Spain 2005

After it snowed earlier last week, Martina and I were relieved when Saturday turned into a beautiful, sunny day. In an easy pre-ride we discovered the six-kilometre course still showed signs of snow -- the melted kind -- in the form of mud.

It was faster to run some of the grass climbs because of the slick stuff, but I was happy my Hutchinson Bulldogs provided such great traction (because I am often stubborn as a bulldog when it comes to getting off my bike and running). The route was similar to Volketswil, in that it contained no major climbs, but a lot of rolling power stuff and fast singletrack.

I’m happy with the 14 th place I churned out in the Basel mud. Once again, I felt solid, motivated and excited to be racing. It’s great to be part of such a strong women’s field. I figure if I keep moving up a couple of places ever race, I’ll be on the podium in no time!

When we arrived at the race site, Dani and Rene were already setting up the tent and getting ready to help us with anything we might need – they had even prepared us a lunch involving sausages, but we gratefully declined, as sausages an hour before the race would not have gone over well. They were happy to sacrifice their own performances, however, and ate the bangers themselves. :-P

Warming up in our tent, I felt like a hamster in a cage. Race fans walking leisurely through the expo in the spring sunshine would stop, stare and take photos (Martina said one guy even took a picture of my bum, but then I heard him ask about the CO2 cartridge taped to my seatpost, so I’m convinced that’s what he was interested in). Even the Canadian Women’s National Team’s biggest fan, Thomas from Germany, was on hand and surprised to see me. Last time we met was in Houffalize, Belgium last May at a World Cup, when I was riding on a broken bike and in a non-team kit. Now here I was, racing for a Swiss team in the stunning red and white X.O-Felt kit on a shiny RXC Pro.

My start was a little difficult, since the start loop was quite hard to navigate if you were located mid-pack, considering the series of short, fast sections, followed by 90-degree corners. Once things spread out a little, I settled into a good rhythm and focused on maintaining power and momentum. I felt like an animal (more like a tiger than a hamster in this case) every time the trail spit me out onto a flat power section. For some reason I was able to kick into my highest gear and attack anyone that was in the way. It felt super cool! Rrrrow!

It was easy to keep up my motivation, as there were always women to battle with and people cheering me on – thanks everyone! And thanks again to Dani, Rene and teammate Nico for helping with tech support, feeding and cheering. I can’t wait for the next Swisspower Cup in Buchs on April 23.