italy is kicking my ass, or, the anatomy of a bonk

what can be held responsible for a bonk?  what is it exactly that leads to this dreaded, all too familiar feeling for cyclists?  it only has to happen to you once for you to know that you never want it to happen again.  but it will.  a missed feed?  a strong wind?  competitors that can’t take a decent line?  maybe one too few glasses of water the night before?  one too few gu’s?

  i could point my finger at any of said factors that led to my bonk on sunday, but if there is one thing i hate, it is the cyclist that makes excuses.  in the end, the bottom line is that i couldn’t do what i needed to do.  just didn’t have the legs that day.  it is a fine line to walk between allowing yourself bad days, and being too easy on yourself.  in only two european races so far, i think i have managed that walk pretty well.  i am frustrated, of course.  beyond frustrated really.  but with the help of some very inspiring women who have been in this position before, the pity party has been avoided.  and in the end, the bottom line is simply this:  I LOVE THIS RACING.  this is racing at it’s finest, hardest, most bleeding-out-the-eyeballs-sufferfest, exciting, pure, BEST.

  as jim said last night in our team meeting, recapping the weekend: over here, everything you do in a race, you end up paying for it.  everything is a withdrawal from the bank, and if you make too many withdrawals without enough funds…..you pay.  if you open up a gap, you pay.  if you go into the wind, you pay.  it is truly unbelievable.  the efficiency with which you have to race is mindblowing, because there ARE NO easy minutes.  no chance to recover.  the girls i am racing with on the US team know this all too well, and are so impressive in their neat, clean, efficient moves.  me, not so much…not yet, anyway.  for the most part in the US, you can suffer in the wind for a bit, because most likely you will get to recover a bit before the next hard effort.  not so over here, at least not that i’ve seen.

  don’t get me wrong, i am no expert.  and there are certainly races in the US that absolutely split me open.  these are statements in general, and of course not true in all cases, over here or over there.  but it is a crazy thing to see  100 women strung out up an entire climb.  not splitting up, not bunched together, but strung out, everyone pushing as hard as they can.  it is awesome to see, but i think i’d rather have a different vantage point than from the caboose.

  on to france, and hopefully some better results!

last try, then i’m over it

this was delivered yesterday.  today we race…

let’s try that again…

now is it on like donkey kong?  and can someone help me with the $*!% pics!?!

it’s on like donkey kong

mind the moss

yesterday was the first good, hard training day here in lucca.  we all headed out (minus allison who had a recovery day) with jim, who had a little “game” in mind. (apparently, he does this often).  we were to have 3 QOM challenges:  he would escort us to the bottom of a climb, ranging from 1k-4k and we would be off, ultimately gaining 3, 2, or 1 point based on our placing at the top.  we would then come back down, go up the climb again with him, at his pace, except for the sprint at the top, for which we would again get points.   sounds pretty basic, no?  well, off we went on our first climb, with phil (chrissy’s boyfriend) leading…leading chrissy and i to the right when we should have gone left!  so chrissy and i are chugging up the hill, and i’m thinking we’re in pretty good shape for the points because no one is with us…well, you get the point.  needless to say, jim ended up with top honors somehow, probably because he was the only one that really knew where the sprint line was!  this scenario repeated on the second climb – no wrong turns, but a mysteriously changing sprint line that saw lauren challenging jim when he finally decided where he wanted it to be.  

  at any rate, the competition quickly disintegrated, but the intensity did not.  we did climb after climb after climb.  short, long, steep, windy – all types.  it was my first tough day since the flight, but i think i felt fine, if not a bit cross-eyed!  it got cold at times, but never really rained, and was even pleasant.  great scenery, great company, and two broken legs – who could ask for more?  the one bummer of the day was a crash on one of the descents.  not me, mind you.  i was bringing up the rear waiting for chrissy who had stopped, and wanting to be cautious on the wet pavement.  looking down to the next bend, i saw every single member of the group fishtail their rear wheel at the exact same spot…point taken, i thought.  i will avoid that spot.  when i came around the bend i found that the fishtail had taken one of us down.  apparently, the roads are cracked, and in the spots that stay wet or damp a very nasty, slippery moss grows in those cracks.  looking closely, we saw that the inside line of the offending turn was a bright green hue.  and given the speed at which some of us were taking said turn….ahhhh, crazy americans!

  luckily, all is well and everyone is alright.  recovery ride today, and then a trip to a cafe down the street.  we all ate dinner and glued ourselves to track worlds.  let’s talk about those british, eh!?!  amazing…

  off to bed.  the slightest bit of nerves are already creeping in for saturday…

here are some pics – didn’t get my team clothes until today, so i was rocking the PROMAN gear for all to see!

apparently, i cannot do pictures very well.  can this be just a written blog?  otherwise – please help!

I like…

…sports. All sports.

(This is scott typing, not emily.)

One website i look at everyday is espn.com. Reading ESPN these days, you would learn that WVU is in the sweet 16…and they are probably going to win it all…or you could read that the major league baseball season just started with a game in Tokyo. Lots and lots of sports stuff.

Usually you never read about cycling on ESPN or see it on Sportscenter, unless its the Tour de France. But now you can. Check out the article:
http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/cycling/slipstreamcali

I think its pretty cool that a mainstream sport news website is giving cycling some attention.

There you go, my first blog entry…ever…on this blog.

test upload…sorry, not very experienced with blogging…

best breakfast EVER

wisk 3 eggs with a bit of milk

add to buttered pan to scramble

fold in basil and tomato

eat with fresh buttered bread

*must be made in italy, where the eggs, butter, bread, basil, and tomatoes are far superior.

you’re not a true bike racer till you have skype

ok, i finally have the wherewith-all to write about the last 2 days, or 3, depending on US v Italian dates.  the flight over was quick and painless, and all my luggage not only arrived, but did so QUICKLY!  by the time i had gotten off the plane, there it was!  also prompt was Lise, the woman nice enough to pick me up.  lise and her husband prevan (sp?) are a danish couple that live just down the road.  he works for SRM, who are headquartered in our home base here in lucca, and she used to race herself for an italian team.  at any rate, jim arranged for her to fetch me, as he and the girls were racing the world cup that day.

the apartment is great, and i promise i’ll post pics as soon as i figure out how.  we are all in small apartments in a row in a converted barn.  each apartment can open to the one next to it, so i suppose one could run laps back and forth, but it seems mostly to aid the socializing.  each apartment also has french doors opening up to the patio, which brings you to the garage and main house.  the whole “compound” is about 5 minutes outside the walled city of lucca, and, more importantly, about two doors down from cipollini’s house (his actually IS a compound).  apparently it’s amazing he hasn’t come by yet, as it is rumored that he can sense when the ladies show up!

today we all headed out for a leisurely ride with airplane and world cup legs.  it was a beautiful day and we rode up into the hills for an amazing view.  all the requisite italian features: olive trees, tiled roofs, streams and wildflowers, tiny cars coming at you at 90 k/hr…ahhh, italy.  the cars are crazy, but i actually feel more comfortable here than back home.  they are so aware of cyclists, and everyone seems to know just how much space they all need.  no one gives or takes an inch, so it is a fairly harmonious existence. that being said, i still won’t lead down any of these blind, narrow, twisty descents…

  after the ride we headed off to the market to stock up (not too much eating out on this trip, i don’t think) and now we are all relaxing and getting massages.  i almost feel like i don’t deserve one…almost.  i am somewhat stiff from the plane, so it will help with that.

  hmmmm, what else can i use to make you jealous?  all the girls are great, my bike is more wonderful with each ride (thank you BMC!) and scott and i installed skype so we can chat whenever for free!  honestly, i don’t know how i made it this long without it…i know you all are probably laughing at me for being so behind the times, but that’s usually the way it works with me.

  ok, that’s a wrap so far.  i’ll try to keep up the posts and get some pics.  i don’t race until sat. so i apologize if it seems boring…

in the meantime…

here is an interview with our media partner taken before i left

what a dork i am…

www.thebroadbandracer.com/fly.aspx?taxid=19&layout=player&videoid=305