Overdue Wrap-up

Sorry I haven't posted in a while, I have either been busy or lazy this last week. The last two races didn't go as well as planned. On Saturday, we rode a good race for 5 of the six laps. With half a lap to go we let our main rival roll off the front and take the win. While "mark him!" seems simple now, it's hard to accomplish while in the heat of battle (by the heat of battle I mean pushing a massive 250 watts).
So after the race went up the road Erik and I got into the counter move and were top-10 or some other mediocre position.
Sunday was easily one of the fasest races of my short and lame career. We should have known what we were in for the second we got in line to pick up our numbers. The general rule of thumb is the more gel the racers have in their hair, the harder the race will be, and walking to registration I felt like the titanic, dodging sharp icebergs atop frenchmen's heads.
The race had a lot in common with the titanic, actually just one thing, it eventually split in half and made a lot of people mad. We did the first lap at what felt like mach 6, climbing an extended 15% hill in the big ring, seriously. Eventually we hit a 'berg and Erik and I didn't get in a life boat. On a flat, windy section on the second lap we were in the gutter and some poor soul lost a wheel and the race split. We tried to get across, but...you get the idea.
So the last weekend didn't go as well as we would have liked, but we managed to get to the airport without incident, unlike last year. After a sleepless night, a long flight, and a connection that was tight (not really but it rhymes), I returned to Idaho a little more fit, and a whole lot smarter than when I left.
A big thanks to Mr. Cooley and George's Cycles for their support. Also, thanks to the BoDe cycling team and all who attended the fundraiser in support of my trip as well as Erik's muc larger journey.

"If you're not going to play to win you might as well hold the Olympics in somebody's back yard."
-Jesse Owens

Waiting for the Weekend

Sorry for the über-boring race report last time, I was too tired to come up with anything wittier to write about. Not a whole lot is going on around here. We have been going for a lot of easy spins, taking a lot of naps, and watch the tour at Lionel's house almost every day. Erik got the call-up to the national team again, for a race that starts on Tuesday. So we have been coordinating travel plans for ourselves and bikes. While it's nice to have such a relaxed pace of life, I would be lying if I said I wasn't a little bit excited to get back to America and my regular life.

Things are going much better than last weekend. The upside to having your life center around cycling is that when races are going good, everything is right in the world. On sunday morning we did a category 2-3 race. It started out with eight flat 6km laps, followed by three 17km laps with a decent hill and a somewhat sketchy descent. I made it into two breakaways, both of which established a decent gap and I thought would stick. However, some teams were either not satisfied with the composition of the break or wanted to set up a field sprint. On the longer circuits I bridged to what looked like a dangerously strong breakaway of three riders , but we were brought back before the KOM. On the final lap it was "gruppo compacto" down the last descent with everyone taking crazy risks to get to the front. Just before the last corner, someone ran into a building. That seemed to mellow some people out a lot. Our French teammate, Eric Beauné, took the sprint for the win.
This was the first morning race we have done this trip, so it was strange having the rest of the day to kill, but kill we did, napping and stretching for Sunday's race.
On sunday we had a 11 laps of a rolling circuit for a total of 93km. Erik, myself, and a french teammate all made it into the breakaway of the day. One medium sized hill took its toll on the field, with the break shedding riders each lap. With three laps to go, I followed a Japanese rider's attack up the hill, and we quickly built a gap. Almost a full lap later, we caught two riders who had been leading for a while. I put in a hard dig as we passed them, shedding the Japanese rider, but one guy from the earlier break got on my wheel. We worked for a lap, until one of his teammates bridged to us with half a lap to go.
Two on one, you get the idea. The attacked me most of the descent into town. I led through the final corner, break-checking them then sprinting in hopes of getting a gap, but no such luck. Not surprisingly, they shelled me in the sprint.
Later, at the podium ceremony, we found out that one of them was a multi-time french national champion, so at least I was beaten in good company.
The podium ceremony itself warrants an entire post but I'll try and condense it for you. Basically there was a prize for every meter of every lap between overall results, junior results, espoir results, master results, KOM results, sprint results...you get the idea. Our car was packed full of trophies, prizes and flowers on the way home. Not a bad day at all.
Our final races are Saturday and Sunday and they will have faster competition and lots of hills.
Au Revoir

Laundry Musings

I just put a load of wet laundry on the clothesline at Lionel's house, so I have some free time before it dries (about 48 hours in this humidity). The race on Bastille day certainly didn't go as planned. The circuit turned out to be dead flat and exposed to a cross-wind. Not exactly my specialty. A break got away just before the halfway point. In retrospect, I was too active too early which left me shelled when the break actually went. At the time, however, my logic was "if I'm in every move, there's no way I can miss the break!" Wrong. So I miss the break, and the second chase group, and wind up in the third group, until I flat (again) and have to pull out. This was not the best of days.
It definitely isn't healthy to have your entire life centered around cycling, like mine is for these three weeks. When you don't ride well, or something goes wrong, or both, your entire day is a complete failure. You can't justify your day by thinking "well at least I made an awesome spreadsheet at work," or "I finally cleaned that toilet." Because you don't have a job other than riding your bike. I don't know how Erik has stayed sane this whole time with the pressure of having all his eggs in one basket (cycling).
The next day, Marcel and I took the train to the costal town of Dieppe. We walked on the beach and the pier, ate seafood, and saw things of historical significance. This put me in a much better mood than the day before. It was a good reminder that there is, in fact life outside of cycling.
Erik and I went for an easy ride this morning and are planning on an early bedtime since our race tomorrow is at 8:30 AM. Which means a 5 O'clock wake up call. Can't wait.
We only have four more races left here. This Sunday and Monday, then next Saturday and Sunday. They will all be at a higher level than our first races, so I'll be spending a lot of time in the pain cave.

Ant Update: Last night we sprayed, stuffed, and pounded pesticide into the holes in Erik's wall, then filled them in with caulk. Not surprisingly, there are no more ants.

Arachnid Attack

One thing that I don't remember about France from lat year is the bugs. It could be the different houses or the time of year, but either way our house is crawling. The ant infestation in Erik's room has gotten slightly better, but there is probably a nest in the wall that will have to be destroyed. This afternoon we found seven large spiders while cleaning. The largest of which was in my sheets. Most houses here are very old with moldy basements and roofs, so insects are an accepted part of life for people in the Normandie region. I, however, am an American and I do not like spiders in my bed. After the race tomorrow I plan on watching Starship Troopers to get pumped up, then break out the lighter fluid and prove who the dominant species is. I'm pretty sure our house is mostly stone so it shouldn't be a problem...pretty sure.
Tomorrow's race is 32 laps of a 2.9km circuit. So it's basically the bastard child of a sketchy crit and a boring road race. The french will no doubt be excited to win on bastille day but I will do all I can to spoil their fun.

First Races

Sorry for not posting in a while, we haven't had internet for a few days. A lot has happened since my last post. Erik's bloody nose has finally stopped, but his room has been taken over by ants. After watching the world cup final last night we searched the house for the most toxic substance we could find as we did not have any ant killer. We ended up dumping bleach and lighter fluid on them but we will have to find a more permanent (and less flammable) solution soon.
Marcel and I had our first race on Saturday. To fully understand French racing, Imagine if USA Cycling burned their rule book and replaced it with the instructions for "Mario Kart." Tiny, bumpy roads, speed bumps, roundabouts, and questionable organization. Our first race was 20 laps of a 5km loop through two towns with lots of cobbled gutters and a small kicker before the finish line. Our race was delayed by ten minutes to let people who showed up late pin their numbers. Then, there were cars parked on the course, so the organization decided that we should do a neutral lap of the circuit so we could see where they were before the started racing. Finally the racing did get under way. Marcel and I were able to cover most of the moves, but I flatted halfway through the race when what would be the winning group rolled off the front. The neutral support car gave me a quick wheel change and I hopped on the bumper for a ride back to the pack, a move that would be deemed "cheating" in America but is standard in Europe. Once the driver was sure I was in the draft he upped the speed to close to 50mph. I didn't look at the wheel I was given, but after the race it looked like the tire had been baking in the sun on the roof of the care for at least a few years. As we were flying through the town on the backside of the course the wheel lost traction on almost every corner. After a few too many high speed powerslides for my liking I pulled the plug and watched the rest of the race from the sidelines. Not how I wanted to start the trip.
After the race we heard that one of the racers had been dropping tacks on the course as he rode. Dangerous? Yes. Stupid? yes. Cheating? Yes. French? Very much so.
Yesterday went much better. A short, 90km, race. 9 times 10km circuit with a 14% hill each lap. Corey told me to "die a thousand deaths on the first three laps," and so I did. We shed riders each time up the climb until the front group was down to 7. On the descent a bee flew in my jersey and in my flailing he stung me four times and I managed to shake most of my race food onto the road. The next few laps were like watching myself bonk in slow motion. I knew it was happening but could do nothing about it. The front group disintegrated on the last lap and I rolled in with a nice frenchman who gifted me fifth place. Our next race is wednesday, hopefully something with a hill. In non-racing news, Corey believes that a gypsy we saw last week has put a curse on us. More on this curse and other things tomorrow

Blog Alert!!!

After two planes and a 200 euro taxi from Paris I have finally reached our house in Giverny, across the Seine river from Vernon. The taxi dropped Marcel and I off at Lionel’s (our director) house. Lionel speaks no English, Marcel and I speak no French, and Corey wouldn’t be there for at least another five hours. After being awake for 30 hours straight, I was more than a little bit foggy. The idea of playing charades until Corey arrived wasn’t exactly enthralling. Thankfully, Erik Slack who has been here since late February, showed up and showed off his French skills while trying not to bleed on his white man-pris.
Eventually, Corey showed up with what will be our team car for the trip, a brand-new Renault. We then built our bikes, went to the rented house, and unpacked. Erik will be racing a crit in Vernon Friday night if his bloody nose doesn’t get the beter of him, and Marcel and I will do a road race Saturday.

Paris-CDG

Just landed in Paris. Drinking coffee with marcel and waiting for our taxi driver. more updates later.