2013 So Far.

Ok so, I am very slack. So much has happened since my last post and it is about time I started to keep everyone up to date in what’s been happening in my life.

January the 12^th 2013 I lined up to start the Elite Road Nationals in Christchurch. With no expectations I went in feeling pretty good. Andy and I had worked hard together since surgery and I went into the race after some pretty solid training. The race was hard; Dyers Pass has not got any flatter nor easier. After some pretty hard laps a group of 8 of us got away including Linda V, Kate C, Jaimie N, Joe K, Reta T, Emma C and Georgia W. Reta rode really strong up the climbs but with riders like Linda it was almost impossible to gain enough time on the climb and stay away on the flat, especially with the new flat lap added into the race. After many break-away attempts it became clear it was going to be a sprint finish. Usually this would daunt me, with the likes of Joe, Kate and Linda I knew it was going to be a hard sprint, but I still felt confident as I have been doing a lot of sprinting with Andy and I wanted it so much that I knew I had a pretty good chance. Fast forward to the last 100 metres and I found a gear that I didn’t know I had ,it was a head wind so I left the sprint as late as I could, I almost left it a little too late as it was pretty damn close at the end. But I got it! The biggest and best race of my life so far, and the best part was that both my parents were there to watch it all unfold.

                                                   Abit too close for compfort!!

                                       I wasnt last to open the champagne this year!! yuuus

There are so many people to thank for supporting me over the past few months and who have believed and stuck with me through everything that has happened. There are too many to mention but here are a few that I really do not know how to thank enough;

- My coach Andy Reid, for being the best coach I could ever ask for!

- Richard Bates, my mentor, my mechanic, my go-to person whenever I have any cycling issues.

- Optum P/B KBS for sticking with me and being so incredibly supportive (and being the best team… ever!). In particular my director Rachel Heal. 

- Koops Cycles for being there from day one!

- Craigs Investment Partners for your amazing support.

- Tauranga Cycling Club, you guys are all awesome!

- Matt for always being there and putting up with my biking obsessions.

- And last but definitely not least, my Mum and Dad, you are the reason I am where I am today. Thank you!

Now for the next chapter, I have recently arrived in Oxnard, California for the Optum P/B Kelly Benefit Strategies training camp. It’s cold, 10 degrees, but the weather has been pretty beautiful with blue sky almost every day. This year we have 11 in the team with 4 new riders; Brianna Walle, Lauren Hall, Grace Alexander and Amber Gafney. We also have a new mechanic Mike Gavagan who is a lovely guy and really good at what he does. He even made us afternoon tea when we got back from a bike ride the other day! How cool is that!?

It’s going to be a really good year, Rachel has once again picked a team who already get along so well together, and with her incredible knowledge I am sure we will have another really successful season. I cannot wait!

The most important part of the year is giving thanks to the people who allow this team to run, and allow me to live my dream. The sponsers! The majority of the sponsers are the same this year as last with the exception of a few. Thanks to the following people for your incredible support!  

Acura  http://www.acura.com

Arundel http://www.arundelbike.com/index.html

Bicycling Magazine http://www.bicycling.com/

Challenge http://www.challengetech.it/products/en

Chamois Butt'r http://www.pacelineproducts.com/

Champion System http://champ-sys.com/

Cliff Bar http://www.clifbar.com/

Compex http://www.compex.info

Hed http://www.hedcycling.com/true_speed.asp

K-Edge http://www.acecosportgroup.com

Kelly Benefit Strategies http://www.kellybenefitstrategies.com/

Large Format Graphics http://www.largeformatgraphics.biz/

Lazer http://www.lazersport.com/

Lemond Trainers http://www.lemondfitness.com/

Look http://www.lookcycle.com/

Mavic http://www.mavic.com/en

Motorex http://www.motorexusa.com/musa/

MPC 

Optum www.optum.com

Orbea http://www.orbea.com/us-en/

Park Tool http://www.parktool.com/

Schick http://www.schick.com/

Selle Italia http://www.selleitalia.com/

SRAM http://www.sram.com/

Street Factory Media http://www.streetfactorymedia.com

Thule Http://www.thule.com

World Bicycle Relief http://www.worldbicyclerelief.org/

SpiderTech http://www.spidertech.com

 (Photos below courtesy of Sam Wiebe).

                                       Our awesome wet bags that Rachel made for us!

                      Bike, bikes, and more bikes. The team trailer equipped with training and racing bikes. 

Bring on 2013! Its going to be a good one =)

Thanks for reading!

Courteney

New Year, New legs, New beginning!

So its 2013 all ready! I cannot believe how fast 2012 went, and how incredible it was. But I have so much more to come for 2013, and I cannot wait!

It is close to 3 months since my surgery and everything is getting back to normal, the regular training routine, and now my first race since America and since surgery. Rather than coming back slowly, I thought I would jump straight into it and do one of my biggest races of the season; Elite Nationals. I think I’m nuts… I probably am. But the starting list was the best I have seen in a long time with the likes of Linda Villumsen, Rushlee Buchanan and Jo Kiesanowski. To be able to race with NZ’s best and see where I am at after my recovery there is no better race then Elites. So I am entered, and leave for Christchurch next Thursday with the race being on the 12^th of January. I may do great, I may also do terribly.. but I will never know unless I try. So I am excited/nervous to see what happens.

I also have some very exciting news. I have been invited back to my dream team; Optum P/B Kelly Benefit Strategies for 2013 (http://www.optumprocycling.com/). The fact that they have stuck with me and given me another chance after my very on and off year is overwhelming and I am not sure how to thank Rachel and the team enough. With some help from Craigs Investment Partners I leave at the start of February for training camp in LA. It’s going to be another awesome year, only this time I can race with two legs, no excuses, just a whole lot of pain!! It’s going to be epic.  

I hope everyone had a fantastic Christmas and New Year, ate lots, had some time off and relaxed. Now to start a new year.. it’s going to be a good one! 

Happy New Year!

Courteney

Back on Track

Today is exactly 6 weeks after surgery, and I am feeling FANTASTIC!

It has been a very long month, I have felt lazy, bored, grumpy and have driven my family crazy. But that has (almost) come to an end; me and my bike have FINALLY been reunited.

The past month I have been working with Mark Hollands, he has been incredible and has given me little exercises to build my strength back up and get back out on the road. Every day I have felt stronger and more excited. Now 6 weeks on I feel like I am back to normal, the scars are healing and the leg is feeling good. It has been a slow process, and as irritating as it has been to be forced to sit down and recover I have understood the importance of letting the body heal. The surgery couldn’t have come at a better time, I was urged to have a month off even if surgery wasn’t on the cards and I know if I was able to ride, that would not have happened. So this forced rest was perfect! The amount of recovery time for this was short too, compared to something like breaking a bone. So positives all round!

I have been riding every second day for the past 2 weeks; it started off with 15 minutes on the rollers and is now up to 90 minutes on the road. I am feeling great, and cannot wait to start racing Dad again! (He has been doing a lot of secret training during my time off, so I have a bit of catching up to do).

Ever since the surgery I have been getting emails from people all over the world with this same issue, asking for advice and reassurance.  The surgeons say it is an extremely rare case, but around the cycling circle it seems very common. 

Will stay in touch =)

Courteney

Well over-due update !

I have been home from America for almost 2 weeks now after spending the past 7 months with some awesome people and have had a ball. Racing the top races throughout America with the top team, Optum Pro Cycling presented by Kelly Benefit Strategies. The amount I have learnt and experienced, the friends I have made and the people I have met has been incredible.

I am now home and getting fixed. The past year I have been having major issues with my left leg. It started off with the occasional leg pain and power loss when doing some efforts, and then it seemed to get worse to the point of having to pull out of races because I had absolutely no power coming from my left leg. Pulling out of races is not something I enjoy doing, especially when you have team mates to look after. After seeing a handful of chiropractors, physios and neurologists I finally got tested for iliac endofribosis. I was told about this at the start of the year, but typical me disagreed and tried to find any other possible cause. By the end of the season I was at the point where I needed to know what it was, and fast, because I couldn’t handle not being able to ride to my potential. So I changed my flights and came home via Christchurch to get a Doppler, ultrasound and MRI from Prof Justin Roake, a well-know surgeon who has fixed this issue with a couple other cyclists from NZ. The results came out that my ABPI had dropped 0.6 on my left leg with no significant abnormality on the right side. This basically means when I do hard efforts my left external iliac artery narrows and I do not get enough blood flow to the leg, which causes the pain and power loss.. pretty annoying when my job is to ride my bike as fast as I can!

Anyway, fast forward 11 days and I am counting down from 30 in St Georges hospital in Chrsitchurch, next minute… asleep! I had decided to get a vein patch repair of the left external iliac artery. Which is where they take the vein from my ankle on my left leg and put it in the artery on my hip.. easy right!? It was a big call to make. I basically had two choices, one was to not get the surgery, carry on living life but I wouldn’t be able to race my bike.. YEA RIGHT. Next option was to get the surgery, live with the risks but be able to race my bike and reach my goals. So I took that one.

So here I am, lying in the hospital the day after the surgery, feeling back to life and rearing to go. The surgery was a success (phew) and was over in a couple of hours. It is all a bit of a blur thanks to the much needed drugs. I had a couple of goes of getting up this morning but only made the sitting up bit before quickly lying back down. But as the day has gone on I’ve got my colour back and mum has been taking me for walks around the ward. I am now only on panadol and can get up pretty much by myself. Tomorrow will be even better!

Just received some goodies from a good friend and team-mate Emma Grant (from England).. made my day!

It is now rest and recover time, which is perfect timing as it is now my off-season so I should be having a month off anyhow. After 4-5 weeks I can get back on my bike and start getting ready for next season. I have never been this motivated to get going again. This whole thing has been a pain in the arse, but at the end of the day it only makes me stronger.

Thanks so much for everyones support. Cath, Josh, Mike and Hayden, thanks for re-assuring me about the whole thing and teaching me everything I need to know about what lies ahead, Andy for your incredible patience throughout the year, Haley for the accommodation and running around after me and my team Optum P/B KBS for being so supportive. Last but not least my family for understanding my reasons for going ahead and supporting me the whole way. Thanks again and will keep you updated on the recovery process!

Courteney

Nature Valley Grand Prix

Nature Valley Grand Prix is a 6 stage race in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is also where many of our sponsers are based including Optum, HED and Lazer. Throughout the week we all got to meet many of the people behind the team and try out some awesome new Magneto Lazer glasses! Optum and HED threw some pretty sweet party’s too.

Stage 1 was a 12km, no aero equipment, time trial. It was hard! Everyone totally killed it with 4 Optum riders in the top 10 and Carmen taking the top of the podium to beat one of the world’s fastest time trialists Amber Neban! That put Carmen in the yellow jersey. The strangest thing was that there was also a Queen of the mountains in the time trial (which I found out afterwards). They timed from the bottom of one of the hills in the to the top and Jade got the fastest time!! That put Jade in the mountains jersey. Great start to the race!

                                       Warming up before the time trial.

Stage 2 was the St Paul downtime criterium. With 100 odd riders and a course that is fast with lots of corners, I learnt that it is CRUCIAL to start at or close to the front. So when you start near the back and cannot get your foot in, your race is almost over before it even starts. For the remainder of the race I tried to work my way to the front, and failed miserably. I also had one leg that decided not to turn on so overall the race was a total disaster for me. However further up in the pack my team mates were drilling it. In the end Leah finished 2^nd and Carmen 3^rd thanks to a lead out from Janel and Jade. Another great day!

Stage 3 was the Cannon Falls road race. Finally! A Road Race! The crazy part is that it is a 120km race starting at 5 pm, who does that? We woke up to rain, and then it just kept raining and raining and raining. We headed out to the race, an hours drive. By the time we got there it had started thundering and lightening and was absolutely persisting down. After a lot of managers meetings, standing around and plans on changing the race it got cancelled, for the second year in a row. We then got back in the car and drove home. Another day of intense carbo-loading and defending the yellow jersey complete.

This basically sums up stage 3 of NVGP (photo thanks to Jasmin Hurikino)

Stage 4 was the uptown Minneapolis criterium. Today, I lined up at the front, half an hour before the start. I debated even bringing the trainer onto the start line and just warming up there but thought it wasn’t worth the looks. The race started off fast and I actually got to see the front of the race for the first few laps. Next minute there is a crash and I am braking while sliding sideways. Thankfully I stayed on my bike but because half the field came down they neutralised the race and we re-started. The team controlled most of the race sitting on the front, and then with a few to go there was crash after crash after crash. I think I counted 3 all on one lap, but apparently there were more at the back. Unfortunately our sprinter Leah Kirchmann came down getting pretty scratched up and hurting her shoulder. That changed the strategy for the finish as we no longer had the sprinter, but Carmen once again changed her tt legs to her sprinters and finished 3^rd! This increased her lead over Neban thanks to the time bonuses she not only got at the finish but also got throughout the race.

Finally, stage 5 was a road race that we actually were able to start. However I was a little ambivalent as we stood at the start line in the POURING rain. After getting through the first few circuits and getting out on the course the rain had eased and attacks were going. Anna, Annie and I sat on the front controlling the speed and chasing down attacks. For the next 110ish kms we sat on the front keeping the tempo and leaving the occasional rider up the road for awhile to use their energy just to be picked up again before the finish. Coming into the finishing circuits the three of us who had led pretty much the entire race hit the wall and waved good bye to our team mates as they sprinted towards the finish. Carmen sprinted her way to 5^th, keeping the yellow jersey for another day and Jade kept the Queen of the mountains jersey. Success!

                                Beautiful weather conditions to start the day. 

The final day was the inaugural Stillwater criterium which included a very steep hill. Today was a big day, we needed to keep the yellow jersey and queen of the mountains. We went in with a really great plan to control the race (thanks to the master of all plans, Rachel). The team delivered amazingly and Carmen won the jersey, Jade secured the QOM jersey and the team won overall. Not only did the women’s Optum team kick arse but the men’s team also won the yellow jersey and team classification. So basically Optum Pro Cycling Presented by Kelly Benefit Strategies owned Nature Valley Grand Prix. It must have been the support from all of our sponsers that came out to watch each and every race.

A massive thanks goes to Rachel, Adrian, Jeremy, Karen and Daniel for running around after all of us and making life super easy. Also, I would like to mention Leah just found out that she had actually broken her collarbone in the Minneapolis criterium. She then went on to riding the entire 130km race the next day and finishing in the front bunch.. all with a broken collarbone!! Amazing!

Air force Cycle Classic 2012

Next up was Air force Classic which involved 2 criteriums just outside of Washington DC.

Doing the touristy thing, infront of the white house and then infront of some other iconic American building (not a clue what the second one was). 

Unfortunately they did not go so well for me personally, I road to the first race and was totally stuffed. Started, and then blew very early on. I was much too cooked going into this race with extra hard training the previous week and was not completely recovered from Exergy. Rachel decided Nature Valley, the race that was 2 days later, is much more important to be going well at so instead I sat on the sidelines and watched my team kick some butt instead. Hard to do, but still cool to watch. 

The first race the team rode awesomely. Emma got in a break of three including one Tibco and pure energy rider. She totally killed it and with about 5 laps to go attacked and got off the front by herself. The rest of the Optum girls did a great job of slowing the bunch down and chasing attacks. Not only did Emma win the race she also got very close to lapping the main field.. What a tank! Leah brought the bunch home in 3^rd place, so a solid day for the team!

                                         Emma on her way to the win at Air Force classic. 

                                                       Emma and Leah on the podium. 

The next day was hot, so hot! Around about 40 degrees. The race was fast and Emma got in a break for quite a lot of the race. The girls rode really well and Leah finished 3^rd again in the bunch sprint (with a solid lead out from Lex). With two third places she finished the omnium in 1^st overall. She is now the Air force undefeated champ 2 years running.

The team with some of the race organizers and people who do the hard work to make the race run.  

Next up is the Nature Valley Grand Prix in Minneapolis. This is a big race as it is Optum head quarters and there is a big starting list. It’s going to be a good race, can just feel it. 

Exergy Tour 2012

Exergy tour was by far the most amazing race I have ever participated in, ever.

From the moment I stepped off the plane I was looked after like a celebrity, the organisers bent over backwards to support us and make sure we have an amazing time. The night before the prologue was an official presentation with all the teams and organisers, an amazing buffet and even an Exergy ice sculpture! There were flags for almost every country represented, including Italy, Taiwan, Canada, Australia, Germany, Belgium, US, Ireland, Columbia, Belgium…  The start list was BIG.

The prologue was first up, starting in the evening. We rode to the start on our road bikes to find our amazing Orbea tt bikes sitting there waiting our arrival all fancied up with our HED disks and tri-spokes and Lazer tt helmets. Couldn’t get much better than that! Adrian and John were rushing around making sure the bikes were all tuned, Karen and Jeremy were keeping us well fuelled and Rachel was getting the bikes checked, sorting our start times, and making sure we were all good.. So all I had to do was hop on my kinetic trainer, warm up, then bike fast. Easy, right!? It was only 3.1 kms, and I was 3^rd off. The course was completely covered in people, it was awesome! 4 of the Optum riders finished in the top 20 (out of over 100 riders) which was pretty dam impressive. I had a bit of a disaster with my leg deciding to seize half way through, but I am getting used to that. Unfortunately America’s top cyclist and Olympic champion time-trialist, Kristen Armstrong came down on one of the 180 degree turns. In doing this she broke her collar-bone and was out for the rest of the tour. She is strong though, and will no doubt be back and rearing to go for the Olympics.

                                                                    Stage 1

The next day was a 123km road race in Nampa, ID. It was wet, really wet, which just makes the racing better. Most people turn off in the rain, but Optum definitely does not, it just makes it more exciting! Nothing much happened at the start of the race, there were a few attacks but other than that people were just cruising along trying to stay on their bikes. When we got to the first climb I felt great, although a little curious as to why my bike all of sudden had a lot of suspension. I looked down to notice my tyre was slowly deflating. Not what I wanted to find. After the climb I stopped to get a new wheel. Unfortunately this took a lot longer then I was hoping, by the time I got back on the bunch was no longer in sight. I put my head down and about 10kms later I had rejoined the back of the main bunch, pretty much blown. At this time there was a small group up the road which included Leah so I could recover for a little, then it was full gas to the finish line. It ended with a big bunch sprint where unfortunately the world champ Georgia Bronzini came down with a few others. Leah came super close finishing in 4^th place with Theresa Cliff-Ryan from Exergy in first. Optum riders did a great job coming into the finish, but unfortunately it was not our day.

                                                                      Stage 2

Stage 2 was a 16.6km out and back time trial, again in the pouring rain. The start was super dodgy with tight, narrow corners and a very slippery road surface. A handful of riders came off before the race had even started, in the starting gates. Luckily all Optum riders stayed on top of their bikes! It was a hard head down, butt up race and we all did our best. Specialised Lululemon crowded the podium finishing 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd.

Awesome photo taken by veloimages of Denise and Joelle crossing paths in the time trial. 

                                                                        Stage 3

Stage 3, finally what we do best.. road racing! The race started off fast and my job involved a lot of chasing. From go I followed every attack I could. After what felt like 100km’s I was at blowing point, looked down.. 15kms!! Only 15kms into the race. I will not repeat what went through my head at this point but it was not pretty. Thankfully Janel and a few others went off the front in a small brake so the attacking slowed down a little and I could have a breather. We then hit a 15km climb, all of a sudden I felt good (I think the BlueRidge parkway riding came in handy for this one). I rode in the bunch as people dropped one after the other. The bunch split in half and I was about to join the front halfit until I sore a team mate that should be in it miss the gap. I dropped back and helped pull her back on, then blew.. then felt good again and got back on (this happened a lot this race). We started a descent, then went up again, followed some more attacks, made a couple of attacks then we started the long descent to the finish. It started raining, which made some pretty exciting conditions. I played it safe but stayed in-tact with the front bunch. With 5kms to go Optum blasted off the front one after another, I tried at 5kms, got caught (dam). Then with 1km to go Optum took control, Jade led out Janel who led out Carmen who did a bloody AWESOME lead out to Leah. Leah went head to head with Ina Teutenburg, one of the world’s best sprinters, and got 2^nd by what looked like an inch. So close! But so well deserved for Leah and the girls. To finish 2^nd in this classy field was pretty dam impressive. To show how hard the race was there were 4 DNF’s and 21 people who missed the time cut. I finished somewhere in the front bunch, glad to see the end!

                        On one of the long climbs with snow surrounding us. Crazy views too. 

                                                                  So so so Close. 

                                                                          Stage 4

The 4^th and final stage was on a super hard, rolling course. Optum still had all 8 riders starting (which may I add, is pretty cool considering most teams had halfed). The start was awesome, we had army planes fly over top and the crowds were HUGE! Unfortunately the race did not last very long, however, for Janel and myself. 100 metres after go there were people on the ground, Janel swerved left to miss it I swerved right but it was too late, we were both down. I was fine, scratched up and bike pretty screwed up (my poor HED wheel had snapped in half). I jumped onto a spare bike that Adrian had got to me and set off again. But it was too late, the bunch was gone, long gone. The race was over. Janel was not in a good place, she had landed on her hip and had to go to hospital. Luckily she is on the mend now and is able to race almost at 100% again.

Back to the race, it blew to pieces on the first climb. Carmen missed the break so the optum girls got to the front to bring it back, then Joelle did a totally awesome 100% pull to bring it back together. She was totally blown afterwards but had got the team back with the leaders so did an amazing job. The rest of the race looked brutal. 14 riders were off the front by a rather large margin including Carmen. At the end Evelyn and Claudia (Lululemon and GreenEdge) rode off the front and Carmen was close behind getting 2^nd in the bunch kick (4^th overall).

That last night the Exergy organisers put on a Rodeo for all of the riders. First time watching anything like this, was definitely an experience! We also got given some super cool Exergy tour belt buckles to end the night, so country!

One of the many gifts we got from race organisers. A delicious chocolate shoe! How cool is that!!

All up it was a super awesome tour. So much fun, we were so well looked after. The race organisers were incredible and Rachel, Adrian, Jeremy, Karen and John made life so easy for all of us riders. Couldn’t ask for a better team!