A Whoopin'

I was pretty confident I liked Holland. I had all kinds of reasons. I even listed them on the blog. But now, I'm not so sure.

I thought the windmills were supposed to blow away all the crap and make things better. Not so much. Holland kicked my ass.

I come back to Lucca gimping away from Holland with:
-3 races
-2 crashes
-3 DNF's
-bruised, swollen nose (shooting from bike to ground landing on said nose)
-sore ribs
AND
-yellow goo coming from nose and chest (weird lingering illness that did not go away with the arrival of pretty windmills).

All in all, it was a SOOOOPER trip...

Lucca seems to make all things bad go away. I plan on that being the case, because in a week I hope go back to Holland ready to fight.

put em up...

AH. The Netherlands

We have left Belgium. The windmill makes it official. Some people say it is windy in Holland. That's why there are so many windmills. I say there are so many windmills to keep Belgium and all the "belgium-ness" away.

Yes, Belgium is pretty much the heart of cycling, but I prefer The Netherlands. Though I do miss eating at the the U23 house (thanks Els). That really was a nice treat.

The windmills in The Netherlands are responsible for;

• keeping all the weird smells at bay
• the bluer skies and the warmer temperatures
• the pretty scenery
• the greener grass and the manicured lawns
• the clean towns and countrysides
• the fluffy sheep and the cute little lambs
• the really nice Dutch people who don't mind speaking English
• hard, windy, big chainring racing

Soon to be Epic-ness

Classic. Epic. Cobbles. Raw. The tour of Flanders. Tomorrow.

Flanders has always been known as a classic bike race. It has been raced for many decades. It has everything a bike racer could dream of; steep hills, cobbles, cross winds, spectators, and narrow roads. You name it and the Tour of Flanders has it.

Belgium racing is also known for bad weather. That's what makes some of the classics races classic. It wouldn't be that hard if it were just sunny and nice all the time. Then anyone could have a great day and do well. But you mix rain and mud with cobbles and that's when things get interesting. It changes the dynamics of the race. Little weeny wafer-racers all of a sudden aren't that tough and whining becomes the priority over winning. It's a tough girl day (or tough guy day) and the most burly will have success.

Such is the case on the eve of my second Tour of Flanders. Last years race was run under sunny, blue skyes and mild weather. Looking back, it was a great way to "get my feet wet" and learn the race. Now when I ride on the cobbles I feel good. Balanced. It feels like riding the dirt roads at home. I know what to expect and I am ready for it. This knowledge is going to be VERY helpful as tomorrow's race is forcasted to have the worst weather since 1989. You name it, we are supposed to get it. Rain, cold, wind, hail, snow. It is going to be epic. Classic in all parts of the word.

Bring it on.

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.

Whoopy!

Chocolate. That must be it. A day after FINALLY being able to eat chocolate (I gave it up for Lent, and then managed to down quite a bit of it on Easter), I got my first World Cup points!!
16th Place! It took me 15 years to get a top 20 in a ski racing World Cup. So, this is pretty dang exciting. I am psyched.

I kept waiting for "them" to go hard. When are they going to go hard? Is this it? Are they going? Oh ouch, it hurts. Maybe it didn't feel all that hard because I was actually patient and didn't ride on the front the entire race. One has more energy when they sit and let others pull them around for a while. Thanks Josh, James, Mike.

We are now back in Lucca and the SUN is out. It's wonderful.

Welcome Back

AAH, Lucca. Home away from home sweet home.
Nice Scenery.
Green mountains.
Clothes waiting for me from last season.
Cappuccinos.
Cappuccinos.
Local coffee roaster.
Food. Yum.

Rain (WHAT!?)
Cold weather (double WHAT!?)
No luggage (Oh man!)
Arione saddle on the spare bike (ouch-ey)

Always seeing something new and interesting (old lady, bicycle, rack, cat in carrying case)
Cyclists everywhere
Nice "non-red neck" drivers
Coffee.

Picture Story

All right. The Drought has come to an end.

Here is the recap, in pictures, of our trip to Australia and New Zealand.
Team USA in front of our Geelong cabin. Preparing for our first "stay left" ride.

Along the ride, we found interesting merchandise for sale.

Before the start of our first race together as a team.

AP, Kat, and Carmen.

Of course, when in Australia, Kangaroo spotting is a must.

After Geelong, we flew to New Zealand. There, we raced a 5 day stage race in and around Wellington.

(ooooo, pretty)

Team USA was treated to an amazing Team Presentation.

First, the teams were introduced.
(us)

Then we got a "native" show.

It was super cool.
The best team presentation I have ever been to.

Our first "Kiwi Crit" felt like home...







Then it was off to Team Colavita/Sutter Home women's profession cycling team presented by Cooking Light team camp (phew!). In the snow. Actually it was awesome. It was in Yosemite.






We got to ride our new Jamis' in and around the Valley floor.
El Capitan is on the left, and Half dome is in the back ground.

At the end of team camp, we got to be Cooking Light models. Complete with a stylist. What a neat experience. Look for this photo in the November issue of Cooking Light.