Australian Open Road Cycling Championships

Thursday, 16^th January 2003            Women’s Time Trial – 28km

Conditions: 28ºC hot, northerly winds

The time trial course was a 28km loop that started and finished on Warrenhiep street, in the small town of Buninyong, 10km from Ballarat.

The time trial course was really hilly and technical.  After the first 200m along the main street, we did a left turn and faced a 3km category 3 hill.  This hill was a steady open drag with no relief on the legs.  I climbed at a steady pace but kept a light easy tempo going.

At the top of the climb, the course turned sharply left onto a narrow, rough, dead road.  This section needed a lot of concentration to stay on the aero bars, as the road was so rough.  The course headed along this undulating road for about 6km.  This section was very fast and I tried to keep the speed between 45-50km/hr.  A dog ran up the road towards me on this section, playing chicken with me.  I hit the brakes and slowed to about 35km/hr but kept going straight towards it.  A second before I thought I would hit the dog, I let out a huge scream and the dog swirved, missing my front wheel by a few centimetres.  I built my speed back up to 45km/hr and got my rythym back.

The next section was a gradual uphill for 8km into a block headwind.  Channel 10 decided to film me along this section and I hoped I was looking fast.  I had almost caught the girl who started 2mins in front of me, so I used her as a rabbit and kept focusing on catching her.

At the 17km mark, the course turned hard left for another 5km gradual climb.  The legs were now feeling the effects of the dead roads and climbing.  I lost a lot of time on this section and knew that it cost me a top 10 finish.

At the 23km mark, the course had a steep downhill section and although the road was still rough with the occasional pothole, I managed to keep the speed over 70km/hr.  Soon after the descent, the course turned sharply left towards the finish.  I was the best placed Victorian but I was disappointed to finish over 4mins down.

Carrigan successfully defended her 2002 Australian Time Trial Champion title with another fantastic ride.  Gollan was 11sec down to take 2^nd while Wood finished a further 3sec back to finish 3^rd.

Results – 28 km

1 Sara Carrigan (Qld)          41.53.34 (40.10 km/h)

2 Olivia Gollan (NSW)           0.12.38

3 Oenone Wood (ACT)             0.15.18

4 Margaret Hemsley (ACT)        0.25.41

5 Hayley Rutherford (WA)        1.00.40

6 Kate Bates (NSW)              2.12.38

7 Amy Safe (SA)                 2.13.46

8 Natalie Bates (NSW)           2.14.24

9 Alison Wright (ACT)           2.30.77

10 Emma James (NSW)             2.42.22

11 Jennifer Finlay (Qld)        3.35.58

12 Helen Kelly (Vic)            4.21.66