AN explosive start, some hard chasing and a top five result - Emily Watts certainly had a mix of experiences at the Oceania Road Championships.
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The talented Lithgow local put her legs to the test against some of the best female riders from Australia and New Zealand at the Tasmanian hosted titles.
She contested both the under 23 time trial and the road race, lining up in the same field as the elite women for the latter.
In Friday's individual time trial there was drama for Watts before she set off in her race against the clock as the tube in one of her tyres exploded.
Fortunately her father was on hand to do the repairs and she was able to start.
Watts clocked a time of 41:07.65 to place seventh, finishing 2:32 down on gold medallist Sarah Gigante.
"Went out hard and got a bit excited with the good legs that I had," she said.
In Saturday's 105.5 kilometre road race - which was split over four laps of the same course - Watts and her rivals were watchful early on.
A group of nine riders managed to break away after the third lap, but Watts still chased hard until the line to place 14th outright and fifth in her under 23s category.
She was just over four minutes off the pace of under 23s victor Gigante, who averaged 31.7km/hr.
"The pace was on early up the climbs on course and then off on the flats. Everyone was watching to be in the early break, which never really came to be," she said.
"Missed the split on the third loop and chased back for the last lap with a little group that I found myself in."
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