Jayco Geelong Bay Criterium Series

The men's and women's teams met for dinner on Tuesday evening in a private function room at the Stoke House, St Kilda with our sponsors Michael Drapac and John Beasley. We were presented with our jerseys and talked about our plans for the five days of racing.

Day - 1
Rye, Victoria	Wed. 8th January 2003	Conditions: Gusty winds, overcast, 20°C

The circuit for day 1 of the Bay series criteriums was held on a 600m loop in a car park in Rye. The course was essentially a hotdog circuit with two relatively tight corners at either end and a strong cross headwind along the start / finish line straight.

Day 1 is always fast and today was no exception. From the gun, the pace was on. It was strung out in a single line for much of the race, making it very difficult to move up. The pace took its toll on a number of riders with only 20 of us finishing out of a field of 63 starters.

My legs felt so heavy and unresponsive today so I was reasonably happy to finish 9th, while Katie finished 6th.

Results:

Today was a really tough hilly circuit. It was 1km around with a short sharp hill, after the first corner. This was followed by a longer uphill drag along the back straight, before a steep descent and then another gradual incline back to the start / finish line. There really wasn't any relief on the legs today.

Right from the gun, the pace was fast and after 3 laps, riders started to get shelled. Each lap, more and more riders dropped off as the attacks continued. Series leader, Gilmore also retired due to an illness that has been plaguing her.

Katie Mactier attacked at the 20min mark and quickly established a 15sec break. I spent the next 15mins covering each attack, and trying to stay on the front to slow down the insistent NSW chase. However, with 10 NSW girls chasing hard and only me to cover the attacks, Katie was eventually brought back to the field just before the 30min sprint.

With 10mins to go, Oenone Wood (ACT) attacked and surprisingly NSW let her go. I tried to get across to her, but was quickly shut down by Wood's ACT team mates. I still didn't have the legs to repeatedly attack and was resolved to sit in the bunch and survive. I was badly positioned in 20th wheel as we went under the finishing banner to take the bell. I sprinted up the back straight and moved up to 10th wheel and held on to finish in the top 10. Katie finished again in 6th place.

Results:

Today was a tough 800m hotdog circuit on Eastern Beach, held at dusk. The hill overlooking the course was packed with interested spectators. Each end of the circuit had a tight U turn, which unfortunately resulted in crashes in both the men's and women's fields.

Again, the pace today was furious as riders had the added incentive of being crowned the Australian Criterium Champion. Some riders were dropped in the first lap, and riders continued to be lapped throughout the race. The attrition rate was incredible with only 16 girls finishing the tough circuit.

I had great legs today and felt really strong. I had instructions from John Beasley to attack often but there was always an ACT or NSW girl shutting down every move I made and never let me stay away for more than a lap. Katie Mactier also rode strongly and tried a number of moves, but we were always outnumbered.

I attacked with 2 laps to go, and held a slim lead for the lap before the entire field stormed past on the bell lap. I tried to recover and sprinted home in 11th place with absolutely nothing left in the legs. Katie just missed the podium with a 4th place finish.

Results:

Today was a new tough hilly circuit held in Geelong's Botanical Gardens. The circuit was a 1km loop with a sharp downhill left corner after the start / finish line, over a speed hump, into a head wind along the back straight (but with great elevated views of Corio Bay), down a steep hill and left through a 120* degree corner before encountering a short hill up to the start / finish line. It was technical circuit and would suit a strong aggressive criterium rider.

Katie and I were interviewed by Channel 10 in the afternoon as part of a feature story on John Beasley.

I felt good today and was keen to get into a break. My wish was granted in just the second lap when Lorian Graham (QLD) leapt off the front. Belinda Goss (ACT) and myself jumped across to her and the bunch simply watched us establish a 15sec gap. Goss had team instructions to sit on, so Graham and I shared time trial duties and eventually stretched out our lead to 45sec. We repeatedly yelled at Goss to work, but she was enjoying the free ride.

I didn't contest the 15min sprint but went for the 30min sprint, and won it. With 6 laps to go, I attacked on the climb and dropped both Graham and Goss. Goss let Graham chase for a lap and then with fresh legs bridged across to my wheel, without Graham.

Not wanting Graham to rejoin us, I continued to drive the pace for the remaining 5 laps. Goss took a short turn on bell lap but she definitely had fresher legs than 1 and easily took the victory in our sprint to the line.

Katie and Dellys worked hard for me to close down a number of attacks from the ACT-Cooma and NSW teams. In the main peloton, Katie recovered well from her efforts to finish 9th.

Results:

Today was the last day of racing and I was hoping that everyone was feeling as fatigued as I was. I could feel the effect of my work yesterday and needed a strong espresso to get myself going today.

The circuit was a hotdog circuit with tight U turns at either end. There were two sets of tram tracks to cross, but these were easily negotiated, as there wasn't a drop of rain in sight to make them slippery.

And as usual, as soon as the gun went, the pace was on. I tried a few attacks and did a lap or so on my own but my legs were smashed. I hadn't fully recovered from yesterday's effort so each effort was soon shut down.

Margaret Hemsley attacked with 5 laps to go and with her ACT-Cooma team on the front, she quickly established a 15sec gap. She held on to take out stage 5 while Katie sprinted well to finish 3rd and I came in 9th. Kate Bates took out the overall series win whilst Olivia Gollan won the green sprint jersey.

Results: