First up Worlds recap. What an amazing experience it was to race the world road race championships in Valkenburg, Netherlands. The week leading up to the race was awesome, my preparation and training was going well and the NZ team hotel was conveniently located at the bottom of the Cauberg which meant we got to know the course inside out!
Race day came around and I was feeling really good, the first few laps I was feeling great especially on the Cauberg...that was until this happened:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbN9IyzS6tY
Credit: Graham Watson
The above is a link to a youtube clip of the mass crash, and a photo that seemed to make papers/ websites/ magazines round the world.
Unfortuantely the crash took down Linda, Emily and myself. Emily suffered mechanicals with her bike and Linda and I chased back on and caught back up to the front of the race... only for me to soon discover my hand/ wrist was pretty much useless and I couldn't change gear, so unfortunately my race ended like this:
Credit: Cycling Tips
A trip to the hospital with a number of the other women involved in the crash I came away with a suspected scaphoid fracture which meant a blue cast for 3 weeks!!!! Bummer. I have never broken anything before and it was fair to say that this 3 weeks seemed to take a loooong time. Couldn't wait to get the damn thing off. And was stoked that it was all good, so still a clean slate of no broken bones for me (touching wood) :)
Linda rode and amazing race and won the bunch kick to come away 7th in the road race. Earlier in the week Linda also pedaled her way to 2nd in the time trial. We are so lucky to have such a talented and experienced rider to learn off!
After worlds I had one day being a tourist and seeing the sights in Amsterdam before flying straight home and literally hopped off the plane and went straight to class. Fun times.
I missed more than half of the semester due to worlds and my American season and there was a lot to catch up on. Thanks to some top class mates, lecturers, no riding and 8am to 11pm days spent slaving in the library for weeks I some how managed to actually get some pretty good grades. Was stressful though to say the least!
All and all I ended up having 6.5 weeks off my bike, which in the long run gave me a well needed rest, and has left me rearing to go for the coming season. This has ment I have taken a completely different approach to NZ racing this summer and have been using it as more of a base training sort of thing. I now know what it is like to race when you are truly unfit... it's not too fun thats for sure!
First up after a whole 1 day of training was Criterium Nationals, fair to say that I was pretty stoked the race was shortened to 15 mins in total... normally something that I would be annoyed with, I mean a crit Nats of 15 mins... really??? Some how I made the break of 4, and rolled in 4th with Kiwivelo team mate Georgia coming away with the win.
Next up was Taupo and some solid training before taking on a few weeks training in Nelson with Tour of Vineyards mixed in there as well for Nationals prep which was on the 14th of Jan. A huge thanks to my Auntie and Uncle, Jac and Matt and my cousins Lilli and Finn for having me stay, nothing better than the lead up to nationals than relaxing and hanging out with family.
photo : Wheelworks Racing
Credit: Wheel Works Racing
Now on to Nationals: I was pretty happy with my race at, the course in Christchurch is awesome and always draws some great crowds. Our race was super hot, starting at midday in 33 degree heat will always get to you, thats for sure. Our race was basically a race of attrition, tackling dyers 6 times, with 8 of us making the front group. I was feeling really good all race and ended up sprinted into 4th place, while I was disappointed in my sprint, as I know I have been sprinting better, it has given me a lot to think about and work on!
Congrats to our new National Champ and one of my best friends Courteney Lowe for the big win, I am so stoked that the win went to Courts this year, she no doubt deserves it!
Credit: Road cycling
After our race a few of us girls got our super supporter costumes on up dyers pass to cheer on the men - So glad our race is the day before theirs so we can hang out and watch their race stress free ;)
After Nationals I flew home to Auckland and went straight to the coromadle to have some time relaxing by the beach with the girls.
And have now got stuck in to some hard training in prep for my second season with Vanderkitten - Can't wait! I have just over 2 more weeks left in NZ before heading to the states on the 16th of feb for what is going to be my longest season yet!
First up is the Vuelta El Salvador - A UCI stage race in El Salvador. 10 stages in 7 days followed up with 2 one day races - can't wait!
There have been so many kind people helping me out this summer, and over the past few years to be exact. A huge thanks to: Kiwivelo, Vanessa and Scott Guyton, Tim Gudsell, Marina Northey, Dean Coleman, Mason Spiers, Greg Pain, and many more for your support. A special thanks to my unbelievable family for there never ending support and encouragement.
This NZ summer has been awesome, nothing beats New Zealand thats for sure!!!
Stay tuned for more regular updates, aaaaand follow me on twitter: https://twitter.com/katechilcott
Kate :)