2008 Blogs
Well the internets are a precious entity. Indeed, I am officially addicted and lost without them. But, it appears the internets may hold a similar effect on Aussies, as well as other people who ride bicycles. The entire peloton is staying in these little cabins in Geelong. The internets cost $8 for an hour or $24 for a day! So Alex and I invested in an hour, only to discover that they were too overloaded with bike racers and were slower than slow.
Before coming to Oz, I had two days in Palo Alto. I was able to check out the Tour of California Prologue, as it was about 5k away from Karen’s house. But the most exciting part of that day was seeing all my Boulder friends who were in CA! Super Dave Towleeee was ripping it up on stage, totally on the money. It’s amazing how he can hold that level of enthusiasm and knowledge for days and days. Shippens and Brand-o were in town with two of their teammates, doing a training camp consisting of drinking beer and eating burgers, and I think they brought their bicycles for commuting to beer and burger joints. Karen took me on a couple incredible rides close to her house, fueled up on oranges from her backyard orange tree!
This whole time change or day change is whacky. It’s Friday today. We left San Francisco on Monday and arrived in Melbourne on Wednesday at noon. We drove to Geelong, about an hour away, hopped on the bikes for an hour, then crashed into bed, only to wake up the following morning to a 10:30am time trial and a 2:30pm circuit race. I felt like 10lbs of poo in a 5lb bag.
So that was the first two stages of the Geelong Tour. The Time Trial was ok considering the travel, though still humbling and painful. We then had the circuit race…demoralizing. I got dropped with about 5k to go. Both stages were so so windy. However, I was able to notice how pretty it was as we rode about 10k of the course alongside the ocean. The circuit race consisted of 3 laps of 25k, and it was pancake flat. Today’s was another circuit race of 92k that was even more pancake flat. I’m not sure why they even bothered to put the profile in the bible. Again, it was beautiful riding alongside the ocean. It is surreal racing here with these girls. But, at the same time it is so very humbling and I feel very much like a rookie.
I haven’t seen any kangaroo, but we did have some for dinner. Katheryn cooks kangaroo:
Sad, I know, but it was $4 cheaper per kilo than beef and more lean too. Then last night we went to a great thai restaurant where I had the best red curry I have ever tasted. The wind is blowing like a banshee. Tomorrow, Saturday, is a rest day, and Sunday is the World Cup. We had a few good lead outs today, as Katheryn and Alex picked up some bonus sprints. Then Erinne and Katheryn led Alex out for a 5th place finish. I was otb at that point and Christine was caught in a crash. The TT was good, as Katheryn was 5th, Alex 9th, Christine 11th. Nothing too great in the afternoon circuit race. This race is very much a sprinters race, which doesn’t suit our team too well, so I’m optimistic for the World Cup and the Tour of New Zealand. Gina arrived yesterday after flying home to Vancouver for a day and a half from track WCs in Denmark. So from here on out, there will be 6 in green!
I'm not gonna lie, the internets down under are real slow and for that reason alone, I don't think I could live here. But, that's my excuse for having no pictures at the moment...
My legs are tired, my eyes are shutting, my hands are sun burnt, my stomach is growling, and it’s time for my massage. Stay classy peas and carrots readers.
Before coming to Oz, I had two days in Palo Alto. I was able to check out the Tour of California Prologue, as it was about 5k away from Karen’s house. But the most exciting part of that day was seeing all my Boulder friends who were in CA! Super Dave Towleeee was ripping it up on stage, totally on the money. It’s amazing how he can hold that level of enthusiasm and knowledge for days and days. Shippens and Brand-o were in town with two of their teammates, doing a training camp consisting of drinking beer and eating burgers, and I think they brought their bicycles for commuting to beer and burger joints. Karen took me on a couple incredible rides close to her house, fueled up on oranges from her backyard orange tree!
This whole time change or day change is whacky. It’s Friday today. We left San Francisco on Monday and arrived in Melbourne on Wednesday at noon. We drove to Geelong, about an hour away, hopped on the bikes for an hour, then crashed into bed, only to wake up the following morning to a 10:30am time trial and a 2:30pm circuit race. I felt like 10lbs of poo in a 5lb bag.
So that was the first two stages of the Geelong Tour. The Time Trial was ok considering the travel, though still humbling and painful. We then had the circuit race…demoralizing. I got dropped with about 5k to go. Both stages were so so windy. However, I was able to notice how pretty it was as we rode about 10k of the course alongside the ocean. The circuit race consisted of 3 laps of 25k, and it was pancake flat. Today’s was another circuit race of 92k that was even more pancake flat. I’m not sure why they even bothered to put the profile in the bible. Again, it was beautiful riding alongside the ocean. It is surreal racing here with these girls. But, at the same time it is so very humbling and I feel very much like a rookie.I haven’t seen any kangaroo, but we did have some for dinner. Katheryn cooks kangaroo:
Sad, I know, but it was $4 cheaper per kilo than beef and more lean too. Then last night we went to a great thai restaurant where I had the best red curry I have ever tasted. The wind is blowing like a banshee. Tomorrow, Saturday, is a rest day, and Sunday is the World Cup. We had a few good lead outs today, as Katheryn and Alex picked up some bonus sprints. Then Erinne and Katheryn led Alex out for a 5th place finish. I was otb at that point and Christine was caught in a crash. The TT was good, as Katheryn was 5th, Alex 9th, Christine 11th. Nothing too great in the afternoon circuit race. This race is very much a sprinters race, which doesn’t suit our team too well, so I’m optimistic for the World Cup and the Tour of New Zealand. Gina arrived yesterday after flying home to Vancouver for a day and a half from track WCs in Denmark. So from here on out, there will be 6 in green!I'm not gonna lie, the internets down under are real slow and for that reason alone, I don't think I could live here. But, that's my excuse for having no pictures at the moment...
My legs are tired, my eyes are shutting, my hands are sun burnt, my stomach is growling, and it’s time for my massage. Stay classy peas and carrots readers.