WEEK 25

WEEK 25 (Tuesday June 20, 2006)

NEW EXCITING CHALLENGES

[Translation: Crispen T.P. de Lange]

Our last week at Boulder turned out to be exciting and fun in many different ways. Great days of training, record high temperatures, an encounter with a rattlesnake, hail-storms, and an interesting evaluation of the first half of the season of 2006.

We have arrived at Mt. Sainte Anne in Canada where the next World Cup race is to take place this coming Sunday. The flight from Denver, via Toronto, to Quebec and from there with taxi to the skiing resort at Mt. Sainte Anne, went as planned without any complications. We’re always somewhat tense as we wait by the conveyor belt for our luggage – did our bikes make it this time?

Our last week at Boulder passed amazingly quickly, and three weeks really is nothing when one’s living with such friendly and enjoyable people at such a wonderful place. Our training went as we had planned, with a few minor adjustments on the final few days as my legs were beginning to really feel the tough exercise we had been doing at this high altitude.

In addition to effective training at altitudes of 2300 – 2400 metres above sea level, and high intensity power training, we’ve also managed to have two high speed stints with a moped this time, meaning really good speed training for my legs. The final moped stint was done on Wednesday in almost 40 degrees Centigrade, and my skin and scalp under my helmet were burning up.

We also had a long distance trip on gravel roads in the area around Boulder one day when we were confronted by an unusual creature that brought out goose-bumps on both our bodies, despite the hot weather. Kenneth almost rolled over the tail of this creature that looked just like a stick lying half-way out into the road.

We both stopped immediately and moved closer to have a better look at this strange animal. It turned out to be a large rattlesnake which was anything but scared of cyclists. It turned rapidly in the grass and was silently out onto the dirt road in attack position before we could react. We got to take a few pictures of this fellow with full zoom. It didn’t feel safe to be too close to this bad tempered fellow.

Apart from this, we’ve been to Restaurant Kitchen for the first time, a cosy place in the middle of the pedestrian area of Boulder, where all vegetables and fruit that is served is organically produced. We’ve also been to the movies a couple of times and done a bit of shopping. I don’t know if entering a grand total of two shops can be classified as shopping, but it’s more than enough for us J.

One morning after breakfast we experienced a change in the weather that reminded us of autumn days at home in Stavanger. We woke up to sunshine, blue skies and close to 30 degrees Centigrade. We were about to put on our cycling kit and leave for our first stint. It began with a few drops but soon increased to a full-fledged hail storm in sizes L and XL! Still, we can’t complain about the weather we’ve had, as we’ve only had one afternoon of rain plus the hail storm which didn’t last too long. Apart from that we’ve had blue skies and well above 30 degrees for a full three weeks.

We made it to our apartment here at 8:00 p.m. on Sunday evening. We took an hour’s jog plus a thorough massage for my legs before going to bed. The temperature was 33 degrees when we started jogging that evening with a rather higher humidity than we’re used to. It’s normal over here at this time of year, but extremely uncomfortable for us.

Yesterday evening the rest of the Multivan Merida Biking Team from Europe arrived, so now the whole Merida family is gathered again for new and exciting challenges together. My legs and body don’t feel totally super, but totally acceptable. I expect my strength and energy will return in good time before Sunday’s race.

It’s late evening now here in our little sitting room in our nice apartment, and most people have turned out their lights already. That’s what it’s like the first few days after arrival when one makes long travels across many time zones all the time. It’s only Kenneth and I who still are up after 9:00 p.m. in this group, since we’ve spent time in a completely different time zone.

The rain has poured down all afternoon, with lightning and thunder, and the temperature has sunken down to about 10 degrees Centigrade. Tomorrow it’s supposed to be sunny and we’re going out on a three hour slow paced ride. It’s going to be lovely. On Thursday we’re going to race each other on the actual race course, and we’re looking forward to that. The start of the World Cup race for us women is on Sunday morning at 11:00 a.m. (5:00 p.m. Norwegian time).

I hope you are all enjoying many lovely days of summer and warmth at home, both on and off your bikes. I expect many of your have raced your first races of the season, hopefully with many good experiences, and are looking forward to many new exciting challenges through the summer. I wish you all the best and good luck with exercise and training and any activities you have planned. You will hear from us again this coming Sunday after the race.

Cyclist’s greetings from Gunn-Rita and Kenneth.

PS. I’ll be posting a few pictures from our stay at Boulder on my site these next days.