Update from the Last Few Weeks; Kidney All-Clear

I love reading cyclists blogs and cyclingnews diaries, particularly when the riders are having a really crap time. Funnily enough, it seems no one wants to talk about their crap phase much, so finding snippets of this can be hard, and usually only emerges after the rider has ridden out of this phase and back onto the podium..or as they announce their retirement.
I've just gone through a similar phase myself, brought about mainly from the kidney infection I got while in the US in December for the Team Type 1 photo shoot. Returning home and straight into hospital for three nights scared the living crap out of me, as the next big goal on my calendar was to ride well in the Bay Series with my composite team, Volvo, which had been assembled specifically to assist Belinda Goss take the overall series. The road to recovery in time for the Bay Series was always going to be a short one, and in hindsight the plan was way too rushed and intense for what my body could handle after being so sick.
The problem I think stemmed from riding too hard at the Christmas Carnivals, which included motorpacing each morning as well as racing each afternoon. It would have been a tough gig to pull off when fully healthy, and as the Canivals progressed any form declined and by the last carnival in Bendigo I was really struggling.
Nonetheless, I started the Bay Series each day, but failed to finish any race. Thats no big deal in an event considered to be the toughest crit series in the world. But it was an awful feeling to be asked to ride in a team, and then being unable to live up to the role you had been asked to perform. It was a quick learning curve on a number of fronts:
-listening to my body properly, particularly the recovery after illness
-dealing with riding out of form when you are still expected to ride, and managing your own and others expectations of you
-working with fantastic (quasi)professional female cyclists



I have a problem with downloading photos from my camera at the moment, so this is the only shot I have to populate this post - taken by Briana James, a fellow Victorian cyclists sidelined by a pretty bad back injury at the moment:

Once the Bay Series was finished, it was straight back home to wash some clothes, pull the bike apart and re-pack. The next morning I flew out to Japan in order to make a presentation at the Abbott Diabetes Care Asia-Pacific 2008 Kick-Off Meeting, at Karuizawa, in the Nagano Prefecture, in Japan.

Going from mid30s (Celsius) to zero and sub-zero temps was a bit of a shock, but so too was the cultural one. What a pleasant change of scene Japan was! I was only there for three nights and wished I could have stayed longer. The presentation went well, and I was able to make a bunch of contacts for the region which will come in handy in the future. On departing I also had the added bonus of taking the Shinkansen (very fast train) back to Tokyo before flying back on the overnight flight to Melbourne (thankfully in Business Class! Yeah!).

Unfortunately, my kidney symptoms returned while in Japan, and once again I struggled with receiving suitable treatment in a foreign land. NEXT TIME I will be more prepared with filled scripts for antibiotics and everything else! Heading into the pharmacy in a small regional centre to ask for treatments for joint thrush and UTIs to staff unable to speak any English would have been hilarious normally, if it wasn't so damn uncomfortable at the time!
Next on my agenda after returning home was a further ten days of antibiotics....and a return to work, where I really hadn't been since before leaving for the US on December 6th. It had been a long break with only 1.5 days of work in that period until I recommenced on Jan 14th.

The return to antibiotics meant ruling out contesting the Victorian Track Titles which were held last weekend on Jan 18-20. That was a pretty disappointing outcome, particularly being unable to defend my titles, as well as stick my hand up for Victorian selection to compete at the Nationals in an Olympic year. Missing out has been really tough, but has fueled a resolve in me that I haven't had for a long time: I will get over this, I will be better, and I will be stronger and smarter. And successful. On the bike as well..

Now - its the 24th of Jan. Yesterday I had an appointment with my endo and we established that I was fit and healthy enough to resume proper training, so I am looking forward to the next phase and hopefully a return to some podiums, particularly later this year in the US as per the season goal.

The other bits in my life: finalising my US contract, sorting out my job here in Victoria, relishing the new love of my life, shedding the cobwebs and lint from the last three years and remembering that afterall, my instincts ARE pretty good and I should listen to them more often - hey at least they aren't lies(!), finding a new coach, moving house, and securing HypoActive's sponsors for 2008 (a task I REALLY must dedicate some time too asap) are all coming into play at the same time. Things are busy, and this blog is one way in which some of the emotions from this whole saga are being recorded. I am at some big crossroads in life and have taken a turn into a great new direction. I feel good on the bike, I feel great with Ewin, and I am excited about the future.