Sunday, 27 May 2012
Great day for racing
Or anything really. Jing showed the Midas touch again when it came to the weather, getting her racing finished before a wet and stormy afternoon.
Saturday dawned warm and clear and we headed out to the course nice and early to avoid the parking issues we experienced the day before for the time trial at Ostia.
We were sharing a tent in the pit area with Greece and Israel, but neither nation showed up so we shared the tent with the Japanese team who spilled over from next door.
Jing and I rode a couple of laps of the shortened course, which proved quite different to the description provided on the World Cup website! Instead of one short climb out of the finishing straight, the entire 5km circuit, other than the start/finish straight, was either up or down, combined with sharp corners and dubious surfaces. The most exciting part was a long fast descent at about half way around ending in an almost hairpin bend and straight onto a reasonably steep climb about 400m long.
Jing's raced in a combined C2-C3 category with nine starters - seven C2 and two C3. After lap 1, two of the C2s had lost contact. During lap 3 C3 Schindler and C2 Jones attacked together and split the race wide open. A lone Czech C2 remained close but the rest of the field was left to time trial home. Jing produced her best performance of the "Italian Campaign" to finish 5th C2, only 7 minutes off the pace in a 40km race on the most difficult course encountered.
With racing over, we took the opportunity on Monday to visit VIlla d'Este in Tivoli, high above Rome, but less than an hour's drive away. The villa and gardens, set on the side of a virtual cliff, we're created by Cardinal Ippolito il d'Este around 1560. The Villa normally features running water and fountains throughout the gardens but due to recent heavy rain, all the water features were turned off. The gardens were still magnificent though.
Now we have to come back to reality and pack bikes for the trip home.
Ciao for now.
Friday, 25 May 2012
Ring roads and Roma
It's been a busy few days since racing concluded in northern Italy. Of the two days we stayed in the Piacenza region after the racing, one was very wet and the other very nice, so on the averages we did ok I guess. The best day of all was Wednesday - warm and sunny and not much wind. Unfortunately we spent the entire day on the road, driving to Rome in preparation for the World Cup.
It was a long day but we saw some amazing landscapes. We only managed to get a few photos but it's not possible to upload them with this system. The drive is very easy, dual carriageway all the way and average speeds in excess of 130k/h, and we were constantly being overtaken by an interesting array of Mercedes, BMWs and Range Rovers! We started on flat straight multi- carriageways, then moved into tunnel after tunnel after tunnel. The "slow" lane was bumper to bumper semi trailers broken occasionally with slow moving camper vans. We passed through flat open fields and narrow mountain passes.
Navigating Rome has been quite an experience, but so far we've managed to find our way to everywhere we've had to go, albeit with the occasional unplanned detour!
Today we travelled to the nearby sea port of Ostia, which lies just to the south of Rome's International airport. This was the location of the Rome World Cup Time Trials. They were originally scheduled to be run on the same circuit as the road races in central Rome, but I'm guessing that with 34 nations and 274 cyclists participating and the time trials being on a Friday, the logistics became impossible. The course was a flat and windy 4.7km rectangular circuit right on the water front. The temperature topped out at around 31 degrees and there was no shade to be had anywhere.
Jing rode off at 2.12pm and rode a strong race, closer to the pointy end than in previous outings but not strong enough to influence the podium. Full results are available at www.uci.ch - go to para cycling then the world cup tab (also can't currently copy in links).
Tomorrow the first lot of road races will be held on a 5km circuit not far from the Colosseum. The course features a sharp but reasonably short hill about 200 m from the start line, so the action should be full on right from the gun. The C1-3 women start at 9.02am and will complete 8 laps of the circuit. Nine riders have nominated for the race so it's a good field.
Hopefully I'll get a chance to update shortly after the race, which is expected to finish around 11am.
That's it for now.
Monday, 21 May 2012
The results
Final results from Piacenza are available online if you search for Piacenza 2012 para cycling but a brief summary of Jing's results are 4th and 4th - road race and time trial which means 4th overall.
And for anyone interested in a weather update, it rained all night and it's rained all day. We're hopeful of something better tomorrow!
Sunday, 20 May 2012
Some good luck with the weather
Racing for Jing in the Piacenza P1 Road event has now finished. On Saturday the road races were held under overcast skies and mild temperatures. Jing raced in the combined C1-3 women's event that started at the same time as the men's combined C1-3 event. For the women this really meant only C2-3 because the only C1 woman currently racing, Jayme Paris, wasn't at this event.
The result of the men and women starting together was that the stronger C2 women were able to capitalise on the bigger bunch and gaps opened in the women's field on the first of four laps. The women's event was originally scheduled for 6 laps, but was reduced due to time restrictions on the course.
Jing rode strongly and looked good on the bike but couldn't match the might of primarily Allison Jones of the USA, who blasted around the course in a quick time to obliterate the opposition - C2 and C3! Jing finished 5th of 6 starters, looking forward to the time trial the next day.
Within about 30 minutes of the C1-3 race finishing, the skies opened up and the remaining classifications came home with wet and dirty bikes after intermittent rain persisted for most of the afternoon.
T Sunday dawned with similarly overcast weather and colder temperatures. Jing was about 120th rider off, so we didn't have to set alarms for an early start.
This was fortunate for me because at 4am I was woken by my bed shaking. I thought I must be particularly restless or there was an earthquake. As it turned out, it was an earthquake, with its epicentre only about 60km from where we are staying at Castel San Giovanni. We were only slightly shaken, but unfortunately several people lost their lives in the quake, so a sad day in Italy.
But back to the time trial... The course was a flat out and back circuit, very fast and a reasonable surface. Jing motored through, putting 30 seconds into her minute rider, the Austrian C3 woman who finished behind her in the previous day's road race. With limited internet access at our hotel, we don't yet know the final results, so that will be for a later post.
Once again, within about 30 minutes of Jing finishing, the skies opened up again, more seriously than yesterday, and it hasn't really stopped raining since. Fortunately we are warm and dry indoors watching the Giro live on TV - no Cavendish this time though since the race has moved to the mountains.
We have a couple of days training in the Piacenza region before moving on to Rome on Wednesday in preparation for the Rome World Cup.
More information and results as they come to hand. And maybe with better internet access, photos? We can only hope!
The result of the men and women starting together was that the stronger C2 women were able to capitalise on the bigger bunch and gaps opened in the women's field on the first of four laps. The women's event was originally scheduled for 6 laps, but was reduced due to time restrictions on the course.
Jing rode strongly and looked good on the bike but couldn't match the might of primarily Allison Jones of the USA, who blasted around the course in a quick time to obliterate the opposition - C2 and C3! Jing finished 5th of 6 starters, looking forward to the time trial the next day.
Within about 30 minutes of the C1-3 race finishing, the skies opened up and the remaining classifications came home with wet and dirty bikes after intermittent rain persisted for most of the afternoon.
T Sunday dawned with similarly overcast weather and colder temperatures. Jing was about 120th rider off, so we didn't have to set alarms for an early start.
This was fortunate for me because at 4am I was woken by my bed shaking. I thought I must be particularly restless or there was an earthquake. As it turned out, it was an earthquake, with its epicentre only about 60km from where we are staying at Castel San Giovanni. We were only slightly shaken, but unfortunately several people lost their lives in the quake, so a sad day in Italy.
But back to the time trial... The course was a flat out and back circuit, very fast and a reasonable surface. Jing motored through, putting 30 seconds into her minute rider, the Austrian C3 woman who finished behind her in the previous day's road race. With limited internet access at our hotel, we don't yet know the final results, so that will be for a later post.
Once again, within about 30 minutes of Jing finishing, the skies opened up again, more seriously than yesterday, and it hasn't really stopped raining since. Fortunately we are warm and dry indoors watching the Giro live on TV - no Cavendish this time though since the race has moved to the mountains.
We have a couple of days training in the Piacenza region before moving on to Rome on Wednesday in preparation for the Rome World Cup.
More information and results as they come to hand. And maybe with better internet access, photos? We can only hope!
Friday, 18 May 2012
Getting close to the action
Today's Giro stage has 12 kilometres to go and for us it isn't the middle of the night!
Unfortunately we're only watching it on TV but it's better than staying up.
It seems a lot has happened since my last post. We saw quite a lot of the Italian countryside getting here - countryside that we hadn't planned to see, but one wrong turn that takes you onto a motorway without exits will do that! Still, no harm done.
Yesterday afternoon was all about getting the bikes together. Fortunately we have a decent sized room by European standards, so there was room to spread out.
Haven't worked out how to upload photos to the blog from the iPad so I can't show the photographic evidence yet.
Today we rode out to the course for tomorrow's Piacenza Para-cycling road races. It is flat and quite exposed in places so if there's any wind at all, positioning will be crucial. There were many cyclists out on the course, competing for space with the teams of workmen making repairs to the road where it was badly chopped up from local traffic.
And back to the Giro, we've just witnessed another clinical display by Mark Cavendish - even boxed in and checked a couple of hundred metres out, he still made it look easy!
So, tomorrow the "real" racing is on. Jing's race starts at 11.00am and is 6 laps totalling almost 56km.
Stay tuned for results in about 24 hours.
Wednesday, 16 May 2012
A quick update from Singapore
It's 1am in Australia and I should be sound asleep. Instead, I'm sitting in the Transit Lounge at Changi International Airport Singapore. With a few hours to kill it seemed like a good opportunity to provide a brief update.
This morning we fitted two bike boxes, a bike bag, a hard wheel box, a suitcase and a soft duffel-type bag into the back of a Subaru Forrester for the drive to Sydney. It was no mean feat!
Check-in went smoothly with our total baggage coming in right on allowance. Not bad, considering the cost of excess baggage these days.
A comfortable 8 hrs on an Airbus 380 and here we are, wide awake (well, almost) psyching up for the longer leg through to Malpensa Airport near Milan in Italy.
More updates soon...
Thursday, 10 May 2012
How Time Flies
With all the best intentions, it's never easy to make regular posts with everything else going on. But things are about to ramp up again.
It's not possible for me to report the outcomes of the Paralympics selection process because everyone is sworn to secrecy until the APC announces the team, so everyone will have to wait for that (if you don't already know what's going on). The only thing I can report is that since I posted the published timeline, the process has blown out quite considerably, hence no announcements to date.
Since my last post there have been several other developments that I can report on.
Next Wednesday Jing and I head off to Italy for Jing to compete in a "P1" event in Piacenza and a World Cup in Rome. The P1 is on 19-20 May and is the level of competition below World Cup, so still UCI points but fewer for just as much effort! More information on the event can be found at http://www.piacenzaparacycling.it/2012-race.html.
The Rome World Cup is on 26-27 May, more info at http://www.giubileodisabiliroma.it/index_en.html. Both events feature a time trial and a road race, so a couple of good races coming up.
Towards the end of May, Brandie and Kerry, and Sue head off with the Australian team for a series of races in Europe, culminating in the Segovia World Cup in Spain.
I will endeavour to provide all the results and other features of Spring in Italy as time and internet access allows.
Stay tuned....
It's not possible for me to report the outcomes of the Paralympics selection process because everyone is sworn to secrecy until the APC announces the team, so everyone will have to wait for that (if you don't already know what's going on). The only thing I can report is that since I posted the published timeline, the process has blown out quite considerably, hence no announcements to date.
Since my last post there have been several other developments that I can report on.
Next Wednesday Jing and I head off to Italy for Jing to compete in a "P1" event in Piacenza and a World Cup in Rome. The P1 is on 19-20 May and is the level of competition below World Cup, so still UCI points but fewer for just as much effort! More information on the event can be found at http://www.piacenzaparacycling.it/2012-race.html.
The Rome World Cup is on 26-27 May, more info at http://www.giubileodisabiliroma.it/index_en.html. Both events feature a time trial and a road race, so a couple of good races coming up.
Towards the end of May, Brandie and Kerry, and Sue head off with the Australian team for a series of races in Europe, culminating in the Segovia World Cup in Spain.
I will endeavour to provide all the results and other features of Spring in Italy as time and internet access allows.
Stay tuned....
Thursday, 8 March 2012
The Countdown is on
Selections for the Australian Paralympic Cycling team are set to be announced, or at least conveyed to those vying for selection, next week.
The key dates that all the athletes are sweating on are as follows (taken from the Cycling Australia "2012 Australian Paralympic Team Cyling Australia Nomination Criteria"):
12 March 2012 - UCI notifies in writing to the APC the number of allocated qualification slots and ring fenced positions from the UCI Para-cycling Games Road and Track "Combined" Rankings.
13 March 2012 - Deadline for the Selection Committee to lodge the final nominations for the 2012 Australian Paralympic Team with CA CEO.
14 March 2012 - Deadline for CA Board of Management to review and endorse nominations (1pm AEST).
14 March 2012 - CA to commence advising Shadow Team members of the nominations and non-nominations to the APC (2pm AEST).
16 March 2012 - Closing date for athletes to lodge an appeal with CA CEO against non-nomination to the APC for selection (5pm AEST).
19 March 2012 - Final date for nomination of athletes to the APC.
TBC - The APC Board selects athletes to the Team. Appeals are heard in accordance with the APC's General Selection Criteria. A public announcement will be made following the confirmation of selections by the APC.
If anyone is interested in the full nomination document, it is available at: http://www.cycling.org.au/default.asp?Page=8021&MenuID=High_Performance/20012/0
NB. Ring fenced positions are spots that the UCI dictates must be filled by a country out of its allocation of spots to ensure that a category is viable or that a nation selects the riders who should compete in a particular event.
Anyway, looks like it will be a busy week or so!
The maximum number of female spots that Australia can qualify for the Games is seven (and 14 male spots). While the actual number won't be confirmed until advice is received from the UCI, on the basis of results achieved in the last 12 months Australia would have to be looking good for maximum number of female spots. Unfortunately, there are more Australian female athletes vying for spots than the maximum number so the selectors will have to make some tough decisions next week, bearing in mind that they are also not obliged to fill all allocated spots.
Equally tough, once the non-nominations have been advised to the athletes, will be the decision as to whether to appeal or not.
Fortunately the appeals mechanism affords an opportunity for athletes who feel they have been incorrectly omitted from the team to state their claims and convince the powers that be that the decision should be changed. It is my personal opinion that no athlete should feel guilty about appealing if they feel they have a legitimate claim, and the fact that they have appealed should not be held against them at a later date by management or other athletes. Everyone is human and no one gets it right 100% of the time.
So watch this space for confirmation of nomination (or not) of the Canberra paras. Obviously there won't be any announcement before the formal process is completed but there might be a bit more personal insight here!
The key dates that all the athletes are sweating on are as follows (taken from the Cycling Australia "2012 Australian Paralympic Team Cyling Australia Nomination Criteria"):
12 March 2012 - UCI notifies in writing to the APC the number of allocated qualification slots and ring fenced positions from the UCI Para-cycling Games Road and Track "Combined" Rankings.
13 March 2012 - Deadline for the Selection Committee to lodge the final nominations for the 2012 Australian Paralympic Team with CA CEO.
14 March 2012 - Deadline for CA Board of Management to review and endorse nominations (1pm AEST).
14 March 2012 - CA to commence advising Shadow Team members of the nominations and non-nominations to the APC (2pm AEST).
16 March 2012 - Closing date for athletes to lodge an appeal with CA CEO against non-nomination to the APC for selection (5pm AEST).
19 March 2012 - Final date for nomination of athletes to the APC.
TBC - The APC Board selects athletes to the Team. Appeals are heard in accordance with the APC's General Selection Criteria. A public announcement will be made following the confirmation of selections by the APC.
If anyone is interested in the full nomination document, it is available at: http://www.cycling.org.au/default.asp?Page=8021&MenuID=High_Performance/20012/0
NB. Ring fenced positions are spots that the UCI dictates must be filled by a country out of its allocation of spots to ensure that a category is viable or that a nation selects the riders who should compete in a particular event.
Anyway, looks like it will be a busy week or so!
The maximum number of female spots that Australia can qualify for the Games is seven (and 14 male spots). While the actual number won't be confirmed until advice is received from the UCI, on the basis of results achieved in the last 12 months Australia would have to be looking good for maximum number of female spots. Unfortunately, there are more Australian female athletes vying for spots than the maximum number so the selectors will have to make some tough decisions next week, bearing in mind that they are also not obliged to fill all allocated spots.
Equally tough, once the non-nominations have been advised to the athletes, will be the decision as to whether to appeal or not.
Fortunately the appeals mechanism affords an opportunity for athletes who feel they have been incorrectly omitted from the team to state their claims and convince the powers that be that the decision should be changed. It is my personal opinion that no athlete should feel guilty about appealing if they feel they have a legitimate claim, and the fact that they have appealed should not be held against them at a later date by management or other athletes. Everyone is human and no one gets it right 100% of the time.
So watch this space for confirmation of nomination (or not) of the Canberra paras. Obviously there won't be any announcement before the formal process is completed but there might be a bit more personal insight here!
Monday, 13 February 2012
The Wrap from LA
Australia finished the day on a high with another gold medal to Flick and Steph in the Women's Tandem Sprint, and bronze medals to Michael Gallagher in the Men's combined C4-5 10km Scratch Race and Sue Powell in the Women's combined C4-5, all the more impressive because Sue fell midway through the race, but remounted and finished 3rd to two C5 competitors.
At the conclusion of competition, Australia finished with:
8 Gold
3 Silver
2 Bronze
All that remains is for the final allocations of spots for the Paralympics. Australia's allocation may well be improved by the LA results, but all will be revealed in the fullness of time.
See www.cycling.org.au for further information and timelines on the announcement of selections for the London Paralympics.
And that's me signing off until the next major event other than the announcement of Paralympic places.
The Australian Para Road Cycling Championships will take place on 14-15 April 2012.
At the conclusion of competition, Australia finished with:
8 Gold
3 Silver
2 Bronze
All that remains is for the final allocations of spots for the Paralympics. Australia's allocation may well be improved by the LA results, but all will be revealed in the fullness of time.
See www.cycling.org.au for further information and timelines on the announcement of selections for the London Paralympics.
And that's me signing off until the next major event other than the announcement of Paralympic places.
The Australian Para Road Cycling Championships will take place on 14-15 April 2012.
Sunday, 12 February 2012
Another day in the medals
Today's action in LA at the Para World Track Cycling Championships saw some more stand out results for the Aussies.
In action today were Claire McLean in the Women's C5 pursuit, Alex Green and Sue Powell in the Women's C4 pursuit and David Nicholas in the Men's C3 1km Time Trial.
Claire qualified 5th in the C5 division, which saw her miss out on the finals ride-offs but that's no disgrace when the field contains a rider of the calibre of Sarah Storey from Great Britain!
Alex and Sue qualified 1st and 2nd fastest in the Women's C4 pursuit, and contrary to my surmising this morning, Alex actually rode off against World Record holder Marie-Claude Molnar from Canada and easily accounted for her - congratulations to Alex the giant slayer for the first big scalp of her career!
Between pursuit qualifying and finals, David kept the Aussie flag flying with silver in the men's C3 1km Time Trial. Great result for the Pursuit World Champion.
In the Women's C3 pursuit final, a captivating battle saw Alex knock another second off her earlier PB to take the gold in 4.09.112. Sue finished second in 4.13.191.
The only events now remaining are the tandem sprints, team sprints and the newly introduced scratch races.
Australia will be hoping that Steph and Flick can hold their World Record form and claim another gold medal in the women's tandem sprint, and who knows what will happen in the lottery that is a scratch race...
More to come.
In action today were Claire McLean in the Women's C5 pursuit, Alex Green and Sue Powell in the Women's C4 pursuit and David Nicholas in the Men's C3 1km Time Trial.
Claire qualified 5th in the C5 division, which saw her miss out on the finals ride-offs but that's no disgrace when the field contains a rider of the calibre of Sarah Storey from Great Britain!
Alex and Sue qualified 1st and 2nd fastest in the Women's C4 pursuit, and contrary to my surmising this morning, Alex actually rode off against World Record holder Marie-Claude Molnar from Canada and easily accounted for her - congratulations to Alex the giant slayer for the first big scalp of her career!
Between pursuit qualifying and finals, David kept the Aussie flag flying with silver in the men's C3 1km Time Trial. Great result for the Pursuit World Champion.
In the Women's C3 pursuit final, a captivating battle saw Alex knock another second off her earlier PB to take the gold in 4.09.112. Sue finished second in 4.13.191.
The only events now remaining are the tandem sprints, team sprints and the newly introduced scratch races.
Australia will be hoping that Steph and Flick can hold their World Record form and claim another gold medal in the women's tandem sprint, and who knows what will happen in the lottery that is a scratch race...
More to come.
Saturday, 11 February 2012
Australia 1-2
The only event that Australia has competed in so far on Saturday is the Women's C4 Pursuit qualifying round, featuring Alex Green and Sue Powell.
Alex is definitely the most entertaining pursuiter around. Many will recall her nail biting race off for the bronze medal last year, when the Chinese 500m World Record holder almost caught her in the first three laps. This year, Alex has pulled out a 14 second improvement on her time from the 2011 Worlds - yes, that's right - from 4.24 last year to 4.10 this year, and has qualified fastest for tonight's gold medal ride off.
Qualifying second is Canberra's own, Sue Powell, defending World Champion in this event. Now I wasn't there, but I'm guessing that Sue will have ridden her qualifying round against last year's silver medallist Marie Claude Molnar from Canada, and that this ride will have occurred after all the other riders had posted a time, so all Sue had to do was ride faster than Molnar to ensure an Australian 1-2 in the final.
The significant thing about the Australians riding off for gold and silver is that Molnar is the current World Record holder in this event, but obviously couldn't find the same form that saw her ride 4.05.403 in November 2011 to break the record previously held by Sue.
The stage is set for an intriguing final - can Alex find even more speed to win her first World Championship, can Sue find a 2-3 second PB to reclaim the World Record?
Either way, later in the day, Australia will stand proud on the top two steps of the World Championship Podium!
Alex is definitely the most entertaining pursuiter around. Many will recall her nail biting race off for the bronze medal last year, when the Chinese 500m World Record holder almost caught her in the first three laps. This year, Alex has pulled out a 14 second improvement on her time from the 2011 Worlds - yes, that's right - from 4.24 last year to 4.10 this year, and has qualified fastest for tonight's gold medal ride off.
Qualifying second is Canberra's own, Sue Powell, defending World Champion in this event. Now I wasn't there, but I'm guessing that Sue will have ridden her qualifying round against last year's silver medallist Marie Claude Molnar from Canada, and that this ride will have occurred after all the other riders had posted a time, so all Sue had to do was ride faster than Molnar to ensure an Australian 1-2 in the final.
The significant thing about the Australians riding off for gold and silver is that Molnar is the current World Record holder in this event, but obviously couldn't find the same form that saw her ride 4.05.403 in November 2011 to break the record previously held by Sue.
The stage is set for an intriguing final - can Alex find even more speed to win her first World Championship, can Sue find a 2-3 second PB to reclaim the World Record?
Either way, later in the day, Australia will stand proud on the top two steps of the World Championship Podium!
Friday, 10 February 2012
A gold rush
In the interests of completeness and because it would be remiss of me not to report the final results for the day in LA, in case anyone is hanging out for the next post.....
More congratulations to the Australian team with an impressive win in the C3 Men's 3km pursuit to David Nicholas, who caught the silver medallist right on the line.
Michael Gallagher then improved on his 2nd in qualifying to convincingly beat the Chinese rider Liu in the gold medal ride off for the C5 category.
In the Men's tandem 1km TT, Bryce and Scott couldn't quite repeat yesterday's success, holding onto the number one ranking until the big guns came out to play. They finished 6th, which is an improvement on their respective finishing places in the same event last year.
Not a bad day's effort - four events, three gold, a 4th and a 6th. Well done Australia!
More congratulations to the Australian team with an impressive win in the C3 Men's 3km pursuit to David Nicholas, who caught the silver medallist right on the line.
Michael Gallagher then improved on his 2nd in qualifying to convincingly beat the Chinese rider Liu in the gold medal ride off for the C5 category.
In the Men's tandem 1km TT, Bryce and Scott couldn't quite repeat yesterday's success, holding onto the number one ranking until the big guns came out to play. They finished 6th, which is an improvement on their respective finishing places in the same event last year.
Not a bad day's effort - four events, three gold, a 4th and a 6th. Well done Australia!
1km TT - a matter of pride redeemed and a new World Record for Australia
The women's tandem 1km Time Trial Para World Championship has been run and won. While it has not been their best event, Brandie and Kerry were very keen to regain some pride after a disappointing time in the pursuit yesterday, in spite of moving up one placing from last year's championships.
In a smooth and powerful ride, starting 6th in a field of 12, the girls improved half a second on last year's time to record 1.12.740 and hold second place until the last two teams, McGlynn from Great Britain and the other Australian team of Steph and Flick.
Unfortunately for Brandie and Kerry, both the Brits and Steph and Flick pulled out blinders to take second and first respectively.
Huge congratulations to Steph and Flick, who burned up the track with a 1.08.714 to take the gold and set a new World Record (subject to ratification of course). This nicely complements the flying 200m World Record they set in December last year!
The team from the Netherlands separated Brandie and Kerry from the bronze medal, by half a second. No one would argue that 4th in the world is nothing to be sneezed at, but it's still disappointing to miss the podium, no matter how much you've improved!
Good rides also to other Australians David Nicholas, who qualified 1st in the Men's C3 pursuit by nearly 4 seconds, and Michael Gallagher, who qualified 2nd in the Men's C5 pursuit. Both will ride their finals later today.
In a smooth and powerful ride, starting 6th in a field of 12, the girls improved half a second on last year's time to record 1.12.740 and hold second place until the last two teams, McGlynn from Great Britain and the other Australian team of Steph and Flick.
Unfortunately for Brandie and Kerry, both the Brits and Steph and Flick pulled out blinders to take second and first respectively.
Huge congratulations to Steph and Flick, who burned up the track with a 1.08.714 to take the gold and set a new World Record (subject to ratification of course). This nicely complements the flying 200m World Record they set in December last year!
The team from the Netherlands separated Brandie and Kerry from the bronze medal, by half a second. No one would argue that 4th in the world is nothing to be sneezed at, but it's still disappointing to miss the podium, no matter how much you've improved!
Good rides also to other Australians David Nicholas, who qualified 1st in the Men's C3 pursuit by nearly 4 seconds, and Michael Gallagher, who qualified 2nd in the Men's C5 pursuit. Both will ride their finals later today.
Thursday, 9 February 2012
World Champions!
In the last event of the day, Bryce Lindores and Scott McPhee maintained Australia's dominance of the men's tandem pursuit event, running out winners over the Irish pairing, who couldn't maintain their form of this morning and faded to finish 3 seconds adrift of the flying Aussies.
Anyone who read this blog from the 2011 World Championships in Montichiari might be wondering whether I've made a mistake in the pairing on the Australian tandem so I should probably explain. Bryce's former pilot Sean Finning made the decision to return to single bike competition and Scott's stoker, Keiran Modra had an bike accident late last year that ruled him out of these championships, so conveniently for everyone Bryce and Scott were able to pair up very successfully.
That's it for today folks.
Anyone who read this blog from the 2011 World Championships in Montichiari might be wondering whether I've made a mistake in the pairing on the Australian tandem so I should probably explain. Bryce's former pilot Sean Finning made the decision to return to single bike competition and Scott's stoker, Keiran Modra had an bike accident late last year that ruled him out of these championships, so conveniently for everyone Bryce and Scott were able to pair up very successfully.
That's it for today folks.
500m Time Trials
Following the tandem pursuit qualifiers, the single bike women's categories were on track for their 500m time trials.
Australia fared well in these events, as follows:
Jayme Paris - 1st C1 in 47.196, just outside her World Record of 46.427
Simone Kennedy - 1st C3 in 44.747, an outstanding result for her first appearance at track Worlds
Susan Powell - 2nd C4 in 40.308, beaten only by the World Record Holder, Jianping Ruan from China, who took another few 1/100th off her own World Record - was 39.04, now 38.974, subject to ratification of course
Alex Green - 4th C4 in 43.267, a great warm up for her preferred event, the pursuit
Claire McLean - 6th C5 in 43.049, a satisfactory re-entry to Worlds track competition, and another nice warm up for the preferred pursuit event.
The only other action for the Australian team today will be the Men's tandem pursuit final, where Bryce and Scott will be looking to repeat their qualifying performance and step onto the top step of the podium.
Australia fared well in these events, as follows:
Jayme Paris - 1st C1 in 47.196, just outside her World Record of 46.427
Simone Kennedy - 1st C3 in 44.747, an outstanding result for her first appearance at track Worlds
Susan Powell - 2nd C4 in 40.308, beaten only by the World Record Holder, Jianping Ruan from China, who took another few 1/100th off her own World Record - was 39.04, now 38.974, subject to ratification of course
Alex Green - 4th C4 in 43.267, a great warm up for her preferred event, the pursuit
Claire McLean - 6th C5 in 43.049, a satisfactory re-entry to Worlds track competition, and another nice warm up for the preferred pursuit event.
The only other action for the Australian team today will be the Men's tandem pursuit final, where Bryce and Scott will be looking to repeat their qualifying performance and step onto the top step of the podium.
Not quite fast enough...
The women's tandem pursuit qualifying round has been run at the Home Depot Velodrome in LA. Unfortunately Brandie and Kerry couldn't find enough speed to qualify for the medals ride-offs, finishing in probably the most painful position in the competition - 5th.
The results of the qualifying round are:
1. Ireland 3.37.392
2. GB 3.38.002
3. GB 3.38.561
4. NZ 3.39.659
5. Brandie and Kerry (Aus) 3.44.023
6. NED 3.44.314
7. Ireland 3.48.767
8. Canada 3.50.194
9. USA 3.50.596
10. Germany 3.52.340
11. Greece 4.01.990
So not fast enough, but good to be in the top half of the field.
Congratualtions to the Aussie boys tandem of Bryce Lindores and pilot Scott McPhee who qualified fastest in the men's tandem pursuit qualifier (4.26.277) - should be an exciting final later in the day, with the second placed Irish team only half a second slower.
The results of the qualifying round are:
1. Ireland 3.37.392
2. GB 3.38.002
3. GB 3.38.561
4. NZ 3.39.659
5. Brandie and Kerry (Aus) 3.44.023
6. NED 3.44.314
7. Ireland 3.48.767
8. Canada 3.50.194
9. USA 3.50.596
10. Germany 3.52.340
11. Greece 4.01.990
So not fast enough, but good to be in the top half of the field.
Congratualtions to the Aussie boys tandem of Bryce Lindores and pilot Scott McPhee who qualified fastest in the men's tandem pursuit qualifier (4.26.277) - should be an exciting final later in the day, with the second placed Irish team only half a second slower.
Wednesday, 8 February 2012
Twas the day before competition
.... but all was not necessarily quiet. For there was much discussion about strategies, what gear to ride, when to warm up and how, what time to get to the track..... Anyone who has attended any sort of championship will know that there's a lot more to it than just turning up and riding. The difference between winning or not can come down to how much pressure you had in your tyres, or what you ate the day before, so the final preparations are a critical factor in getting the best outcome once you're actually on the bike and racing.
But how successful those preparations are for the Australian team will only become known over the next few days.
In the meantime, just so that everyone can get a sense of the LA track and pits areas, here's a few photos that Kerry was kind enough to send through.
You may recall that Kerry commented on the long straights and short bends at the track - have a look at how close the finish line is to the bend in the above photo. And in the photo below, apart from a few of the Aussie team members warming up so fast they're a blur, you can see just how short and tight the bend is.
That's it for now....
But how successful those preparations are for the Australian team will only become known over the next few days.
In the meantime, just so that everyone can get a sense of the LA track and pits areas, here's a few photos that Kerry was kind enough to send through.
 |
| The Aussie pits, with psych Sarah and physio Anouska at the ready. |
 |
| These Aussies are so fast, you can't see them clearly, even just in a warm up! |
 |
| Empty stands on training day. Here the girls' tandem keeps an eye on their Canadian opposition |
The Wrap from Malaysia
It's now all over bar the shouting for the Asian Para Road Cycling Championships.
There were 28 riders representing six nations - Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, Iran and Chinese Taipei.
Of the 28, four were female - Jing and three Handcyclists.
Jing rode the time trial yesterday in similar conditions to the previous day's road race, although over a much shorter distance - 13.4km.
The time trial was a combined event with all the male C2-4 competitors and Jing competing together with a factoring system applied to even out the times for the different categories. In simple terms, a time factor is applied to the actual time ridden to compensate for the different levels of disability. Following application of the factoring, Jing finished 3rd, collecting the bronze medal in a field of eight and riding an average speed in excess of 32k/h. An excellent result and once again she achieved maximum UCI points. A very successful day indeed.
So now the next excitement on the horizon for the Canberra Paras is the World Para Track Cycling Championships commencing in Los Angeles on Thursday (LA time, don't forget - 19 hrs behind us). Hopefully I'll be able to get the results out hot off the press, as they happen, but only time will tell.....
There were 28 riders representing six nations - Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, Iran and Chinese Taipei.
Of the 28, four were female - Jing and three Handcyclists.
Jing rode the time trial yesterday in similar conditions to the previous day's road race, although over a much shorter distance - 13.4km.
The time trial was a combined event with all the male C2-4 competitors and Jing competing together with a factoring system applied to even out the times for the different categories. In simple terms, a time factor is applied to the actual time ridden to compensate for the different levels of disability. Following application of the factoring, Jing finished 3rd, collecting the bronze medal in a field of eight and riding an average speed in excess of 32k/h. An excellent result and once again she achieved maximum UCI points. A very successful day indeed.
So now the next excitement on the horizon for the Canberra Paras is the World Para Track Cycling Championships commencing in Los Angeles on Thursday (LA time, don't forget - 19 hrs behind us). Hopefully I'll be able to get the results out hot off the press, as they happen, but only time will tell.....
Monday, 6 February 2012
Chasing boys
The Asian Para Cycling Championships road race is done and dusted. As the only female single bike entrant, Jing spent the race chasing boys! She raced with the C2, C3 and C4 men.
With temperatures hovering in the low to mid 30s, it was hard work out on course and dehydration headaches were commonplace post race. Here's Jing's account of the race:
"..lasted almost three laps with the guys, even with attacks on every one of those laps. I made sure I was right up near the front especially after the first attack, and managed to stay with the tail-enders when they came through. The guys making the attacks were a C4 and the C3 dude. Approaching the end of the third lap, the C3 attacked again, then sat up when he looked back, after which the Filipino guys then did a sneaky 1-2 punch and split us up into four chasing them, one dropping off the four, and me not far behind that one. And there I was thinking I'd have to ride the remaining four laps on my own, but I caught the one who dropped off and kind of encouraged him to keep going, since the four appeared to be easing up on their pace. He must have blown during the chase though, because he couldn't do anything for quite a while so for the next two laps were spent taking turns. I didn't do as much for the last two laps and at the end he sprinted with whatever he had left to the finish. He didn't look very good when I came up to shake hands with him!"
As newly crowned Asian C2 Women's Champion, Jing collects maximum world ranking points in her quest to qualify for the London Paralympics later in the year, but that's another story...
Jing also provided a couple of extra insights to race day in Putrajaya -
"A big group of kids on some sort of tour to Putrajaya stumbled upon this event, so (it) became quite a spectacle for them. They were quite excited and obviously.. impressed, taking many photos of us, of the bikes, and milling about the tent area, although we think they were huddling under the tents because it was so hot!"
"The former Prime Minister of Malaysia was at the event, and all the locals (volunteers, officials, spectators etc) stuck to him when he arrived and took lots of photos. His followers took photos of him with every team." Obviously a very popular former politician!
With temperatures hovering in the low to mid 30s, it was hard work out on course and dehydration headaches were commonplace post race. Here's Jing's account of the race:
"..lasted almost three laps with the guys, even with attacks on every one of those laps. I made sure I was right up near the front especially after the first attack, and managed to stay with the tail-enders when they came through. The guys making the attacks were a C4 and the C3 dude. Approaching the end of the third lap, the C3 attacked again, then sat up when he looked back, after which the Filipino guys then did a sneaky 1-2 punch and split us up into four chasing them, one dropping off the four, and me not far behind that one. And there I was thinking I'd have to ride the remaining four laps on my own, but I caught the one who dropped off and kind of encouraged him to keep going, since the four appeared to be easing up on their pace. He must have blown during the chase though, because he couldn't do anything for quite a while so for the next two laps were spent taking turns. I didn't do as much for the last two laps and at the end he sprinted with whatever he had left to the finish. He didn't look very good when I came up to shake hands with him!"
As newly crowned Asian C2 Women's Champion, Jing collects maximum world ranking points in her quest to qualify for the London Paralympics later in the year, but that's another story...
Jing also provided a couple of extra insights to race day in Putrajaya -
"A big group of kids on some sort of tour to Putrajaya stumbled upon this event, so (it) became quite a spectacle for them. They were quite excited and obviously.. impressed, taking many photos of us, of the bikes, and milling about the tent area, although we think they were huddling under the tents because it was so hot!"
"The former Prime Minister of Malaysia was at the event, and all the locals (volunteers, officials, spectators etc) stuck to him when he arrived and took lots of photos. His followers took photos of him with every team." Obviously a very popular former politician!
Taking in the sights
The big advantage to going to World Championships for cycling is that you usually have a roadworthy bike with you, which makes it that much easier to see the sights of the local area you're visiting without having to rely on team or public transport.
Training rides therefore serve a dual purpose, as Kerry reports:
"After trawling through suburbia this morning, we made it to Redondo Beach and then headed round the peninsula along the coast road - very scenic, with views across the Pacific and right back up to the northern beaches and the city of LA. Then back to the streets again to get home. It's amazing what you can find in a big city when you go searching further afield."
It's good to have these interludes to avoid focussing too heavily on and getting too fired up for competition too early, but tomorrow the countdown to competition starts - three days to go, so the sole focus will be on the hotel and the track and all the final preparations!
Thanks again to Kerry for keeping us all informed and providing photos for us to all enjoy.
Training rides therefore serve a dual purpose, as Kerry reports:
"After trawling through suburbia this morning, we made it to Redondo Beach and then headed round the peninsula along the coast road - very scenic, with views across the Pacific and right back up to the northern beaches and the city of LA. Then back to the streets again to get home. It's amazing what you can find in a big city when you go searching further afield."
Kerry enjoying the sights of LA
Golf course on Palos Verdes Drive - ah the lifestyles of the rich and famous!
"There was a team excursion this afternoon to Venice Beach, including Muscle Beach, then onto Santa Monica for the briefest of shopping stops - half an hour! The boys were in charge!"
Venice Beach
The sign says it all!
A sample of some of the sweet offerings at the supermarket!
After the excursion it was back to the hotel to catch the second half of the Super Bowl.
Thanks again to Kerry for keeping us all informed and providing photos for us to all enjoy.
Saturday, 4 February 2012
Meanwhile, somewhere in Malaysia...
Jing has been busy getting up close and personal with the race circuit in Putrajaya. Here's her report of the first couple of days -
"Went with the Singapore team to check out the course. Very nice, Putrajaya that is, good course. For the Canberrans who might be reading this, its like Parkes Way but no u-turns, just a loop, a rectangle, with the shorter ends over two short bridges. Nice buildings all around.
We had two local vans, front and back, along with us. One of the bridges - exposed, over a lake, there was a little headwind."
They managed three laps before someone on a motor bike 'ushered' them off the course because it was apparently too dangerous with all the traffic. At this point a lapse in concentration saw Jing join the "friends of the earth society" after getting her front wheel stuck in a crack in the pave. Only damage was to elbows and pride, so no great harm done!
Today Putrajaya was closed for a religious festival, so the only time available for teams to go out and ride on the course is 6pm tonight, so Jing rode with the Malaysian team - some motor pacing with tandems and single bikes. Sounds like fun!
The traffic is obviously of some concern - Jing says "these guys must be used to riding in the traffic, of course they always have the van following them but still....it was quite interesting/exciting."
Tuesday is Thaipusam, another festival, hence a four day long weekend in Malaysia.
It seems the female ranks have swelled a bit, with the addition of three hand cyclists, but still very under-represented.
So with everyone doing their thing in the far flung corners of the globe, I'll leave it at that for now.
"Went with the Singapore team to check out the course. Very nice, Putrajaya that is, good course. For the Canberrans who might be reading this, its like Parkes Way but no u-turns, just a loop, a rectangle, with the shorter ends over two short bridges. Nice buildings all around.
We had two local vans, front and back, along with us. One of the bridges - exposed, over a lake, there was a little headwind."
They managed three laps before someone on a motor bike 'ushered' them off the course because it was apparently too dangerous with all the traffic. At this point a lapse in concentration saw Jing join the "friends of the earth society" after getting her front wheel stuck in a crack in the pave. Only damage was to elbows and pride, so no great harm done!
Today Putrajaya was closed for a religious festival, so the only time available for teams to go out and ride on the course is 6pm tonight, so Jing rode with the Malaysian team - some motor pacing with tandems and single bikes. Sounds like fun!
The traffic is obviously of some concern - Jing says "these guys must be used to riding in the traffic, of course they always have the van following them but still....it was quite interesting/exciting."
Tuesday is Thaipusam, another festival, hence a four day long weekend in Malaysia.
It seems the female ranks have swelled a bit, with the addition of three hand cyclists, but still very under-represented.
So with everyone doing their thing in the far flung corners of the globe, I'll leave it at that for now.
News from LA
The girls seem to have settled in nicely. As I mentioned earlier, my reports for these Championships will be based on info coming through from team members, so here's the first report back from Kerry.
She says the hotel accommodation - Doubletree by Hilton - is very nice. The beds are big and soft and there are very comfortable outdoor couches by the pool. The food is also apparently very good - fried chicken, cakes, pastries and pancakes. Oh yeah, and the salad, vegies and fruit are OK too. Now just what was it they went to LA for? Oh, that's right, World Cycling Championships - you could be forgiven for thinking they were on holidays!
But seriously, the bad news is that there isn't anywhere nearby to hang out or get a decent coffee. That is a major tragedy, because as anyone who knows cyclists knows, no coffee makes for very unhappy athletes!
To give us an idea of the local area, Kerry says the beaches are reminiscent of WA, including seeing the sun set over the ocean, which is a pretty rare treat for us eastern seaboarders. The piers and boardwalks are like Manly. So anyone who has been to either of those places should now have a better feel for the local terrain.
The roads are rideable, but there are a lot of traffic lights, so lots of stopping. Fortunately the beach isn't far away and the cyclists can access a dedicated bike path that goes for miles (they're in the US don't forget, so no 'kilometres'!).
On the business side the track appears to be tandem friendly, although different to other tracks the girls have ridden with tight bends and long straights. Hopefully Brandie's new aero position in the stoker seat will help with getting around the tighter bends.
Tonight's training session will allow the girls to try out the track with a disc wheel on the front of the tandem. For anyone who doesn't know cycling very well, using a disc wheel on the back doesn't alter the feel of the bike much, but putting one on the front has been likened to having a rudder there, ie it takes a lot more concentration and strength to keep the bike going in the right direction. Lucky Kerry's a rower - lots of upper body strength there!
Aside from the cycling, I think there might also be a bit of interest in the Super Bowl on Monday, after all, you couldn't be in the States and not take an interest....
Thanks again to Kerry for the update, and hopefully plenty more to come.
She says the hotel accommodation - Doubletree by Hilton - is very nice. The beds are big and soft and there are very comfortable outdoor couches by the pool. The food is also apparently very good - fried chicken, cakes, pastries and pancakes. Oh yeah, and the salad, vegies and fruit are OK too. Now just what was it they went to LA for? Oh, that's right, World Cycling Championships - you could be forgiven for thinking they were on holidays!
But seriously, the bad news is that there isn't anywhere nearby to hang out or get a decent coffee. That is a major tragedy, because as anyone who knows cyclists knows, no coffee makes for very unhappy athletes!
To give us an idea of the local area, Kerry says the beaches are reminiscent of WA, including seeing the sun set over the ocean, which is a pretty rare treat for us eastern seaboarders. The piers and boardwalks are like Manly. So anyone who has been to either of those places should now have a better feel for the local terrain.
The roads are rideable, but there are a lot of traffic lights, so lots of stopping. Fortunately the beach isn't far away and the cyclists can access a dedicated bike path that goes for miles (they're in the US don't forget, so no 'kilometres'!).
On the business side the track appears to be tandem friendly, although different to other tracks the girls have ridden with tight bends and long straights. Hopefully Brandie's new aero position in the stoker seat will help with getting around the tighter bends.
Tonight's training session will allow the girls to try out the track with a disc wheel on the front of the tandem. For anyone who doesn't know cycling very well, using a disc wheel on the back doesn't alter the feel of the bike much, but putting one on the front has been likened to having a rudder there, ie it takes a lot more concentration and strength to keep the bike going in the right direction. Lucky Kerry's a rower - lots of upper body strength there!
Aside from the cycling, I think there might also be a bit of interest in the Super Bowl on Monday, after all, you couldn't be in the States and not take an interest....
Thanks again to Kerry for the update, and hopefully plenty more to come.
East and West - all on the ground
There's been a lot of movement of para cyclists and assorted cycling equipment, heading to all parts of the world, east and west, to LA for track and KL for road.
All the Canberra paras are now safe on the ground in their respective locations. The Australian Para Track Team landed in LA 19 hours before they left Sydney. Cool huh? So if anyone is looking to keep tabs on results, remember that the events won't happen until the day after we get to the time here in Oz. Confusing or what!
After a relatively short flight by comparison with travel to events in Europe ('just' 14 hours) , the team arrived in good spirits and set about settling into the local routine.
Competition commences next Thursday, 9 February, LA time. You can find the program and all sorts of other information about the World Para Track Championships at http://www.paracyclingla2012.com/folders.asp?uid=1.
Meanwhile a bit further west or east, depending on your perspective, Jing arrived safely in Kuala Lumpur with bikes intact, and has settled into her accommodation for the Asian Championships.
Several countries are represented, the breakdown roughly as follows:
Big Korean team of hand-cyclists and tandems
Malaysia too (tandems and a few single-bike riders, all men)
3 HCs from Singapore
2 men single-bike riders Philippines
1 male single-bike rider from Iran
And Jing - blazing the way for Asian para women cyclists!
With the World Track Championships running at the same time in LA, Japan and China aren't represented, since apart from hand cyclists, most para cyclists ride both track and road.
The program for the Asian Road Championships sees time trials to be run on Monday 6 February, and road races on Tuesday 7 February. So far I haven't found a website where further information can be found on these championships.
More, including results to come.....
All the Canberra paras are now safe on the ground in their respective locations. The Australian Para Track Team landed in LA 19 hours before they left Sydney. Cool huh? So if anyone is looking to keep tabs on results, remember that the events won't happen until the day after we get to the time here in Oz. Confusing or what!
After a relatively short flight by comparison with travel to events in Europe ('just' 14 hours) , the team arrived in good spirits and set about settling into the local routine.
Competition commences next Thursday, 9 February, LA time. You can find the program and all sorts of other information about the World Para Track Championships at http://www.paracyclingla2012.com/folders.asp?uid=1.
Meanwhile a bit further west or east, depending on your perspective, Jing arrived safely in Kuala Lumpur with bikes intact, and has settled into her accommodation for the Asian Championships.
Several countries are represented, the breakdown roughly as follows:
Big Korean team of hand-cyclists and tandems
Malaysia too (tandems and a few single-bike riders, all men)
3 HCs from Singapore
2 men single-bike riders Philippines
1 male single-bike rider from Iran
And Jing - blazing the way for Asian para women cyclists!
With the World Track Championships running at the same time in LA, Japan and China aren't represented, since apart from hand cyclists, most para cyclists ride both track and road.
The program for the Asian Road Championships sees time trials to be run on Monday 6 February, and road races on Tuesday 7 February. So far I haven't found a website where further information can be found on these championships.
More, including results to come.....
Wednesday, 1 February 2012
The "Other" Canberra Para Cyclist...
But wait, there's more!
As regular (well as regular as I manage to post) readers will realise, Canberra has another representative para cyclist, Jing Huang, who rides for Chinese Taipei. Some will recall my accounts of our adventures in Denmark late last year at the World Para Cycling Road Championships.
As the other Canberra Paras head in one direction to the World Track Championships, Jing departs for Malaysia to compete in the Asian Cycling Championships.
The Championships are being held in the Malaysian administrative capital of Putrajaya, which holds some relevance for me - I was involved in a consultancy some years ago advising the Malaysian Government on the establishment of a sports academy in the then only partially developed new capital. I certainly never dreamed I would one day be coaching a Chinese Taipei cyclist riding in a championship in the now very well established Putrajaya!
I will endeavour to provide results from these championships as well as the World Track Championships in LA.
As regular (well as regular as I manage to post) readers will realise, Canberra has another representative para cyclist, Jing Huang, who rides for Chinese Taipei. Some will recall my accounts of our adventures in Denmark late last year at the World Para Cycling Road Championships.
As the other Canberra Paras head in one direction to the World Track Championships, Jing departs for Malaysia to compete in the Asian Cycling Championships.
The Championships are being held in the Malaysian administrative capital of Putrajaya, which holds some relevance for me - I was involved in a consultancy some years ago advising the Malaysian Government on the establishment of a sports academy in the then only partially developed new capital. I certainly never dreamed I would one day be coaching a Chinese Taipei cyclist riding in a championship in the now very well established Putrajaya!
I will endeavour to provide results from these championships as well as the World Track Championships in LA.
Farewell to Australia
A week of intensive training in Adelaide has finished and the Australian Para Cycling team will depart Adelaide at 7am for a short hop to Sydney before departing for the good ol' US of A later in the morning. Doesn't sound so bad until you realise that, with all the baggage that has to be organised at the airport pre departure, the team has to leave its Adelaide accommodation at 3.15 - am that is, when most normal people would be tucked up snug in their beds. Ah, the life of an elite cyclist!
From all reports, preparations have been going well and everyone is keen to arrive in LA and get down to the business of securing Paralympic positions.
From all reports, preparations have been going well and everyone is keen to arrive in LA and get down to the business of securing Paralympic positions.
Tuesday, 24 January 2012
World Para Track Cycling Championships 2012 - Los Angeles
The Australian Para Cycling team is now in camp in Adelaide in preparation for their departure to Los Angeles for the 2012 Track World Championships.
This is a really important event for team members because it is effectively the last opportunity for riders to stake a claim for track spots for the London Paralympics later in the year.
Canberra is well represented again with defending World Champion Sue Powell and our tandem pairing of Brandie O'Connor and pilot Kerry Knowler. Brandie and Kerry will be looking to improve on their impressive podium performance at the 2011 Oceania Championships in New Zealand last November and bring some World Championship bling home.
Despite early indications that I would be traveling with the team, I have not been included on the team roster, so I won't be on the spot to provide daily updates to any of you dedicated followers out there.
I will do my best to provide regular updates from any reports I get back from people in LA, but there won't be the usual photos and detailed reports this time around!
Disappointing, but that's just the way the cookie crumbles...
This is a really important event for team members because it is effectively the last opportunity for riders to stake a claim for track spots for the London Paralympics later in the year.
Canberra is well represented again with defending World Champion Sue Powell and our tandem pairing of Brandie O'Connor and pilot Kerry Knowler. Brandie and Kerry will be looking to improve on their impressive podium performance at the 2011 Oceania Championships in New Zealand last November and bring some World Championship bling home.
Despite early indications that I would be traveling with the team, I have not been included on the team roster, so I won't be on the spot to provide daily updates to any of you dedicated followers out there.
I will do my best to provide regular updates from any reports I get back from people in LA, but there won't be the usual photos and detailed reports this time around!
Disappointing, but that's just the way the cookie crumbles...
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