Home sweet home

Upon settling back into Perth so quickly I keep asking myself, did I really just go to the USA and race for the last couple of months? How did that happen again? Nothing much has changed with the exception of the launch and team confirmation of our Plan B WA Racing Team. I have been busy preparing my next 3 months of training and racing- picking focus events, intense training periods and the formation of a new plan to keep my cycling improving. I am as motivated as ever.

It has been great to spend time with my husband, family and friends, plus catching up with everyone from cycling. Our state juniors are about to head off the Junior Road Nationals for U/15 and U/17 year olds, and their training is focused around this. Training last night with the Handsome Ladies (minus Dannika) is always a pleasure.

My puppy, Scofield, has doubled in size and thankfully remembered who I was (he has only known me for about half of his life). He is now on a crash course to learn some doggie discipline- party days with Daddy are over. Minkie (our other dog) is still gorgeous.

I have treated Luke (husband) with a new bike (pictured here) from Fleet Cycles, very stylish- the bike that seems to do everything well. Luke was impressed with the service from Perth Fleet- and the efficient and well-informed Mario.

Very special thank you to everyone who were integral to the success of my USA trip (you know who you are). It could have been bad, it could have been ugly…but instead it was amazing- because of you all. The standard of racing, the women racers, the events- maybe one day we can have a cycling culture like that in Perth. This trip has made me see those who strongly support my cycling pathway. In particular, I wanted to mention Rae and her perfectly timed message, with the pink sparkley “Go Davina” bringing a tear to my eye.

Some really impressive results from the US National champs, with the top 2 U/23s being my friends; Kacey Manderfield (Verducci Breakaway Racing) and Lindsay Myers (Dewars Racing Team). It is good to be able to see the results from the Elite women and to know you have raced with these women, strong performances by the sprint sensation Brooke Miller (TIBCO), and Theresa Cliff-Ryan (Verducci Breakaway Racing).

So as I adapt to the cold weather, lack of peanut butter flavour in every food group and dropping the word ‘dude’ from my vocabulary, I am home. For a few weeks anyway.