Kelly Cycle Coaching athlete Carley McKay finished 3rd in the Tour of South West on the weekend.  This was a break through race for Carley who has been inundated with bad luck over the past 18 months.  KCC also had Dale Maizels, Liz Hall and Vic Snibson racing in A and B grade, respectively.  All women raced well in extremely windy conditions and against a strong field of female cyclists.

KCC athlete, Tim Scarborough of Anchor Point, Warrnambool, sponsored the women’s event.  The number of women competing in this event climbed from 6 (2012) to 100 (2013) with A, B and C grade racing this year.  Our appreciation goes out to sponsors who are keen to support women’s cycling.  Tim sponsored a women’s composite team which included Carley McKay and Lisa Henley.  Both girls finished on the podium.

KCC caught up with Carley and asked her all about her weekend of racing.  Here is what she had to say:

Stage 1: Road Race 89km

What happened on lap 1?  Did this set the scene for the remainder of the race?

At the start I attacked in the hope that I may be able to create small break away of strong riders to work together.  However, everyone had fresh legs and it was quickly all back together.  After the first KOM the main bunch split with two Total Rush riders out in front, followed by a chasing group of 8 riders that I was in.

What group were you in the race and how did you end up?

Eventually the lead group of 10 riders was caught by the chasing bunch and the majority of the field were all back together again on the final lap.  I was eager keen to create small break away. However there was little interest from riders in the teams to follow and regrettably I burnt a few matches in my endeavour to do this.  In the end I finished 5^th on the stage in a long drawn out sprint.

What did you eat and drink during the race?  Was it hard to eat due to the wind?

I had a bottle of water, a sports drink and a number of fruit based energy bars which I find I can tolerate well even at high intensity.  The wind was very strong and riders were constantly being blown into one another and many spent time off the road. However, I was able to find some precious times between the gusts of wind to sneak some food in.

What was your normalised power, average cadence, average speed etc for this stage?

Time: 2hr50min, Normalised Power: 241watts, Ave Power: 199 watts, Ave Cadence: 82rpm, Ave Speed: 30.2km/hr.

Stage 2 – Individual 16km time trial

The TT was in the afternoon on Saturday after the morning road race.

What was the specific plan for your TT? To not get blown off the road and get to the finish line as quickly as I possible! My main focus was on my pedalling technique and my breathing.

I surprised myself in clocking the second fastest time, 7 seconds behind the winner.

Were the conditions as windy as the morning road stage?

By the afternoon the wind was blowing a gale.  The conditions were very gusty and it was considered if it would be safer to ride a road bike.  However, it was decided to go with the TT bike and I was glad because once I got going, I wasn’t bothered by the wind.

Stage 3: The Criterium

Can you describe the course?  Did it suit you?

The course was a 1.2km loop around the cemetery in Warrnambool.  Whilst some people joked that it was a ‘dead’ course, it was a very lively race.  Each lap there was a hard 300m long climb with a gradient of 7.5 %.  Being nearly 6 foot tall, hilly courses are not necessarily suited to me, however I was determined to hold on to my over all GC position.

What GC position were you in before the start?

I went into the crit in 2^nd in GC.  I was sitting at +3 behind Nicole Whitburn and Lisa Hanley was at +5.

What happened early on in the crit? Were there many attacks?

There were quite a number of attacks from teams that were looking for a stage win.  However the riders in contention for GC were keen to keep it all together, so nothing ended up getting away.

Can you describe what happened in the final lap? What was your final GC position?  Was this 2nd Vic Series Podium?  Your first was Warburton?

In the final lap I was a little impatient and attacked at the start of the climb. Towards the end of the climb I was somewhat swamped and couldn’t regain my position.  In hind sight I should have sat on and followed wheels much closer to the finish line.  Unfortunately as a result, I lost a few valuable seconds and ended up in 3^rd position on GC at +6 seconds with Lisa Hanley at +5 seconds and Nicole Whitburn taking the tour win.

A few weeks ago I placed 3^rd in the Warburton time trial up Mt. Donna Buang.  I was proud of this results as I am not necessarily shaped like a tinny little hill climber.  However, Warburton was not part of the Vic series, so the Tour of the South West was my first VRS podium.

What power did you hit each time up the climb?

The climb went for around 1 minute and we did this 21 times.  My power on the climb averaged from 300 to 450 watts.  However, on quite a number of the climbs my power reached 700-900 watts in response to various attacks and surges.

What was your normalised power, average cadence, average speed etc for the crit?

The crit went for 43 minutes and my average power was 224 watts.  However my normalised power was much higher at 296 watts as a result of hard uphill sections followed by easier downhill sections.  The elevation gain was close to 400 meters.  My average cadence 87 rpm and the average speed was 34.5km/hr.