Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Euro Update


EURO UPDATE
DS Jack, Janel & I ride to Valkenburg & beyond on an uncharacteristically sunny day in Holland. 

So much has happened here in Northern Europe over the last 2 weeks. We returned to Belgium for Le Samyn and Omloop van het Hageland, and ventured north to Drenthe for a series of races, which included a World Cup (Ronde Van Drenthe). I technically finished my first European race, and have gained tons of racing experience.

Le Samyn des Dames: 122.6 km

Unfortunately, I had to sit this one out. Following Omloop Het Nieuwblad, I came down with a nasty cold. However, I had a great replacement-- Megan Guarnier. Megan races for RaboBank Liv/Giant and is the current US Road Race National Champion. Her team wasn’t competing in Le Samyn, so she was able to share her extensive European racing experience with Team USA. The team was plagued with lots of crashes, but fortunately we have some great mechanics—Rico Suave (aka Pinky Winky), and Merick (a giant Polish teddy bear). 

Right to left: Me, Merick, Heather. 

I learned that for me moving up on the climbs is easier than moving up on the flats. Each time we’d approach a climb, I make a huge effort to move up. When it’d flatten out, I’d have a hard time maintaining my position in the group. I also learned that another really good way to move up is to take the sidewalk, the dirt, or the rumble strips. However, it is risky. 

The race really split up after a crash. There were 2 poles sticking up from the middle of the road and then a pile of bikes. The race blew up even more on the cobbled climb. 

Heather and I finished in the same group on the finishing circuits. We made it 95 km and then cheered on our teammates from the sideline. 

We then had the best Cokes and sandwiches and sea salt vinegar chips EVER. Food tastes exponentially better after suffering on the bike all day. 

Drenthe 8

The morning of Drenthe 8, a special guest joined us for breakfast—the Dutch rider Marianne Vos. Admittedly, I was star struck.  I could hardly eat my cereal. Vos is the reigning road and cyclocross world champion and won a gold medal in the road race in London, and a gold medal in the points race in Beijing. Because of her versatility, some call her the best rider of all time. At breakfast, she talked about the MTB stage race she'd done the previous week. She's working on her global domination of mountain biking now. I believe in her.  
Drenthe 8 is a pancake flat figure-8 race that starts in Dwingelo, Nederland. One makes 3 total figure eights over the course of 144.1km. There is one cobble section 200 meters long that’s repeated 6 times. I was in the very front row at the starting line. From my first two European races, I learned that it takes a lot of skill and experience to move comfortably through the group to get to the front. I thought that by starting in the front, it would be easier to maintain position. What I learned at Drenthe 8 is that it takes even more skill, experience and great mental stamina to maintain position in the front. Women in the European peloton ride so much closer together and aggressively than they do in the US. The moment you’re not thinking about moving up or maintain your spot, you’re immediately pushed back.
It was super fast, and strung out from the beginning. Of course, there were crashes. Lots and lots of crashes. I actually saw the worst crash of my racing career. It was really scary. Post race though I was able to talk to my more experienced teammates about what happen. They gave me advice on how to black these moments out of your memory, as these moments are an inevitable part of racing.  


Check out this VIDEO from the race. I showcase my mad dirt skills, and Heather crashes. 

And as we've learned, it’s not a true European race unless somebody gets lost. In Drenthe 8, I was the one who got lost. Note the deviation from the Figure 8 in the GPS file. 

Despite getting lost, I was able to technically finish my first European race! Score!

Ronde Von Drenthe World Cup

Team Presentation

At fancy World Cup races, you get free dinner and party favors at Team Presentation. Each team is called up individually to the stage. Again, I was surrounded by women I’ve idolized since beginning my cycling career. In the dessert line, I stood behind Giorgia Bronzini. She had banana yogurt and fruit cocktail. So I did too. 

The Race 

It was raining. There were cobbles. There were lots of crashes. It was very, very fast.
The course was pancake flat except for a manmade climb called the VAM. It's actually a pile of trash with grass over it. It brought me back to my roots, as I was born on Staten Island, most famous for having the largest dump in the world. The Dutchies put grass over it, and voila-- a climb! 

I made it over the VAM with the group, descended the opposite side and fought on the flats in the crazy cross-winds. The most important thing I learned from this race was to never stop to check to see if you have a flat. Because if you don't, it's really embarrassing. And it's really hard to catch back on to anything. I rode through the cobbled section with a grupetto. We were caught in the middle of the caravan. The caravan is a very chaotic place to be during a race. It's another area I've been learning a lot about on this Euro Trip. 

My race ended in the Argos-Shimano van. They had dry clothes and food. They brought me back to the start-finish. It was amazing. As much as I wanted to finish the race, I wanted to avoid getting sick again. 

Noviolon

Cancelled due to a blizzard. 
Skratch Labs Musettes make great purses! Jade Wilco and I making a fashion statement in Dwingelo, ND.
This week: Remedial Worlds Camp 
Stay tuned! 

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