Who would have thought that hanging out around Caboolture could be fun?
Commonly referred to as the armpit of Brisbane, it is surprising what the outskirts of the town can offer.
Ah yes, just another week bike racing. The Sunshine Series round four was held at D'Aguilar, close to Caboolture, on a hilly and technical course with a beautiful backdrop of rolling green hills.
Aido and I had our new Cyclinic kit on, and rocked up early to a chilly 10 degrees on the hilltop.
Following a practice lap—with a white-knuckle descent breaking up the paddock bashing and fire-road dominated course—we shot off in our respective categories.
Having been sick for about a week, I was quite content to toodle along and finish the course, especially as I was unnecessarily wigged out about the descent. Instead of sprinting off the line—my favourite trick—I decided to take it a bit easier and play the goat.
I led out Erin for the first lap she overtook me on the technical descent and then I followed her through the second lap. Through this lap, I was a bit worried that the speed we were racing at wasn't going to be high enough to fend off the other girls, so once again taking her line down the descent, I teetered on the tip of my saddle up the nasty fire-road climb, just trying to stick in front.
It worked, and so i just tried to hold that position, not really feeling the best or trying to smash it. My head was throbbing and I was just trying to hold on. I ended up losing two minutes on my last lap due to catastrophic failure on the descent (and I was riding so well until then!) and general fried-ness from the hot sun and the hard climbs.
Alas, I held on to the lead by a pretty good margin anyway, and found myself struggling to pop champagne on the top of the podium. Hurrah!
However, I would like to raise a point about gender inequality. How is it that despite doing the same training, having the same lung-busting pain on the climbs and requiring technical ability on the descents (just like the boys) women still find themselves stuck in a paradigm whereby men—simply my having a cock and balls (or ball if you're Lance Armstrong, but I digress...) find themselves coming off financially better after a win?
It boggles the mind.