How Swiss

Yippeeee.....yodaladewhooooooo (okay, that's not even close), but I saw the Swiss Alps today. I truely didn't believe Sandra when she said that you could see them from the house, it's been so overcast everday....but today we had sunshine and lots of blue clouds. We drove a little closer to get a better picture.

Ahhh, my Swiss love...hehe.

Race Day

Section of the course called "Dual Speed"

Got up nice and early, had a huge bowl of porridge, sat with the window open and enjoyed the really nice sunny German weather…and got ready for the race. Sunday was the second World Cup of the season in Offenburg, Germany, and I was totally expecting a mudfest after reports from last year and the forecast from the week. But we were all very pleasantly surprised by the 24ish degree heat and lots of sunshine come Sunday morning…I definitely couldn’t have been happier.

Warm-up felt good, my legs finally felt like they were coming back to life…maybe the flu/food poisoning from two weeks ago took a little more out of me then I would have liked to admit. My start position was 59 this week, one up from last week. Not great, but considering how painful last week was, I’m definitely not complaining. The start laps were fast and short, 2 laps of the 1.1 km loop with a really steep climb in the middle. I started off pretty good, but kept getting pinched out by other racers just clawing their way forward. Each time on the steep climb I was able to punch it and pass a number of girls.

The first three laps I found extremely painful, I just couldn’t settle into a rhythm and I found myself very quickly dropping farther and farther back in the pack. I was able to stick on Alison Sydor’s wheel for about a half lap (that’s a really cool feeling..I mean, she’s a living Canadian mountain bike legend), but soon lost contact. Soon afterwards, Emily Batty passed me easily, and I almost lost contact with her wheel, but that’s when my legs finally decided to come out and play.

By the end of the fourth lap, I was told I was in about 45th position, but with a number of positions just ahead. There isn’t a lot of climbing all at once in this course, so it’s deceiving I think, and a lot of people go out really hard and the bonk creeps up on you….there was aver 1100m of climbing over the entire race, so that isn’t shabby. I was feeling great, and picking riders off like a mad woman..hehe, it was awesome. It’s an absolutely amazing experience racing here, the organizers created a walking loop for the spectators that was really easy to navigate, they had various food vendors out on the course, and announcers at a couple of the difficult drops commentating and just raising the excitement of the crowd that much more. Having almost 20,000 people lining the course, watching and cheering definitely gives you the goose bumps, it’s a neat atmosphere.

By the end of the sixth and final lap, I had managed to move my way up to 29th position (I actually had to sprint for 29th…kind of feel like a dork sprinting for 29th, but I mean, that’s start positions and UCI points….come on). I’m really happy with how the race unfolded, going from almost in tears because everything was moving in slow motion to feeling and riding great….maybe next weekend in Madrid I’ll feel that way the whole race J

After the race while watching the men’s race, which is always really cool to watch, I wandered around trying to find some authentic German food to try from one of the vendors… I ended up opting out, everything smelt really, really good and greasy, but my post race belly just wasn’t interested in having any of it….so I totally flaked on the German beer and food. I wish I had enough room in my bags to bring home some beer, you can by a 750ml locally brewed beer for under a euro. Oh well, at least I got to enjoy a killer dessert!!!!

Well, I’m off for a ride and then playing tourist in Switzerland.

Thank you everyone for your support and good lucks.

Ciao

"Open Castle"

After a week of recovery, eating lots and stretching, we arrived in Offenburg today, the Thursday before the second world cup. Offenburg is a very beautiful and touristy area of Germany with miles of vineyards covering the rolling hills surrounding the area. We even got a sample bottle of local white wine with our rental suite. Offenburgy means "Open Castle", and I've heard that there is a small castle somewhere..going to have to go exploring. It's kind of a mountain biking mecca here too, rumor has it that there is 6000km of marked mountain bike trails, and there are tons of rolling roads through the various vineyards..definitely would be a neat place to do some bike touring.

I still don’t feel like I’ve fully recovered, the massage did wonders, but my legs are still a little tender. That race in Houffalize definitely took a lot out me. After a day off yesterday I was super excited to head out for a ride today, and did a lap of the course. It’s a really fun course, technical, not a lot of climbing and a couple of really steep and very sketching descents….it’s awesome. I’m slowly getting my singletrack confidence back.. it’s amazing how long it’s taking to feel comfortable in that stuff, I mean, that’s the kind of stuff that I love. I hoping to get out on the course tomorrow and Saturday to do a couple more laps and get everything dialed.

The weather is really wonderful right now. After a cold and very wet couple of days in Switzerland, the sunny humid weather of Offenburg is extremely welcome. The forecast for the weekend looks good, and I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it stays dry… I’m getting soft and really loving the hot dry weather.

Tried some German cheese last night, I was really disappointed after the "Swiss" cheese experience. Off to find some coffee...mmmmmm.

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

Okay, so this face pretty much sums up my entire 2 and 1/2 hours of racing in Houffalize..hehe I stole this pic from Rob Jones on Canadian Cyclist

World Cup #1

OUCH - pretty much sums up the entire first World Cup race for me, and from what I hear, for a lot of other people as well...at least I'm not the only one who was suffering. It stopped raining and the sun was shining bright for the start of the race. It actually got warm enough to ditch the arm and leg warmers and start drying the course out a little.

I totally wasn't prepared for the pace at the start of the race, oh my goodness, and I've typically got a good start. The pace off the gun was astounding (and watching the men's start, the lead quads almost didn't make the first corner due to the pace). I managed to hold my own up the climb, spinning and conserving energy, I think I actually moved up a couple positions because people were blowing up left, right and center. But when I think about it, I probably would have been better off going a little harder up the climb and moving into a better position for the first singletrack. The only person that I recognized during the climb was Willow Koerber, but rumor has it Sandra Walter was blazing the Canadian trail up in 5th place going into the forest..great job.

By the time I hit the first mucky singletrack, everyone was running and climbing over eachother just to gain a position. I actually saw a small Russian racer come up and intentionally push another girl off her bike and down a steep slope.....pure madness. Due to the fact that you were completely limited by the pace of the pack at this point, I actually felt really good when things opened up a little and found myself very quickly picking off spots on the climbs, just by easily spinning past people. Finishing up the start lap and first lap, I felt pretty good, and heard at one point that I had moved into top 40..wow, this was easy.

The second lap was uneventful and stayed relatively in the same position, and still feeling like I could push it when I needed, and there was lots of energy left in the tank. But by the time the third lap came around, my body just started shutting down....my legs collectively decided that they weren't really into doing work anymore and each pedal stroke became a battle. By the time I pulled into the start finish area, I was sure that I was going to get pulled, there was absolutely no way I was going to be able to finish a final lap. But I rolled through the expo and started up the climb again. My final lap was definitely my slowest and I lost about 5 minutes off my pace in that lap alone, but I'm actually really proud of myself for finishing at that point.

The race ended up being 2 hours and 36 minutes for me....crazy, I though World Cups were supposed to be shorter. All I could think about at the end was the crazy large crepes with nutella that I had seen the in the expo earlier...I mean, when you burn 2700 calories in 2 and 1/2 hours, what else should you be thinking about.

We're back in rainy Switzerland now, and I actually just finished a trainer ride....I'm serious, it's really not nice out right now. Going to rest up, stretch up, eat up and reflect on this past weekends events...it can only get better from there. I have a massage booked for tomorrow, and on thursday we're headed up to Offenberg, Germany to get ready for the second World Cup. I hear it's supposed to be another mucky one.

Auf Wiedersehen
(Good Bye)

Houffalize

Hallo or Bonjour

Houffalize is a quaint little village nestled snuggly in a valley in the rolling hills of Belgium, and the whole town is alive with the World Cup. I’ve been told that the entire town seems to just close down for this weekend, and I can see that it pretty much has to, because the course moves right up the heart of the town every lap. Can you imagine completely closing down all of say Banff or Bowness for a race, and having the many coffee shops that line the course packed with people watching, and having the kids from the local elementary school out on the field cheering…and it’s just the pre-ride, two days before the actual race. Never have I seen such openness and love for the sport of cycling, it’s absolutely awesome and refreshing.

Sandra and I are located about 12 very winding km away from Houffalize in the small village of Nadrin. Thursday we headed out for an easy “recovery/endurance” ride and somehow managed to get very lost in the sparse Belgium forest. Now when you think of a forest, don’t think of the typical Canadian forest, think of a completely manicured forest void of any underbrush. It seems that Europeans like the “clean” forest, not at all natural looking, kind of errie and very weird.

Friday we headed into town to ride the course. We actually had to park just outside of town and ride in because the road into town has been transformed into the maze of the expo. You can drive through, but it’s much, much faster to walk or ride. The course is very challenging, right off the bat on the first lap you’re sent straight up the main road through Houffalize on a 14% to 16% km long road…good way to split up the group fast. The downhills are for the most part steep and somewhat challenging, with some really good ruts, sharp sharp corners and some off camber roots. The climbs are steep as well, but nothing technical at all, very straight forward. There actually isn’t much in terms of flat terrain to rest, so it’s going to be an “on the ball all the time” type of race. I really hope that it doesn’t rain too much, could make some of the downhills very treacherous..good to be a Canadian (though this being my first real singetrack of the season, I’m a little rusty right now).

Now I’m off to try and figure out what to do with my Euro travelers cheques that no one will accept….I guess people don’t use travelers cheques anymore…but that’s all the money I have.

Enjoying a bagette and cheese in France
Lost in a Belgium forest.
The race machine.

Ciao

Willkommen!!

Well, I managed to survive the 12 hours hours of flying from Calgary all the way over to Switzerland. Everything went really smoothly, watched "I am Legend" and "American Gangster", plus a couple of sitcoms. Didn't manage to sleep very much, which was my plan...sleep the whole way from Toronto to Zurich, then when I get to Zurich it'd be 8 in the morning and it'd be just like I woke up from a good nights sleep. Didn't work that way, I think I managed about 2 hours of really bad sleep..oh well.

Sandra picked me up at the airport nice and early. When I booked my ticket, I didn't even take into consideration the time she'd have to get up to drive the hour and a half to come pick me up.....I owe her big time.

After stopping to get a couple of groceries from the local market, in which I struggled because I'm a complete moron when it comes of any language, including english, I built up my bike and we went for a ride. Sandra's aunt and uncle live just outside of the capital city, Bern, on a farm, and there's nothing but miles and miles of twisty farm road. Most of these roads appear to be single lane with no shoulder, but they are indeed two way highways. There are soooo many turns that I'm surely going to get completely lost when I head out by myself this afternoon, which will definitely be entertaining. But it was a really cool ride, saw lots of neat country side, and if you've never been to Switzerland before, absolutely everywhere looks like a postcard...it's really pretty.

Managed, for the most part to stay awake yesterday until about 9:30pm and crashed hard, the time is about 8 hours ahead of Calgary time. Slept for almost 12 hours, and I feel like I could sleep for another two days. In fact, I'd probably still be in bed if the rooster hadn't woken me up at 10 :) Oh yeah, the weather here isn't very nice right now, we had to completely bundle up in winter gear to head out for our ride this morning..and my fingers were still cold. I'm waiting for it to warm up some before I attempt to go out for my second ride. Right now I'm enjoying I think a double or triple americano to warm up and try to stay awake today.

Tomorrow we're up early to make the 6 hour drive up to Houffalize, Belgium, where the first world cup is. Checked the start list online and I'm in 60th position..yuck, but there are 130 girls entered...it's definitely my biggest start. The weather forecast doesn't look much better then here, so I'm definitely packing mud tires. What a shock after the 31 degree heat of Phoenix..kind of miss it now :0

I'm off to try to learn some German, wish me luck.