The Coffee Ride #91, with Reece Homfray
MELBOURNE cyclist Bridie O’Donnell spent the weekend training at the Adelaide SuperDrome just a month before she returns for a crack at the women’s world hour record.
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BRIDIE WARMS UP FOR HOUR ATTEMPT
MELBOURNE cyclist Bridie O’Donnell spent the weekend training at the Adelaide SuperDrome just a month before she returns for a crack at the women’s world hour record.
The 41-year-old physician had a familiarisation session on the velodrome and did some aerodynamic and performance testing which reassured her that her plans were on track.
O’Donnell, one of Australia’s top domestic female cyclists, will attempt to break the record of 46.274km currently held by American Molly Shaffer Van Houweling in Adelaide on Friday January 22 — during the Tour Down Under.
UCI president Brian Cookson is expected to be trackside for the attempt as part of a trip to Adelaide for the season-opening WorldTour race.
“I’d never ridden on the SuperDrome before so I really wanted to get a feel for it,” O’Donnell said yesterday.
“It is a little different from DISC in Melbourne and it gave me a good sense of what the bends will feel like at speed.”
O’Donnell confirmed she would compete in both the time trial and road race in Ballarat next month as part of her preparation.
“I feel like the preparation I’ve done in the lead up will be really conducive to a good time trial on the Buninyong course,” she said.
“And that’s going to help both in the preparation for the hour attempt and mentally sustaining the workload for what will be about 45 minutes on the road there.
“I’m probably feeling a little bit more re-assured by some of the training sessions we’ve done and information we’ve collected about the equipment.
“It’s been a lot of positive reinforcement of the decisions that we’re making and more specific information for my coaches to help guide the process.
“A lot of this is so technical and important to gather information so it’s psychologically re-assuring and gives us the ability to implement a strategy.
“We’re trying to eliminate a lot of unknowns and with a predictable projection of how things might go — the pain will certainly be predictable.”
The men’s world hour record belongs to 2012 Tour de France champion Sir Bradley Wiggins who rode 54.52km in June. Wiggins is aiming to compete in the team pursuit on the track at next year’s Rio Olympics.
HOSKINS BACK ON BIKE AFTER PNEUMONIA
TRACK world champion Melissa Hoskins has taken her first tentative steps back into training after being hospitalised with pneumonia this month.
Hoskins, part of Australia’s women’s team pursuit that won gold in world record time in Paris this year, was allowed back on the road for the first time in three weeks on Monday.
Prior to that she was doing just 15, 30 and 45-minute ergo sessions at home after spending five days in hospital on a drip.
“It’s hard, it’s a slower start to what I expected but I was a lot sicker than what I realised,” she said.
“I’ve got 10 weeks until worlds which I’m hoping is enough, but I’ve got to be careful that I start slow and don’t do too much too early.
“It’s almost frustrating but I’m sleeping in between sessions every day so I’m still needing the rest and to take it easy.”
The 24-year-old is a crucial cog in Australia’s women’s TP but was unable to start the recent world cup in New Zealand.
She had been on antibiotics for a cough before flying across the Tasman but her health deteriorated and a doctor in New Zealand diagnosed her with pneumonia.
Now on the road to recovery, Hoskins says the long-term goal is Rio and she remains hopeful of defending the rainbow jersey with her teammates at the world championships in London in March, but it’s too soon to know whether she will be fit to race nationals in February.
“At the end of the day Rio for me and for everyone is the target, and at this stage I’ve got my sights set on worlds,” she said.
“I’ve just got to do things properly and I’m lucky that CA have been good and I’ve got really good support.”
LIZZIE RIDING HIGH AFTER THE LOWS
AUSTRALIAN cycling’s comeback queen Lizzie Williams has revealed she struggled with anxiety, cabin fever and insomnia while living in the AIS altitude house this month.
But it’s a sacrifice she’s willing to make if it leads her to the Rio Olympics next year.
The 32-year-old — who returned to top-level cycling with Orica-AIS after a 10-year break this season — spent a fortnight living at simulated altitude with teammate Katrin Garfoot in Canberra.
The pair spent a minimum of 14 hours a day in the house where the air in their bedrooms, kitchen and common room is equivalent to being at 3000m above sea level.
Williams said the first few days were torture but once her body adapted to the conditions she was able to train as normal and hopefully the benefits would show in January at the national titles.
“You do go a bit crazy, initially when I first got here I wasn’t really coping, I was feeling a bit stressed and really tired because you’re having to work so much harder,” she said.
“I suffer a bit of anxiety so that was really enhanced and I didn’t sleep really for the first couple of nights, and when you’re an athlete and you're not sleeping then you're not recovering.
“I felt like I was digging myself a hole, I was worrying that I’m going to get sick or not be a responder.
“That was really just my first inexperience of dealing with altitude because that’s to be expected.”
A qualified school teacher, Williams said she felt like she was on school camp sleeping in bunks and being confined to her bedroom from 8pm each night.
“But these are all the sacrifices that you make to achieve your goals and it’s fantastic that I can come here and utilise the facilities and the team is supporting me through that financially,” she said.
“This is what I wanted to do, I pushed to come here to try it out and when I’m overseas I can go and live and train at altitude and do it safely knowing I’m a responder and I’ve done it before.”
Williams returned to cycling after a 10-year lay off in 2014 and spent this season racing with Orica-AIS in which she was 20th in the road race at the world championships and had several top-five placings.
She concedes while not young in age, she is in terms of experience and is excited about the potential her second year as a professional offers.
“I’ve been working hard on my sprint finish and I’m doing all the little extras that I didn’t do this year because it was pretty full on my first season.
“Adding gym, activation exercises, stretching, nutrition, doing everything to precision where as my first season was pretty much trying to survive.”
Every day is one day closer to the Rio Olympics which Williams said was her motivation for returning to cycling two years ago.
“Rio definitely, I’m going for it,” she said.
“My coach is the head of the Australian team and when I got back into the sport two years ago I pointed to Rio and said ‘Marv I want to get there’ so it’s a big goal.
“But for me it’s not the end goal and if I don’t get it, it doesn’t matter, there are plenty of other things I can go for next season and even Commonwealth Games in 2018.
“I’ll go until I don’t enjoy myself anymore.”
NORTON TIME TRIAL CANCELLED
ADELAIDE’S extreme heat forced the cancellation of the planned Norton Summit time trial as part of Cycling SA’s CIC Cervelo Super Series earlier this month.
But the round has been re-scheduled with a change of location and riders will instead tackle The Old Freeway on Thursday, January 14, at 6pm.
The climb from Kennels to Bollards as categorised on Strava is 6km long with an average gradient of 5 per cent and the current record belongs to Orica-GreenEDGE star Daryl Impey who rode up in 19:23 this January.
If Impey returns to Adelaide for the Tour Down Under, Cycling SA might just have to invite him out for a guest appearance.
CHANGES AFOOT FOR NRS TEAMS
CHANGES are being announced in the National Road Series for next year with Contintal team Avanti taking on a new naming right sponsor and Physio Health being re-branded.
Fresh from another dominant season led by Paddy Bevin who graduates to the WorldTour in 2016, Avanti will next year be known as Avanti IsoWhey Sport and have signed Sean Lake, Pat Lane, Robbie Hucker and Oscar Stevenson.
Meanwhile Physio Health will be known as Physio Health Focus which launched its new venture in Adelaide earlier this month.
Mitch Dedman and Jason Lea are the only existing riders to be retained for next season while the team’s major recruit is Cycling Australia WorldTour Academy graduate Harry Carpenter.
Carpenter is the current Oceania time trial champion and is expected to push for a start with UniSA in the Tour Down Under in January.
Tom Kaesler, Russell Gill, Tom Chapman and Scott Bowden are other signings for Physio Health Focus which will take a 10-man team to race the Bay Crits and national championships in Ballarat before holding a training camp in Adelaide during the TDU.
SLADE SADDLES UP
V8 SUPERCAR driver Tim Slade is returning to Adelaide for the summer and one of the first things he’s packing is his bike.
Slade is a keen cyclist who did a half-ironman in Cairns last year and rarely misses the Tour Down Under every January.
“I ride all the time and I always bring my bike with me when I come to Adelaide. It’s awesome to ride there with the scenery and it’s a great time of year,” he said.
Slade’s season ended with a frighteningly high-speed crash at the Sydney 500 this month which he says he was lucky to escape from with a sore neck and shoulder.
QUOTES OF THE WEEK ...
“Having won the past two years on Willunga Hill, why not go for the trifecta?”
- Richie Porte confirms he’ll be at the TDU with BMC and will have a crack at Old Willunga Hill again.
“We really wanted to take it to the field this year after we were so close last year and after the Bendigo Madison we knew we had the power to do it and really wanted to show that.”
- Dan Fitter on riding with Callum Scotson to win the national madison title on Saturday night.
“It was a whole other level this week. It was definitely some of the toughest conditions I have ever raced in.”
- Scott Law wins the national omnium title during Adelaide’s 40-degree heatwave.
TWEET, TWEET
Santa came to play at my last track sesh in SA before Xmas 🎅🼠been such a great year with these awesome teamies 😠pic.twitter.com/4lLnzRo5Es
— Caitlin Ward (@CaitlinWard37) December 18, 2015
— Caitlin Ward wraps up 2015 spent with the national sprint team in Adelaide.
Originally published as The Coffee Ride #91, with Reece Homfray
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