Emma Colson is one of three Australian representatives for the women's cross country mountain bike...
Emma Colson will be representing (Image credit: Mark Gunter)
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.
Cyclingnews: Tell us about your training session this morning
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.
CN: Did you do a few repeats of that?
EC: Yeah, I did six of them this morning and then I went out motor pacing on Beach Road [the popular training route for local cyclists and venue for the road time trial].
CN: Did you bump into Kathy Watt?
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!
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CN: Did you wear your Australian team kit when you were out on the road?
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.]
