JESSICA’S DAILY DIARY FROM ITALY
DAY 1: FRIDAY:
So I have arrived safe and sound to Italy. At the moment I'm at Castronno which is near Varese (however you spell it) at the AIS base camp.
The plane flight was good. Better than I expected actually. The food was great, the people were much nicer and some guy offered to buy me alcohol (but of course I said no haha). The flight to Singapore was nice and quick, about 5 hours. Going through Singapore airport trying to find the girls was a bit daunting! So many different nationalities!
So I found Sinead first, then Maddy and Steph and Donna. We made our way to our gate and got ready for our 12 hours flight! The flight was good. It was about 1am when it took off and our aim was to sleep most the way. I got about 4-5 hours sleep on and off so was better than nothing! The plane food was joyyy! Singapore people are lovely :)
We got to Milan at 6am Italy time this morning. We had to stay up all day and it's now 6.20pm and I have succeeded ;).
We drove about 20mins to the AIS base, unpacked our bikes and went for a 40kms ride around the lake. It was lovely.
I must say, it is a bit different riding on the their side of the road! And the roads are so small and broken up!! But what amazes me is how considerate the drivers are! Not like the Aussies ;)
we got back from our ride and went to the shops and got food for the day. We did have some difficulties. Instead of buying 18L of water, we bought 18L of sparkling water!!! All because it was in Italian haha. And we got grape juice instead of orange juice. But worst of all, they didn't sell oats for porridge! DEVO!!!
Tomorrow we are going for a morning ride then driving 3 hours to Tuscany for our race on Sunday. The race is about 70kms. The first 45kms is flat then we go up a 3km hill twice so we want to set up some attacks :)
I'm really enjoying it. Weather is great. I'm feeling strong and can't wait to get racing. We rode with Alexis Rhodes and Bridie O’Donnell today which was ice. Very humid and there is an ice cream shop next door which is apparently amazing!
Saturday morning we went for a 1 hour recovery ride around Varese to get the legs going before our 4 hours drive to Tuscany.
It was a lovely ride and I’m pretty sure we yelled ciao, bonjono and g'day mate to every 2nd Italian we saw haha. We got back from our ride and drove to Tuscany. It was a lovely drive, scenery was awesome! One crazy thing about Italian roads is their speed limit! Some drivers went flying past us when we were going 130km/h! They're crazy!
We got Tuscany about 3pm, settled in our motel and went for a ride on some of the course. That night the motel made us dinner. We had pasta, followed by a roast chicken and chips then a pastry and berry thing. It was lovely :)
The motel was tiny! It was one room with 4 beds and a cupboard. The room was probs about the size of my own room haha. It was nice and cosy. In Italy they also have a thing called 'bum washers' in the bathrooms. The first time we saw them we should it was a small sink! None of us have used this device yet haha. Then we were off to bed.
DAY 3: SUNDAY (RACE DAY)
We had a pretty horrible sleep that night as we all woke up wide awake at 4am. We went down for breakfast (which was bread rolls with nutella haha) and got ready to go for a pre race ride. Just a tempo ride along the flats to awaken the legs then back to the motel. We packed our bags, checked out of the accommodation and went to the race. Before the races in Italy they have a pre race lunch for all the riders. This was at 11am as our race was at 2.30pm. We got served pasta, then ham and salad, then a pastry (which we had after the race). That filled us up then we chilled out under the trees on the grass until warm up. It started raining as we begun to warm up...which was great as it cooled down the temperature heaps. We got to the start line about 20minutes before and everyone was all ready to go!! This worried us a bit as we were at the back of 85riders and we still didn't have our drink bottles yet or been to the toilet. We quickly did that, then did the 'sneaky sneaky' and push our way to the front. Don't think the girls were too happy with that but we couldn't understand them ;).
The race was 75kms and there were 85 starters. It was an U21 race but I think there were only about 15senior riders.
The first 45kms of the race was flat and I didn't expect the pace to be too fast. Then there was a 3km hill which gradually got steeper and steeper. Then a technical 5km decent followed by about another 5kms of flat to the finish line. We did two loops of that course. We had team tactics before the race. Sinead and I were going to set a very fast tempo up the climb then Steph and Maddy were going to attack over the top. If this didn't work we were going to reverse the rolls the next lap. Unfortunately things didn't go according to plan. The start of the race was so quick! I actually couldn't believe it. For the first 45kms we averaged over 40km/h! There were attacks going left, right and centre and we made sure that one of us was in each break. Steph got into a break with about 6 other girls before the climb so Maddy, me and Sinead controlled the field. Unfortunately a rider clipped the fence and came down in front of Sinead. She fell heavy on her wrist and got taken to hospital. Up the climb the bunch caught the Steph and her group and Maddy and I tried to follow the attacks. There was a group of about 6 girls and Maddy and I got dropped. We worked hard on the decent (probably too quick as we almost crashed going too fast around the bend) and flats and bought them back before the hill. The next time up the hill, the European U19 champ attacked and road away solo to win the race...she was awesome! Our group strung out. Ahead was the girl solo, then I was with a group of 3 other girls (2 from the same team, and 1 a team mate of the girl ahead so she didn't do any turns). We chased but didn't catch her. It was a sprint finish between our group and I got 4th over all. I was really happy! Maddy did an awesome job and got 6th, and Steph got about 15th. Great racing by the team. I learnt so much that race and enjoyed every minute of it. Girls over here actually want to race, and race hard! Which is great as it makes the racing so much tougher.
After our race we experienced something a little different. Communal showers..which Donna calls 'gang bang showers'!!! If anyone doesn't know what this is I’ll explain it. So we walked into this large room. It felt like a sauna...Then we saw the showers! There were about 10 showers with no doors in this open room. Luckily we were late so all the girls had finished showering. It was possibly the most awkward moment of my life! We then went to presentations. Maddy and I won 40 euro between us, wine, olive oil, jam, dessert biscuits, pasta and olives! It was amazing! Ohh and a trophy each as well as a team’s trophy! And this is considered a local race!!! It was a great day...but also a horrible one. We found out that Sinead was in hospital with a broken wrist so we made our way there. She was in great spirits and is possibly one of the bravest girls I have ever met. The doctors rebroke her arm to get it back into place then plastered it. Then we set off for the 4hour drive home. We stopped at auto grill and had a spinach and ricotta toastie and hot chocolate...it was amazing! The hot chocolates here are so thick you use a spoon to eat it! AMAZING! We got home about 1.30am and had about 4 hours sleep. So a day filled of ups and downs and an amazing experience in my first European race. DAY 4: MONDAY: Today was our recovery. We went for an easy 2 hours ride with a coffee shop stop :)...was lovely. We rode with the AIS senior women and the U19 boys who had come back from a tour over the week. It was good to catch up with everyone. I even saw Leigh Howard...love him :)
So today was also a bit of a sad day for us. We didn't think Sinead’s break was too bad and we thought that by worlds she'd be able to ride the time trial. But the doctors called and we realised that the break was worse than we expected. Donna told her that she wouldn't be able to ride worlds and will have to be flown home to get medical attention. We all felt sick in the stomach as she is so dedication, committed and trains so hard. As a team, we take the positives out of the negatives. It's too hard to know how she is feeling at the moment...so we have been comforting her, making her laugh and bought her some goodies today. She has taken the news so well and is so brave. As horrible as it is, it's part of cycling. These things happen, but we can't let them get us down. We believe that everything happens for a reason. Sinead will get stronger from this and it will make her hungrier for next season. Steph, Maddy and I are now racing for her. We will use this as motivation as now we want to win not only for our country but especially for Sinead! She is deciding with her parents when she will go home and we will be supporting her all the way :) She is such a lovely girl and has such a big future ahead of her. We've all got our heads up and smiles on. We all wish her the very best recovery and we know she'll be smashing it again in no time!
Tomorrow we are going time trial training with the senior women, so looking forward to that. I'll keep you all updated!
DAY 5: TUESDAY
Today was a lovely day. Nice and warm and sunny. Today we had time trial efforts with the AIS time trial girls. We drove about 30mins to a fairly flat open course. It was beautiful, so green and the roads were quiet and technical. We did 4x4min TT efforts with 4 min recovery then a teams TT. It was great. I'm starting to feel stronger each day and really enjoying the training we're doing. We then went for a 10km warm down which ended up about an hour as we got lost, then drove home. I also found out today that I will be taking Sinead’s place in the time trial at worlds. So dad will be bringing my TT bike over :). Sinead is going great. She's been really positive and smiling. She is meeting her mum in Ireland tomorrow and having a little holiday with her family over there then spending the last night with us before flying back home :) So she's in good spirits.
Tonight we went into a town called Varese for balloon pizzas. (I’ll send a photo) but unfortunally it was closed so we went to another pizza shop. Italian pizzas are joy!!
Then it was off to bed for a big day in the hills tomorrow.
DAY 6: WEDNESDAY
We had an early rise this morning and woke up to again, beautiful Italian weather. Today we rode to the hills with the AIS road girls (Lauren Kitchen, Megan Dunn, Carlee Taylor, Amanda Spratt and Kirsty Broun). The hills are so pretty and we rode past the Swiss border too :). So we rode out to the base of the climb and we did 2x 10min SE (60rpm) then a 15min race pace up a steep burg! It was awesome. All the girls are training well and feeling strong. I think we're looking good for worlds. We then did a 20min pace line with the AIS girls which was good fun yet very hard. We were feeling it by the end. We then went through Varese to find the health food shop so we can make porridge but it was shut!! In Italy they have a thing called a 'cesta' (think that's what they call it). So they open in the morning then at 12.30pm they shut and reopen at 3.30pm. They do this for school too! Strange, I know. So we went to a coffee shop instead and had a strawberry smoothie...best thing I've ever tasted!! We got home, made lunch then had a nanna nap as we were all pretty nackered! We also made a wonderful dinner. Spaghetti Bog with corn, carrot, zucchini and more :) Followed by our homemade raspberry and white choc chip cake (that went pretty quickly). Then we decided to bond with the other U19 boys as they we're leaving tomorrow for a tour. We decided to play scattergries with them and the some of the AIS girls. It was good fun! The winner then had to dare the loser to do something. Sinead won and Maddy lost. So Maddy had to play a prank on Davo (the U19boys coach)...it'll tell you about this when I get back, but it was HILARIOUS!!! Donna (our coach) loved it! Then everyone was off to bed.
DAY 7: THURSDAY
This morning we woke up the rain and thunder...a little different to what we're normally used to. We had to do an hour and a half recovery ride so off we went. It then started raining more so Donna told us to go back and do roller. Rollers were good fun! Megan Dunn and Carlee Taylor were with us and got the iPod speaker cranking. Our theme song at the moment is 'The Climb by Miley Cyrus...inspirational I know ;). So everyone had to listen to our wonderful voices! We really should be in a choir or something. Now we're just chilling for the rest of the avo waiting for the rain to stop. Then we're off to Varese for some shopping :) Hopefully the health food shop is open...I’m craving porridge!!!
Hope everything/everyone is going well back home. I've heard you've all been training hard. Good luck at states this weekend can't wait to hear how it goes.
Tomorrow we have some sprint/speed efforts I think. Saturday we have a 6 hour drive to a place where our Sunday race is :) Let you know how it goes.
Today was a lovely day. We went for a flat underrating ride where we did several sets of power/speed efforts. First we did 10x10sec efforts in our big ring. These were great efforts and the lactic was definitely building up by the end. These efforts were good for me as I’ve been trying to improve on my explosive power and I’m feeling much stronger at these from the training I was doing back home :). We then went into a pace line at 35km/h and attacked for one minute off the front each. These were really good as well. We then finished off with 4x1km 100% efforts with 2km recovery. By the end of the ride we were pretty nackered. It was a great session. We then had an Italian lesson in the avo. We learnt how to recognize fruits and vegetables in the shops and much much more. Every lesson we get sheets which we can go over in our own time :). Then it was an early night as we have an early rise in the morning.
DAY 9: SATURDAY:
Today we woke up 6am, had breakfast and jumped into the car. I also woke up this morning with conjunctivitis in my right eye which was pretty horrible but Maddy told me to wash it with salt water and that has helped heaps! So I put my glasses on and got ready for the long 4 hour drive to Friuli. We had a few detours along the way as we got horribly lost at times, so our trip was extended to 5 hours instead haha. The little town of Friuli is so cute. It's very small and filled with markets and coffee shops. Our motel is nice. Very small but better than Tuscany. We went looking through the markets, bought some cheap dresses and a 2euro bra!!!! YEWWW! Then it was back to the motel to get our bikes and go for a ride on the course. The course for tomorrow is dead flat and open to the wind. This course isn't really suited to us as we all like the hills but we are excited to try get into some breaks and set up a lead out train for the end. I'll let you know how it goes :).
We went out for dinner and had a lovely lasagne and salad. We then went shopping for a present for our mechanic Michael as tomorrow is his last day with us. We bought him a frog earring, frog chocolate and nougat (yes he likes frogs ;)) He loved it all! And we are all so grateful for all his hard work. He was awesome.
Well that is all for me today. My laptop battery is about to die.
Well done to all at states. Look forward to hearing about what happened in the race when I get back.
DAY 10: SUNDAY (RACE DAY #2)
this morning we woke up to a beautiful day, yet again! We went for an easy 20km ride on the flats to warm the legs up and get the blood pumping. We rode to the base of the mountains (The Dolomites think that’s how it's spelt). Anyway, the Dolomites are the most amazing mountains I have ever seen! It is actually breathtaking looking at them as they don't look real! So we took some lovely photos and rode home. Then it was back to packing and off to the race. It was only supposed to take us 15mins to get to the race but instead it took us an hour as we got lost! But we eventually got there for our pre race lunch! The lunch was in a school canteen. We got served chicken, pasta, salad, bread, yoghurt and fruit. It's safe to say that Maddy and I ate way to much as we were tasting it in the race :|. So this week we made sure we were warmed up and at the start line half an hour before so we could be at the front of the peloton. Today's race was a dead flat circuit race (4laps) with a sprint on every lap. It was about 75kms with 85riders. I thought the race was going to be extremely hard with attacks going all the time but it turned out to be quite a negative race with most the girls wanting a sprint finish. Our main goal for this race was 'PROCESS'. We had to take in everything and most importantly, improve our positioning from last week. I think we did a lot better positioning wise this week. We stayed at the front without being on the front and did well at holding wheels and reading the race. We attacked after the sprints and got away at some stages but the race was always bought back. So it was a sprint finish. We were planning on setting up a lead out train for Steph but we lost her on the last lap. So I tried leading Maddy out but unfortunately we followed the wrong train and got swamped at the end. But we still got in the top 20 which was great. I really enjoyed the race today...probably not as much as the first race but still great. So then we were off for a 6 hour drive to Offida for the worlds! The drive to Offida was really quick! We even met some of the Italian boys on the way. We saw their team car drive up next to us...then they held up a sheet of paper saying 'welcome to Offida', 'what's you're names' ect ect...It was pretty funny so now they've added us on face book haha. And that was the entertainment for the night. We got to Offida at about 12.30am then it was off to bed! DAY 11: MONDAY: Monday was our relax day. We had a sleep in, breakfast, shopping for `food then drove the road race course. We got a bit confused with the course...:| We thought we were driving our road course but instead we were driving the boys TT course. Our road course is 16kms and the men’s TT course is 28kms...so we were wondering why it felt a bit long. So we finally worked out where we went wrong and road the course. It is amazing! You're either going up hill or downhill! It's awesome. The start is slightly uphill then there's a nasty decent. We have done it heaps of times now and have pretty much mastered it! So our confidence is up. Then there is a 2km hill with an average of about 9% which is great. We rode the hill steady then back home. It was good to loosen the legs. That avo we drove our TT course and just chilled out. Then we had a beautiful dinner at our hotel. We had pizza for entree, salad then chicken. It was lovely. The hotel we're staying at is very cute. Small, old but the scenery is amazing! Our room just has 3 beds and a bathroom. At first we were a bit annoyed as we didn't have a fridge or a washing machine but we eventually found them in the hotel and all was good. Today it really started to hit me that we are at worlds. Until today, it has sort of felt like a training camp but now we have seen the course, seem other countries and our at our hotel...it feels real! So we are all pumped and ready to race. DAY 12: TUESDAY: This morning we had an earlier wake up and went down stairs for breakfast. They generally serve us cakes, croissants and bread...so this morning I asked the kitchen guy if I could go into his kitchen and make some porridge. After trying to speak some Italian to him he finally understood me and let me cook :). The kitchen was so cool and the porridge was amazing! Then we were off to the course. We practised descending several times then did an effort up the 2km hill and 3 efforts up the finishing hill. I felt really strong today and getting more excited every day. I think the road course really suits us girls. We can all climb so we'll be trying to break the peloton up :). After we did the road course I went and rode the time trial course. I really like it. It is a very fast course. About 10kms of it is flattish with slight rises then the last kms is ungerlating with a 1km climb to the finish. Some of the corners on the decent are a bit technical so it's going to come down to that can spin the biggest gear at the highest revs without washing off speed in the corners. So I can't wait! We came home to a lovely lunch down stairs with the team and also Dad, Ann and Dave. It was great seeing them...especially some fellow Aussies ;). We had a good chat over lunch then Dad, Ann and I went across the road for a hot chocolate. Then we said our goodbyes and I had a nanna nap in the avo. That night the rest of the team came. The U19 boys, more staff and Amy. Now we felt more like a team. We all had dinner together and then off to bed. DAY 13: WEDNESDAY: This morning Amy and I were off to ride the time trial course. It was great to ride with Amy. I don't really get to see her too much so it was good going for a ride and chatting with her. We both really enjoy the course and my favourite part is riding up to the finish line. You turn a corner then all you see is a hill with a different countries flag on each post...its amazing! So today was my recovery day so I did no efforts on the course, just rode is tempo. Dave, Ann and Dad had lunch here again and I spent a bit of time with them in the avo whilst talking to mum and Hayley on msn. Then Donna set my time trial bike up into a more aero position for me which was great! All is looking good. We are now 2 days out from the time trial and I’m so excited! Just before I sent this email Steph and I were on a waxing rampage. We waxed our arms last week so now we waxed Sam Spokes arms :). At first he wanted to shave but we told him that that's a bit soft so we waxed them for him. All is can say is that boys are a bit soft when it comes to pain! Steph and I had a giggle listening to Sam grunt and groyne but the end result was great as his arms looked beautiful :). Now we are about to stretch then off to bed for an early rise tomorrow for some final time trial preparations. Can't wait!
DAY 14: THURSDAY (1 day to go):
Well this time tomorrow I would have finished my first world time trial! I'm feeling so many different emotions right now. Most of all excited and pumped as well as nervous offcourse!
This morning the officials closed off the time trial course for 2 hours so we could practise using both sides of the road. I felt great today. I had my disc wheels in and aero helmet on so we were feeling fast! Amy and I both felt more pumped and excited today as most of the teams were out on the course and it really hit you that you're racing tomorrow. The course is so much better using both sides of the road and tomorrow I’ll also have a car behind me with Donna and our mechanic in it with a spare bike set up in case of a puncture. So it's all pretty full on! We also get to start on a ramp which I think is soooo exciting as they do that in the tour de France! I also found out today that I’m getting Aussie booties to wear! They are simply awesome! White with the Aussie stripes and they run such good height! Can't wait to put them on. And I also got a handy tip from Amy Cure today. If anyone has radars...take the ear sockets off then the glasses sit so much better when you have your aero helmet on! It's amazing! So I’m about to have lunch soon, then this afternoon I think I’ll have a nanna nap, maybe rollers and just chill out. Can't wait to tell you all how I go tomorrow. People have asked me how I expect to go, but to be honest...I don't actually know. I've never ridden a world championship before so I don't really have any expectations. All I know is that I’m going to go into the race wanting to win, just like any other person. I'm going to ride the hardest I’ve ever ridden and make sure that I have nothing left at the end. Then if I can look myself in the mirror at the end of the race and tell myself that that was the hardest I could have ridden, I’ll be happy! So tomorrow is the big day! I can't wait!
DAY 15: WORLD TIME TRIAL:
Today was the big day!
I woke up at 6.40, got my Knicks on and went to Amy's room. We watched an inspirational film clip which got us pumped then went down stairs and did a 24min pre race start.
The legs were feeling a bit sore but towards the end of the rollers I felt better. Then we had a hot and cold shower and made a big bowl of porridge with sultanas.
We left the hotel at 8.30 and got to the start line at 8.45. The mechanic John got our bikes and everything set up so all we had to do was chill out and listen to our music and get pumped up.
We had a piece of paper saying what time we had to be in the pits, warming up, finish warming up etc..so we just concentrated focused. My start time was 11.24am and Amy's was 11.07am. Finally it was ready to get changed, oiled up and ready to hit the warm up. The atmosphere at the start line was amazing. We had tents set up for each country and that's where we warmed up. We started on a ramp like the tour de France and that was the most amazing thing ever. Then there were heaps of spectators behind the rails cheering AUSSIE AUSSIE AUSSIE from all different countries! It was amazing and really gets the adrenaline pumping. I had a great warm up and was feeling so excited. Today I was probably the most excited I’ve ever been for a time trial. I enjoyed every moment and took in everything! Little things like the camera man filming you whilst warming up and while your putting on your numbers just makes you feel that little bit more excited.
I was definitely feeling nervous...which is good! But it was a different nervous. I can't really explain how I felt but I was pumped! I got to the roll out and bike check area 15mins before then jumped on the rollers at the start line. Finally it was my turn. I walked up the stairs onto the ramp and got on my bike. The crowd was awesome. The commentator said my name to the crowd in like 3 different languages and the count down timer started. Then it was time to go! The crowd was cheering for me and the French were yelling out allez allez allez and the Italian were yelling out vai vai vai...it was awesome! The first 3kms of the time trial were down hill, very fast with twisty bends...but nothing too technical. We practised the first section about 6 times before the race so we had it pretty much down packed. After about 2kms I approached the most technical left hand bend. I realised as I was turning that I was going way to fast as I started turning and couldn't control that bike. So I over rode the corner and went into the curb. It all happened so quick, it felt like a dream! Then all I remember was getting up, making sure I wasn't broken and my bike was up and ready for me to jump back on. At worlds, everyone has a spares vehicle behind them. So I had Kevin Tabotta and Geno in my car with my road bike set up with TT bars and spare wheels. I thank Geno so much for how quickly he checked my bike and got me back on. Before I knew it, I was away and up to speed again in no time. I only lost about 15seconds. So he was awesome! The rest of the time trial I focused on positive thinking and blocked the crash out of my mind. I wasn't hurting, but not from the crash...from riding as hard as possible. The most important thing about crashing or puncturing is not panicking. I tried to keep myself calm and focused on my gear selection, speed and most importantly breathing! With 5kms to go I rode past the motel we're staying at and all the Aussie crew were there cheering for me as I was going up the climb. It was great having them there and it gave me that extra lift over the top of the climb. Then it was all ungerlating with a steep decent and a 1km hill to the finish. I could here Kev and Geno in the car yelling at me with encouragement up the final climb and the crowd was great. The final climb has all the world flags on a post which is an amazing sight. I rode as hard as I could to the top of the line and had nothing left at the end. I then rolled to our pit area, cooled down, got some protein drink and got my injuries checked out. So I got 11th overall and was definitely happy with that! I was about 1min40 off first place. The girl that won from Ukraine has won the TT two years in a row! And Amy Cure got 3rd which was awesome!
Ann, Dave and Dad came over when I was warming down, took some snaps and had a chat which was great. I wasn't disappointed at all. Crashing is part of cycling and you learn from your mistakes. There's no point getting angry or upset, you've just go to move forward and use the downs as motivation for your next race...which is tomorrow for us :). All the Aussie staff was stoked with our efforts and there was smiles all round. Once presentations were over I jumped on my bike and rode back to our motel. As I was riding back I saw thunderstorm clouds forming and I got soaked haha. So I jumped in the shower, got warm and went out the front to cheer on the boys. They too had some bad luck. Dale was on flying pace and punctured about half way and Jay got taken out by an official motor bike around a bend. But the boys kept their heads up and rode strong to the finish. We cheered them on as they went past and Dale finish 4th and Jay 5th. Such a great effort by the boys! Now they too are even more motivated for the road race tomorrow.
So it was a day full of ups and downs. But what puts us down only makes us stronger. We are all looking forward to tomorrow and can't wait to get out there mixing it up with the best in the world.
Well done to everyone that rode the time trial this morning! Some great results I hear! I'm sure we'll be seeing you guys here in the upcoming years.
DAY 16: SUNDAY: 8th August: 80km WORLD ROAD RACE
This morning we woke up at 6.12am, got kitted up and went down stairs to jump on the roller for our pre start. We all felt pretty good once our legs had woken up and were all so excited for the race. We then had our traditional porridge with sultanas and rode to the race. Steph, Maddy and I were so excited as we are all first year u19's and haven't ridden a world championship before. Our race started at 10am. We had to be at roll out by 9.30am so we could get a good position at the front. We got the race at 8.30am and started our warm up at 8.50am. So today we didn't have much time to take in the entire atmosphere...until we got to the start line. Once we finished our warm up we went to the sign on area. This was pretty much the most amazing thing ever! There was a stage with a huge screen with each competitor’s numbers in a box. We walked up onto the stage, got a marker and signed on next to our number. I walked up there and forgot what number I was so I tried to ask Steph on the down low without embarrassing myself too much as there were heaps of photographer s and cameras on us. Once the team signed on we stood on the stage and had a photo together then it was off to roll out.
We got to the start line at 9.30am with half an hour before our race. We started right at the front with the Italians. The atmosphere was amazing! In front of the start line there was a huge screen which shows the race live for the crowd and we all lined up on the start line. We were all so excited, anxious and nervous. The crowd was incredible! I’ve never seen so many spectators for a female race before! We all looked at each other and had Goosebumps! We had cold towels on our necks cooling us down with Donna topping up our bottles with cold water right up until the start. The e countdown timer got lower and lower and we were getting more and more pumped!
Finally the last few minutes came down, we took off our towels and we were away! Going into the race Donna spoke to us about the best way we should ride it. We knew that the strongest teams were going to be the larger teams with 4 or 5 riders like the Italians, French, USA and Ukraine. I tactics was a bit different to what we originally had planned as we were only down to 3 riders as we didn’t Sinead. The main thing we had to remember was patience. In past years, the junior world’s road race as always comes down to the last 2 laps where the strongest riders stand out. We knew we had to wait, conserve as much energy as possible, make sure one of us was in any early breaks, watch the European champion and be at the front but not on the front. Then if we were still in the front group with 2 or lap to go we were going to protect one rider and send the other two away up the climb. That was going to be the best way for us to get a result. The course was 16kms with a very technical decent, and a 2.3km hill and a 1.2km gradual climb to the finish, so it was a course that suited us down to the ground. As predicted, the first two laps were very controlled and didn’t put us under much pressure. Unfortunately, things didn’t go to plan. The first lap Maddy crashed at the top of the decent but got back on in no time.
Going into the 4th lap I experienced the feeding zone for the first time. The weather was beautiful and about 35degrees so we had to make sure we hydrated well and took on more water. I was a little worried going into the feed zone as we had to grab the bottles with our right hand. I was a little worried as I don’t have much coordination with my right hand as I’m left handed and my right elbow was still a bit sore from Friday’s crash. But the bottle guys were awesome. I fed on the 4th and 5th lap from Geno. He did an amazing job and I didn’t miss one bottle. However, I almost got taken out by an Italian feeder trying to feed a rider over the top of me. I had to swerve into the feeders and back out into the bunch without running into anyone...that definitely got the adrenaline pumping!
The 2nd last lap up the climb was probably the most I’ve hurt. The girl’s accelerations were so strong. I stayed with them until about half way up the climb, and then the European champion attacked. I got dropped and a group of 7 rode away. A few riders caught up to me and we formed a small group. The break of 7 had all the big teams in it so in my group there was just me and a Netherlands girl that didn’t have any team mates in it. We tried getting the bunch to work together, but being loyal team mates they didn’t chase. Maddy crashed again on the third lap so she wasn’t in my bunch either. With abut 10kms to go the front group had about 1min30 on us and at that point, the chances of us catching them were unlikely. Going up the climb I positioned watched for the strong Italians and followed their attacks. I was hurting more and more going up the climb and remember to think about Sinead and how much pain she would be in not to ride worlds. I gave it everything to stay with the Italian and our chasing bunch reduced to about 6 riders. The lead bunch ended up split and a French girl won, then an Italian and the USA girl. It came down to a sprint finish in my chasing bunch and I finished 11th overall. Maddy then came in at 29th. It was a gusty effort by her!
So that was our first world road race over. It was such a great experience and I was over the moon with my result. I rode the hardest I could and my form leading into the race was great. At the end of the day, the girls we were racing were stronger than us and we now have a year to improve on all the little things to be the ones at the front next year. We didn’t have the best luck today with Steph and Maddy crashing but cycling is a tough sport. Luck isn’t going to always be on your side and you’re going to crash at some point in racing...it’s just the way you handle it that makes you a stronger person. Steph, Maddy and I have handled this really well and are now more determined to do bigger and better things next year.This trip hasn’t just been about the results we got at the world championships. It’s about the experience we’ve had and everything we have learnt along the way. We now have so much more in our head and heart which no one can take away from us. The junior world championships is the biggest event of our career so far but as Donna and the staff have said, it’s a small step in the bigger picture and the journey is the most important thing. We will look back on this soon and then want bigger and better things. We will take what we’ve learnt here and use it in our racing back home. We now all have a different outlook on not only racing, but training, nutrition, resting and representing ourselves. I can’t wait to get back home and share all my stories with you all. I’ve had such a great time and this trip and experience will be one that I will remember forever. As a team, we were all great together. We girls got on so well, the best any team has before. We are all so similar and had so respect for each other. It’s great going away with a team that gets along so well. We were always looking out for each other. From a racing perspective, motivation and getting over each other’s fears like descending and cornering which in the end made us a stronger more confident team. The staff were incredible. A huge thanks do Donna. Her knowledge about cycling is fantastic and we all got along with her so well. She respected us and we respected her. She was so proud of us and we can’t wait to work with her in the future. The mechanic John did such a great job. He was probably the hardest worker there. You’d hardly ever see him as he was either washing, fixing or checking our bikes. And we had no problems with them. Our bikes were fast and he made sure that all we had to do was focus on our race. Geno, Dave, Rick and Kevin did a great job organizing the trip. And also, Elsa back at the AIS for all her hard work behind the scene. Everything went to plan and we had no dramas. We learnt so much from their knowledge and advice and we really appreciate their help. Thankyou for your emails, support and encouragement. It makes such a difference hearing from you all and I really appreciate it J Thanks again.
Ciao Jess xx
