadies, finished off with a local night race. Evan & I decided that the only way to cruise this race was to ride the long bike...so to the surprise of everyone else, out came the tandem for 1 hour of riding with fairly respectable laps. We both had a really great night.

I'm back to progressing the riding this week, and I'm looking forward to getting back in the saddle.

BMC 8 Hour...A Solo Women Win

2008-07-29T21:19:00.003+10:00

Finally all the cold, early mornings seem worth it. A satisfying win at Yellowmundee.

I had the worst start ever - the last 30 people out 100+ which added 9 minutes to my start lap. My memories of Yellowmundee were of a relatively flat course, but 4 hours in I was strongly agreeing with Gav's statement of it being 'the hilliest flat course ever'. And all those fun technical sections that I used to ride and love, I now viewed as rugged and demanding (both climbs and decents).

The first few laps had me ridged and tense, not wanting to fall off and hurt my knee again. I gradually relaxed a little and began to enjoy the laps, aiming to keep consistency in my lap times. Gav & Evan were a faultless support crew, always ready with my food & drinks and not taking offence to me barking orders at them as I rode by at 25km/h. I managed to keep my food stops to 2, with a total of 6 minutes. I also found a great spot to store my food on the go...rice cakes don't fit well in jersey pockets, but they fit perfectly in your crop top!!! Jokes were made about alternative uses for them such as breast feeding pads, which gives a whole new meaning to the term 'breast feeding'!!!!

And of course my trusty steed, the Scalpel, was faultless. No mechanicals, no flats, no missed food stops - what more could I ask for. And congratulations to Gav, Matt & Evan on their Men's 3's effort. No photos available - Evan was busy riding & supporting me.

A much-needed week off work

2008-07-20T17:20:00.004+10:00

Drink top-up at Coramba

After lacking enthusiasm in everything, I decided a week off work would be just what I needed. A week of sleep-ins and riding in the warmth of the day revitalised me.

Monday presented me with a windy 26 degree day for a cruisy recovery ride round Coffs. Tuesday was my first day of hill reps up my favourite hill climb - my glutes were sore until Friday!! Wednesday was a road ride with friends Sally & Brad. They turned back at the hour mark and I continued on for another 4 hours. This is the longest ride I've done since December, and totally enjoyed it. Fare enough it wasn't at great pace, but it was a good way to find out what my legs and knee were up for. As it turned out, I think I must have done something to it when I fell off a few weeks ago. Pain continued until Friday morning, whereby I conceded I may need to bring in the physio's expertise. Under instruction to take it easy until I could see him, I stuck to flat cruisy rides for the remainder of the week.

Cows with Guns Local Racing

2008-07-13T18:26:00.003+10:00

Saturday presented us with a 90km ride that took us out to Ulong. It's not Ulong that is the attraction (with a population of about 100 people and an accumulated IQ to match), but the 12km climb that gets you there. Finally it's nice to say that I love some hills, and this is one of them. 45 minute climbing, 15 minute decent.....beautiful.

This was backed up on Sunday with a local 3 hour mtb race. Little climbing and lots of windy single track kept my mind busy, trying to steer clear of the ever increasing number of slippery tree roots. I headed out with the intention of just riding - pushing the climbs and staying upright on the slippery sections.

Consistent lap times encouraged me to continue at this pace, gradually pushing harder on the flat sections for more fun. In the end I had a fantastic race, and managed to finally break what has become a routine of being DFL in 'A' grade.

Evan, of course, had to be the star attraction - not for his speed and skills, but for making the most of a broken derailleur. Instead of bowing out of the race & being my bottle bitch, he jumped on the chucker (the wrecked mountain bike that's going to be repeatedly thrown at the Mid Winter Cycle Madness weekend) and rode 3 laps on a bike that had a front brake, flat pedals and no chain!! The embarrasing point of this is that he was riding 30 minute laps, while I was struggling with my 17 minute laps....hmmmm - doesn't say much for my fitness.

Local Racing - Boggy Bucca

2008-06-29T16:47:00.006+10:00

We started the weekend out with a light 2 hour road ride on Saturday - beautiful sun, little wind and a relatively flat ride to look after my knee. Sunday was a XC race at local race site, Bucca. Known for its fun single track with little climbing, I was looking forward to the race.

Evan and I did the 1 hour ride out to the race to get some extra kms in the legs. The plan was to race the 6 laps like I used to - none of this endurance stuff....just go hard from the start and hurt all the way.

Half the course was very wet and boggy - lots of bog holes and wet tree roots. 2nd lap into the race I slipped one of these tree roots and came down on my bad knee...AGAIN !!! I got back on and finished my lap slower than I started, but I had the fear in me by that stage. 3rd lap had me fall off in the same spot. Finishing this lap off I thought about the race as a whole - do I continue, with the risk of coming down on my knee again (high risk by the way I was riding by now), or do I take the cautious approach and consider that this isn't the race to go all out. So I piked it and cheered on the other A graders who were going all out.

Evan finished 2nd behind Geoff Gilchrist - and what a race Geoff had...brilliantly consistent, never stumbled, and trashed Evan to the point where I was doing turns up front on the hour ride home.

I'm looking forward to the night race in a couple of weeks time. Let's hope I've got my head (and knee) sorted by then.

BMC 8 Hour

2008-06-23T21:23:00.006+10:00

Big Dog pushing out the fastest men's lap for the day
Matt Reynolds paired it up with Gav
Having a great time on the first bridge

Oops...missed the bridge
Feeding up on the fire trail climb
The race was awesome....or should I say 'half the race was awesome'. The weather was great for riders; the course was fun, flowy single track with not too much climbing; and I was feeling strong and fresh. Then I fell off : (

The first 3 hours were great for me - my legs were fresh, and considering the mad 4 weeks prior to the event, I didn't feel the ride until the 3 hour mark. I was riding relatively consistent laps, helped along by some great Sydney friends who were happy for me to sit on their wheel for 3 laps. Thanks Matt & Erica - made the time go by quickly. The course was getting harder to ride as the hours wore on - instead of drying out, damp sections became boggy and spued wet sand out the sides onto the track. What were initially fast sections turned into hard pedalling, and boggy bits grabbed your front wheel without warning.

I had a bit of an 'up close and personal' moment with Evan (check out wide-eyed photo above) - he was set up photographing riders across a bridge. I still don't know what happened, but I ended up riding off the side of the bridge and stopping upright on the bike, two foot from Evan's body. I thought it was hilarious, but Evan wasn't impressed with my riding skills : (

On my 7th lap I was passing someone and fell, landing on my dodgy knee. I panicked, the bottom lip wabbled, and then I looked down to see a suspicious looking lump. I sat on my bike for 10 mins wavering between continuing the ride, or pulling the pin. The pain subsided enough to continue on slowly to finish my lap. Gavin (my brother) caught up to me and sat on my wheel long enough to listen to my woes, and encourage me to get first aid to have a look to see if anything major was wrong with my knee.

As I pulled up to our tent at transition, Evan had already been worded up by Gav. Evan thought I was being a girl about it, until I got off the bike - one glance and he announced that I wasn't going back out on the bike. One positive was that I was able to spend more time with Gav between his laps. Gav & Matt finished 10th in the Men's 3's (their original 3rd rider was seconded to a BMC team), with some pretty hot laps between the two of them. Great work, guys.

So in summary, I was having a fantastic ride - I was coming 2nd behind Katrin Van der Spiegel. I ended up finishing 5th out of 9 - not bad for half a ride I suppose. It's now Monday night and the knee has improved substantially, has a general swelling, and looks like it might just be bruising rather than completely stuffed, which I'm greatly relieved about.

The 'kids' at the beach

2008-06-08T18:20:00.003+10:00

Finally I've included a piccy of the little darlings, Buzz & Beep.

Buzz is our brindle boy - a big boofy clumsy boy who delights in teasing Beep, always up for some fun to make you laugh, and has the most beautiful, loving personality....he's forever happy.

Beep is the sweetest thing - she loves to be close, sleeps with her body under the doona & shares my pillow, but can be a right little cow sometimes with other dogs.

A hard day training...???

2008-05-25T20:19:00.004+10:00

Well, what more can I say but life is good. For those who wondered whether the move to Coffs Harbour was the right thing, I think this piccy says it all. My training now involves longer rides, and this was a new route for us - a 75km round trip to Urunga and back. The traffic along the 20km stretch of Pacific Highway is quickly forgotten during our food break at the beach.

A WIN @ Lunatic Fringe 6 Hour

2008-05-11T19:14:00.007+10:00

Let me set the scene....driving for kms on end with no houses in sight, then drive some more. Upon arriving at the race site, the Coffs guys concurred that this was definately banjo country, no doubt with a nice 'crop' of the whacky tobaccy not far away. Amongst the non-stop laughing, there were concerns that each lap of the course would entail each rider to sample such crops in order to complete a lap and transition. So it was no surprise that a total of 33 riders showed up for the 6 and 12 hour events.

So, a 'win' would indicate that there was some other female competition, however I was the only Solo female. So my competition ended up being the men, where I managed to place 2nd overall (teams and solos). The Coffs guys (2 x mens pairs) cleaned up in the 12 Hour - 1st and 2nd placings sown up.

Due to the lack of competition the pressure was off, which was a really nice feeling for my first race back from injury (and first race in 7 months). I headed out at a pace that I knew I could sustain for the duration. The course was a combination of 3km open motocross track, which had a couple of nasty steep climbs and a brief chance for some air time, with the remainder of the course being fun single track.

With my knee still in repair, I was reluctant to push myself too hard - the last thing I want is setbacks due to my impatience. I was also having a few issues with the rear hub, so at the 3 hour mark I made a conscious decision to stop for an hour. With 2 hours to go I headed back out to finish off the day. With half an hour to go I realised that my legs were still feeling fantastic...I was just sooo surprised, and it was exhilirating !!!

Back on the MTB

2008-04-14T21:02:00.006+10:00

A longed for return to idillic Mt Beauty, North East Victoria
Riding the water race at Castlemaine, Central Victoria
Evan & I enjoyed 2 weeks travelling south, and all of it pretty much involved bikes. Canberra for Alex (read below); Castlemaine for some awesome water race riding with friends, and to catch up with my in-laws; then on to Mt Beauty for a weekend of technical single track and climbs, and catching up with friends.

This holiday coincided with me getting the go-ahead from physio and surgeon to get back on the bike. I was very tentative initially, not wanting to push the knee too hard, but after a couple of hours I was feeling more confident and back to enjoying the technical single track. I don't have any lateral movement yet, so I was stuck pretty much upright on the bike - this made tight cornering pretty much non-existent, and the Mt Beauty switchbacks a definate challenge - I think I found the straight line on a few occasions!

Australian 24 Hour Solo Championships

2008-04-14T20:19:00.005+10:00

Alex enjoying a well deserved beer at the end of 24 hours of racing

Alex Kiendl rode a hard race, placing 2nd behind Katrin Van der Spiegel.

With my racing put on hold, supporting Alex Kiendl at the solo champs was an experience that I would not have passed up. Andy (Alex's very dedicated boyfriend) was the main man, with evan on mechanics and myself as emotional support (apparently being a girl made me more qualified for this role!!).

Alex rode like a demon even though she'd been sick for the weeks prior to the event. The first 7 or 8 hours was really exciting, with 1st - 4th within minutes of each other. Night time saw the placings begin to set in, and Alex kept pushing Katrin with her strong night riding.

Congratulations both Alex and Katrin - and thanks Alex for the learning experience of being on a support crew. I must admit that I came away from the event motivated, but also a little deflated - seeing what level I need to get back to came as a real shock.

International Women's Day Ride

2008-03-04T20:18:00.011+11:00

This is an advertising photograph that Evan created for an International Women's Day ride. Is there anything familiar there?...helmet, Carbon Rush, LEGS!!!! All I can say is "nice legs, shame about the face..."

It's now known as a 'bogspot', not blogspot...

2008-02-28T19:40:00.011+11:00

I was just riding along...

BIKE PORN…..my new ride is awesome

2008-02-24T17:28:00.001+11:00

Well, I can’t ask for anything more. My new Cannondale Carbon Rush, in combination with my Cannondale Scalpel, proved just the bike for the Scott 24 Hour. A rugged course (that would have given even a well worn hooker a sore back) proved to be nothing to the Rush. Its maiden voyage, the Rush performed like a dream. Even after 18 hours of riding by myself and in a state of complete delirium, I couldn’t fabricate anything wrong with the bike that might stress me about maybe not being able to complete the event. Everything was effortless – cornering, breaking ruts, shifting, even climbing (and that’s saying something after 24 hours of riding Mt Stromlo!).

But wait, there’s more! Recently I was also treated to a 2008 Scalpel. And can I just say OH MY GOD…. I thought my 5 year old Scalpel was light (total bike weight of 9.8kg) and well suited to endurance events, but the new carbon/aluminium composite frame just makes for a bike that wants to GO!

My ongoing thanks to the guys at Panther Cycles – you’ve always steered me in the right direction and supported me. Also, many thanks to the guys at Cannondale. And lastly, my brother Gav – sorry that mum still hasn’t forgiven you for getting me started on mountain biking! Riding means more to me than you’ll ever know….

Hi and Welcome to Juzzy's Blog

2008-02-24T17:12:00.003+11:00

For those that have noticed, I have been absent from the racing scene for several months. A very inconveniently timed knee injury in early December 2007 sent me on a journey of devastation, frustration and, believe it or not, learning. Initially I would have said that the first two feelings would have been prominent, but as time drags on I’m finding that learning has been an unexpected positive of an unfortunately situation.

The injury: I came out of the Scott 24 Hour with the same niggling knee pain reminiscent of the Kona 24 Hour 10 months earlier, however this time it impacted on my performance, with me having to settle for only doing enough laps to keep 2nd place. First lesson….LISTEN TO YOUR BODY!

After the Scott I gave myself some (what I believed) well deserved recovery time. The Australian 24 Hour Solo Champs were in 5 months – heaps of time. As the weeks wore on I realised that I was beyond ‘recovery’ and just being down right slack! Lesson two….HAVE SHORT TERM GOALS.

After spending a few weeks with panic building in my head, it was time to get serious. Normal training resumed, and two or three weeks later I was stuck on the couch with a very painful and swollen knee. How it happened? I still don’t know. What it meant? Torn medial meniscus (cartilage) which would require surgery to remove the torn sections.

Over the next 7 weeks I attempted to remain active as much as the pain allowed. Minimal resistance wind training sessions, walks on the beach and core/upper body strength were the extent of it. Lesson three….I HAVE A VERY UNDERSTANDING PARTNER, EVAN. This was a difficult time for Evan and myself – no exercise does not make a happy Justine.

And this is where I’m at now – surgery over, good outcome, LOTS of physiotherapy rehabilitation exercises. Today (23rd February 2008) I had my first ‘real’ ride – we drove to the velodrome and I did what I thought I would never do….ride round and round in a circle and really enjoyed it!

The learning part didn’t end here. Not being able to ride I got pretty bored, so I’ve gone over in my head nearly every training week leading up to the Scott, where I needed improvement, what worked, when and why was I fatigued…the list goes on. So although this has been the worst possible time, I have taken some positives from it and focussed on these.

Where to from here? The 24 Hour Solo Champs are out, but my planning still involved some amount of riding at the event. So although I won’t be competitive (I may be able to ride for 6 hours all up), I’ll still be there for the event and to cheer on my friends who, ironically, are also my competitors!

Over the next few months Evan and I might make some joint appearances as a team at endurance events. It’s been a long time (the last was the 2005 Mont tandem effort), but it will be great to still compete and enjoy these events while I’m getting my endurance legs back.