Fetching a stick

I am now the only person at the apartments in Lucca. Today, Lauren, Katheryn and Jim took off for the Plouay World Cup where they will meet up with 4 new faces coming in from the US - Brooke Miller, Kat Carroll, Chrissy Ruiter, and Alison Powers. Fortunately, later this afternoon Kristin arrives from the US. She and I will keep each other company until we fly to Holland on Sunday to begin the Holland Ladies Tour.

Until then, I will continue to enjoy the pervasive beauty that passes before my eyes every single day here in Lucca. I don’t know how many times someone from this group says “I want to move to Italy” but I can tell you that it is too many times to count. The Tuscana region, and Lucca in particular, has got everything one could want - stunning views of the lush, green countryside, vineyards flourishing up and down every hillside, rows upon rows of olive trees from which comes oh-so-tasty olive oil, pizzerias and gelaterias on every street corner, sunny, hot days and warm nights, laid back lifestyle, millions and millions of amazing places to ride a bike, good people. Ok, visiting is always easier than actually moving in and settling down in a foreign country, but friends of ours who have moved here from Denmark say it is a pretty easy life to get used to. I don’t doubt them one bit. Anyone who is used to a fast-paced, always on the go life might find that things move too slowly here, but anyone looking for a laid back, easy going, do-it-when-you-want type of life would be very happy here.

Ah, la bella vita.

-Meredith

What can I say - I have been living the good life for the past several days. Cruisey rides through the rolling hills lined with vineyards as the sun beats down tanning our sweaty bodies, walks to the gelateria (pistachio is especially tasty) for dessert, lavish dinners on the veranda at night with good company and good wine, Italian pizza - the “real” deal, lazy days spent taking naps and surfing the net, getting oh so relaxing massages…really, I feel quite spoiled.

-MM

Before I begin to tell you about my current situation, I need to back up a few days to the last day of Albstadt. So, there I was, facing the last stage of the Albstadt tour, thinking back to all the races we had already completed, the one stage we had left, and the forthcoming days of rest in Italy. It took a lot of mental effort to keep my mind focused on this last race and not the pain in my legs or how much this last race was going to hurt. Essentially, the final course of the Albstadt Frauen Tour was a long crit. 35 laps on a 2.6km course for a total of 94k’s…or something like that. About as long as the crits at Superweek! The course itself wasn’t super technical but I knew it would be fast, and it was. 98% of the women in this race had NOT just come from Route de France so there were a lot of fresh legs in the peloton to drive the pace. However, to my amazement and excitement my legs felt pretty good and I was able to keep myself in the front to respond to attacks. Eventually, with about two thirds of the race to go, Lauren initiated a break that ended up being the winning break. The rest of us put in a perfect team effort blocking on the front (there was one corner in particular that was perfect for slowing the bunch down, smothering any impetus to attack), allowing Lauren to duke it out with her breakaway companions at the finish. Monika Holler, a fast, fast sprinter from the Bigla team, smoked the girls at the finish but Lauren wrapped up the race with a super 4th place finish, even after driving and encouraging the break for most of the race. Finally, 11 days of racing in the last 13 were in the books and we could look forward to some rest in Italy.

But, of course, to get from Germany to Italy you must drive through Switzerland (well, you don’t have to but we did), and it is a breathtaking, “this is awesome” kind of journey. It didn’t take us long to get out of Germany and into the rolling, lush green countryside weaving its way through the Swiss Alps, immediately opening our groggy eyes to some amazing views. Having left Germany before eating breakfast, our first prerogative of the day was to stop for some food. At first our growling stomachs weren’t so particular about where we stopped, but fortunately the Burger King didn’t serve breakfast and it being way too early for a hamburger, much less a BK burger, (Kori might have thought otherwise but she was on her way to Eindhoven so there were no objections), we continued on until we happened upon the most quaint and scenic spot on a winding road lined with country inns. While eating our very satisfying meal outside on the veranda overlooking the Swiss Alps, we speculated that life couldn’t get much better than this. As we drove on towards Italy, we were bummed that we couldn’t stop every few km’s to take pictures outside of the car while stopped rather than holding our cameras out the car window trying to snap a photo between the ubiquitous tree that is always in the way. There is just too much beauty to capture in Switzerland - the magnificent mountains reaching high into the brilliant blue sky, the vivid green hills lined with inns, houses and farms, the clear green lakes lying at the base of the mountains - yet 3km’s into the 17km Gotthard tunnel it was lights out. All the days of racing, the fresh morning air, and the ability to turn off our minds off finally caught up to us as we slept our way into Italy.

So, here I am, back at our palace in Lucca, Italy, after a 3-month hiatus. This time I have 10 days to relax, rest, and spend most of my time on the internet and a little time on my bike as I prepare for the next go around….but I won’t talk about that yet. For now, I will relax in the sunshine by the pool. And that is my story from pain to pleasure.

Arrivederci!
-Meredith

We did it. We successfully defended Amber’s jersey til the end. It was no easy task, mind you, but we did it. Technically, the last stage of a tour should be “tranquilo”, a celebratory stage of sorts, but the last stage of the Route de France was anything but “tranquilo”. We rode tempo at the front when we could, during the few rare moments when Bouba (aka “the jumping bean”) wasn’t ripping our legs off or the Chirio girls weren’t bobbling from side to side as they made their attacks. There were a few “oh shit” times, too, when a few of us thought we might not see the front group again as our legs seized up as the group hammered the hills and gaps opened up, but in the end the group arrived onto the finishing circuits intact. Leading into the final several hundred meters of the last furious circuit, I was D-U-N done. Knowing that Amber would safely cross the line, Katheryn and I sat up and cruised across the finish line with smiles of pure elation on our faces, signifying a win for the US AND the fact that we could now wake up tomorrow without having to put a chamois on! We celebrated our hard earned win by wining and dining at a pizzeria that made fabulous pizzas, calzones and salads - much coveted food after the bland, tasteless food provided to us throughout the race.

Now, here we are in Germany, begging our legs to open up again as we contest the Albstadt Women’s Tour, just 2 days after the Route ended. Last night was definitely what you could call a “leg opener” – a 4km prologue. There’s really no better way to get the pins pumping again then to wake them up with a full-on, 100% 5 minute effort. The rain didn’t help wake up my motivation, though, but fortunately this morning the sun is shining and my spirit seems to be rekindling. Yet, I can’t stop thinking how HARD this afternoon’s stage is going to be and questioning whether my legs will be up for it. Ten, 10km laps with a climb similar to the Montreal World Cup each lap - it’s going to hurt like hell, but at least we only have 2 more days left and then it’s sun, fun and rest in Lucca for a bit.

Usually sightseeing isn’t part of the program when we are on the road racing, but since we were in Albstadt before any of the other teams arrived, one of the most gracious race organizers took a few of us and a UCI official to the local castle - the Burg Hohezollern. The castle was built for the first time in 1267 and rebuilt multiple times again over the centuries as it was repeatedly demolished during various wars. The architecture is stunning and the views of the countryside from the top are amazing. We enjoyed our little excursion very much as it got us out of the hotel where we have no phones, no internet (except for this one secret spot), no TV, nothing but our books and each other’s company. Don’t get me wrong, we are having a great time together but one does need a spot of fresh air time and again.

Haka and Kohi now weigh in at 22 and 20 pounds. They are going to be little monsters by the time I get home!!!

Ciao ciao
-MM