Sweet As.

The upcoming year sees some changes and tweaks to the team, plus the addition of Terry Peters as our Sporting Director.

Terry brings with him a wealth of knowledge and experience on Elite Women's racing at both a National and International level. Our plans and organisation are 99% complete for the 2010 season and over the next few weeks we will keep you in the loop!

Our first team racing of the year is the Triple Play Summer Series which was our first big win last season. Lets hope the trend continues for 2010!

 Another month, another tour for the Sweet As team.  This month Jazz, Sal, Angie and I (Simone) headed west to make our mark on the great city of Perth.  The Tour de Perth is a 3 day, 4 stage tour, comprised of a criterium, 2 road races and an individual time trial (ITT).  This time we had a local advantage: Sal!  We were also lucky enough to stay with Sal’s friends Nat and Gary who were fantastic hosts.

 Sal greeted Jaz and I in Perth on Wed and it was a bit of a shock to the system to be welcomed by 27 degree weather… unlike Melbourne.  Not that we were complaining.  Angie arrived the following day but without her bike!  After it didn’t arrive on the next flight as promised, we started hatching a recovery plan.  Jazz complimented our lovely host Nat by suggesting that she looked liked an “abuser” and that she’d be the best person to go down to the airport and demand answers about the bike.  Needless to say the name stuck.  As a back up plan Nat had kindly dusted off her Apollo commuter and brought it out of the garage in case Angie got really stuck.  However, her bike arrived by courier that night and when Angie woke up the next day it was like Christmas had come!   

 The first race to kick off the Tour de Perth was the city criterium, 30 mins plus 2 laps.  Held in the entertainment precinct of Perth – Northbridge – there were plenty of spectators watching the action.  Being a Friday night, some were merrier and more vocal than others…   Big names on the start line were Ruth Corset (newly crowned Australian Elite Female Cyclist of the Year), Belinda Goss & Josie Tomic - Australian track stars and Ellen van Dijk from women’s European pro team Team High Road-Columbia.  It was great to have these girls racing with us to add some class to the field. 

 Five teams were also represented at the starting line up: AIS, Plan B Racing, Bundaberg Sugar Sweet As, Eddy Holland Cycling & Ecosse which meant that there was more than individual glory to be had.   The pace was on from the gun and speeds of +50kph were hit along the straights with hard 90 degree corners sorting out the bunch.  Add a roundabout in the middle of some cobbles along the finishing straight and it had a distinct European flavour!  Jazz put on the pace early and was often seen on the front driving the pace, followed closely by Sal. Ange and myself sat in the bunch trying to save some energy for the final sprint.  Slowly the bunch was stringing out and we snaked into the final straight to sprint head to head with some very big name sprinters!  Ellen van Dijk won the sprint, with Sweet As finishing in the main sprinting bunch.

 Our first road race was Saturday morning, 95km and 10 laps around the famous Kings Park.  With a decent hill and some crosswinds on the other side of the course, it was not all plain sailing.  The pace was up and down with many in the peloton happy to sit in.  

Simone and Angie (L to R) lead the bunch up the hill on the second lap with Ruth Corset sitting to the right of Angie in striking distance.

 On the 4^thlap and first QOM stage Ruth Corset rode off from the peloton and kicked over the hill to gap the field.  With no-one willing to bridge the gap, Ruth was allowed to get away.  While the bunch was trying to get organised, Ruth was steadily putting time in to us.  Despite strong efforts on the front by Sweet As and some of the Eddy Holland girls in an attempt to string the bunch out and reel Ruth in, not everyone had the same aim and the pace of the bunch kept faltering.  Ruth stayed away to claim victory and the leader’s jersey.

Sally claimed the best part of a page in the sports section of the local West Australian Sunday Mail

 After a couple of media interviews for Channel 7 and The West Australian newspaper, and a post-race debrief with Darryl from Shotz, Sweet As rode home for a hearty lunch, a kip and a swim.  We were joined by one of my best hockey mates, Dee, who had made the trip from Geraldton to hang out with us for the weekend.  That night we headed back to the scene of the criterium but this time for dinner and tucked into some fine Italian food.  Sal, Dee and I decided we should impart some of our infinite wisdom onto Jazz and Angie and we can only say they are much more learned as a result.  We headed straight home to get an early night but not before some medicinal green tea and dark chocolate!

Team Sweet As out on the town for dinner (because Angie and Jazz don’t cook) 

 Sunday was the last day of the tour and a big one.  We had a 78km road race in the morning which was 10 laps of the “Perry Lakes circuit” around Reabold Hill and a 5km ITT with a hilltop finish in the afternoon.  Although Ruth Corset was leading the QOM (Queen of the Mountain) points, she was already in the leaders’ jersey so I had the pleasure of wearing the QOM jersey for the road race.

Team Sweet As lead out the bunch for the second road race of the tour

 The bunch was obviously tired from the previous day’s efforts and the Fremantle doctor was whipping up a leg-sapping headwind up the hill on Oceanic Drive.  Sal did a lot of work up the front driving the pace and was joined by Jazz and Angie throughout the race.  The last 4 laps were slightly different to the first 6 with the QOM points to be contested up Reabold Hill.  Ruth Corset hit the hill hard and left us in her wake.  It was impressive to witness this class of rider!!  Over the hill and away, Sal and Angie managed to drive the pace hard and following a hard attack, a breakaway of about 10 managed to form which included myself and Jazz.  Great team work girls!! Jazz and I kept in the mix for the next 4 laps while Ruth was putting time into us yet again.  Coming into the final lap Jazz and I were feeling good and Jazz decided to hit the pace early to stretch the bunch for the sprint and in a tight finish I managed 5^th on the line.

 We had some lunch, drank litres of water and had a power-kip while we were waiting for the current overall results to be posted and for our 5km ITT in the afternoon. 

When the going gets tough, the tough have a power-kip

 When the GC (general classification) results were finally posted after the road race, I realised that I had crept up to 6^th overall.  There was only 18 seconds between me and second and 7 seconds would get me into 3^rdand onto the podium!  OThe only things was, I was also relying heavily on the performance of the other girls. 

 The first 2.5kms of the TT were reasonably flat but the swirling wind made a hard task of it.  The next kay and half was into a direct headwind up Oceanic drive - a gentle slope - but not so when you’re at 95% of your max with a headwind.  The final blow was 500m up Reabold Hill and if your legs weren’t feeling it by now then it’s probably because they’d dropped off!  As I came over the line I was 7 seconds in front of the next best time! But Ruth Corset and Ellen van Dijk were yet to come and they’re no mugs on the bike with Ellen being an endurance track rider!  I was proven right as Ruth finished 8 seconds ahead of me and Ellen 6 seconds, which left me in 3rd for the stage.  I was stoked with this result but before I could confirm my GC position I was hauled off for a drug test. 

 1 hour later…… I resurfaced to confirm I’d ridden my way onto the podium to claim 3^rd and my first NRS podium.  Sweet as!!

 Even better news……. The Bundaberg Sugar Sweet As Team had finished 2^nd overall to the AIS in the teams’ classification.  What an awesome way to finish off the year!

 Jazz finished a very strong 8th on GC and Sal inched closer to a top ten national finish with a 13^th overall. Angie finished 22^nd which is an awesome result at National level given her lead up, especially since there were 30 starters.

 The men’s and women’s podium pop the corks. After 3: 1… 2………errrrr

 Team Sweet As placed 2^nd in the teams classification – a best ever result!

 To celebrate we decided to shout ourselves fish and chips, and after the presentations we headed down to Cottesloe Beach to experience the local marine life… battered!

Simone, Dee, Sal and Jazz’s pegs (and Angie behind the camera) enjoyed some local fish and chips to a view of Cottesloe Beach.

 Monday was our first day off in Perth and we decided to go out for a nice breaky at “Tarts” – a fantastic local café not a strip club - and a trip down to Fremantle for the day.  The West Australian had graciously put a photo of the girls on the podium with the article for the Tour de Perth (usually it’s the boys!).  No, Ellen van Dijk was not standing on a box.

 This trip we didn’t have any swannies, so this time we’d like to sincerely thank Sal’s good mates, Nat and Gary, who let us take over their house for 5 days (literally), for getting all our gear to the races and for driving us everywhere!  Jazz would like to thank them for her exclusive use of their couch.  Big thanks to Nat and Gary for their job in the feed zone in the Stage 1 road race and Dee in the feed zone for the Stage 2 road race, you guys were truly awesome!  And Dee thanks for being our substitute swanny (along with Sal’s mum), filling our water bottles, pinning our numbers, getting us sangas and pumping us up for races.  The support means a lot!

That’s all for the National Race Series this year…..

Simone

It all started like this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x13DH6IoIcQ&feature=PlayList&p=202EEE32E108375C&index=2

 

And so started Jason’s trip, packed like the proverbial horse with bikes and a full complement of cycling accessories on his way to pick up Wayne, which was on his way to Victoria for the Honda Civic Hybrid’s Women’s Tour for 2009. 

Who was the quest for? The Bundaberg Sugar Sweet As Team of course.  Okay, so maybe his steed was the trusty Forester with a box trailer full of all sorts of cycling accessories, but I’m sure by the time Jason got there he felt like he’d traversed the same country as the funny-looking bearded guy in the Honda ad (and probably pretended at times he was in an old F1 racing car just to make the trip more interesting).

While Jason and Wayne were on their quest in the car, the girls were getting ready to jetset into Melbourne to be met by the swannies.  On Wednesday morning we all met at Brisbane airport looking forward to fulfilling what would be a dream for most of us: to race at a National event in a sponsored team.  Thank you Bundaberg Sugar for helping us realise this! 

This time I remembered my suitcase (unlike the Canberra trip) which was much easier than not remembering it!  Brielle made up for lost trips with her mammoth suitcase that weighed more than Angie’s bike. Straight through to security, Brielle was then selected for the explosives test.  Unfortunately they didn’t check her mouth and she was allowed through, much to the chagrin of the passenger in 4F who had to sit next to her for the next 2 hours.

On the plane trip, we discussed important philosophical topics such as:

• is it rude to read a magazine over someone’s shoulder and then make them turn back pages?
• who was the hottest male cyclist in this year’s Tour de France: Schlecks, Simon Gerrans, Cancellara…. Lance??? and,
• if someone offers you a Weight Watchers bar, what are they really trying to say?

At Melbourne, the temperature was a balmy 13 degrees and by the time we got outside it was raining. Sigh…why can’t there be more tours in Queensland?  We packed the cars and headed to Geelong to check in to our motel.  Jazz was so impressed with Jason’s organisational and packing skills - fitting 8 people plus all their bike gear into 2 cars - that she declared if I (Simone) ever divorced him, she would happily step up.  It’s nice to have a back up plan, eh Jase? 

After dumping some gear at the motel at Geelong, we headed out to Anglesea (a further 40 odd kms down the Great Ocean Road) for a quick reccy of the road course.  We kitted up and did an easy hour ride around the road course to loosen our legs and decided that it would definitely be arm-warmer weather tomorrow morning.

Tomorrow morning came (Thursday) and we got up in the cold dawn twilight to start our Honda Civic Hybrid Women’s Tour campaign.  Jason and Wayne were fully tested in Anglesea by having to find a legal park, set up the tents to stave off the incoming rain and set up 6 girls for racing.  Oh, and staying warm.

They had a moment of peace when Dave rolled up on his SRAM neutral spares bike, distracting the girls for a moment who flocked to him like seagulls to a chip, squawking “Dave! Dave!”.  He wasn’t hard to miss with his fire-engine red helmet!  Brielle tested out the parked motorbike with a couple of “broom brooms!” only to earn herself a massive FAIL after she tipped it over, spare wheels and all.

Dave showing his best side in SRAM neutral spares gear.

Race time!  Today’s 55km course was short as far as road races go.  Sweet As lined up as one of the better represented teams and headed off under “neutral” for 1km towards the QOM only 3kms up the road.  Unfortunately the first mishap of the day for Sweet As happened at the base of the QOM where, at a roundabout with very loose edges, the back of the pack were forced into a very small space in a very small time.  Angie got shunted off her bike, Bridget got some derailleur work courtesy of a bike sandwich and Brielle, although staying upright was held up by the mess.

Jazz, Sally and I were lucky to be just ahead of the melee (and I do mean just) and pushed on to the front of the bunch and the impending QOM.  As the pace quickened up the hill a few challengers came to the front of the bunch and as the hill kicked up for the last 100m, I took on Rochelle Gilmore, Lauren Kitchen and Vickie Whitelaw (Team HP/Pinarello) to take the QOM honours.  I was stoked to claim the QOM in this company.

Simone at the front of the bunch after the QOM

After the QOM, the bunch pushed on to slowly reel in a counter attack over undulating terrain.  It started to shower lightly and swirling crosswinds ensured that any attacks didn’t stay away long.  We headed out to the back end of the course to do 2 laps of a circuit and contest the 2 intermediate sprints, before heading back into town. 

Sal leads the bunch into a corner in the road race.

As we approached the descent into the finish, the rain really started to turn on.  Hitting 70kph in a 50 strong pack, the conditions were treacherous at best.  The finish itself was interesting: a descent onto a narrow road, into a small roundabout with a sharp right hand exit to the finish line. 

Those who made it into the roundabout first were first out and miraculously the bunch stayed upright on a wet surface.  Rochelle Gilmore won the stage and Jazz, Sal and I finished in the pack.  Angie and Brielle after fighting to catch the bunch came in 6 mins later and Bridget a bit later again after fighting her bung derailleur all the way.

Friday morning dawned clear….. then it poured, then it cleared, then it poured.  Then it cleared.  Leading up to the Individual Time Trial (TT) the weather actually stayed fine and with a light breeze it seemed it was going be a beautiful day. 

Bridget was off first at 10:45am for the Sweet As team, with Brielle and Angie the next cabs off the rank.  As a dark cloud appeared over the hill, Bridget stormed home and had no sooner stepped into the team tent when the heavens opened.  Angie and Brielle were out on the course at this stage, caught in the middle of downpour which had rendered the technical course treacherous. 

Brielle’s luck ran out on the final chicane into the finishing straight, where a newly slick metal plate gave her back wheel a licking and she met with the tarmac.  Being a tough nut, she picked herself up, shook her head and got across the finishing line with a couple of impressive bruises and a (gasp!) dirty skinsuit.

Bridget shares her secret to a good Time Trial – banana dipped in Milo

Sal and Jazz were saved from riding in the rain and despite having to deal with slippery roads both rode strong TT’s.  I was off 4th last and by that time the road had started to dry but not enough to stop the odd back-wheel skid around the tighter corners.  I placed 10th overall, with Sal not far behind in16th and Jazz’s 34th overall in the TT put her in the top 3 of the U19 competition (Young Rider’s jersey)!

The sun came out for Simone in the time trial but the sky shows the weather that had hit the course just minutes before.

Friday evening we had the good fortune to spend some quality time at the Four Points by Sheraton at Geelong, rubbing shoulders with magazine editors, pro-cyclists, cycling commentators and last but not least, our sponsors!  Darryl from Shotz was always popping up with his camera at the Tour but this evening he had some post race goodies of the sartorial kind (t-shirts and hoodies) for us all.  Thanks Darryl!  At Team Sweet As we believe it’s always important to look hot on AND off the race track.

After a deluxe breakfast on Saturday morning (ie not Weetbix or peanut butter sandwiches) we made what seemed like an epic trip to Melbourne from Geelong.  We arrived at the Tour Village at midday to claim some real estate before it got busier than it already was.  After a quick afternoon kip in the shade of the Felt tent and some clever resourcing of Jelly Belly sample packs, Sweet As was ready to gear up for the afternoon criterium.

While I was wandering round, I happened to bump into none other than Phil Liggett (accidentally of course… with Darryl from Shotz in tow) and he was very obliging in having his photo taken with me.  Phil truly is a gentleman.  Having high profile personalities such as Phil around made it such an exciting event to be at.  PR opportunities over, we had a team huddle out the back of the tent to discuss race tactics.

Phil took time out of his busy schedule to pose with Simone

Discussing race tactics prior to the crit – or maybe we’d just been advised that the Jelly Belly tent had run out of free samples.

In the Lygon St criterium the pace was on from the gun and three u-turns in the 2.1km course meant a lot of sprinting!  There were a few attacks but with many teams vying for big results, no-one stayed away long.  Sal, Angie, Brielle and Bridget got caught towards the back of the bunch and separated from the main bunch by riders slow to get out of the u-turns. 

Angie, Brie and Sal stay close in the Lygon St criterium

Jazz and I had managed to stay with the lead bunch and slowly worked our way up to the in-demand front section of the peloton.   Coming into the final u-turn, the competition for good bunch position was fierce and Jazz and I held on to finish strongly in the lead bunch.

Jazz and Simone work hard to stay in the main bunch.

So the results for the team in the overall standings were myself in 8th and QOM, and Jazz 2nd in the U19 classification.  My 8th overall means I hold 4th place on the National Race Series ladder and gives me a shot at making the top 3!  Jazz showed she is one to watch after her performance in the U19 classification and Sal, Angie, Bridget and Brielle gained some valuable National level race experience, easily mixing it with Australia’s top riders.

Thank you swannies! As usual, this trip, we relied heavily on our soigneurs (swannies) Jason and Wayne for all their help this week.  This was the first time the team had been away together as a full complement so there was a steep learning curve involved for all. 

Jason drove a total of 5200km (give or take a few) for the cause and without that effort we would have been a lot poorer thanks to excess luggage fees.  He also attended all the manager’s meetings and kept our bikes lubed, tuned and mechanically sound. 

Both Jason and Wayne cleaned our bikes for us, followed us with spares and managed to somehow fit a complete race set-up (rollers, windtrainers, race wheels and other errr….crap) and 6 girls into two cars and a box trailer.  I’d like to nominate this for the Guinness World Records!  That’s not to mention all the other things that needed attention before each race: “Wayne! Where’s my numbers?”, “Jase!! Help me get on the rollers!!”, “Are my tyres pumped up?!”, “What time does the race start?!?!”  Et cetera….. times six!

Dave also managed to squeeze in some time for us in between race duties to help the boys out and even out the female:male ratio in the team.  We cannot thank The Boys enough for everything they do for us.  Seriously.

Until next time…..

Simone

Photo credit for photos numbers 2,3 and 5 belongs to CJ Farquharson.

Photo credit for photo number 1 belongs to Shane Goss.

Photo credit for all other photos goes to none other than “Darryl from Shotz”