On the eve

Hi everyone,

I have neglected keeping everyone updated for some time on my blog, so I apologise for that.  At the moment I am sitting in my room in the village with Anna across from me talking to her husband, Mark, on the phone.  Things are pretty normal despite the fact that we are at an Olympic Games!  I am very excited about being here and the first few days were spent playing spot the sportstar in the food hall, but now its just like: 'Oh hey theres my mate Michael Phelps, no biggie just having lunch in the food hall with him!'  Ha-ha.  Below is a picture of the cycling team eating dinner in the food hall.

Its a great atmosphere in the Australian apartments and on our floor we are sharing with the women's Waterpolo including Nicola Zagame who is a fellow Sutherland Shire girl!  It was great to see her and she is having a great meet so far scoring two goals in one of their opening matches the other day.  All the Aussie Track girls are sharing the one apartment and here we all are below at the track before our first roll on the very beautiful Olympic Velodrome. (L-R Melissa Hoskins, Me, Amy Cure, Anna Meares, Josie Tomic and Nettie Edmondson.)

Today Anna and I have our last track session for this 4year cycle!  It is a momentous achievement.  I remember 4years ago standing at Adelaide airport waving goodbye to the girls and guys who made the team for Beijing and now here I am about to pull on my very yellow skin suit and roll out and ride for Australia!  How humbling.  Below is a photo of Anna and I being officially indicted in the 2012 Australian Olympic Team!  This will be going up in the living room!

And so before I sign off on the eve of the big dance (as my coach Gary West likes to say) thank you to everyone for you're well wishes on the social media websites and sorry I have not been replying, that is on my list of things to do when I finish racing!  Thank-you to everyone who has been on this path with me to this moment including my personal sponsors and of course my family and friends.  I couldn't do what I do without you all.  And when I roll out I roll out for you all.  Below is a photo of my nails...proudly painted with the Australian Flag!  Look good, feel good, ride fast! :)

Lastly I hope to hear you all cheering for Anna and I, even if you are on the opposite of the world!  Lets go do this!

Karls :) 

Kish Active

On my very first Senior Worlds Team I was very fortunate to be roomed with World Champion Katherine Bates.  Kate, being from NSW, was already a friend of mine but I was still quite intimidated be her as I was the youngest female and the only female sprinter in 2008!  In this particular year being an Olympic year I was privy to be able to experience the rights that Olympic potentials get, things like the 6week camp overseas prior to the World Championships.  I was roomed with Kate for that entire 6weeks.

During the 6weeks I learnt so much not only from Kate but from all the team who included the likes of Bradley McGee and Ryan Bayley.  One of the things that stuck with me from Kate however was some advice she gave to me on my road rides out on the cold roads of Bordeaux in France.  She said I should either not wear a crop top or wear a very good undershirt, the reason you don't do this is because the sweat gets trapped in the fabrics of the crop top and you get cold on you're chest which can lead to sickness and I felt I was on the verge and actually spent a few days confined to my own room because I did get sick.  I was a little skeptical of this advice but after only one ride I came in feeling much better by not wearing a crop top and just a very basic undershirt that I had.  

Over the past few years I have been searching for a good undershirt and most have failed in doing the job required for those long cold rides and the very hot rides.  Kate again has come to my rescue!  I am proud to be an ambassador for Kate's new range of undershirts which are made from Bamboo - Kish Active!  It sounds strange but its a very sustainable and effective fabric that does the job for all climates.  They are specially made for women and fit our specific needs and contours.

Not sure why this has come up with the lines through it but this photo was taken by the very talented Sarah Kent of me in my brand new Kish Active undershirts!  They also come in a dark grey.

I am a big advocate of these undershirts and think all females should get onto these!  I even use mine in the gym when I am lifting and mostly now on the ergo where I sweat up a storm but don't actually feel like it!  

Take a look at the website and buy some today!

http://www.kish.com.au/ 

London Bound

Hi all,

Well finally it is actually official!  I am off to the Olympic Games.  I was very humbled to be pulled aside by Gary West, my coach who sat me down to tell me the news officially.  I have never been so excited about something since I was told that I would be representing Australia for the first time at the Junior World Championships 6years ago.  That is quite significant because between then and now I have been to many wonderful events including the 2010 Commonwealth Games and whilst those events were special there is something even more so about being told you will be an Olympian.

Talking to the press!  See last link below for video footage.

Gary told us all (sprint group including Anna Meares, Shane Perkins, Matthew Glaetzer and Scott Sunderland) that we are now in a select group of people who can acknowledge and claim that they are indeed an Olympian.  That is a pretty special achievement and I am super proud.

The sprint group off to London (L-R) Shane Perkins, Scott Sunderland, myself, Anna Meares and Matthew Glaetzer

On Friday the 25^th of June I got the official letter from the AOC and also did my first ever press conference with the aforementioned riders plus the stand alone Endurance rider left in Australia Alex Edmondson.  The rest of the Endurance team are already overseas and they include Amy Cure, Josephine Tomic, Annette Edmondson, Rohan Dennis, Glen O’Shea, Jack Bobridge and Michael Hepburn.  Congratulations to all my team mates and I look forward to sharing this experience with you all.

With the release of the team came a flourish of articles and news items some of which can be found in the links below.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/london-olympics/eight-years-work-will-be-over-in-96-seconds-for-kaarle-mcculloch/story-fn9dheyx-1226366092273

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/sport/london-olympics/our-super-seven-on-track-for-olympics/story-fn9dhvy9-1226367516982

http://london2012.olympics.com.au/athlete/kaarle-mcculloch

http://london2012.olympics.com.au/news/aussie-cyclists-to-re-write-olympic-history 

Jim Beer

On Thursday this week the funeral for Jim Beer will be held in Sydney.  Unfortunately due to my training commitments I will be unable to attend the funeral so I wanted to contribute something to a man who actually made the deciding comment to me that made me chose to become a cyclist.

Most people are familiar with how I began riding 8years ago, but few people, if any now the following...

The first day I was 'forced' to try the track was the most influential day in my life to date.  I remember the day clearly as Ken, my step father drove me to the track to give the bike a go.  I was pretty adamant that I wouldn't like the bike and that I was going to be successful as a runner and go to the Olympics as a runner (although my dream was dissipating quickly after a few tough seasons on the running track where I could make the nationals but couldn't even place in a reasonable enough place to get recognition from academies).  

So here I was on Monday afternoon at Sydney's Hurstville Oval, in late January or Early February 2005.  When I arrived at the track I was quite despondent and pretty uninterested, I was given a bright red steel frame, which Jim Beer would lend me indefinitely.  As I rolled off the fence after clipping in rather awkwardly all I can remember for the first 5laps or so was telling myself 'stay away from everyone and KEEP PEDALLING!'

All I was supposed to do was roll around but somehow I was convinced to actually participate in the training session, which ended up being a start session.  This involved doing 2out of the seat starts and 2in the seat starts for 200m followed by a one lap time trial of 400m.

After the first start or two I was actually starting to warm to it and as it turns out the start has ended up being one of strongest attributes to date, although I tried very hard not to listen to my instinct, I was going to be an Olympian in running not in some stupid sport where you ride around in lycra!  I hated the idea of wearing lycra knicks (bike shorts with padding in them) without underwear that for the first 3weeks at least I wore underwear, much to my embarrassment now I must say as this is very much a no-no in the cycling world!

So I lined up to do my 400m time trial which every one did, including all the boys and girls and Jim would record everyones time every week and if you did a PB you would get a small gift and a piece of paper with the time and date of the time you recorded.  I did my time trial and I have no real memories of the ride other than it seemed like such a bloody long way!  I rolled up to the fence afterwards and Jim walked over to me and said the following statement which was the single most influential factor in my decision to become a cyclist...

"If you had ridden that time over 100m more you could be an Olympic Champion like Anna Meares."

I sat on that fence in a kind of stupor.  Thoughts started rolling into my head like a whirlwind, and that was it...I was a fully fledged cyclist from the moment on, there were no ifs or buts or maybes or what ifs.  It was decided in that moment, thanks to Jim, in my thoughts that I would go to the Olympics as a track cyclist - full stop end of story.  Jim reignited a passion within me to represent Australia at the Olympics that I really had thought that maybe I would never achieve - I can't tell you or anyone else for that matter how much that one small comment meant to me.

And so now as I sit here tonight writing this and remembering that day with fond memories and looking back at what I achieved in such a short amount of time and what I hope and dream to achieve in the future I remember Jim Beer.  I remember the man who was with no fail at every Monday afternoons track session, who over the time of that first track season would have to give me 4 small gifts as I continued to improve my time over the 400m - and of which I still have.  I remember a man who gave so much of his time and energy and effort into making sure every kid who passed through the St George club had a bike or equipment or just felt welcome in general.  I remember a man who even when he had half of one leg amputated could still be found with his stopwatch in his hand and holding gruelling ergo sessions at his house in Gymea.  A man who was so passionate and caring and loving.

I send my love to Elaine and all of Jim's family and friends for his funeral on Thursday.  I wish that Jim could have seen me ride at my first Olympic Games, instead I dedicate my first Olympic experience to him and I will be working hard to do something special in his memory.

Women on Wheels

I was fortunate during the Nationals to get to spend a bit of time with 2004 Olympic Road Race Champion Sara Carrigan. I had only ever met Sara once before and I remember being in awe of such an amazing athlete and I was the same sitting down with her.

Sara was such a joy to talk to and I have had a lot of positive comments from our interview but I have to say I think the interviewer always makes the difference between a good and a great piece.

Sara made me feel really comfortable and I could definitely connect with her and not only that but was really inspired by the project and delighted to be a part of something that encourages and promotes women in cycling.

Women are really under represented in Cycling, from a media point of view. Mens cycling always takes the limelight and whilst I could have an ongoing argument with men about how they are better than women etc etc, it doesn't mean that women don't work as hard as men, and to me thats what it comes down to. Sure women are not as fast or as strong as men but the best female in the world, to me, is as amazing as the best male in the world.

I have seen many women in my time who work much harder than some males and I have such respect and admiration for those females. Women must remember that when it comes to being successful in a male dominated sport that we must come together and stand for what we believe in and what we do. I think womens cycling on the track in particular is becoming really great to watch and I feel like people like Sara and Kate Bates (who commented for SBS during the nationals) are great role models for females in our sport and I commend them for their work and what they are trying to achieve.

Onwards and upwards for females! :)

Please follow this link to watch my interview with Sara Carrigan courtesy of Cycling Central on SBS:

http://www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/video/2193327471/women-and-wheels-kaarle-mcculloch

Australian Championships Day Four

Day four like usual is always the Keirin. I like that the Keirin is the last event because it requires not as much mental energy as the sprint, its still a mental battle of course and lining up against Anna as the World Champion amongst the other Australians was going to be a tight battle.

To make it through to the final without having to go through the repecharge I had to finish in the top two and thats all I focussed on! One less ride was on mind! Keirins are very cut throat on the World stage these days with 6heats and only one girl processing through to the send round so I know the pressure that there is to perform well in that first race. I won my heat fairly comfortably to go through to the final and I was surprised at how good my legs felt and knew I had a good shot in the evening to take a win.

The final was much anticipated BUT not before my brother teamed up with Tirian McManus in the Junior Men's Madison. HE WON! I am so proud of Jack and Tirian that words can't really describe it! They rode so well and had to have some serious guts in the last 20laps when they made a few mistakes with their changes. They won by one point over the other NSW team of Nathan Bradshaw and Caleb Ewan. Jack was so happy and as he came over and gave me a big hug he as usual said to me: 'That was the hardest race ever.' I was inspired by Jack and Tirian and really wanted to stand on that top podium with them at the end of the night.

I had a plan in the Keirin and I have to say I executed it with precision. I was really happy with the patience I displayed and the way in which I tackled quite an adverse situation. Anna had the bike and I was in 6th position, not ideal as I wanted Anna only 2 people ahead of me so I could try to out jump her first. As it turned out I found myself about 20m off her coming into bell lap and with her committing early I had a split second thought that I had stuffed it up because I was waiting for her to commit so I could run her down. But as I went down the back straight and realised how quickly I was gaining I had a glimmer of hope that I had this!! Anna won her World Title in the Keirin in 2011 by riding from the front and rightly so because she would have to be the hardest person EVER to come around and as I came up onto her hip and realised that I wasn't going anywhere my heart sunk but I fought on to lose by less than half a wheel. I was pretty devastated but as usual I walked away knowing that I did everything I could, I could not have ridden that race any better and was content knowing that I will be better for every race I ride against Anna.

So I got to stand on a slightly lower tier of the podium next to my brother that night and celebrate his first Australian Championship with him and our parents! It was a great way to end a fantastic Championships and I look forward to next years Australian Titles as always with vigour and anticipation. Perseverance they say is what separates the great from the greater.

Australian Championships Days Two and Three

The sprint as usual was spread over two days for this meet and Day two was the Sprint Qualification and 1/4 finals. In the QF I rode a solid time of 11.219, I really wasn't expecting to ride that fast so I was pleasantly surprised and I slipped into second place behind Anna who ride 11.176.

In the 1/4 finals I met Riki Belder from South Australia who beat Cass and I the previous night in the Team Sprint, so I was for sure not taking her lightly. Riki rode two quite sound tactical races but I was able to overcome her in two races to progress through to the semi finals against new up and comer Ziggy Callan from Victoria.

Ziggy has just transferred over from BMX and she rode an 11.6 in her first sprint QF so she definitely has a lot of talent and is one to watch in the future. I defeated Ziggy in two straight races to set myself up for a chance at grabbing the gold medal against Anna.

Anna always seems to bring the best out of me as I desperately want to beat her and she wants to remain unbeaten! Its always a fantastic match up and a rivalry that is really so great for me and my development. Anna beat me in two straight races and whilst I was happy with my races tactically I was a little disappointed that the races weren't a bit closer. Anna rode really well and she is in great shape leading into the pointy end of this season and she is definitely (if not already!) a force to be reckoned with.

So the sprint was over and one more day to go, the heat was starting to pass and a cool change was heading in for the last day - and welcomed with much appreciation!