BMC 8 Hour...A Solo Women Win

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

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

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.