Wednesday in Canberra

I arrived in Sydney on Monday to rain. The drive to Canberra led to better weather, and it is sunny right now and was outstanding yesterday.

I am pretty busy doing nothing, it is amazing how much time you can consume by resting, building bikes and going to the supermarket at least 3 times a day! I am just about to do a proper shop - this is where I need to concentrate on what I am buying.

I rode a lap of the course yesterday. It is very dry, you could almost say some light rain would be nice. I am really happy with the course, there is nothing too hard when you are not tired. I enjoy the rocks as it adds a nice dimension and interest to the ride. Pork Barrell is pretty cool but I was say the best part is the descent at the end a good ten minutes of Skyline, Rollercoaster and Luge. The most disconcerting thing is the signs saying "snakes seen recently in the is area!" The climbing is ok, and there is one section on the 2nd ascent of the hill that will become a painful fire road climb

I am unsure how long each lap will be as I haven't yet done a complete lap without stopping, over an hour most certainly. I have a pretty good pit space and with my crew being able to see clearly on the course.

Juliet, my sister, and Pit Crew Manager arrives tomorrow, and Tim and my Mum on Friday. It's getting pretty exciting now and I can't wait to get going.

Five Days to Go

Last time I looked it was August, somehow it is now October!

The last few weeks have been spent organising gear, packing gear and spending endless quantities of money, however I found time to complete my preparation by participating in my first road race for over 5 years. The Wellington Veterans Cycle Club put a great event and fantastic weather in Featherston this year. I opted for the shorter 64km ride, there would have been about 100 people in this event and when I saw the amount of fluro I headed to the 2^nd row of the start.

Pretty soon there was a breakaway of three riders, four to five of us managed to reel them in after about 5 minutes, then we hit the first hill and I promptly got dropped! This left me in no mans land, I could see the first bunch but couldn't quite get there and when I looked back there was no sign of anyone chasing. I decided to put my head down and time trial and wait until I caught. In the meantime I was catching the tail enders from the 80km and I picked up a rider from my bunch who had also been dropped.

I pulled this guy around the rest of the course, I would do a heap of work and he would come to the front and give me a rest and then as soon as he slowed I would take the lead again. He kept saying he wasn't pulling his weight but it did help me as I certainly would have been slower without him.

In the end we finished in 2.03 and the 2^nd bunch never caught us, though at times I could see them. I had to do an epic 1km sprint at the end as a girl from the 2^nd bunch had bridged the gap and there was no way she was finishing ahead of me. The results aren't up yet, however I am sure I was 2^nd girl and in the top ten to cross the line.

I was really impressed with the roadie seen and might just join in a bit more!

I'm in transit to Canberra right now, by the time I post this I'll might even be there. I feel under control and maybe a little apprensive, whatever happens, it will be fun.