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Well in my last blog I promised to give an update on the Gran Fondo World Championship TT in Japan… it’s now been over a month since the race (apologies; September was manic!) but perhaps that’s allowed time for reflection.
So first the headline. I finished 2nd (both in my age group and in terms of overall females), 6 seconds off the win. Even though quite some time has passed since the race that actually still hurts a little to write. I had a pretty solid ride in terms of power but as one of the final riders off I did have to navigate some frustrating overtakes of 4 or 5 riders, several of whom were on road bikes and not really holding a consistent line. Did that cost me 6 seconds? Perhaps. But in reality I should have built up enough of a buffer that the overtakes didn’t matter. The long and short of it is that I hadn’t made this race a priority until far too late.
In all honesty, back in January I was close to calling it a day on cycling. Something inside me knew that I wasn’t really done though and there have been plenty of things since that have reinforced this. However as a result, I’ve had a bit of a ‘jumbled’ season. I’d already qualified for the UCI Gravel World Championships from a race in Thailand last November but since that race wasn’t until October 10th (2 days ago as I write), there was a lot of season left to fill in! I’ve done some more unusual events (Samla 100 - a 100km 4 discipline race in Qatar - as well as Royal Copenhagen half marathon) and trips that I’ve wanted to take with friends, but as a result things haven’t been as focussed as they have in the past. I don’t regret this; in fact I think I’ve needed it. But Japan was never on my radar at the start of 2026. I entered the qualifying event in France (66 Degrees Sud) because it happened to coincide with a commentary trip I was taking at the end of April and then it wasn’t until after I won that people asked me if I would be racing Worlds. After some consideration I decided that I would, the temptation of a trip to Japan being too good to pass up on!
As I mentioned in my previous blog, that qualifier plus one other open event were the only TTs I did in the whole of 2025 and 2026 prior to Japan. What’s more, I just didn’t train enough on the TT bike this year. I started ‘panic training’ from 9th August onwards but this was 18 days before the Gran Fondo. All things considered it’s actually a miracle that I ended up with a silver medal; I didn’t really deserve the win, as much as I wanted it.
My training for the 2.5 weeks before race day was actually extremely solid. It was focussed, committed and reminiscent of the period prior to Commonwealth Games in 2018. And I actually really enjoyed the process (I just wish I’d started it a little earlier). Saying that, I also took the opportunity to enjoy my time in Japan, knowing that I was leaving the day after the race. I executed all of my training as planned but also visited Unkai Cloud Terrace, Farm Tomita, Biei and Otaru. I’ve previously struggled with a good race/life balance but I didn’t want to travel all the way to Japan and only experience a 15km stretch of road. I have zero regrets regarding making the decision to do a little additional driving, setting some earlier alarms and taking the opportunity to soak in some experiences that I may never come around again. The icing on the cake for the trip was catching up with Karina Bowie - someone I met in my very early days of time trialling and was actually present in Australia when I won my Commonwealth Games medal. I’ve not seen her in years but we had coffee and chatted and I was reminded of so many reasons why I fell in love with time trialling.
Japan may not have given me the result that I wanted but I actually returned home with a lot more. I know that I want to continue racing at the highest level and that I still have the drive to push myself. I’ve been reminded that I enjoy the process and am still capable of the work and dedication required. However I also learned that I’m capable of combining high level sport with real life, enjoying experiences that are offered to me and finding a balance that works. There are so many people in my corner who believe in me and are there to support me if I reach out; something I’m not good at but should do more. Cycling is so much about community and the time trialling community is where it all began for me. I look forward to stepping back into it a little more next year.
Going into the winter I plan to write a little about training plans, nutrition tips and other similar topics. I’ve already had requests for this type of blog and would love to hear from you if there are topics you’d like me to write about!