|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
The Emma James Diary 2004
 |
Welcome to one of Cyclingnews' up-and-coming female talents, Australian Emma James. Emma has spent the past two years with the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) team based in Italy, and in 2004, she has graduated to a full professional contract, firstly with Team S.A.T.S. and now with Bik Gios. She's a gutsy rider who's decided that she'd rather be testing the waters of professional cycling than testing the salinity of the Sydney's waterways as an environmental scientist - which used to be her previous occupation before Emma decided to take the plunge.
Training in the Netherlands
And the search for Podium Flowers
|
I seem to be slow getting going again this year. I thought that with more solid preparation over the summer I would find the early season racing in Europe easier, and would be getting some good results and racing well from the start of the season. It hasn't been that way!
Settling into another year of European racing has been harder than I expected. A bit of sickness with a cold slowed me up early on and the shock of the cold weather in Europe took a bit of getting used to, then adjustments to a new bike, sore feet and knee trouble, homesickness, communication and planning stresses and a millions other thoughts and excuses have been running through my mind.
I remember reading an article by a pro rider talking about how the season goes: waiting for the first win of the season, getting demoralized at times, training well and preparing well for important races, and how the bike helps or hinders - almost 'laughing' at the 'out-of-form' rider and seeming heavy up hills early in the season, and then when the good times come, rolling easily under the rider along beautiful roads and dancing up the climbs. Bring on the good times!
I have been staying in the south of the Netherlands, in 'De Horst', Groesbeek, near Nijmegen, just a couple kilometers from the German border, and soaking up the hospitality of the De Haan family. The area has an amazing history from WWI and WWII, with the nearby Reichswald and Liberation Museum, signs on bridges for speed limits for trucks and, importantly, armed tanks! It is where the Rhine River flows from Germany, splitting into the Waal River near Nijmegen (and Arhnem). 'A Bridge Too Far' country.
The training here is great with quiet paths on the dykes along the Waal and Maas Rivers, quiet country roads galore to explore, and just enough short hills to feel like you are not going to be just a rider for flat terrain. I have friends here from a few years ago, the people who first helped me come to Europe and try to race on the international scene. It is a wonderfully supportive environment, people to train with, to go to races, and to relax and refocus.
The weekend schedule in the Netherlands included a few races that have been good for me. After a disappointing day at the World Cup in Belgium, I needed to race again and know that my legs are up for the challenge. The 60km criterium is a standard event, with just the nature of the corners and the field of riders to give variation. Ina Teutenberg was one of a few foreign riders on the start line, and she played it perfectly. She was in the group of five that got away in the first couple laps, collecting the primes all day and the top placings. Team tactics from the stronger Dutch teams ensured the race was negative in the main group and meant that there was little chance of the break not succeeding. The individual riders still in the main field made decent efforts to break the group, but there was still a field of 15 - 20 riders at the finish. The sprint was made more memorable with a man in a wheel chair riding down the road in the back straight, leading into the most important corner! It was a solid day training, but the podium flowers are eluding me.
The following day was a 'classic', 120 km road race in the north, from a town called Sneek. It is one of the eleven towns in the epic ice skating race that is only held when the canals freeze solid (last time was about eight years ago) 'Elf steden tocht'. The area is Friesland - home to the Friesian cow. The surroundings are supposedly really beautiful, but in the nervous bunch of riders negotiating through the towns, I didn't appreciate it much.
It was less windy than usual and the bunch was still quite large at the end of the race. A group of six got away after about 30km of fairly aggressive and fast racing, but the pace was maintained for most of the time, and the lead group was often in sight. I had been close to bridging to that group when the break formed, so I was not too disappointed when they were brought back after about 90km, and the important moves began for the final part of the race.
Chantal Beltman was riding strongly, and was part of the final group of five that got away with under ten kilometers to go. Ina Teutenberg and Kate Bates were also there, with a couple Farm Frites riders. The peloton made a miserable effort at negotiating the final kilometers with roundabouts and central islands. Numerous crashes and a major pile up in the final corner made for a disappointing end to the race. Again it was a good day of racing and an amazingly good field for a national level race in a country with 17 million people (obviously with a high percentage who love bicycles!). The podium flowers were still a fair way off this weekend, but with another criterium on Friday, and a race in Belgium the following day, it is only a matter of time.
Cheers,
Emma
