31 Jan TDU, CEGORR, SunTour: A Learning Mindset

The Santos Women’s Tour Down Under was much like being thrown in the deep end for me. Only just coming out of U19, I was already racing some of the best female riders in the world, and I knew for sure I would be one of, if not the youngest rider racing. Having only experienced the racing we get in NZ, which for me mainly consisted of Calder Stewart and club stuff in Christchurch, this was always going to be a huge challenge as it was a much harder style of racing. I had been given plenty of advice on how I should approach the first race, to always be near the front and to not get caught out at the back.

This was easier said than done, and I learned that the hard way as I found myself at the very back of the bunch just before hitting a nasty cross wind. The whole race had strung out, and I was struggling to hold the wheel in front of me with nowhere to hide. After about 2km of emptying myself to try and stay on, I eventually lost the wheel and fell back into the convoy and that was pretty much my race and tour over with only 30km to go. Although I finished the stage I missed the 12% time limit. I was gutted to say the least, disappointed I couldn’t ride to help the Team and also I began to question whether I had done enough training or if I just wasn’t good enough to be there.

The next few days were difficult to watch, however I wanted to be as supportive as I could toward my team mates, especially since Grace Anderson was in the Young Riders Jersey. The rest of the team had an amazing tour, with everyone riding to their strengths and helping the team when they could. This just shows the talent we have in our young NZ riders, even against some of the best in the world.

When the tour ended I began to reflect on my race and see where I went wrong; my positioning being the main one but also what I drank, ate, the temperature (38 degrees!) and also my mindset going into the race. There were a lot of mistakes I made, but this meant I had plenty of areas to improve on and could only get better.

A week later and the team had moved to Melbourne for the Race Melbourne Criterium. I knew this was a great opportunity to practice my positioning and to just go into the race with plenty of confidence, as I had nothing to lose. Being a track rider, I was pretty comfortable with this style of racing, so I found myself to be toward the front a lot. This definitely made things a whole lot easier for me, and even though it took a lot of effort to get to the front, it was better than being spat out the back when the pace was on. I finished the race in the top half of the bunch, which was already a massive improvement from the last race and gave me the confidence I needed for my remaining races.

Cadel was our next big hit out- 110km with some nasty hills to finish. I approached this race the same as I had done with the crit- more confidently. I knew I wouldn’t be able to hang on up final climbs in the last 10k so I set myself a goal to stay with the main group until we came back into town, and I managed to do so finishing in the 3rd group of some pretty good riders, so I was happy with this performance and knew I was improving with each race I did.

The final big race for our trip was The Herald Sun Tour, possibly the hardest course over 123km and nearly 2000m of climbing. I really surprised myself in this race, as I managed to stay with the main group up the first big QOM- which I never thought I would be able to do as I am not much of a climber. I finished the race in the 2nd bunch back this time – so with each race my results had improved.

After these last couple of races, I learned that the first race I had done in Adelaide didn’t reflect my ability in riding- but more the little things like positioning and feeding and pre-race preparation (ie. Knowing where the cross winds were). Even the strongest of riders can find themselves getting caught out in races simply by making an easy mistake. The fact that I was able to keep up in the other races showed I was capable and just how there are so many factors in a race, and you need to be prepared for any situation.

This campaign for me has opened me up to world class riding and has really changed the way that I now approach races. It was a great opportunity with a great bunch of girls whom I shared some awesome experiences with. This has fueled my drive to train harder and smarter so that I can hopefully take my cycling career to the next level as I get older. Of course, this trip would not have been possible without the organisation of Patrick Harvey and the rest of our support crew, who I know put in a lot of work behind the scenes to make this all happen for us – so a big thank you to Patrick, the support team and my team mates for a fantastic experience.