Summer days
25 August 2022
Today, was all about team work! Kreiz Breizh UCI 1.1 in France, started in lovely warm conditions with a lot of rolling climbs. The final loop that we completed six times consisted of a steep 900m climb and lots of tricky corners, this broke the peloton up.
Loes finished in 11th place, which I'm proud of my efforts in contrubuting to. When she suffered bike mechanical issues, I went back into the convoy and assisted her back into the main bunch. This really took it out of me for the final six climbs, but I'm really happy that I helped her to achieve this result.
27 August 2022
GP Plouay UCI World Tour Race in France. Leading into this race, I knew it would be a tough climbers race but I was going to give it my best shot regardless!
All the World Tour Teams were present; with some of the best riders racing. The atmosphere and organisation of today was amazing and the French crowds, next level.
After being stuck behind multiple crashes and dropped riders, I was distanced from the main peloton. A small group then formed, and after riding together for roughly 10km they all turned around and rode back to the start. I decided I would continue as it was still early in the race and I hoped to pick up more dropped riders to form a group. In the end, I was with three other girls and we rode that last 40km together. I completed 145km of the 160km race. Unfortunately, I couldn't finish the last lap as the race was done and won by the Spanish National Champion. This race was a really good opportunity for me and a great learning experience!
30 August 2022
Today, my New Zealand teammate, Prue and I tested out our bike packing bags with a quick overnight trip from Belgium to Lille, France. This was a test run for a bike packing trip we have planned for the end of September.
It was a lot of fun riding with the rear 10L saddle bag and we packed sandwiches for lunch in our front bag. We then explored Lille by foot, did some shopping, and visited a street fair that night.
4 September 2022
GP Beerens UCI, this race was only 5km from where I am staying in Belgium, so this meant that I was able to do a recon of the course before the event, which was really beneficial.
It was a fast paced race around a really nice circuit, which even went through the park of Tomorrow Land! Coming into this race, we were leading the team classification of a SKM sries and unfortunately lost it by one point. I had to bring back a break away and then sprinted to 37th, which I was happy with after getting stuck behind a crash on the right side.
6 September 2022
Today, I flew from Belgium to Ireland to compete in the Ras Women's Cycling Event. The event was six stages over five days of racing!
The stages were rather short, between 70-100km but in very cold and wet conditions. The race attracted a lot of riders from the UK and Ireland. The IBCT team had an overall goal of a stage win and to be aggressive all week. Stage Four, I ended up in the breakaway of the day, however, we were caught with 20km to go. This was agreat experience for me and the team!
Now I am off on a bike packing trip to Milan, Italy; then looping back to Belgium. So stay posted to hear about this and my last race in Belgium on the 4th October. After this race, I will be heading home to start my preparations for next year and the Australian Titles!
