Inspirational quote of the day:

"I am not a has-been. I am a will be."

Lauren Bacall

Latest News

26.09.09 The world championships!

19.05.09 Humsterland

Omloop middag-humsterland 9.4.09 is a 1.2 UCI race in Holland. I raced here last year and it is typical Dutch races with a lot of wind no hills and a lot of girls! I don’t mind these types of races; we had a strong team here and were confidant for a team victory! The goal for the day was to lead Rochelle Gilmore out for the sprint finish. Vera a Dutch girl in our team was to attack and go with breaks during the race and I was to sit around Rochelle and work as much for her and bring her to the finish fresh and strong. It all came down to plan with 5kms to go the lotto-belisol girls had a train on the front of the peloton (basically all the girls were on the front riding in one line as fast as possible to the finish). I was on the front with 1km to go and lead Rochelle into a easy sprint finish for 1^st place! This was a great team result and with a new sponsor ceramic speed watching we couldn’t have asked for more :).

Winning in Norway!

On the weekend of the 1^st,2^nd,3^rd of May I travelled to Norway with a team member Linn Torp. This was a Norwegian cup race with 3 stages, an Individual time trial 16kms, 90km road race and 110km road race. This race was held in Linns home town so it was important for her sponsors that we race here and also race well! With a strong field of 70 girls we were focused on the 2 road stages where we knew we could get results. The First road race was over a tough undulating course with some hard climbs. Linn and I attacked several times only to have the peloton chase us back! We were pretty confidant for the sprint that was a long 500m uphill drag. We didn’t really have a plan except to get both of us on the podium. We made a decision to start the sprint from a certain point and found ourselves with a fair margin over the rest of the bunch! I couldn’t believe it when I crossed the line in first place throwing my hands in the air with linn just beside me coming in for second! This is my first win for the season and I can’t tell you how good that feeling is when you win a race! It’s nice to know all that hard work is paying off and it’s great for the confidence in my races coming up!

World cup fleche wallone!

Fleche wallone is a famous one day classic race in Belgium and is the 3^rd round of the women world cup series. This is a tough race made famous by the mur de huy,a steep climb to the finish. I was happy just to get a start here as it is a race I have wanted to do and experience. We had a clear goal for the day and that was to get our climber grace verbeke in the best position for the finish. We had bad luck from the start with grace in a crash a broken bike and two bike changes! We had plenty of work! My job was to support grace as much as possible. Unfortunately my day was over on the final climb but the team finished with a good result of 14^th! It was a great experience to do this race with all the crowds there watching the men racing at the same time! We finished the day in our team sponsors tent; lotto and watched cadel evens fight it out for a 4^th place!

16.03.09 First races in Europe...

I have now been in Belgium for 2 weeks and have already raced 4 times! My first race,6/4 Dottignies, was unexpected as it wasnt planned for me to do. But any racing is good and i was eager to get started, especially before the world cup in holland the following week!

I did this race last year and placed well in the first bunch 22nd(from memory), so i was looking forward to improving on that and also helping the team to a possible win. With our new sprinter Rochelle Gilmore we were confident if it came to sprint we would have a chance. So my job was to look after Rochelle and save myself for the end of the race. I was having a lot of bad luck from the start. I couldn't get my chain in the big chain ring most of the race, every time i tried it just dropped down! After making it over the last climb of the day in the front,we were decending very fast when i hit a speed bump (and a hole earlier!), which i assume is the cause of my front brakes coming completly lose! As i looked down after hearing a weired noise i was not feeling good with no front breaks! As i dropped back they started to put the hammer down on the front, and splits were starting to form. I tried for a quick bike change..twice! But had to settle for the second bunch and eventually stopped on the smaller laps. So a little bit of bad luck, but the form felt good and i was crash free and healthy for the

next race.

10,11,13th Drenthe Worldcup.

The Drenthe world cup is always a tough race,with flat roads,cobbles,wind and 160 girls in the peleton! We had a good team here and were looking for some good results over the 3 days. Rochelle was the team leader for these races, and we had a good team to support her for the sprint at the end. My job for most of these races was to sit around Rochelle and save myself for the 2nd half of the race. The first race was fast and for me a good race just to get the legs up to speed again! Rochelle finished 4th in the bunch sprint which was great for the team. I rolled over the line in 40th.

The 2nd race was a tough 140km race 5 times over the VAMBERG! A famous short steep climb here over a rubbish tip!! I felt really strong in this race and was in the front bunch the whole day with Rochelle. It was good to feel that i am a little stronger from last year, and to hear that from my DS was also a confidance booster! I triedd to help Rochelle for the sprint, but in the end a small group got away! I rolled over in the first bunch for 29th.

The big one! The world cup!

We had two girls in the team that were the team leaders for the day, Grace and Rochelle. Our job was to help and ride for these girls. It was 140km race with 3 sections of 3kms of cobbles...ouch! The team had a lot of bad luck from the start with Vera crashing just before the first cobbles and had to go to hospital after opening up her elbow! Approaching the 2nd lot of cobbles i was feeling really good and sitting top 10 of the bunch with Grace. Shortly after thinking how good this was, Grace was coming back with a rear flat tire! I was behind her and we pulled over for a quick change of wheels! I put the wheel in and pushed Grace off, then having to wait for the neutral spare to give me a back wheel! By the time this had happened the second bunch had gone passed and there were girls everywhere on the cobbles! I tried to pace back on but little did i know that Rochelle had crashed not long before that, and 2 of the girls from the team were pacing her back up to the bunch! With one more section of cobbles to go i knew i had no chance by myself to get up to these girls with the speed they had. And because the bunch was so split it took a while before my team car came up, but they couldn't do anything to help me up to the next bunch! Grace managed to attack with another girl and was away with 6 girls to the finish. Grace came in 5th and Rochelle 12th!

It was a great team result!

31.3.09 Back in Europe

I arrived in Norway on the 23rd of March to alot of snow! It took me 1 small flight from Albury with my family waving me off, 2 more long flights from Melbourne to London and 1 small flight to Norway!All up around 30hrs of travelling! The jet lag has been pretty good and it didnt take long before i was back into normal training,even with the cold and snow! I am leaving for Belgium tomorrow and look forward to meeting up with the team and getting all the new equipment. We start racing next week and will head to Holland for the Drenthe World cup on the 101213 april. Will update more when i am in belgium :).

(Snowing in Norway!)

14.3.09 A succesful night!

On the 14th of march I had my fundraiser dinner! With around 160 people, dinner, auctions and Sara and Glenn speaking, this was a great night and very succesful! The support I have recieved has been very motivating and drives me more towards my goals this year and towards London Olympics 2012. I would like to say a big thankyou to everbody who came on the night and supported me. Thanks to Ken from unique memoribilia, Gavin for being a great MC! and Glenn and Sara for being great guest speakers! I hope everybody enjoyed the night.

18.3.09 MAC 09, racing in Albury

On the weekend of the 8th9th of March Albury held the MAC 09 Criteriums. Its always hard to get a high number of women to race but it was great to see so many girls racing in Albury with some girls travelling from Canberra. I was wanting to put on a good race as i dont get to race at home very often. With my training still in full swing and no easing off for the weekend I was still doing 150km rides including the race! I still felt strong and was happy with 2nd place on both days!

18.01.09 Young achiever of the year

Emma has been nominated for the Young Achiever of the Year Award!

Emma has been nominated for Norske Skogs young achiever of the year award in Albury. Emma is one of 12 nominees, the winner will be announced on the 13th of march.

Read the Border Mail's article about Emmas nomination here

14.01.09 Recent Results at Nationals and Bay crits

Bay Crits Results: 5th,6th,7th&7th and 6th over-all

Nationals: 22nd

Recently I have had my first lot of racing for the start of the Australian series! I had some great results at the Jayco Bay Crits with a 6th place finish over-all! From there i raced at the Australian Nationals, over a challenging 10km circuit with a gruelling 3km climb each lap! Only half the field managed to finish this race and I could feel how early in the season it was for me being my first race since september 08! I managed a respectable 22nd and was happy with how my pre-season training has been coming along!

A big thank you to my cheer squad at the bay crits and nationals and everybody that has wished me luck! You are all a big boost:)

07.01.09 The Scody Australian Open Road Cycling Championships

Next up the australian road championships in Buninyoung. Start for the womens road race is 1.30pm.

For more information about the nationals:

Scody women's road race

Course map

Course elevation

06.01.09 Stage 5 Bay Crits

Emma finished the Bay Crits' last stage at Geelong Eastern Beach with a great 5th place!

With a challenging and fast course, aggressive riding and severel crashes, Emma also did an impressing race and was up the front by herself for 3 laps in the last 15min of the race. She got caught by a chasing group of 5 girls,which came back to 14 girls before the finish.

Emma is now on her way to Ballarat for the Scody Australian Open Road Cycling Championships, where she will do the last preperations for saturdays roadroad!

05.01.09 Stage 4 Bay Crits

6th place for Emma in todays race in Portarlington! This stage has the hardest circuit in the bay crits! And also today this is the best race emma has ever done in this course. Emma has now got 3 top tens in four races, and is 7th overall!

Tomorrow it's the 5th and last stage at Geelong Eastern Beach. The race is going in a 600metres fast, hot-dog course, and the girls are racing at 6pm.

04.01.09 Stage 2 & 3 Bay Crits

After yesterdays top 15 place, Emma came back with another top 10 place today! Like the first day Emma got in to a 7th place!

Todays stage 3 had a more difficult course than yesterday and it split up early. Emma was sitting in the first group from the start, but after a crash they restarted the race. Again it split up and Emma got herself in to the first group, which was down to 12 riders at the end!

- This is the best race I have ever done in this course, and Im very happy about getting in the first group today! I always try and position myself at the front and that worked out good today. I tried to get away one lap to go, but got chased back and was pretty tired when the sprint started. So Im very happy with a 7th place!

For race write up, photos and Emmas post race comment on stage 3, go to womenscycling.net, click here!

03.01.09 Stage 1 Bay Crits

Emma started off the first race in the bay crits with a 7th place!

- Im pretty happy with my race! After a long season os, I have been through some solid basetraining since the beginning of november, and haven't done any racing or had much time for racing preparation. So Im happy about how I felt today. As its getting harder the more back you are sitting in the bunch, I tried to position myself good and always try and sit up at the front, says Emma.

Today the girls are starting at 1.30pm at the Geelong Eastern Park, were they will be riding in a 2kilometers long course.

For more details about the races, click on the Jayco icon below.

02.01.09 Jayco Bay Classic Criterium

Already today Emma is doing the first race of the year!

From the 2nd to the 6th of January Emma will be doing the Bay Crits in Geelong!

Emma will be riding with the Pitchner Partners together with Belinda Goss, Amy Cure, Beth Canny and Chloe Hergert.

The first race starts at 1:30pm.

Race program:

Stage 1, fri 2 Jan: Williamstown. Start 1:30pm

Stage 2, sat 3 Jan: Geelong Eastern Park. Start 1:30pm

Stage 3, sun 4 Jan: Geelong Eastern Park. Start 2:20pm

Stage 4, mon 5 Jan: Portarlington. Start 1:30pm

Stage 5, tues 6 Jan: Geelong Eastern Beach, Rithey Boulevard. Start 6pm

For more information about the race and for results; click on picture.

After the Bay Crits Emma will head over to Ballarat and for the 2009 National road championships!

01.01.09 Happy new year!

I want to wish all of you a happy new year and all the best for 2009!

I would also like to thank my sponsors for the support in 2008!

Racing Reports 2008

19-23/06 Ster Zeeuwsche Eilanden, Ned (2.2W)

This weekend I was in Holland for a three day stage race. The first stage was at Vlissingen , 7.1km time trial. With 151 starters i was happy with my 49th place and felt really good. Vera was best placed on 9th! So it looked good for a top 10 gc finish.
Stage 2 was 109km. The plan was to help vera take some seconds back in the sprints and go with any breaks! I just tried to stay at the front. With so many girls and so much wind, there is always lots of crashes and splits in the field! With 20km to go i got a flat tire! But with the help of my ds i got new wheel and motor paced back to the fast peleton and went straight to the front! With abit of luck i was in a good position coming into the sprint with some fast short turns, and i found myself sprinting for another top 10 finish with a 9th place!
The last stage was 111kms. The wind wasnt as bad as the day before, and we all had a job to do to help vera get some seconds back on the first sprint! In the first 10kms there was a crash going over a brigde, and i found myself in it! When going to hop back on my bike i realised the tire had come off the wheel! But again thanks to my ds and mechanic i was quickly motorpaced back up to the bunch! With the first sprint coming i tried to get on the front and led vera out, but came out alittle early and a quick high road was coming past to take the points! A group managed to get away and vera was lucky to find herself in it and able to get 2nd and 3rd in the next to sprints! The bunch with a fast moving team high road caught the group 10km to go with a big bunch sprint. Linn and myself tried to help Vera for a good gc finish,i finished 13th with Linn 16th and Vera 20th! This also moved Vera up to a 7th place on gc! I finihed 40th.

With two top 10 finishes and some strong results for the first part of the season i am having alittle break this week and then rebuilding up to the next big stage races in july and the second half of the season!
Cheers em

8/06 Therme kasseienomloop

Sunday was the Therme kasseien! Meaning the cobble loop race! It was also a UCI 1.2 race, 126km race with 4 sections of 3km cobbles! I have learnt from experience to get to the front when the cobbles come ! And as i thought on the first set of cobbles the field split and Grace and myself were lucky enough to be in the front!
We had a group of around 20 girls and the pace was kept high from team flexpoint! Grace and myself just tried to cover anything that went and were completely empty by the finish, by the amount of times these girls try to get away! The pace was kept high coming into the finish and i was eager to have a good sprint. With some strong girls i tried to get a good position, but felt like i used alittle to much energy in the end. But still came out with a great result finishing 9th! With a top ten finish in a uci race i was pretty happy. The main bunch came in 5mins down with Vera taking 27th,Linn 43rd and Emma,s 59th.

7/06 Omloop Door Middag-Humsterland

After finishing the tour de l'aude in france and having abit of rest and training in the norwegian mountain, I was back in holland to do 2 races. The first on saturday, a UCI 1.2 race, 125km.
These races are always hard, a lot of girls on small flat roads and lots of wind! It was pretty agressive from the start, and I just tried to stay to the front and go with anything i could and stay out of trouble. It ended up splitting, and a group of 7 girls got away with Vera in the split from team lotto. Grace and myself were in the next bunch, and we were happy to have Vera up the road! It ended up being a good day for the team with vera taking the sprint and winning the race! My bunch was caught by the peloton with 10km to go and we were sprinting for 8th place. It was alittle bit hectic in the sprint, Grace was 20th and i was 29th.

27/05-03/06 Training in Norway

After 10 days in france i ventured to norway for a week of rest and training in the beautiful norwegian mountains in Beitostolen! To have a look at some pictures from my training there, go to photos!

Tour de l'Aude, Fra (2.2W)

I know i am a little late in updating everybody on this tour! So with some short details, this is one of the biggest tours you can do in womens cycling! And i was pretty excited and nervous to do this 10 day tour from the 16th-25th of may. From a ITT and a Team time trial to the french alps, this tour definantly has everything! I was amazed of how much the body can handle and how much you can push your self each day! We had some great results as a team with sara getting a 2nd place! And sofie finishing 22nd on gc, and i had a top result of 21st on st 3! I learnt and experienced a lot and have come out of this tour with some strong form, which will hopefully help me through out the rest of the year!
For the full results and photos you can go to cyclingnews.com.

16.05.08 Tour d'Laude

Emma was heading down to France for racing on Wednesday. And today is the first day of the big stage race Tour d'laude. The race is in the south of France and will be going for 10 days. Today the girls had a 4km prolog before they start the real stages tomorrow with a 113km roadrace.

22.03.08 Emma leaves for Italy!

On the 23rd Emma will head down to Italy with her new team Lotto-Belisol! The team will be doing the second w-cup, then training before racing again on the 29th and 30th. This will be the first time the whole team get together for racing and training.

5.03.08 Emma back in Europe

Im now back in Europe, and settling in into my new home in Belgium. Firstly I would like to thank my familyand friends in Albury for making my time home enjoyable. I will also like to thank everybody in AWCC and all the guys that I have been training with while I was home!

www.emmamackie.com