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!
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