It’s been a fun few weeks at Lead Out! The first ride of the Lead Out Cyclo-Sportive series was held around Yarra Glen at the start of the month. It might sound serious, but it was just like any other Lead Out training ride, Fun! – and a little more adventurous. We met in Yarra Glen and were welcomed with coffee before being briefed about the ride. As with a typical Lead Out weekend ride, we formed three smaller groups according to fitness and skill that were each lead by a Lead Out coach. Then we headed off. We’d been told there’d be some fun gravel sections to challenge us and the first one my group came across certainly was challenging! I found the gravel road a bit too steep to ride the whole way up, but riding down the other side was much easier after we got some handy bike handling tips from Conan. Soon we were back on familiar bitumen that took us through some beautiful areas with quiet roads, and two more stretches of gravel to mix it up! Coach Mick manned the support car and also took some great pics and video along the way. Towards the end of the ride, we met up with the other two Lead Out groups and took this great photo with the stunning Yarra Valley in the background. I had such a great time exploring some new roads, I’m really looking forward to seeing what the coaches have in store for the next Cyclo-Sportive ride.
I’ve been putting in lots of hard work at the regular Lead Out morning rides. This month’s training block has seen us getting fast on Beach Road on Tuesdays, then doing hill reps near Kew Boulevard on Thursday mornings. I remember during my first few months at Lead Out, someone told me “it doesn’t get easier, you just get faster”, and it’s really true! I often have wobbly legs after our Kew Boulevard session is complete, but I know that’s a good sign – I’ve worked hard! A friend of mine has recently joined Lead Out and it’s been great to see her enjoying the challenge in each of the group training sessions. She’s a strong rider and gets plenty of kilometres in during the week, but I know Lead Out’s method of intervals and structured training will see her riding faster than ever.
On the weekend, I drove out towards Mt Buller to race in the Tour of Mansfield. The format of the race was similar to last month’s Tour of East Gippsland; a time trial and a road race on the Saturday, then another road race on the Sunday. Whenever I sign up for a race, all the Lead Out coaches are really generous with their encouragement and motivating chats. This time was no exception. I started Saturday’s road race with some pointers in my head and was really happy that I could carry them through in the race and collect some QOM points and a 3rd place for the stage. Sunday’s race, the final stage, was to finish at the top of Mt Buller. It was a bit chilly at the start of the race but that was all forgotten when my teammate put in two big attacks to try and break the bunch up! Soon after, we began the climb and I found myself in a small group of 6 or so at the front. The girls were setting a good pace but I knew that with all those Lead Out hill reps in my legs, I could hang on. Slowly some of the girls began to drop off and before I knew it, I was riding along with just one other girl. The final kilometre of the climb was really tough but when the finish line came into sight, it was a great feeling – I’d won!
With the weekend’s race behind me, I’m planning to soak up Lead Out’s rest week this week and get some relaxed rides in before it all gears up again for April. If you’re planning to come and give Lead Out a try, rest week is a great time to do it – it’s when we dial down the volume but still do a few efforts here and there to keep the legs in check. All finished off with a chat over coffee, of course!
In 2013 Bridget won a competition to be our ‘Zero-to-Euro’ Sponsored rider. During the 12 months Bridge trained with us barely missing a session. She accepted any challenge that came her way and by the years end with thousands of k’s in the legs and numerous races and events she was truly ‘Euro’! Bridge joined as a member in 2014 and continues her monthly blog. Enjoy