The highs and lows of cycling
20 May - exploring the Flanders region
Today, we did a Flanders ride, including the most famous cobbled sectors and climbs around the Flanders region. This is very special as although I did most of the sectors last year, it's always very nice to do them with Australian teammates as we don't have them in Australia.
23-28 May - dreaming for the future
Thurgen ladies tour, this was a very fun week on the bike. I learned a lot about myself and where my fitness was at this week. The team rode amazingly all week even though most of the world tour teams were there. SD Worx dominated the tour and each rider in their team took a stage win, which is very cool to see as it is my dream team for the future.
2 June - a great day on the bike
Today, we had a Kermesse in Kontich Belgium. My legs felt very very good today, and the team felt very in control of the race. I did a few attacks myself then switched to the lead out, which I executed perfectly for Keely to take the win. Was very happy with today and was nice to race at a lower level to actually have a huge impact in the race! After the race had finished I felt a tap on my shoulder and it was my team manager from last year and his dad our swanny so gave them a big hug, was such a nice surprise to see them after a great day on the bike.
4 June - a very hard day out
Dwaars Door de Westhoek was a very hard race. I positioned a lot better than in previous races, it was very windy, and I struggled to hold the bike up in points. Completed 9/14 laps with the front group and there were only 60 people left out of 125 then got caught behind a few wrong wheels going backward and couldn't re-bridge. Bit disappointed because they pulled us straight away and the main bunch slowed a lot, only 40 people finished a very hard day out. This is a race I completed last year but with a different course. It was more challenging today and the winds were very high which played a big difference in this year's race.
6 June - a bowl of spaghetti
Today, we did a course recon of a race we will be doing on Saturday. This race has 13 gravel sectors so riding the course before the race is very important. I really loved this course and felt like I knew the course so well, which is sometimes hard when these course maps look like a bowl of spaghetti. Unfortunately, my crash 2 days later ruled me out of this race, disappointment was hard when I knew I could have done well in this race.
8 June - the highs and lows
The highs and lows of cycling were experienced today. We had a 60km crit around the streets of Eeklo, Belgium. I had an awesome race and got my first podium for the trip coming 2nd, the winner was another Australian who rides for the Bike Exchange women's world tour team which is the highest pro-level team. Was absolutely stoked with this race as it was a breakaway finish of 3 riders. Unfortunately, 15 minutes after the race I was t-boned by a car which put me in hospital with a knee injury. Was extremely disappointed as the block of racing we had coming up was very similar to what I did last year so I have a lot of experience in Belgium which I now wasn't able to showcase.
16 June - a painful week
Today, I was cleared by the sports surgeon to ride again but was told no racing for 2-3 weeks. Despite this, I was very happy with this clearance, as all week I had been focusing on my recovery while waiting for the results from the surgeon of my MRI and was getting a little bit impatient. Was an extremely painful week for me as I was barely able to walk, but I still went to every race and cheered my Bridgelane teams, and was there for support for the remainder of the races.
25 June - altitude training, here I come!
Today, I flew to Girona where I will be based for roughly a month before heading to Andorra in mid-July for an altitude block of training before my next big race at the end of August. Stay tuned to hear more about my next race and my time training at altitude!
