Heading east

I am home again after a 4 day tour in Czech Republic and Poland....with 425km of racing under my belt, 1800km or so of driving and 7 new stamps in my passport :) What a week! I am really happy with how the week turned out, despite the 10 degrees and rain that we raced in yesterday! There was a good field, some tough racing, pretty countryside in the mountains of eastern Czech Republic and some steep uphill finishes. I am starting to feel as though it is coming together after a bit of a sluggish start to the season.

The first two days were hillier, and I was happy with my climbing legs. On the first day, a group of 8 were away and my team-mate Steffi Pohl was 3rd. The girls helped me to the bottom of the last cobbled climb and I was 5th out of the bunch..not too bad a start. The second day was the toughest I've had in a while, with the knowledge that the last 1km was a steep climb...couldn't spend all my cookies too early and I managed 7th up the climb. The next day was a TT in the morn, I was a bit disappointed with my result as I thought I could do a little better and my 11th place moved me into 8th on GC. The next two stages were circuit races around Orlova, the town that we were all staying in. Rain, small roads and some tight corners made for some interesting races and Flexpoint played it perfectly both days to take the win on both stages. I survived, had a decent last stage and finished 7th overall on GC.

I am home now until the weekend, there is a World Cup in Bern, Switzerland on Sunday...hopefully my legs are still good there. The weather is cold, windy and rainy here, perfect recovery weather and good for some study which really needs to be done.

The photo is from the time trial last weekend in Holland, its from www.sportactiefoto.nl.