2014-15 National XCO Season

The 2014-15 National Cross Country Season is now done and dusted.  Of course there is always room for improvement, but all things considered I can’t be happier with the consistency of each round and a 3rd place in the Overall Series.

Here is a little Re-cap of the Series Rounds:

NATIONAL ROUND 1 YOU YANGS, VIC

I have actually written about this race in a previous blog post, so I won’t bore readers with too much detail here.  This was my first Major race following my hip injury rehab and I was extremely happy with my result!  I hadn’t expected to be racing at the pointy end, so to finish with a closely fought 3^rd place meant a lot to me.  Of course the fact that this was my home course and my main competitors had just come off a post-season break, played in my favor; however this race definitely showed me that the training I had been doing over winter was starting to pay off.

 NATIONAL ROUND 2 & 3 PEMBERTON, WA

Making the epic trip over to Perth and then down to Pemberton was a bit of a last minute decision for me, but one I’m quite happy to have made!  A 4hr plane trip plus a 4-5hr drive certainly made for a big day of travel.  I did however make the most of the trip and stopped off at several of the charming towns along the way.  This region is definitely one of my favorite parts of the world!

I always struggle with the Western Australian time zone.  Generally rising at 4am back home, I was finding myself wide awake at 2am each morning in Pemberton. While use of the antihistamine Phenergan can be good for sleeping, it also left me with feelings of a hangover the next day. Considering how bad the legs felt while in WA, I was quite content with my 4^th and 3^rd placings for the 2 consecutive National Round races held there.

Despite my average results, I really enjoyed the racing.  Tony Tucknott from the Perth mtb club had put in a tremendous effort over the last 6 months to put together an awesome event with some of the best trails on the National circuit.  I can definitely recommend this event for future years!

 NATIONAL ROUND 4, CANBERRA

The Mt Stromlo course is well known to be one of the most technical track’s on the circuit.  I was looking forward to tackling the track and in particular the infamous ‘hammer-head’ section once again. Surprisingly, I found this section to be relatively easy while riding around in practice. Perhaps the sharper rocks had flattened off a little over the last 2 years. For me the hardest part of the track was going to be getting up cardiac climb for the full 5 laps

I do generally struggle with the start loop at Stromlo as there is quite a long fire-road section, requiring high power, before the track narrows off and heads up cardiac climb.  As expected, I didn’t have the greatest of starts and slipped into 5^th position.  I was lucky enough though to be behind 2 very nice riders who let me pass by when they were forced off their bikes in the steep section.  From then on I just really concentrated on the course and tried to make as few mistakes as possible.

Overall I was extremely happy with how I road in Canberra. I think this is the first time I’ve ridden that course with only one dab that I can think of.  The legs didn’t feel amazing; however I hadn’t tapered fully. A 3^rd place behind young super-star Bec Henderson and the ever-strong Peta Mullens was a solid result and I was confident leading into the next few weeks of high priority races.

2015 OCEANIA CHAMPS

This was the first race of the Season where I completed a full taper, so no excuses for me!  The New Zealand riders are of high quality and I had expected the 2 most highly ranked, Kate Fluker and Karen Hanlen to be right in the mix.  This year’s Champs was a very important one for both Nations with potential Olympic positions on the line.  The winner of this race would automatically qualify a position for their Nation.

The conditions in Toowoomba were hot and steamy and the course was definitely a tough one with 2 long and steep climbs.  There were no really technical sections, however remaining smooth and efficient throughout would be crucial.

As per usual, I didn’t get the best of starts, however managed to get around a couple of riders once the track opened up again.  I tried to hold Peta Mullen’s wheel on the first climb and descent and then when I noticed her pedal stroke labor a little, I made the move around.  I was sitting in 4^th and basically held this position for the remainder of the race with the 2 New Zealand favorites and Bec Henderson up ahead.  I was extremely happy to finish up 4^th place and 2^nd Australian. Bec proved she is truly World Class with her dominant win and she ensured a place for Australia at next year’s Olympics.

 NATIONAL ROUND 5, TAWOOMBA

The National Rnd in Toowoomba was held just 2 days after the Oceania Champs.  This made for some weary legs; however the rest of the field felt exactly the same, so again no excuses!

I actually pulled up really well for this race and the legs felt quite fresh.  Maybe my old body requires a lead-in race to warm up! The pace was a little slower at the start which also played in my favor.  I was able to settle into a comfortable rhythm early on and then push the pace into the 2^nd and 3^rd laps.  At one stage I even put a gap into Bec Henderson, but the classy rider over-took me in style and ended up a minute or so in front.  Still, I was again extremely happy with my result of 4^th place overall and 2^nd Ozzie.

2015 NATIONAL CHAMPS

For the 2^nd year running Bright held the National XCO Champs, although this year the course was completely different.  I had snuck in a practice session a month or so prior, along with several of the PedalLab athletes I coach, and at the time had been surprised by just how different the course was from last year.  Following this session, I designed training sessions for both myself and those I coach with the intention of increasing speed and power.  I must admit I hinted to the course designer that a little more climbing would be better; however with limited time to make any drastic changes the course remained a relatively flat one.

As expected, the race turned out to be a fast one!  Jenny Faye moved to the front early to set the pace over the start loop.  I was lucky enough to just sneak in past her following the wheel of Peta Mullens with Bec Henderson just ahead of her.  Once onto the start straight a small gap formed which I found grew a little more by the time we hit single track.  It had been my intention to try and hold the wheel for as long as possible; however these 2 girls proved just to powerful and I had to settle for ‘plan B’ of setting my own rhythm and trying to stay ahead of some of the other powerful girls close behind.  Lucky for me there were still adequate sections of tighter single track and a few small steep climbs which played in my favor and while the 2 girls in front powered away I was also able to extend a gap on the 4^th and 5^th placed riders.

And so it was to be a bronze medal for me at national Champs once again.  I did everything I could on race day and made no mistakes so I am content with the result and also extremely happy with my consistency this season.

Perhaps the highlight of this year’s National Champs was my being awarded Female Coach of the Year. I am certainly very passionate about the sport of mtbiking and put a lot of time and effort into my coaching.  I also realise that I am so lucky to be working with a fantastic bunch of dedicated athletes.  I am very much looking forward to being a part of such athletes’ future development and helping them realize their dreams in years to come!