My first world cup of the year and I was really excited about competing internationally again!
The trip to Manchester was so long, I don’t think I could have dealt with one more flight no matter how long it was.
Adelaide to Sydney 1 ½ hrs
Sydney to Bangkok 8 ½ hrs
Bangkok to London 14 hrs 50 mins
(Missed connection flight and waited for luggage to be taken off the plane – 5 hrs)
London to Manchester 1 hr
I was so glad to reach our hotel room!
Not only because it was raining, blowing a gale and 2 degrees, but after sitting up in an uncomfortable chair for around 26hrs, I was glad to lay down, put my feet up and watch some of UK TV!
I was all smiles to come back to the track where I made my career highlight on!
I did my pre race drill, practised my 200m line and decided on the gear that I would use for competition the next day.
I caught up with a few friends from other countries explaining where I have been and what’s been happening.
It was great talking to them, they were curious to see how I was since I had been off the scene for more than a year.
Later I went back to the hotel and organised myself for tomorrows racing.
It was really weird, I thought daylight saving was hard to get used to!
It was dark at 4.30pm and doesn’t get light till around 8am!
I woke around 7am thinking it was 3am!
Pitch black outside and rain, I had to double check my clock to believe it was really 7am!
I was so nervous when I arrived at the track, I was getting more nervous as it was drawing closer to the start of my event.
I wasn’t feeling to flash in the warm-up, but I had to put that behind me and focus on what I had to do! (With a big help from Marv! (coach))
I was 4th off for the 200m qualifying which was good because I just wanted to get it over and done with!
All this nervous energy was making me sick!
DONE!
11.800sec, this seasons Personal Best (for me).
So I can’t argue with that, with the form I have now anyway!
The main thing is that I qualified for the sprint rounds and I was going to get valuable experience no matter what happens!
First up, a girl that would love to eliminate me in front of her home crowd “Victoria Pendleton from Great Britain.”
Well she did just that in fact, I wasn’t going fast enough coming into the last lap of the sprint and she came around me like a steam train.
Lesson one learnt!
I was riding well up to that particular point!
Because of the new sprint rules, that consequently put me completely out of the sprints!
I felt frustrated because I had no second chance to amend my tactics, but I stuck around and watched the rest of the competition program for that morning.
I went back to the hotel for lunch then back to the track to watch the finals!
It was a good night, but I would much rather be racing then being a spectator again.
Patients, patients I keep having to remind myself.
My mind is running while my body is only walking!
I’m training for the 2006 com games, and the 2005 worlds are going to help me get there!
Cruzi day, rolled the legs on the track and watched racing all day!
I didn’t have to race till tomorrow!
Keirin day!
I was looking forward to some fun today, getting back into the rough of things!
Before each race I had discussed tactics with Marv, depending on who was racing in my heat.
After each heat of the keirin, it was like I was being put through all that I already knew plus more surprises.
My reaction time to everything needed work and gaining the right position without wasting too much energy was an effort!
By the end, I made it into the B final 7-12 final and the penny dropped!
Everything just seemed to make sense finally, and I rode the race that suited me.
I won the B final, and the main thing that I was happy with was how much I learnt, and how much I needed the racing!
I don’t think I could have possibly mentally absorbed anymore when racing finished.
After packing my bikes it was late and we missed the buses back to hotels.
One of the organisers gave me the keys and I sat in the driver’s seat of the van.
I turned back to look at all the nervous faces staring back at me, it quite was funny!
Kel's (Shane Kelly) and Jobie (Djaka) seemed ok with the idea of me driving so I was pretty chuffed about the opportunity to drive overseas!
We went through the McDonalds drive through cause we were starving from racing, gee wasn’t that a tight squeeze.
Other than climbing out the window to reach the food the MacDonald’s staff was trying to give me, jumping a few gutters and a few people yelling “look out!”, we made it home safely and the van was still in great shape!
Departure back to home!
This was yet the longest travelling I have ever done!
Don’t want to particularly do it again in the near future anyway.
I had to fly straight to Rockhampton for the Rocky Cup on Wheels from Manchester!
So this is how it went-
I flew:
Manchester – London 1hr
London – Singapore 14hr
Singapore – Darwin 5hr
Darwin – Adelaide 3hr
Adelaide – Sydney 1 ½ h
Sydney – Brisbane 1 ½ h
Brisbane – Gladstone 45m
Gladstone – rocky 20m
Maximising those frequent flyer points!!!!!
By the time I arrived in Adelaide I was so over travelling, but the thought of seeing family again was the only thing that kept me walking over to the domestic terminal and rechecking in my luggage!
I got to see my fiancé Stuart for 1 hour at the airport before I had to board again!
Then when he left, my flight were delayed and I missed my connection flights!
I had to stay over night in Brisbane and fly to rocky the next morning!
Luckily all was fine in the luggage department when I finally arrived home to Rocky, I was quite jet lagged and my sleeping pattern was a little out of wack!
I forgot all about that when I got home to see my family.
Mum welcomed me with my favourite meal of home-cooked corned meat and mash!
I was so happy to be home, because I missed out on spending Christmas with the family!
I was really looking forward to racing because I will catch up with friends I haven’t seen in a long time.
Results:
Qualifying
1 Tamilla Abassova (Russian Federation) 11.317 (63.621 km/h)
2 Yvonne Hijgenaar (Netherlands) 11.345 (63.464 km/h)
3 Natallia Tsylinskaya (Belarus) 11.379 (63.274 km/h)
4 Shuang Guo (People's Republic of China) 11.433 (62.976 km/h)
5 Victoria Pendleton (Great Britain) 11.446 (62.904 km/h)
6 Christin Muche (Germany) 11.537 (62.408 km/h)
7 Elisa Frisoni (Italy) 11.558 (62.295 km/h)
8 Clara Sanchez (France) 11.600 (62.069 km/h)
9 Simona Krupeckaite (Lithuania) 11.695 (61.565 km/h)
10 Willy Kanis (Netherlands) 11.724 (61.412 km/h)
11 Susann Panzer (Germany) 11.783 (61.105 km/h)
12 Kerrie Meares (Australia) 11.800 (61.017 km/h)
13 Oxana Grishina (Russian Federation) 11.927 (60.367 km/h)
14 Sara Magdalena (Poland) 12.043 (59.786 km/h)
15 Katri Laike (New-Zealand) 12.154 (59.240 km/h)
16 Emilie Jeannot (France) 12.357 (58.267 km/h)
17 Lenka Valova (Czech Republic) 12.473 (57.725 km/h)
DNS Jennie Reed (United States Of America)
1/8 Final
Heat 1
1 Tamilla Abassova (Russian Federation) 12.726 (56.577 km/h)
2 Emilie Jeannot (France)
Heat 2
1 Yvonne Hijgenaar (Netherlands) 12.528 (57.471 km/h)
2 Katri Laike (New-Zealand)
Heat 3
1 Natallia Tsylinskaya (Belarus) 13.063 (55.118 km/h)
2 Magdalena Sara (Poland)
Heat 4
1 Shuang Guo (People's Republic of China) 12.744 (56.497 km/h)
2 Oxana Grishina (Russian Federation)
Heat 5
1 Victoria Pendleton (Great Britain) 11.847 (60.775 km/h)
2 Kerrie Meares (Australia)
Heat 6
1 Christin Muche (Germany) 12.493 (57.632 km/h)
2 Susann Panzer (Germany)
Heat 7
1 Elisa Frisoni (Italy) 11.997 (60.015 km/h)
2 Willy Kanis (Netherlands)
Heat 8
1 Simona Krupeckaite (Lithuania) 12.182 (59.104 km/h)
2 Clara Sanchez (France)
1/4 Final
Heat 1
1 Tamilla Abassova (Russian Federation) 12.031 (59.845 km/h)
2 Simona Krupeckaite (Lithuania)
Heat 2
1 Elisa Frisoni (Italy) 12.275 (58.656 km/h)
2 Yvonne Hijgenaar (Netherlands)
Heat 3
1 Christin Muche (Germany) 12.135 (59.333 km/h)
2 Natallia Tsylinskaya (Belarus)
Heat 4
1 Victoria Pendleton (Great Britain) 11.958 (60.211 km/h)
2 Shuang Guo (People's Republic of China)
Semi-Final
Heat 1 Race #1
1 Tamilla Abassova (Russian Federation) 11.822 (60.903 km/h)
2 Victoria Pendleton (Great Britain)
Heat 1 Race #2
1 Victoria Pendleton (Great Britain) 11.869 (60.662 km/h)
2 Tamilla Abassova (Russian Federation)
Heat 1 Race #3
1 Victoria Pendleton (Great Britain) 11.946 (60.271 km/h)
2 Tamilla Abassova (Russian Federation)
Heat 2 Race #1
1 Elisa Frisoni (Italy) 12.178 (59.123 km/h)
2 Christin Muche (Germany)
Heat 2 Race #2
1 Christin Muche (Germany) 12.691 (56.733 km/h)
2 Elisa Frisoni (Italy)
Heat 2 Race #3
1 Christin Muche (Germany) 12.430 (57.924 km/h)
2 Elisa Frisoni (Italy)
5-8th Place
5 Natallia Tsylinskaya (Belarus) 12.130 (59.357 km/h)
6 Shuang Guo (People's Republic of China)
7 Yvonne Hijgenaar (Netherlands)
8 Simona Krupeckaite (Lithuania)
Final
3/4 Race #1
1 Tamilla Abassova (Russian Federation) 12.396 (58.083 km/h)
2 Elisa Frisoni (Italy)
3/4 Race #2
1 Tamilla Abassova (Russian Federation) 12.235 (58.848 km/h)
2 Elisa Frisoni (Italy)
Final Race #1
1 Christin Muche (Germany) 12.03 (59.850 km/h)
2 Victoria Pendleton (Great Britain)
Final Race #2
1 Christin Muche (Germany) 12.025 (59.875 km/h)
2 Victoria Pendleton (Great Britain)
1st Round
Heat 1
1 Christin Muche (Germany) 12.138 (59.318 km/h)
2 Simona Krupeckaite (Lithuania)
3 Kerrie Meares (Australia)
4 Victoria Pendleton (Great Britain)
5 Lenka Valova (Czech Republic)
Heat 2
1 Clara Sanchez (France) 12.248 (58.785 km/h)
2 Oxana Grishina (Russia)
3 Shuang Guo (China)
4 Susann Panzer (Germany)
5 Katri Laike (New Zealand)
6 Willy Kanis (Netherlands)
Heat 3
1 Natallia Tsylinskaya (Bielorussia) 12.207 (58.983 km/h)
2 Emilie Jeannot (France)
3 Elisa Frisoni (Italy)
4 Yvonne Hijgenaar (Netherlands)
5 Jennie Reed (USA)
6 Magdalena Sara (Poland)
1st Round Repecharge
Heat 1
1 Kerrie Meares (Australia) 12.323 (58.427 km/h)
2 Yvonne Hijgenaar (Netherlands)
3 Susann Panzer (Germany)
4 Katri Laike (New Zealand)
5 Magdalena Sara (Poland)
Heat 2
1 Shuang Guo (China) 12.088 (59.563 km/h)
2 Elisa Frisoni (Italy)
3 Jennie Reed (USA)
4 Victoria Pendleton (Great Britain)
5 Lenka Valova (Czech Republic)
6 Willy Kanis (Netherlands)
2nd Round
Heat 1
1 Christin Muche (Germany) 12.258 (58.737 km/h)
2 Oxana Grishina (Russia)
3 Jennie Reed (USA)
4 Emilie Jeannot (France)
DNF Yvonne Hijgenaar (Netherlands)
DNF Shuang Guo (China)
Heat 2
1 Elisa Frisoni (Italy) 11.717 (61.449 km/h)
2 Natallia Tsylinskaya (Bielorussia)
3 Susann Panzer (Germany)
4 Simona Krupeckaite (Lithuania)
5 Clara Sanchez (France)
6 Kerrie Meares (Australia)
7th-12th Final
7 Kerrie Meares (Australia) 12.177 (59.128 km/h)
8 Simona Krupeckaite (Lithuania)
9 Shuang Guo (China)
10 Clara Sanchez (France)
11 Yvonne Hijgenaar (Netherlands)
12 Emilie Jeannot (France)
1st-6th Final
1 Natallia Tsylinskaya (Bielorussia) 11.976 (60.120 km/h)
2 Susann Panzer (Germany)
3 Jennie Reed (USA)
4 Christin Muche (Germany)
5 Elisa Frisoni (Italy)
6 Oxana Grishina (Russia)