“Right now I’m going to try and see how long I can get away with racing it all.”
Those were the comments of Dubbo’s Megan Dunn when she spoke to the Daily Liberal yesterday afternoon as she was resting up and preparing for last night’s Women’s Criterium event of the 2010 Australian Open Road Cycling Championships in Ballarat.
Over the past month the 18-year-old has shown the cycling world the full extent of her versatility by featuring highly in sprint, criterium and pointscore events across the country, including third overall in the four-day Jayco Bay Series Cycling Classic in Geelong earlier this week.
Bay Series winner Rochelle Gilmore, 28, was the overwhelming favourite to continue her incredible form in last night’s one-hour event but Dunn hinted she would apply some surprise tactics.
“I’ll be taking a different approach to what I did in the Bay Series,” Dunn said in the hours leading up to the event.
“I don’t feel I have anything to lose, so I might try to get an early break.
“Overall it was a good result to get third in the Bay Series, it was a big effort to get on the podium, both for myself and the team.
“We took a more conservative approach during the series and it’s not usually my role to be the sprinter for the team so it was very different and I learnt a lot. As a team we were very happy.”
Dunn rode for the five-rider Jayco VIC/NSW IS team in the Bay Series.
But at the Australian Open Road Cycling Championships she’s flying solo and tomorrow Dunn will contest the 102km Women’s Road Race.
Dunn completed her first ever road race when she was the highest placed Australian finishing 15th at the World Junior Road Cycling Championships in Moscow in August.
“I did a lap of the circuit today and it’s quite difficult,” Dunn said.
“After the road race I will be heading to Adelaide for a training camp before heading to the Beijing World Cup on January 20 for three days of racing.
“In Beijing I will be competing against the best riders in the world and will be one of the youngest riders there. It will be more about learning for me, and will give me a good chance to experience elite racing.
“Then I’ll return to Adelaide to train for the Australian Track Cycling Championships which will also be in Adelaide.”
The Australian Track Championships, to be held from February 2 to 7, will double as the selection trials for the Australian Commonwealth Games team.
“I’m not exactly sure of the selection criteria, but I’ve been told my job is to win the pointscore,” Dunn, who graduated Year 12 at Dubbo College Senior Campus in 2009, said.
“But I’m still only 18 so I haven’t put pressure on myself to make the team, it’s in the back of my head, but it’s not a priority.”
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