29th April - The "R" word...
I understand the importance of rest and recovery, however I have to confess that I have a very low tolerance for more than the bare minimum or either. I'm just not very good at resting, particularly when the sun is shining and the Pyranees are waving at me, begging me to come ride my bicycle! But I'm sick little mountain biker, sore glands, coughing up green flem... I suppose that's what you get when you head overseas unfit and out of form, and jump straight in to a hectic race schedule with crazy travel demands, and travel around with people who have been handballing illness since we met at the airport nearly a month ago! So, I'm acting out of character and being very disciplined and enduring a few days of rest and recovery, basically because I'm desperate to be healthy in time for next Sunday's World Cup mtb race in Madrid, Spain.
The racing so far...
I've been really disappointed by my results, however I definitely don't regret coming over and giving the international racing thing another crack. Despite my obvious lack of form and the bits of bad luck that have been flung my way, I've thoroughly enjoyed the trip, and I want to say that I am so grateful to everyone who has helped me get here and enjoy myself over here. The Swisspower race was first up, a few days after we arrived, and then it was straight in to the world cups...
Houffalize
Houffalize was 2 weekends ago, and you should probably click on Dan McConnell's blog for a report on that race - he had a fantastic race! Young Paul Vandy had a very different experience, basically a lot of time spent waiting in singletrack and then daring overtakes down the knarly stuff. It's a tough gig when you start a few hundred people back in a race that has long sections of singletrack!
My race was "interesting". I had the worst start of my life, it was as though everyone else was racing and I was out for a Sunday roll around. The start was steep, straight up a 14% bitument climb for several minutes, and I had a serious case of the go-slows! (confession: I turned around to see how far back I'd slipped and saw noone behind me...!) Once we hit singletrack my life improved in leaps, bounds, and overtakes, and despite my disappointment at being lapped out on the 80 % rule (in World Cups, your lap times need to be within 80% of the leader's lap times as you pass a certain point on the course, to avoid riders being lapped), I enjoyed slipping and sliding my way around the course. Oh, and as usual, I received lots of giggles about the slogan written across my knicks, and up one of the climbs an enthusastic Belgium man translated their comments for me "...Moist and Chewy"...
World Cup #2, Offenburg, Germany
Last Sunday, as in 2 days ago, we raced World Cup #2 in Offenburg, Germany. This is one fun course! Despite the rain during the week, race eve was dry and sunny, and by race morning the track was tacky and in prime racing condition. The vibe at the course was cheery and - well, sunny I suppose! It seemed a bit more relaxed than Houffalize, but maybe that's because I felt relaxed or because I had raced the Offenburg World Cup last year. Despite feeling like I'd been run over by a truck and had my lungs filled with liquid paper, I was still optimistic for a miracle, that somehow mind would overcome body and I would produce an extraordinary performance that would earn me selection for the Worlds team.
Despite getting lucky during a few of my more ambitious overtakes down technical sections (!), I didn't perform well and was lapped out before the final lap, along with all of the other Australians except for Dellys (she had a fantastic race and was buzzing afterwards!). But I pushed and rode as hard as I could, and despite my lousy result I was actually really happy with how I raced. I fixed up most of the mistakes I had made at Houffalize, and it was pure bliss whizzing along the descents on that course!
Since arriving in Europe, fellow Torq rider Terri (okay, STINK!) has suffered injury, illness and then concussion, but her luck seems to be finally changing and in Offenburg she did awesome and completed her first World Cup. We were all very proud!
World Cup #3, Madrid, Spain
The next World Cup is on Sunday, in the heart and lungs or Madrid, Spain. We will travel to Madrid on Thursday, as usual we'll pile in to Kate and Ian Potter's blue van, with all our gear squeezed in the back and our bikes sardined in a little trailer that we hope won't detach itself on one of the motorways! Our group of 9 is down to 8, as Garron (coach) suffered a nasty injury to his back out riding at Offenburg, so has returned home to Australia. So it's now 7 female athletes and 1 male (poor Ian!) until we arrive in Madrid and join the boys.
Thanks for reading!
tory
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