Aug 18, 2010
I arrived back in Perth, on 1st August, and was welcomed to a sunny, 23 degree, Sunday afternoon. With beautiful weather like that, I wasn’t sure I had actually left Europe. But I have.. and it’s back to the beginning of a new track season for me leading into 2011! Very excited!
My last few weeks in Holland were filled with racing, workshops, study, shopping, football, and a lot of time in the car. We were based centrally, so every race was approximately 1.5hrs away in every different direction.
On Saturday night, Dutch football superstar, Marc Overmars, who owns the accommodation we stayed at, invited us to watch his regional team play locally. I can’t say we payed too much interest in the game, but more to what was going on around us in the VIP tent. That was cool enough, and we of course made sure we got a photo with him.
On Sunday, we had an amazing opportunity to do a workshop with Aussie Hockey legend, Alyson Annan. We were invited to her house in Amstelveen, and introduced to her partner Carole and their two beautiful boys, Sam and Cooper. After they provided us with a BBQ lunch, which I actually missed out on as I had passed out on their couch at that stage feeling sick and dizzy, Alyson shared her experiences of being on tour in a team of 15 girls for 6 months at a time, and applied those to our situation.
We learnt a lot about how knowing someone’s main values, such as respect, honesty or communication, can help us to accept one another and allow us to live harmoniously together on trips like these. It was so interesting to listen to, seeing as we were able to relate to many of the values and examples she spoke of. I thought living with 6 girls for a few months was tough.. Hats off to the Hockey girls!!
During the rest of our spare time, we made the most of having NSWIS’ ACE counsellor, Justine Whipper on tour with us. I was lucky enough to have finished my exams before I left, so I kicked back a bit, but the other girls certainly put her to good use with their exams and assignments. It was so good having Justine around. She soon got the nickname Mum. When introducing her I had to remind myself not to introduce her as ‘Mum’. If we ever needed anything, we’d just yell out mum, and she’s come running in saying “What do you want now kids?” I guess the funny thing was, that she’s only 4 years older than our eldest team member. Oh well, she loved it.
On the 24th July, Ash Ankudinoff left us to go on to Italy for a week with the Road Team. Megan Dunn also left the day after. It was the first time I’d felt that sad to see the girls go. Each time someone left, we’d say ‘..and then there were 5.. or 4’. I don’t know what it was about this trip, but we all bonded so well. We’ve always been tight, but this time it just seemed to go so smoothly, and the girls who I usually didn’t find myself spending a lot of time with, turned out to have me in fits of laughter most of the time.
For the last two races in Stiphout and Alblasserdam, we had slightly different tactics with only 4 of us left. Stiphout was probably our biggest race. It was the first of the Post-Tour Crits. There racing, were Contador and Schleck to name just two. Our race was on just before theirs, so it attracted some classy bike riders. Belinda Goss and Kate Bates ended up in the front break of 6, and Kate did an awesome job for Belinda, who took the win!
Our last race in Alblasserdam was probably my best ride I had the whole month. I did nothing special, but my motivation was up, and I got in an early break on the first lap and made some significant improvements throughout the race. I just decided to go until my back gave up on me. Which it did, but I got further than I expected, so I was content with that. Three girls got away in a break, so unfortunately we didn’t podium, but Belinda won the bunch kick for 4th.
On our last day at in Vaassen, we had 4 hrs on our program, even though we’d finished racing. We woke up to a lot of rain! Not so good for the head, I can tell you that. So the ride had been postponed until the rain stopped, but my weather radar told me that wasn’t going to happen til the next day. So in the end, I compromised with Sutto about doing an ergo session instead, out of the rain. Turns out (probably as punishment for being the one who was stupid enough to ask for a program change) the girls got an easy 45mins E1 on the rollers, whilst I had efforts on the Ergo. Oucccch.. At least I can laugh about it now. =)
The day before our departure, we spent the afternoon in Amsterdam. Kate and Mum left the previous day, so then there were 3: Myself, Belinda and Mel (Hoskins). We spent 9 hours walking around, so toward the end, Belinda was the only keen one, and Mel and I just dragged our feet along behind her, while she took us through all the shops and the red light district.
That put an end to our trip. After having such a good time with the girls, I’m looking forward to seeing them again in a few months for track camps and the beginning of the new track racing season! Next big event is the first Track World Cup in Melbourne in December. Can’t wait to do this as the current World Champs!!
Take care everyone, thanks for your support!
Sarah!!
