Takaka: Take Two

I had come to the conclusion, after last year's atrocious second stage of the Tour de Vineyards, that my twenty minute lag up Takaka hill was purely a result of what is referred to as 'the bonk', i.e. the failure to refuel your tank, resulting in the eventual combustion of every stockpile of energy that your body had stashed aside, so that your ability to turn the pedals over can feed only from whatever remains of your mental strength (usually in short supply at this stage), and whatever small insects you manage to inhale along the way. Suffice to say, the pedals do not turn around very fast.

So this time, I thought I'd take last year's lesson on board and pack my pockets with enough Enervit gel to fill a small lake. The lesson I have learnt this year is that no amount of Enervit will turn me into a 45kg hill climber.

So again, I met my end with the sixteen kilometer ascent, and after climbing a very tall ladder in the prologue, found myself sliding down an even longer snake to the 'clap clap, you're trying' end of the General Classification.

If my long term aim was to conquer the Alpe D'Huez in record time, then this would have been much more of a blow to my confidence. Thankfully, my goal is in fact pursuiting, so in my mind, my second place in the 4.5km prologue of the tour more than made up for my pitiful hill climbing display. After all, for me, the Tour de Vineyards is no more than a brutal training camp.

Next on the agenda for me is the Denton Track Carnival in Christchurch over the 4th and 5th. Then back home for a few days before I head to the scorching Hawkes Bay for another grueling road tour.

I'd like to say an ENORMOUS thank you to the lovely Kirk family for adopting me over the past week. Racing is made a lot easier when you know you have a home-away-from-home to come back to.


Happy New Year all,

Cassie

Categories:

A Little Place Called Bundy

When you compare the pros and cons of a seven hour stop-over in Brisbane airport, the cons seem to far outweigh the pros. However, one that certainly springs to mind is that it gives me the perfect opportunity to blog about my recent (and very spontaneous) adventure across the ditch.

I was told less than a week in advance that I was invited by the Bundaberg Cycling Club to race at the McHugh Steel Cycling Spectacular along with a tribe of fellow kiwis - Georgia Williams, Dylan Kennett, Liam Aitcheson, Brad Evans and Hayden McCormick (affectionately renamed Chicken-Wing). Despite a lack of form and notice, I was - needless to say - more than eager to box up the bicycles and hop across the ditch for a week under the Bunderberg sunshine and a blast on the track at a carnival which attracts some of the best in Australia and the world.

Just another opportunity to get away from the repetition of Wanganui roads, weather and general atmosphere was enough of a pull factor that there was no need to ask me twice, let alone the fact that we were put in the hands of our munificent and greatly hospitable homestays, Mel and Darren Scheuer, as well as the club officials - Toby, Peter, and Sheldon (I think he'd make a good stand-up act) - as well as being treated like superstar athletes with radio and newspaper interviews, meet and greets with the Bundy locals, and a very enjoyable sponsors' evening - even a few autograph requests here and there. Suffice to say, we felt more than welcome in the town which more than made up for it's small size with an abundance of benevolence and geniality.

The carnival itself was excellent, both in organisation and the standard of competitors. Despite a narrow field, the women's racing was fast-paced and challenging, and there was a good deal of money up for grabs, which always adds that extra incentive to leave everything you have on the track. Georgia backed up her Oceania Championship success with a win in just about every race (and will head home with a much heavier wallet) while I fought my way into third place in most races, which required some sly use of the elbows at some points. The boys also had a somewhat prosperous carnival - Dylan in particular - with a podium finish in each race, as well as setting a new lap record for the track.

All in all, I had an amazing time in Australia, and was overwhelmed by the hospitality that Bundaberg offered. The racing atmosphere was one brimming with enthusiasm, praise and enjoyment, with animating commentary from the Under 9 races through to the Elite Men, brilliant audience engagement with the auctioning of riders for the feature Wheel Race, and talented fields in every category. I am so thankful for having the opportunity to spend the week in such an admirable place, meet an awesome group of people and get some top-notch racing into my legs as I head into another season on the track. I would like to say a HUGE thank you to all of the Bundaberg Cycling Club for being outstanding hosts, as well as my homestay parents, Mel and Darren, who provided five star accommodation and the finest cooked breakfasts for Georgia and I. I return to New Zealand with some amazing new friends, a number of additions to my memory box, a considerably darker complexion, a new-found partiality to Bundy Rum (thanks to Mel), and a weariness of the damage that certain platter-dwelling appetizers can inflict upon one's best dress shirt (ay Dylan). Possibly even a slight Auzzie twang to my voice.

Next years dates have already been put in my calender.

Cassie

Categories:

A Few Moments in the Mind of Me

One thing I have learned recently is not to take inspiration for granted. Along with socks, chamois cream and chain lube, for a long time I've underestimated the significance of having a sufficient supply of it. Another thing I've learnt is that inspiration should be treated in a way similar to that in which I tend to my corn crops on Hay Day, in that it needs to be carefully managed; use it all up at once, and it's gone. All you'll be left with is some wilting carrots and a half-empty silo. It needs to be used in moderation, so that two weeks down the track, you've left enough out in the fields to have grown some more.

Metaphors aside, I have found myself running on empty for the last wee while. And it's much harder than I would ever have imagined. Thankfully for me though, every once in a while, someone can throw a little inspiration your way. And often that's all it takes to get back on your feet and start working away at things, however small steps may they be.

It's difficult not to overwhelm oneself when our expectations are set at what seems ever so slightly out of reach, and no matter how much jumping and stretching and visualising we do, the bar is only ever 'so close', and we find ourselves hovering there in our aspiration, grasping at our goals and only ever touching them for a second before they slip away again.

The worst thing one can do is kick these disappointments under the carpet; stack them up in the small black box that lurks obscurely, but never silently, in the waste bin of our mind. Of course, this is the simplest option. To wipe the slate clean and start over, look at the upsides. But it's very rarely the most constructive. Sometimes a little psychological spring cleaning is needed.

So that is what I intend to do. As soon as I can rid my mind of the clutter of my exam notes, I'm going to take a step back and make a plan, and hopefully get my thoughts into better order than my bedroom has been of late. After all, in the words of Laurence J. Peter, if you don't know where you're going, you'll probably end up somewhere else.

Last night I had the privilege of attending the Wanganui Sports Awards, and of hearing Shaun Quincy's absorbing account of his fifty-four day, 2200km solo row across the Tasman. As well as serving as an overdue replenishment of my actuation, it also highlighted the distinct similarity in the way that athletes' brains tick, irrespective of their discipline or ambitions. We all have fight. We all have desire to prove to ourselves and the world what we are capable of, regardless of what sacrifices we need to make along the way. And we all have belief, that someday we will be the one passing inspiration on to someone else.




Cassie

Categories:

Southland's Wild Side

Through each of my previous five visits to Invercargill this year, I've had no more than a harmless breeze and a few light showers to cope with, so I assumed I was sufficiently prepared for what the Southern spring would throw at me. How wrong was I.

My Southland venture began with the Yunca Junior Tour, the final event of the Junior National Points Series, and one that attracts some good numbers from all over the country, as well as the few Australians brave enough to tackle our harsh climate. HA

Day one of the tour got off to the predicted start, with sleet and gusts so strong that the prologue had to be postponed by fifteen minutes or so (aren't they generous). The little 'uns were the first to set off, and bore the brunt of the weather. How they held their tiny bikes, and selves, down in that, I will never know. The downpour also meant that the only shelter in the area was packed tighter than a can of sardines in a trash compacter, and thus one had to clamber over numerous bikes, bodies and various pieces of farm equipment in search of a spot to warm up. I can pretty safely say I've had a taste of life as a battery hen.

Thankfully by the time I rolled up to the line, the clouds had well emptied themselves and the deluge of rain had passed, leaving only the wind to contend with. I pulled off a pretty good time in the end, and went into stage two with the yellow. The following day's weather held nothing back, pounding us with snow and gales that left half of us blue and solidified, despite what was supposed to be a hundred kilometre day being cut back to twenty five - for reasons I need not explain. I managed to lose my lead due to my lack of oomph in the sprint finishes, and only reattained it in the final bunch sprint of the tour.

Cutting it fine..

I didn't go into the tour with a great deal of expectations, so I was pretty content with my result. However the track racing which followed was a bit contrary. I went into it with a very inaccurate confidence-to-ability ratio, and, for lack of better words, got the shit my ego kicked out of me. But that's just bike racing. You can't win 'em all.

Next on the hit list was the one hundred and fifty kilometre Great Southern Cycle Challenge, which was soon to become my longest day on the bike so far. I have one, fool-proof tactic with races of this sort; Never think about what you're getting yourself into until you've hit the point of no return, i.e. the start line. That way, you can force yourself into it, and no matter how much you kick yourself when you're only twenty minutes into it and already closing your eyes and hoping that, when they open, you'll be cuddled up by the fire sipping away at a hot chocolate with marshmallows, watching The X Factor - it's too late to back out.

This is the mindset I used in approaching the GSCC (affectionately known as the Great Southern Crosswind Challenge, and for good reason). And although it didn't help me one bit when I was slogging my way through  roaring wind with a bunch less use to me than the one fifty km's up the road, I'm sure if I'd thought about how long the race would actually take me with my level of fitness, I would have slept in that morning.

I'll spare you all the sob-session and summarise with.. 'it was a HARD day on the bike'.

I'm back to living life in Wanganui now, and preparing myself for my next big mission - NCEA exams. I'm wondering if my blog would be considered 'Non-Shakespearean Drama', in which case my English exam would be well and truly sorted.

Cheerio,
Cassie


PS. Big thank you to Dillon Bennett for running around after me like a headless chook. He even fueled me up with pre-race pancakes. And also to my host parents, Steph and Brad :)

Categories:

Damn Those Limpets

It never ceases to amaze me how quickly one can lose form, particularly when it takes so long to gain it. Last year I made the imprudent decision to take a month's vacation from my bike, and consequently had to drag myself through four months or so of swinging on the back of the bunch, labouring my way up Takaka, and swallowing the shame of the pity claps when I came crawling to the finish, after most were packing up to go home. Needless to say, I felt two weeks off would suffice this year.

I did feel a lot fitter after my break this year than last, but it has still been (and remains) a struggle to be as competitive as I would like to be. Though I have kept in mind that my target race isn't until February next year, and that one cannot be on brilliant form all of the time. So for now, I just have to suck it up and focus on laying the foundations that the coming track season will be built upon.

Even with all of this in mind though, it is hard to rock up to the NZ Schools Nationals and not want to win a few medals and a bit of pride, so of course that was my aim. But the thing with schools nationals is that they very rarely go to plan, and it is very easy to get swamped by a heap of erratic cyclists in a bunch kick, despite one's best efforts to avoid this by spending a good percentage of the race on the front, trying to lose the swarm of sit-on and shit-on-ers, however unsuccessfully. As you can imagine, there was a fair bit of screaming, shouting and maybe a few swear words incited by a dangerous mix of rage and exhaustion.

Long story short - I had two very hard races, and two somewhat disappointing ones.

Big ups to Devon Hiley for a hugely impressive display in the points race. Holding off the bunch in wind so relentless that my max speed in the sprint laps never surpassed fifteen kilometres an hour, would have taken a great deal of will power and a lot of gas in the tank. Well deserved win.

Now to start the familiar task of packing my suitcase and bike boxes so I can head back down to the foot of New Zealand (Invercargill) for the sixth time this year. But this time it's to try my luck on the road at the Yunca Junior Tour of Southland. I haven't raced the tour in a while so it will be a nice change (though not of scenery), and I'll have a chance to get my track legs going again at the ILT Track Racing the following few nights. Better give my Spaggs a polish ツ

Cassie

>Limpet Definition

Categories:

The Road Less Travelled

The dust is starting to settle on my blog and I think it's about time I brush it off. By now you might have noticed somewhat of a trend.. if I'm not content with how things have gone, I'm often dilatory in advising the world about it. Most likely because I'm subconsciously trying to avoid digressing on something that has been pushed so far back in my memory stores that I will have to search through primary school playground disputes and trips to Lollipop Land to find it.

To be quite honest, I was severely disappointed with my performance at the the Junior World Champs. I'm not complaining about a silver medal in the Team Pursuit, and I stand proud to have made it one step higher on the Podium from last year, but I cannot help but feel that I wasn't the best that I could have been that day. Which was made quite apparent five days later, when I rode nearly two seconds slower than my best, and one and a half seconds off the time I rode two weeks earlier, immediately after a fairly brutal training block. Lessons are yet to be learned, as soon as I work out what exactly went wrong.

I've had a decent break from my bike, and it was much needed - if not for my body's sake, my mind's. I would like to thank the people who have stood behind me, and urged me on when it would have been so easy to give in. You know who you are. It's not going to be an easy road from here, now that I've been thrown into the 'real world', but it's a road that I am going to charge down and not look back, and one that I hope to leave some decent footprints in.

Cassie

Categories:

The Final Countdown

Here we are, in the home straight of our build up for the 2012 Junior World Track Championships. After a short-lived return home, and a few days to pedal the travel out of our legs, we arrived in the deep south today to begin the final two weeks of touch ups and amendments to our preparation. I found myself surprisingly unswayed by the dramatic change in temperature as I made yet another transition between seasons, and thankfully did not fall victim to the dreaded jet-lag, so I did not take long to adjust to home conditions and get back to turning the pedals over.

I am eager to get back on the boards, to see the results of our U.S. stint begin to show, and to soon be counting down the days til racing kicks off on two hands. It has been a somewhat shaky build-up at times, but with only a few weeks to go, the legs are coming through and the immune system is doing it's job, so there is nothing standing in our way.

Watching the Olympic Games unfold has been an extra push factor over the past week, and has sparked up a great deal of pride and inspiration inside us all. The Junior World Champs, after all, is just the start.

Cassie

Categories: