29 May 2007
Stage 1, quick feeding
With just a short stretch of road to feed, we managed to get a few away. Such a well coordinated team.
And I have also put a few pics up in here also here.
Tour de l'Aude, first stages
A bit of Team TT practice
A few days off for the whole team before we started the serious stuff, but someone should have told the wind as well. With gusts of up to 40km/hr and rain intermittently throughout the day, it made even the easy rides somewhat difficult, and near as not much fun as it could be. But we were here to race, and to defend the title for a third time in a row for Amber, or maybe for Susanne. Racing starts on Thursday, so it would give me a chance to get some order in the truck, ready for the prologue.
Amber almost ready for her prologue start.
A nice place to start stage 1 from.
Thursday came around fast, and before you knew it we were shifting camp to the seaside town Gruissan. No fancy hotels this time around, but large camping facilities, with small cabins and communal food, not the best race conditions for ten days, but at least everyone is the same. The TT was only 3.9km, but it is as much work as even longer stages. TT bikes were looking good, the training bike were looking even better, and the whole camp just looked very professional. Amber was last up for the day, I managed to get some video, but have yet to post it up, but you might find it at her site. Best we could do was 10th with Amber, and 12th for Susanne. But stage one was coming, and already this had some good climbs, so should shake out a few of the weeks players.
Looks like a 70's pose at the beach, but it's just Mir who rode to the start, stretching.
Klas doing some stretching as well.
Stage 1 left from a very nice looking waterfront, out into the ocean, Port la Nouvelle. A nice looking waterfront, with a few of the tourists starting to fill the beach already, not really interested in the race at all. The Kiwi team was parked a few doors down, it was nice to see some black back in the peloton. Today’s race was 120km out and back course, so the truck could stay, a day at the beach. We were to be treated to a nice view of the countryside, and a quick selection of some of the terrain we would have to contend with over the next few days. Nothing much happened, bunch stayed together for most of the race, but a few dropped off the back. Susanne flatted down one of the hills, but Madi swapped it out and got a neutral wheel, and soon joined the bunch. Marianne Vos (World Champ, DSB) out sprinted the bunch to take her first win of the tour.
Susanne almost ready for the start.
16 May 2007
Bern World Cup Video
A small Video from the WC in Bern, lap three done and now two small ones to go. See if you can spot a few of our riders, one is very easy. And of course the Kiwi's are easy to see, all dressed in black.
Borsele & Bern World Cup
After a week of some serious work, the three of us had finished a few projects on the truck, bikes and equipment that we had been trying to do for a year or so. Only one more job on the truck, installation of a sound system for the ipod, and things would be as good as they get for life on the road. What self respecting bike wouldn’t like surround sound when it was hanging around in the truck. With a week of pretty bad weather and high winds in Holland, we seemed to hit the eye of the storm on the way to the race in Borsele. With rain and high winds hanging around, temperatures had dropped to almost a half of what they had been earlier. So it was a real eye opener for the team, having to find their warm and rain gear for the race. Borsele is another race in the Dutch ‘Top competition’ series, important for a team based in Holland. We were racing our B-team, as the rest of the team had made, or was making their way to Bern for the World Cup. We had to race with 5 girls or else there was no start for us, we managed to just scrape in, with any of the girls having to travel overnight. Lucky as we had lost (PC version) one of the team Annette Beutler, as she was concentrating on her Olympic preparation, and needed some specific training and racing, team work was not going to work. We were busy trying to get a new rider organised, and she was unlicensed, which means no race. With some serious favours called in, the Dutch Cycling Federation gave her a licence, then to UCI to get her on the team list, this was more difficult. As with any major organisation, UCI is like the rest of them, if your in a hurry, it’s not possible, so we used the old, no hurry trick and it was through in a matter of days.
It could only be Team New Zealand with the Jandels, very rare over here in Europe, but instantly recognised as a southern hemisphere icon.
We started, we raced, we chased, we attacked like hell, but nothing really happened. It was cold, wet and windy (just the way that most Dutch races should be), no problems, no mechanicals, a dropped rider or two, but no real surprises. The truck had left for Switzerland in the morning, so had a few of the team, so with two team cars, we headed back to base, unloaded all the bikes and wheels we didn’t need and hit the road. Heading south (closer to the equator) to Switzerland was a welcome change, as we heard the weather forecast was very favourable for racing. But a storm chased us all the way through Germany, lucky driving at around 200km/hr, we could outrun it easily. A small drive of 755km in a car for a change, a few hours later we arrived late in the night. Round five of the World cup series was being held near the city of Bern, around the area Jens, Lyss and Biel. A lightly populated farming area, some small villages and some fantastic lakes, and a very nice view of the mountains to the horizon. Think of green pastures, rolling hills and freshly planted wheat fields, intermingled with turn of the century, classic Swiss looking houses, most of them holding three generations of the same family (I hear you can get a mortgage for up to 100 years to pay it back). The race is organised and sponsored by the Bigla Team, whose home base is near the start finsh line funnily enough. Bigla (office equipment), one of the ‘top ten’ trade teams, currently with last years race winner, Zabirova, had a lot at stake. All the major teams were racing, with the overall win of the series of ten, still open, including the three out of four winner, Nicole Cooke (Raleigh Lifeforce, Joanne Kiesanowski’s team). A few of the top riders, still, had not shown their faces on the podium, so it was all out for this race as things were getting to close to call. A small change to the course from last year, with the same tough climbs, with a small change to the laps surrounding them. Still a demanding course for any rider, as no real recovery can be achieved between the climbs, also some tight racing through the villages, with some open roads just to stretch things out.
The gang getting thier last briefing before the start.
The Kiwi team was looking great dressed all in black, and were looking for a better result than last years, as I remember I saw the whole team getting dropped within the first two laps (with two out on the first). Hopefully they have done a little bit more training this time out, knowing what they have to deal with here. Racing for the New Zealand national team was, Toni Bradshaw, Gina Waibel, Carissa Wilks, Serina Sheriden, Marina Duvnjak and Michelle Hyland. Other favourites looking for a win were T-Mobiles, Judith Arnt, not yet showing any real form, Ina Tuttenberg was surprisingly missing from the list, as was our own Susanne Ljunskog and Amber (busy preparing for the l’Aude). Marianne Vos, the current World Champ was also hungry for a win, as she is unbelievable, and almost unbeatable at the moment. Vos was racing the day earlier in the Netherlands, in Borsele. Here she made a break with one other, 50km from the finish, in 30km winds, and did most of the work to win easily with 30 seconds or so. Most of the teams racing Borsele, had the B teams racing here, so they put lots of pressure on Vos, keeping her close, forcing her to work to stay away (hoping to tire her out for the next days racing). We would see, with a long transit to the airport, a late flight, and a long transit upon landing, it’s not the best recovery before such a big race. With this race a week before the biggest race on the Women’s calendar, the Tour de l’Aude, some of the top riders were not present, but still some serious contenders were out for a good stretching. Also racing here was a couple of Kiwi’s, Amy Mosen (just signed to Rapha-Condor) and Tamara Boyd (Lotto-Belisimo). Good to talk some sense (Kiwi English) for a minute or so.
The bunch about to disappear in to a small village.
The morning dawned clear and sunny, much to our surprise after having braved the storms throughout the night, en-route to Bern (the team had arrived a day earlier). An almost full peloton graced the start line, with about 162 starters, the race was going to be tough, with nowhere to hide for those that like to do nothing ion the bunch. Things got of to a very nice rolling speed within the first 5km, but it wasn’t long before most of the stronger teams were keeping the speed up high at the front of the bunch. With a blistering pace of 50-55km/hr before the first big climb of the day, things were getting serious already. By the time the first big climb of the day was upon us, a few attacks had come and gone, but none of them came to much. Almost every attack was reeled in before they even had 10 seconds on the bunch. The speed stayed high, even after the climbs, making sure that no one had any energy left for the big attacks that you needed to escape. With Bigla, Nurenburger and sometimes T-mobile controlling the front of the bunch, they were all good at protecting any attempts of escape. With three laps of the big course done, bunch was group, and the only action we saw was the race for the mountain and sprint classifications on every lap. Still with not much action on the front, the 80km mark was starting to split the bunch at the back of the race over the climbs, with three distinct groups now, the front still had a bunch of about 60. At the 100km mark, the bunch was back together, it looked like Toni Bradshaw had a mechanical, but a few moments later she was back in the bunch.
Almost like patchwork, a nice vista of the Swiss countryside.
Most of the Kiwi’s were hanging in easily, with a lot higher level of fitness coming from the team than last year. We saw Marina (the last to arrive in Europe, still jet lagged maybe) getting dropped on one of the climbs, she was chasing hard in the caravan but could not quite make it back into the bunch, by this time we had lost about 30 of the bunch. Out of the race were some pretty big names, finding the speed and climbing a little too much, we even lost our own Loes Makerink on the second lap. She was cooked, but tried to hang on for half a lap, to no avail. With about twenty km to go, the attacks came in thick and fast, but they were all reeled back in with no real effort. With ten to go, bunch was group, a few riders testing the front, but again nothing prevailed. Last years race was won at this stage, with Zabirova (Bigla) attacking at this point, and again she tried, with team-mate Tanja Hennes, and failed. With five to go, a small attack came with a single rider out the front, Edita Pucinskaite (Nurenburger) racing hard, the race was almost done. The bunch chased hard, but with the last km’s through the short, winding streets, it was easy to stay away, they were not successful in pulling her in. She managed to hold off the bunch and take the win. With second place going to Mirianne Vos (we didn’t push her hard enough the day before), and third place to Oneone Wood (T-Mobile). Coming in at fourth, was the current leader of the series, Nicole Cooke, her team including Kiwi, Joanne Kiesanowski) Raleigh-Lifeforce (also based in Switzerland, and looking to please their local sponsors) riding hard all day for her, but to no avail. We were not so lucky today, with no one in the top ten, and all the girls except Loes M, finishing safely in the bunch.
Next up for us is the Tour de l’Aude, the most demanding race of the season, held over ten days in the south west of France. Amber has won this the last two years, so looks like we will be defending our title, once again. The Kiwi base is close by, so the team should be very familiar with the area and know all the stages off by heart by now (which can also be a bad thing knowing what is to come). Directly after the race we left for sunny (I hope) France, a few days training for the team, in the l’Aude area. And a few days taking it easy on the mechanics, time to rest a little before the 10 days, 11 stages, plus a prologue starts, so time to recharge the batteries, cause there will be no rest when it start. Internet connections are few and far between, but I will endeavour to keep you up to date, (between work and sleep), there should be a few spare minutes in the day to catch up.
It could only be Team New Zealand with the Jandels, very rare over here in Europe, but instantly recognised as a southern hemisphere icon.
We started, we raced, we chased, we attacked like hell, but nothing really happened. It was cold, wet and windy (just the way that most Dutch races should be), no problems, no mechanicals, a dropped rider or two, but no real surprises. The truck had left for Switzerland in the morning, so had a few of the team, so with two team cars, we headed back to base, unloaded all the bikes and wheels we didn’t need and hit the road. Heading south (closer to the equator) to Switzerland was a welcome change, as we heard the weather forecast was very favourable for racing. But a storm chased us all the way through Germany, lucky driving at around 200km/hr, we could outrun it easily. A small drive of 755km in a car for a change, a few hours later we arrived late in the night. Round five of the World cup series was being held near the city of Bern, around the area Jens, Lyss and Biel. A lightly populated farming area, some small villages and some fantastic lakes, and a very nice view of the mountains to the horizon. Think of green pastures, rolling hills and freshly planted wheat fields, intermingled with turn of the century, classic Swiss looking houses, most of them holding three generations of the same family (I hear you can get a mortgage for up to 100 years to pay it back). The race is organised and sponsored by the Bigla Team, whose home base is near the start finsh line funnily enough. Bigla (office equipment), one of the ‘top ten’ trade teams, currently with last years race winner, Zabirova, had a lot at stake. All the major teams were racing, with the overall win of the series of ten, still open, including the three out of four winner, Nicole Cooke (Raleigh Lifeforce, Joanne Kiesanowski’s team). A few of the top riders, still, had not shown their faces on the podium, so it was all out for this race as things were getting to close to call. A small change to the course from last year, with the same tough climbs, with a small change to the laps surrounding them. Still a demanding course for any rider, as no real recovery can be achieved between the climbs, also some tight racing through the villages, with some open roads just to stretch things out.
The gang getting thier last briefing before the start.
The Kiwi team was looking great dressed all in black, and were looking for a better result than last years, as I remember I saw the whole team getting dropped within the first two laps (with two out on the first). Hopefully they have done a little bit more training this time out, knowing what they have to deal with here. Racing for the New Zealand national team was, Toni Bradshaw, Gina Waibel, Carissa Wilks, Serina Sheriden, Marina Duvnjak and Michelle Hyland. Other favourites looking for a win were T-Mobiles, Judith Arnt, not yet showing any real form, Ina Tuttenberg was surprisingly missing from the list, as was our own Susanne Ljunskog and Amber (busy preparing for the l’Aude). Marianne Vos, the current World Champ was also hungry for a win, as she is unbelievable, and almost unbeatable at the moment. Vos was racing the day earlier in the Netherlands, in Borsele. Here she made a break with one other, 50km from the finish, in 30km winds, and did most of the work to win easily with 30 seconds or so. Most of the teams racing Borsele, had the B teams racing here, so they put lots of pressure on Vos, keeping her close, forcing her to work to stay away (hoping to tire her out for the next days racing). We would see, with a long transit to the airport, a late flight, and a long transit upon landing, it’s not the best recovery before such a big race. With this race a week before the biggest race on the Women’s calendar, the Tour de l’Aude, some of the top riders were not present, but still some serious contenders were out for a good stretching. Also racing here was a couple of Kiwi’s, Amy Mosen (just signed to Rapha-Condor) and Tamara Boyd (Lotto-Belisimo). Good to talk some sense (Kiwi English) for a minute or so.
The bunch about to disappear in to a small village.
The morning dawned clear and sunny, much to our surprise after having braved the storms throughout the night, en-route to Bern (the team had arrived a day earlier). An almost full peloton graced the start line, with about 162 starters, the race was going to be tough, with nowhere to hide for those that like to do nothing ion the bunch. Things got of to a very nice rolling speed within the first 5km, but it wasn’t long before most of the stronger teams were keeping the speed up high at the front of the bunch. With a blistering pace of 50-55km/hr before the first big climb of the day, things were getting serious already. By the time the first big climb of the day was upon us, a few attacks had come and gone, but none of them came to much. Almost every attack was reeled in before they even had 10 seconds on the bunch. The speed stayed high, even after the climbs, making sure that no one had any energy left for the big attacks that you needed to escape. With Bigla, Nurenburger and sometimes T-mobile controlling the front of the bunch, they were all good at protecting any attempts of escape. With three laps of the big course done, bunch was group, and the only action we saw was the race for the mountain and sprint classifications on every lap. Still with not much action on the front, the 80km mark was starting to split the bunch at the back of the race over the climbs, with three distinct groups now, the front still had a bunch of about 60. At the 100km mark, the bunch was back together, it looked like Toni Bradshaw had a mechanical, but a few moments later she was back in the bunch.
Almost like patchwork, a nice vista of the Swiss countryside.
Most of the Kiwi’s were hanging in easily, with a lot higher level of fitness coming from the team than last year. We saw Marina (the last to arrive in Europe, still jet lagged maybe) getting dropped on one of the climbs, she was chasing hard in the caravan but could not quite make it back into the bunch, by this time we had lost about 30 of the bunch. Out of the race were some pretty big names, finding the speed and climbing a little too much, we even lost our own Loes Makerink on the second lap. She was cooked, but tried to hang on for half a lap, to no avail. With about twenty km to go, the attacks came in thick and fast, but they were all reeled back in with no real effort. With ten to go, bunch was group, a few riders testing the front, but again nothing prevailed. Last years race was won at this stage, with Zabirova (Bigla) attacking at this point, and again she tried, with team-mate Tanja Hennes, and failed. With five to go, a small attack came with a single rider out the front, Edita Pucinskaite (Nurenburger) racing hard, the race was almost done. The bunch chased hard, but with the last km’s through the short, winding streets, it was easy to stay away, they were not successful in pulling her in. She managed to hold off the bunch and take the win. With second place going to Mirianne Vos (we didn’t push her hard enough the day before), and third place to Oneone Wood (T-Mobile). Coming in at fourth, was the current leader of the series, Nicole Cooke, her team including Kiwi, Joanne Kiesanowski) Raleigh-Lifeforce (also based in Switzerland, and looking to please their local sponsors) riding hard all day for her, but to no avail. We were not so lucky today, with no one in the top ten, and all the girls except Loes M, finishing safely in the bunch.
Next up for us is the Tour de l’Aude, the most demanding race of the season, held over ten days in the south west of France. Amber has won this the last two years, so looks like we will be defending our title, once again. The Kiwi base is close by, so the team should be very familiar with the area and know all the stages off by heart by now (which can also be a bad thing knowing what is to come). Directly after the race we left for sunny (I hope) France, a few days training for the team, in the l’Aude area. And a few days taking it easy on the mechanics, time to rest a little before the 10 days, 11 stages, plus a prologue starts, so time to recharge the batteries, cause there will be no rest when it start. Internet connections are few and far between, but I will endeavour to keep you up to date, (between work and sleep), there should be a few spare minutes in the day to catch up.
12 May 2007
Getting organised
After arriving back from Orlova, rest was the last thing I had time for, time for a bit of serious organization of equipment and vehicles. I had almost one full working week to sort out enough wheels, race bikes, TT bikes and the truck for almost a month on the road. We gave ourselves a bit of time to organise a few new modifications for the truck, one’s we have been thinking about for a while, but never had the time or energy to pull off. Klas decided not to head back to the cold wet country of Sweden, but he decided to stay in the beautiful Netherlands for the week to help us out a bit.
We had a bit of work to do on a pile of new wheels that arrived, plenty of tyres to glue and a few bikes to build up for a few races coming up. It will be a busy month for all the staff, and especially busy for me, as I am the lucky one that gets to go to all the races. This weekend the truck leaves for the green pastures of Switzerland, loaded to the gunnels with equipment for almost four weeks away from home base. But first we have a race to run in the neighbourhood, part of the Dutch Top Competition, Omloop van Borsele Borsele. Here we have a full team racing, plus all the bikes, wheels etc, racing from the car for a change. Directly after this race has finished (unless we are on the podium), we race to Switzerland (only 750km) to catch up with the rest of the team and the truck. On Sunday we have the 5th World Cup of the season, in the beautiful town of Bern. The World Cup racing is starting to get serious, with half of them raced, some of the teams are starting to get nervous. For us, we are not really concentrating on the WC series, but we race them just in case, it always looks good for the sponsors. We have a few national teams racing this one as well, with the Kiwi’s racing in their full glory, it will be nice to see the black shirts back in the peloton, hopefully we won’t see them too far off the back of the peloton. A new course for this year, a little bit longer and harder climbs, so it should be interesting.
From Switzerland we head into the south of France to prepare for the biggest stage race of the season. The Tour de l’Aude is really the ‘Tour de France’ for Women, not to be confused with the Route de France, which is commonly thought of as the ‘Tour’. The l’Aude is a ten day stage race, featuring some of the more demanding climbs and stages in any of the racing we do for the year. It’s the longest in distance, got the highest climbs, and the most DNF’s of any stage race, it’s more a race of survival, and you better be prepared for this one. We are the current defenders of the title, winning the race for the last two years, winning the Team TT stages, and having most of the team in the top ten for the entire race. This is ‘Ambers’ race, one the whole team races just for her, but we also take it as it comes, first in front gets the team riding for them, Amber being the climber, seems always to be in front. Hope we get a little bit of competition this year, cause it was embarrassing last year with 1 through to 6 places held almost for the entire first week (I didn’t race this one last year, I was still recovering from my hand injury gained in Gracia). All of the biggest trade teams will be racing like hell for this one, as it is the most prestige win you can gain as a rider. We also have the Kiwi’s racing as well, and it’s almost their training grounds on a few of the stages, so they should have no excuses this time around. With a reasonably experienced team this year, they should be able to hang in a lot longer than last year. At least most of them would know the level of training need for this race, and should be a lot more prepared.
I then have a few days off, getting ready for a bit more travel, this time to Montreal in Canada for a few races. Round six of the World Cup series. And then we have a three day stage race in the same surroundings, with the same teams. At this stage we will be taking a small team of four, Amber making her own way from the States (she leaves for there after the l’Aude). At this stage, I have been brought in as team leader, Director and Mechanic, so should be a busy week as well.
Righto, time to try and pack my bag and get some sleep. I will try to find some internet in the next few weeks, but good old France is a bit difficult in the areas we are racing in, but I will find a way.
We had a bit of work to do on a pile of new wheels that arrived, plenty of tyres to glue and a few bikes to build up for a few races coming up. It will be a busy month for all the staff, and especially busy for me, as I am the lucky one that gets to go to all the races. This weekend the truck leaves for the green pastures of Switzerland, loaded to the gunnels with equipment for almost four weeks away from home base. But first we have a race to run in the neighbourhood, part of the Dutch Top Competition, Omloop van Borsele Borsele. Here we have a full team racing, plus all the bikes, wheels etc, racing from the car for a change. Directly after this race has finished (unless we are on the podium), we race to Switzerland (only 750km) to catch up with the rest of the team and the truck. On Sunday we have the 5th World Cup of the season, in the beautiful town of Bern. The World Cup racing is starting to get serious, with half of them raced, some of the teams are starting to get nervous. For us, we are not really concentrating on the WC series, but we race them just in case, it always looks good for the sponsors. We have a few national teams racing this one as well, with the Kiwi’s racing in their full glory, it will be nice to see the black shirts back in the peloton, hopefully we won’t see them too far off the back of the peloton. A new course for this year, a little bit longer and harder climbs, so it should be interesting.
From Switzerland we head into the south of France to prepare for the biggest stage race of the season. The Tour de l’Aude is really the ‘Tour de France’ for Women, not to be confused with the Route de France, which is commonly thought of as the ‘Tour’. The l’Aude is a ten day stage race, featuring some of the more demanding climbs and stages in any of the racing we do for the year. It’s the longest in distance, got the highest climbs, and the most DNF’s of any stage race, it’s more a race of survival, and you better be prepared for this one. We are the current defenders of the title, winning the race for the last two years, winning the Team TT stages, and having most of the team in the top ten for the entire race. This is ‘Ambers’ race, one the whole team races just for her, but we also take it as it comes, first in front gets the team riding for them, Amber being the climber, seems always to be in front. Hope we get a little bit of competition this year, cause it was embarrassing last year with 1 through to 6 places held almost for the entire first week (I didn’t race this one last year, I was still recovering from my hand injury gained in Gracia). All of the biggest trade teams will be racing like hell for this one, as it is the most prestige win you can gain as a rider. We also have the Kiwi’s racing as well, and it’s almost their training grounds on a few of the stages, so they should have no excuses this time around. With a reasonably experienced team this year, they should be able to hang in a lot longer than last year. At least most of them would know the level of training need for this race, and should be a lot more prepared.
I then have a few days off, getting ready for a bit more travel, this time to Montreal in Canada for a few races. Round six of the World Cup series. And then we have a three day stage race in the same surroundings, with the same teams. At this stage we will be taking a small team of four, Amber making her own way from the States (she leaves for there after the l’Aude). At this stage, I have been brought in as team leader, Director and Mechanic, so should be a busy week as well.
Righto, time to try and pack my bag and get some sleep. I will try to find some internet in the next few weeks, but good old France is a bit difficult in the areas we are racing in, but I will find a way.
11 May 2007
Some more time suckers.
Some really great skills here, like I have never seen before. I tried this a few times, but it always seems to follow a few drinks, but the outcome was not as good as this.
And of course some fantastic riding here as well, this I love. I have been trying this a bit though the streets of Amsterdam, but so far it's not been without incidents, but more on this later.
Some nice Fixie action around the streets of the big apple.
A few more tests.
Still with stage 4 in Gracia, Trine had been on the front for most of the race, with one lap to go we came up to check she was good. UCI rules say we can aproach the group if there is less than 16 in it, to feed or give instructions, it's a good way to talk without the radio, and gives us a chance to see how the rider is doing. Trine was looking good, and she won, so it must have helped.
A little bit of the Timetrail in the Gracia Orlova stage race. Susanne was second last to leave, sitting second in the GC to Arnt. She raced well, gaining second place for the day, loosing to Arnt by only 5 seconds. We also won 3rd, 4th and 5th as well, proving once again we are one of the strongest teams around.
Video test, Gracia
Just giving this a bit of a try, so you can get a little more of a look of some of the racing. I am not a real fan of video, but sometimes when I am real bored, I can get a little inspired.
This is the sprint on the fourth stage of Gracia Orlova, Trine had won the stage, a few minutes earlier, so this was the sprint for 2nd. With 4 seconds stil up for grabs, Susanne wins on the left, Arnt in Yelow for third, and Tanja to the right for fourth. The hill was quite steep, the turn you can see 500m down to the left. Very nasty sprint, and the crazy guy yelling in our ear, just settle down a bit.
10 May 2007
Gracia Orlova Part 2
After stepping off the podium, the team was elated, back to their old winning selves again. This boosted confidence in the younger riders, and gave the whole team the boost they needed. It must have worked cause things got a lot better after the mornings stage. A quick trip home, over the border again, where we waited again for a passport check, but at least the journey was not as long as the mornings fiasco, almost half the time and distance back to the hotel. A quick pack up of all the TT gear, and we worked through till the afternoons stage. The weather had held off all morning on the TT stage, but it was not to last. Upon getting set up at the hotel for working, the rain decided to come and pay us a visit, we had been lucky so far, with sun and perfect weather, so it was not all bad. The rain hung around all afternoon, just enough to get us soaked to the skin ready for the afternoons racing. Lucky the start was close by in the same town we were staying in, as by the time the gang was ready for the roll to the start, the rain stopped, just like I ordered.
Susanne, getting ready for the start, Arnt in yellow.
The rain was holding off perfectly, but the cold and wind had stayed, from 24’c yesterday, to about 10’c today, a bit of a shock for the riders. We had a stage of 80km, a lap around the town, five times. With Susanne in 2nd place on GC, only about 10 seconds off Arnt (T-Mobile) and a bit of a gap to 3rd, things were looking a little bit more controllable. Today we just wanted a stage win, time to shake things up a little in t eh peloton. After less than 5km racing, we sent out a scout on attack to see which team was interested in chasing, or who would want to join her. We sent Trine, our new Danish junior out for a run, she hit the climb hard, but didn’t seem to notice the pain, as the gap started to grow. She must have had a bit of a confidence from her third place in the TT, as we didn’t think she had much left in her. By the time 20km had been raced, she was still away, with about 2 mins lead on the bunch. No on really seemed interested in chasing, with Trine down about 13mins on Arnt, she was no problems to any one. She started riding, and keep on getting further and further away from the bunch, up to 4mins by the 60km mark. She was buzzing with anticipation of a win, she was listening hard out for the chasing bunch, looking back over her shoulder down some of the biggest straights to catch a glimpse of her chasers. But they were no where to be seen.
Passing the bunch on the way to see Trine in the break.
She raced well, with 10km to go, the gap was still about 4mins, we were very impressed, but she was getting tired. Closer to 9km mark, the bunch was chasing, the gap coming down to 3 mins, we relayed this info to her, but somehow she misunderstood the time gap, thinking It was 1min, she put the hammer down. Now we were impressed, she pick the pace up, the gap growing and the pace getting up. With a hill top finish, of about 800m distance, she rounded the last corner at speed. Looking behind for the impending bunch, but they were nowhere to be seen, all the way up the hill she was checking though. The line was looming, the speed was slowing, and it was almost hers. She pulled her tired arms in the air to give the victory salute, and we freaked as we saw her almost crash, 10m from the line. Opps, not enough speed, hands on the bars, and over the line for a one armed, safe salute. We were very happy, but I think Trine was more excited, to see the work she had done over the stage, she still had the biggest smile on her face I have ever seen from her. We were elated with her, but the bunch was looming, watching a finish from behind the line is unusual for us, so we ran to look. The bunch was altogether at the bottom turn, but it was moving fast uphill, the sprinters and climbers were all over the road, fighting for their positions. But we could see Susanne punching on the pedals to the left, Arnt in the middle, and Tanja (Bigla) to the right, man it was close. Susanne 2nd, Arnt 3rd, not a bad result for the day. The team were pretty happy for Trine, it’s always good to see the younger ones win, and for the older girls to give her so much support, she just could take the smile off her face.
Trine, just about over the line for the days win.
One more stage to go, the rain held off all afternoon, but it had had enough, and started pissing down on us. The bikes were a mess from the race, but with an early stage, and the drive home directly, we had our work cut out for us for the night. Last stage 100.2km, in the same city, with laps of about 18km, with a few nice little climbs. Another good stage for us, but Susanne, sitting in second place was not to start today, with the cold of yesterday, she was to stay in bed sick for the day, preparation for the Tour de’lAude was more important for her. We still had five girls left, so off to the start, rain bucketing down, and the temperature still about 10’c, it was going to be a tough day. Again, just looking to shake things up a bit, we decided to attack like hell, all day, give the girls some training, and hopefully mess things up a bit for the other teams. 5km into the race we sent the first attack off, with Loes Makerink getting the first job of the day. The attack worked, she escaped by herself, a couple of others joined her, Tanja (Bigla, our old team mate from last year) and Kimberly Anderson (T-mobile) came with her. They managed to stay away for the rest of the race, the gap getting only as big as 2 mins, but it was enough. They rode well together, working to kept the bunch at bay, looking at the group, no one was racing behind yet, but it would start soon. 10km before the end, the break was still riding well off the front, Loes looking a bit worse for wear, but so were the other two. Coming to the last km, they almost stopped riding, watching each other like hawks, so as not to miss the attacks. They started climbing slowly up the hill to the finish, with the bunch kicking at their heels, we were starting to get nervous, but they slowly came to the end. What looked like a slow motion finish, Loes started the sprint, and with the other two following we thought it was all over for her. But it was not to be, the other two, must have been a little bit more overdone than we thought, and Loes took the sprint, winning perfectly for her effort. She was rapped, we were happy, the team was buzzing once again. Hey we didn’t win the stage race, this we left for Arnt, (the third time she has won it), but with two stage wins, a fantastic TT and some very good racing for our efforts, we were all pretty happy. A quick lunch, then back on the road for the trip home.
The three escapee's on the last stage.
Some Statistics for you, a new idea, lets see if it lasts.
Distance traveled in truck since leaving base - 2986 km
Distanced raced - 426.4 km
Bikes washed, serviced during race - 56
Punctures - 2 front, 2 rear.
Mechanicals - nil
Crashes - nil
Podium places - 8
Wins - 2
Riders to finish - 5 (-1)
I have some great video clips for viewing, I will be trying to get these posted, once I work out the logistical issues associated with it. More on this later. And some pics of the week here, somewhere.
Susanne, getting ready for the start, Arnt in yellow.
The rain was holding off perfectly, but the cold and wind had stayed, from 24’c yesterday, to about 10’c today, a bit of a shock for the riders. We had a stage of 80km, a lap around the town, five times. With Susanne in 2nd place on GC, only about 10 seconds off Arnt (T-Mobile) and a bit of a gap to 3rd, things were looking a little bit more controllable. Today we just wanted a stage win, time to shake things up a little in t eh peloton. After less than 5km racing, we sent out a scout on attack to see which team was interested in chasing, or who would want to join her. We sent Trine, our new Danish junior out for a run, she hit the climb hard, but didn’t seem to notice the pain, as the gap started to grow. She must have had a bit of a confidence from her third place in the TT, as we didn’t think she had much left in her. By the time 20km had been raced, she was still away, with about 2 mins lead on the bunch. No on really seemed interested in chasing, with Trine down about 13mins on Arnt, she was no problems to any one. She started riding, and keep on getting further and further away from the bunch, up to 4mins by the 60km mark. She was buzzing with anticipation of a win, she was listening hard out for the chasing bunch, looking back over her shoulder down some of the biggest straights to catch a glimpse of her chasers. But they were no where to be seen.
Passing the bunch on the way to see Trine in the break.
She raced well, with 10km to go, the gap was still about 4mins, we were very impressed, but she was getting tired. Closer to 9km mark, the bunch was chasing, the gap coming down to 3 mins, we relayed this info to her, but somehow she misunderstood the time gap, thinking It was 1min, she put the hammer down. Now we were impressed, she pick the pace up, the gap growing and the pace getting up. With a hill top finish, of about 800m distance, she rounded the last corner at speed. Looking behind for the impending bunch, but they were nowhere to be seen, all the way up the hill she was checking though. The line was looming, the speed was slowing, and it was almost hers. She pulled her tired arms in the air to give the victory salute, and we freaked as we saw her almost crash, 10m from the line. Opps, not enough speed, hands on the bars, and over the line for a one armed, safe salute. We were very happy, but I think Trine was more excited, to see the work she had done over the stage, she still had the biggest smile on her face I have ever seen from her. We were elated with her, but the bunch was looming, watching a finish from behind the line is unusual for us, so we ran to look. The bunch was altogether at the bottom turn, but it was moving fast uphill, the sprinters and climbers were all over the road, fighting for their positions. But we could see Susanne punching on the pedals to the left, Arnt in the middle, and Tanja (Bigla) to the right, man it was close. Susanne 2nd, Arnt 3rd, not a bad result for the day. The team were pretty happy for Trine, it’s always good to see the younger ones win, and for the older girls to give her so much support, she just could take the smile off her face.
Trine, just about over the line for the days win.
One more stage to go, the rain held off all afternoon, but it had had enough, and started pissing down on us. The bikes were a mess from the race, but with an early stage, and the drive home directly, we had our work cut out for us for the night. Last stage 100.2km, in the same city, with laps of about 18km, with a few nice little climbs. Another good stage for us, but Susanne, sitting in second place was not to start today, with the cold of yesterday, she was to stay in bed sick for the day, preparation for the Tour de’lAude was more important for her. We still had five girls left, so off to the start, rain bucketing down, and the temperature still about 10’c, it was going to be a tough day. Again, just looking to shake things up a bit, we decided to attack like hell, all day, give the girls some training, and hopefully mess things up a bit for the other teams. 5km into the race we sent the first attack off, with Loes Makerink getting the first job of the day. The attack worked, she escaped by herself, a couple of others joined her, Tanja (Bigla, our old team mate from last year) and Kimberly Anderson (T-mobile) came with her. They managed to stay away for the rest of the race, the gap getting only as big as 2 mins, but it was enough. They rode well together, working to kept the bunch at bay, looking at the group, no one was racing behind yet, but it would start soon. 10km before the end, the break was still riding well off the front, Loes looking a bit worse for wear, but so were the other two. Coming to the last km, they almost stopped riding, watching each other like hawks, so as not to miss the attacks. They started climbing slowly up the hill to the finish, with the bunch kicking at their heels, we were starting to get nervous, but they slowly came to the end. What looked like a slow motion finish, Loes started the sprint, and with the other two following we thought it was all over for her. But it was not to be, the other two, must have been a little bit more overdone than we thought, and Loes took the sprint, winning perfectly for her effort. She was rapped, we were happy, the team was buzzing once again. Hey we didn’t win the stage race, this we left for Arnt, (the third time she has won it), but with two stage wins, a fantastic TT and some very good racing for our efforts, we were all pretty happy. A quick lunch, then back on the road for the trip home.
The three escapee's on the last stage.
Some Statistics for you, a new idea, lets see if it lasts.
Distance traveled in truck since leaving base - 2986 km
Distanced raced - 426.4 km
Bikes washed, serviced during race - 56
Punctures - 2 front, 2 rear.
Mechanicals - nil
Crashes - nil
Podium places - 8
Wins - 2
Riders to finish - 5 (-1)
I have some great video clips for viewing, I will be trying to get these posted, once I work out the logistical issues associated with it. More on this later. And some pics of the week here, somewhere.
Gracia Orlova Part 1
Leaving the beautiful weather we were having in the Netherlands, was a hard one, with a trip to a part of the Continent I was not looking forward to it. The sunny, warm days just seemed to be getting better, and leaving them for the polluted sky and constant rain, of the Czech Republic and Poland, didn’t sound like too much fun. With a small commute of about 1400km, I took a different route than last season, this time coming from the bottom of Germany, through Prague, then to the edge of the country, to Orlova. The area is semi rural, where the only industry seems to be power stations, both coal fired and Nuclear, and coal mines to provide the thick air, that covers most of this part of the world. Getting to see the rest of the Chezh countryside was a great idea, it certainly changed my tainted views of the country I had so far. The main highway was in great condition, and the surrounding scenery was fantastic, it looks like they have had a great spring here, as the fields were full of new growth, and looking pretty green. And when they weren’t green, they were bright yellow, the colour was so vivid, it almost looked like the fields were dripping in new paint, but the pollen count was huge, with all these yellow fowers everywhere (think it’s like a seed for bread growing everywhere). Passing close to Prague was not easy, as I have great memories of this city from years gone by, one of Europe’s classic old towns, and some wicked architecture to boot. Shame I couldn’t stop for a bit of a tour. But racing was looming, I had a spare half a day until the rest of the team arrived, that was kind of nice for a change. But this gave me a little bit of peace to work on a few bikes before the gang arrived, asking many requests and breaking my concentration (the minute or so I that I have it) , as usual. But hey, the sun was still shining strong, and a with a few more sunny days to come, it was easy going for now.
The beautiful painted countryside.
Gracia Orlova, four days and five stages, with a double stage on one day with a individual TT first thing in the morning, not the best line up for a mechanics week. Most of the stages were in the afternoon, so at least I would get a sleep in till at least seven, but it also meant late nights, let hope they are not too cold. We were running a nice little combo for the week, with Susanne L, Mirjam, Loes M, Loes G, Trine and Suzanne VV. Not our strongest team, but this was not such an important race for us, so a few of the younger riders were getting a chance to stretch their legs, and show us how they handled a stage race. Mirjam was just getting a little form back after her accident last year, so this was just a little tester for her. Susanne L and most of the top riders were using this race as preparation for the upcoming Tour de Aulde, the biggest, meanest stage race on the Women’s calendar for the year.
In the shadow of the Power Station, a gleaming car full with bikes waits.
Racing got underway on the first stage with a starting temperature of about 25’c, a bit different from last years starting day of 8’c. Back to the shadow of the local nuclear plant, (one of the sponsors of the race), and about 112 Girls were on the starting line. There was a conflicting stage race, San Marino in Italy, where most of the bigger teams were also racing, so the bunch was a bit smaller because of this. But still there was some serious teams here, Bigla, T-Mobile, DSB, plus a number of smaller local Czech teams, including some Russian and Polish teams, to many to name (nah, I forgot them already). With some of the biggest climbs of the tour on stage one, things would get off to a flying start for some, and end in tears for others. With a race of 102km, some good climbing, and some very good descending, a break of about 12 riders escaped the bunch not to far into the race, lucky for us we had four of the team in there. With some serious climbing to come, a few attacks were happening in the break group, these didn’t come to much, with four of us there, we chased down any major attempts, and after that things just settled as they were beaten into submission. A local dutchie got the win for the day when she escaped the small group with a Russian and one of us. We were looking good though, with 4 in the top ten, not bad for the first day.
Stage two got a bit more serious, with more climbing and some good breaks from the bunch, lucky we had most of them covered, with the final break of the day containing about 20 girls, we had a couple or three in. The climbs were a little bit more demanding than the day before, and the legs of some of them were already falling off, with the bunch getting split up into little groups, and the race was only 40km into it. The biggest climb last year, had snow all over road, this year it was hot as hell, with the sun shining, it was very strange, but the race went on. The escapees had a great lead on the bunch, almost up to five minutes at one stage, with Andrea Bossman (DSB) sitting in yellow, she was working hard to keep it. The break raced hard up to the last climb, this was a killer, 900m straight up, Susanne L was almost the winner, with a close second to Arnt (T-Mobile) moving her into the leaders Jersey, with Susanne sitting on 2nd in the GC. With a long night ahead of us, cleaning and preparing the race bikes, organising the TT bikes, sleep would have to wait. An early morning, and a quick run over the border to Poland for a 9am start for the last riders in the GC, another long day ahead of us, the wine later on, just didn’t taste as good as it looked.
And so does a bunch of hardy racers.
The organisers had a great idea to solve the problems at the Polish border this year, leave en-masse to the start. A few of the smarter (or are they) teams had left about an hour or so earlier, to get a good spot for their teams. We had handed our passports over a few days earlier (this make me very nervous, letting it out of sight for a few days), this was supposed to be all sorted with the border patrol, so that all the teams and vehicles could pass in the caravan, without any hassles. Great idea, but it failed badly, with 15 teams, with cars, riders and trucks following behind, we weaved our way through the Chezh countryside, the GPS showing me a trail that seemed to double the driving for the distance covered. Upon reaching the border, the plan of passing over freely was a joke. We all went through the usual bullshit, checking of passports, opening the truck for searches etc, I wonder why they think it’s worth stopping people coming in. South Poland has to be one of the last places anyone without good reason would want to come, the place is a mess. Full of pollution, streets full of run down and half finished shit houses, cars falling apart, and crime worse than the best of south Auckland. They should be happy that anyone would want to visit, and should open their borders for the good of the country, not treat us like criminals.
Stage one breakaway group, just after the last big climb of the day.
After the half an hour or so at the border, the speed of the caravan increased as the start time was looming, the tiki tour continued. My GPS was going wild with the choice of roads been taken, but it looked like local knowledge would prevail, I could see the shortcuts they were trying to take. It almost looked like we would make it to the start in time, when the unthinkable was staring at us. A bridge to cross, but the bridge was small, in the middle of nowhere, but the only problem was it had a height restriction of 2.5m. We were killing ourselves with laughter, as we watched the leaders faces as they realised there was a few trucks (mine is 3.25m high if you are were wondering, a race car with bikes is about 2.4m), race cars with bikes on roof and a few campervans in the caravan. A mass turnaround in a tiny road, and back about 10km on roads already travelled, some of the girls were getting nervous by now, but our first start was 39 mins after the 9am start, we had a bit of time up our sleeves. We finally arrived, just as we were supposed to be starting, a few word with the organisers, so they postponed the start a half hour. Much to the dissatisfaction of the teams that had arrived super early to get organised and warmed up, some leaving the hotel about 6am, damn it for them.
A great looking podium on TT day, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th. Sweet!
The TT was great, a bad road, full of many repairs, holes and stones, just the sort of thing a well tuned TT bike with disc does not need, and definitely not the sort of things a mechanic dreams of, (only in nightmares). We got underway, setting up tents, organising bikes on trainers for warm-up, sorting out riders, helmets, race bikes, cars and spares, I hate TT days, but double worse on double stage day. Maybe the organisers should spend a couple of days with the staff, just to see what we go through to get all riders off on time in the two stages, then they might have a change of ideas. We got few the first few girls off without too much troubles, but with 4 of them in the top ten, things were coming to a head, with all girls heading off within a ten minute period, it was going to be tight. But I got it right, all girls on bikes, on the start line on time, spare bikes off the trainers on the race cars, and spare wheels in, no problems on the road, no mechanicals, I even got to my ride in time for Susanne’s race. Things were looking good, with Trine getting the top time for the first half of the starting list, but it was to get better. The race radio was shite, with no reports coming out live, we were guessing with our times for the splits, lucky our own time keeping could give us some picture of what was happening. By the time we finished with Sus’s ride (2nd last off the line), which was fantastic, we got a bit of a surprise with the results of the rest team. The podium was full with our team, with Susanne L in 2nd, Trine 3rd, Loes G 4th and Mirjam 5th, we couldn’t have asked for a better result, the win didn’t seem that important now with four of us on the podium.
Part 2 coming up. And some pics here somewhere.
The beautiful painted countryside.
Gracia Orlova, four days and five stages, with a double stage on one day with a individual TT first thing in the morning, not the best line up for a mechanics week. Most of the stages were in the afternoon, so at least I would get a sleep in till at least seven, but it also meant late nights, let hope they are not too cold. We were running a nice little combo for the week, with Susanne L, Mirjam, Loes M, Loes G, Trine and Suzanne VV. Not our strongest team, but this was not such an important race for us, so a few of the younger riders were getting a chance to stretch their legs, and show us how they handled a stage race. Mirjam was just getting a little form back after her accident last year, so this was just a little tester for her. Susanne L and most of the top riders were using this race as preparation for the upcoming Tour de Aulde, the biggest, meanest stage race on the Women’s calendar for the year.
In the shadow of the Power Station, a gleaming car full with bikes waits.
Racing got underway on the first stage with a starting temperature of about 25’c, a bit different from last years starting day of 8’c. Back to the shadow of the local nuclear plant, (one of the sponsors of the race), and about 112 Girls were on the starting line. There was a conflicting stage race, San Marino in Italy, where most of the bigger teams were also racing, so the bunch was a bit smaller because of this. But still there was some serious teams here, Bigla, T-Mobile, DSB, plus a number of smaller local Czech teams, including some Russian and Polish teams, to many to name (nah, I forgot them already). With some of the biggest climbs of the tour on stage one, things would get off to a flying start for some, and end in tears for others. With a race of 102km, some good climbing, and some very good descending, a break of about 12 riders escaped the bunch not to far into the race, lucky for us we had four of the team in there. With some serious climbing to come, a few attacks were happening in the break group, these didn’t come to much, with four of us there, we chased down any major attempts, and after that things just settled as they were beaten into submission. A local dutchie got the win for the day when she escaped the small group with a Russian and one of us. We were looking good though, with 4 in the top ten, not bad for the first day.
Stage two got a bit more serious, with more climbing and some good breaks from the bunch, lucky we had most of them covered, with the final break of the day containing about 20 girls, we had a couple or three in. The climbs were a little bit more demanding than the day before, and the legs of some of them were already falling off, with the bunch getting split up into little groups, and the race was only 40km into it. The biggest climb last year, had snow all over road, this year it was hot as hell, with the sun shining, it was very strange, but the race went on. The escapees had a great lead on the bunch, almost up to five minutes at one stage, with Andrea Bossman (DSB) sitting in yellow, she was working hard to keep it. The break raced hard up to the last climb, this was a killer, 900m straight up, Susanne L was almost the winner, with a close second to Arnt (T-Mobile) moving her into the leaders Jersey, with Susanne sitting on 2nd in the GC. With a long night ahead of us, cleaning and preparing the race bikes, organising the TT bikes, sleep would have to wait. An early morning, and a quick run over the border to Poland for a 9am start for the last riders in the GC, another long day ahead of us, the wine later on, just didn’t taste as good as it looked.
And so does a bunch of hardy racers.
The organisers had a great idea to solve the problems at the Polish border this year, leave en-masse to the start. A few of the smarter (or are they) teams had left about an hour or so earlier, to get a good spot for their teams. We had handed our passports over a few days earlier (this make me very nervous, letting it out of sight for a few days), this was supposed to be all sorted with the border patrol, so that all the teams and vehicles could pass in the caravan, without any hassles. Great idea, but it failed badly, with 15 teams, with cars, riders and trucks following behind, we weaved our way through the Chezh countryside, the GPS showing me a trail that seemed to double the driving for the distance covered. Upon reaching the border, the plan of passing over freely was a joke. We all went through the usual bullshit, checking of passports, opening the truck for searches etc, I wonder why they think it’s worth stopping people coming in. South Poland has to be one of the last places anyone without good reason would want to come, the place is a mess. Full of pollution, streets full of run down and half finished shit houses, cars falling apart, and crime worse than the best of south Auckland. They should be happy that anyone would want to visit, and should open their borders for the good of the country, not treat us like criminals.
Stage one breakaway group, just after the last big climb of the day.
After the half an hour or so at the border, the speed of the caravan increased as the start time was looming, the tiki tour continued. My GPS was going wild with the choice of roads been taken, but it looked like local knowledge would prevail, I could see the shortcuts they were trying to take. It almost looked like we would make it to the start in time, when the unthinkable was staring at us. A bridge to cross, but the bridge was small, in the middle of nowhere, but the only problem was it had a height restriction of 2.5m. We were killing ourselves with laughter, as we watched the leaders faces as they realised there was a few trucks (mine is 3.25m high if you are were wondering, a race car with bikes is about 2.4m), race cars with bikes on roof and a few campervans in the caravan. A mass turnaround in a tiny road, and back about 10km on roads already travelled, some of the girls were getting nervous by now, but our first start was 39 mins after the 9am start, we had a bit of time up our sleeves. We finally arrived, just as we were supposed to be starting, a few word with the organisers, so they postponed the start a half hour. Much to the dissatisfaction of the teams that had arrived super early to get organised and warmed up, some leaving the hotel about 6am, damn it for them.
A great looking podium on TT day, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th. Sweet!
The TT was great, a bad road, full of many repairs, holes and stones, just the sort of thing a well tuned TT bike with disc does not need, and definitely not the sort of things a mechanic dreams of, (only in nightmares). We got underway, setting up tents, organising bikes on trainers for warm-up, sorting out riders, helmets, race bikes, cars and spares, I hate TT days, but double worse on double stage day. Maybe the organisers should spend a couple of days with the staff, just to see what we go through to get all riders off on time in the two stages, then they might have a change of ideas. We got few the first few girls off without too much troubles, but with 4 of them in the top ten, things were coming to a head, with all girls heading off within a ten minute period, it was going to be tight. But I got it right, all girls on bikes, on the start line on time, spare bikes off the trainers on the race cars, and spare wheels in, no problems on the road, no mechanicals, I even got to my ride in time for Susanne’s race. Things were looking good, with Trine getting the top time for the first half of the starting list, but it was to get better. The race radio was shite, with no reports coming out live, we were guessing with our times for the splits, lucky our own time keeping could give us some picture of what was happening. By the time we finished with Sus’s ride (2nd last off the line), which was fantastic, we got a bit of a surprise with the results of the rest team. The podium was full with our team, with Susanne L in 2nd, Trine 3rd, Loes G 4th and Mirjam 5th, we couldn’t have asked for a better result, the win didn’t seem that important now with four of us on the podium.
Part 2 coming up. And some pics here somewhere.
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