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After a successful
road nationals in Ballarat earlier this year, I set off to
race in America in March. Going over to the US was a move to
see if it could help me gain self-confidence as well as to
improve my abilities with a slightly different style of
racing. It was my first time experiencing events in America. I
had previously raced as part of the Australian Development
High 5 Team in Europe, racing that I thoroughly enjoyed,
especially the challenges and working with a great team.
In the US, I raced as part of the Fearless Femme cycling team
based out of New Jersey. The team focused mainly on
criteriums, as part of the (PRT) Pro Road Tour. They also had
a passionate foundation to help people to get involved with
cycling and inspire children to ride bikes. It was great to
see how they have incorporated a children’s race before almost
all of the events we did. We would ride beside them for
support as they made their way up the finishing straight.
The races in the States were located around popular dining
areas or universities creating huge crowds of spectators that
added to the atmosphere that every race brings. Each race is
one hour in duration with prime sprints and even surprise ones
announced to the peloton over the PA system. The racing was
fast and hard with strong fields with riders from Canada and
other riders from Europe.
Whilst in America, the team had some great successes. Some of
my favorite events that we did were USACrits series and GP
Gatineau RR (in Canada). I was able to claim the under 25young
rider for the USACrits series as well as podiums at Speedweek
and Dairylands.
I thoroughly enjoyed racing in America and look forward to
next season as a member of the Colavita/Bianchi pb Vittoria
UCI Pro Team. Now onwards to some training for the remainder
of 2016 and the season to come.
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