It’s been a while since my last post. The motivation has been low since Nationals and it’s always easier to report about the good results and strong performances rather than the lacklustre ones. Unlike 2009 Nationals, this time around didn’t involve a bout of bad luck, instead a case of bad legs. Well, bad legs for the time trial and poor racing tactics for the road race.
I was suffering a low-level virus but nothing really to worry about going into time trial day. I had ensured a good warm up to face the first climb and all equipment was running smoothly. Dave took pole position in the car behind but given there were no radios for the first time this year, the only real assistance was going to be a wheel or bike change. Fingers crossed – not this time.
However within 2 minutes of commencing, we knew I was in for a bad day. I was all over the place on the bike on the first climb. I couldn’t find a rhythm – in the saddle, out of the saddle, in, out. It just wasn’t clicking. I was attempting to get over the gears and the legs felt like lead. I didn’t dare glance at my cadence – it felt like it was in the 70rpm range. Ridiculous. The bigger gears that I’d attempted in the lead up training to the event just weren’t working for me on the day – instead I was becoming more and more bogged down. There was just no spark and try as I might throughout the race, I couldn’t muster it. I had to keep my mind switched on despite the heaviness in the legs and when riders started passing me – a situation that I had rather not imagined, I just had to keep it together all the way to the line. I finished a disappointing 4th and coped mentally by looking forward to Saturday’s road race.
I had a good game plan for this race and with the support of the ACT girls and Lotto team mates, Rochelle and Josie, I was quietly confident. However when race day dawned and the hot, oppressive conditions that were forecast were realised, we decided to can our original plan, settling with the idea that it was going to be a race of attrition. In doing so, I had transitioned from being aggressive and on the offense to passive and defensive. I kick myself now and have analysed a number of missed opportunities throughout. Gees, I can be a really slow learner. Right, time to move on… learn from the mistakes and train my body and mind for the coming season. I’m over the consistency and ready to embrace inconsistency if this means some great results on the horizon. Goal setting has begun and I’m going to transform my racing this year.
Next up on the calender is the Womens’ tour of New Zealand commencing on February 24th in Wellington. It will be exciting to race with my new team, Lotto. Qatar will be the first test for Lotto and a good chance to see how Rochelle’s sprint is coming along. I will miss this race in favour of a tour more suited to me in New Zealand.
I’m off to Adelaide next week with Dave for some training in the hills. I have fond memories of my first Nationals in the Adelaide hills and it will be great to ride in this beautiful place amongst the vineyards again.
Ciao,
Vicki