March 14, 2005 ¡Más rapido! Girona, gelato, gong show I enjoyed my rest week, but it went by so quickly! On Monday we didn't have any new guests, so I got out of leading the Prologue and spent the entire morning and some of the afternoon working on my update. Perhaps today will go the same way.... Girona Tuesday I tagged along with a bunch of staff who went to Girona with the goal of getting supplies for the bike shop and the sport shop. We first went to Decathlon and Bauhaus. Decathlon is a gigantic sports store that has everything you could imagine: shoes for every sport, wetsuits, bikes, bike parts, clothing, Polar HR monitors, nutritional supplements, soccer balls, basketballs.... I've never seen anything like it. I just spent an hour wandering through the aisles. I didn't buy anything though, but the prices were very reasonable. Bauhaus is like Home Depot -- a big building supplies/home renovation place. After the shopping and McDonalds stop (I didn't indulge), we headed to downtown Girona. The group split into two: those who wanted to hang out and eat crepes (amazingly I wasn't one of those!) and those who wanted to wander (including me). I ended up being the only chica in the group, which included: Dänu, Christian, Fritz and Pascal. It was fun times with the boys! We headed off and came upon a coffee shop, where I drank a cafe cortado and ate a pastel con chocolate y crema. We then wandered past really neat looking stores and ogled shoes through the window. It was siesta, so unfortunately a lot of the shops were closed, so we went towards the old town. We traipsed along narrow cobblestone streets and then ducked into a tunnel that took us up to the base of the city wall. From the top of the wall that spans several kilometres, we got an amazing view of the city. After walking the length of the wall, we found our way down and headed back towards where we had left the other group. I'm pretty sure we were very near to where Lance Armstrong's house is in the old town. Some of the guys were checking names on mailboxes in hopes of finding Lance, but no luck. But we did happen to run into the other half of our group in front of the gelateria. I, of course, had to have a gelato -- I chose something called 'cremina.' It was tasty, but I still exactly sure of what 'cremina' is -- probably sweet cream. After the gelato, we wandered back to where the van was parked, piled back in and headed home. It was really fun to get away from the Tossa/Giverola area and see more of Spain. Hopefully Martina and I will go to Barcelona for a day during the week after the VOLCAT -- a three-day mountain bike stage race, March 25-27. Weather update The weather has been way better this past week. We had beautiful sunshine (still a little fresh out, but at least there was sun!) for the Girona trip. Wednesday was beautiful too, and not windy, so I spent about an hour on our balcony, napping. Martina and I led a Prologue group on Thursday and it was just sunshine the whole time. Today, however, it has suddenly clouded over, so it's a bit chilly again. I'm sitting in the apartment with a fleece jacket on and my fleece slippers. My hands are freezing, but... must... keep... typing...! Gong show ride Friday I went mountain biking with Martina and Andri. It was a gong show! I figured since Martina has been here several years, she knows her way around, but I was mistaken. "Hey!" She protests, "I was just testing." Anyway, we ended up getting lost and going in circles, not that it was a problem, since it was a beautiful day and hey, we were mountain biking in Spain! But I finally took matters into my own hands, and managed to lead us to where we wanted to go. I am proud of my sense of direction! Speaking of senses of direction, in this case a poor one.... When I chose the correct path, Andri somehow didn't see us head up it and kept going the wrong way, until Martina stopped and called out to him. She heard his voice come faintly from somewhere below: "I'm over here." "You're supposed to be up here!" She yelled back at him and waited for a reply. But all she heard was a crashing sound from the bushes and then suddenly Andri appeared, hiking his bike up the steep, overgrown embankment, when he could have easily ridden the fifty metres back to the intersection and come up the road. Martina found it incredibly funny and all I heard from behind me was the loudest, most uncontrolled laughter ever. I rode down to see what was going on and found Martina doubled over her bike and crying with laughter and Andri just standing there with a less-than-amused look on his face. It took Martina several minutes to calm down and pick herself off the ground (where she had ended up during her laughing fit) so we could continue the ride. We rode up to San Grau, which is the highest point in the area. From there, Andri led us up a 'secret' (read: overgrown and thorny) trail. As I was riding behind him, he suddenly stopped. I asked what was wrong. Turns out he busted his derailleur hanger. He removed the derailleur and chain and jogged the rest of the way (he's gotta train anyway, since he's running the Barcelona marathon on March 20), except for the downhills, which, of course, he coasted until... he got a flat. Nothing but bad luck for Andri! I just have to note, almost every day that Andri goes mountain biking, he comes back with bloody legs, crash stories and flat tires.... Martina, at that point, lost control again and laughed (loudly and incessantly) the entire way back home, while poor Andri ran (in front of us) with his broken bike. Another ride After the ride with Martina and Andri (after which Andri decided to take a break from biking for the next little while), I knocked on the door of apartment 817 where Peter and Fritz live. I was ushered inside and offered a seat while Fritz made me an espresso and Peter got ready to go riding with me. Peter and I headed to the 'trials parcours' where I was going to get a lesson in cornering, which I feel is one of the main areas I need to work on. I was buzzing from the caffeine (I couldn't stop shaking!) while we warmed up riding along boards (well, I was so jittery, I had a hard time staying on them!), over teeter totters, through a slalom course and through bermed corners. After breaking down the skills on the parcours, we headed into the hills for some on-trail practise. Cornering is one of those skills I haven't really stopped and studied, before, so Peter's advice was really helpful. Unfortunately it was my turn to have bad luck. My freewheel, which had been ailing for some time, finally gave up, so we had to head back. Peter got me up and running again and my freewheel is as good as new... well, not exactly. He managed to open it up and grease it, so it actually runs, but the noise it's making isn't a happy one. It's only a matter of time.... I can't wait to get my new bike!!!!! More Canadians! On Friday, Ontario coach Steve Neal arrived. His client (who paid for Neal to come here and ride with him) showed up on Saturday. Another Ontarian is also here to train for two weeks. Ryder Hesjedal also stayed one night with his girlfriend Jessica, who is from Victoria as well. Juerg works with him quite a bit, doing testing and training. Hesjedal seemed pretty content. He's living and training in Girona with the Discovery Team until October. Yankees A group of eight Americans also showed up on Saturday. More Cyclists! Saturday was busy. Over 130 guests arrived in three buses. Martina and I had to sit outside the sport shop, check people in and give them their goody bags (containing a bottle, a map, lunch coupons and a cycling jersey). I then spent my afternoon packing my race bag, going for an easy spin and cleaning my bike. I had the evening shift at the store, which ended up being crazy busy as a big group of people were leaving that night and they all wanted to buy something before they left. And then the new people also wanted to look around.... Fewer Cyclists! Saturday was also a bit sad because several of the staff/guides who had been here since I arrived were leaving: (Peter [the mechanic], Schnauzli [road guide who knows all the routes like the back of his hand; has a black handlebar moustache; always called me Sabrina], Leo [hilarious old guy who led the slowest "Gmuetli" or "Bluemli" Group; incidentally gave me a full-on kiss on the lips when I was going in for the three cheek kisses; gave me and Martina Papillon chocolates after our races and left behind enough for each upcoming race], Christian [road guide, one of my Girona chicos], Dänu [Ski instructor in Wengen, who I think only went home to write an exam and is coming back on Saturday]. So we had to do a big round of good-byes. Race report Here it is! The report from Copa Catalana #1 / Massi Cup in Banyoles. Juerg rented a Smart (a four-door, but still tiny) instead of trusting poor Mildred the Ford van (who I drove the other day, but just around the resort). We loaded up the tiny car, scarfed down breakfast at 7:30 and were on the go by 7:45. It took a little over an hour to get to Banyoles, but we had plenty of time to sign on and warm up, as our race started at 10. Registration cost 18 Euros and included another T-shirt -- this time a medium instead of XL. I opted to warm up on the course instead of the trainer, since I hadn't pre-ridden. The loop, 8 km long, was super dry and mostly double track with loose, sandy corners (still need to work on these)! The climbing was pretty intense -- no super long climbs, but rather short and steep. The course did cut back on itself over and over as it was based on one hill. It was great for spectating though and it was quite fun, especially the one singletrack downhill section that started down two sets of stairs and then took riders down a bermed creekbed -- super fun! The nature of the course meant pretty much full-throttle the whole time, as evidenced by my average HR of 196 with a max of 204 and the corresponding graph, which doesn't dip below 185. There were 20 Elite Women at the start, including France's Cecile Rode, former Junior World Champion. There were a few other girls from France, two from Belgium and two from Canada (me and Martina). It was pretty amazing for a race that is equivalent to a BC Cup (a regional race). The size of the expo, high level of organization and large number of spectators were amazing too. We started off with a shortened lap that began with a couple of kilometres of pavement to sort things out. The group was quick off the line, but eased up on the paved and stayed together. Once we got off-road, things spread out a little more, but never too much. It was great, I always saw two or three of my competitors and we were actually jockeying back and forth. At home, I usually don't see anyone and stay in the same position the whole time. It's only once in a while that I might pass someone or someone will pass me. But in Banyoles, I always had a target and I always knew that if I messed up, there was a girl right behind me that would take my spot. After the first, shortened lap, we did two full laps, which were tough -- even tougher because I didn't know the course. I ended up placing 6th, which I'm happy with, because the level of competition was high and I felt I gave my best (I have the HR graph and lung butter to prove it)! The top six were all within 2.5 minutes of each other, I think. Once again, it was a short race, only 1:13. Martina had an awesome start and was riding really strong for the first half, when all of a sudden I caught and passed her. I found out afterwards that her heart rate had dropped suddenly and she just couldn't push it back up. She decided it was pointless to continue on only one working cylinder. She's happy with the beginning of her race, however, and she was well ahead of all the other U23 girls, even when she abandoned. Click here for photos and a report (in Spanish). Elite Women 1. Cecile Rode (Orbea) 1:13.39 2. Sandra Santanyes (Bicisprint) at 20s 3. Cristina Mascarreras (Tot Vici En Bici) 1:18 Canadians 6. Sandra Walter (AdventureBound.ca) Men's race After I cooled down and got cleaned up, I headed back onto the course (on foot this time) with my camera and found Martina and Juerg. I had to chase them across fields and through prickles as they maximized their race viewing time. I took some neat photos. It's always awesome to watch the men's races because they're just so powerful and smooth. The level of competition was also super high, and included World Cupper Jose Antonio Hermida. Canada's Max Plaxton was also pushing the pace near the front and ended up sixth overall and first in the U21 category. I talked to him after the race and he wasn't completely happy with his effort. "It was my first mountain bike of the season," he said and shrugged, commenting that he just got his new bike and the setup wasn't quite right. He had back pain throughout the race. Plaxton has been racing on the road in southern Spain and has just relocated to a suburb of Barcelona to continue training and racing. Elite Men 1. Marc Trayter (Haribo) 1:20:28 2. Cedric Ravanel (Orbea) at 3s 3. Juan Pedro Trujillo (Massi Abarth) 5s 4. Josep Antoni Hermida (Multivan-Merida) 33s 5. Ismael Ventura (Haribo) 44s Canadians 6. Max Plaxton (Maxxis MSC) 1:05 (1st in U21 category) Post-race When we got back from Banyoles, I was totally looking forward to a relaxing evening, but was quickly reminded by Therese that I had the fashion show to prepare for. The show went as well as can be expected. The crowd was a little more receptive this time, actually clapping, cheering and whistling at times. Favourites Cafe cortado -- espresso with a tiny bit of steamed milk. Miguel -- the waiter. Postre Cremoso yogurt (hazelnut flavour) BOtW Almost forgot, BoyZ of the Week! I couldn't decide on one this week, so there are three!