Glad to be 'home'

I have just returned from France...its great to be back after a week of crapy accomodation, bad food and no internet access. The racing was good...tough and a bit of a shock to the system initially. It is now a count-down to the World Championships in a months time and so everyone is getting into form.

Yesterday we had a World Cup race in Plouay in France, they have increased the length of the circuit from previous years, 12 to 20km with an extra climb..so we battled with 180 starters and 1800m of climbing for the day. Unfortunately I didn't have the best legs of my life...actually I felt much worse than I had felt through the entire 5 day tour we had just finished...so something still needs tweaking. We drove back the 1100km straight through the night to arrive here in Holland at 8am...so I am feeling a little worse for wear and looking forward to a quite day.

Wishing Dad a very Happy Birthday....hope you have a great day old boy :) Also...a big Happy Birthday to Liv for today as well...it is birthday season :)

Shopping in Den Haag

The day before we went to France, Josie and I went for a mini day trip to Den Haag. I thought I could buy Katie an outfit for the post worlds party. Do you think she'd like it??


Whilst browsing in a big department store, we found this little cabinet of goodies...only in Holland :)

They call this summer??

I had many intentions to post a proper blog last week but all that came out were some photos from sushi making....but that pretty much summed up the week! The weather was crapy in Germany (just for something different)...and so in between getting in some long days on the bike and doing some study nothing too 'blog-worthy' occured.
I raced on Sunday in Bochum in the west of Germany. We had a short 73km race that began at 8:30 am....the only good thing about this is that by the time I had properly woken up there was only a lap to go! After that I headed back to Holland, only 1.5hrs away and made use of the blue sky by going out on the bike for another few hours.
Yesterday I picked Josie (fellow Aussie) up from the airport and so our little apartment is full again, as our Polish mechanic also arrived today. On Friday we are driving down to France...I'm not sure how far away it is, I don't want to know anymore...but we're leaving at 8am so I am guessing at least 8hrs. We begin a 5 day tour on Saturday, have 2 days of recovery and then a World Cup in Plouay in France the following Saturday. France is notorious for its extremely crap accomodation and food....and this tour is no different. We stay the whole time in a school with about 20 people in a room...so my guess is that there will be no wireless, hence no blog's from Natty.
My very good friend Sasha is coming to grace me with her presence on my return from France which is something to look forward to. She has never been to Amsterdam so as a local (who has only been into Amsterdam herself a few times)....I must show her the sights. In the last few days I have been spending copious time on the internet, helping to plan Mum and my trip to Croatia. We are heading there after the Worlds in Salzburg at the end of September...first we head to Bratislava (capital of Slovakia) and then fly to Drubrovnik, head up the coast to Split, then drive to Zagreb to fly back to Amsterdam. I'm not sure if holiday planning is a good excuse to not get my uni work done....but one must prioritise.
It is getting to that end part of the season....I can't believe it is nearly there...and everyone is sorting out what to do next year. Anyone who has read my little sister's blog will know that I am moving to 'bluer' pastures next year and joining her at Nurnberg for 2007. It is a good move for me and I am looking forward to it. It will be sad to leave Holland and the many friends I have made in this team....to be swapping stroop-waffles for bratwurst (not a good swap!); bad coffee for bad coffee (ha ha!); rainy, cold weather for rainy, cold weather....hey its not much of a move after all :)
Better get back to that uni work...

Making sushi

Wild weather

I have enjoyed a week of relaxation in Holland...the weather was terrible all week which was a good excuse to stay inside, hang out with the little sister, do some uni work and get plenty of sleep. Last Monday we went down to Gent to see Gary Sutton, his wife Deb and the Australian Junior World Track Team. Kate lived there in 2003 and so she know's the city and surrounds well...its nice to be in a familiar place. We went into the city, had lunch at her favourite Asian and then coffee at her old haunt. It was great to catch up with Gary and Deb and to see all the Juniors only a few days out from their worlds.

The rest of the week was relatively uneventful. I took Kate to the airport on Thursday for her to fly to the US and join Richie for a couple of weeks....she was very excited to be going :) I did some longer rides towards the end of the week, spending the whole time trying to avoid the wet roads and black clouds but it felt good to get the body going again.

Yesterday we raced in the south of Holland, near Maastricht...the Holland Hills Classic which is probably the only race on the Dutch calendar that involves climbing more than a highway bridge. The course looked to be challenging and our team mission was to try and break the race apart from the start. As it was my job to make the speed on the first climbs I was a tad nervous but our plan worked well....Theresa (our team mountain goat) launched herself and only a few could go with her. There was some disorganised chasing from the peleton and so the gap grew to the front riders. Theresa attacked again and again and was able to go clear by herself. The poor bugger had fallen on the descent earlier in the race so with bloodied elbows and knees she crossed the line solo for a great victory.

I joined Theresa for the trip back to Germany and am here for the week before my next race, a one day race in the west of Germany. I hope that the summer returns for us in the next few weeks, I am not willing to believe that it has come and gone already.

(I have been trying to post plenty of pictures with every blog but unfortunately it isn't always working for me so I apologise for the lack of visual stimulation :) )

Up to visit the Vikings

I have returned from a weekend up in Sweden and Denmark....lots of travelling, some good racing and a little bit of seeing the sights. It is definitely an area I would like to spend more time in.

On Thursday we flew up to Goteburg on Sweden's west coast for a World Cup the next day in Vargarda. The weather was as hot as everywhere else in Europe and without bikes we had some time to kill drinking coffee and exploring the little town we were staying in. The next day we didn't start racing until 4:30pm so we went for a pedal in the morning and drank more coffee. The race was harder than most expected I think...the course was deceptively tough. It was effectively an 11km criterium circuit with a hill in the middle. The extremely strong coffee that I had before the start put me in good stead for the opening stages of the race and I was a little bit of a maniac. I paid for it later in the race, with sore legs and a very upset stomach...that was the end of the day for me. The team had a good day with lil Gela finishing 6th and Kirsten winning the bunch sprint home for 10th.

The next day we were up early for the long trip over to Denmark. We drove, caught a big big ferry for 3 hours and then drove a whole lot more. Denmark is beautiful as well, lots of rolling hills, green fields and lovely coastline. We headed out for a pedal to get the stiff legs moving and then camped in our room with English tv on (its a bit of a treat over here).

Yesterday we had the first ever Teams Time Trial World Cup for women. We didn't start until 2pm so again a leisurely morning was on the agenda. I don't tend to get nervous for racing any more...but I found that I had butterflies in my tummy and that quesy feeling. I idea of letting down your team is much worse than letting down yourself! We thought before-hand that Buitenpoort and Univega would be very tough to get close to but that if we had a good day we could podium so that was our aim. The strength of our team was that we were all pretty closely matched so we should be able to hold onto all 6 riders. We headed to the start, did the usual warm-up and then got moving. We got into a good rhythm early, held onto it and tackled the 43km course in 53 mins 29 secs. All 6 of us were there at the end and we had set the fastest time...very exciting! In the end Univega beat Buitenpoort by 2 secs, and we were 3rd, 1 sec in front of Nurnberg (always good to beat the little sister ;))

Kate has come back to Holland with us and this morning we are heading down to Gent in Belgium to see Gary Sutton...something we are both really looking forward to.

Aussies beach-bound

Returning to Holland we were greeted with temperatures just as high as in Germany...a couple of days rest were on the agenda which is always a good thing. On Monday we went for a little pedal with team-mate Suzanne, stopping at our favourite lunch spot in Leiden on the water. Very nice ;) In the evening I went to pick up my house mate Miesi from where she was staying 1 hr from here with her boyfriend Benny....we were treated to dinner which was great. Benny, the Kiwi is a fantastic cook and it was great to get some home cooked food after some weeks on the road.

With the temperatures set to rise through the week we planned a trip to the beach which is only 25km away. After the usual phone calls to Aus in the morning we headed off...it was great, not too busy and although there were no waves it was still great to swim in the ocean. It is definitely something I miss about home, the lack of coastline!

We headed into Leiden for some lunch....these towns are vibrant and buzzing in the summertime, everyone sitting out for lunch and drinks. I love sitting back and doing some people watching with an iced coffee. Today I am back on the bike for just a short ride and then tomorrow I head north to Sweden for a World Cup race on Friday. Saturday we get a ferry ride across to Denmark and then a Teams Time Trial World Cup on Sunday. This is the first time they have had such a thing for women and we are all a little excited.

Survival in the heat wave

Theresa fighting up the climb

Thuringen is over for another year and on reflection it is a great tour, one that I really enjoy. This year the weather was crazy, so very hot and racing in the middle of the day added an extra element to the already hard stages. The last day saw only 47 people finish and to be honest I am amazed there were that many.

Already the days have merged into each other and I am struggling to remember exactly what happened on each stage...luckily there is cyclingnews for that. From my front I will say that I feel like I have some form again, some underlying strength to rely on which is a good feeling. I had a decent time trial on day 5 which was good for me, and although I struggled a lot in the afternoon stage I was still able to go with some moves and make some contribution to the team. Through the week we must have drunk hundreds of bidons....the 6 riders went through 70 bidons on the first day...a big thank you to the girls who were constantly going back for water..its not always an easy task as Kirsten realised when she had 8 bidons on board (in her pockets, down the front and back of her jersey) and we hit a steep, cobbled climb...ouch!

Theresa was our GC rider for the tour, and being the defending champion was probably feeling a bit of pressure although she didn't show it...she was cool, calm and collected all week. It came down to the last day to have a real dig and she tried her best...and only 4 girls from the peleton could go with her. Gees I wish I had some more mountain goat genes!

We headed back last night to Holland with our Polish mechanic who speaks only Polish and German (makes for some very interesting conversation!). I have Josie Loane a fellow Aussie in tow who will stay in Holland for a few weeks, do some racing here and join AA for a tour in France in the middle of August....its always good to have some Aussie company and through around a bit of slang....now for some recovery :)

Little Gela the pocket rocket!

On Tuesday we began racing the Thuringen Rundfahrt….after the emotion of the morning it seemed a little strange to pull on the knicks but that is what we are here for…this is part of us all getting on with our lives as best as we can. It was a glorious sunny day and we had a 3.8km prologue course around Zeulenroda to contend with. It all went rather smoothly, and Kate and I broke our curse of always finishing within 10 secs of each other for every time trial…she finished 11 secs in front of me! The dry, hot air destroyed everyone’s throats and nearly the whole peleton was coughing continually at dinner….quite a shock to the system!

Clear blue skies and 36 degrees greeted us again on Wednesday for our first road stage….131km….with a profile that resembled the serrated blade of a saw I was a little nervous! Luckily the pace wasn’t on from the word go but the terrain and the heat definitely took its toll. A climb with 20km to go saw the group split, I was just behind the front but managed to scrap back on and head to the front to set some speed for our little German sprinter Gela who was climbing with ease and said she had the legs to do the job. A climb I wasn’t expecting several km’s later was nearly the end of me but I managed to scramble back on. The bunch was wittled down to 35 or so at this point so things were looking good…Senffi and I knew trying to ‘out-train’ the Univega train was a near impossibility so we did our best to keep Gela out of the wind. One of Angela’s great strengths is her ability to steal wheels and jump on other trains…and this she did with great style to get the win…Fantastic! The team is really happy….lets just hope the rest of the week goes so smoothly 

Remembering Amy

On Tuesday 18th July we gathered in Zeulenroda to remember Amy…it was a glorious sunny day…a stark contrast to the rain that was falling one year before. It was a beautiful memorial…some laughter, many tears, lots of pink flowers…I think Am’s would have found it fitting :)

A year has passed since we last got to see Amy’s beautiful smile, hear her joyous laugh and see the sparkle in her eyes. The loss of such a wonderful person has had a different but profound effect on all of us. It has made us question the meaning of life itself, the paths our lives have taken and for me, made me re-evaluate the relationships I have with those around me. More than ever I realize the importance of telling those you love that you do so and making every day count.

Amy was someone who always gave you her honest opinion when you asked, even if it was contrary to popular belief. There have been many times this last year when I have missed her viewpoint and take on things. In the weeks after the accident, a few times I picked up my phone to message Amy and tell her about a peculiarity that I knew she’d find amusing or to ask her what I should do about this and that…now I ask her anyway because I’m sure she is around and listening. I think that sometimes she’d be shaking her head at me or laughing out loud. To me she is everywhere, available at any time to listen to my ramblings on life and the world.

In January this year, we were in Adelaide for Nationals and we had been at a bbq at Mary and Denis’s (Amy’a parents) house…and that evening Liv and I were sitting on the beach talking, the sun was starting to set and the stars were coming out…that magical time of dusk…we were talking about Amy and all of a sudden a magnificent shooting star came flying across the sky in front of us…we both looked at each other and smiled…

I find Amy now in shooting stars, in a rainbow, in the sunsets and sunrises and the shadow that is cast as the sun drops behind the hills and sets them alight with a golden glow…she inhabits those magic places where you become aware for just a few seconds of how beautiful the world around us is. She has left us here but we can find her everywhere and remember as being so young, vibrant and full of life, with a cheeky grin and that beautiful sparkle in her eyes.

In recovery mode

Theresa is keen on fruit ;)
I am have now had 5 days of recovery after the Giro and I feel terrible! It is funny how your body works like that. After doing very little for 3 days yesterday I ventured out on the bike for 2 hrs and I felt like I had never ridden a bike before...I was definitely worse than day 10 of the Giro! Today it has been raining this morning but I will head out this afternoon for 3-4 hrs to try to stir my body into action.

It has been nice to recover in the lovely European summer...where it is still light until 10:30pm. That is definitely one of my favourite parts of summer..to head out in the evening when everyone is out and about and the sun is still shining at 9pm. I haven't done too much in the last days...I have spent a lot of time in the park sunbaking and reading my textbook for my next semester (that makes me a really big nerd!) and trying to catch up with people at home when the time difference allows for it.

These Germans love having a bbq so there is always bbq's and wine drinking going on and when all else fails to amuse ourselves...we can always do silly things with fruit!

On Monday I will head to Zeulenroda where the Thuringen Rundfahrt (means the tour of the Thuringen region in Germany) begins on Tuesday. On Tuesday morning there is a memorial for Amy and then the racing begins. I will keep everyone posted :)

Another tour down...

Well...another Giro finished...that makes my 4th so far. This one was the best I have done all things considered, good weather, good food, good organisation, some beautiful towns for race starts and finishes and a nice short stage to wrap it all up!

We finished the last day after 71km of racing on the top of a 9km climb next to a church called the Madonna della Ghissalo (I think!), a very interesting day with all things considered as Edita Puchinskaite took the stage and the overall with a well timed and forceful attack with 2km to go of the 900km Giro d'Italia. What a way to end in the pink! On the Australian front, everyone finished in good form...poor Spratty was singing deliriously to herself on the start line and poor Jen came off to make it the 3rd crash of the tour but it was a good tour for the Aussies. After struggling with the speed a little early on, I have started to get some speed back (that is speed relative for myself...I'm not the speediest thing getting around!). I finished the tour feeling tired but not completely thrashed which was the aim. A few days of recovery and I will be firing (fingers crossed!).

At the finish line I said good-bye to the Aussies and joined the lil sister in the Nurnberg car heading north to Germany. I thought that I would minimise my travel time so rather than travelling back to Holland I have come up Germany to spend time with friends....one day too late for the World Cup and party but still good to be here. We drove 4hrs to Freiburg and stopped to have dinner and watch the Italians play the French...more people seemed to be barracking for the Frenchies but with some good friends in Italy I was silently hoping the Iti's would get up. What a game! I am glad we got to watch, and I am a big fan of watching a penalty shoot-out...I just can't imagine how the Frenchie that missed the shot would be feeling right now!

So for me a week of recovery on the cards, some rest in the next few days and then getting ready for a really tough 6 days of racing next week back with my AA Drink Team...

Hot & sweaty on our 'Lap of Italy'

I am sitting here in the luxurious surroundings of my Sheraton hotel room…very grateful for coverage of the World Cup and access to the internet.
We have now completed 5 days of the Giro…only 5 to go! In many ways it has gone very quickly already. After the time trial we had a couple of flat, fast stages to kick it off and now we have headed into the hills. I had an unfortunate little bingle with 12km to go on the first road stage, had a slow change and then did some solo time to the finish, 7 mins down....not a great start to the tour, but not as bad as the poor Spaniard who dropped herself on the first corner in the time trial and broke her collarbone...bugger!

Yesterday was the longest stage of the tour, 135km with 3 climbs, 2 of which were right near the start followed by 65km of flat and a final climb. I did not have the form of my life and groveled over the first climb. It is always quite obvious when I’m having a shocker as I get as low as I can go on the bike….I must look quite horrid but yesterday I knew I needed to get over the climbs with the bunch, as much to stay with the water supply from the car as anything else. A couple of the Aussie girls 'went pipe' on the first climb and had what can only be called a 'character building' day, trying to figure out how to digest pieces of power bar with no water and very little saliva left. It has been really hot and everyone's major concern has been hydration...I think dehydration can be one of the worst forms of torture....you only worry about where your next drink is coming from...bugger the bike race :)

We have gradually moved north from where we started in Rome, we spent 2 days in Tuscany and are now on the northern coast. Day 4 we started in a town called Orvieto on the top of a hill...a beautiful little town with lots of character that I would like to explore senza bike :)Most of the next 5 days of the tour involving climbing although many of the stages are quite short. Tomorrow we have only 73km to race with one big climb in the middle...the only thing to be assured is that when it is short the pace is on! This racing is great for getting some speed in the legs, something I need after a few weeks of long km's and strength efforts.

Still no-one has scored in the soccer...I hope its a penalty shoot-out...I love those :)

Giro begins...

Unfortunately I have only a few seconds to write, and no time to try and attach photos..I am down near Rome at a place called Isola Faranese for the Giro dell'Italia Donne...the 10 day women's version of the Giro. My team has chosen not to do the Giro and so I am down here with the Australian National Team. It is a little different as you really get into the swing of how your team does things....but its nice to speak some 'Aussie' and get to know some of the up and coming girls of Aussie cycling a little better.

We started yesterday with a 5.2km primarily uphill individual time trial which was a struggle in the afternoon sun. The race had been moved forward 3 hours so that the Italians would all be packed up and ready to watch the soccer at 9pm...Italy vs Ukraine...and they through to the semi-finals...lucky I think or a national day of mourning would be in place.

There is no internet access or phone lines where we are staying really so I am sitting behind the reception desk at the hotel using their computer...they don't seem fazed by this at all! We move tomorrow and hopefully I get the chance to write some more.

Matrimonio Italiano style

So….my first Italian wedding and I was to be a bridesmaid to the groom, a very different concept to how we do it in Australia but then I am beginning to realize that we often do things differently. In Europe it seems that the whole idea of an engagement ring is not nearly as important as at home. Sometimes one is given, but not often and there is no standard protocol as in there must be a diamond involved….here the bridesmaid don’t dress the same, they just wear whatever and at the reception the bride and groom have their own table and the rest of the wedding party sit wherever. So apart from that and the fact that there is lots of very dirty, 21st party style jokes….its all the same, well they get married….maybe that’s the only similarity…but they don’t say ‘I do’, just ‘Si’.

So….pre-wedding there is a separate buffet for the bride and groom’s guests….Massimo was at his parents house and we had 70 people here downstairs at the apartment….it was only 36 degrees, so just lovely J The whole day was much more relaxed than I expected, the wedding was due to start at 5, buffet at 4 but at 12:30pm the bride suggested we all go for aperitif’s at the local bar….so down we all went and sat, had a drink at Bar Roma and relaxed, very nice. Liv and I then headed to the restaurant to set-up, being the dutiful bridesmaids that we were (Liv was Baby’s bridesmaid)…All went to plan, the bride made her appearance and then we headed for the ‘town hall’ of Novellara for the civil service. The bride, dressed in dark red emerged from her Volkswagon mini and the groom, dressed in white was nearly teary…so beautiful was his bride J The ceremony was brief but lovely, they had to agree to sections of the Italian civil code and then the mayor of Novellara spoke about the importance of family, and said some lovely words to the effect that a family is much more than the sum of its parts….a lady was there to translate for the 20 Aussies that had made the trip to Novellara but the mayor forgot to stop to allow her to translate each section and so we were left to understand what we could….all part of the experience…
We headed to the reception at Restaurante Bla’ Bla’…to be greeted by a mountain of prosciutto and many other yummy Italian antipasto dishes. The newly ‘crowned’ husband was fitted with ball and chain by his friends…he was not terribly impressed…but this set the mood for the rest of the night. Joke after joke, usually of a very dirty, dodgily sexual variety…we weren’t sure how mama or nonna would take this but they seemed fine about it. We decided that Australians must be very prudish on the whole…as I can’t imagine that my grandmother needs to know that it is the groom who usually chooses new sexual positions (that was probably the most tame question, I can’t write the best of them as I’m sure it would embarrass my father:))
So after plenty of molto buono food and wine we were all ready to get down and boogie and show the Italians a thing or two....and this we did...lots of dancing to the tunes of the Elvis impersonator singer. Baby got up and said a few very emotionally charged words......the Italians were all very impressed as the bride or groom never normally speak at the wedding... Lots more stories but too many for a blog post...I will have to show everyone the photos at a later date. Tante Auguri to Mr and Mrs Marani....it is great to have friends all over the world and share moments such as this....I am priviliged that this is my life :)

Craziness in Italy

I have been meaning to write a blog for nearly every day that I have been here in Italy but unfortunately my internet access has been quite shabby.....so where to start? I arrived here last Sunday and on Monday attempted to catch the train down to Novellara with my bike and big bag in tow...the train system here can be either not too bad, or a complete nightmare and unfortunately I had a trip involving the later. The highlight was of course when the train conductor threatened to call the police if I didn't get off the train with my bike. It was 35 degrees, I was sweating up a small river and had already caught 2 trains to get to Milan Centrale so I was a girl and began to cry....not that this helped my cause at all. Anyway...eventually made it down to Reggio Emilia train station with the train being 'in ritardo' (delayed) for 1 hour....but it was great to get here and see the crazy italians - Barbie and Massimo. Their wedding was on the Sunday and we still had some things to finish off but I really enjoyed the week....training in the beautiful hills in the mornings and relaxing and helping out in the afternoons. European summer has well and truly hit and it has been 35 degrees every day since I've been here....a great excuse to eat mountains of gelati :) One of the 'highlights' of my week was when Baby and Massimo took me to the 'Festa della Biera' (Party of beer) that was incorporating 'Ruttosound' (pretty much a big burping competition!), it was quite amusing, a crowd of 30 000 watching as 10 people competed in several different categories...power burping, longest burp and burping out a song....I must say I have never seen anything quite like it.
I must go now as the Italians are closing the bike shop for lunch...I will report on the wedding after lunch...

Pretty in blue :)

After the sudden week of summer that hit us in Holland, we had a few cool days to really confuse the body and make us realise that you do have to pack for every occasion. After a steady few days recovering from our athlete day we began a 3 day tour in Zeeland, about one hour south-west of where I live in Holland. The tour was called Ster Zeeuswche Eilanden, a UCI race and important for the Top Competition (equivalent of National Series) for the Dutch girls. The first stage was a 7.2km time trial with the racing beginning at 6:30pm, so we had the whole day to think about it :) I was keen to have a good one as this is normally something that I go quite well in, however the last block of racing had dampened my confidence and I wasn't sure if I could beat grandma down the street on a town bike...But a good one it was. For the first time in a while I felt like I had some power behind me, everyone in the car behind me told me that I lost some seconds on the final corner when I did over-brake in true hubbard style....but still, I ended up 4th and was happy with that. I was given the blue jersey to wear, the jersey for "Most fighting spirit". One of the best things about the jersey, apart from the fact that it matches my eyes (ha ha), is that it enables you to line up at the front of the bunch for the following stage and with 150km on small Dutch goat tracks this is very important.
The next day we had another long wait til 6pm to start racing 135km, so in the morning we took the time to go for a recovery spin and take some team photos as the team hasn't had a chance to be all together yet. It was quite a nice day with no wind and in Holland this is sometimes a bad thing as the races become slow and dangerous. This didn't seem to be the case, as the pace was on from the start, everyone desperate to be at the front and getting in a move. At the end of the day, nothing stayed away and we set up the sprint for Kirstin who was 13 secs off the lead so hungry for the 10 sec time bonus...she won, and we had all contributed to a really successful day. After a late night, it was hard to drag ourselves out of bed the next day to do it all over again, this time the race was 139km and again the weather was good. Kirsten was now within 3 secs off the lead and so we had a bit of a job to do to keep it together and get the sprint bonus seconds. At the end of the day it all came together, we all rode well again to set Kirstin up for win - she won the stage, the tour and has the Top Competition pretty much sewn up. A super effort!
Miesi and I dragged ourselves home, washed, showered and both started packing again. I went down the street to buy some dinner and then we sat out on the terrace - Miesi the German, Mirek the Polski, Natty the Aussie in Nederlands eating Chinese - quite funny when you think about it! I was feeling quite terrible but managed to pack my things and set my alarm for 4:30am - ouch! So here I am writing to you from Italy..I flew down this morning to Milan and am now at the Aussie base in Varese. The World Cup soccer match: Australia vs Brazil is about to begin and I'm glad I get to be in Aussie company for it. Tomorrow I will head down to Novellara to calm Barbie, the nervous bride to be whose wedding I am going to on Sunday. I'm actually the 'bridesmaid' for Massimo the groom, I'm not yet sure what this entails! I will report with photos attached :)

Non athletic athletes!

Today 7 of us from AA Cycling Team attended an AA Athlete's Day at a mini-athletic venue near Utrecht. We weren't sure exactly what the day was going to entail but were told to pack clothes that we could run around in....this couldn't be good! Cyclists are typically very unathletic at anything not regarding their chosen sport....we have puny, weak upper bodies which pretty much eliminates us from anything involving throwing or catching and very specifically trained lower limbs which makes us crapy at anything involving running around (especially in the 'on-season'). In the case of myself I also have no eye-hand co-ordination that I have ever been able to stumble across which usually results in injury to myself and those around me when I try to do anything requiring this. Its not a surprise that I ended up a cyclist!
But in the name of good sport and being a fun-loving bunch we kitted up and prepared ourself to learn how to high-jump and throw a javelin. We managed to shuffle around the training lap as an excuse for a warm-up and I think the lovely lady attempting to show us the skill of high jumping got a warning of how bad things would be. She showed us some running drills, and not a single one of us was able to co-ordinate these! We all managed to try to both high jump and throw the javelin, not with too much success....although Angela Brodka showed she has a pretty good arm with the throwing....wouldn't want to mess with her! Unfortunately I can't put all my photos of the day on here...just a few....Lucky that tomorrow we can go back to being cyclists....no doubt with some sore muscles from our sorry efforts ;)

Back in the groove

After my brief 'holiday' period I returned to Holland to get back into the swing of it with some Dutch racing which is a good chance to gain some confidence in the bunch and get some strength and power into the legs racing on the flat. The first race back was on Wednesday, the 145.3km Parel van Veluwe - a long race in women's racing terms. The day was sunny and still, no wind to break the peleton up which sometimes makes the racing very dicey in Holland and so I was keen to get into a breakaway, get some good training in and stay out of trouble...as it would turn out I got much more than I had bargained for! There were attacks going from the start, and I have to admit that even 3km into the race I was initiating things which is a little silly and/or brave depending on how you look at it! I got into a break of 5 girls after 18km, and the km's started to click away...at no point was I feeling fantastic but that constant thought of..."this is good for me, i couldn't hurt myself like this in training" was running through my head. The long and short of it is that the break stayed away....126km out the front, I flew completely and was caught with 1km to go....very tragic indeed! I was completely wrecked after the race...I couldn't move but this has to make you stronger right??
The next day we had a typical Dutch style crit on in Hazerswoude Dorp, only 5km from where we live....it started at 8:15pm but after one of the first real summer days here it was a lovely evening. The entire 1km course was on stones, pave kind of stuff...my favourite...not! However, I really enjoyed the race, it was fun....my team-mates Miesi and Suzanne were in the break from the gun and I 'controlled' the peleton, or so I like to think! Suus won on the night, Miesi was 5th and I won the bunch kick for 6th - sprinter that I am! We rolled home and couldn't believe that it was already 10:30pm....its still light here then...so very hard to turn off and try to get to sleep!
Saturday was another crit on in a place called Wik bij Duurstede, not a super fantastic course but good for some power training with many corners and short straights. I wasn't in flying form but team-mate Miesi was and she came away with the win on the day....there was a front group of 5 and then a few girls in between and then I was 2nd in the bunch sprint....not atrocious but I do need a little more practice with this crit racing! I rode home from the crit, about 80km and it was such a nice time to be on the bike, in the evening as the sun is starting to very slowly going down....I had a few "I'm loving life, the world is such a beautiful place" moments!
I finished the week off with another solid day on Sunday and a good dose of sunshine....I'm the Aussie and I'm starting to complain that it is too hot over here...something is wrong! For some reason, 28 degrees over here feels like about 35, or maybe I have just acclimatised to wintry Europe!

Holiday time for me

I have been very slack again with posting to my blog so I have a lot to cover this time. After Tour de l'Aude I had a week off the bike which was much needed. I headed to Germany to stay with team-mates and the crapy weather gave me a good excuse to stay in bed and be quite slothful! I made it out a few times...to Dresden for the day which was beautiful and on another day to the Wartburg castle in Eisenach which is where Martin Luther translated the bible from Latin to German...I didn't know any of this history which appalled the Germans :) So now I have gotten myself a little more educated and had a good rest in the process. After 6 days off the bike it was time to start again, unfortunately the weather was extremely shitty - lots of sub 10 degree temperatures and constant rain. Not the best weather to renew the motivation but I did get some good quality rides in. I was very excited when the sun came out on Saturday so in typical Aussie fashion stripped down whilst out riding, only to get quite cold once we hit the mountains. On the way home it started raining and I got really cold, and just to top the day off went quite hunger flat as well....ouch, I forgot how bad that feels! So...ended up getting a cold and spent the next two days in bed....very stupid me!
Now I'm back in Holland and have raced for the last two days...I'll write about that when I'm back from my pedal this morning :)