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.
Monday 13 February 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.
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| The Aussie pits, with psych Sarah and physio Anouska at the ready. |
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| These Aussies are so fast, you can't see them clearly, even just in a warm up! |
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| 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.
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