Carley McKay has been coached by Kelly Cycle Coaching for about a year and a half now.  She started as a rider with lots of horse power from rowing but lacked the bike skills to corner with the bunch and hold a wheel, leaving her chasing and finishing alone.  A lot has changed in 16 months and with Carley’s persistance and patience, we have seen a big improvement in Carley’s cycling.  We recently caught up with Carley who has just joined the women’s Holden Cycling Team, a National Road Series team based in Melbourne.

So congrats Carley in joining the Holden cycling team. How did you feel when you found out?

I was really excited.  The girls in the team are all very supportive of one another and it is really well organised team.  So I am really looking forward to being more involved.   I am really appreciative of the opportunity that has been given to me and I want to make the most out of it.  It has made me even more determined to train smart to make improvements.

You have been informally connected with this team for some time now. Can you tell us about the camp you attended with the riders?

Over the Australia Day long weekend in January I was invited to go on the team’s training camp in Neerim, near Mt. Baw Baw.  It was a great opportunity to meet the team.  It was a really challenging camp with plenty of long rides and lots of climbing including Mt. Baw Baw and Donna Buang.

Also I understand you participated in a goal setting and team building session. What was involved with this?

During the camp we had an individual goal setting session where we discussed different types of goals including outcome, performance and processed focussed goals.  We also discussed the importance of goals to be measureable, have a time frame and be challenging yet realistic.  I find it really valuable to actually write my goals down and put them up in by bedroom because it is a good reminder of where to focus my energy and attention. I have been doing this since my early years of high school.

Upon returning from the camp we also meet with our team psychologist for a team goal setting session.  We discussed what we wanted to achieve as a team this coming session.  It was really valuable to formally go through this process as a team.  We also discussed the characteristics of a good team and what actions each one of us were going to take to ensure that these characteristic would be incorporated that into our own team.

Who are the riders in the team? What are the different strengths each rider brings to the team?

The team is made up of six riders. Steph Ives is a very versatile rider.  She performed really well at the road race at nationals this year on a climber’s course but is also developing to become strong in the time trial as well.  Whilst Kristy Glover is the youngest member of our team, she is a skilful rider with plenty of race experience having come up through the junior cycling ranks.  She also has a very quick sprint on her.  Miranda Griffiths might be small, but she can climb exceptionally fast.  She is our team’s little pocket rocket!  Lucy Coldwell is also another versatile rider.  She is a great team player with strengths across a number of areas.  Lucy is originally from Scotland and is also a full time vet.  Nicole Justice has recently returned to her homeland in California for her wedding.  She is currently enjoying racing over in the US and hopes to return to Australia for the second half of the NRS season.

So what is the next team race you are training for?

My next race with the team will be the Battle on the Boarder which is the second National Road Series (NRS) tour this season.  It is next weekend (4^th – 7^th May) up on the boarder of NSW and QLD.  It is my first NRS tour with the team so I am going into the event relatively open minded and without too many expectations.  I am just keen to get some experience racing in a NRS tour as well as experience racing in a team situation.

Most of our athletes know your athletic background before cycling was as a rower. Can you tell us about the key differences between training for road cycling and what you previously did as a rower?

One of the very first things I had to adapt to as a cyclist was training at a controlled pace.  Rowers have a tendency just to go as hard as they can the whole time!  Whilst this certainly builds a lot of mental strength and a hard work ethic, Helen and Bob patiently explained to me the importance of having variation in pace during training.  So now I spend a lot more time training at lower heart rate zones, but when I do my set workloads, I don’t have the same level of residual fatigue, so I can push myself much harder and get much more out of the workload.   In the long run, this type of training is far more beneficial, particularly for a road cyclist who has to constantly change pace as dictated by the race.

Rowing squads also have a tendency to all follow the same squad program.  One of the things that I have loved about cycling is that I have an individual program that is specific to my own strengths and weaknesses.  That has been an exceptionally refreshing change!

Could you list the skills you needed to develop when you started training as a cyclist?

When I started cycling, Helen and Bob really emphasised just how important skills were.  So I started to type up a list of all the skills that I was learning and every time a new skill has come up, I have added it to my list.  The list is now three pages long and I am still adding to it all the time!  I am now confident with a number of the skills, but there are many I am still working on.   There is quite a variety of skills on the list including; cornering, changing gears smoothly, jumping gutters, positioning whilst racing, u-turns, riding rollers, taking water bottles, sprinting off a wheel and many more!

What training methodologies/habits have you put in place to progress steadily with your training? 
Are there key training elements that have helped with your improvements especially over the past 6 months?

You can only train as hard as you can recover!  It is actually when resting that the body makes the physiological adaptations and the benefits of training are realised.  So I think it is really critical to find time to put the legs up and rest.  Getting to bed early and having a regular sleep pattern is also something that I think is important. Nutrition is also imperative.  Eating the right type of food and the right amount of food at the right times is something that has to be constantly balanced with the training load.

As a younger athlete, I always wanted to push myself as hard as possible to improve as quickly as possible.  When I got my training programs, I wanted to make sure I did everything on it as hard as I could, regardless if I was feeling sick, tired, stressed or sore.  More recently I have come to realise when I am on the edge of pushing too much, it is better to hold back a little before getting sick or injured.  However it can be really hard to judge when to hold back or when to just toughen up, get out there and push on.  It can be a really fine line and I have only recently been able to start to listen to my body and make the judgement.

I also believe that time management is absolutely vital.  There are only a limited number of hours in a week.  These hours have to be distributed between training, work/study/school, sleeping, eating and of course down time and socialising to keep everything in balance.  Managing how much time is spent doing each of these activities is really important to ensure productivity but also enjoyment.  At the end of each day, I generally write out a schedule of everything that I need to do the following day. I find this really helps me stay organised.

I also keep an online training diary that I personally find incredibly valuable.  I regularly upload all my Garmin GPS data on to.  I also make comments about my sessions including what I did, what I learnt and also how I am feeling.  It is really beneficial to have all this data in the one place.  I can use it to monitor my training volume, fitness and fatigue levels so that Helen can adjust my training program if required.  Most importantly I also find that keeping the training diary keeps me really motivated.

I really believe that training is not just when I am actually on the bike, but it is a whole lifestyle.

How often do you do core exercises and is the emphasis different between a roadie and what you did as a rower?

I do my core exercises 2 to 3 times a week.  I also make sure I spend a decent amount of time doing stretching and other recovery activities as well.

As a rower I used to do my strength and conditioning training at the Victorian Weightlifting Centre.  The sessions were intense with very heavy weights and lower reps.  Whilst this was very beneficial for my rowing, for cycling the fatigue from the sessions was too much and would prevent me from being able to get all the endurance training done on the road.  So my strength training now has more of a stability and maintenance focus.  The exercises are more cycling specific with a lot more one legged exercises, whilst activating the core.

Would you say the core work has helped with your climbing and other aspects of your racing?

Yes most certainly.  I have had some issues with my position of my hips both in and out of the saddle.  The position of the hips is quite different to when I rowed so I have had to undo some long ingrained habits.  Activating these stabilising muscles in the gym has certainly helped in transferring this over to the bike.

Were there times you were frustrated with your progress?

Yes, there have most certainly been times over the last year when I have been exceptionally frustrated with my progress and it felt like there was just one obstacle after another.  There were some periods of time where, despite my best efforts, things just kept going wrong!  I was fortunate to have the support of Helen and Bob.  They reminded me not to worry, there are always ebbs and flows in cycling and that it is important to step back and look at the big picture.

What were the things you had to overcome that were hindering your development as you progressed from D grade to B grade at Glenvale crits & Sandown?

When I first started racing in D grade, I couldn’t even keep up!  I was getting dropped.  Initially I thought,’ gee I must be so unfit’!   However after much frustration, I eventually came to realise that it was actually my bike skills that were the main thing holding me back.  I was getting gapped at each corner and after a while I just couldn’t close the gaps anymore.  The three main things I had to work on were my cornering skills, gear changes (not being over-geared) and positioning in the bunch.  Whilst I have come a long way from where I was, I am still continuing to work on these skills.

Understanding the dynamics of team racing takes time and lots of race experience to learn. Learning to race for the goals of the team will be your next challenge, Carley. 
Do you look forward to this new aspect of racing?

Yes, I guess this is the reason that I am most excited about joining the Holden Cycling Team.  I am really looking forward to being able to gain valuable experience racing in a team environment.

I understand your Holden team had some success last weekend in Tasmania. How did the girls go?
The team performed incredibly well.  Kristy and Steph worked hard to support Miranda.  The road stages finished at the top of climbs, which suited Miranda.  She was able to take home the KOM jersey, the stage 2 victory and finished second overall on General Classification.  It was a great result for the team’s first tour and offers a lot of promise for the remainder of the season.

What are your personal goals over the next 2 years?

My long term goal is to have a professional career racing internationally.  So I would like to spend the next 2 years developing my skills, fitness and race tactics to prepare me for this.  I have a number of specific goals related to each of these areas. My involvement in the Holden Cycling Team and the National Road Series races will provide a great opportunity for me to develop these aspects of my cycling.  I also feel that I have some exceptional guidance and support through Kelly Cycle Coaching and have a lot of confidence everything that we are doing is working towards this goal.

I am also looking to improve my performances at events such as the National Road Championships, the Bay Crits and the Oceania Road championships and also have specific goals for these events.

Are there any other comments you want to make?

I would really like to take this opportunity to say a MASSIVE thank you to Helen and Bob for EVERYTHING they do for me!  I feel so fortunate to have the opportunity to work so closely with such an experienced duo.  They can be credited for all the developments that I have made with my cycling.  Bob is so supportive, encouraging and I find him to be incredibly empowering.  His words of wisdom are always greatly appreciated. He is a hard task master who tells it like it is!

Helen could not be a more perfect role model and mentor for me.  Her experience, patience and thoroughness is just incredible.  I am so appreciative of all of her tips and guidance.  Helen and Bob really complement each other well.  They have created such a productive environment for me and I am just enjoying my cycling so much because of it.  I personally can’t imagine a more ideal coaching situation for me.  I actually get really excited about heading out on rides with them both!  I am really looking forward to continuing to work closely with Helen and Bob as my cycling continues to progress.

Well congrats again on your progression into a NRS women’s team.