Gabi Code - Race Report - Tour of Friendship 2011

Tour of Friendship 2011 - Women’s Open Category Craig and I had decided to race the Tour of Friendship (ToF) last year but due to unrelenting work commitments (and my personal fear of being unprepared with not enough training) and political unrest in Thailand leading up to the race we decided to stay in Singapore. When the entry dates for ToF came around again this year I was determined to go….it took me another 6 months to persuade Craig! We found ourselves in the lobby of Nonthaburi ‘Palace’ on the outskirts of Bangkok at 8pm on the eve of the race along with over 200 other cyclists mostly from around Thailand, other parts of Asia and some from as far flung as Australia and the USA. We were still there at midnight – our trusty steeds had not arrived from the airport and Craig and I were alone – are we the only cyclists in Bangkok without bikes?! As all the other bikes were being loaded onto the trucks to be taken to Stage 1 the following day I found a guy who spoke a little English. After some elaborate discussions in Thai, phone calls, laughter and hand gestures I was informed that our bikes were ‘on their way’ but were on a truck which had a flat tyre and should arrive by 1-2am!! We decided to go to bed. Stage 1 : Pre-Race Warm-Up : Nonthaburi My personal mechanic Craig got up at 4.30am to put our bikes together. This reflects particularly badly on me as Craig, who was racing in the Men’s Open category (cat) with the rest of our team, Cannasia-Cannondale, was due to start his first stage at 8am whilst I, racing in the Women’s Open, was not due to start racing until the following day! Despite not racing, I got together with 4 of the other girls from Singapore and Malaysia to go for an ‘easy spin’ around Bangkok whilst the boys were completing their 7km time trial. I had raced against most of these girls before and they were all good contenders for winning this tour. We completed a lovely 45 minute ride along the express-way with Serene Lee from Pico-Labz grinding it out at 38km/hr for most of the way…would this be what was in store for the days to come?! Stage 2 : 140km (neutralized after 122km) : Pathumtani - Saraburi Race day has arrived. Up early and into the buses for transportation to the start line. After the 1 hour trip we arrived at the start line and it had started to rain a little – no big deal, it would ease up eventually. Right? How wrong could we be?! It poured with rain for the entire race – and when I say poured I mean absolutely bucketed down!! It was unbelievable and visibility was low!! Fifteen women started the stage with the 40-49 category and it was fast. Due to the weather and the speed there were lots of crashes and admittedly I didn’t feel safe but I was determined to hang on. The first 90km was primarily along the express-way which was riddled with puddles up to my bottom bracket, hidden potholes, big trucks and many crashes! I was relieved when we finally turned off towards the National Park and since the rain was easing a little I managed to look around the group and determined that we had been reduced to about 30 riders and I was still in the front bunch with only 4 other women. The next 20km weaved through some lovely jungle and was slightly uphill – riders started to get a little edgy and were jostling for position as we knew the final 20km was coming soon and it was going to be an uphill finish. What we thought was a wrong turn by a one of the motorbikes meant a u-turn for the group. We started to get nervous as one of the chasing groups – if there were any – might get ahead of us – I wasn’t really sure what was going on and when we got guided down a gravel road to a roundabout we saw other cyclists from other categories. I saw Craig and yelled ‘Where’s the finish line?’ which is when I found out that the stage had been neutralized. I was disappointed to say the least – I had hung on to the front group in the 40-49 category and we had averaged 38km/hr over 122km in the first stage of my first big stage race and it would not make any difference to the General Classification (GC) results! But given the conditions it was probably the right decision from the organizers, it was just a shame it hadn’t been neutralized before I had put in all that effort! However, I was very pleased with my results for the day and at least I knew I could hang on with the men and some of the other strong girls in the group. And subsequently, the five of us girls that finished in the front group were awarded some additional time to acknowledge our efforts and we were presented with our awards, even if the ranking from 1st to 5th was a little random! Stage 3 : 135km : Saraburi – Wang Num Kiew Stage 3 started from the Saraburi Resort and after watching all the other categories head off we were led out with the 40-49 category again. The hills started 10km in and my aim for this stage was to stay as close to the front group as I could. I knew the rollers were going to be tough, especially as I had heard that it was very likely that the ANZA Mavericks would be ‘going from the gun’. The hills were tough but I found myself sticking with the front group until the last bit of the climb at the 25km mark which was just a bit too much for me and I found myself getting further and further from the wheel infront…now just to keep going and get over the hill as quick as I could. As I came over the top of the hill I knew there were 2 girls, Christina Liew and Serene Lee (Pico-Labz), who had stayed with the front group but I could see Tina Haugbro-Bell (ANZA) just up the road in front of me and there was the most awesome downhill ahead so as 2 other guys came through we put our heads down and went for it!! As I looked down at my Garmin we were clocking over 69km/hr and as we descended we picked up other stragglers from the front group, including Tina, and our group grew to about 8 riders. We got ourselves into a nice rhythm and were working very well together - I was tired but I felt good about my position in the race. After we came out of the rollers, round a round-about and onto a main road we took a left slip road and onto a beautiful winding country road. As I was thinking to myself ‘I’m glad I’m not still in that front group with all these potholes’ I look down and see the MOTHER of all potholes! I had nowhere to go but right through it and I thought for sure I was a goner! However, thanks to my exceptional bike handling skills I stayed upright and kept on riding, feeling very glad I didn’t come off! But I had spoken too soon: 2 km down the road at exactly the 50km mark I heard a ‘phffing’ sound and thought ‘oh no, someone’s got a flat’….2 seconds later I realized that it was me! Tim Gow, whom we had picked up from the 30-39 cat, very kindly stopped with me much to my protest and offered me his wheel but unfortunately his rims are exceptionally wide and wouldn’t fit between my brakes – the lorry carrying all the podiums stopped for me and offered assistance but they didn’t have any neutral wheels (none for the Ladies cat apparently!) so I had no choice but to change the tyre myself as I watched my podium position roll away over the hills, literally. Now, Craig has given me lessons…and I listen...but it’s so much harder to change a tyre when you’re freaking out!! An amazing Thai mechanic on a motorbike stopped to help me and we got it changed eventually (without gas – threaded or non-threaded!? Who knows the difference!?) and my little mechanic man pumped my tyre up with a hand-held pump whilst I poured endless bottles of cold water over my head before he pushed me on my way. Whilst I had been changing my tyre I had seen 3 other girls go past in fair-sized groups so I knew that a podium spot was no longer an option for me – the only thing I could do was to go as hard as I could and maybe pick up one or two of them along the way. My motorbike man stayed with me for about 15km and I could hear him behind me on the hills as I grinded my way up them. At the 80km mark I got a visual on my first cyclist in 30km – I was pretty sure it was a girl due to the pink numbers so I put my head down and tried to catch her. As I gained on her I realized it was Zharra from Pico-Labz and she seemed to be going quite slow - I’m still learning about road cycling tactics but I knew I had 2 options, either I pull up and suggest we work together or I go past her and hope she can’t stay with me. Since she was going slower than I was and we were nearing a small incline I decided to go for the latter, but I knew she would try and get on my wheel. I cranked up my cadence and went past her without saying anything (I felt so mean and rude!!) and when I looked back about 600m later I was surprised that she was nowhere to be seen so I just kept going and going and going…..I later found out that Zharra had a pretty bad stage, particularly with painful knees, and after her fall on Stage 2 she decided not to race Stage 4. I was surprised how quickly the miles ticked away over the rollers and at 115km I came across a straggler from the 30-39 category. As I went past him up a hill I shouted at him to get on my wheel - he obediently obeyed and we spent the rest of the race taking it in turns to time trial to the finish line. Once we got to the reservoir I thought ‘Sweet!!! Almost there’ so I got on the front and just put my head down and went for it…..but it was never ending!!! Time trialling is definitely not my forte and as I started to tire I signaled for the other guy take over but then our speed dropped drastically below 28km/hr – I had no choice but to do all the work…we couldn’t be that far away, could we?! As I thought we were nearing the finish I saw the hills ahead of us! We plundered over the remaining 10km of hills and saw the count-down markers rolling off one by one – the 500m to go seemed to be at the bottom of a steep incline so we got out of our saddles and crossed the line together. I felt good. At no point over the last 135km did I struggle too much or wish it was over and I had enjoyed it. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed but the more I learn about racing the more I realize that your race tactics change from minute to minute and you can’t predict what’s going to happen. I came in sixth place (one spot off a podium finish!) and I had a 28km/hr average after riding 65km of a 135km race by myself. I definitely can’t complain about that. Stage 4 : 65km : Saraburi – Kao Sai This is the one. I was so unbelievably nervous before Stage 4 that I vowed never to do a race again!! The main reason for my nerves was a 7km climb towards the end of the course and the previous day we had driven down it in the van and it kept going forever…..I mean, I was consciously thinking how long the hill was as we were driving down and then I must have switched off at some point until Rob said ‘and there’s the start of the climb’!! What?! We’re still on the hill!? Oh dear…. My tactics were simple. My intention was to stay with the main group until the bottom and then just do my own thing, I would not worry about anyone else and I would just tackle the hill at my own pace. I was hoping that 40-49 guys would keep the speed high along the first flat 45km and maybe we could drop some of the other girls but my luck was about to change…the organizers had decided to change the line up and the 40-49 cat went off first with the Ladies, Masters and Juniors starting together after everyone else had left. Damn. After a long wait we finally started at 9.10am (40 mins after the Open Men’s cat and half an hour late – typical Thai style but you just go with the flow) by which time my nerves were high and I was hot and hungry. The group was an entirely different dynamic and the Juniors attacked from the gun – the attacks were fast but not long lived, unlike the mature 40-49 category, and the juniors tend to move around a lot more in the group. They kept this up until the 45km mark when we hit the hill but our group was still quite big. My tactics had changed again and I decided to hold on for as long as possible but I didn’t want to push myself too hard as I was unsure about how I would cope on such a long, relentless climb in the heat. I stayed with the group for a couple of km but as they sped up before the KOM I didn’t go with them as I knew that apart from the 4 girls in my group the others were quite a way behind. I kept going at my own pace and I slowly gained on one of the Masters from the front as we neared the KOM. I hit the downhill and flew past another Masters racer and all I could hear in my ear was Craig saying ‘no brakes, no brakes!’. I really enjoyed this part of the race as there were some little uphill’s and some awesome downhill’s where I clocked up over 65km/hr!! As I came up to the finish line I overtook a couple more 50-59 cat men and finished in 5th place. I was very pleased with my result but in hindsight I wish I had pushed myself a little harder to hang on to the front group for longer. The hill had not been as hard as I had anticipated and the stage actually felt a bit too short, just as Christina had told me that morning from previous years – I had thought she was mad but now I know what she meant! Stage 5 : 92km : Kabinburi – Khundanprakanchon Dam At last, the final stage! By this time I just wanted to get to the finish line - I had been starting to feel quite sick from all of the gu’s and power bars I was consuming during the stages and in addition to stuffing myself with carbs and sugar every evening and morning I was starting to feel like a stuffed goose. I wasn’t sure how much more I could take! And I still had the nerves…oh! The nerves! We started again with the Masters and Juniors and again the Juniors attacked from the start – short, fast attacks but not lasting the distance. Finally, the majority of the Juniors went off the front and the girls left them to it so we could have our own race. I was feeling very average throughout this stage: pretty tired, little enthusiasm and still quite sick. I had to motivate myself to keep going a few times and the only thing that kept me from pulling over was knowing that the end was near and I was confident that I could get a podium spot as the course suited me – flat (and hopefully fast) for 79km with a 1km climb at the end. Since I knew that I had no chance of getting a GC spot due to my bad luck on Stage 3 I thought I would experiment a little bit on this stage – I did, after all, come to Thailand for the experience and to learn about road racing. I was also a little annoyed with myself for not pushing as hard as I could on the climb the day before so I was determined to go for it. Christina controlled Stage 5 for the Ladies – she was a couple of seconds down on Serene on GC and had a lot to gain if she could lose Serene. Luckily we had got rid of the boys and this gave us the opportunity to race properly with Christina attacking time and time again. As we neared the 80km mark everyone was getting edgy until we saw the 10km to go marker!!! What?! Another 10km? I had already tried to eat my last gu (and spat most of out for fear of being sick!) and was mentally preparing to finish when we had another 10km to go…it rippled around the group that the distances were indeed wrong – oh well, you just have to go with the flow in Thailand! We rolled out the last 10km with the speed varying from 24km/hr up to 42km/hr time and time again. I’m normally a very defensive rider and so since I had promised myself to be experimental and had nothing to lose so when I found myself on the front I thought I’d give it a breakaway a go - I jumped out of my saddle and went for it. When I turned around there was no one on my wheel and I had no idea what to do!! I’ve never been in that position before and I started to panic. One of the girls had already gone off the front a couple of km previously but no one seemed worried about catching her - I could either keep going or just string them out a bit and let them catch me. They seemed to be working quite hard to get on my wheel so I kept going for a bit but then I passed the 5km to go marker. I panicked and eased up as I’m not a good time trialler and I thought that within 5km Christina and Serene would catch me, I just wasn’t brave enough to risk it. In hindsight I wish I’d given it a shot just to see what would have happened. Oh well, now I know for next time! The girls caught me and I managed to position myself perfectly on Serene’s wheel who was placed right behind Christina as she had been for the entire Stage. As we took a right turn we saw the hill coming up on the left and after a roundabout we were heading up an incline which I had been told was 800m and not dissimilar to South Buona Vista back in Singapore. No worries I thought. In the positioning to get onto the hill I had lost Serene’s wheel and the speed was high – as the hill flattened out the speed dropped and I found myself on the front adjacent to Christina which was exactly where I didn’t want to be. I thought the end must be just around the corner but as we rounded the corner the hill kicked up and I still couldn’t see the finish! I tried to get a good position but just couldn’t get on anyone’s wheel –Christina, Serene and Zharra were flying up and I couldn’t hold on. I just cracked. I had nothing left. My pace slowed down drastically and I was struggling to breath - I tried to get out of the saddle but sat straight back down again as one after another after another of the girls went past me as we approached the finish line. I knew that my podium position had gone and I was pretty sure there was no one else behind me. I crossed the finish line with my head down with Rob and Craig yelling ‘head up, head up!!’ and I almost fell off my bike as I crossed the line at snails pace. Craig got me to the tent and fed and watered me but I couldn’t stomach anything – I felt truly dreadful and spent most of the award ceremony with my head between my legs…. I was very disappointed with my result in Stage 5 but upon reflection I achieved what I wanted to and that was to push myself to the limit and try some different race tactics which I haven’t been brave enough to attempt before. I did both of these things and even though they weren’t successful this time it has hopefully made me a better cyclist and I may get the chance to apply the experience again. The Tour of Thailand experience was amazing!! I loved it. Everything except for the final stage and force feeding myself was enjoyable. The Women’s category was competitive and I was pleasantly surprised that we were of a relatively equal skill level that enabled us to have a competitive and exciting race. Out of the 7 girls that finished well done in particular to Serene Lee (Pico-Labz) and Christina Liew for taking 1st and 2nd place in the GC classifications - I learn so much from these 2 girls! A big mention also needs to go to Molly Padgett and Julie Kenny (both ANZA) who took on their first big stage race, enjoyed it and are an inspiration to race with! The highlight of the tour for me, in addition to the racing, was experiencing it with my team – the Cannasia-Cannondale guys are awesome and their unrelenting encouragement, support and utter faith in me pushes me to perform better every race. I could not have done this race without them and their 2nd place result in the Open Men’s category for Timmy Wilkins is testament to their hard work and team effort. A fantastic result for Cannasia-Cannondale and I can’t wait for Tour of Friendship 2012!! Photography by Bundal Udol and Craig Sheppard www.craigsheppard.co.nz