A hard day training...???

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

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

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

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

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...

I was just riding along...

BIKE PORN…..my new ride is awesome

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

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.