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WEEK 6 (Thursday, February 7, 2008)

SUNSHINE ON MAJORCA
[Translation: Crispen T.P. de Lange] 

From winter and freezing cold in Boulder to hot sun and summer clothing on Majorca – the contrasts are striking in our every day lives, and that’s exactly the appeal of being a professional mountain-biker. It’s fantastic feeling the sun warm my white winter skin, even if it’s only for a few minutes.

We’ve moved from friendly Boulder in Colorado, via Stavanger, Oslo, Venice / Montebelluna, to sunny Majorca in Spain. We’re gradually growing accustomed to the European time zone again, but we usually use about a fortnight to get completely in tune again when travelling from west to east. It’s easier to travel to USA or home from Asia. Still, we’ve managed quite well. We’ve stayed awake for as long as possible at night, refused to sleep in the afternoons, and gotten up at the normal time in the mornings.

The past two weeks in Boulder were busy with exercise, and we had a day of snow and a good 15 degrees below freezing. It’s awfully cold cycling in those kinds of temperatures, but it was a low-paced day anyway, so we didn’t miss out on too much. The following day the sun was out and the snow disappeared from the roads as quickly as it had appeared.

The last two evenings we went out to eat with our friendly couple, Cari and Greg, and we just love these kinds of reunions. The final evening was spent with our landlord, Mark (a very important ally through the past five seasons) and his family. (Check out the pictures from Boulder). We probably won’t be back to Boulder again before next summer, but we know how time flies, so we’re already starting to look forward again...

The days at home in Stavanger were busy as usual, with everything from spinning classes and meetings with sponsors, to hair cuts and treatments. It was “pedal to the metal” for three days before leaving for Oslo for various errands, and then on to Italy the following day. We did have a few moments to wash clothes and exchange the clothes we had been wearing for four weeks in Boulder for new ones. One ends up wearing much the same thing every day when one only has one suitcase to fill. Most of what is able to fit in is exercise clothing anyway.

Kenneth left direct for Majorca while I had to go via Venice and Montebelluna for a photo shoot with NorthWave. The end results from the photo studio in Padova were at least as exciting as previous years. The pictures will be presented on my home page in a few weeks... My team mate, Jose Hermida (ESP), is also sponsored by NorthWave, so it turned out to be a good show for the whole photo team that day. Dressed in a variety of exciting and snazzy kit, and constant trips back to the make-up seat, it was a very action-packed day. Jose still had thick make-up on his face as we sat eating real pizza at a well-known restaurant in Montebelluna later on in the evening.

Most of the team from Multivan Merida Biking Team is already in place here at the hotel where the biking group, Phillip Bike Team, resides. This is the fourth year running that the whole team is gathered here for our annual press meeting, and interest in the team has never been greater. 69 journalists and photographs from 14 different countries have signed up. In total, our team, including cyclists, support team, Merida employees from Europe and various dealers, number a grand total of 135 persons.

The official welcoming toast will take place at 17:30 tomorrow evening when it all kicks off. The press conference on Saturday morning will continue with photographs and interviews until dinner is served. Saturday evening there will be a feast dinner served in Palma for everybody, rounded up with a new séance of photographs, interviews and testing of Merida’s new bikes throughout Sunday. Monday and Tuesday are dedicated to photographing us cyclists to produce photo material for the rest of the season. In other words, it’s going to be a week with very little exercise and no rest. Regarding exercise, it actually fits quite well, as my body hasn’t quite recovered from the intense exercise period at high altitude.

Even so, we’ll have two and a half weeks to exercise here before leaving for home again when the press camp is over. I’ll write a small summary in a short week from now and post a whole lot of new pictures from our various activities in the next days.

Cyclist’s greetings from Gunn-Rita and Kenneth

Multivan Merida Biking Team

www.gunnrita.com