Bike wont be here till Jan 09 :(

Well after getting excited about my bike and being fairly happy to wait until November to get it I have found out that I will most likely have to wait until January now to get one, Croydon Cycleworks will do what they can to get it in earlier but probably wont be able to. Anyway I couldnt deal with a pink bike so I am getting the mens Top Fuel 8, still not keen on the colour of this one either but unless I want to fork a few extra thousand for the 9.8 or go for the Fuel X 8 I will just have to get over it.

Here is a very full on race schedule in the coming months

25th Oct - Surfcoast 6 Hour

1st Nov - MTB Nationals SA

8th Nov - Gravity 12 Hour?

15th Nov -Maximum Adventure Race Lysterfield

23rd Nov- Rd 1 VSS XC Bendigo

29th Nov- Kona 24 Hour Forrest

13th Dec- MTB Nationals You Yangs

21st Dec - Rd 2 VSS Upper Beacy

18th Jan- Rd 3 VSS XC Youees

31st Jan - MTB Nationals Mt Buller

8th Feb- Rd 4 VSS XC Castlemaine

15th Feb- HDATO 8 Hour Eildon?

21st Feb -Otway Odyssey

28th Feb -MTB Nationals Tassie?

8th March-Rd 5 VSS XC Albury

22nd March-Mt Beauty 6 Hour

29th March -Big Hill Marathon

1st April - Rd 6 VSS XC

Plenty of racing ahead, can hardly wait, hope all the work I have been doing on my knee will pay off and I can get through it all without any dramas.

Until next time

Happy Biking

Kat

Whacking on the weight

Well after nearly 6 weeks off riding I have started putting on a bit of beef, cant really blame the lack of riding too much as I was not riding much before the injury but in the last week I have only been home for dinner once so I think all the good meals I have been having out lately are catching up.

Anyway the knee is feeling good, just got back from an hour and half ride along Eastlink and also had a quick spin around Lysterfield yesterday so 2 rides in 2 days is a first for me, although I am only supposed to be riding every 2nd day at the moment.

I am pretty sure I will be right for the Surf Coast 6 hour (will only do the 3 hour) on 25th of October although there is a big Supercross on at Geelong so not sure if I will be at that yet, then after that there is 4 weekends in a row of racing in November so I hope I am going to be ok for that, definitely wont be missing the first round of the State XC 23rd November, have a big weekend before it though with the Max Adventure Race at Lysterfield the week before. Can hardly wait to get back in to the State XC Series and soooo happy to be out riding without my feet and face going numb from the cold, only crap part about this time of year is the magpies, hadnt started riding yet this time last year so have not had any probs but got swooped the other day on a main road just a bunch of guys drove past and obviuosly thought it pretty funny so were beeping at me and yelling stuff out the window, tried to look as cool as I could when you have a magpie swooping you, hopefully pulled it off, it actually chased me for ages but never actually hit me, came close but didnt.

That's all from me today, better go throw up now, just joking but will cut back on all the pub meals or at least order a couple of salads instead.

Quote for today

Food has replaced sex in my life; now, I can't even get into my own pants!

Happy Happy Biking!!

Kat

Another Update

Well I have been off the bike for a month now and had my first ride since the 3rd round of the Anaconda Enduro last Saturday, I am doing all the exercises the Physio has given me and doing all the right things so provided I continue to do so I should be back racing at the 3 hour in Mildura on the 20th September I have another appointment with the Physio next Wednesday and he should be able to give me an idea then of how everything is going.

For me my week is pretty much made up of doing exercises on a swiss ball every night as well stretching and doing some basic one legged squats, Monday night a little bit of skipping on a tramp, Tuesday night 45 minute swim (or paddle for me as I cant swim) Wednesday 40 minute slow ride on the road no hills, Thursday night skipping again and then I have one more day for another 40 minute ride and another swim, so considering I was not doing any of this including the riding before my injury I should actually come back fitter than I was before.

Also decision has been made on the new bike, I have decided on the Trek Top Fuel 8.

So for the next month at least I will have to be happy with photographing the races and not participating unfortunately.

Here is a little snippet from a Pearl Jam song just because

'I know that I was born and I know that I will die the in between is mine'

Until next time Happy Biking

Kat

Update on the knee

Just got back from the spunky physio and all will be fine, it is definitley the ITB Tendon and it has started to happen due to my lack of training and loss of strength in my thighs and glutes, so I am starting a strengthening program and am not going to be able to do any Enduro's for about 6 weeks. I should be right for the next FTF XC hopefully but for now plenty of stretching and a pilates class a week and make sure I stick to his program and I will be right.

Anaconda 7 Hour

Yet another depressing Enduro for me, the only 2 races I have not been able to complete since I started riding have been in the Anaconda series, mmm might think twice before entering the next one.

The first lap felt pretty good, just planned to stick with the riders at the back and cruise around to make sure I didn't burn myself out too early, so the first lap was going well just had some trouble on the wet roots and just in the wet in general not having had much experience in the wet so far.

I came in from the first lap and had a bit of pain in my knee and was told to stretch and I would be ok, so did some stretches had a power bar and headed out for my second lap, the pain in my knee was still there but bearable so kept on with it and hoped it would go away, by the time I got to about the 2klm mark it was really hurting especially going up hills but even on the flat fire trail it was hurting so planned on finishing that lap, having another good stretch and get a decent ride in, I pulled in after the second lap still in a fair amount of pain but didn't say anything just did my stretches and took off for the third lap, as soon as I took off I was still in alot pain but didn't want to stop so kept going, I couldn't even pedal down the fast downhill fire trail to try and make up lost time so just cruised down all the downhill stuff and tried to put all the pressure on right leg when pedalling up hills so I knew that this lap would be my last for the day and pulled in to the tent very disappointed, now have had 2 bad results at this series.

Anyone that knows me well enough knows that I am very competitive and even though I know I had no chance of coming close to the fast girls I just wanted to beat my longest enduro of 6 hours and complete the 7 even if I did come last at least I would have achieved a result in a 7 hour enduro, well actually still got a result and surprisingly I didn't come last, 2nd last for my effort today.

As for the course it was pretty good, (apart from the mud that is!) we started in the usual spot and headed in to the Blair Witch track and then down past the dam wall and over to the fire trail leading to Wellington Road turning off at about half way up this track and up in to the next very muddy section of single track through some muddy single track for a few k's and then out to fire trail then on to fast fun section of single track that was not as affected by the recent rain as the previous sections then up the last climb and downhill to the finish line, about halfway through the race they had to cut out a section of the track due to it getting destroyed by so many riders going through it so diverted us through some fire trail and back towards the finish, I was pretty happy to be finishing, but no, when we got to where we usually would go to the finish line they sent us down another few k's a different way.

I ended up finishing the lap in about 1hour 30 mins and knew that it was time to pull the pin, considering my knee was hurting so bad there was no point doing further damage and also not being able to enjoy the race, which is obviously half the reason most of us are out there.

Dont have any action shots yet will be coming though so check back tomorrow but for now check out the mud.



So Kieran that I mentioned in my last post has done a good job on getting my shoulder right for the Enduro's I guess now he can work on my knee. He is a bit of a hottie too so a good excuse to keep going to him now my shoulder is nearly right!

I am going to chuck a sickie tomorrow and get my knee checked out to make sure it is this tendon everyone has said it would be and hopefully get it sorted before the next Enduro.

Well done to all the riders this weekend and I think Jess Douglas managed to win the Womens solo race so well done to her and to Andy Bell for going hard the whole 7 hours to take out the win! And my god Paul Van Der Ploeg is a freak on the bike, I pulled over to let him pass on a really muddy section that had a ditch in the track that was not even a jump and he managed to launch himself a few feet in the air off that and ride at what is probably his normal speed in the dry! Oh and well done especially to Duncan Murray who rode the 7 hours on a fixed gear single speed, Maniac!

Was a nice relaxed Enduro today and had a few chats to different riders along the way which was good to break things up a bit.

Well unfortunately not a great result today and nothing too exciting to tell, I am sure I will be right for the next FTF XC Race at Harkaway and hopefully have some exciting news come out of that.

Well that's enough from me, hope whoever is reading this is entertained by my stories and unfortunately there are as many lows as there are highs and I just want to document what is going on in my racing life so hopefully I dont come across as being negative but no point masking a story to glorify it when it is not really like that, it is definitley not easy, even the elite riders go though the same thing with niggling injuries, mechanicals etc. I guess in this sport it is expected, I want to do well in this sport and hopefully be able to enjoy it for a long time coming, but for now as long as I am right for all the State Series rounds then I will be a very happy girl, I am definitley looking forward to it!

Good to see my former tutor Richard Jupe from On Track images out there snapping away, and at 7pm after the race the photos are already up and sorted in to category! Just ordered a disk of pics from him to brighten up the post, check out his photos here. http://www.ontrackimages.com.au/

Cant forget Steve Rowe either
http://mtb-images.ser.id.au/

Quote for today

Never take life seriously. Nobody gets out alive anyway.

Until next time Happy Biking!

Kat

New Race Gear

Just a quick post to show off the new gear from Croydon Cycleworks

Just received my new gear from Croydon Cycleworks, instead of the red gear we usually get around in it is now mainly black and some awesome glasses by Ryders Eyewear, you can check out the new gear at the Anaconda 7 hour this Sunday.

I have also decided on the new bike. I ended up going for the Dualy and this is it

Trek Fuel EX 8 might get it in a gold colour called Root Beer

I wont be able to get it until November but hopefully will get it before the first round of the State XC Series and the Kona 24. I am doing the 24 hour in a team of 4, sorta looking forward to it.

Many many thanks to Croydon Cycleworks for their continued support, they help me out alot and really look after me, without having that support it would definitely make things alot harder, if you have not been out to check out the store yet make sure you do, they have a great range of gear, all the good stuff, Fox, Sidi, Met etc. and some awesome bikes with Trek, Cervelo, Norco and more they even have the bike above you can take for a test ride not to mention the guys there have a great deal of experience and all of them race as well.

Well I just returned from an appointment with Keiran at Elite Myotherapy, they dont sponsor me or pay me to give them a plug but Kieran has been working on my shoulder which has been giving me a fair bit of pain in the Enduros, and after just 2 sessions he has made me feel alot better than the last therapist I was seeing weekly for 3 months straight so hopefully after tonights session I can make it through the 7 hours relatively pain free (in my shoulders at least) and be able to last the distance.

That's all from me, check back on Sunday night to get the low down on the 7 hour.

Kat

FTF XC Race at Officer

Finally beat my arch nemesis Megan Lawson! Phew what a relief it was to cross the finish line knowing I actually didnt come last, it's easy to say its not all about winning but as Jack Brabham said in an interview about an upcoming yacht race yesterday "Well it's all about winning really" and obviously I didnt win the race but I beat a few riders and my times were not as bad as I had expected so was fairly happy with my result, now for the finer details of the race.

The line up for the A grade looked more like the start line for a round of the nationals not a club race down in Officer, Dan McConnell made an appearance along with a bunch of other top elite riders and a bunch of great chicks there too in Tory Thomas, Jenni King and Niki Fisher, so I entered the D grade and all I wanted was to not come last, we took off and my plan was to go out hard on the first lap and try and stay with Megan, we took off up the fire trail and as we made it to the single track Megan was puffed as much as I was but I went through ahead of her and that was the best thing that could have happened, usually I stay behind her and try to stay with her but this has not been too successfull so I will try this tactic again next race and hopefully it works out.

Now I went out to pre ride the track yesterday with my trusty riding pals James McArdle and Andrew Liu and came across a bit of a drop off which honestly scared me a bit, it took a bit of convincing on their part to get me to do it but I eventually did and on the 2nd lap I did it again without hesitating and wondered what all the fuss was about earlier so when I came across it in my first lap I didnt think twice about doing it but unfortunately cleaned myself up going over the handle bars in front a photographer (hopefully those photos are coming soon) not only embarassed but feeling a bit sore, didnt want to show it so picked myself up and took off still ahead of Megan. I managed to get through the rest of the first lap unscathed, a few close calls in a few slippery spots but nothing major, as I crossed the finish line for the first time I had no idea how far in front I was but obviously wanted to maintain my lead but my legs just had nothing in them, I struggled up the fire trail and back in to the single track and up the first hard climb, I didnt make it near as far as I did the first lap so started pushing, at least I wasnt the only one, the 2nd lap was going good until I thought I had spotted my compettition catching me so I pushed hard on the fire trail but my chain managed to get twisted and stuck when I changed gears, I jumped off and went to get it out but it was well and truly stuck so me being the logical person that I am (not!) started to try and pull the chain out and just using all my strength and built up frustration to try and force the thing out to the point I was getting upset, figuring my race was over I started to walk back to the finish and my chain just fell out, ha better to be gentle next time! So I was over my little hissy fit and was focused back on the race, was not that far from the finish either so was feeling good but not too confident, didnt want to muck up so took it pretty easy but still looking over my shoulder the whole time. I made it to last little climb before the finish line and was content in knowing I had finally beaten Megan.
Taking off from the start in 3rd position, shame I couldnt hold that possie!


Looking good in the lead up but all went bad pretty quickly, unfortunately the photographer missed the actual crash shot but you can see in the last one it was not going well


Overall it was a great race, I like the club XC events, they have the same relaxed feeling as the Enduros but still pretty intense and great for me to get the experience up before the next State Series. Was fairly happy with how I went, I am still stopping alot to let riders through, it was hard not to do it on this course though as it was so tight and tecnical but in time I will get better with having riders passing me, its just a confidence thing for me.

Next up for me is the 7 hour Anaconda Enduro on the 27th, maybe the Dirt Riders XC on the 20th but might be away for that one, really need to get some training in between now and the 27th, I struggled with an hour today dont know how I will go adding another 6 to that.

Thanks to Peter for the sequense of photos above and to Andrew Liu for the one on top, he won my race and had enough time to freshen up, get changed pack away his bike and grab his camera to snap away at me on my to the finish line. Well done to Andrew too on his first win!

Quote for today
Whoever said, 'It's not whether you win or lose that counts,' probably lost.
Martina Navratilova, American Tennis Player

Well that's all from me today until next time

Happy Biking!

Kat