South Carolina Training Camp (March 2-10)

This year, training in South Carolina marked the end of my Track racing Season and the start of a new season. It was nice to get away for a "holiday" with a great group of people and train our butts off in the mountains.

Our group consisted of: myself, Celeste, Diana, Emma, Michelle, Jana, Steve and Susan.

We were training near Greenville, South Carolina, which is a 16 hour drive from Toronto and we usually do the drive in 2 days. This year, my friend Diana and I decided to do the drive straight through, thus "saving" a day. We left my place at 9am and arrived at the doorsteps of our cabin at half past midnight. I was pretty tired by the time I got there and took a couple days to recover. I was still recovering a bit from the travel and jetlag from Manchester, but some rest, riding and fresh air in the mountains was all I needed.

We did all the classic rides that I'm so familiar with after going to SC for the last 9 years - the Blue Ridge Parkway, Saluda, Caesar's Head, Pumpkintown, the Continental Divide Sassafraz, which is a 7.3 km steep, leg busting ascent - as hard of a climb as you'll find anywhere! Fun times! Every year, we do the Caesar's Head climb as a time trial, and this year I did a personal best, both in terms of time and wattage!

What a life! Eat, sleep, ride...

Getting ready for my first road ride of the year.

Diana and in beautiful Pumpkintown.


Steve is exhausted after the Blue Ridge ride.

Our chefs for the evening: Diana and Michelle

Barbecue night. On the menu? Steaks and Veggie Kebabs. Yum!
We made a friend in South Carolina - Officer Joey.

How cute is this guy?!

Photos courtesy Susan Brown

Manchester World Cup #4 (Feb 23-25/07)

INDIVIDUAL PURSUIT:

First up for me was the Women's Individual Pursuit qualifier. All riders race for a time, with the top 4 riders going through to the final. It is a 3 km race and I like to break it down into 3 parts. My first kilometre is about pacing, my second is about pushing through and my 3rd is about "all-out!".

I started out with a controlled pace in the first km, then sagged a bit in the middle km. The Chinese rider who started across from me caught me with 5 laps of the 12 lap race, and something clicked in my head. I forgot about thinking and just went as hard as I could. I used her as my rabbit and kept her within my sight. I finished the race in a Personal Best time of 3:55!! The last kilometre was done on pure guts because my legs were screaming with lactic acid and I was completely anaerobic. This was where all the hours of training kicked in. I rolled off the track and could not even lift my legs over the bike. I have never in all of my racing career felt so ill after a race - just the way you're supposed to feel if you've done a Pursuit properly! Am I sick or what?!

My result in the Pursuit was 18th, but my last km of the race was the 12th fastest of all riders, showing that I have potential to go ALOT faster. I can't wait to do it again. Success!

Phil Liggett was announcing the events at the track this weekend. It was pretty surreal to be in the starting blocks at a World Cup and to hear: "Julia Bradley of Team R.A.C.E. out of Canada is up next" Also, Eurosport was doing live television coverage of the World Cup all weekend.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/ posted this picture of me right after my ride:http://www.cyclingnews.com/track.php?id=/photos/2006/worldcup0607/manchester07/manchester072/IMG_0627



SCRATCH RACE:

Unlike the slow pace of the Scratch race at the last World Cup in Los Angeles, this was good, fast racing. There was no letting up and there were lots of attacks and counter attacks. A few riders got away in a break so there were only about 8 spots left in the pack to qualify for the final (top 12 in each heat qualify for the final).

I was sitting in the top 5 for the whole race and felt good. With 4 laps to go, I took a flyer and went as hard as I could. I got a slight gap on the group but they were reluctant to let me get away and I got caught with a lap and a half left in the race. After the attack, I didn't have anything left in my legs to contend the sprinters in the drag race to the finish and finished outside the top 12.


I was really happy with how I raced in both the Pursuit and the Scratch race, mixing it up with the best. I'm feeling more and more at ease and am learning each time I get out there. I'm especially pleased with my racing in L.A. and Manchester considering I had a serious injury in the fall and had to come back from a badly fractured shoulder. Can't wait for the new season to start - only a month away now!!

I'd like to thank my sponsors at Planet Energy and Team R.A.C.E. I'd also like to thank the following: my coach, Steve Karpik, Todd Hayes for loaning me his wheel and Joanna Wiersma for loaning me her helmet! A special thanks to Sherali for coming all the way over to England for the weekend to support me. It was amazing to have him there!