---------- Forwarded message ----------From: Paul and Claire
Date: 2009/9/6
Subject: Photos of Kate
To: Kate Potter <kate@aquickrelease.com>, cy@cotic.co.uk
Cc: Paul Dexter <paul@cotic.co.uk>
Hey There, here are some shots I got of Kate during the race. Cheers Paul
Showing posts with label Australia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Australia. Show all posts
Monday, September 7, 2009
World Championships : race photos of Kate
Monday, March 10, 2008
Australian National Cross Country Series Round 4 – Mt Beauty, Victoria.
The Cotic Bontrager Race Team has arrived back in the UK, leaving behind the hot dusty days of Oz and settling back into the frost filled mornings of winter in the UK. I decided to write my last Aussie race report when I returned to the UK, as I thought the distant memories of an Aussie summer would bring some much needed warmth back into my bones….mmmm maybe not as I sit here all rugged up in a dozen layers and my trusty ol’ Cotic beanie.
It was a week between the Australia National cross country race in Canberra and the final round of the Australian Series down in the Victorian Alps. After a disastrous race in Canberra I couldn’t wait to have another crack at a national XC race. I had all this built up frustration that I wanted to let rip on the racecourse and I was determined to make the final race in Oz a good one. Ian was also pleased I had another race so soon after the worst race of my life, as he was forced to spend over 6hrs in the same vehicle with an angry Ms Potter, who I must say was becoming quite the whingeing Pom of the Potter brigade at that moment in time. As somebody who loves to race hard, there’s nothing worse when perfect preparation and strong legs aren’t enough to bring home a good result. I guess that’s what makes mountain bike racing so exciting, and why I actually thrive on turning a bad race into a good one.
I was looking forward to racing at Mt Beauty again. The mountain bike club, ‘Team Mount Beauty’ who were organising the event, have developed a wide range of trails over the years, including plenty of down hill tracks that are all very testing, along with huge single track climbs that are a pleasure to suffer on, if that makes any sense. The area is similar to our summer home in the French Pyrenees, and the local mountain bike scene is a true blue biker friendly one. I’m not going to go into tonnes of detail about the three days leading up to the race. All I can say is those three days were spent riding and enjoying the beauty that is Mt Beauty, it’s one of the loveliest places to go mountain biking in Oz.
The morning of race day I woke up feeling rather sad as I knew it might be a couple of years before we would return to race in Australia again, unless we win the lottery. Ian couldn’t understand my mixed emotions the morning of the race. One minute angry to race hard, the next minute a right cry-baby who was sad to leave Oz…so as all good husbands do he threw me in the pool. It did the trick though, as I couldn’t stop laughing after that and all my nerves disappeared.
I decided to warm up early and focus on my race plan, or rather I tried to think of a half decent race plan. I knew a good start was crucial, but I was going to be starting towards the back of the grid, which meant I could get blocked on the single track early on as there wasn’t much overtaking space on this course. I tried to imagine each section of the course and where there would be opportunities to pass people.
The start of the course was a fairly wide 100m climb that soon became a narrow piece of single track into the first technical section of the race. A set of tight switchbacks followed, before a series of step-downs in between a couple of gum trees or rather one tree that had been split at the base to form a V. It wasn’t a difficult section to ride slowly, but you had to be careful your handle bar didn’t catch the side of each trunk as it would be easy to lose momentum and end up kissing dirt. There was an A and B line at the end of this section. The B line was a short steep drop on to the fire road, while the A line was again through a tree, but you had to roll over a huge root to begin with as you entered the V line of the trunk. In practice I only saw the elite men riding the quicker line. Ian asked me what line I would ride during the race. It wasn’t really a question though, but rather ‘YOU WILL RIDE THAT LINE!’ I can tell when Ian expects me to ride something easily. Mr Potter gives me this daring little smile and sometimes does this really bad imitation of some creature called Yoda who says ‘Do or do not, there is no try!’. The voice is cringe worthy at the best of times. The A line was definitely the faster line. So I went for it and had no worries rolling through the tree, in fact it was quite easy once I relaxed and believed I could ride it. One of my pet hates is when your mind plays tricks on you and makes you think a trail is much harder than it actually is.
Once you dropped on to the fire road the climb really started and soon turned into a narrow piece of single track that weaved up the mountainside. I lost count of the number of switchbacks, and rooty straights that followed; plus there was a cheeky little rock garden that forced your whole body into action in order to maintain constant speed over the sharp jagged rocks.
At the top of the climb there was a wide trail of no more than 300m long that lead to some really testing single track at speed. There were fast sandy berms, and logs to jump, before a tight switch back that dropped into a fast bomb hole, that was longer than any bomb hole I have ever ridden in the UK. The trail was pretty rough at the bottom, with plenty of braking bumps to keep it testing. Then the trail narrowed into an off camber section over a few rocks, before another off camber shoot that had roots and rocks across it, forcing you on to the clearest line that was right on the edge of a drop that was eroding away.
The trail then undulated through the tress and this is when the fun really started. You could pick up plenty of speed, but there were numerous obstacles in the way from rock gardens to north shore, drop offs to bmx style jumps that kept you buzzing all the way down. Parts of the trail were grippy for an Aussie trail, but every so often the sandy sections would leave you drifting wide as your tyres tried to find grip. There were a few short steep climbs towards the end of this section to remind you how painfully fun mountain biking always is, before more fast bermed sections that were such a pleasure to ride hard. Once you left the gum trees behind you faced a wide grassy descent that had huge deep gullies all the way down. Ian was jumping the lot of them in practice, and just letting the brakes off all the way down. I was a bit more conservative (or perhaps a little too chicken) to let the brakes off completely, as I had visions of nose-diving in the air if I got my timing wrong. There was a drop off at the end of this section as the trail widened, before a short piece of single track that opened up to the finishing straight.
I spent my entire warm up before the race imagining the course from start to finish and different scenarios that could take place. I knew the lines I wanted to take and even dared myself to let go of the brakes on the last grassy track, as that was the only section I was not riding aggressively enough in practice.
When the race started, as expected I was blocked, and not in the best of positions early on as I made my way into the first technical section between the trees. I was ready to dismount and run, as I knew there would be a bottleneck and somebody was bound to fall. As expected it was a girl right in front of me, so I jumped through the trees trying my best not to tread on her head and focused on riding the A line. All the girls in front were taking the B line, so I knew it was a good opportunity to make up some positions. However I didn’t have a lot of speed and as I approached the root the side of my body was forced into the trunk and I was on the verge of going over the handlebars. There were a lot of spectators watching this section, and as always you heard the ‘oohs’ and ‘ahhs’ as the riders passed by, including plenty of cheering. I didn’t want to kiss dirt in front of this crowd, so I had to think of Ian’s bad Yoda impression ‘Do or Do Not, there is no try!’. I looked ahead and somehow made it on to the fire road where I moved into 5th or 6th position…so three cheers for Yoda who made me think DO!
I started to make up more places on the climb, but found myself behind Dellys Starr who had about a 20 second gap on Rowena Fry who was leading the series and Tory Thomas the local favourite. I tried several time to pass the girls in front, but they held their line confidently and I remained buzzing on their back wheels. I felt like I could have ridden the climb quicker, but I was lacking any short sprint power to get by. On the descents they were both rapid, and I had to give it everything to keep them in sight. It wasn’t until half way round the third lap that I finally passed Tory and caught up to Rowena who was in second place. I remained on Rowena’s back wheel and encouraged her to get a move on up the climb, as I was certain we were going to be caught.
On the final lap I had to think about making a move, as I knew I had to be in front of Rowena going into the final descent. It wasn’t until the top of the final climb that I passed Rowena and then I just sprinted as hard as I could. I thought Rowena was still on my back wheel, and I knew I had to let go of the brakes down the last grassy descent if I was going to stay in front. I remembered Yoda and thought to myself ‘Do or Do Not! There is no Try!’. I pushed myself to find air over the grassy jumps and let out a little squeal in the process. I would like to say it was a squeal of delight, but I’m pretty sure it was one of ‘Holly cow, please let me land this…type squeal’ if you get my drift. I sprinted all the way across the finishing straight and took a very pleasing second place behind Dellys Starr.
I absolutely loved this race from start to finish. The course was testing both physically and technically. It wasn’t enough to be fit, you had to be able to ride a mountain bike to really enjoy this course. It was a nice feeling to have a good race, especially as this was the last national race on my 07 Cotic Soda, who has looked after me and been my own little brumby of a race bike. I have a slightly different Soda for 2008 that will hopefully be built up very soon, as I can’t wait to show her off to the biking world.
As always I’m very grateful to the Cotic Bontrager Team and loyal sponsors who continue to support my racing adventures in Oz, UK and across Europe.
Also a special thank you to Yoda for your inspirational words, and Ian Potter for being such a great team mate!
It was a week between the Australia National cross country race in Canberra and the final round of the Australian Series down in the Victorian Alps. After a disastrous race in Canberra I couldn’t wait to have another crack at a national XC race. I had all this built up frustration that I wanted to let rip on the racecourse and I was determined to make the final race in Oz a good one. Ian was also pleased I had another race so soon after the worst race of my life, as he was forced to spend over 6hrs in the same vehicle with an angry Ms Potter, who I must say was becoming quite the whingeing Pom of the Potter brigade at that moment in time. As somebody who loves to race hard, there’s nothing worse when perfect preparation and strong legs aren’t enough to bring home a good result. I guess that’s what makes mountain bike racing so exciting, and why I actually thrive on turning a bad race into a good one.
I was looking forward to racing at Mt Beauty again. The mountain bike club, ‘Team Mount Beauty’ who were organising the event, have developed a wide range of trails over the years, including plenty of down hill tracks that are all very testing, along with huge single track climbs that are a pleasure to suffer on, if that makes any sense. The area is similar to our summer home in the French Pyrenees, and the local mountain bike scene is a true blue biker friendly one. I’m not going to go into tonnes of detail about the three days leading up to the race. All I can say is those three days were spent riding and enjoying the beauty that is Mt Beauty, it’s one of the loveliest places to go mountain biking in Oz.
The morning of race day I woke up feeling rather sad as I knew it might be a couple of years before we would return to race in Australia again, unless we win the lottery. Ian couldn’t understand my mixed emotions the morning of the race. One minute angry to race hard, the next minute a right cry-baby who was sad to leave Oz…so as all good husbands do he threw me in the pool. It did the trick though, as I couldn’t stop laughing after that and all my nerves disappeared.
I decided to warm up early and focus on my race plan, or rather I tried to think of a half decent race plan. I knew a good start was crucial, but I was going to be starting towards the back of the grid, which meant I could get blocked on the single track early on as there wasn’t much overtaking space on this course. I tried to imagine each section of the course and where there would be opportunities to pass people.
The start of the course was a fairly wide 100m climb that soon became a narrow piece of single track into the first technical section of the race. A set of tight switchbacks followed, before a series of step-downs in between a couple of gum trees or rather one tree that had been split at the base to form a V. It wasn’t a difficult section to ride slowly, but you had to be careful your handle bar didn’t catch the side of each trunk as it would be easy to lose momentum and end up kissing dirt. There was an A and B line at the end of this section. The B line was a short steep drop on to the fire road, while the A line was again through a tree, but you had to roll over a huge root to begin with as you entered the V line of the trunk. In practice I only saw the elite men riding the quicker line. Ian asked me what line I would ride during the race. It wasn’t really a question though, but rather ‘YOU WILL RIDE THAT LINE!’ I can tell when Ian expects me to ride something easily. Mr Potter gives me this daring little smile and sometimes does this really bad imitation of some creature called Yoda who says ‘Do or do not, there is no try!’. The voice is cringe worthy at the best of times. The A line was definitely the faster line. So I went for it and had no worries rolling through the tree, in fact it was quite easy once I relaxed and believed I could ride it. One of my pet hates is when your mind plays tricks on you and makes you think a trail is much harder than it actually is.
Once you dropped on to the fire road the climb really started and soon turned into a narrow piece of single track that weaved up the mountainside. I lost count of the number of switchbacks, and rooty straights that followed; plus there was a cheeky little rock garden that forced your whole body into action in order to maintain constant speed over the sharp jagged rocks.
At the top of the climb there was a wide trail of no more than 300m long that lead to some really testing single track at speed. There were fast sandy berms, and logs to jump, before a tight switch back that dropped into a fast bomb hole, that was longer than any bomb hole I have ever ridden in the UK. The trail was pretty rough at the bottom, with plenty of braking bumps to keep it testing. Then the trail narrowed into an off camber section over a few rocks, before another off camber shoot that had roots and rocks across it, forcing you on to the clearest line that was right on the edge of a drop that was eroding away.
The trail then undulated through the tress and this is when the fun really started. You could pick up plenty of speed, but there were numerous obstacles in the way from rock gardens to north shore, drop offs to bmx style jumps that kept you buzzing all the way down. Parts of the trail were grippy for an Aussie trail, but every so often the sandy sections would leave you drifting wide as your tyres tried to find grip. There were a few short steep climbs towards the end of this section to remind you how painfully fun mountain biking always is, before more fast bermed sections that were such a pleasure to ride hard. Once you left the gum trees behind you faced a wide grassy descent that had huge deep gullies all the way down. Ian was jumping the lot of them in practice, and just letting the brakes off all the way down. I was a bit more conservative (or perhaps a little too chicken) to let the brakes off completely, as I had visions of nose-diving in the air if I got my timing wrong. There was a drop off at the end of this section as the trail widened, before a short piece of single track that opened up to the finishing straight.
I spent my entire warm up before the race imagining the course from start to finish and different scenarios that could take place. I knew the lines I wanted to take and even dared myself to let go of the brakes on the last grassy track, as that was the only section I was not riding aggressively enough in practice.
When the race started, as expected I was blocked, and not in the best of positions early on as I made my way into the first technical section between the trees. I was ready to dismount and run, as I knew there would be a bottleneck and somebody was bound to fall. As expected it was a girl right in front of me, so I jumped through the trees trying my best not to tread on her head and focused on riding the A line. All the girls in front were taking the B line, so I knew it was a good opportunity to make up some positions. However I didn’t have a lot of speed and as I approached the root the side of my body was forced into the trunk and I was on the verge of going over the handlebars. There were a lot of spectators watching this section, and as always you heard the ‘oohs’ and ‘ahhs’ as the riders passed by, including plenty of cheering. I didn’t want to kiss dirt in front of this crowd, so I had to think of Ian’s bad Yoda impression ‘Do or Do Not, there is no try!’. I looked ahead and somehow made it on to the fire road where I moved into 5th or 6th position…so three cheers for Yoda who made me think DO!
I started to make up more places on the climb, but found myself behind Dellys Starr who had about a 20 second gap on Rowena Fry who was leading the series and Tory Thomas the local favourite. I tried several time to pass the girls in front, but they held their line confidently and I remained buzzing on their back wheels. I felt like I could have ridden the climb quicker, but I was lacking any short sprint power to get by. On the descents they were both rapid, and I had to give it everything to keep them in sight. It wasn’t until half way round the third lap that I finally passed Tory and caught up to Rowena who was in second place. I remained on Rowena’s back wheel and encouraged her to get a move on up the climb, as I was certain we were going to be caught.
On the final lap I had to think about making a move, as I knew I had to be in front of Rowena going into the final descent. It wasn’t until the top of the final climb that I passed Rowena and then I just sprinted as hard as I could. I thought Rowena was still on my back wheel, and I knew I had to let go of the brakes down the last grassy descent if I was going to stay in front. I remembered Yoda and thought to myself ‘Do or Do Not! There is no Try!’. I pushed myself to find air over the grassy jumps and let out a little squeal in the process. I would like to say it was a squeal of delight, but I’m pretty sure it was one of ‘Holly cow, please let me land this…type squeal’ if you get my drift. I sprinted all the way across the finishing straight and took a very pleasing second place behind Dellys Starr.
I absolutely loved this race from start to finish. The course was testing both physically and technically. It wasn’t enough to be fit, you had to be able to ride a mountain bike to really enjoy this course. It was a nice feeling to have a good race, especially as this was the last national race on my 07 Cotic Soda, who has looked after me and been my own little brumby of a race bike. I have a slightly different Soda for 2008 that will hopefully be built up very soon, as I can’t wait to show her off to the biking world.
As always I’m very grateful to the Cotic Bontrager Team and loyal sponsors who continue to support my racing adventures in Oz, UK and across Europe.
Also a special thank you to Yoda for your inspirational words, and Ian Potter for being such a great team mate!
Friday, December 14, 2007
Cotic Bontrager Race Team - 'down Aussie under' KP in (post) Flying Form...
The first event of my mountain bike race season has been and gone ever so quickly. In fact the past 5 days since touching down in Sydney Airport have been quite surreal. At one point I was starting to think I had been possessed by vampires. I was my living self once the sun disappeared, but upon day light I suddenly became zombified. Sunny days were not appreciated in the slightest. However as I recount the beginnings of my Aussie Adventure (part 2), I remind myself that the past 6 weeks in the UK have been long arduous sessions from as early as 4am on the turbo, or out braving the freezing cold until 4pm sun down....and now here I am basking in the Aussie sun shine and enjoying a post training recovery drink with a twist of lemon, whilst listening to the squawks of Gallahs and Kockatoos in the back yard...oh woops that’s Ian, he’s calling me. He can wait. Life among the gum trees is "fair dinkum", as my Dad would say.
Writing a race report can be quite a difficult thought process, especially when one has not enjoyed the experience or had high expectations that are not nearly met. In this case my first race of the season was simply not expected to happen for me. I felt no pressure for a result and just wanted to ride and dust the cobwebs off. Looking back at the event brings back warm, fuzzy feelings of suffering and tummy turmoil that not only reminded me of the mistakes I made, but also about how addictive mountain bike racing really is. I thoroughly enjoyed my first race of the season, but I don’t actually know why....as it really hurt. It’s always the same though, no matter where I cross the line, no matter how much suffering I endure. Every time I cross that darn finish line, I can’t wait to get back out on the race bike and go through the whole painful process once more. It’s even better when you have had such a terrible race and know that your next one can’t get much worse....well so you hope.
When I told my coach Matt Hart that I fancied a race or two in December he gave me one of those looks like, ‘you what?’ . I then realised that the race I wanted to enter was less than 48 hrs after we arrived in Australia as the dates had been changed. I told Matt a week ago. Matt laughed. Matt laughed a lot, but he understood why I still wanted to race. Matt said one of two things would happen: (1) you will truly suffer or (2) 24hrs on a plane might bring about a taper and some form will shine through....but as Ian and Matt were still giggling to themselves as my ear lobes were being pricked (I was enduring a fitness test at the time you see), I could tell they knew exactly what I was letting myself in for.
24 hrs on a plane with no sleep, back ache and little comfort room as Ian and another passenger kept trying to sleep on each shoulder, was the first part of my preparation for race one. Did I mention the roller coaster turbulent ride that reduced me to tears, screaming babies and the passenger in front vomiting for the entire 7 hrs of the first leg from Birmingham to Dubai. Such a pleasant flight. When the air hostess smiled sweetly and said ‘We hope you enjoyed your flight’, I simply growled.
Ian and I walked through Customs at Sydney Airport, feeling an enormous amount of relief that we had finally arrived. With heavy legs and ankles that were four times their usual size, with Ian referring to them as Elephant legs, new fears of thrombosis started circulating my mind. As Ian searched for our bike bags I sat on my back, legs extended in the air, hoping my ankles would return to ankle shape soon.
Stage 2 of race preparation began with an hour’s drive to my parent’s place, before borrowing their car and heading to Thredbo, 7hrs away. A road trip for the Potters is not a road trip without at least three wrong turns, who said you need directions and a road map? All I can say thank god for TORQ gels with guarana, that kept Ian on the left hand side of the road for most of the journey at least, except when he swerved to miss a kangaroo.
Ian and I arrived in Thredbo, shadows of our former selves, as we hadn’t slept or eaten properly for 48hrs. Once we had checked into our accommodation, it was time to build my beloved Soda. However, I soon said enough is enough when Ian suddenly walked into a foot rest and collapsed on the ground. He just lay there. I was so fatigued that if Ian had really needed resuscitating then he would have been in trouble. I simply turned around when I heard Ian’s pained giggle and collapsed into bed myself.
The next day I had my first play on the Soda since the last race back in September. I knew the course well from last season, but there were a couple of new sections to check out. As I pedalled gently towards the start area I noticed my heart rate was about 50 beats too high, and I could feel the change in altitude affecting my breathing. Then the yawns started and I kept drifting off into space, until I found myself flying over the handle bars. My foot had unclipped, but without realising it I kept on pedalling and down I landed head over heels in the grass. Luckily this fall woke me up and I completed the rest of the loop unscathed. Ian sent me back to bed, but my brain was in overdrive as I couldn’t wait to start the race the following morning.
Saturday morning was race day, and instead of waking up at a decent hour I was alert and ready to roll at 4am. Jet lag is most frustrating as I felt really tired, but I couldn’t sleep. I just lay there trying to convince my brain that it really is still sleep time.
I started warming up at 8:30am and tried to find some life in my legs, but they weren’t having it. The brain wasn’t feeling too alert either and every short sprint took too long to recover from. The race started at 9:30am and the temperature was warming up nicely. I was gridded 24 out of around 27 elite ladies. It was going to be a difficult start as there was only a short straight before the first piece of single track.
The gun sounded and the girls took off, all but me. I went backwards and found myself one of the last riders heading into the single track. Then a pile up of ten girls in front followed, and an even greater distance between the back riders and the leading group ensured. I chased hard, and started to make up a few places, but found myself stuck behind riders again as the next single track climb was quite technical, and there were virtually no passing points. Every pedal stroke was an effort, a massive effort, and to make matters worse my breakfast was trying to say hello, and stitch meant I had to slow down so I could actually breathe. I have a long list of inner and outer pains that were felt from every corner of my body. To tell you the truth I think my body was just going into complete shock as it has been a few months since my last hard session on the bike. My legs didn’t want to be pushed, but my brain was screaming at them to get a move on. I was about 19th half way round the first lap and I could only just make out a few girls in the distance who were storming further ahead. I wasn’t panicking, but I was feeling sick and wanted the tummy pain to disappear. I couldn’t drink anything on that first lap, but I wasn’t going to quit, we hadn’t come half way around the world to only ride one lap.
By the half way point I had started to make up places, but I was feeling slower and slower. The pain in my stomach had subsided, but everything about the bike and I felt slothful. I know too well what my race bike usually feels like, and it just wasn’t there on the day. Even on the tarmac climb I could hear the tyres sticking to the ground and I could feel my legs flopping about like jelly. However I was enjoying riding the technical single track, and there was a super piece of trail along the river that had a few little rocky drop offs and fast corners. I almost scared myself a couple of times as the rear tyre lost traction on the loose ground, but being as tired as I was my reactions didn’t do anything, which meant I didn’t stiffen up, and the bike and I stayed upright and together in one piece.
As I crossed the line, happy and relieved that I made it through all four laps, Ian informed me that I finished in 7th place. I was pleasantly surprised that I had made up more places than expected. Ian was pleased for me too, even though he said I was riding like an elephant....so I stamped on his foot. Then he checked the bike over. I felt quite satisfied with my effort today. Until I heard a hissing noise beside me. I thought it was a snake. A second later I was wishing it had been a snake. Instead of that adoring look from Ian that always greets me at the end of any race, I saw Ian shaking his head in disbelief. He asked me if I felt slow today? I thought he was teasing, until he showed me a rip in my rear tyre. I hadn’t noticed. I had less than 15psi in the tyre......aghhhhhhhhhh.
Sorry I had to have a moment. I was so tired that I wasn’t really thinking about how the bike was feeling at the time. Well I won’t know now whether I could have made up some more time or not, but I had the most amazing work out. That was my first seriously hard effort in two months and from that one effort the legs have started to feel a little bit stronger again. I’m feeling very excited about my 2008 race season, and can’t wait for the next race, when that will be I don’t know, but will keep you well informed.
A huge well done to all my Aussie competitors. Would you believe we women outnumbered all the male categories on the weekend, which is pretty special if I do say so myself. Well done to Dellys Starr for taking the top spot.
As in 2007, I once again have the fantastic support of the Cotic Bontrager Race Team, which includes a wonderful group of co-sponsors as well who have made it possible for me to race again in 2008. A very special thankyou to TORQ Australia (Gen and Dean) for your race support out here in Oz, and also to a wonderful bunch of Aussies who have made Ian and I feel most welcome at our first race here in Australia. Special thanks to both families for your airport taxi service, plus my beloved Ian who goes above and beyond his role as husband, mechanic, skills coach, pit b’tch, taxi driver and motivational speaker…..as Ian would say "Pain is an emotion and emotion is to be enjoyed"
Writing a race report can be quite a difficult thought process, especially when one has not enjoyed the experience or had high expectations that are not nearly met. In this case my first race of the season was simply not expected to happen for me. I felt no pressure for a result and just wanted to ride and dust the cobwebs off. Looking back at the event brings back warm, fuzzy feelings of suffering and tummy turmoil that not only reminded me of the mistakes I made, but also about how addictive mountain bike racing really is. I thoroughly enjoyed my first race of the season, but I don’t actually know why....as it really hurt. It’s always the same though, no matter where I cross the line, no matter how much suffering I endure. Every time I cross that darn finish line, I can’t wait to get back out on the race bike and go through the whole painful process once more. It’s even better when you have had such a terrible race and know that your next one can’t get much worse....well so you hope.
When I told my coach Matt Hart that I fancied a race or two in December he gave me one of those looks like, ‘you what?’ . I then realised that the race I wanted to enter was less than 48 hrs after we arrived in Australia as the dates had been changed. I told Matt a week ago. Matt laughed. Matt laughed a lot, but he understood why I still wanted to race. Matt said one of two things would happen: (1) you will truly suffer or (2) 24hrs on a plane might bring about a taper and some form will shine through....but as Ian and Matt were still giggling to themselves as my ear lobes were being pricked (I was enduring a fitness test at the time you see), I could tell they knew exactly what I was letting myself in for.
24 hrs on a plane with no sleep, back ache and little comfort room as Ian and another passenger kept trying to sleep on each shoulder, was the first part of my preparation for race one. Did I mention the roller coaster turbulent ride that reduced me to tears, screaming babies and the passenger in front vomiting for the entire 7 hrs of the first leg from Birmingham to Dubai. Such a pleasant flight. When the air hostess smiled sweetly and said ‘We hope you enjoyed your flight’, I simply growled.
Ian and I walked through Customs at Sydney Airport, feeling an enormous amount of relief that we had finally arrived. With heavy legs and ankles that were four times their usual size, with Ian referring to them as Elephant legs, new fears of thrombosis started circulating my mind. As Ian searched for our bike bags I sat on my back, legs extended in the air, hoping my ankles would return to ankle shape soon.
Stage 2 of race preparation began with an hour’s drive to my parent’s place, before borrowing their car and heading to Thredbo, 7hrs away. A road trip for the Potters is not a road trip without at least three wrong turns, who said you need directions and a road map? All I can say thank god for TORQ gels with guarana, that kept Ian on the left hand side of the road for most of the journey at least, except when he swerved to miss a kangaroo.
Ian and I arrived in Thredbo, shadows of our former selves, as we hadn’t slept or eaten properly for 48hrs. Once we had checked into our accommodation, it was time to build my beloved Soda. However, I soon said enough is enough when Ian suddenly walked into a foot rest and collapsed on the ground. He just lay there. I was so fatigued that if Ian had really needed resuscitating then he would have been in trouble. I simply turned around when I heard Ian’s pained giggle and collapsed into bed myself.
The next day I had my first play on the Soda since the last race back in September. I knew the course well from last season, but there were a couple of new sections to check out. As I pedalled gently towards the start area I noticed my heart rate was about 50 beats too high, and I could feel the change in altitude affecting my breathing. Then the yawns started and I kept drifting off into space, until I found myself flying over the handle bars. My foot had unclipped, but without realising it I kept on pedalling and down I landed head over heels in the grass. Luckily this fall woke me up and I completed the rest of the loop unscathed. Ian sent me back to bed, but my brain was in overdrive as I couldn’t wait to start the race the following morning.
Saturday morning was race day, and instead of waking up at a decent hour I was alert and ready to roll at 4am. Jet lag is most frustrating as I felt really tired, but I couldn’t sleep. I just lay there trying to convince my brain that it really is still sleep time.
I started warming up at 8:30am and tried to find some life in my legs, but they weren’t having it. The brain wasn’t feeling too alert either and every short sprint took too long to recover from. The race started at 9:30am and the temperature was warming up nicely. I was gridded 24 out of around 27 elite ladies. It was going to be a difficult start as there was only a short straight before the first piece of single track.
The gun sounded and the girls took off, all but me. I went backwards and found myself one of the last riders heading into the single track. Then a pile up of ten girls in front followed, and an even greater distance between the back riders and the leading group ensured. I chased hard, and started to make up a few places, but found myself stuck behind riders again as the next single track climb was quite technical, and there were virtually no passing points. Every pedal stroke was an effort, a massive effort, and to make matters worse my breakfast was trying to say hello, and stitch meant I had to slow down so I could actually breathe. I have a long list of inner and outer pains that were felt from every corner of my body. To tell you the truth I think my body was just going into complete shock as it has been a few months since my last hard session on the bike. My legs didn’t want to be pushed, but my brain was screaming at them to get a move on. I was about 19th half way round the first lap and I could only just make out a few girls in the distance who were storming further ahead. I wasn’t panicking, but I was feeling sick and wanted the tummy pain to disappear. I couldn’t drink anything on that first lap, but I wasn’t going to quit, we hadn’t come half way around the world to only ride one lap.
By the half way point I had started to make up places, but I was feeling slower and slower. The pain in my stomach had subsided, but everything about the bike and I felt slothful. I know too well what my race bike usually feels like, and it just wasn’t there on the day. Even on the tarmac climb I could hear the tyres sticking to the ground and I could feel my legs flopping about like jelly. However I was enjoying riding the technical single track, and there was a super piece of trail along the river that had a few little rocky drop offs and fast corners. I almost scared myself a couple of times as the rear tyre lost traction on the loose ground, but being as tired as I was my reactions didn’t do anything, which meant I didn’t stiffen up, and the bike and I stayed upright and together in one piece.
As I crossed the line, happy and relieved that I made it through all four laps, Ian informed me that I finished in 7th place. I was pleasantly surprised that I had made up more places than expected. Ian was pleased for me too, even though he said I was riding like an elephant....so I stamped on his foot. Then he checked the bike over. I felt quite satisfied with my effort today. Until I heard a hissing noise beside me. I thought it was a snake. A second later I was wishing it had been a snake. Instead of that adoring look from Ian that always greets me at the end of any race, I saw Ian shaking his head in disbelief. He asked me if I felt slow today? I thought he was teasing, until he showed me a rip in my rear tyre. I hadn’t noticed. I had less than 15psi in the tyre......aghhhhhhhhhh.
Sorry I had to have a moment. I was so tired that I wasn’t really thinking about how the bike was feeling at the time. Well I won’t know now whether I could have made up some more time or not, but I had the most amazing work out. That was my first seriously hard effort in two months and from that one effort the legs have started to feel a little bit stronger again. I’m feeling very excited about my 2008 race season, and can’t wait for the next race, when that will be I don’t know, but will keep you well informed.
A huge well done to all my Aussie competitors. Would you believe we women outnumbered all the male categories on the weekend, which is pretty special if I do say so myself. Well done to Dellys Starr for taking the top spot.
As in 2007, I once again have the fantastic support of the Cotic Bontrager Race Team, which includes a wonderful group of co-sponsors as well who have made it possible for me to race again in 2008. A very special thankyou to TORQ Australia (Gen and Dean) for your race support out here in Oz, and also to a wonderful bunch of Aussies who have made Ian and I feel most welcome at our first race here in Australia. Special thanks to both families for your airport taxi service, plus my beloved Ian who goes above and beyond his role as husband, mechanic, skills coach, pit b’tch, taxi driver and motivational speaker…..as Ian would say "Pain is an emotion and emotion is to be enjoyed"
Thursday, April 12, 2007
2007 Oceania Championships, Thredbo Australia
A report from Kate:
The final race of the Potter’s Cotic Tour de Oz was the Oceania championships. This annual race is the equivalent in UCI points to the European Championships and attracts riders from all the countries down under, namely Australia and New Zealand. Originally Ian and I were due back in the UK two weeks earlier to acclimatize to the rain and cold that we have had the pleasure of avoiding this winter. However with much grovelling from Ian who wanted to continue to top up his tan I decided that two more weeks of sunny weather and ‘Home & Away’ beaches wouldn’t be such a bad thing, so off we headed to Thredbo for the 2007 Oceania Championships.
I knew the course well as I won the third round of the Australian cross country series here. I love this course as it not only has technical descents, but really tough climbs and fast single track that keeps you smiling. Now back to the weather. As I said earlier on Ian wanted to stay two weeks longer to top up his tan. Well it wasn’t to be as winter had arrived early in Thredbo and snow, rain and plenty of mud were forecast all weekend. On my last practice lap the clouds moved in, ready and waiting to attack all the colourful lycra clad creatures who dared venture out of bed at 6am for their last opportunity to practice the course. I was one of the very few, and half way round started wishing I had worn thermals. Fortunately the elite men and women weren’t racing until Sunday, so we had 24 hours to pray for a sunny day.
Ian and I decided to wait until the last moment to choose which tyres would be more appropriate for the conditions. Ian was leaving the decision to me, as he knows I hate making decisions. I wasn’t convinced that mud tyres would be the best tyre choice, in fact I thought they could be suicidal on all the rocky sections. The minutes were ticking by and finally I flipped a coin and mud tyres it was (gulp).
The rain had finally stopped in time for our race, but the winter chill had well and truly set in. I honestly have never been so cold before a race before. As I warmed up on the road I lost feeling in all my fingers and my lips had turned blue. Apparently we had it easy though as the down hillers were enduring minus eight degrees on their start line.
As the whistle sounded it was a fast, but sluggish start, as a few metres after the start line we had to ride up a muddy bank that cruelly made you feel like you were riding with your brakes on. I had caught a dose of the racing nerves and I found myself holding back and riding as stiff as an ironing board. As we hit a long concrete path I slipped on the wooden edge and lost touch of the leading girls in front. I also apologise now to the rest of the pack who were forced to dodge me as I scrambled back on my bike. I must have been back in 10th place and couldn’t see the leading girls. I thought I might be able to make up some time on the road climb, but my legs weren’t having it today. I knew I had to stay focused and rely on my trusty Soda to get me round. Slowly, but surely I started to relax and on the third lap I was having the time of my life on the descents, but just lacked any speed on the climbs. It was quite strange as training has been going well, but I felt like I was going half the speed today. By the fourth lap I was in fifth position and could see a New Zealand girl ahead. Ian informed me that my third and fourth lap times were quicker than a few of the girls in front, but I had to dig deep as I had lost too much time at the start. I was giving it everything, but could feel myself tiring and starting to really slow. I was determined to hang on to fifth position. As I hit the last short climb that took me over the bridge to the finish line, I almost ran as the ground was so soft that I felt like I was going no where. When I hit the bridge for the last time I couldn’t believe the ground still felt really soft, as I was riding wooden boards. I looked down and there you have it, a very soft rear tyre, 15 psi to be exact when Ian checked it a little later on. Thinking back it may have leaked some air when I hit the wooden step at the start, but I was too nervous to have been thinking logically to have checked it during the race. Well at least it was an awesome training session, as my legs were well and truly hurting, heart pumping and lungs screaming by the end.
I was so relieved to have finished. I held on to fifth position and managed to be the second Aussie girl home. I was really excited for Tory Thomas who managed second place, but New Zealand’s Rosara Joseph showed her true class and took top honours by a huge 13 minute margin.
Well the adventures in Oz have been fair dinkum (I love that word), and we have really enjoyed riding it up in the Australia made sunshine and on the dustiest trails known to woman. However we have a lot to look forward to as we return for another summer in the UK and France. With only a week to recover from jet lag it will be interesting to see how the legs go for the first round of the British national point series at Thetford Forest.
Look forward to seeing you there.
I can’t thank all my family, friends and industry sponsors enough for all their support out here in Oz. A special thankyou to –
Cotic
A Quick Release Holidays
Bontrager
TORQ Fitness
Pace Suspension Forks
Bigfoot Bike Bags
Also thanks to the boys at Hope, Crank Bros, Sram, Cyclops Powertap and Endura.
During our stay in Oz we also had the help and support from –
Dean & Genevieve (www.torqaustralia.com)
Warren & Zoe (King of the Mountain)
Claire & Paul
The final race of the Potter’s Cotic Tour de Oz was the Oceania championships. This annual race is the equivalent in UCI points to the European Championships and attracts riders from all the countries down under, namely Australia and New Zealand. Originally Ian and I were due back in the UK two weeks earlier to acclimatize to the rain and cold that we have had the pleasure of avoiding this winter. However with much grovelling from Ian who wanted to continue to top up his tan I decided that two more weeks of sunny weather and ‘Home & Away’ beaches wouldn’t be such a bad thing, so off we headed to Thredbo for the 2007 Oceania Championships.
I knew the course well as I won the third round of the Australian cross country series here. I love this course as it not only has technical descents, but really tough climbs and fast single track that keeps you smiling. Now back to the weather. As I said earlier on Ian wanted to stay two weeks longer to top up his tan. Well it wasn’t to be as winter had arrived early in Thredbo and snow, rain and plenty of mud were forecast all weekend. On my last practice lap the clouds moved in, ready and waiting to attack all the colourful lycra clad creatures who dared venture out of bed at 6am for their last opportunity to practice the course. I was one of the very few, and half way round started wishing I had worn thermals. Fortunately the elite men and women weren’t racing until Sunday, so we had 24 hours to pray for a sunny day.
Ian and I decided to wait until the last moment to choose which tyres would be more appropriate for the conditions. Ian was leaving the decision to me, as he knows I hate making decisions. I wasn’t convinced that mud tyres would be the best tyre choice, in fact I thought they could be suicidal on all the rocky sections. The minutes were ticking by and finally I flipped a coin and mud tyres it was (gulp).
The rain had finally stopped in time for our race, but the winter chill had well and truly set in. I honestly have never been so cold before a race before. As I warmed up on the road I lost feeling in all my fingers and my lips had turned blue. Apparently we had it easy though as the down hillers were enduring minus eight degrees on their start line.
As the whistle sounded it was a fast, but sluggish start, as a few metres after the start line we had to ride up a muddy bank that cruelly made you feel like you were riding with your brakes on. I had caught a dose of the racing nerves and I found myself holding back and riding as stiff as an ironing board. As we hit a long concrete path I slipped on the wooden edge and lost touch of the leading girls in front. I also apologise now to the rest of the pack who were forced to dodge me as I scrambled back on my bike. I must have been back in 10th place and couldn’t see the leading girls. I thought I might be able to make up some time on the road climb, but my legs weren’t having it today. I knew I had to stay focused and rely on my trusty Soda to get me round. Slowly, but surely I started to relax and on the third lap I was having the time of my life on the descents, but just lacked any speed on the climbs. It was quite strange as training has been going well, but I felt like I was going half the speed today. By the fourth lap I was in fifth position and could see a New Zealand girl ahead. Ian informed me that my third and fourth lap times were quicker than a few of the girls in front, but I had to dig deep as I had lost too much time at the start. I was giving it everything, but could feel myself tiring and starting to really slow. I was determined to hang on to fifth position. As I hit the last short climb that took me over the bridge to the finish line, I almost ran as the ground was so soft that I felt like I was going no where. When I hit the bridge for the last time I couldn’t believe the ground still felt really soft, as I was riding wooden boards. I looked down and there you have it, a very soft rear tyre, 15 psi to be exact when Ian checked it a little later on. Thinking back it may have leaked some air when I hit the wooden step at the start, but I was too nervous to have been thinking logically to have checked it during the race. Well at least it was an awesome training session, as my legs were well and truly hurting, heart pumping and lungs screaming by the end.
I was so relieved to have finished. I held on to fifth position and managed to be the second Aussie girl home. I was really excited for Tory Thomas who managed second place, but New Zealand’s Rosara Joseph showed her true class and took top honours by a huge 13 minute margin.
Well the adventures in Oz have been fair dinkum (I love that word), and we have really enjoyed riding it up in the Australia made sunshine and on the dustiest trails known to woman. However we have a lot to look forward to as we return for another summer in the UK and France. With only a week to recover from jet lag it will be interesting to see how the legs go for the first round of the British national point series at Thetford Forest.
Look forward to seeing you there.
I can’t thank all my family, friends and industry sponsors enough for all their support out here in Oz. A special thankyou to –
Cotic
A Quick Release Holidays
Bontrager
TORQ Fitness
Pace Suspension Forks
Bigfoot Bike Bags
Also thanks to the boys at Hope, Crank Bros, Sram, Cyclops Powertap and Endura.
During our stay in Oz we also had the help and support from –
Dean & Genevieve (www.torqaustralia.com)
Warren & Zoe (King of the Mountain)
Claire & Paul
Friday, March 30, 2007
Australian National Point Series, Round 4, Mount Beauty Victoria - by Kate Potter
The final round of the Australian national cross country series was held at Mount Beauty, Victoria. Before I become all journalistic and report on the radical up and down action of the ladies elite cross country race, I just need to give this area a huge plug. If ever you go to Australia then check out the Aussie Alps. Mount Beauty is a real beauty and a must ride for mountain bikers of all shapes and sizes. For the skinny climbing wizards out there then you can spend all day climbing high and still never think you’re going to reach the top. Where the single track and variety of technical descents will leave other riders shaking for more, a few crying for their mummy, but many grinning from ear to ear as the descents feel never ending.
From Sydney the journey took 8 hours. After a 4am start and too many Aussie tunes crackling on the radio, Ian and I were well and truly ready to hit the trails when we arrived in Mount Beauty. It probably wasn’t the best idea to go for a ride, as the drive took so much out of me…even though I slept most of the way. How I have survived 24 hour solo efforts I don’t know, but to be fair you would sleep too if you’re husband started singing ‘Waltzing Matilda’. Boredom does strange things to the man.
The race course started on a wide draggy trail with a little grassy climb that really zapped your energy. It soon turned into a lovely flowing piece of single track, with a few roots and rocks to glide over, but nothing too technical. There were a couple of short steep sections that shocked the lungs into action, followed by more flowing single track, before the course widened out to a fire road trail of around 500 metres. The second half of the course is where your technical head was well and truly needed. The top section of single track was loose and off camber, before you rolled over some logs and made your way to a three foot drop off. There was a long section of single track that followed with a mixture of wide and tight switchbacks, with small jumps and drop offs to blast over. There were a couple of cheeky little climbs in between, before you hit the ‘Rock Garden’. The next 500m was extremely technical and there were longer B line sections for riders who decided not to brave the rocks.
The first section of the rock garden actually looked a lot harder than it was, if you had a bit of speed and your confident head on that is. First you had to ride across several SHARP rocks, before turning tightly on more SHARP rocks , before riding down more not so SHARP rocks, but sharp enough and steep enough to make you think twice about whether you really wanted to risk skin and bone for a few extra seconds. As you can imagine I looked at it for a little while - OK a long while! - before several slow attempts made me realise that unless I let go of my brakes I was going to lose some skin and look like a spanner. When I finally rode this section I knew speed was my friend. There were more rocky sections to follow, superb switch backs and a couple of bridges. I kept whispering ‘speed is your friend’ and my Soda responded swiftly. I felt invincible and could feel my endorphins pumping high. As race courses go this was fair dinkum!
I was mid sentence when I caught myself saying ‘I just want to ride the course one more time’. The first thing Ian taught me about mountain biking was that you never say you’re going to ride ONE MORE TIME. I whispered to myself ‘speed is your friend’ and decided to really attack the single track and go for gold on the drops offs and jumps. Perhaps my confidence was a little too high, as I sprinted at full speed, hoping to match Ian in the air, only to completely miss time the jump, forget to pull on the bars, nose dive (literally) and land ever so gracefully on my head. If only this was an exaggeration. I didn’t feel myself land, in fact I thought I was riding through space, as the stars drifted by. Then the pain set in and my head felt twice as large, if only it were a few more brain cells. Three Ian’s were staring down on me (scary thought!) and a strange tingling sensation from my shorts. From one pain to the next, I quickly moved into action as I had landed on a huge ant’s nest. I decided that for now speed would not be my friend and I just wanted to collapse into bed.
The next day I was black and blue all over and every muscle in the body ached. Then to really cheer me up it rained….a lot! As the girls lined up the rain stopped a little but the damage had been done and we all knew it was going to be a tough race. As we sprinted off I found myself behind Tory Thomas who was leading the series. I waited patiently to make my move on the fire road climb, but as I tried to find that extra zip , my legs had other ideas, and decided they were quite happy at the pace they were going. By the end of the first lap I was in third, but there were girls right on my tail. By the end of the second lap my legs felt happy again and I was making time up on the girls in front and I was really enjoying the single track. Every now and then I caught a glimpse of the girls in front, but they were too strong on the descent for me to make anymore time up. I crossed the line in third feeling a little bit disappointed as my legs felt too fresh for their own good. The fast twitch fibres just weren’t in action today, but it was a great course and one I hope to return to in the future. In fact an area I recommend any mountain biker to check out if they head to Oz in the future.
Tory Thomas won convincingly in front of her home crowd, and became the overall national series winner. Unexpectedly I managed to take second in the Australian series, after only racing three out of the four events. My pal Zoe King took third.
We were due to fly back to the UK shortly after this race, but have been advised by the Australian national coach to stay for the Oceania Championships. It was a hard decision as we have really missed the rain, sleet and cold this winter.....honest! Looking forward to a hard race and also two weeks of interval torture as I attempt to wake my legs up from their slumber.
As always I can’t thank all my family, friends and industry sponsors enough for all their support out here in Oz. A special thankyou to –
Cotic Bikes
A Quick Release Holidays
Bontrager Wheelworks and Components
TORQ Fitness
Pace Suspension Forks
Hope Brakes and Headsets
Bigfoot Bike Bags
Plus I can’t forget pit partner Ian Potter who has braved spider, snake and koala bear to help me race out here in the Aussie jungle.
Also thanks to the boys at Crank Bros, Cyclops Powertap and Endura.
From Sydney the journey took 8 hours. After a 4am start and too many Aussie tunes crackling on the radio, Ian and I were well and truly ready to hit the trails when we arrived in Mount Beauty. It probably wasn’t the best idea to go for a ride, as the drive took so much out of me…even though I slept most of the way. How I have survived 24 hour solo efforts I don’t know, but to be fair you would sleep too if you’re husband started singing ‘Waltzing Matilda’. Boredom does strange things to the man.
The race course started on a wide draggy trail with a little grassy climb that really zapped your energy. It soon turned into a lovely flowing piece of single track, with a few roots and rocks to glide over, but nothing too technical. There were a couple of short steep sections that shocked the lungs into action, followed by more flowing single track, before the course widened out to a fire road trail of around 500 metres. The second half of the course is where your technical head was well and truly needed. The top section of single track was loose and off camber, before you rolled over some logs and made your way to a three foot drop off. There was a long section of single track that followed with a mixture of wide and tight switchbacks, with small jumps and drop offs to blast over. There were a couple of cheeky little climbs in between, before you hit the ‘Rock Garden’. The next 500m was extremely technical and there were longer B line sections for riders who decided not to brave the rocks.
The first section of the rock garden actually looked a lot harder than it was, if you had a bit of speed and your confident head on that is. First you had to ride across several SHARP rocks, before turning tightly on more SHARP rocks , before riding down more not so SHARP rocks, but sharp enough and steep enough to make you think twice about whether you really wanted to risk skin and bone for a few extra seconds. As you can imagine I looked at it for a little while - OK a long while! - before several slow attempts made me realise that unless I let go of my brakes I was going to lose some skin and look like a spanner. When I finally rode this section I knew speed was my friend. There were more rocky sections to follow, superb switch backs and a couple of bridges. I kept whispering ‘speed is your friend’ and my Soda responded swiftly. I felt invincible and could feel my endorphins pumping high. As race courses go this was fair dinkum!
I was mid sentence when I caught myself saying ‘I just want to ride the course one more time’. The first thing Ian taught me about mountain biking was that you never say you’re going to ride ONE MORE TIME. I whispered to myself ‘speed is your friend’ and decided to really attack the single track and go for gold on the drops offs and jumps. Perhaps my confidence was a little too high, as I sprinted at full speed, hoping to match Ian in the air, only to completely miss time the jump, forget to pull on the bars, nose dive (literally) and land ever so gracefully on my head. If only this was an exaggeration. I didn’t feel myself land, in fact I thought I was riding through space, as the stars drifted by. Then the pain set in and my head felt twice as large, if only it were a few more brain cells. Three Ian’s were staring down on me (scary thought!) and a strange tingling sensation from my shorts. From one pain to the next, I quickly moved into action as I had landed on a huge ant’s nest. I decided that for now speed would not be my friend and I just wanted to collapse into bed.
The next day I was black and blue all over and every muscle in the body ached. Then to really cheer me up it rained….a lot! As the girls lined up the rain stopped a little but the damage had been done and we all knew it was going to be a tough race. As we sprinted off I found myself behind Tory Thomas who was leading the series. I waited patiently to make my move on the fire road climb, but as I tried to find that extra zip , my legs had other ideas, and decided they were quite happy at the pace they were going. By the end of the first lap I was in third, but there were girls right on my tail. By the end of the second lap my legs felt happy again and I was making time up on the girls in front and I was really enjoying the single track. Every now and then I caught a glimpse of the girls in front, but they were too strong on the descent for me to make anymore time up. I crossed the line in third feeling a little bit disappointed as my legs felt too fresh for their own good. The fast twitch fibres just weren’t in action today, but it was a great course and one I hope to return to in the future. In fact an area I recommend any mountain biker to check out if they head to Oz in the future.
Tory Thomas won convincingly in front of her home crowd, and became the overall national series winner. Unexpectedly I managed to take second in the Australian series, after only racing three out of the four events. My pal Zoe King took third.
We were due to fly back to the UK shortly after this race, but have been advised by the Australian national coach to stay for the Oceania Championships. It was a hard decision as we have really missed the rain, sleet and cold this winter.....honest! Looking forward to a hard race and also two weeks of interval torture as I attempt to wake my legs up from their slumber.
As always I can’t thank all my family, friends and industry sponsors enough for all their support out here in Oz. A special thankyou to –
Cotic Bikes
A Quick Release Holidays
Bontrager Wheelworks and Components
TORQ Fitness
Pace Suspension Forks
Hope Brakes and Headsets
Bigfoot Bike Bags
Plus I can’t forget pit partner Ian Potter who has braved spider, snake and koala bear to help me race out here in the Aussie jungle.
Also thanks to the boys at Crank Bros, Cyclops Powertap and Endura.
Comment from Cy @ Cotic
"Our team rider Kate Potter's Australian adventure is now over, and she's on her way back to Europe. She's done two races since the last report : NPS4, and the Oceania Championships. She'll be writing full reports from both when she's back, but we justed wanted to say BIG UP YOURSELF Kate!
Despite only contesting 3 of the 4 NPS rounds, Kate finished second overall which is a fantastic result.
Last weekend's Oceania Championships (equivalent to our European Champs), was held at Threadbo where Kate won the NPS in December . Unfortunately Kate got off to a bad start by her own standards, so a repeat course victory slipped out of reach early on. However, she fought back to 5th place overall and second Australian home, despite a late race slow puncture. The result earnt her lots of UCI ranking points, and cemented her place on the Cycling Australia coach's hit list for possible World Champs selection. The upshot of this is that Kate will be contesting two or three World Cups in Australian colours (but still aboard her trusty Cotic!) during the year. We're very pleased with this result - and the Aussie season as a whole - and if 5th in a major championship is what she can do on a bad day then we think she's in a great position to have a really competitive season with the Cotic Bontrager Race Team in the UK this summer."
Despite only contesting 3 of the 4 NPS rounds, Kate finished second overall which is a fantastic result.
Last weekend's Oceania Championships (equivalent to our European Champs), was held at Threadbo where Kate won the NPS in December . Unfortunately Kate got off to a bad start by her own standards, so a repeat course victory slipped out of reach early on. However, she fought back to 5th place overall and second Australian home, despite a late race slow puncture. The result earnt her lots of UCI ranking points, and cemented her place on the Cycling Australia coach's hit list for possible World Champs selection. The upshot of this is that Kate will be contesting two or three World Cups in Australian colours (but still aboard her trusty Cotic!) during the year. We're very pleased with this result - and the Aussie season as a whole - and if 5th in a major championship is what she can do on a bad day then we think she's in a great position to have a really competitive season with the Cotic Bontrager Race Team in the UK this summer."
Catch Up On Australian Races
You can catch up on Kate's adventures down under using the following links:
They'll be more from Kate herself as soon as she's back in Europe.
- AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL 2006/07 MTB SERIES - cross country Rnd 2 - Kate's report on COTIC website
- AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL 2006/07 MTB SERIES - cross country Rnd 3 - Kate's report on COTIC website
- More about Rnd 3 on Cyclingnews.com
- AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL 2006/07 CHAMPIONSHIPS - Kate's report on Singletrackworld website
They'll be more from Kate herself as soon as she's back in Europe.
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