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Emma James (Randwick Botany/FRF) is proudly sponsored by: |
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The Emma James Diary 2006
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Welcome to one of Cyclingnews' female talents, Australian Emma James. After two years with the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) team based in Italy, and riding in 2004 as a professional with Team S.A.T.S. then Bik Gios, Emma is back in Australia, concentrating for the moment on the domestic scene before seeing where the wheeltracks take her.
Bay Crits and National Championships, January, 2006
Opening the season
After a year of not having done much racing or training, the lure of racing the Bay Series Crits and the National's was more than I could resist. I am not sure what it is in me that decides that smashing myself trying to get fit in a week of criterium racing would be a better option than going on a holiday. There are millions of things I have not been able to do for, say, six years because of the routine of the summer racing and training schedule. When it comes down to it, I love the racing, the possibility (how ever remote at times!) of winning something that will satisfy the competitive drive inside. I love feeling in your body when you have pushed yourself hard and feel so crap at the time, the frustration when you want to perform better, and the rewards that do come when you keep plugging away at it, and get stronger, fitter and faster.
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The familiarity of the racing scene makes it easy in so many ways for me now. I'm not so worried about having warmed up on the circuits like I always wanted to do a few years ago. Now I'm more worried about the training sessions I've missed when something at work seemed urgent or the weather wasn't quite right...or my motivation had vaporized!
I packed the car and headed off from Sydney in the afternoon. Quick stop at Bookham and brief chat to the friendly lady from the worm farm before heading on to Holbrook for the night. Holbrook is one of my favourite towns. It is not the full size submarine that features in the local park on the main street, but rather the bakery that sells the most awesome fresh bread with grains on the outside. Nice fresh loaf the next morning meant I got my annual fix! I went for a bit of a ride in the morning on the country roads before heading off for the last 400 kms to Melbourne. I was fortunate to have a great feed and a place to stay for the night in Melbourne at the renovating Holt household. All set then for the racing the following day.
Jayco Bay Cycling Classic, January 4-8, 2006
The first bit of the racing is always a shock to the system. A break of ten got away on the Williamstown circuit so that the rest of the field had little to do, with an effective marshalling role played by Kate Bates to protect her team mate up the road. A nice win to Katie Mactier was a sign of the week ahead.
Day 2 at Portarlington on the hilly circuit there was in hot conditions. I warmed up riding out there and teamed up with the girls sponsored by Volvo for the week. Nice to have the good people from Volvo supporting women's cycling as well as all the sailing sponsorship they are involved in. They really tried to have a good team atmosphere and positive outlook. Belinda Goss was doing well for the team, placing fourth in the first two races (and third overall in the series at the end).
The race went ok until the pressure really went on in the last few couple laps with strong moves from Oenone and others saw me get piped. Kate Bates tried to stay away, getting a good gap that unfortunately came to nothing, and the now decimated field remaining fought it out with a dead heat combined first place to Oenone Wood and Katie Mactier.
The third day was marred by crashes. The fast hot dog circuit down by the beach at Geelong has seen a few casualties. After 15 mins our race was suspended as the ambulance was called for a rider who had come down. She was supposedly not too bad in the end, and we were restarted for final 30 minutes of racing. Alexis Rhodes had a stellar ride to win the National Criterium Championship, riding strongly to maintain a good lead that she developed with a gutsy well timed move. Another crash with a lap to go slowed up much of the group fighting it out for second place. I had felt a little better through the race and was starting to feel more comfortable in the racing.
Saturday morning was Amy's Ride. It was great to see so many people riding in the white jerseys and supporting the foundation created in memory of Amy. It was a beautiful day and I enjoyed cruising out with a big group and eventually tagging on with various people to cover the distance without feeling too trashed. It was funny to hear someone struggling up a hill near Barwon Heads saying, 'This Amy must have liked hills...' It would be funny to hear her response. It is still heart wrenching to think of how much of a hole remains in so many lives when someone like Amy is taken at too young an age through something so avoidable.
That night we raced on the Geelong Botanic Gardens Circuit where Will Walker made his mark a few years ago as a 17 year-old, holding off the A grade field to the amazement of the spectators. The girls have raced here a fair few times also, and I remember a classy win to Olivia Gollan a couple years back. The race was tough and it provided me with a solid 45 minutes of pain. Another crash on the circuit had the ambulance taking up half of the road after the fastest of the corners for most of the race.
Sara Carrigan put in an impressive effort to stay away from the field with Sally Cowman for much of the race. I worked hard to stay with the group and maintain position with the rough roads of the circuit taking their toll on me and my bike. With a couple laps to go my legs turned to jelly! Quite a bizarre feeling related to trying to power across the rough section, hold position on a steep short climb and then pick up speed across the false flat leading to the finish line. My legs quit - quite suddenly. I pulled over to see Sally leading Sara up the final climb and the bunch, half a lap later, fighting it out for third. Sara got the win showing she is in good form. I cruised back to the hotel with my bottom bracket creaking a little but my fatigue dominating in my thoughts.
Sunday morning was an early start to pick up Pat Lockwood (Adrian's mum) from the airport so she could accompany me for the rest of my travels (to Adelaide). We arrived early to the docklands circuit and I delayed warming up until 30 mins to go - as you do after four days of racing! On the rollers I realized something was wrong with my gears and with a little help from Pete MacDonald, I had it sorted for the race - but diagnosed as a bottom bracket problem that would need some serious repair!
I started the race wondering if my cranks could come off...and thinking also about not letting a group get away today to ensure Belinda could sprint against Oenone and try to get the points to move into second overall. The team worked well with Tiffany Cromwell putting in a solid effort to pull back a break and I felt a fair bit better and in a position to cover moves particularly in the second part of the race. I was satisfied with the race and glad to have my boss from Ecological Engineering, Tony Wong, watching from the sidelines.
We headed off to Adelaide that afternoon getting out of town without any trouble and enjoying the scenery (for a while). We stopped in Beaufort, a little town with French heritage and a particularly good café where they sell paté, terrines and authentic French products. We couldn't resist the prune and beef terrine, which I was assured was made with the French 'Pruneaux D'Agen' that sponsored a team I rode with in France! We continued on, driving through fields where wheat had been harvested and big pad storage piles. We made it to Boardertown, had a great quiche and salad in the petrol station diner and slept solidly that night.
Another half day of driving and we arrived in Adelaide. My bike needed serious attention, which it received courtesy of Andrew Kuhl, Revolution Cycles, Cervelo and Standish Cycles. In the end I had myself a brand new bike, the carbon Soloist.
It is all good! The bars and groupset from my previous Cervelo were transferred over to the new frame, so with the position as close to exactly what I had been used to it was a very smooth transition. My first ride was just an hour cruising in Adelaide traffic down to the beach and back, but the bike wanted to race. It felt seriously stiff and begged to be ridden hard. It is designed to be suitable for my style of rider - aero for someone going for the long breakaway. Unfortunately, I don't think a long breakaway with my form on the tough national road circuit this year would be the best illustration of this bike's potential...but that will come. I'll get in a few more races and report back on how she rides.
Australian Open Road Championships, January 11-14, 2006
I had the National Time Trial on the Wednesday. The circuit is hard with a solid 1km climb at the start and then undulating roads for the next 10km. Mike Tomalaris hadn't seen the climb when I spoke to him last, but I hope it features on the Cycling Central wrap up! The road flattens off a little towards the turn around for the women at the 14km mark, still leaving a long way home on dead roads with plenty of climbing to do.
I rode quite well to finish 13th considering my form and the toughness of the circuit. Kathy Watt had an impressive ride to take the win, 40 seconds ahead of Sara Carrigan, with Nat Bates not far behind in third. Kathy had prepared well to secure the automatic selection for the Commonwealth Games Time Trial in March, on Beach Road. That is familiar territory for her and she obviously has the form and enduring skill to take out the gold medal for Australia. With any luck we will have another medal with the second cyclist selected for that event. There is no shortage of talented girls to choose from.
The road race was a couple days later (Friday). The tough course certainly had people thinking cautiously. There seemed to be so many parts of the circuit where the climbs could see the race blow to pieces. There were long sections of fast descents also, where I envisaged groups would be chasing back to the top riders. The morning of the race was cold, but it warmed up quickly as we were called to the line. After 6km, the first crash brought down a number of riders. I was held up a little - but my key concern was not to scratch my beautiful new frame.
One of the early moves of the day was chased back on the flat by Oenone Wood, which surprised me a little. There were a few individuals who made moves and got reasonable gaps, but the field stayed together with any strong riders who attacked covered quickly. It was a particularly negative race - with those looking to get a good result racing conservatively - which unfortunately is often the best way to go. With just over a lap to go, Amanda Spratt attacked as the bunch was riding steadily on a bit of a straight descent. She got a good gap and I thought she would do well (having placed well in the time trial). Kate Bates covered a rider who tried to bridge across. Sara Carrigan saw the danger and responded with a strong move, riding across to Bates and Spratt who were now together with just under 1 lap to go (20km).
The field was controlled now by Oenone Wood and Natalie Bates - both protecting for Kate Bates up the road. Amanda Spratt had not been able to keep up the pace and had dropped back to the main field. With half a lap to go and the gap at over a minute, it seemed we would be racing for third and the jersey would be with either Kate or Sara. On the tough circuit I thought Sara would have the advantage - but I have seen Kate race extremely well up climbs when she needs to. Like sprinters who can smell the finish line...
Kate took the well deserved win. She will be an excellent Australian National Champion representing us in Europe. Her talent and tactical racing nous will be a strong asset for Nürnberger and no doubt she will develop well in that environment with so many skilled riders around her.
In our bunch sprint for third Oenone took it out from Katie Mactier. I finished up 11th, and was not too disappointed - but had the feeling that more could have happened in that race. I should have been looking to race more aggressively with 30 km to go. The well timed moves by Spratt, Bates and Carrigan were the winning moves, but the strong move by Jessie Maclean could have also led to something. It is a pity that the aggression in the race was countered so easily, but the counter moves did not come to bridge across to individuals up the road. Still, like in the men's race and in the important one day races, it is often raced in a cautious and cagey way.
Pat and I stopped in for a day in Waikerie on the drive home to visit her step father Bill Dixon, a tough character, 80 years old and still going strong. We drove from 2:00am on Sunday (when were awoken in the night by the neighbours), stopping on the banks of the Murrumbidgee for breakfast and driving on and on to get towards Bathurst for cherries, peaches and honey to take home. Through Blaney we got a seriously intense storm with the road turning into a river in no time, and then a mystical fog as we passed through the Blue Mountains. We made it home ok (but will go the Wagga Wagga way next time).
Straight back into work the next day - and a week with rain and not much riding to recover. All is set for me to ride the Geelong and New Zealand World Cup rounds, so that lingering racing hunger may be fed!
