On Thursday 10th September, Felicity and Chloe, along with the support of coach Kimbo and Delphine began the epic drive up to Glen Innes for the 5th round of the Women’s National Road Series.
After driving all day Thursday, the girls decided to stop in the small town of Forbes, about 2hrs north of Dubbo for the night. The next morning after an awesome ride in the sun and no wind, the journey continued. By 6pm Friday night the girls arrived in Glen Innes, with plenty of time for a home cooked spag bol and to register. Not to mention the de-bugging of the bikes after 1500km on top of the roof!
The heat set in early on race day, by the start of the race at 9.30am, no arm warmers, undershirts or vests were needed. The beginning of the race was a little less than ideal. Whilst on the start line Flick and Chloe were told that the new UCI wheel regulations would be enforced and unless they changed their Bouwmeester wheels to a set of approved wheels, they would be disqualified. As the support vehicle had already left to go out on the course, the girls were forced to get their training wheels out of the spares van, and race on those… definitely not ideal on a course like Glen Innes.
The race was hard and the profile (which made it look more downhill than up) definitely did not do it justice. The race broke up after the first KOM about 15km into the 95km race. The initial attack over the climb left 3 of the strongest riders dangling out the front for about 8km, the chase group of about 15 which included Chloe, worked hard to bring them back. Flick didn’t quite get onto the back of the chase group and ended up riding hard for the rest of the race with another couple of girls, unfortunately not being able to bridge the gap to get back on.
After pulling back the 3 riders out front, the race settled for a few k’s until the next attack came on a 500m stretch of gravel road. Chloe worked hard to bridge and got across but the rest of the bunch had followed and everything was back together again. Just as Flick had predicted, the race was determined over the 2nd KOM. A lead bunch of 6 broke away, with Chloe missing the break by about 10m and was left chasing in no man’s land for 3km. After not gaining any ground, Chloe sat up and waited for a chase group of 6 other riders and then worked hard with these girls into the finish, not able to bring back the lead bunch. Chloe ended up winning the bunch kick to finish 7th and Flick came in a few mins back to finish 20th. A pretty disappointing day considering the distance travelled and the fact that we drove for 20hours to race on training wheels, but at the end of the day if nothing else it was a good hard training session!
Shortly after the race the girls loaded up and drove straight back to Geelong.. a very very very long 20hrs non-stop in the car… please note: there are no 24hr Maccas between Dubbo and Shepparton!!
Thanks a bundle to the continued support of our sponsors and to Kim and Delphine for the race and driving assistance.
Celtic Country Classic de Femme- Glen Innes to Inverell NRS
1st Lauren Kitchen
2nd Sue Forsyth
3rd Loren Rooney
7th Chloe McConville
20th Felicity Wilson
After driving all day Thursday, the girls decided to stop in the small town of Forbes, about 2hrs north of Dubbo for the night. The next morning after an awesome ride in the sun and no wind, the journey continued. By 6pm Friday night the girls arrived in Glen Innes, with plenty of time for a home cooked spag bol and to register. Not to mention the de-bugging of the bikes after 1500km on top of the roof!
The heat set in early on race day, by the start of the race at 9.30am, no arm warmers, undershirts or vests were needed. The beginning of the race was a little less than ideal. Whilst on the start line Flick and Chloe were told that the new UCI wheel regulations would be enforced and unless they changed their Bouwmeester wheels to a set of approved wheels, they would be disqualified. As the support vehicle had already left to go out on the course, the girls were forced to get their training wheels out of the spares van, and race on those… definitely not ideal on a course like Glen Innes.
The race was hard and the profile (which made it look more downhill than up) definitely did not do it justice. The race broke up after the first KOM about 15km into the 95km race. The initial attack over the climb left 3 of the strongest riders dangling out the front for about 8km, the chase group of about 15 which included Chloe, worked hard to bring them back. Flick didn’t quite get onto the back of the chase group and ended up riding hard for the rest of the race with another couple of girls, unfortunately not being able to bridge the gap to get back on.
After pulling back the 3 riders out front, the race settled for a few k’s until the next attack came on a 500m stretch of gravel road. Chloe worked hard to bridge and got across but the rest of the bunch had followed and everything was back together again. Just as Flick had predicted, the race was determined over the 2nd KOM. A lead bunch of 6 broke away, with Chloe missing the break by about 10m and was left chasing in no man’s land for 3km. After not gaining any ground, Chloe sat up and waited for a chase group of 6 other riders and then worked hard with these girls into the finish, not able to bring back the lead bunch. Chloe ended up winning the bunch kick to finish 7th and Flick came in a few mins back to finish 20th. A pretty disappointing day considering the distance travelled and the fact that we drove for 20hours to race on training wheels, but at the end of the day if nothing else it was a good hard training session!
Shortly after the race the girls loaded up and drove straight back to Geelong.. a very very very long 20hrs non-stop in the car… please note: there are no 24hr Maccas between Dubbo and Shepparton!!
Thanks a bundle to the continued support of our sponsors and to Kim and Delphine for the race and driving assistance.
Celtic Country Classic de Femme- Glen Innes to Inverell NRS
1st Lauren Kitchen
2nd Sue Forsyth
3rd Loren Rooney
7th Chloe McConville
20th Felicity Wilson
