(L-R; Top-Bottom) Me spinning out in Cardona after stage 1; Me and Martina after stage 1; The finish area in Cardona; Looking up at a church in Cardona; A building in Cardona; For Lisa: a giant inflatable Coke can (if only I could steal it and take it home for you)!; A Polish Lotto rider leading out during the Eliminator short track; High speed action in the Eliminator; More Eliminator; Horizontal stripes: an unfortunate fashion decision; Martina looking stylin' and happy; Our team Smart car from the outside; The Smart from the inside (my seat is on the right).
VOLCAT 2005 -- Berga to Igualada
We (Juerg, Martina and I) packed up the Smart on Thursday night, had a super quick dinner at the buffet and headed for the town of Berga in central Catalunya, a little over two hours from Giverola. Our hotel, Hotel Estrel, was cozy, affordable and had free wireless Internet access!
Stage 1 -- Berga to Cardona, 53 km
We were all ready to start at 10 a.m., but when nothing was happening by 9:55, I went and asked... aha! The start was at 10:30!
It was supposed to be a neutral start, but the lead cars zoomed ahead, so of course the riders did too. Things bottlenecked back where we were, which was a little frustrating, but once we were on the open road, passing wasn't a problem. The course followed mostly fire roads through the back country and we ripped through tiny villages and farms and along some sections of fast, dry singletrack. The terrain reminded me a lot of Summerland's ActionQuest course, with the dry clay, loose sand and rocks and pine forests.
I felt really good and had a hard time keeping my heart rate in check. Suddenly, with about 7 km to go, I got a rear flat. I managed to fix it really quickly and was only passed by one woman, Martina, who was having a super solid ride. The finish wound through narrow cobblestone alleys in Cardona, down a flight of stairs, up another flight of stairs and then under the inflatable finish arch. I ended up 6th woman overall in that stage and 3rd Elite (there were some fast young girls there, including Poland's U23 rider, Marlena Pyrgies, Martina (of course) and the crazy Polish Junior who came 2nd overall in the stage, Aleksandra Dawidowicz (Lotto).
Stage 2 -- Cardona to Calaf, 67 km
My legs were tight and sore all night, so I was worried about how they would perform for Stage 2, the longest and hardest section. We got to the start with plenty of time to spare. I have to mention that nowhere in Spain do there seem to be public washrooms. Either you buy a coffee so you can use the cafe's washroom, or you go in the bushes or behind a house. Before the race, Juerg bought a coffee and some pastries for himself so we wouldn't have to squat outside somewhere. Although when Martina had to go again, Juerg refused to buy any more coffee, so she went in the bushes right as a couple of people on a Saturday walk strolled by....
Again, the start was supposed to be neutral, but it wasn't. Add in a steep climb to the hilltop castle and down stairs, plus a couple of sharp corners and 300 mountain bikers and you get sketch-o-rama! Martina and I had bad start positions again because it was a choice of either get a proper warm up or reserve a start spot up front half an hour early. We chose the warm up. The Polish chicks got called up, so they were home free.
This stage was the most fun, but also the most painful. I soon discovered that I hammered to hard the day before. My legs were heavy and my heart rate had a hard time getting over 180. I still managed to push myself and stay smooth and steady, so I was happy. There were some really long, difficult climbs, but the descents made it all worth it. We blasted down high-speed fire roads and along some super sections of singletrack. I managed to keep the air in my tires and my bike held together, so everything was A-OK!
On the other hand, there was Martina. I passed her early on when she got a flat. I asked her if she had everything she needed and she said: "Yes! Hammer Sandra!"
The next time I saw her was several hours later, after she had flatted again, run out of tubes, walked for 40 minutes, taken a wrong turn, begged a tube off of a friendly Spaniard and ridden to the finish on a half-inflated tired because she had run out of CO2.
When she still hadn't come through the feed a long time after me, Juerg decided to run in her direction to see if he could help her. He ran in the sun for 10 kilometres and still no Martina. That's because Martina had gotten into a fast train of men who had taken a wrong turn....
Hero of the Day goes out to Martina for finishing the bloody stage and still laughing at the end. But she wasn't laughing anymore when the jar of hazelnut yogurt fell out of the car and smashed in the parkade....
Martina dubbed our hotel in Igualada "The Raper Hotel." It was quite budget. 55 Euros a night for all three of us. We walked into the lobby and it was a huge metal bar with old men grouped around it, smoking. The air inside was blue and thick with smoke.
Stage 3 -- Calaf to Igualada, 36 km
On the news the night before, I had seen something about a clock and time changing, but I didn't quite catch it. I asked Juerg and Martina if they thought the time change was that weekend, but they didn't know. I knew that in Canada it happens in April, but I had a vague recollection that it was on a different date in Europe than in North America. However, we just dismissed it, as we were all too tired to walk down the stairs to ask and then back up again.
We got up at 7:00 a.m. as usual. The Feldmanns were moving a lot quicker than I was, however, and they had me packed and in the car by 7:50. I hadn't brushed my hair and I was still eating breakfast when we drove to the start. We got to Calaf at around 8:20 -- or so we thought. The start was supposed to be at 10, but there were people warming up everywhere. I quickly flagged a guy down and asked him what time it was. Sure enough, 'Spring Forward' had happened overnight. D'oh! We quickly got ready, had a few minutes to warm up (and sign the jersey of our #1 Fan, Angela, who was super excited for us). Of course we got a really crappy start position once again.
But the start position didn't matter to me that day. My legs had nothing in them. They could only go one speed: slow. I just resigned myself to riding in to the finish as quickly as my tired little legs would let me. I rode relatively smoothly and I tried to keep my cadence up and it was enough to secure my third place in the Elite category and 4th overall. However, I only placed 7th in the stage.
Martina had a super strong race. If only she hadn't lost an hour the day before! She flew through the stage in 1:54:50 -- third overall woman and only 2.5 minutes behind the leader! Nice work!
After Stage 3, the top 25 finishers qualified for the Eliminator, a short track race, where the last rider through the finish on every lap got pulled out. It was fun to watch, but boy am I glad I didn't have to partake.
We got a free lunch of salad, grilled chicken, potatoes and crema Catalana after the race and watched the awards ceremony. I received 100 Euros for my 4th in the General Classification, which is nice.
After cramming all of our stuff back in the Smart, we motored home with Juerg at the wheel and arrived in Giverola just in time for a rainshower.
Thanks to Juerg for the super duper race support. He has everything under control. It's awesome!