May 9, 2005
Madrid: ¡Me gusta!
Some rain, lots of sun, road trip, Madrid, another World Cup, motorcycle crash, Martina's B-Day!

Whew! I've gotta go to bed and I haven't even started writing my update. I will try to make it short and sweet....

Martina's Birthday
Okay, let's skip right to Thursday, because that already gets rid of three days, which will make this report significantly shorter.

After taking the morning shift in the shop, I busted to Tossa on my road bike, despite the dark, looming clouds. And since I was just riding 10 minutes and I had just worked in the shop, I didn't bother changing my clothes. I happened to be wearing my new, light blue 3/4 length pants, which didn't pose a problem until, halfway there, it started to pour. Road grit sprayed off of my tires and onto my pants. I got soaked. It was crappy.

Now, the reason I was riding to Tossa was mainly to pick up a pair of really cool (silver!) shoes, which I had ordered. I arrived at the shoe store (drenched and dirty), excited to pick up my new footwear. It turned out, however, that they were completely sold out and unable to order any more, despite the fact that they told me last week that they would be there. So I had ruined my pants for nothing. I rode back home (dejectedly) in the rain just in time to guide the Prologue.

Martina opted for the slower group (her leg still wasn't 100% better), so I took off with the three guys who wanted to ride faster. I set the tempo, leading until we got into the flats, where I pulled off and let the guy with tri bars take over. He picked up the tempo and motored into the climb towards Romanya. I was starting to hit threshhold, but I wanted to finish the ride as quickly as possible so I could get home well before Martina and prepare her surprise birthday party.

It worked great. Andrea and I had plenty of time to prepare the menu: strawberries and whipped cream, punch, mixed nuts, Mikado (dark and milk chocolate) tortilla chips and salsa. I had wrapped all 22 of her presents the night before (most of which she is wearing in the photos). Heiko blew up balloons and supplied the venue (the now sad and empty apartment #815). Thanks also to Roger a.k.a. Buetzi for letting us use 815 as party central. Go Bike Hogs!

Madrid
I packed Thursday night and we were ready to roll Friday morning. Martina opted out of the Madrid trip because of her injury, so Flurin came in her place. Juerg drove us down (averaging 130 kph including frequent pee stops). The landscape was really amazing. The more inland we got, the browner and drier the ground. In some places, the earth was red like in Moab, Utah or near Tupiza, Bolivia. It had a definite Wild West feel. At one point we drove through a strikingly green valley that was irrigated by a river. It reminded me a bit of the Okanagan Valley at home, because we passed orchard after orchard. Then, suddenly, the landscape turned arid and brown again.

At one point we drove through a giant windmill setup -- see photos.

On the trip, we only had one CD -- a mixed one from Andri. It had good songs, but after 20 times, even 'Rasputin' gets a little old.... (I know, it's hard to believe!)

Once in Madrid, we drove straight to Casa de Campo, the site of the World Cup, where I pre-rode. Afterwards, we watched some of the trials events. While searching for the race site, we also watched 'business transactions' in the park. We got to the wrong part of the park. I couldn't believe the number of prostitutes standing on the side of the road, some wearing nothing but skimpy tops, panties and high heels. Really disturbing and kind of upsetting.

Our hotel was about 40 minutes outside of Madrid in a suburb called Brunete. It was quiet and relaxing and had free Internet!!!

That night I COOKED dinner, which I haven't done in so long. I really enjoyed it. Cooking can be so relaxing and my simple meal (penne with salsa Napolitana, mixed salad with balsamic vinaigrette, bread) tasted so good and so DIFFERENT from the Giverola buffet.

The next morning was race day. Read the report.

Back to Giverola
After the men's race and after I had filed my web reports, we zipped back (well, first we zipped in the direction of Portugual and then had to turn around and ask for directions, and then we zipped in a giant circle around the city via Highway M-40) to Tossa. Our 'zipping' was also hindered by the high number of pee breaks between Flurin and me.

Unfortunately, I missed this season's final fashion show. I am very upset about it. Beyond consolation, acutally.

We arrived at around 11:00 p.m., unpacked the car and then I proceeded to make myself dinner, because all I'd eaten in the car were cookies, cashews and chocolate. Hmm....

I then called home to wish my Mom a Happy Mother's Day (because I'm a good, albeit expensive -- or priceless -- daughter)!

Prologue-ing it up -- oh yeah!
Martina and took two friendly and pleasant guys on the Prologue today. We witnessed some excitement on our way up the Tossa Pass, when a motorcyclist passed us in a corner, screwed up, missed the corner, crossed the oncoming lane and crashed into the dirt embankment on the other side.

He stood up and said he was okay, but he was obviously shaken up. We offered to call an ambulance, but he refused. We offered him our cell phone so he could call someone, so he phoned and asked his sister to come pick him up, as his bike was busted. As he was on the phone, he suddenly fainted, collapsing on the road. We moved him out of the way and he quickly came to. We asked a couple of Spanish motorcyclists, who had come from the other direction, to stay with him until his sister arrived.

It was pretty scary. Apparently there's a statistic floating around (not really sure how accurate it is) that during the summer months, one motorcyclist dies per day on the stretch of road between Tossa and San Feliu.

Gratulieren
Congrats to Lisa for getting the awesome opportunity to race inthe Tour de l'Aude. I'm going to try to make it to Toulouse to watch you race, Lisa! I've already discussed it with Andrea. We want to rent a car and be your superfans!

Congrats also to Jeanine for getting selected to do a YMCA youth conference thingy (can you send me the real name? in Mexico for three weeks in July!

The moment you've all been waiting for...

Boy of the Week -- Pascal! You finally made it, buddy! www.hammermann.ch Is it all you dreamed it would be and more? :-P

Girl of the Week -- Marie-Helene Premont -- she's just freakin' awesome. Way to go Marie!

More Goodbyes... :-(
Once again, I was absent for the big exodus. Bye to the Other Sandra, Roger a.k.a Buetzi, Heiko, Christoph... and the rest!