2011 Season……Done
Home! Another season done and what a season it has been.
A full season of World Cups with Olympic points up for grabs and now a Bronze in the Teams Pursuit and a Silver in the Individual to finish off the season at the World Championships in Apeldoorn, Holland.
We raced hard and put everything out there on the track. But it was a little disappointing to be racing for the Bronze yet again and not the Gold. The standards we are setting for ourselves within Bike NZ now mean that there is only one truely acceptable result – the Gold. I think this mind set is a credit to were the program is now at, and while we equalled our best ever medal haul at a World Championships we are still not completely satisfied.
The Individual Pursuit final was an amazing race to be a part of. When you lose by 0.3sec the initial reaction is pure disappointment. There is nothing that replicates that sinking feeling I felt when I crossed the finish line with a seemingly simultaneous “BANG”, “BANG”. Of course I pray that my ears were playing tricks on me and that the first “Bang” hadn’t come from the other side of the track, but deep down I knew. Still I looked to the score board for confirmation and saw it there in bright lights a glearing ’2′ beside my name, and a big bright ’1′ beside Hammers. Still I gave it everything out there and executed a well planned race that made Hammer fight for the right to wear that prestigious Rainbow Jersey and this year I have to be satisfied with Silver. Hammer went faster, so for now she is the World Champion.
http://tvnz.co.nz/othersports-news/shanks-pipped-post-gold-1-27-video-4088085
Another special part of the World Championships this year was having my Mum and Dad in the stands. It was their first ‘Big’ live cycling meet and they certainly had their share of action. They had to contend with the very vocal Dutch supporters and both wore their New Zealand emblazoned supporters clothing with pride. Dad said it was a great feeling to be a Kiwi supporter and the respect that everyone has for “Kiwi’s” around the world made him so proud to be supporting our team.
So its the end of the season – time for a break off the bike, some relaxation and a refresh. It will be the lasts real break before beginning the long haul through to the London Olympics. I’m excited about the challenges that lie ahead and I want to thank everyone for your support this season. This is just the start and we are going to need all the support we can get during our quest for gold in London. It is such an awesome feeling knowing that when we compete we have you cheering us on back home. It makes me so proud to be a kiwi and race for our wonderful New Zealand.
Ali