Exploring Sydney

We had one last day in Sydney before Gela left to go back home to Germany and we wanted to make the most of it. With a busy schedule of training in the weeks before, we'd managed to only do a few touristy things....Bronte and Freshwater Beach, a ferry ride under the Harbour Bridge and drinks at the Opera Bar were all we had managed.

We awoke to a hot, muggy but cloudy Sydney day, we headed down to The Spit for my first ever kayaking experience. With friends, Sam and Heather we jumped into our single kayaks and headed off to explore the Harbour. My little arms haven't had a workout like this for awhile, I was buggered after 5mins! I am so lucky to live in such a beautiful city and this is a great way to explore it....down on the water, gliding along...we paddled over to Balmoral Beach, contemplated the beach and a coffee but realised we would probably take out a few too many small children trying to make our way in...so turned back and beached ourselves on a small harbour beach half-way back. We all jumped in to cool off and after a refreshing swim paddled our way back...a well spent 2 hours :)

Gela and I changed our very wet clothes and headed up the hill to Taronga Zoo. Gela was keen to see some local wildlife (her experience before this had consisted solely of a dead kangaroo on the side of the road). She was impressed by the location of the zoo and the enclosures that are a lot more than cages. We saw the koalas, kangaroos, platypus, chimpanzees, giraffes, zebras, elephants and the turtles getting some late Sunday afternoon action....

From there we headed to Bondi, drank beer at Icebergs while appreciating the gorgeous zoo and the many surfers. The sun set, the moon started to rise and we headed home after what had been a great Sydney day.

Season 2007 begins...

Last Monday Angela (my little German team-mate) and I headed down to Geelong to begin our first days of international racing. Unfortunately our team didn't come out and so I raced with the NSWIS team and she raced with the German National team. As it was pouring rain in Sydney, the sun shone down south and we had a week of sunshine (most of the time) and some good racing. This is the first international racing on the calendar and it is always a bit of a shock to get the legs and lungs firing again.

I had a chance to race with a new group of girls, I had a good week with Toirease Gallagher, Rennski, Peta Mullens, Tiff Cromwell, Skye-Lee Armstrong and Helen Kelly. After 3 days of racing the Geelong Tour, getting into the swing of attacking, chasing, crashing (not all of us luckily!) and sprinting we were feeling a bit more in race mode.

We had a day off and then on Saturday lined up for the opening round of the Womens World Cup series in downtown Geelong. I had a good day, was out the front all day in a break and wasn't too surprised when it came back together with a lap to go but that set the race up for Angela to sprint in for 5th....a good result so early in the season.

Beach time :)

Lisa says 'I do'

I have been trying all week to post some photos of Lisa and Andy's gorgeous day but it is not working for me. I can't show you how beautiful Lise looked so I will just have to write a little...under cloudy (but lucky not rainy) skies Lise and Andy tied the knot at Freshwater View Reserve. As the name suggests, this was a little park with a great view over Freshwater beach. The ceremony was lovely, Lisa's excitement very evident. I don't think I have ever seen such an excited bride..she was clapping her hands and jumping up and down with glee. They exchanged vows and then quite privately whispered the vows that they had made for each other...very nice :)

It was great to catch up with some friends from uni...it has been awhile in some cases. A lovely afternoon and evening....sending out a big congratulations to Mr and Mrs Duffy :)

Australia Day

For those who come across the sea, you may not be aware of the great day that is Australia Day :) The 26th of January is the magic day and it is on this date that on 1788 Captain Phillip took formal possession of the colony of New South Wales and became its first Governor.

Officially, "Australia Day is a time to reflect upon what we have achieved and what we can be proud of in our great nation - our people, our fragile yet enduring land, land, our rich Indigenous culture, our great diversity, and our celebrated freedom and democracy. These characteristics have contributed to Australia 's unique identity and culture, and have made it the great nation that we celebrate today". But really for the masses it is a day off work, a day to enjoy time with mates, have a bbq or picnic and drink some beer, and that is exactly what we did...

National Road Championships

The season has well and truly kicked off with our first full road race of the year. Sixty girls lined up for the National Road Race last Saturday in Buninyong, near Ballarat. It was a tough course,

and was always going to produce a worthy winner. As you can see in the picture the Qld team definitely had the numbers to define the race and this played a big role in how our race panned out. Unfortunately, it was not as an aggressive or fast race as I would have liked but then it is an incentive for me to improve my sprinting skills. After one solo break by Qld'er Lousie Kerr and a few attacks, it came down to 12 girls sprinting for the line after 102km of racing. I finished 8th...although not fantastic, I have been known to come last in a bunch sprinting for the line. All in all not too bad a weekend, and I was glad to come home after several weeks away. I am back in Sydney for a while now, until I head south again for more racing in Geelong. I can't wait for some beach time and some nice long training rides again.

And the racing begins....

2007 has begun with a bang...our team for the Bay Crits 'Pitcher Partners' had a very successful week, winning 4 out of 5 stages and the overall classification. It was a testing week, with conditions ranging from 38 degrees in the shade, to pouring rain and driving winds. Each day consisted of a 45 minute criterium, these are much harder than they sound, the pace being on from the start. There were many crashes, but I was able to remain upright all week which was an added bonus. I was really happy with my week...I didn't come out with a result but I had 'good legs' and am really pleased with how strong I feel so early in the year. I am really excited about the National Road Championships being held this weekend and I feel that I have the form to be able to win and take the National Champions jersey over to Europe.

I am in Melbourne for a few more days, relaxing and recovering before getting the body going again mid-week and then we move on down to Ballarat where the Nationals will be held. Sister Kate and Pitcher Partners team-mate Alex Rhodes are on the plane to Mallorca today for a 10 day training camp with their new team T-Mobile and we will miss them as part of the bunch racing on Saturday. It was a funny feeling packing my bags to come down here and start the racing season again but after 6 days I feel like I am back in the groove and can't wait for the racing to come.

Happy New Year

I hope everyone had a Happy New Year. I hope that all my friends and family, scattered all over the world have a great 2007. I ushered in the new year in a very quite fashion indeed…falling asleep well before the midnight countdown….I was awoken in time to be aware of the first seconds of the new year.

Before we are well and truly into this year I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who was there for me in 2006…there are many of you, family, friends, sponsors…and there is no way that I would be able to do what I do without you all. I am so lucky to have many people supporting me…financially, emotionally and physically…and I am very grateful.

I am very optimistic that 2007 is shaping up to be one of the best ever, I’m looking forward to what is ahead.

The start of 2007 for me involves racing the Bay Criterium Series down in Melbourne. I am down here now and the racing begins tomorrow in Williamstown and continues until Sunday…5 days of racing, each day a 45min (+3laps) race. It doesn’t sound like too much, but it is incredible how much suffering can be jammed into a brief 45min window! I am racing with the Pitcher Partners team alongside sister Kate, Olivia Gollan, Alexis Rhodes and Amanda Spratt…a great bunch, and so the week does promise to be a fun one. I will write a report soon!

Merry Christmas :)

Wishing all my friends and family in every corner of the world a very Merry Christmas. We had a lovely day celebrating with close family in our house....a day full of food and laughter.

Awards and weddings

A busy weekend saw us travelling down to Melbourne for a fly-by 25hr trip encompassing the Cycling Australia Awards dinner and a very brief catch-up with Lucy...way too brief :) The night was a lot of fun...Matt White and I hosted the night and after some early nerves I got the hang of it...with only a few minor blunders!

The next day we headed down to Tassie for the wedding of the year, Mark Padgent and Louise Yaxley...we flew into Launceston, hired a car and with 5 of us packed in tightly...Kate, Richie, Liv, Gunnar and I...we made the drive to Coles Bay. We drove the scenic route which was a little scary at times when it began to pour with rain, the road was narrow and windy with the 25 km/hr speed sign...but it was gorgeous. We arrived at our destination just north of Coles Bay...all shocked by the realisation that we had no mobile coverage for the weekend...ended up being lovely :) We trooped into the 'town centre' - a pub and bakery and small supermarket...ordered burgers and chips and sat on the picnic table on the bay and looked out over the water. It is hard to describe how spectacular this place is...I think for me having the national park and bush alongside the coast is the best thing. The air was so still and quite...you feel like you could be anywhere in the world, and you are oblivious to anything that could be going on in the world.

The next morning we awoke...headed to the bakery for a coffee and then set off into the national park for a walk through the bush. The first destination was Wineglass Bay lookout then down to the bay itself...the photos don't do it justice, it was spectacular. Four of us continued the 'loop' to Hazards Beach we had found on the map and managed to do the 11km loop in just over 3 hrs...you can tell that we are a competitive bunch, at every point we wanted to see how much quicker we were than the suggested time, which was 5hrs for this walk. The only thing to really put us in our place is the fact that the groom - Mark had run this loop the same morning!

The wedding was on the beach, a fantastic setting and the ceremony was beautiful. The reception was at Freycinet Lodge, again such a beautiful spot and there was much eating, drinking and dancing into the night.

The next morning we went to Cape Tourville lookout and walked down to a place called Sleepy Bay. It was a gorgeous day, vibrant blue sky which makes the colours of the landscape even more dramatic. We jumped in the car to make our journey back, very sad to be leaving such paradise but grateful for such a fantastic weekend.

Sizzling Sydney in the spring

There has been such a long time since my last blog, and although I think I should do it I haven't managed to find the time! Hard to believe but there always seems to be something to do. I'm not sure how the rest of the world manages to fit a full time job into their lives :)

There has been lots on....a trip to Port Macquarie for the weekend which was lovely (but very rainy), a surfing lesson, working for British Cycling at the Sydney World Cup, trying to catch up with people but not managing to do that too well.

This morning I headed out to Penrith to do a school visit and promote the Sanitarium Weet-Bix kids tryathlon...I was a little nervous (a bit of a worry to be nervous about a group of 7 year olds!)...I got there and they had no idea of who I was or why I was there. Feeling pretty stupid, I jumped back in the car and headed back to the slightly cooler temperatures of the east! I woke at 6am to go riding this morning and it was already 31 degrees....very sticky indeed. It was one of those rare days in your life that you are grateful that there are clouds and no sunshine!

Plenty on the agenda in the next few weeks....to Melbourne for the Cycling Australia Awards night on Friday night and then to Tassie for Lou Yaxley and lil Mark Padgent's wedding. They are getting married in Freycinet National Park which I've heard is magnificent...can't wait to spend a few days down there. More school visits in the next week...fingers crossed I get a better reception at the next one. This evening my Aunty Cheryl is teaching me how to make her famous Christmas plum pudding....she has already made the calico sheets and now we get to do the fun bit...

Hopefully I will write again soon and can post some photos of a lovely Sydney summer.

Home sweet home

Long time no blog but much has happened, from team presentation in Berlin to back ‘home’ in Sydney…My last week in Germany was great, the weather was trying to impress me after the yucky spring weather and it was good to have so much blue sky and sunshine. I did some running, a little study and a lot of procrastinating and had a chance for many a long sleep in…very nice. We traveled up to Berlin for the team presentation, 10 days ago now…it is a new German team called ‘Getranke Hoffman’…unfortunately I don’t have any photos to share just yet so I can’t show you the team colours. I am the only non-German which is interesting and challenging in the language department but it is exactly what I need to kick me in the bum and really start to learn a language. So I am trying, I figure even 5 mins a night is better than nothing, but I have a terrible memory and so it is a slow process, but worthwhile J

I have been home just under a week, I arrived late on Wednesday night to be greeted by Kate and Richie and a lovely big bunch of flowers. The flight was long…you always forget just how far we are away from everything…and I completely messed it up, staying awake the first flight and then crashing out on the second. This has led to a week of the worst jet-lag I have ever had. I had 1.5hrs sleep the first night, and since then I am better but still awake early. It is amazing how productive I can be between 4 and 9 am! I have been cleaning the house, walking the dogs, doing washing…in fact I am so efficient that I put Kate’s wallet and car keys in the recycling bin…whoops ;)

The first night home the family came around to celebrate Nana Heather’s 81st birthday, it was so good to see everyone, hear Pop’s stories that I haven’t heard for at least 7 months and have a good laugh. Poor Richie is still puzzled by Pop’s riddles….we haven’t managed to solve them in 25 yrs so I think he has no chance. Richie was blessed with a cheerful rendition of ‘Patty McGintie’s goat’ – hard to explain unless you’re part of the Bates family ;)

On Friday night Kate and Richie took me out for a ‘surprise’, something they had planned and of which I had no idea. It turned out to be Cirque du Soleil which was a fantastic surprise. I have seen one before in Rotterdam, the Drallion show and this one was Varekai…it blows me away, I think you can never see it too many times. It makes me feel a bit of a joke that I call myself an athlete after seeing the strength, control, flexibility and skill that the ‘performers’ display. Very inspiring!

I had a great weekend catching up with friends, going down to Manly beach and going to watch Kate and Rich race. I am now back on the bike and it is not as scary as I would have thought after 5 weeks off….the running has done me some favours. Time to cook dinner in time for Robbie to get on the rollers. A lot coming up…hopefully I have time to blog it J

The changing of the seasons

Autumn has arrived here...the leaves have gradually turned from green, to yellow and now a deep red. It is a pretty time, and with the weather still relatively mild...its nice to be here. I haven't had a real autumn in years, my life consisting of the spring-summer combination back to back.

It has been a relatively quite time, which I can't complain about at all. I have some study I need to get done and it is good to try and get it done before I head home to the craziness of Sydney...with so many different things to do and people to see. I have been running every second day or so to get my exercise fix...I haven't run in years and I am really enjoying it. It is cool here in the mornings (8 degrees or so) but the sun has been out most days, and it is a great way to start the day.

My team presentation is next Saturday in Berlin and then I will be heading back to Holland to fly out of Amsterdam to Sydney. I will be back in Sydney in less than two weeks....its been a long time...7 months away but I can't wait :)

Sending out birthday wishes to 'uncle' Graham and Gunnar - Happy Birthday to you both for today :)

Party time!

On Saturday four of us piled into Senffi's car to drive 6 hrs and meet some of our team-mates for some drinks and dancing in Amsterdam. It was the longest way I've ever driven for a night out on the town but was worth it.

We made it into Amsterdam (despite the highway being shut and us having no map)...met the girls and had a good night pulling our dance moves. For those who don't know me so well I am possibly one of the worst dancers there is....there is not a single bit of rhythm in my body, however I managed to shake my booty until well after 3am. I was quite impressed by my staying power (I am normally hopeless)! The club we were in at great music and a podium in the centre of the dance floor just big enough for our group....so that is where we spent most of the night.

At 5am we arrived 'home' in Hazerswoude, slept for a few hours and then began the drive back. It was quite a way to spend a weekend but that is what the off season is for :)

Bog from Croatia!

I am back in Amsterdam after a fabulous holiday last week with Jude. We got to see a lot but also had plenty of time relaxing in the sun, swimming in the Adriatic, eating great local food and drinking good local wine and beer....what more could you want in a holiday!?! It feels as though Salzburg was about 2 months ago so it was definitely a very relaxing week.

I really enjoyed our time on the island of Korcula...we stayed in local accomodation ie. someone's house in the middle of the old town, and our two days felt like a week. We swam off the rocks, sunbaked on the pebbly shores, drank cocktails in the stone 'turret' by the sea, ate lots of good food, and bought some beautiful local jewellery :) On one of the days we had lunch in the village of Pupnat which is 15km from the town of Korcula, pretty much in the deadcentre of island. The group was catching the bus out there but I decided it would be good to explore the place more thoroughly and so hired a mountain bike and set off up the hill (10%!) out of town to ride into the interior. The surroundings change rapidly as you ascend and move inland...it is quite dry and looks almost desolate with few trees, mainly coastal shrub. It was a beautiful warm sunny day and I had a sweat up by the time I reached our destination but it was well worth it. We had a beautiful lunch of local antipasto, pasta and dessert with plenty of local white and red wine to wash it all town. Most of the group jumped back on the bus for the drive home; 3 brave souls started the walk home (Jude included) and I cruised next to them on the bike for awhile before taking of down the fast descent home. I took a different route home, down the side of the 'mountain' for 5km to the coast and then a leisurely cruise back along the road that hugged the coastline...I even had a tailwind...lovely!
From Korcula we headed up to Split for a couple of days....similarly we had time to explore the local sites with plenty of down time for sun and swimming. Split is home to Diocletian (a Roman emperor)'s palace and it is amazing. It is quite run down but they are doing extensive restoration and it is incredible because within the palace walls is the whole of the old town....restaurants, cafes, heaps of shops and then lots of people living in apartments in the old buildings of the palace. One of the days we caught the ferry out to the island of Brac...hired chairs to save us from the pebbly shores and there we remained for hours, swimming in the beautiful clear waters of the Adriatic....mmmm....
After Split we had an interesting day getting to Zagreb (the capital of Croatia) which is where we were flying out from. We hired a car, drove on the smaller coastal roads to Zadar which is beautiful the whole way and then onto the fairly new super-highway for the last 200km to Zagreb. The new road is amazing and very different to what my visions were. Jude and I are both pretty hopeless with directions but we found our way to the hotel, explored on Sunday night and then flew yesterday.
I'm now back in Amsterdam, we went to Aalsmeer flower markets today which Jude wanted to see and then she flies tomorrow. I need to get back into the groove now, do some uni work and get myself organised for next year. At this stage I don't think I will be home for a few weeks yet but I will write when I know more....

Dubrovnik

Yesterday Jude and I travelled by train to Bratislava. After recieving a bit of a culture shock at the train station, the city was really beautiful and Jude and I had a great time. The place is exceptionally cheap so the shopping was great and there are lots of really good bars and restaurants in the lovely streets between the old buildings. We were pleasantly surprised to have dinner and 4 beers for less than 20 euros combined! Our hotel was, lets just say, interestin! I can imagine that it was very flash in the 1960's or so....but the carpet on the walls isn't quite 'in' in the 2000's!
We awoke this morning, walked to the castle which gave a great view across the city and the Danube and then settled down for a quick coffee before we had to leave the hotel. We flew in the middle of the day to Dubrovnik which proved very easy.
We arrived in Dubrovnik to be greeted by rain filled clouds...but considering our great spell of weather we couldn't be too picky. The bus trip from the airport into the old part of the town was quite spectacular...it reminds me a little of the Amalfi coast.
We checked into our accomodation (found after traversing several narrow alleyways)....we are staying in the house of a local which is very nice. We went for a walk around the city walls....bloody fantastic...I think it is one of these places where it is impossible to take a bad photo! We explored the old town very quickly...enjoyed some very good gelati....then went back for a 5min lie down before we joined the rest of our 'group' for a walk. We climbed up the hill behind town (there used to be a cable car but it was destroyed in the 'war' in 1991/2)...it was a bit of a journey but we were rewarded with gorgeous views back over the whole coast. The sun set while we were up there and the lights lit up the whole area....really amazing! With big hungers fuelled by our 3 hr journey we went into the old city for pizza and beer...very satisfying.
Tomorrow morning we are hopping on a ferry to Korcula...it should take 5 hrs and then we are staying with locals again. This place is fascinating...its just a shame I can't add any photos at this point...

Another season over

I am at the Hauptbanhof (main train station) in Salzburg, about to get on a train to take mumsie and I to Bratislava and from there we are flying to Croatia tomorrow.

I have been in Salzburg for just under a week...it is a beautiful city and we have been graced with gorgeous weather which is supposed to change tomorrow. The Aussies had a whole hotel to ourselves in Eugendorf, 10km north of the city. We had a couple of days to peruse the course for the World Championships and then settle in and get some good recovery. After being very tired, a little sick and scared that all my form was gone...I started to feel better during the week. My biggest worry was that I didn´t quite have the power left to have a hard race for all 130km....but I had a good training day on Wednesday and so all I could do left was to cross my fingers and pray!

I was feeling positive going into the race, and Oenone was confident that she had the legs for a good result. The Aussie team, for all our strengths and weaknesses is a very loyal and cohesive unit and everyone was prepared to give 100% to try to get Oenone in that pretty rainbow jersey. We awoke to lovely blue skies, had a quite morning and settled in to watch the fast action packed race of the U23 boys. It gave us all some ideas of how the race might pan out for us....but at the end of the day it was quite a different scenario. Race reports can be read on Cyclingnews....Oenone finished 6th...she just didn´t quite have the legs in the sprint after a solid race. I think it was fantastic that she was in that final group of 15...a lot of good bike riders were missing and she did everything tactically right. I had a pretty tough day...I did a lot of work (perhaps some of it unnecessary) in the early stages of the race which I paid for later. I was dropped on the 5th lap of 6th. There was then the dilemma....do I continue to race, my mum is here to watch, it is a world championships...all of these things...but I knew through race radio that Oenone was in a front group of 15 and had a good chance to win...I didn´t want to miss seeing how the last part of the race unfolded. I stopped at the pits on the last lap and sat with my team-mates Helen, sis Kate and Olivia to watch the last nail-biting kilometres....this did involve us all on our feet yelling at the television! I think we had a great team ride...at the end of the day we didn`t finish on the podium but we did all that we could and I think that that makes us winners :)

We are all looking forward to a much needed and deserved holiday and then to building for next year. I think the Aussie team can all take a step up and be something to fear in the next few years....I look forward to that.

The train is about to leave...I hope to be able to write and send some photos from Croatia.

A rollercoaster ride

It has been awhile since I have posted a blog…I have been on the road for a couple of weeks with no internet access…so I’m not sure where to start…

Last week we had a four day tour that had two stages in Holland, one in Germany and one in Belgium. I was feeling like I finally had some good form and after a strong time trial and good climbing legs the next day I had some confidence that I had managed to get ‘good legs’ at the right time of the year. Unfortunately I have yet to perfect my stage finish and my lil sister beat me into 3rd position on GC with a great win on the last stage….better her than anyone else I think! We were pretty lucky all week with mostly good weather, a really nice race hotel and no long drives. I had one little crash on the 3rd day but it paled into insignificance when we found out that Miriam Melchers had broken her pelvis and jaw both in several places with a crash on a descent earlier in the day. I send my thoughts and best wishes to her for a speedy recovery…

From Holland we drove across to Germany for a World Cup the following day….it was the last World Cup on the program for the year, and although one of the easiest World Cups of the year in terms of terrain, there is double points on offer so this is a big one for many teams, especially if they have a sprinter with good legs on the day. It was a pretty uneventful day for me, but I stayed upright and helped where I could and that was all I was hoping for. I just don’t have the head to mix it with 120 charging girls in the last 3km….definitely not brave enough for that.

We continued on our tour of Europe, with a long 11 hr drive south to Italy to begin the 6 day Giro della Toscana. This is the last tour before the World Championships and a lot of girls use it to put the finishing touches on their preparation and make sure there is enough speed in the legs. As usual with Italy everything is a little bit crazy and chaotic…sometimes a little deep breathing is necessary. After a pretty hectic block of racing and traveling I wasn’t sure how I would go in the tour…I never had any intention of finishing, thinking that this would push me over the edge….and I was quite right. After the 1st road stage I knew that things weren’t as I would have liked them to be….I felt quite weak and lactatey, arms, legs, head….just like I could sleep for 3 days. I have a tendency to panic when such things occur but I tried to keep my calm and push on as I felt I did need another day or so of racing for the speed in my legs. 100km into the 130km stage yesterday, at the top of the 1st 10km climb for the day I decided to ‘pull the pin’….it had been raining heavily the whole stage, I blended in with the road I was so black from all the spray from the diesel covered roads, and I felt completely empty. I had dragged my sorry assie up the first climb at 150bpm feeling that it was 190bpm…a sure sign for me to get off my bike :) I changed, had an Italian style hot chocolate (just like pudding) and got some tea for the rest of my poor rain soaked team mates. This morning I took my team-mate Theresa’s car and headed north of the familiarity of Novellara. I am staying here with Barbie and Massimo until Tuesday and then Liv and I will drive up to Salzburg which is only 4 hours from here. It is great to be here in a comfortable place that I know well….tonight I am going with Barbie and her friends to my favourite restaurant for a balsalmic covered steak…Lots of rest over the next few days and I am hoping I get back the power I had in there last week…fingers crossed :)

A light breeze in Rotterdam..

I have just come to the end of my last proper week in Holland....and a joyous one it was.....rain, wind, grey sky...and did I mention rain! All this grey sky gets me down but at least I know I have a summer to come home to. I feel a little sorry for all the locals...this is probably as good as it is going to get for a good 9 months or so...yucky! I am craving some good Aussie sunshine and some golden sand to lay myself on :) Only 9 days of racing to go.....

Yesterday we had the penultimate World Cup of the season in Rotterdam. After a week of rain and wind I thought I would be prepared for anything the weather had to throw at us...but alas no...we awoke to gale force winds and driving rain. Luckily by the time the race started at 1pm the rain had slowed to a drizzle but the wind was going to be a major factor. After 20km or so we turned into the cross wind, I was desparate enough to be 3rd wheel at this point and the bunch split to pieces. Initially there were 16 of us....the Bates family was well represented with little and big Bates there and I had 2 other team mates. Being a bit of a lightweight I tend to suffer big time in the cross winds and on one occasion I just couldn't hold the wheel in front, but luckily I dragged my assie back on. Lucky because at this point we were approximately half-way through the 130km lap...it would have been a very sad day all on my lonesome. Anyway....9 other girls joined us and our group of 25 grovelled through the wind to the finish. Unfortunately I just couldn't hold on when the pace picked up with 10km to go...but my team-mate Kirsten was 3rd and I was happy to be up the front all day and get a bloody good training day in.

Now I am at "home" for my last day for a month...I need to pack for 2 tours, a world cup race, the world championships and a holiday in Croatia with my mum....see if I can get all of that into one bag! The last thing to do is to download some podcasts onto the I-pod...Merrick and Rosso have been getting a lot of airtime and keeping me in touch with some good Aussie humour. You get to this time of the season and having being surrounded by non-native English speakers I find that my vocabulary as become quite atrocious...Katie pointed out to me the other day that within a 10 min period I had said to her "you know the thingy, with the bit that goes like this...(insert hand gesture here)"....at least 5 times. I need my SMH crossword....