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Toowoomba Nationals 2016

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After this weeks debacle of events, it was touch and go whether we would make it to the race. Thankfully the Gastro bugs stayed away.

We did everything we could to make it happen. We managed to borrow my Mums car (thanks Mum!) and somehow squeezed my bike into the back. The forks hung over one child’s head, and the handlebars over another.

Baby Z woke at 1am for a breastfeed and again at 4am ready to start the day.

Today will be sleep deprived racing at its greatest.

I tried and tried to get him back to sleep but it was futile.

In my pre kids life at a Nationals race, my bike and gear would be super organised and I would be in the right mind set to race. But this time around I was just hoping to pack matching gloves and water.

The morning was spent packing three lunch boxes full of tasty goods to make sure the kids were happy on the almost 2 hour drive to the race.
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Photo: Lunchboxes all sorted.Yes, I know who likes the triangles and who doesn’t

As for my own nutrition, I made sure I had a banana for before the race and some protein for after the race, and my water.

While getting everything ready to pack into the car, Baby Z managed to fall out of the car onto his head and he got a big lump. Ice packs needed, and one cranky baby loaded into the car. After numerous discussions between Master F and Miss T about who brought which toy, we were finally off.

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Photo: Bumped head

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Photo: Finally on route to the race

We made it to the track and I really wanted to ride half of the course. I seem to do much better in races when I have warmed up on the track. But unfortunately I couldn’t get onto the race track because there was a race on. Luckily I had ridden it the day before!

My mind was distracted over the multiple cries of ‘Mummy!’ ‘Mummy!’. It is hard to focus. I made sure I drank some water and nibbled some food.

Although I was racing Cross Country, the butterflies from my prior downhill racing days were back. I think it was because I could see the downhillers doing runs, and I knew how they were feeling.

After giving the kids more food, and drinks, I was off to do a short 10 minute warm up before the race start. I kept bumping into some of my old downhill racing buddies. So my warm up was not too good and soon it was time for the race start.

Lining up with top names like Rebecca Henderson, Imogen Smith, Anna Beck, Jodie Willet is pretty cool. Even though I was racing in Veterans (which I found out is now called Masters!! ), it was nice to be amongst the Elite.

The gun went off and we were off up a fire road then onto single track. I pushed hard to try get a good position into the single track. The passing opportunities were limited on the track, so it was best to get a good position early.
racestart
Photo: The race start. I am in there at the back.

The Toowoomba track is fun!! I enjoy technical uphill. I am much better at it than long grinds. The downhills were super fun, and left me smiling. I loved going past the kids each lap and hearing them call out ‘Go MUMMY!’.

I managed to overtake a few people as I went around. Which is always a good confident boost.

I knew there was a girl in my class in front of me and one right behind me. I pedalled hard to try catch the leader on the climbs and stayed off the brakes on the downhills. I could see her, but just couldn’t quite catch her.

I came through in 2nd place, 11 seconds behind the winner. Stoked with my race as I kept positive and had my angry face on.

After the race Master F asked me innocently ‘Why didn’t you go faster so you could get the gold medal Mummy?’

I tried baby, I tried!



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Hoping gastro has a 3 day incubation period…. Aussie Nationals T-Bar!

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Here’s hoping that gastro has a 3 day incubation period, not 2. …. Aussie Nationals T-Bar!

The next round of the Australian National Mountain Bike Series is on this weekend at Toowoomba (or T-bar).

I’ve entered in the Cross Country race, which is on Saturday. I’ve never ridden the XC tracks there before, so am excited to have a crack.

Gastro Baby


But, on Wednesday night, baby Z started vomiting at 1am. After a change of sheets and clothes, he went back to sleep. Only to do it again at 4am, then again at 6am.. You get the gist.
gastro-baby

By Friday he was fine. So, if gastro has a 3 day incubation period, then I should get it on Saturday night. Which is great as it means I can still race on Saturday!. But if it hits me on Friday night, then it will be all over.

Today I had the chance to pre-ride the track. Thanks to my mum for looking after Baby Z and Miss T!!

I organised the three kids to get the eldest to school and the other two to my mums. I could smell poo…. I figured it was baby Z needing a nappy change. Yep he sure did. But it had actually exploded out his nappy and onto my top and onto my pants. Awesome. Then it went all over the floor… So I had to clean all that up before I even got out the house for the 2 hour ride to the track. Exhausting…

bike-raceplate
The track is awesome. Some tricky uphill sections, with fast fun downhills.

Car Troubles


Along with the gastro baby, we also have problems with our cars. Yes that’s right, both of our cars.!

Our 4WD has a broken accelerator. Apparently something has snapped and it means you can’t push the pedal properly as it just hits the floor. So it means a slow and sluggish drive. It will cost $600 to fix it and they have to send it away somewhere. ARGH. So todays 2 hour drive was painful and my leg is sore from pushing so hard on the accelerator.

The other car also has problems. But I can’t fit my bike in there easily anyway. Plus the back seat smells like spew and it looks like this:
No cover on the car seat. Means no baby can sit in it until the cover is clean and dry.

So, stay tuned to see how I fair tonight and tomorrow for the race!
Backseat-carseatspew



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Adare Wild West Series - XC Race

a-grade-ladies-adare
My race morning started at 2 am, with Baby Z waking up and needing to be fed, rocked and patted back to sleep. Catching another few hours sleep between 3am and 5am gave me just enough energy to grab my racing gear and a coffee and get on my way out to the Adare XC track.

I didn’t get a chance to ride the whole track before the race, so I was chatting to someone about the track layout. I remembered that I had actually raced at Adare before. And it was in 2008; 8 years ago!! I mentioned that I raced here 8 years ago, and I could sense that they were thinking ‘oh gee this chick is older than what I thought…’.

The conditions were dry, dusty and humid. It was only 7:30am, so we would be in for a hot race.

I was under the false impression that todays race was more of a short course format. But it was the full XCO style race (Olympic style cross country racing). That means it’s about 1.5 hours of racing for A grade women.

Considering my rides lately have not been much over 1 hour, I was feeling a bit nervous about my stamina to finish the race.

There were 5 ladies in A grade and it was all smiles at the start line. Off went the gun and we took off in the dust behind the A grade men. Let’s just say my race starts need a bit of work, and coupled with my lack of sleep and doubting my ability to race the longer format, I was behind the others within the first 100 metres. I decided not to chase them down and risk blowing up and not finishing the race. I had no idea what the track was like and wanted to make sure I could climb the climbs and make it down the technical stuff in one piece.

It may not be the best race strategy, but hey, it’s been a while since I raced A grade in the XCO format. The reality was that I was in for a longer race than I expected, I didn’t know the course and I was tired. So tired. So I decided to focus on keeping my rhythm, aiming for some consistency in my lap times and finishing the long distance. I was enjoying being on the bike and getting some time to myself.

The track had some fun rocky sections and not many climbs. There was a whole section which seemed to go forever with flat turn after flat turn after flat turn. I was started to get a bit nauseous from the constant turning.

Negative thoughts about my racing started to creep in midway through the race. Sometimes it’s hard to ‘fire up’ and get racing when you can’t see your competitors and are way behind. I find it much easier to race when I have competitors close by (in front or behind). I hate getting negative during a race. I soon snapped out of it and battled out some sections with the B grade men who were coming through behind me.

At one stage I thought it was raining. But it didn’t eventuate. Then I felt the ‘rain’ again in the same section of track, right where the cicadas were chirping. Next lap I realised it wasn’t a coincidence and that the ‘rain’ must be related to the cicadas. Perhaps it was cicada pee. I’m not sure…

On my fourth and fifth lap I started to remember what was coming up next. So I got a bit more flow on the corners. This didn’t help me much though as Anna Beck was already at the finish line sipping her ice coffee. I came through in 5th place with some consistent lap times.

It was great to mix with the fast ladies and I look forward to the next race.!

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Photo: Race results
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Photo: No race photos of me from today. Here are my dusty legs though after the race.
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Photo: A grade ladies podium. Megan, Anna and Jo. All from Sol-Breads Cyclinic Womens MTB Team. Congrats ladies!

Torpedo7

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Chicks in the Sticks - womens only MTB enduro

Chicks in the Sticks - womens only MTB enduro


JayneChicksinSticks
Yesterday was my first ever “ladies only” mountain bike race. I’ve been racing for 10 years, and most of the time there is only a handful of women at the start line. So it was amazing to see 175 chicks at the Karingal 3 hour race yesterday.

My favourite part was seeing all the Daddys on the sidelines with babies strapped to them! There were lots of Mummies racing, so the Dads had to kid wrangle for 3 hours.
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24 hours on the bike (well not quite….)

24 hours on the bike (well not quite….)


2015-04-18-podiumphoto
The Kona 24 hour race was held in April at Old Hidden Vale. We did the race last year when I was 14 weeks pregnant (see blog), which was challenging. This year we have 3 kids (including a 6 month old who wakes up every 2 hours) to add to our race planning and execution. I remember being up in the middle of the night (every 2 hours) breastfeeding Baby Z and thinking to myself that at least I wasn’t the only one up. I could hear riders outside. It gave me comfort knowing that there were other sleep deprived racers out there.
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Racing the 3 Plus 3 at Old Hidden Vale

Racing the 3 Plus 3 at Old Hidden Vale


2015-07-11_Jaynedrop
The annual 3 Plus 3 Event consists of a 3 hour race on the Saturday and a 3 hour race on the Sunday. We did the race last year when I was 6 months pregnant (see blog here), and we were keen to do it again. Our transition was like this Mr Z needs his nappy changed, Mr F is hungry, Miss T is really tired”. An extra fast commentary of all the kids needs and a quick kiss good luck to the parent who is left behind with all the kids (not to the racer). The racing part was clearly the easier component of the duo.
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Mt Crosby Sunshine Series - XC Race

Mt Crosby Sunshine Series - XC Race


2015-05-31-Podium
With a 7 month old who wakes up every 2 hours over night, I am exhausted. But because I love riding my bike, I was determined to enter the race at Mt Crosby. Having not seen the track before, I asked fellow MTBer AB what it was like. She said “There’s a few steep climbs, but you’ll be alright”.

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Racing at Underwood Park

Racing at Underwood Park 15 Feb 2015


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The short sprint XC series has begun. I am no where near race fit, with only a handful of rides under my belt, with none being longer than 1 hr. Perfect for a 40 min sprint race! I really enjoy racing. I love the adrenaline rush, the white line fever and the feeling of accomplishment after the race.
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New year!

I can’t believe it’s 2015. Our eldest child will be 5 this year. whoa, where did that go…
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First Ride Back (6 weeks post baby)

So I got out on the XC bike on the weekend.

Yay! Besides a bit of soreness in all kinds of places, it felt fantastic. Its been 6 weeks after the birth, and about 17 weeks since my last ride.

Now thats a long time! I didn’t go too far. Not because I was worried I couldn’t make it home. I was more worried about my two boys (one big one and one little one) I had left at home without any food supply for the little one.

So it was a quick squirt around our local forest for 1 hr, and about 13km. It was so nice to feel the wind in my hair and sunshine in my face. I didnt care that i was maxing out my heart rate at 190 bpm on one of the simplest hills. It just felt fantastic. Fresh air and I was alone on the bike for the first time in almost a year! whoa.

I’m devising a strategy as to how I can get in a few decent rides a week. This is a great start. I’m feeling proud of myself that I felt well enough to go out for a ride, and also that It all came back to me - just like riding a bike really!
Monday, 30 August 2010


Torpedo7

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Update

Got out for an xc ride at bunya. Just another small loop for now of 13 kms. That's about all my body can handle at the moment.

The decents were fun and flowy. I wasn't too slow and could still keep it together. Climbs were tougher. I have lost a fair bit of leg strength, which will probably take a while to regain. Some days I manage to get some stretching in and a few weights. I hope to get into more of a routine soon, but first have to get Baby Felix into a routine of sleeping a bit longer!

Otherwise I end up carrying him all day long and can't do much. The 4x state series has not been announced yet. Not sure if there will be one. The first nationals is in November, so that's a few months away. Saturday, 4 September 2010

2010-09-04_FelixBanshee


Torpedo7

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Round 3 and 4 - 4X Nationals

Round 3 and 4 - 4X Nationals

The final two rounds of the Nationals 4X were held at Toowoomba showgrounds.

The track was quite fun, and I wish I had more time prior to the event to practise the track. Lately I have been playing it safe at races and dont hit the bigger jumps as I dont want to injure myself for the race! But if I went there prior to the race I could practise things in my own time. Anyway, the weather was great and track very fast and in perfect condition.

Round 3 was held on the Saturday. I came 2nd in one heat and 3rd in the other 2. Finishing the race with a 3rd place in the final.

Round 4 was held the next day and I came 2nd in two heats and 3rd in one, then 3rd place in the final. I finished the season in 3rd overall for Elite Women 4X.

Pretty happy with coming 3rd in Australia with a 8 month old baby. Thanks to Tony, Felix and Team Banshee for their support.

Photo Below: Spraying champagne all over everyone. I like that part.

Photo Below: After the race


Torpedo7

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Australian National Champs Race

Australian National Champs Race

We arrived safely in Adelaide with Bike and Baby stuff. No problems with excess baggage so that was good. This was my first race back since having a baby and also since Dec 2009. So its been a long time! Im not feeling too fit, but entered the race with the aim to get back into it, have fun and see friends.

4X is not my preferred discipline. I rather DH or XC, but 4X seemed the easiest of the 3 to race in while looking after a 7 month old. Tony my husband was there to keep the little man looked after while I was racing, but because I am still breastfeeding so I need to be close by.

It was hot and dry up at Eagle Mountainbike Park. I had not ridden the 4x track before and it looked quite tricky in places. As soon as you are out the gate there is a rock drop then a gap jump over nasty looking jagged rocks into a berm. Practice went ok, and I was comfortable with clearing the rock gap jump on the first straight. There were 5 different lines you could choose from, with the Gate 1 line having the largest rocks to jump over, and Gate 4 the smallest. I was comfortable with all the lines except one. I had a decent crash on the one straight out of Gate 2. I think I clipped my front wheel on a slippery rock which sent me over the bars. I got some good bruises and thankfully didnt break anything.

Gate starts are getting better, but sometimes I cant clip my feet into my pedals. Something I need to work on. Race Day: Practise at the track started at 8:30am. Seeding at 4:30pm then racing at 7:30pm. So a very long day out on the hill. Especially for a baby... I seeded in 3rd place which meant I had a choice between 2 gates in the final. This was good because it meant I didnt have to choose Gate 4 which sent you straight into the outside line of a berm. A very slow line. Sarsha seeded in 1st place, so got 1st choice. After a bit of indecision, she chose Gate 2. Indi chose Gate 3. I was happy with this because it means Gate 1 was mine. It had the largest rocks to gap, but was the fastest line. Felix was pretty cranky by the time the finals came around. I could see Tony and him on the sidelines in the heat struggling. So I had extra things to worry about. I was completely over the race by the time finals came around. It had taken too long and my little man needed feeding!

Because the Elite Women had seeding rather than Motos, it meant that I had no practise riding with anyone else in the gate with me! So this was a big downfall I was not confident with storming out the gate and over the rocks with 3 other girls. This showed in the final. I failed to clip one foot in, and was very slow out the gate. Everyone says I gave them all a 20m head start. Whoops. I came out the gate in 4th place, then managed to get into 3rd on the first corner. Then one of the girls nudged me out the way on the 2nd corner. But I got her again on a rock jump, when she went around it. With a sprint to the finish, I nearly got 2nd, but had to settle for 3rd.

I was happy that I raced and competed, but not happy with the ‘way’ I raced. Lack of preparation, practice and sleep! Hard to give 100% on the little sleep and energy that I had. Next Nationals race is at Toowoomba in March. I will aim to be a bit more positive by then!

Here is a link to the highlights footage.:
http://www.eaglechamps.com.au/cms/index.php/content/news/4x_highlights/


Photo Below: Me racing in the 4X Finals.

Photo Below: Pump track racing.


Photo Below: Podium in 3rd Place


Torpedo7

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