Pretty special being in Melbourne

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Emma Colson will be representing(Image credit: Mark Gunter)

An interview with Emma Colson, March 21, 2006

Emma Colson is one of three Australian representatives for the women's cross country mountain bike race to be held at Lysterfield this Thursday, and as Cyclingnews' Mal Sawford finds out half the fun for this 37-year-old physiotherapist is the fact she'll be racing on home turf, which is something pretty special. He caught up with her at her inner-city Melbourne terrace after a tough Sunday morning training session.

Emma Colson: Mountain bike starts are my weakness. I dragged Dave [husband and local MTB guru David Olle] out of bed - we had to get going early because he had to work. We went down and sort of found something that approximated the start at Lysterfield [the Commonwealth Games MTB venue]; a bit of gravel rise then across the grass. He gets me over the first 30 seconds every time but after two minutes I'm past him.

EC: No I didn't see her; I didn't see her this time. I see her quite a bit down there. She's quite recognisable - her and Carey [Hall, Watt's coach and partner]. My motor pacer had a nicer bike than Carey has though! The real upright old Vespa, a cool looking thing. I was meant to go motor pacing on Thursday but he didn't turn up - he ended up getting a puncture on the way down there and had to get the thing towed!

EC: Yeah, so you get a few 'Go Aussies' - it's pretty good. I just thought if the cops picked us up they might be a little bit lenient given that we're breaking the law! [The time trial course wasn't scheduled to be closed for practice until the following day, but a number of riders including Kathy Watt hold regular motor paced sessions on Beach Road without interference from the local constabulary.]

EC: Rosara Joseph [from New Zealand, who won in Rotorua] is in very good form, Kiara Bisaro [Canada] perhaps not; I was kind of with her on the first lap which was surprising, so I don't think she is in the form that we perhaps expected. But it was also a very different course with really steep climbs, so she might be better on a course like Lysterfield. It seems like Rosara Joseph can ride anything! I think she'll be a hot contender - everyone is talking about [Olympic silver medalist Marie-Helene] Premont, but I think Rosara is going to be good. She seems like she can ride the Geelong tour and the world cup then do alright at Oceania's - I think she won there. Dellys Starr [Australia] gave it [mountain bike racing] away for X-terra and recently came back into it. She's got an extremely explosive start which is good because that course after two minutes is into very tight single track. So I think Dellys will have a good race. I don't know what she is like right at the moment, whether her form is the same as what it has been recently.

EC: Certainly; I mean when I say it's not technical, its just a different kind of technical, I suppose. A lot of people are talking about it as a 'roadies' course but I do know roadies that have gone out there and just can't get around it - they were thinking of maybe doing the selection race and then went 'nup'! So when you ride it at speed it's really quite different to most mountain bike races in that there's not a lot of climbing and there aren't things that you really get scared of.

EC: Ah that's an interesting question, but I think from a team perspective our directive will be not to impede our team mates, but it's kind of difficult to work as a team in mountain bike racing - you almost sort yourselves out according to your physiology. We certainly haven't been grouped to train as a team. Mountain biking has always been a very individual sport and I know with the selection criteria I did ask whether the team dynamics would come into it, and that was absolute; the answer was 'no'. They have never been able to use team dynamics, they've never been able to select someone who can explode everyone for 30 minutes and then doesn't finish the race kind of thing. So it is unlike road in that respect.

EC: Well, they are running under the international rules and it's just another thing to think about. I think it is a bit of a nightmare because there are three tech zones, so you've got to sort out in training where you are on the course and how far away tech zones are and do the sums in your head under pressure - how long it's going to take you to change a wheel versus if you rolled into the tech zone on a flat wheel which is going to cost you time and changing the wheel anyway...so without tech zones I think it's very straightforward - you just fix the thing and get going, and that's how it is for everyone. With tech zones it's just more to think about, but if you're close and something goes wrong of course you will use them.

EC: Yes, I was a physio for the women's road team from 1997 until 2000. I went to Sydney as the official physio with the women's road team. Prior to that I was racing some mountain bike and because of that commitment [team physio], and the fact that I owned a practice I had to give racing away. After that it kind of always bugged me. It was actually Kristy [Scrymgeour, a member of the Australian women's road team in the late 90's] a few years ago, who suggested I should get back into it. I was getting fit again, and Kristy was suggesting that I should try and get up for Comm Games...so Dave [Olle] blames Kristy!

EC: Yeah a little bit, I think I certainly feel the fittest I have ever felt in my life right now. So age doesn't seem to have an effect on my strength. I guess I'll wonder if I was younger whether I'd have a bit more explosiveness at the start, which is one of my main problems, but certainly just in terms of keeping the laps going and punching it out and keeping going in the race I tend to come good at the end of the race which maybe is a factor of age.

EC: My goal is just to be consistent, punch out consistent laps. I think if I can do that, you know you have to be realistic about the competition - they are very good, world class. So if I have a blinder and other people don't, that'll be what gets me on the podium and that's what I'm hoping for. You can only control what you do yourself not what everyone else is up to; I just want to perform to the best of my ability and look back on the race and not have any regrets.

EC: There is a big Emma cheer squad going out there. It's pretty special doing it in your home town - it's just incredible, really. They have ticketed, or they have sold or given away 12,000 tickets, but who knows how many will turn up? It's unfortunate the way they have done it because there are mountain bikers that can't get tickets and I'm sure there are people who probably just ticked the box because it was free. Dave and I went in the ballot and we applied for 20 each so we got 40, and I got another seven as an athlete.

It's pretty exciting; all my nieces and nephews are getting into it. My little niece and her class down at Warrnambool primary school, plus this other little school out at Grassmere have taken me on as their Comm Games athlete. They all wrote me all these sort of things; everyone is like, 'Go Emma I hope you win a gold medal', and 'Go Emma I hope you win a gold medal, but if you don't that's ok'! That's pretty cute. So that's the whole domestic thing. I don't know if it would feel like that if it was in Sydney, but it's pretty special being in Melbourne.

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