Hi to all Sturdies
It has been a year since I left Phila/NJ for Perth, Western Australia, to be reunited with friends and family. While it was a hard decision to make, once made it felt right and I have not looked back. I spent 13 fantastic years in the USA but it was time to come home.
In Perth, I was delighted to see so many bike paths that went for miles with no intersections, just the odd dugite snake, tiger snake to make the commute to work a little more interesting! My bikes arrived 10 weeks after I did, via ship. During that 10 weeks I thought about them and my life in Phila, racing and riding with SGC. I started to think that it had been fun but maybe this was the end of the bike chapter in my life.
Well that did not sit too well with me when the bikes arrived. As I unpacked each bike which had been lovingly packed by the famous Stanley of D&Q bike shop Cherry Hill, each retold the story of my beginning with road riding in NJ through, the friends I made, the fun times we hand and some of the success I started to have with racing Time Trials.
From there I decided to take G's advice and head for a national race, “no reason not to”! I started training again in July 2010 and by September I went to my first National TT in my age group and placed 2nd! This was a shock especially as I was only 29 secs behind the reigning world champion in my age group who also lives in Perth.
I have trained and raced all through our winter here (mild Mediterranean climate whoopee no snow!) with the dream of entering the World Masters Federation World TT championship in Austria August 2011.
A few months ago, we found out that UCI was really starting to honour Masters racers by announcing the World Masters Cycling Tour for amateurs. I could not believe it when sunny Perth succeeded in getting a qualifying race to be held on Rottnest Island, a 30 minute ferry ride from our mainland. No cars, just quokkas, snakes and lots of pedestrians and people on bikes. A quokka is a small marsupial the size of a cat, that is friendly to humans and is unique to Rottnest (Rotto as locals call it).
The morning of the race: Lugging a trainer, spare wheels and the bike onto a ferry was a challenge but we all were pleased to have a day off work so we didn’t mind so much!
The course: 18km or about 11 miles of undulating and some short hills, technical with turns and a deceiving S bend and fantastic coastal views.
The race: field of 5 women in my age group, some national stars and one recreational rider who has overcome cancer and is an inspiration to all. It was fast, furious and tough because of the shorts hills under speed. I internally chanted "stay calm, focus and ride like hell" through the race. I rode with a Zipp power tap wheel and just kept that wattage way above what I thought was comfortable the whole time! I attacked every hill like my life depended on it as I felt I had to put it on the line that day if I was to win and get to go to Belgium. No quokkas in my way but a sighting of a big ? goanna up ahead!
The outcome: I was first by 5 secs with all of us coming in within a 9 second range! Phew! Lucky girl on the day! Only the top 10% qualify to go to Belgium for the big final.
For those of you in the race team, know that when George talks about it taking 3-5 years to get to where you can realize the results from consistent training, believe it and keep at it!
The other thing I would say, is that if you have never had an expert bike fit, find the best person even if you must travel, and go and do it! It has made a huge difference to my performance in the last 4 weeks.
All the best!
Jenny
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