If anyone told me right now that we had 2 days to go instead of 1, I think I would cry. Seriously. We have worked hard this week, and today just about cracked me completely. Thankfully the wind had died down so while we set tempo on the front for the first 50k’s, we weren’t killing ourselves, but once we hit the climbs my body didn’t have much left in the gas tank. A baby could probably have crawled faster up the climbs. Oh well, my job was done and the climbers were doing their job on the front so all was good for USA. Amber goes into the last stage still donning the leader’s jersey and there’s not much happening tomorrow that could rip the jersey off her back. Technically, the group should ride “tranquilo” but the chances of that happening are slim, but still…we’ve got the race under control.

So, we wrap up the Route de France tomorrow and then have 2 days to rest and get our wits about us again before we jump headfirst into another tour in Germany. Albstadt is only a 3-dayer so it shouldn’t be too terrible, but who knows how fresh we’ll feel. Lauren comes in to the take the place of Amber Neben so at least we’ll have one set of fresh legs! And then it’s on to Lucca for 10 days of R&R - a little gelato here, a little wine there, long naps, maybe a swim in the pool…it’ll be all good by the time I hit the roads hard in Holland.

Alright, alright, alright, I’m off to la la land.

-MM

2 more days of this madness. And then 2 days off before the madness begins again in Germany on Tuesday. So, here we are having just completed stage 5 or 6 - or 10 for that matter - of Route de France and we are rocking the race with the 2nd American in the leader’s jersey. Kori took it from day 1 after smashing the prologue and held it for 3 days, Menikini took it over for 1 day, and then Amber graciously won it back after ripping the ITT, which also happened to be the 2nd stage of a long double day for us (fortunately my job in the TT was to go as slow as possible…conserve, conserve, conserve). Today we had our hands full during the longest day of the tour, 153km’s, keeping breaks in check, shepherding Amber out of the wind (it has been soooo windy here too), literally pushing people out of our echelons, and just purely fighting for our own safety. There are just some days when you see the 10km to go banner and your body sighs one big “ahhh” and today was certainly one of them! But we all made it through safely, with Amber maintaining a healthy lead. Now tomorrow we’ll have to be on our toes again as the we’ll ride our way through the biggest climbs of the tour. The kind of climbs that are right up Amber and Mara’s alley - 10-15km kind of stuff. Hopefully I can help get them to the climbs in good position, unleash them, and then ride my own tempo up the climbs, arriving at the finish just in time to hoot and holler as Amber pulls on the leader’s jersey once again. Saturday is the final day of the tour so with only 2 days to go, the end is in sight and so is a WIN!

And now that we will be staying in the same hotel for the next 3 nights, I’ll be spending a lot more time on the internet since we never know when, where, or how we will have it again!

Rock on!
-Meredith

So, only 2 more days til I leave for Europe on a marathon trip - 6 weeks! Haka and Kohi are going to look so much different by the time I get home. But, at least Ben will have them totally trained by then. Ha ha. That would be way too much work for any one person, for sure. These two puppy dogs have got too much energy and a short attention span for one person! But the cool thing is how many dogs are showing up in the neighborhood. Each time another family moves in there is at least 1 more dog. Hopefully this will mean that Ben won’t have a hard time asking for help while I am gone since we live in a neighborhood of dog lovers!

Over the weekend we had a BBQ at our neighbor’s - it was awesome watching all the dogs play together while the adults got to mingle and get to know each other as well over a few beers, good food and several games of washers. What is washers you ask? Well, several years ago Ben and I visited his friend Bob, whose family knows every game in the world and who have probably made up their own games on occasion, and he introduced us to the game of washers. We actually did think at the time that Bob, or someone in his family, had made this game up, but then lo and behold, Shawn pulls out the washers the other night. Basically, you make a square box out of 2×4’s with a cup in the middle of the box. Each person has 3 washers that they try to land inside the box (for 1 point), in the cup (for 3 points), or on the edge of the 2×4 (for 5 points). It’s a game very similar to horseshoes, except that the equipment isn’t quite so heavy and likely to do serious damage if it lands on a toe. Anyway, the game was a hit - so much so that even after the sun went down we didn’t stop. Ray, who has a solution for everything, pulled on a headlamp so that he could shine a beacon of light on the box so we could see our target…and that was good enough for us.

So, yeah, I think we are really going to enjoy this neighborhood and all the people and dogs that live in it. It’s kind of scaring me how many of the women are pregnant though (I am staying away from the water), but it will fun to have little tikes running around, too.

It might be awhile before I post another entry on my blog. Once I leave on Wed there is no telling how long it will be before I am back in “civilization” again…in other words, who knows when I’ll have internet. We race the 9-day Route de France first, then the 3-day Albstadt Frauen in Germany just 2 days after Route de France has ended (that’s going to be tough!). Fortunately after those 2 races, we have 10 days of recovery in Lucca. There, I know we will have internet. And maybe this time I’ll get to meet Cippo. Anyway, after some down time we’ll pick it back up again with a World Cup in Plouay and then I’ll finish off with the Holland Ladies Tour. So, sometime in the middle of September I’ll be back at home with Ben and the girls, ready for a long break from the bike.

I’ve added more pictures to Flickr so click the photos link at the top of the page if you want to see more of the dogs and washers!

Happy days!

Meredith