Gravel World Championships top 5 Age group finish!

Continuing on with the theme of people in their fifties living their best lives and achieving outstanding results, in this post we hear from Daniela Mollica, the mother of three from the St Kilda cycling club who recently competed at the UCI Gravel age group championships.   I met Daniela for the first time at the Amy Gillet Gran Fondo in Lorne earlier this year, when we rode in the same bunch along the Great Ocean Road, where she showed her dogged determination to stay with the bunch, no matter how hard things got.  To her credit, she won  the 50-54 age group. A week later, I bumped into her at the Northern Combine Pastoria race, where she won B grade women's. Over to Daniela to tell her story about a day out, that she is never likely to forget.

 

So on Saturday 7th of Octover in Treviso, Italy I rode the 2023 UCI gravel world championships.  The race was the hardest gravel race I have ever done. It was brutal…but magnificent! My body feels battered from all of the rocks flying that hit us and the challenges of controlling the bike on sections often better suited to mountain bikes.


There were steep gravel climbs (multiple times over 20%) & technical descents with river crossings and single tracks. Vineyards, ancient reo exposed in old concrete roads, people falling, mechanicals, 1000’s of turns, dust and unseasonal heat of 30+ degrees…

The racing was on from the start with 2 girls away and 4 of us chasing. I had to burn a lot of matches to stay in the race and got over the first two climbs without conceding time. The next climb saw me drop a bit (sooooo steep! 26% on old concrete roads) but I got it back on the technical descent. On the last climb I dropped to 7th as two girls passed me, but i didn’t give up and got one back as she was walking the 25% gravel top section, which I rode and then passed the next one as she walked the perilous rocky dangerous descent which I rode like a woman possessed. I held them off in the final twisty turny 4km and cramped in the final 500m but maintained 5th.

… it was AWESOME. I loved it, gave it my all, rode every inch of it and left nothing out there. Sure I was gunning for a podium but I’m super stoked with 5th. Those girls were strong and fierce!!!

Huge Thankyou to @murray.cod for holding the fort at home. To Matthew Jackson at CycleInn for the new stead. To my wingman Rob and to my coach @robert.aughey for the preparation.




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Northern Combine St Kilda Trophy Race (Where's the pothole patrol?)

Image
A field of 54 gathered at the Kyneton Showgrounds for the final event of the Northern Combine 2023 road race series to contest the St Kilda Trophy Race on the Pastoria circuit.  Under clear skies and a prevailing north westerly wind, Chief Commissaire David Cutajar was clear in his pre-race briefing, watch out for the potholes. Upon closer inspection, that's not a pothole, it looked more like a shallow grave.  Don't say you weren't warned.  So today, let's pay homage to country singer Joey Holiday, who summed up the situation best when he sang  Where's the Pothole Patrol ?   The feature climb of the 19km rolling Pastoria circuit is Mt St Mary, 2.36km at an average of 4.6% is more like a set of stairs than a climb, with its repetitious inclines and false flats, which made it difficult for the pure climbers to exploit.  More of a course for the puncheurs, rather than the climbers.   A Grade  saw only 2 riders, Dean Madden and last week’s Alf Walker Hcp winner Jame
Read more

Easter Epic 2024 / Everest Roam

Image
After doing an Everest in late December 2023, I really had no interest in doing anything quite like it again, other than supporting those who supported me on the day in their quest, when and if they were ready.   However, when a window of opportunity opened for the Easter long weekend to do an Everest Roam, I thought let's do it.  An Everest Roam is a ride consisting of climbing 10,000 metres, covering at least 400km, within 36 hours.  Sleep is allowed and you can drive from point to point in between climbs. I put it out to my Everest support crew, Gruppetto Melbourne and Knights of Suburbia, here in Melbourne.  Other than a few laughs at my expense, and don't worry, I laughed at myself too, one brave soul put up his hand to join me on day 2 from Tawonga to Falls Creek.  Thanks to Joel, my brother from another mother.  It was great sharing the time with you. I want to say a special thanks to the guy from Southern Vets (now Masters) who 40 years ago, invited me as a 16 year old
Read more

Rob Monk Memorial Handicap - Race Report

Image
Every now and then, an event screams, enter me and bring a few mates along with you. And so it was, that a group of five of us from Brunswick and Northern Cycling Clubs made our way to Darnum, east of Warragul for the Rob Monk Memorial Handicap on Saturday 28 th October. While none of us knew Rob personally, I found myself in the same Kinglake cycles bunch as Rob's son Cyrus a few years ago when he was riding with Drapac-EF and still have the PRs thanks to Cyrus' tenacity to drive things from the front. This led to me tuning into his podcast appearances on the Semi-Pro Cycling pod and following him on Strava. I'd go so far as to say, heading out to this race was my mark of respect to Cyrus, his family and the Warragul cycling community, who were remembering a man who meant so much, to so many, in the best way possible. Rob & Cyrus Monk Arriving with plenty of time to ride the 8km course beforehand, Andrew Gannon, Steve Saunders and myself headed out on our recon, but n
Read more