Chrissie Posted August 16, 2006 Share Hi all, a bit of news from our tour so far...10 August Landed on Frankfurt airport and had lunch in Kohl with Marcel Wust and his family. For a famous x-pro he was surprisingly down to earth and even helped us build our bikes after the trip. Marcel has a couple of interesting records next to his name. He is one of the only riders to have ever won a race on every continent in the world, but is even more famous for being only one of two riders in the history of cycling to have won a stage in the Tour de France in a sprint while wearing the Polka dot jersey! He now does commentary for German national television at big races as he is fluent in 5 languages11 AugustToday we woke up and went for a ride to loosen the legs. Our whole team almost got a 90 EURO fine each for jumping a red light riding through the streets of Bochum. Luckily we looked lost enough and the traffic cops helped us look on the map for the circuit we would be riding the next day.After half an hour?s riding it starting raining and we decided to stop at a local coffee shop and wait for the rain to stop. In the end the rest of the ride only took place a good 3 hours and a couple of Cappuccino?s later! We ended up doing a 2 and a half hour ride on the most beautiful farm roads, lined with trees and green pastures? wow the life of a professional bike rider is truly tough, but someone?s gotta do it!! 12 AugustOur first race! We thought our first two races would be smallish races in a local village, but I guess if a race has it?s own website it must be big! Today?s race was the warm-up event for the main race, Giro Sparkassen in Bochum. The race is sponsored by a local German bank and is a circuit race, 15 laps of 3.5km each. I was very surprised to race with the no. 1 race number as the current World champion and her team also lined up at the start! Most of the race was in the rain and it actually made the race a bit easier as the girls didn?t take the corners absolutely flat out. Yolandi joined us today for the first time after racing for Team Fat Birds (English team) for the past couple of months. Lynette really impressed me in her first race sticking to the front for most of the race. All of us finished safely in the bunch, but no one taking chances on the dangerous last lap especially in the rain.13 August (Giro Sparkassen ? Bochum, Germany)Today?s circuit was 7 laps of 14km each. I must say it looked easier than it was judging from the route profile ? with a couple of nasty climbs. Today the rain didn?t save us from a hard pace being set from the beginning and the girls started with a bang. Still enjoyed the race more than I thought I would. In the end we all finished between 40th and around 80th position in the bunch. From the next tour, Trophee d?Or the real racing will start!We stayed to watch the men?s race and it was very exciting to see Robbie McEwen, Jens Voigt and Pettachi in action. Konica Minolta also had a couple of riders there and enjoyed our enthusiastic encouragement on every lap! It is really great to see just how popular cycling is in Europe, with the whole family enjoying a day at the races14 August Today we mostly travelled from Bochum to central France. We had a nice stop over to eat lunch in Paris and walked around in the shops on the Champs Elysees. I look forward to returning to Paris in a couple of weeks, as we have a criterium series on our racing schedule.We have a couple of days off before our next tour, Trophee d?Or Feminine starts in St Armand Montrond on Saturday. The off days will mostly consist of sleeping in and going for a training ride in the area. We also have the opportunity to check out most of the routes we will be doing during the tour, which is nice.16 AugustToday we did a 4hour+ ride with some race efforts inbetween. Its on the most gorgeous roads and I thought to myself just how fortunately we are to be a part of such a great sport...Off to lunch now.... will write again when I get to an internet cafeCiao 4 now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cruxpearl Posted August 16, 2006 Share Hi Chrissie,Great to hear from you and your exploits in Europe!!Envy is high on the emotion list when reading about the awesome riding conditions in Europe...Have a Blast and kick some Ass!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanJ Posted August 16, 2006 Share Crux: Don't you wish we were young again?.Chrissie, keep the reports coming and good luck to all of you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cruxpearl Posted August 16, 2006 Share Ian, brings back many memories.... I spent 3 months cycling through France, many many moons ago... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KayC Posted August 16, 2006 Share Hi ChrissieGreat to hear news from your cycling in Europe. Please keep on keeping us posted.Good luck with the racing.RegardsKayC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonathan Kinnear Posted August 16, 2006 Share Sounds amazing! Make the most of every moment over there, enjoy the races and give it your all.Look forward to hear of many future successes for you and your team in Europe.All of the best Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Posted August 17, 2006 Share Hey Chrissie, Good to hear that you guys are enjoying it over there. Hope the rain clears up so you can show some of those European ladies just how strong you are. Good luck for the rest of your races and have fun!! Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Kid Posted August 17, 2006 Share Chrissie i just got back from France 2.5 weeks ago and it was the best cycling experiance i ever had. Next year we will be doinig our fav. El Tape Tour. Good luck for the rest and have lots of riding fun. France is a cycling paridise!!!Chio Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slowpoke Posted August 17, 2006 Share Hi Chrissie,I really enjoyed reading that - keep the reports coming and good luck withthe ucomming events. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spinnekop Posted August 17, 2006 Share Chrissie.You go girl!! Enjoy every second of it!! Haul ass!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wonder Woman Posted August 17, 2006 Share Ooh, I'm green with envy, sounds like you girls are having a good time.Thanks for the report Chrissie and give those other girls hell... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grapkas Posted August 17, 2006 Share GO CHRISSIE GO!!!! HOU ONS NAAM HOOG DAAR!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pastapouch Posted August 17, 2006 Share Goed om te sien julle het 'n goeie tyd, geniet dit! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chilli Pepper Posted August 17, 2006 Share Chrissie,Thanks for a lovely report - I must say, the green monster is sitting squarely on my shoulders!! Good luck and best wishes for a succesful time abroad! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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