CYCLING - Southorn on the road to Beijing

Fiona Southorn had no idea if she had done enough. Now she is wondering how much more she can do.
The 40-year-old cyclist from Waipu found out yesterday that she is heading to Beijing as a member of the New Zealand Paralympics team to race the 500m time trial, the 3000m individual pursuit and the 24.6km road time trial at the Beijing Paralympics.
It is a selection that comes after her biggest year of competition on an international circuit, a series of cycling events that culminated in two gold medals at the Australian Track Cycling championships held in Sydney in February.
But even after that impressive performance, Southorn had no clue if she had done enough to prompt the interest of the New Zealand Paralympic selectors.
She needn't have worried. Her form on the bike was always going to be enough.
"It's been a long hard road this one, but now I am definitely relieved and excited too," Southorn said.
"Paralympics aren't always clear with times and selection process, so I was up in the air until I got the call.
"My times were quite good at the Pan American championships in Columbia last year and I have not lost form or anything in terms of times.
"But I wasn't sure I had made it until I got the call."
Hence the hectic competition schedule Southern threw herself into over the past 12 months.
The medals in Sydney were preceded with international cycling meets in France where she placed fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh. She then scored four consecutive fourth placings at Columbia before getting three silver medals at the Arafura games in Darwin and various club cycling races all over the country.
"You just had to go to everything and do well. Trying to peak numerous times during the year was pretty tough though."
Now Southorn expects her cycling regime to step up another notch. She is bracing herself for three months of hard-core cycling training, a programme that has already started to kick into gear.
Having spent time honing her track cycling skills on the new velodrome in Invercargill, she hopes to head to warmer climes to prepare for racing in Beijing.
"We have already started ramping the training up during the last few weeks, the next month is going to be quite tough getting the body used to training a bit harder and we are hopefully heading overseas to train in an indoor velodrome," she said.
"We are hoping to go to Perth, but if we can't get enough track time there we will go to Sydney, which is not quite as warm but definitely warmer than Invercargill."
The challenge for Southorn now is to try to shave a few more seconds off her cycling times and move from rank outsider to definite medal prospect. Southorn is well-known in Whangarei cycling circles, a regular rider in weekly Sunday bunch rides where she cruises the roads matching her able bodied counterparts for speed and endurance. But there will be a noticeable step up in competition in Beijing.
"I wouldn't say my medal prospects would be high, but it is definitely a possibility. I will have to shave some time off my 500m time trial because I am not much of a sprinter, but the 3km and the road time trial are my key events."
Southorn, who has one arm shorter than the other, is part of a New Zealand cycling team of five.