Even though I had only been racing for one day the Australian Titles had actually stared a few days earlier with the Omnium events. The Omnium is kind of like the Heptathalon of cycling with 6events held over 2days. Its a pretty gruelling event and is a true test of the 'all rounded' cyclist. My brother who was competing in his first ever Australian titles got the call up to ride the Omnium on the morning it started! He was very excited and did very well riding a PB in all timed events as well as helping his team mate secure a win in one of the bunch races and consequently a medal! He also got to ride off in the Individual Pursuit riding very again. Being a first year and only his first season on the track he is showing some great talent and signs that maybe he might be able to don his first Australian Skinsuit next year as a second year Under 19! Well done Jack, I am so proud of you! :)
Day two for me was a tough one with sprint qualifying up first. With the weather being so warm I attempted to try a few different things which unfortunately didn't pay off for me on this day. I was quite tired from the previous nights worth of racing and ended up qualifying second to Anna Meares in a time of 11.430. I was quite disapointed in this as I was hoping to at least better my time that I rode in Melbourne, but as they say good days and bad days and this ride was a bad one for me. There were some fast times set by the up and coming girls which is very encouraging for women's sprint and I look forward to racing these girls more over the years to come.
In the evening session I was up for the 500m Time Trial. I was a little apprehensive going into this event not because I didn't think I could win but because I knew that I wouldn't be riding this event until post London after tonight. In the past it has been one of favourite and strongest events but as of the announcement of the Olympic events my focus on it has waned and it is purely training for the Team Sprint for me. I rode a pretty good time of 34.4 to take the win from Stephanie Morton and Holly Williams. This ride hurt me quite a bit - more than I was anticipating and I found myself gasping for air by the end! The heat was starting to take its toll on me and that night ended up drinking almost 4litres of water! So I had had a pretty reasonable start to the Championships with two golds from four events - only two more to go!
On my way to my 6th consecutive Australian Title in the 500m Time Trial. (Photo by John Veage.)
Left to right: Stephanie Morton, me and Holly Williams - two big names to watch for in the future!
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