Hot Tubes Cycling

On our way to the race I finished an article about using endurance sports to answer questions of character. When it seemed reasonable to “get dropped,” the words I had written kept me pumping acid into the legs.

GP Cerami: 208 km

Reciprocating what seemed unethical, I sprinted up a sidewalk to move up. Curb hopping and corner chopping is so much easier than powering to the front. It’s how less fit riders survive and even get results. But it is aggravating. If you aren’t constantly moving up, you’re moving back. It’s a five hour mental drain.

We covered attacks for 50 km until Beppu escaped with five riders and gained 7 minutes. Then Team Vaconsoleil showed their own lack of conscience. They attacked in the feed zone (where riders grab bags of food and drink at speed) and split the peloton into four groups. It also forced most of the riders to miss their feed. The entire peloton entered the four finishing circuits together. There it exploded on a 22% climb and a rough cobble section. Each lap chunks of the 200 starters dropped. By the finish the lead group had dwindled to just over 50.

Ben Hermans attacked the climb with five riders. In the chasing peloton we worked to protect our sprinter, Cardoso. Hermans survived to the finish and placed 3rd. I tried to position Cardoso for the sprint and pulled from 2 to 1 km to go. He fired his sprint too early on the uphill finish, and we rolled in together around 30th.

“The Hell of the North,” “The Queen of the Classics,” the most epic one day race in the world, scared me to the point that I almost regretted asking for a start. Riding 27 sectors totaling 51.5 km of cobblestone roads designed for tractors is like sitting on a jackhammer. After 60 km of course recon, my hands throbbed and my back ached.

Paris-Roubaix: 258 km (160 miles)

RadioShack’s young riders followed attacks. I made a short lived escape with two riders. The day’s main breakaway, however, including the Shack’s Oliviera, took 80 km to establish. All 200 riders fought to start the first cobble sector in front. A crash stopped me, and I caught up on the cobbles.

Another crash, another stop, another chase- this time with a group of riders. As long as I was with groups, I didn’t stress. We nearly rejoined the back of the peloton at the legendary Arenberg Forest, but hit more carnage traffic involving race favorite Tom Boonen. On the other side of the forest, Boonen came to the front of our small group. I stayed with him and experienced his power on the
cobbles.

A blinding cloud of dust surrounded the stampeding peloton. As soon as Boonen had pulled us back in contact with the group he went down in a heap of wreckage. A chilling moan arose from the left ditch. Once more and for good this time, the
peloton left a big group behind.

At an ordinary race we might have stopped, but this is Paris-Roubaix. My teammate Robbie McEwen who has been a pro since I was a baby said, “the lights went out 20 km from the finish, but this race is cycling history, and I very much wanted to finish.”

My group pounded cobbles for the last 50 km and swung into the velodrome for the obligatory victory lap with the crowd still cheering thirteen minutes after winner, Johan Van Summeren.

Gregory Rast, my teammate, finished 4th, and 6 of 8 RadioShack riders were among the 108 who completed the course. At the finish our director, Dirk Demol (1988 Paris Roubaix winner), said, ” We were passing all these riders. I kept thinking we must have missed you, but you were still in the race! Good job.”

Paris-Roubaix- there’s nothing like it.

This morning my body aches. But finishing Paris-Roubaix was worth the blisters, sores, and cramps. If you need me, I’ll be in bed.

BK

“If you can’t race in Belgium and Holland, you’re not a racer- just a bike rider,” said my coach Jim Miller. These races require as much skill as power. Because the courses are generally flat and windy, the terrain doesn’t break up the race. Positioning is everything. You have to fight, and that’s not a metaphor.

Scheldeprijs Schoten: 200 km

The crowds on course could have packed a stadium. Belgium loves cycling.

My inexperience with this type of racing tempts me to over elaborate. Suffice to say that I’m learning. After skidding both tires to avoid the second sickening crash in the finishing circuits, I grew brake happy. People hitting barriers and breaking bones, made everyone else in the bunch nervous. We (team RadioShack) worked to protect Robbie McEwen who finished second here last year. He avoided a crash in the last 500 meters and sprinted for 5th. I finished in the pack.

Tomorrow I race another 1 day. GP Cerami. A little secret. On Sunday I’ll be on the start line for Paris-Roubiax, The Hell of the North.

Stage 1: 203 km

I was ashamed to face my roommate, Andreas Kloden (2nd in the TDF), but he said, “good job.” I said, “no, I was terrible.” He said, “Hey, you did your job. It’s normal. Anybody who races like you in the beginning is dropped.” I received the same encouragement from Gallopin, and during my massage I heard that other riders had said I rode well in support of the team. I didn’t feel like quitting the sport anymore. Corsica is mountainous- ups and downs.

Restarting my race season a month after the Giro Sardegna, I had all the same nervous jitters. I followed orders and raced for the break away.

Over the first 3 km climb at 40 km, I found myself in a small group containing 6 time race winner, Jens Voigt and Vinokurov. Our group gained about a minute. We ripped over another climb, and I thought we might last. After 75 km of attacking, however, I realized that other teams wanted to keep RadioShack out of the break. That way they secured our help in chasing any threats. And when a group of six got away just before the tallest mountains, I was the first to start pulling.

Eager to do my job, I lead the chase with three others. A pain in my back steadily worsened until it became an unbearable cramp that soaked up all my power. I remember only three times on the bike when I felt such misery, not physical but emotional. I felt like a wimp. I wanted to cry and punch myself at the same time for being such a girl. I couldn’t sustain normal training power.

Jens Voigt attacked a hill. I fell into the caravan. Gallopin drove the first car. I knew he could see me dropping. He pulled up beside me and I said, “I’m cramping.” He said, “it’s ok, just try to hold the wheel.” I sprinted back to the field and couldn’t stay. Gallopin drove by without a passing glance.

The rest of the day, 50 km further, I rode with ten guys. The company made it endurable. Struggling in the same group was Olympic gold medalist, David Millar, and TDF star, Jon Gadret. How hard is it just to finish these races?

P.S. Seeking explanation for the abnormal back pain, I had the mechanics recheck my position. It was my first time on this bike. The saddle and bars were significantly wrong.

Bongiorno,

I’m in Sardegna, Italy, a beautiful place. But with so much suffering on the agenda, I’ll have to come back for vacation.

Giro di Sardegna: 5 stages, 551 miles

Stage 1: 140 km
Steep climbs all day were short enough to be invisible on the profile. Everyone predicted a sprint stage. At least the rainy forecast was also wrong for most of the day. Two riders broke away early. After 100 km our road captains put me on the front to pull back the break.

For a while it was my roommate, Chris Butler (Team BMC), and fellow Lucca inhabiting American, Ted King (Team Liquigas), swapping pulls. Each steep hill stung the legs and the intensity snowballed as we approached a critical climb with 5 km to go. I took my last pull with 7 km to go, catching the break away, and dropping out of the lead group of 50 on the climb.

Once again, I earned the satisfaction of hearing “good job” from my teammates. For now, that’s my only goal. With someone to work for, and a job to do, I feel like I’m on the accelerated learning program.

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Day 3:
RadioShack took the season’s first victory with Ben Hermans attacking on the final climb and winning a three man sprint.

Day 4: 145 km
I subbed in for my second race, a mountainous day. On the first climb G4 covered a move. Bouncing around mid pack, I hung on to the top 5 km away. G4′s group came back and after a fast decent, the attacking resumed. For an hour I covered moves and waited for one to stick. Jens Voigt said, “I don’t understand. I attack and everybody is still on my wheel. I think they are a little bit excited today.” A group of five finally went and team MovieStar did the pace making. I helped position our team up front. Riding in the wind beside MovieStar into the
longest climb.

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To spice up the beefy training of week one of camp, each RadioShack rider competed in two of the five single day races at the Mallorca Challenge.

Day 2: 175 km
The first full throttle hour shocked me. A break of 10 went with RadioShacks, G4 (Geoffrey Lequatre), Team Leopard missed it and rode to shut it down so urgently that I thought, “if this is how it’s going to be all day, I might go back to U23 racing!” They caught the break, another group of three attacked, and even experienced pros breathed relief. “Pissay,” a big group pulled over for extra relief. Strategizing for our Aussie speedster, McEwen, we gave the breakaway 8 minutes. Then McEwen said, “Alright, sorry, Ben, time to start riding.”

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