Now that Track Worlds are over, this blog will revert to a Canberra based Para Cycling updating tool with an occasional inclusion from further afield no doubt!
So what do all aspiring Paralympic cyclists do after a long hot summer working towards World Championship medals? Sleep in every morning for a week? Take a well earned break on a tropical island? Sit back and catch up on a month's worth of TV, DVDs or emails?
No, in fact none of these. Well not the Canberra contingent anyway. Because of the timing of various championships, the focus turns immediately to road racing. In addition to getting back into their full time day jobs, everyone is straight into training for the Australian Para Road Championships in Queensland on 9-10 April, then the following weekend, the Oceania Para Road Championships. These championships are very important because they're an essential stepping stone to a place at the Road World Championships a few short months away in Denmark (in September).
The timing is so tight, with only three weeks to find their "road legs", Brandie, Kerry and Sue all raced last weekend in local club competition. I can't say there was immediate success but the outing certainly helped remove the last vestiges of jet lag and provided a wake up call to the bodies that yes, in fact track season is over and now you no longer have to keep pedalling all the time you're moving like you do on a fixed wheel track bike!
At the Road Championships next month, the track trio will be joined by Jing, who is C2 above knee amputee and Richo, who is transferring from wheelchair racing to hand cycling, so the ACT will be well represented.
Stay tuned for more progress reports and results from various events. Can't guarantee as regular blogging as the last three weeks, but hopefully regular enough to sustain interest!
Sunday, 20 March 2011
Wednesday, 16 March 2011
Post Script..
For those who haven't read the CA press release, Australia finished 3rd on the medal tally, beaten only by Great Britain and China. For further detail go to http://www.cycling.org.au/
Sunday, 13 March 2011
All over bar the shouting
The 2010 World Track Para Cycling Championships are over. Yes, that's right these championships were officially the 2010 edition after they were postponed from late last year.
Montichiari must be sad to see us go because the weather has turned very un-Spring-like, with howling winds and lashing rain! It made packing all the bikes and gear into the truck a lovely soggy job, but that's how it goes.
But enough talk of the weather, and on to what you've really tuned in for - the final wrap up of competition.
This afternoon we had the Women's C4 500m Time Trial. Sue was our great hope in this event and didn't fail to please, with a gutsy ride on a near empty fuel tank to finish with a silver medal, beaten for gold by the Chinese world record holder in this event. Neither rode anywhere near their personal best times, indicative of how the weather impacts on performance.
The new kid on the block, Alex, finished sixth, but managed to go very close to, or possibly better, her PB, showing a glimpse of what we have to look forward to in the future.
Jayme rode her 500m TT solo again, with no other entries in her category. In a fine performance as Australia's last appearance on the track, she was only 1.5 seconds off the world record. Hopefully she'll have some opposition in the future so that her achievements can be formally recognised.
Here are the results for each team member, in no particular order other than ladies first, of course:
Felicity and Stephanie (tandem) - Gold medal 1000m TT, 11th place 3km pursuit
Alex (C4) - Bronze medal 3km pursuit, 6th place 500m TT
Jayme (C1) - 1st 3km pursuit, 1st 500m TT
Brandie and Kerry (tandem) - 8th 1000m TT, 6th 3km pursuit
Sue (C4) - Gold medal 3km pursuit, Silver medal 500m TT, 8th team sprint
Bryce and Sean (tandem) - 10th 1000m TT, Bronze medal 4km pursuit
Kieran and Scott (tandem) - 9th 1000m TT, Gold medal and world record 4km pursuit
Michael (C5) - Gold medal and world record 4km pursuit, 12th 1000m TT, 8th team sprint
Andrew (C2) - Silver medal and (briefly) world record 1km TT, 8th team sprint
So that's it from me for this trip. We leave Montichiari at 7am tomorrow for the long haul home. Thanks for checking in and I hope everyone enjoyed the reports as much as I enjoyed putting them together.
I'll leave you with a few final photos from the last day of competition and a big thank you to Hotel Faro for the excellent internet access that's made this blog possible.
Ciao, ciao.
Montichiari must be sad to see us go because the weather has turned very un-Spring-like, with howling winds and lashing rain! It made packing all the bikes and gear into the truck a lovely soggy job, but that's how it goes.
But enough talk of the weather, and on to what you've really tuned in for - the final wrap up of competition.
This afternoon we had the Women's C4 500m Time Trial. Sue was our great hope in this event and didn't fail to please, with a gutsy ride on a near empty fuel tank to finish with a silver medal, beaten for gold by the Chinese world record holder in this event. Neither rode anywhere near their personal best times, indicative of how the weather impacts on performance.
The new kid on the block, Alex, finished sixth, but managed to go very close to, or possibly better, her PB, showing a glimpse of what we have to look forward to in the future.
Jayme rode her 500m TT solo again, with no other entries in her category. In a fine performance as Australia's last appearance on the track, she was only 1.5 seconds off the world record. Hopefully she'll have some opposition in the future so that her achievements can be formally recognised.
Here are the results for each team member, in no particular order other than ladies first, of course:
Felicity and Stephanie (tandem) - Gold medal 1000m TT, 11th place 3km pursuit
Alex (C4) - Bronze medal 3km pursuit, 6th place 500m TT
Jayme (C1) - 1st 3km pursuit, 1st 500m TT
Brandie and Kerry (tandem) - 8th 1000m TT, 6th 3km pursuit
Sue (C4) - Gold medal 3km pursuit, Silver medal 500m TT, 8th team sprint
Bryce and Sean (tandem) - 10th 1000m TT, Bronze medal 4km pursuit
Kieran and Scott (tandem) - 9th 1000m TT, Gold medal and world record 4km pursuit
Michael (C5) - Gold medal and world record 4km pursuit, 12th 1000m TT, 8th team sprint
Andrew (C2) - Silver medal and (briefly) world record 1km TT, 8th team sprint
So that's it from me for this trip. We leave Montichiari at 7am tomorrow for the long haul home. Thanks for checking in and I hope everyone enjoyed the reports as much as I enjoyed putting them together.
I'll leave you with a few final photos from the last day of competition and a big thank you to Hotel Faro for the excellent internet access that's made this blog possible.
Ciao, ciao.
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| Guess where we've been... |
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| Australia starting the C1-5 combined Team Sprint |
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| Our final medal of the Championships - Sue Powell, silver, Women's C4 500m Time Trial |
The beginning of the end
The end of the championships that is. This morning we had Kieran and Scott competing in the Men's Tandem Sprint, Sue, Andrew and Michael in the Team Sprint and both women's tandems competing in the Pursuit.
Unfortunately, this is the first post where I can't report on amazing successes, which is not say that everyone didn't ride very well.
Kieran and Scott looked good for a spot in the quarter finals of the sprint until the big hitters from the UK and a couple of other countries came out to play. For world record holders in the pursuit, they did well to qualify 9th in the sprint. Only the top eight qualifiers go through so they missed out, but by finishing top 10, they accrued more UCI points for Australia.
In the women's tandem pursuit our sprinters, Steph and Flick went out easy and built through to the end of the 3km journey - no mean feat when they normally only go 1km and this was their first attempt. They ended up qualifying 11th out of 15, so no embarrassment there.
Brandie and Kerry rode well to the schedule for the first 2km but the cold in the velodrome (it's been raining since yesterday evening) got the better of them in the last kilometre. They finished with a 3.44, which is not quite as good as their PB set in Sydney a month ago, but still makes them the 6th fastest women's tandem pairing in the world over the distance and again, more valuable UCI points in the bank. Not too shabby for their first World Championships.
Our team sprint team qualified 8th and as far as I can ascertain at the moment, was one of only two teams that included a woman on the roster. This didn't see them reach the ride offs but was a good warm up for Sue for the TT which comes up a bit later this afternoon.
While we didn't win any medals this morning, everyone rode well and we accrued more valuable points, so it was still a successful session.
Check in later for a final update on the competition. Our remaining events are the women's C4 500m time trial featuring our "get out of jail at the last minute" legend Alex, and our pursuit world champion Sue. Jayme will also be riding her C1 500m time trial this afternoon.
Unfortunately, this is the first post where I can't report on amazing successes, which is not say that everyone didn't ride very well.
Kieran and Scott looked good for a spot in the quarter finals of the sprint until the big hitters from the UK and a couple of other countries came out to play. For world record holders in the pursuit, they did well to qualify 9th in the sprint. Only the top eight qualifiers go through so they missed out, but by finishing top 10, they accrued more UCI points for Australia.
In the women's tandem pursuit our sprinters, Steph and Flick went out easy and built through to the end of the 3km journey - no mean feat when they normally only go 1km and this was their first attempt. They ended up qualifying 11th out of 15, so no embarrassment there.
Brandie and Kerry rode well to the schedule for the first 2km but the cold in the velodrome (it's been raining since yesterday evening) got the better of them in the last kilometre. They finished with a 3.44, which is not quite as good as their PB set in Sydney a month ago, but still makes them the 6th fastest women's tandem pairing in the world over the distance and again, more valuable UCI points in the bank. Not too shabby for their first World Championships.
Our team sprint team qualified 8th and as far as I can ascertain at the moment, was one of only two teams that included a woman on the roster. This didn't see them reach the ride offs but was a good warm up for Sue for the TT which comes up a bit later this afternoon.
While we didn't win any medals this morning, everyone rode well and we accrued more valuable points, so it was still a successful session.
Check in later for a final update on the competition. Our remaining events are the women's C4 500m time trial featuring our "get out of jail at the last minute" legend Alex, and our pursuit world champion Sue. Jayme will also be riding her C1 500m time trial this afternoon.
Saturday, 12 March 2011
Winning never gets boring!
Sue Powell - World Champion. Kieran Modra and Scott McPhee - World Champions and world record holders. Jayme Paris - winner. Alex Green - bronze medallist. Bryce Lindores and Sean Finning - bronze medallists. Those are the latest results from the rest of today's racing.
And of course, here's the photographic evidence.
I think the highlight of today's racing was Alex's bronze medal in the women's C4 pursuit. Alex hasn't yet developed a blindingly fast first lap and the Chinese had obviously done their homework after the qualifying ride - Alex was racing a Chinese woman who had qualified 2 seconds slower than her for the bronze. It just so happens that this Chinese rider holds the world record for the 500m time trial. The Chinese strategy turned out to be to get their rider to essentially ride a 500m time trial and catch Alex within the first two laps, which would have been the end of the race, bronze to China, 4th to Alex. In the strangest pursuit I've ever seen, the Chinese rider made it to literally within about a metre and a half of Alex's back wheel as Alex gave her all to get up to race pace. At almost exactly two laps, the Chinese rider blew up, Alex kept going and then caught the Chinese rider at about lap 7, securing her first World Championships medal in the process.
Now I did promise to introduce Peter Day, the Head Coach of the team, but he's so busy orchestrating all of the successes I've been reporting on that I can't get him to stand still for long enough to take a clear photo, so I'll keep trying, but tomorrow's another busy day, so I'm not holding my breath!
It's funny the things you notice at this type of event. Like all the cars, trucks, vans etc in the parking lot with an amazing array of sponsors' logos all over them, but the following really took my fancy so I had to share -
I found it quite entertaining to have a VW van emblazoned with advertising for Skoda! And yes, for all you purists out there, they are part of the same motor group, but it's still pretty funny. Or maybe I got up too early this morning!
Now, for anyone who hasn't been keeping count, here's a summary of the results to date.
Gold - 4
World Records - 3 (even though Andrew's only lasted a moment!)
Silver - 1
Bronze - 2
First place - 1 (because Jayme doesn't have any to race against, she can't be awarded a medal, but she's still a winner to us)
PBs - 5
Tomorrow is the final day of competition and we have the women's tandem pursuit, the mixed team sprint, the men's tandem sprint and the 500m time trials for Sue, Alex and Jayme.
And of course, here's the photographic evidence.
That's Sue and Alex after receiving their medals...
...and the two men's tandem teams after receiving theirs.
I think the highlight of today's racing was Alex's bronze medal in the women's C4 pursuit. Alex hasn't yet developed a blindingly fast first lap and the Chinese had obviously done their homework after the qualifying ride - Alex was racing a Chinese woman who had qualified 2 seconds slower than her for the bronze. It just so happens that this Chinese rider holds the world record for the 500m time trial. The Chinese strategy turned out to be to get their rider to essentially ride a 500m time trial and catch Alex within the first two laps, which would have been the end of the race, bronze to China, 4th to Alex. In the strangest pursuit I've ever seen, the Chinese rider made it to literally within about a metre and a half of Alex's back wheel as Alex gave her all to get up to race pace. At almost exactly two laps, the Chinese rider blew up, Alex kept going and then caught the Chinese rider at about lap 7, securing her first World Championships medal in the process.
Now I did promise to introduce Peter Day, the Head Coach of the team, but he's so busy orchestrating all of the successes I've been reporting on that I can't get him to stand still for long enough to take a clear photo, so I'll keep trying, but tomorrow's another busy day, so I'm not holding my breath!
It's funny the things you notice at this type of event. Like all the cars, trucks, vans etc in the parking lot with an amazing array of sponsors' logos all over them, but the following really took my fancy so I had to share -
Now, for anyone who hasn't been keeping count, here's a summary of the results to date.
Gold - 4
World Records - 3 (even though Andrew's only lasted a moment!)
Silver - 1
Bronze - 2
First place - 1 (because Jayme doesn't have any to race against, she can't be awarded a medal, but she's still a winner to us)
PBs - 5
Tomorrow is the final day of competition and we have the women's tandem pursuit, the mixed team sprint, the men's tandem sprint and the 500m time trials for Sue, Alex and Jayme.
The results just keep coming
World records, personal bests, podium finishes - this Australian team has it all!
In the remainder of this morning's session, Kieran and Scott broke Kieran's longstanding tandem pursuit world record to qualify fastest for the final this evening.
Bryce and Sean produced a five second personal best time to qualify third and therefore go into the bronze medal ride off tonight. Unfortunately for Bryce and Sean, they had to overtake the other team on the track during their qualifying ride and but for that, may well have gone the .2 second quicker that they needed to make the gold medal ride off. Such is the nature of competition.
Andrew produced yet another PB to clock a time .3 of a second under the Men's C2 1km TT world record, only to have a Chinese rider come out and beat the old mark by a full 2 secs and drop Andrew into the silver medal position. You know the competition's tough when beating the world record only gets you a silver medal!
That's it for now but stay tuned - at this rate we're going to have excess baggage on the way home just for the medals!
In the remainder of this morning's session, Kieran and Scott broke Kieran's longstanding tandem pursuit world record to qualify fastest for the final this evening.
Bryce and Sean produced a five second personal best time to qualify third and therefore go into the bronze medal ride off tonight. Unfortunately for Bryce and Sean, they had to overtake the other team on the track during their qualifying ride and but for that, may well have gone the .2 second quicker that they needed to make the gold medal ride off. Such is the nature of competition.
Andrew produced yet another PB to clock a time .3 of a second under the Men's C2 1km TT world record, only to have a Chinese rider come out and beat the old mark by a full 2 secs and drop Andrew into the silver medal position. You know the competition's tough when beating the world record only gets you a silver medal!
That's it for now but stay tuned - at this rate we're going to have excess baggage on the way home just for the medals!
Qualifying comfortably
This morning saw Sue and Alex in action in the Women's C4 Pursuit qualifying round.
The conditions were a little cooler than last night and certainly not as conducive to riding quick times.
Sue had the benefit of riding in the last round, so we were able to select a schedule to deliver a time good enough to qualify but to also leave enough juice in the tank to bring it home tonight. In the end, Sue qualified fastest in 4.15.781.
Alex wasn't the quickest off the mark in her round but gradually regained the advantage and ended up with a creditable 4.24.784, which sees her in the bronze medal ride off this evening, missing the gold medal ride off against Sue by less than 2 seconds. For her first World Championships that's still a fantastic outcome.
There won't be many photos of the action for the next couple of days because the coaching (naturally) takes precedence, but in case you thought I'd let the human interest side of things slip, think again.
Here's Grandpa Kieran showing all the newbies how to relax before their events. Yes, that's tatting that he's gainfully employed with!
And true to form, notice the thongs (or flip flops) poking out the bottom of the towel!
The other bikes on this morning are the two men's tandems in their pursuit qualifying. Later today we also have Jayme riding her C1 pursuit and Michael (C5) and Andrew (C2) in their 1km time trials. I will update on their progress later.
The conditions were a little cooler than last night and certainly not as conducive to riding quick times.
Sue had the benefit of riding in the last round, so we were able to select a schedule to deliver a time good enough to qualify but to also leave enough juice in the tank to bring it home tonight. In the end, Sue qualified fastest in 4.15.781.
Alex wasn't the quickest off the mark in her round but gradually regained the advantage and ended up with a creditable 4.24.784, which sees her in the bronze medal ride off this evening, missing the gold medal ride off against Sue by less than 2 seconds. For her first World Championships that's still a fantastic outcome.
There won't be many photos of the action for the next couple of days because the coaching (naturally) takes precedence, but in case you thought I'd let the human interest side of things slip, think again.
Here's Grandpa Kieran showing all the newbies how to relax before their events. Yes, that's tatting that he's gainfully employed with!
The other bikes on this morning are the two men's tandems in their pursuit qualifying. Later today we also have Jayme riding her C1 pursuit and Michael (C5) and Andrew (C2) in their 1km time trials. I will update on their progress later.
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