Nationals

Finally home from nationals and it was a good week of racing although in summary I had four races and did not perform to my absolute best in all of them:-

1. Individual Pursuit - This was probably my worst event this week. I think the stress that Shane was suffering from was catching and I warmed up ok and everything was good there but when I was locked in the start gate, I looked at the clock and it said "9" and it dawned on me that I had 9 seconds to start and when the beeps started counting down from 5 seconds I was not in the zone and I tries to go on 1 and the gate doesnt release of course but all of that energy is used and then when I went I had the slowest start ever and I could have ridden a 2.45-2.47 but rode a 2.51 instead which was a bugger and all of that stress for nothing. A sidenote was that to ride a final I would have had to sub 2.43 and that just isnt where I am at at the moment but will be training for the worlds in October.

Road Racing - YAY - Time TRial was a miserable wet day and the course was quite undulating, I used the disc wheel and maybe it helped and maybe it didnt, it certainly hleps get the speed cranking but you do have to push it up the hills. I GOT SILVER medal which I was very excited about, Kerrie Howard beat me by 29 seconds and I know I lost some time on the big climb from changing down gears too late, but not 29 seconds worth of time

Criterium - Lost focus. On the last lap I pushed hard but once I got throught he very wet corners, I think I was so excited to have made it safely around the course without falling off, I lost focus and didnt gun it to the line - a lack of actual racing doesnt help me here either. I think I need to race more and experience the end of race pain and sprint better and etc ect., I was pretty devastated about this race, as soon as I crossed the line, I was upset, it was a hard race, I pushed the pace a bit as the corners although wet, were not that slippery and we were doing 38 around the wet bends a bit.

Road Race - A 63km crit - the course was a joke, if you lost the lead car, you would not have worked out where to go. I finished 7th, probably just wasnt near the right wheel when the last attack was made, 500m from the line, one went and three tagged on and then three of us went and I was unfortunatley not in the right gear to hang on to the two that jsut got the jump on me. So I sprinted never made any ground and ended up 7th which was ok, as I rode a smart race and was much better prepared for the end, but the confusing course along with just missing the jump meant I had to settle for a crap placing. I was much happier with the way I raced and my mindset and sometimes I wonder if I am cut out for racing, I love it and I am strong in the bunch no doubt about that but the "eye of the tiger" is missing a bit and I need to find it.

Overall it was a stressful week of racing, but the good things were - learning how slow I can ride the first corner in a pursuit, riding a fast crit in the rain has helped my bike handling, training on the hills and traffic at the Northern Beaches has also helped my bike skills, winning a silver medal on the road was an absolute highlight, and riding a smart road race.

This weekend I begin my campaign to race more with a view to doing better next year and bringing home two medals - hopefully a gold one there too.