She has swapped test tubes for cycling and is riding a borrowed bike, but Canberra’s Louisa Lobigs hopes her sporting gamble delivers a Cycling Australia scholarship next week.
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Lobigs is trying to impress Australian coaches at the AIS in a gruelling mental and physical military-style test designed to discover the next female road race star ready to compete in Europe.
Lobigs usually spends her time taking athletes’ blood in the AIS laboratories rather than training.
But just nine months after swapping her athletics dreams for two wheels, the former middle-distance runner is on the verge of a remarkable transition.
‘‘I’m still learning a lot ... I was working at the AIS last year in the haematology and biochemistry lab and my boss got me into cycling when I was getting a bit sick of running,’’ Lobigs said.
‘‘A normal day for me was running the machines, taking blood and doing research.
‘‘Ultimately you hope to get selected at the end of this camp. But I just want to see where I need to improve and find out what my weaknesses are.’’
Cycling Australia coaches will push the hopeful athletes to the brink of exhaustion during the two-week selection camp.
The camp includes lessons on how to crash properly, psychological assessment and physical testing.
Head coach Martin Barrass joked the riders would need to ‘‘go to bed for a month’’ when the camp finished.
The prize at the end of 10 days of work is a scholarship and chance to race internationally.
‘‘We put them through everything. We have a thing called ‘the removal of hope’ and remove all hope they have of completing the training just to see who is resilient,’’ Barrass said.
‘‘Most of them who complete the camp will probably go to bed for a month. Physically and mentally they’ll be a wreck.’’
The training has already taken a toll, with the original 20 riders already trimmed to a smaller group.
Barrass says Lobigs is ‘‘from left field’’ because she has no cycling background.
Barrass first met Lobigs as a lab assistant and was impressed with her work on training bikes.
The 23-year-old doesn’t even own a proper road-racing bike. Bikes can cost upwards of $10,000.
Lobigs is borrowing bikes until she’s convinced she has a future in the sport.
‘‘I’m definitely a bit nervous, but excited as well,’’ Lobigs said.
‘‘This camp is a great way to challenge yourself and see where you’re at. You can compare yourself to all the top girls in Australia.
‘‘I haven’t done too much racing, so that’s a disadvantage, but you just learn so much here and it’s interesting.’’
