March 28, 2005 Tuckered out VOLCAT, riding on trails with boys, birthday, family fantasy cocktail for two VOLCAT Action The highlight of my week was definitely the VOLCAT (Volta Catalana) three-day point-to-point mountain bike stage race http://www.ocisport.net. Check out my race report. Blah days I had a bit of a slow start to the week, with Monday turning into a stress day rather than a rest day. I led the Prologue group by myself and there were several factors that led to no good: One guy had never ridden a road bike in his life. His friend (a triathlete) kept getting phone calls on his cell and was trying to discuss business in Spanish (he's Swiss). Our average speed was 12 kph and we had 66 km to ride. Buddy who had never ridden a road bike had to be back by 3:30. We came upon an accident involving one of the hotel guests and I had to translate and make arrangements for her and her boyfriend's bikes to be picked up while they went off in the ambulance. Everything turned out okay, however. We turned back early so newbie got back in time. I threw buddy's cell phone off a cliff (no, not really, but I felt like it); the woman who crashed is okay (only a sprained wrist, despite the spinal board and neck brace, which made things look scarier than they really were)! Tuesday I felt gross too. It was overcast and muggy, which probably didn't help. I went for a spin, but turned around after 20 minutes when I started feeling dizzy. I then had a two-hour nap instead of my four-hour ride with intervals. Tuesday night we borrowed the projector from the resort and watched Minority Report (in German) on our living room wall. We had about 15 people over. Good times! Hammering with the boys Wednesday I went for an awesome five-hour mountain bike ride with the guys (Franz, Simon, Jogi, Martin 'Tiger' and two guests who are young cross-country racers from Switzerland). Coach Steve had said I shouldn't go too hard that day because of the full weekend of racing ahead, but I couldn't help it. I had to stay with the group or get stuck in the middle of nowhere. I must admit, my heart rate did make its way over 190 at times.... We ended up doing some bush-wacking and hiking too. We rode trails all the way to San Feliu (where the first Trofeu Caixa Girona race was) and then I found the race course and we zipped along that for a bit. Unfortunately, Franz got a stick in his rear wheel and snapped three spokes. He undid his rear brakes and still managed to ride home on his badly misshapen wheel. Birthday! From now on, I will always be 25! My birthday started off with a race and ended with a Family Fantasy Cocktail for two, courtesy of Martina. I came home from four days on the road to find a trail of Sugus leading to my bed on which was a heap of balloons and a stuffed Nemo toy (Thank you Natasha!). Neil was standing by the window, smiling. The first thing I did (after eating a couple of Sugus) was open the safe where I had kept the package my Mom had given me when I left Switzerland. Inside were a variety of chocolates and sweets... mmmmmm.... Thank you! Thank you all very much for the birthday wishes and e-mails. Alistair, that birthday card ROCKED! Martina's was pretty good too, because it featured Richard Simmons. I will treasure it forever. Because I had done over eight hours of racing in three days and it was my birthday, Therese let me sit out the fashion show, which was great, because I got to watch and take lots of photos. Martina loves doing the fashion show SO much, she went in it anyway. The day after At breakfast I found out that no new roadie guests had arrived, so Martina and I didn't have to guide the Prologue! So I went back to bed. My plans for the day include eating chocolate, cleaning my bike, recovering on the Bemer mats, going for a spin... but wait -- it's already 2:00 p.m. and I haven't accomlished anything yet! I'm excited about tomorrow because I'm taking the day off and going to Barcelona to be a tourist. Dani G's (we have way too many Daniels here right now) brother, Andreas, is on exchange in Barcelona, so he knows the town and will be our tour guide. Friday night we're going clubbing in Lloret, which is known throughout Europe for its Spring Break parties! Boy of the Week AND Girl of the Week -- Franz and Martina in their Rock Star getup!