Pain cave: Tuscan style

The races this weekend were as hard as the scenery was pretty. To the right were the hills and mountains of Tuscany, to the left was the ocean, and straight ahead were the girls who were trying to put you in the pain cave (they were successful).The first day had hills hard enough I wanted to throw up in my mouth. The second day was hard enough I did throw up in my mouth (and outside of it too for that matter).

Boss Man Jim wanted us to race hard. Get in some breaks and get great training in at the same time. It's hard to get in a break when the race is rolling at 45kph.

The second day, I tried a little late. Mad at myself for starting the climb too far back, I broke away on the descent and got to ride the rest of the race solo; between the first and the second groups. 25km all alone. It was fantastic.... (good TT training at least)

Coming into the finish on day 2, I thought I was going die. Every body part was tired and hurting. However, this feeling of complete exhaustion really was great (after I finally was able to stop riding). I bike race because of this feeling. Knowing I gave it my ALL. Nothing left at the end. Yes, I could have had better tactics, but I did what I could at that moment and I am happy. I also had a great learning opportunity, which better than everything else. Except winning.

Carmen was happy to be finished too.