World Championships - Canberra

It has been a pretty interesting few weeks since my last update, but some technical IT issues and a bit of race focus has prevented me from writing a blog. Now back in Europe, sitting back in Swiss chalet at Champery I have finally got around to picking up the laptop.

A couple of days after getting the call up for the Aussie team I was into camp at the AIS. Most of the XC squad was there for a 2 week altitude camp which involved living and sleeping in a simulated altitude of 3000m and being subjected to all kinds of scientific experiments as well as testing in the lab and on the race track. The house was pretty cramped with 5 bedrooms, 2 small bathrooms and a kitchen, but the lure of potentially increasing levels of haemoglobin was too good to pass up. I found it a little hard to sleep on the first night, because of the altitude I am told, but I think it had something to do with the oxygen saturation monitor hanging of one arm, an accelerometer on the other wrist and a heart rate monitor all recording my vital signs. The next morning was an early start for a blood test, haemoglobin mass test (or “bong test”), out to the track for some efforts, back to AIS for lunch and then into the recovery centre for a session which involved letting us loose on the spa, the 12 degree plunge pool and “the river”.

Some of the data established during the camp included:
- Lachy Norris won the competition highest haemoglobin levels
- I was the heaviest rider in the house tipping the scales at a massive 73kgs (although Paul Vandy, who arrived in the second week, blew me out of the water with 88kgs!). But when the results came back from the body composition scans, it turned out that I was also the leanest with less than 4 kgs of fat narrowly (95% fat free!) edging out Ben and Cal for the title.
- Hendo was climbing and descending the quickest on the race course
- Haas seemed to have an inability to wash his stubble down the sink after shaving
- Paul Vandy destroyed the progressive max test in the lab lasting for 46 minutes and topping out at 550W. The protocol is a stepped power output starting at 100W and going up by 50W every 5 minutes. He lasted longer than Cadel or Nathan O’Neil could ever manage and about 10minutes longer and 100W harder than the rest of the guys in the camp!

The camp was a really eye opening experience and such a pleasant change from the battling privateer racer lifestyle I have got used to. With a massive focus on a home worlds and a decent chuck of research funding (hence all the experiments) the level of support we received was crazy and it was the perfect way to physically and mentally prepare for the biggest race of the year. A big thanks to all the AIS staff that went over and above to make our stay there so beneficial.

For the week of worlds we moved into apartments at Kingston to join up with the DH, 4X and Trials riders that had flown in for around Australia and the world. The week went really fast despite not having too much to do. The taper is always a funny time because we don’t have to do much training volume so the energy levels are up making it hard to clock up the couch time we’re after.
From the moment we rolled out of Kingston on the ride to the track, the extent of the big day was evident. Motorists, pedestrians and cyclist alike were giving us the odd beep and wishing us good luck. That was just the beginning; warming up on the rollers at the track felt like all eyes were on us. After the rider call up and the now familiar sound of the helicopter buzzing over head we were ready to go, all the hard work was done and now for the fun bit.

The start of the race was every bit as hectic as I had expected. With people chopping everywhere I tried my best to stay clear of any trouble, but in doing so probably lost a few positions. Then about 500m into the race there was a sudden braking in the bunch and the guy right in front of me sent it over the handlebars. I managed to stop before colliding with him but someone bumped into the back of me. When I got going again the realisation of what just happened hit me…..disaster. As a result of the bingle, my rear derailleur was bent and my chain would not stay in any gear. I knew that stopping there would mean that I would be dead last on the first climb so I mushed the pedals up the fireroad to the bottom of cardiac climb but I was certainly near the tail of the field at that stage. The traffic jam allowed me some feeble attempts to bend the derailleur back while trying to run with my bike and not give up too many positions, but I was still unable to put any pressure on the pedals without the chain skipping. I ran the entire climb and dropped into the tech zone where I handed the bike over to Gary, our mechanic, to see if he had any more luck. I stood there trying to relax and I noticed that my friend Michael Broderick was down in the US pit with mechanical problems of his own. Before long the trail motorbike was there meaning that Mick and I were dead last, not exactly the start I was after. When I got going again it was apparent that the problem was not solved, I battled through another lap running the climb once again. I managed to overtake a few back markers but back at the tech zone I handed the bike back over to Gary to have another go. It is really tough to do any work under this sort of pressure because with the leaders doing 17min lap times there isn’t much scope to wait around before you are really on the chopping block to get pulled by the 80% rule. Gary did a great job to straighten it enough to get me a few gears but it seemed like all the guys I had passed had already zoomed by. Back on the bike for the 3rd lap the bike was running pretty roughly but I had accepted that it was as good as it was going to get and I had to make the best of it. When I hit the last pinch on Cardiac climb I made the huge mistake of accidentally shifting into the 34 (the big cog on the back). I really though I had another gear left, but instead I had shifted the bent derailleur into the wheel and jammed the chain between the cassette and the spokes. I had so much trouble trying to clear the chain as it was jammed in there so tight. In the end I had to take out the rear wheel and the penalty was some minutes. This was a really bad situation now, I had lost so much time that I was expecting the lead moto to catch me at any minute. I hadn’t even had a chance to really open it up in front of this massive home crowd and it was looking like my race could be over after 3 short laps. Through the feedzone at the end of lap three and Rosie confirmed my fears when she yelled to me: “move it, this could be your last lap!” In my head, each lap was my last now and a really tried to give it everything. The crowd was amazingly loud, which made it so easy to hurt. I managed to get through 5 laps before the little red flag came out. I was quite disappointed to have not had the race I wanted, but the experience was still awesome. The crowd was like none I have ever experienced. Thanks to everyone that helped to cheer me on, it was terrific.

So after a curry feed and a bit of a bender with the rest of the team, I was packing my bike again to head back the Europe. The Champery world cup is this Sunday, followed by the final round in Shladming, Austria the weekend after. It should be interesting; the course has some fun sections and I’m not really feeling any jetlag so hopefully I a snag a good result to make up for last week.