Sizzling Summer Series 2015, rounds 1 and 2

Our team racing debut for 2015 happened at round one of Logan Cycling Club's annual SSS.
Ladies (A grade) racing for Koiled-Petbarn-Seight during this early criterium season include:
Melanie Parker, Alex O'Dea, Faye Goodyear, Rachel Edwards (team captain) and myself.

25 women were there to complete in women's A in round one.  Pretty good numbers for a local Brisbane race. Local teams included Data #3, Campos and Koiled-Petbarn.  A few NRS and international riders were there to keep us honest too (Kat Garfoot and Macey Stewart from Orica GreenEdge, Hayley Jones from Bicycle Superstore, Nicole Moerig from Boss Racing, and Ellen Skerritt from Rochelle Gilmore's new Aussie High 5 development team).

The pace was high from the start, with lots of attacks (as is typical for the SSS series).  No breakaways stuck, and the bunch sprint saw Macey finish a comfortable first, with Hayley second, Nicole third, Faye (Koiled-Petbarn) fourth, and Rachel (Koiled-Petbarn) sixth.

First prime Macey (Orica), second prime Zoe Watters (Campos).

Round two was similar, with good numbers of ladies racing, and the pace was kept high for much of the race.

No-one was keen to see a breakaway go, so it came down to a bunch sprint again.

This time we were slightly more prepared than 2 weeks earlier,

and we gave Faye a good lead-out, so that she could demonstrate her developing sprint prowess.

Faye (Koiled) first, Macey (Orica) second, Nicole (Boss) third, Rachel fourth.

First prime Macey (Orica), second prime Jazzy Hurikino (Campos).

This means we head into the third and final round of the series this weekend with two riders in the top six.

Should make for an exciting final race.

Photos thanks again to Pete Dunlop, ESI photography and Logan Cycling Club!

Balmoral metropolitan criterium champs 2014

Another great example of the support behind women's cycling in Brisbane was at the 2014 "Metro's". Balmoral Cycling Club holds this event each year, with a criterium at Murrarie on Saturday and a road race on Sunday at Mt Alford.  Good numbers of women competed in all grades across the two days.

For us in women's A on Saturday, we had ladies from Campos-Avalon, Koiled-Tineli, Total Rush, Liv-Giant, Specialized Securitor, MB, Jayco AIS, and my own club KPCC.

It was an interesting race, with little place to hide for anyone.

Many riders initiated some aggressive moves off the front in an attempt to break up the field.

Nikki Orlic (Koiled) spent a lot of time instigating some breakaways, but was consistently chased down,

particularly by Corissa (designated workhorse for the day for Campos).

With only a few laps to go, Kat Garfoot (AIS) put everything on the line and jumped away from the bunch.

After a little too much hesitation, the chase was on, but Kat's power kept her away to get another notable solo win.  The bunch kick for second and third saw Louise Betts (Campos) get to the finish before Rach (Koiled) and then Jess (Total Rush).

Thanks to Pete Dunlop for the photos!  Podium photo c/o Rachel.

SE Qld Autumn racing

With the latest blood tests showing more iron deficiency "issues", my racing has again been sidelined, and I am back to spectating for a bit.  At least I can still ride my bike, so there is no real reason for me to complain!
Last weekend were the Dutton-North Lakes Criteriums, with a predominantly rain-free and crash-free day, with just the occasional 'incident'.

Yesterday was the second round of the "Foodworks" Qld Team Series - at the scenic town of Beaudesert.


Although the series is limited to Elite A and Masters A riders only, it is nice to see so many teams (16) participating enthusiastically this year,

and hopefully this is just the start of some awesome teams racing for years to come. 

The bonus this weekend was the perfectly blue sky yesterday,

with a cool morning becoming an awesomely warm sunny day.

After Beaudesert, the teams will head to Miles and the Bunya Mountains for Round 3,

Kingaroy for Round 4, Warwick for Round 5, Maryborough for Round 6 and finish in Brisbane with a criterium for Round 7.