Tour of Wellington 08, Part 1

Flying home to my own country New Zealand, was exciting, but I was still not looking forward to customs with all the bikes and all the equipment they might want to look through. But we were lucky, there was another four teams on the flight, so they kind of left us alone, and passed us through with out any fuss. We arrived late about midnight and there was a truck and bus waiting from the race organiser to pick us up for the small trip to the hotel. All teams were staying in the Angus hotel, as usual, so there was a bit of a battle to get everyone organised into their rooms before it was too late. The weather was looking ominous for the week, so I was hoping for a repeat of last years perfect sunny conditions. But I wasn’t holding my hopes high, it was Wellington after all, famous for high winds and bad rain. But there was going to be some great racing at least, there was quite a few more teams that we didn’t race with in Geelong here for the week. A little bit more blood to fill the peloton for the races, hopefully we see some more action with a few more hungry girls, looking for some wins.

Most of the NZ team lined up for the start of their very own tour.

The tour was a bit different from the last few years, with a couple of new stages, and a couple of new finishes to some older stages. We started with the usual criterium up in the Hutt Valley, nice and close for the girls, so not to much travelling on the first day at least. In the weeks leading up to the tour we had great trouble finding any rental cars and vans, but I had managed to find a dodgy rental company for a van at least. The car we were still looking for, apparently there was the Golden Shears (A national sheep shearing competition) on in Masterton, and a few other festivals on around in the area. Most of the other teams, had the same issues as well, we were not alone, they were all complaining as well. After calling all the rental companies in the Wellington and surrounding areas, we decided to head to the airport to see if there was any cancellations. We were lucky, one car left, we didn’t care what it was, but it would be ready the next day, at least we didn’t need it for the crit. The bikes unpacked well, with no damage at all, which is a nice change from the airline baggage guys. I got organised in the bike room, trying to keep as much space to work in as I could. It was going to get messy in the next few hours as there were a few more teams to arrive, and with six of us in there, it was already getting full.

The photo of the photo finish, DeGoede nearest us and Oneone a few cm behind her.

The day of the first stage arrived, it was not raining, and the sun was even shining. We headed out to the course a few km up the road, the girls looking fantastic on their nice clean and shiny bikes. Time for a bit of a warm up for the girls, and time for me to have catch up with a few of the Kiwi’s and some of the other mechanics. Crits are such a social time for the staff, that’s as long as the girls are staying upright on the bikes. It’s so nice to use my kiwi slang for a while, talking as fast as I want and still getting understood, it will change in a week or so, time to make the most of it. The crit was about to start, so I made my way to the pits, with spare bikes and wheels in hand, ready for the worst. The tour had started, and there were plenty of nervous riders in the bunch as usual, and there was going to be some crashes for sure, I would be ready for it. Things were going well, a few attacks off the front, but nothing too serious, we were certainly active in most of them. Nothing major happened, a few small crashes, but my girls were safe in the front. There was the dodgy Chinese National team, famous for their crashing, also the Japanese national team, not as dangerous, but bad all the same. The hour was soon up, and then two laps to go, there was no real attacks off the front, but on the last lap we saw a little gap with two out the front. Oneone and Susan DeGoede (Nurenburg) were out the front, they sprinted, and it was too close to call. The stupid announcer got it wrong as usual, announcing Oneone as the winner. I was right on the finish line, ready with my camera as usual, and it looked like DeGoede took it by a few centimetres. And I was right, he came back on air to tell us that in fact it was DeGoede for the win, Oneone 2nd and coming in 3rd was our very own Joanne Kiesonski (Cervelo-Lifeforce). DeGoede takes the leaders jersey, and we leave for the country town Martinborough, for the second stage in the morning.

Come on, get serious Ina, it's a race after all. The opening Crit.

Stage two from Martinborough to Masterton was a nice little stage, with a number of good little climbs, then a run through to the finish with about 20km flat racing. We also use the same two hills for the third stage, but then we throw in Admirals hill to finish on, making these two the toughest stages of the tour. I just love the drive up through the Rumitaka’s, kind of classic Kiwi scenery, perfect for the tourists here for the week. Heading down into the valley on the other side, was much the same drought conditions of last year. I was half expecting a greener look after Australia, but that was not going to happen. We started the race with a lap of the town, it was over in half a minute, not sure of the population here, but sure it’s about a 100 or so. The real race was on, and we started out nice and slow, almost too slow, as the car was ready 15 km/hr in places, kind of embarrassing for Women’s cycling really. The speed stayed slow for another hour or so, almost making us fall asleep in the car, it was going to be a long day at this speed. By the time we hit the first good hill at about the 75km mark, the team was starting to stretch their legs a little, and the speed was on. They started with a few attacks, and started to see who was keen on a bit of a race. Nothing much happened until the last big hill, this I am sure gets bigger every year, but I just think everyone is talking about Admirals hill in the third stage, and they forget about this little kicker.

Art Shot, climbing during the 2nd stage.

The pace came on right on the start of the hill, with about 40km to go, it was the decisive move of the stage. Three of us attacked, and drew a few out of the bunch, think there was about 12 that went with Oneone, Chantele and Judith. A couple of Cervelo and a couple of Menikini, even NZ had a rider in there as well. We put the pace on, and kept the speed high. With 20km to go, Judith had spent almost all the time on the front, with Chantele helping as well, not any other team was in the break working, maybe they thought we would do it all ourselves. But the speed was high, and the gap between the peloton increased to about 2 mins, and they were not interested in chasing at all. With 10km to go, Judith was pulling the break at high speed, we had the leader jersey safe (virtual leader) on the back of Oneone, as long as a disaster didn’t happen, then we would be sweet.


In through the beautiful NZ countryside, a bit brown though.

The head Judges were been asses, and would not let us pass the small bunch of what was left of the peloton, seems she had some special rule we did not know about. We pushed to go through to the break, it was more than a minute (that’s the UCI rule) so she had to let us go through. But she was stalling bad, a bit of power had gone to her head. Another two cars came up to press her into action for the break, and she decided to let us through. And just in the nick of time. As we were speeding through to the break (a minute can seem like ages when you drive it), Oneone came through on the radio that she had punctured, it was our leader in the race, and they were about 7km before the finish, a very dangerous situation. The neutral service were just looking at Oneone as we arrived at speed (they couldn’t work out if it was a front or rear wheel needed I think), I leaped out of the car, changed the wheel and pushed her on her merry way. The neutral service guy still didn’t realise just what happened, looking with a stunned look on his face, wheels in hand as we drove off. The bunch had slowed a little, as they should, as our team towed them the last 40km. They must have known she was in the lead, and their conscience must have got the better of them, as they were not riding that fast in front. Judith had dropped back to help Oneone back to the break, and with the power of a diesel truck, she pulled her back up to the break with 2 km to go. Now it was up to her, the bunch sprinted hard, but Oneone must have had some adrenalin still flowing from the puncture, I know I certainly did. She pulled hard, and took out the sprint for first, and took the leaders jersey for the day, not a bad result really, considering it could have ended a lot worse in such a short space of time.

Part two coming up. And some pics here somewhere.

Geelong World Cup

With the team in good form from the smallish Geelong Tour, we were looking pretty good for a good result in the first World Cup race of the season. For a good run down on how the world cups go, think I saw something on Womenscycling.net, so you can get a better understanding how they work with the points etc, saves me trying to explain them. It’s a pretty hotly contested series every year, whether the team targets them directly, or the girls individually, depends on the teams direction. I am not sure of our direction with the WC races, but we race them all, so must be high on the list of wins we are aiming for the season. The top ten UCI teams automatically get entry, and the first five nations, the rest is up to the local organisation running the race. For Geelong, the same teams that raced in the tour are also doing the WC race, with a few rider changes from some teams.

My makeshift workshop for the week, Aussie style

The bikes were looking good, but with the first World Cup race being fairly serious, I had almost the whole day to mess with the bikes and get them perfect. I was lucky enough to have a spare bike to ride, so I was out on the bike in the morning, having good a look at the course with the team. It was good, but open to traffic for the day so there was plenty of stopping and starting with all the traffic lights around the place. The course was a lap of about 12km, for a total of 11 laps, the girls would get a good look around it on race day, that’s for sure, I unfortunately only had time for a few laps. The weather was not looking good, as rain was predicted for the whole day, but from the looks of things the night before, I was doubting that call. The morning dawned a little bit cold, but otherwise fine, the sun was struggling to shine through the cloud, but at least it was still dry. I was more worried about the bikes than the girls, as the last thing I needed was a few tumbles on the wet roads. We had some new tyres for the team, and they were looking pretty slick and I was not so sure how they were in the rain. So far so good for the Schwalbe tyres, only one puncture so far, and they were wearing in nice. But I was not looking to test them in a World Cup race, we would have time enough in Holland and Belgium at the start of the European race season.

Waiting for the start, the first World Cup of the season.


We rolled into town for the start, the sun had come out and the girls were stripping off all the arm warmers and rain jackets as they rode to the start. Everyone was excited, and there were even a few spectators hanging out at the start/finish line. It was nice to see a few people interested today, as for the tour, we hardly had anyone interested or watching. But I had work to do, and a few last minute checks on the bike to do. Everything looked fine and I had about half an hour before the start to kill, but just when I thought everything was in control, disaster struck. Judith, our captain for the day was doing her usual pre-start fiddle with her seat height, when she manages to strip what was left of the thread on the seat clamp (the rest she had stripped out a few days earlier 5 mins before the 2nd Geelong stage, a longer bolt worked here), I had half an hour to get it back on the road if possible. I had spent a little bit more time setting the spare bike up exactly for her position, because I was expecting this situation all week after the first incident. Luckily I had packed the only spare seat clamp today, as with this integrated seat clamp system, no other bikes parts will work as a substitute. I sweated a little, but was fully ready for it, and in perfect controlled panic, set about sorting the problem as fast as I could. Judith was very apologetic about the situation, but it was a good lesson for her, not to mess with it too much before such and important race. Maybe she learns something from this, but I doubt it. Most riders show their nervousness other ways, with Judith it’s adjusting the seat (Eddy used to have the same affliction, even during the race he was moving it up and down, and always had a allen key in his jersey) it just takes a little time to learn what each riders outing is when you join a new team. I will set another seat up on a new clamp for the truck in Europe, just to speed up and take the stress away from an otherwise dangerous situation.

Half the NZ team waits, Cath Cheatly, Carissa Wilks, Toni Bradshaw.

But the race was underway, and as soon as it started there was a fair bit of action happening off the front. With a couple of laps done, there was a large group of about 12 riders away, we had Linda in the group, and most teams were present, so it was not too much trouble. But by the time we got the numbers of who was in the group, it was looking pretty serious. There was all the right teams present, and they had the power to stay away for the entire race, but there was far too many good sprinters for Linda to win, so we decided to pull it in. Within one lap, the team had reeled in the break and the bunch was together for a while. There was still numerous attacks from the group, but nothing really serious coming out for good, but the speed was still low, so something was going to happen soon. And before you could mention it, two riders attacked, and got some time on the peloton. Emma Riccards (Cervelo-Lifeforce) and a rider I had not heard of Katherine Matthias (Webcor) escaped. We watched and waited for the bunch to react, but nothing happened, so we left it as well. Emma I knew, and she was in good form at the nationals and at the crits at the start of Jan, but the other rider was drawing a blank. The gap increased, 4 mins, 5 mins, 6 mins, and still no reaction from our director, with three laps to go it was getting serious. 6:40 and he decided to start catching, with less than 25km to go, it was an almost impossible ask from the girls. We had heard that a couple of other teams were going to help us chase, but so far they had not started at all. The girls put their heads down and started working, a few minutes caught, but it was still 3 mins, to the two with one lap to go. As the two out the front were going hard, I managed to catch a glimpse of them both as they came past us back out on the last lap. Still all the other teams did nothing to help, were they not interested in wining? I recognised Matthias, but still the name did not register with me. We got close, but the two girls in front we slowing things down a lot near the end, at the 3km to go mark, they were sitting on 500m to go. The race was done, we had no chance to catch them, the girls had started dropping of the back in the last 10km to go, completely spent from working so hard.

Halfway done in the race, five or so laps to go.

Katherine Matthias won the sprint, Emma was second, and now the bunch was at 1km to go. The sprint started, and there was some serious action on the front of the bunch, but it was Ina who took the last podium position, with a nice sprint for third. Not bad really, considering we could have lost everything on the day. Katherine Matthias of course I knew, but under her old name of Currie, such a good tactic for the girls to get married, then you can race under another name for a while until you get known again. No time for any celebrations just yet, as I had a few bikes, wheels and all the equipment to pack up before we headed for NZ the very next day. So I worked quickly, start slowing down and you then have time to think about how much work you really have ahead of you, then it gets real slow. Trying to pack everything as safe as possible and as fast as you can is a tough job, but I managed to finish just before the team left for dinner. Now for some nice food and wine, a nice way to finish a tour and two months in Australia off, Now I get a week in my own country, even if it is Wellington before flying back to Europe for some racing with the men, and maybe even some winter weather for the first time in a couple of years.

Alex covered in salt after the race, love that Aussie heat.

Some more shots of the race here.

Geelong Tour 08

The first race day arrived around pretty quick, and the bad thing was that it started with a double stage. At least there was no TT bikes or equipment allowed for the short Timetrail. At least there would not be as busy messing around with equipment and stuff, which is usual for such a race. The sun was up, but as usual, when we arrived early at the course, the wind was starting to pick up steadly. It’s always a gamble who to send out first, as who knows what the weather will be doing for the two of three hours while we set off all the girls after each other. The order for the start was the usual TT rules, every team sets of one rider after another, till all the teams have sent their first out. Then we start again with the next in line for all the teams (as opposed to order of GC in reverse). This order is given the previous day, so no changes on race day. The good thing is that you get into a bit of a rhythm for the morning. Once I have the first one off, there was about twenty minutes to get organised for the second etc. Ronnie was driving behind every girl with wheels just in case of punctures or crashes, and Klaus was prepping the legs and bottles, and looking after the girls upon their return with food and drink. It all worked like clockwork, and as long as the girls had no issues on the course, Ronnie would get back just in time to tail the next girl.

Chantell belts it out for the TT

The first two stages were in the Portarlington area, with a nice beachfront course, the Europeans were loving it. They don’t get to see beaches like this very often, and the sun was pretty rare in some places as well. With such a small distance to race (6.5km), things in the GC would be pretty tight, but it was still serious as you could keep your lead easy with only two stages to come. All the gang rode well, and there were a few good TT riders here, so we were not expecting much in the way of podium finishes. Karin Thurig and Kristen Armstrong were both ex World TT champs, so were the favourites for the day. But Ina shone this morning, with the top time until the last few riders. Christiana Soeder (Cervelo) took the win, Susanne Ljungskog (Menikini) was second, but we got a third with Ina’s blinding effort (she’s not known for her TT prowess). All the others finished well, but for such a small race, I think we had four in the top ten, not a bad start. Now for a few hours hanging around till the afternoons stage.

The back of the bunch

The afternoon start rolled around pretty quick, I only had time for a quick bite to eat and a couple of coffees. The lap was pretty simple, but a hell of lot nicer than the crit they usually have here. Only 75km or something, so not long enough to hurt the other riders. The peloton looked good at the start, a few black jerseys from the Kiwis looked great, always makes me proud to be a Kiwi, and I love black as well. I was starting to pick out our new team uniforms in the peloton, they were a bit harder then the black kits we had in the Tour Down Under. But it would not be too long to pick them out at a distance from the caravan. The race was underway, and things were pretty fast on the first lap. A bunch of nervous younger riders were hanging out the back of the bunch, but they stayed all together. Second lap and we had a few attacks form a few riders, and even Brie from NZ stayed away for a while, but there was some action at the back. A couple of wheels touched, a few riders were down, lucky, but our girls were all at the front. One rider down was Rochelle Gilmore, with a broken bike, and another couple of girls down with a broken ass. I breathed easy, but was not relaxing yet. Third lap and things were speeding up a lot. We got on the front to drive it home, trying to place Ina in a good position for the sprint. With 10km to go, the bunch was starting to split, no the training starts to pay off for those that have done it. Things were spread out in single file as we hit 5km to go, we still had control on the front, driving hard. With 3km to go, Oneone had the front, and kept the speed high for Ina. But she was too fast, and Ina decided to leave a gap, but sprinted as well. Success, first place for Oneone and a second for Ina, our first podium for the team, and two was a good start.

The good old Kiwi team, with a new kit this year.

The next day was the last stage out in Barwon Heads, the current town of Cadel Evans, so it knew about bike races. The loop around the beach was a long and windy one, kind of boring, and heavy roads as well. Should really sort out the field fast today, and with Ina in second place 27sec behind the leader Christiane Soeder, and another 10 sec to third with Susanne, it was looking difficult before we started. With only 93km to race it would be hard to pull in that much time. We raced hard, attacked like hell, a few riders got away, but it came to nothing. The surf was looking great as we came though the finish line on every lap, at least the surfers were having a good day. Halfway through there was another little crash, but nothing important, all the gang was safe up front. We tried a few things, but Cervelo were taking good control on the front, seems they had some good friends in the USA national team, they were far too strong for us. Coming into the last lap, we put some speed on the front, pushing as hard as we could for a win. At least we could take another stage if we couldn’t win the tour. We battled on, and almost in a repeat of the day before, we placed Ina in the perfect place for a win, this time Oneone moved aside and took the second place, nice, 1st and 2nd on the podium again. Looking at the results on the finish, we had also managed to gap both Soeder and Ljungskog. We were within 10secs of winning the tour, but got second overall with Ina, we were happy enough for so early in the season.

Spread on the Barwin Heads circuit.

The final podium, from left. Oneone-sprinters Jersey, Linda- young riders jersey, Ina-second, Soeder-first, Susanne-third.

Check out some more pics here. Next report is the Geelong World cup, followed by the Tour of Wellington in my own beautiful country. But don’t get too excited as I have just arrived in Germany and about to drive to Italy for two days for some more racing with the men. See how my time management goes. But at least you can check out some of the images in the meantime.

Geelong Tour Preview

The first race was looming for the Women, the Geelong Tour and the Geelong World Cup, so I was starting to get excited. The girls were flying direct from the teams training camp in California, same camp the men had left for after the Tour Down Under. I had seen a few reports of the happenings of the training camp, but most of it was team bonding and bike and clothing fittings. I was kind of glad I wasn’t needed, as it can be a pain with all the small adjustments and changes needed on the new bikes. The last day of the camp was finishing up with the teams presentation. Basically it’s just that, presenting themselves to the Worlds media and the sponsors. I scoured the internet the day before the team was set to arrive, looking for images of this years line up, and of course the new team uniform. I could find nothing but a few dodgy cell phone pics on some just as dodgy blogs. But time to start getting organised, the first arrival was a nice 6.30 am the next morning, with the rest of the team arriving at 9.30am. I was going to take the medium time, have a coffee or three with our new soigneur Klaus, and wait for the rest of the gang. But my plans for a sleep in till 8am failed, as the Director sent a message through at 5am saying they were delayed three hours in Auckland, en-route to Melbourne, so time for a drive, to pick p Klaus a bit earlier than planned. But as you might have guessed, upon arriving about 7am, Klaus’s plane was delayed three hours as well. Seems like the only two planes delayed out of the multiple arriving were the two I was waiting for. It did give me a bit of time to check out some of the photos of the Team Presentation, and what a treat, the team was looking fantastic, all lined up, hair and makeup done for possibly the only time all year. There was one of the girls missing, Kate Bates, I later found out she had a small case of pneumonia, and was recovering in hospital. But the rest of them looked great, with the boys surrounding them, they looked dangerous, watch out world, we are now ready for business.

Linda and Alex in the background, out training in the sun.

Finally after a few hours hanging out at the airport (not my favourite pastime), Klaus arrived, we had time for some caffeine before the rest of the team arrived. And they arrived, with enough baggage to fill the hold of the plane almost all themselves. But at least all the bikes arrived, safe and sound with no damage that I could see. I spent the afternoon unpacking and putting everything back together that had been taken apart and off the bikes for travelling. A few tires to pump, the odd hanger to straighten, otherwise just the odd tune and bar alignment to sort out, and they were ready to ride. At least I had a little bit of work to do for the day.

I had been out on the loaner bike for a few days earlier, so had a few hours in my legs, at least I would be able to keep up with the girls while they are full of jetlag. Everyone slept well, Klaus was the worst off, with the usual 24 hours from Europe jetlag, those of us in the southern hemisphere are so used to, so he was looking pretty wasted by bedtime. The training ride was sweet, and for the first time this year, I was looking at a full team of girls rather than the guys, and even better from a bike than in the car for a change. Time for a bit of team bonding, and It was also time to hang with the new Director, see what makes him tick, and see what sort of knowledge of racing he has under his belt. The staff were the new guys on the team, all the girls had been in the team last year, so we were the ones trying to blend in, just to make us look like we had been there the whole time. But the racing was starting tomorrow, so there was not too much time to spare. We were starting the Geelong tour with the usual smaller than last year 8.5km Timetrail in the morning. Stage two in the afternoon was not the usual criterium, but now three laps of a 25km loop, a real road race for the afternoon. The day after we had the third stage out at Barwon heads, and that was it for the tour. The nice hilly stage up in Lara was not happening for some reason this year. A day recovery for the girls, and a days serious work for me, then right into the first World Cup for the year.

The beautiful beaches of the Geelong area, must be time for a swim. Linda and Oneone (right)

The Kiwi National team was also racing this week, with a few of the usual faces back again, Toni, Marina, Carissa, Cath and a couple of others whom names elude me at this stage. Cervelo-Lifeforce, Nurenburger, a few Aussie teams, as well as the National team. Menikini with Susanne in her new kit. USA had also managed to get a start, along with Webcor (the only UCI team in the Sates this season). All of these team would be going to race in the NZ tour as well, along with another few National teams, so the racing was looking like it might be a bit more serious this time around. Let hope our girls have some legs that are race ready. The bikes will be perfect of course.