Most of you probably won’t find the hilarity in this story but after sitting around in the University of Montreal dorms for the better part of the day twiddling our thumbs waiting for our 5pm race start, we did. Our boredom had cracked us. With the chance of rain looming over our heads, we figured racing caps wouldn’t be a bad idea, however, the new Lipton caps this year are hideous and to Kristin look like just what a hot dog vendor at a baseball game would wear. As she called out “hot dogs, hot dogs, come get your hot dogs”, she cracked herself up, we were rolling on the ground, and even the nearby spectators were coming over to buy what they thought would be a tasty hot dog treat. The look of disappointment on their faces when they found out it was all a farce was so sad, we almost thought we should go buy them one from the Couche Tard (pronounced koochy tard).

Well, the laughter and joking didn’t last long as we hit full gas from the gun. I, in all honesty, can say last night’s race was one of the hardest races I have done in recent memory (I am sure there has been harder but cycling has killed my short term memory). Sure the World Cup was hard but it’s only hard for the 5-6 minutes it takes to get up the damn climb. This course was hard all the way around. And it had everything - it was incredibly technical, a turn say every 500m or so, super fast, full of pot holes, steel man hole covers in every corner, cracks that followed the direction of our wheels…you name it. It was basically a technical 13km crit course, perfect for the sprinters so their teams kept it fast enough that nothing was getting away. Really, it was a miserable race. I was ready for it to be over from lap 1 - the following 7 laps were neverending. With so many turns on the course, even the finish line banner continued to be a surprise as we rounded the last corner lap after lap. But at least the organizers made sure we had icy cold showers to “refresh” our tired, dirty legs at the finish.

Now I’ll go take my 3rd or maybe even 4th nap of the day while we hurry and wait for stage 2 to start.

-MM

Far out, the Montreal World Cup hurts like hell. This race is by far one of the hardest on the WC circuit and no matter how many times I have done it (and usually DNF’d) it never gets any easier. For as long as I have been part of this race, the start/finish has been at the top of Mont Royal, however this year the organizers wanted to attract more spectators so they moved the start/finish to the bottom of the hill. Usually the winners of this race come out of a very small group who have the horsepower and strength to punch it over the climb as attrition takes its toll on the rest of the peloton. Those of us not strong enough to make it the 11 laps over this crazy, legbreaking climb can do nothing but watch as the top riders on the day put the hammer down and roll away over the crest of the climb - our hopes and dreams of being a World Cup winner shattered, washed down the drain. Damn. Typically the best climbers can break the legs of any sprinters who can also climb well with strong attacks on the climb, but now they had to consider the downhill section in which the sprinters might be able to reattach themselves to the peloton and then walk away with the sprint. Taking this into consideration Mara Abbott (Webcor) and Fabiana Luperini (Menikini) put the smack down with several laps to go and rode away virtually uncontested as the rest of the hot shots still left in the mini peloton sat looking at each other. Those of us who couldn’t overcome our delirium and had already called it a day (and there were many) watched from the sidelines as the field completely shattered in the closing lap and groups of 1 to 2 to 5 to 10 riders crossed the finish line minutes behind eventual winner Fabiana and runner-up Mara. It wasn’t the best day for TEAm Lipton in the results column but, hey, this is the first time this year that this group has raced together so we were happy to have everyone back regardless of the outcome on the day. It was Kristin’s first race with the TEAm on American soil since her knee surgery, it was Kori’s first race back since breaking her collarbone at Redlands, and it was Lauren’s first race back after breaking her hand in Europe. Sooo, we’ll get the wheels rolling and the steam train will be full speed ahead very soon!

As I floundered my way along the bumpy, pothole-filled streets of Montreal today, I thought many times about my dad who is still recovering in the hospital. Unfortunately, the heart surgery wreaked havoc on his stomach causing his colon to take all sorts of twists and turns it shouldn’t (I won’t even attempt to go into details), which prompted the doctors to do a nasty, uncomfortable colostomy last night. Another week in the hospital, at least….shit. Fortunately though, his heart is recovering steadily and my family and friends have been there giving him a steady stream of encouragement. It’s hard to be here in Montreal during this difficult time when all I want to do is give my dad a big hug and tell him how great he is doing, but I have sent him lots of love and many hugs through my mom and brother, who have also been tremedously strong watching my dad go through such a strenuous ordeal. This tribulation may have set him off course for awhile, but as time heals all things, I know it won’t be long before my dad is out of the hospital, done with rehab and back to taking care of others as has always been his way. In the meantime, all I can say is thanks a million to all our family, friends, doctors and nursers who have been around to take care of him!

More from Montreal later…

–Meredith