Holiday over, back to racing at Krasna Lipa!

After a super fun couple of weeks in Girona with Miss America, it was time to get things rolling again and pin a number on! I'm not here for a holiday you know ;-)

Krasna Lipa is the first ever European race that I did, and one that I was hoping to do well in this time around. It's also the tour that I seem to just not have anything go right in...

We began the journey to Czech by dragging our bike bags on 2 trains and a bus to get to Barcelona Airport. Cursing the bikes the whole way, we would come to regret thinking how nice it would be to not travel with bikes when we arrived at Dresden airport to that long wait by the oversize baggage door, and the sinking feeling that our bikes had missed the plane... Our fears were confirmed at the baggage services counter which then led to many frustrating phone calls to Vueling customer 'service' and 48 hours of being told they hadn't even located the bikes yet. With only 2 flights to Dresden a week, the next one landed right when our race was due to start, so we were trying everything to get them to send the bikes to another nearby airport but it was proving fruitless.

The rest of the team pre riding the course.. Coryn and I had no bikes so were in the car..

Queue our Knights in Shining Oakleys.. The Swiss National Team. They had 2 spare bikes which they kindly allowed us to borrow, even though it left them without spares! Coryn at least had a spare pair of shoes and pedals, but everything of mine was in my bike bag.. A lesson well learnt and I'll always carry a pair of shoes with me now! Thankfully Gaby has the same size big feet as me and had a spare pair, so I was on borrowed bike, shoes, pedals, helmet & glasses! Not the ideal way to start a tour, but at least I was starting!

Lunch in Germany on the way to Krasna Lipa

 

So the race.. Day 1 and I felt pretty shitty. After not having ridden for 2 days and all the other factors, my legs were pretty flat and I just didn't feel confident on the bike. Euro brakes, everything a size too big, compact cranks added to a sketchy and nervy bunch and not having raced for a month all combined to make me fairly useless. Just because Murphy was in a playful mood, he threw in a plastic bag getting wrapped around my rear mech and the subsequent chase back on, so when we hit the last big descent my legs just couldn't go any faster and I was out the arse. Yep, dropped on the downhill.. So much for being able to help the GC rider in our team! I grovelled over Vapenka and made it back in to Krasna Lipa a few minutes down on the main bunch.

The best part of the day was getting back to our Accommodation and finding out my bike had made it to Germany! After dinner - the Czech staple of Chicken & potatoes of course - Rene and I headed to Dresden airport where I was reunited with all of my race gear and my Bianchi bike. Happy Dayz!!

 

My Bianchi!!!! So happy to see this :)

Day 2, feeling a lot more confident being back on my bike, but still with legs like arse. Going backwards up all of the climbs, and struggling to move up in the sketchy bunch, it was another day of feeling useless. Carla and Lucy rode well again and maintained their spots up on GC ahead of the 3rd stage time trial.

Day 3 is the double day. A quick trip over the border to Poland for an 18k Time Trial, ahead of an afternoon road race back in Czech. My goal for the time trial was to just try and spin the legs out as much as possible whilst still making time cut, hoping that I'd come good for the afternoon stage. Lucy stomped the TT and came in 8th - moving her up to 13th on GC - whilst Carla succumbed to the stomach bug that had been plaguing her all week. The afternoon road stage yet again had me grovelling and being packfill, but another solid ride by the other girls in the team saw Coryn get 8th! 

Czech staple.. Chicken & Potatoes.

The last day sees the race go up a solid climb on a big lap, and then tackle 3 laps of the infamous Vapenka. With Lucy in 13th, we wanted to move her up in to the top 10 if possible so the plan was to try and split the bunch on the first climb and for her to hopefully get away in a small group on the final laps. Riding to the start of the race I felt better then I had all week. Better late than never I guess! My finish line was at 42k, the top of the first climb, and as we hit the first ramp things were going to plan. The bunch was lined out until we got over the crest of the first pinch where the lead car put out the red flag and the race was stopped. A bunch off the back had been sent the wrong way, and then the Aus & Koga team cars couldn't be located. In the end we were stopped in the middle of the road for 45 minutes before being sent on our way and then told that the race would be shortened by 1 lap. Sticking to the plan I led up the climb and split things up, and then blew near the top and lost the bunch. It was a beautiful day and so I enjoyed the weather and scenery and waved at all the families who were out watching the race and rolled in to the finish.

With the stop and one less time up the climb, the race was changed a fair bit and we didn't succeed, but at least we tried and I found a glimpse of some form coming back.

Riding to the start of the race

So the week didn't go as I'd hoped, but I have to take the positives and focus them on Limousin in a weeks time. Things would have been much harder at the race if it weren't for the tireless efforts of our support crew..

Eoin (Owen) - Our team mechanic. At times I could barely understand a word he was saying because of his accent, but he was great with the bikes and the added pressure of setting up our borrowed bikes was all handled without a worry.

Mr B & his apprentice Lucy - Our Swannys. These guys were rock stars. Food shopping, bottles, feeding, and the best bit - the massages. Lots of laughs too kept the mood light when things weren't going to plan!

And Rene - Manager/DS, having the contacts to get us some bikes to borrow and following us around in the team car for 4 days! Added trips to Germany and Prague (for Coryns bike), plus the drive from London and back, I'd say he'd have had to have clocked up about 50 hours behind the wheel in the space of a week, at least!

Rene, Mr B, Eoin & Lucy enjoying a well earned Vino! From cups made from empty water bottles.. Classy.

Next up is a week back home in Belgium before heading to France for Limousin!

Tour Feminin Krasna Lipa

The race I was most looking forward to getting a start in this year was Krasna Lipa. It was the first international race I did on my last trip, and it didn't go anywhere near as well as I would have liked that time, so I wanted to go back and redeem myself! Last time I had a melt down on Day 3, so I was looking to first and foremost make it to the end of the tour.

After a few teams that I was lined up for fell through, I finally got my confirmed start with a club team from Norway called CK Victoria. Also racing on this team were some friends from back home in Aus Jo Hogan and Emma Mackie, so I was really looking forward to the week!

Team CK Victoria

 The 3 of us drove across Germany in to Czech the day before the race. Taking our time and enjoying the sunshine, we arrived at our accommodation Wednesday evening and met the team we would be racing with. A great bunch of chicks, even if understanding their names was rather difficult at first! Norwegian appears to be a very hard language to get your ears around.

On to the racing! I knew things would be difficult back in my first big tour, with bunches of 120+ girls all fighting to be up the front, but I just accepted that and tried to bit by bit work on improving my positioning.

On the first day I felt ok, but not great. Probably a lot of nerves combined with the rather warm/humid weather made me feel like that. By the time the race got to the final climb - the infamous 'Vapenka' Climb which was my nemesis last time around! - I was still with the main bunch, but my positioning was shocking. Unfortunately I got tailed off the front bunch behind some dropped wheels and didn't have the legs to go around. With a 2.5k fast downhill run in to the finish from here, I ended up in the 2nd bunch only about 30 seconds down. A major improvement! My team mate Jo Hogan set herself up nicely and managed 7th on the stage, and with some bonus seconds in a Sprint Prime was sitting 5th on GC. I wish I could say I helped with this, but all I can claim is giving her some water after she lost a bottle!

Day 2 was another couple of times over 'Vapenka' as a part of a loop. With sprint primes and bonus seconds up for grabs just after the hill, the goal was to help Jo get these. First lap I found some balls and managed to make my way to the front in time for the climb, and held it. With Emma's help, we kept the pace up leading in to the climb, and Jo managed 2nd in the sprint after. Second lap I faltered again and found myself mid pack and unable to move up on the narrow roads. I held on to the bunch though and finished at the back after a tight and technical last few kms. Jo moved up thanks to her sprint bonuses and was now 4th on GC!

Rolling to the start of Stage 2

Day 3.. The Double Day. In the morning was a road trip in to Poland for an 18km ITT, followed by going back to Czech for an afternoon Road Race. The TT just plain sucked. I tried to push, but really had nothing. I guess it was an improvement from last time, where I came DFL.. but still. Onward and upward to the Road stage! Jo lost a few places on GC because of not having her TT bike, but we figured the tour was still redeemable!

Hiding out from the lightening storm before Stage 4

5 minutes after we got to the start of the PM stage, the heavens opened and it started bucketing down. Lightening and Thunder crashing overhead, we all too shelter in the hotel nearby hoping that they would cancel the stage! In the end they delayed the start by 45 minutes, and cut our race one lap short, so it would only be 74k. Lining up on the start line in the rain, with only the occasional thunder clap, I took solace in the fact that I was shorter than a few in the bunch, so I wouldn't be the one hit by lightening! 3 Laps of 21k, the course profile basically looked like it was uphill for the first half, and downhill for the 2nd. As soon as we got going, I realised I felt great. I was even a little more comfortable in the bunch, although the wet roads killed that a little. After the first couple of climbs, I found myself easily up near the front and so tried to maintain that. Sitting on the front to keep the pace high felt like the safest option for me and to help Jo, so that's what I did.. Until I came in to a corner near the end of the first lap a little too quick and the bike slid out from underneath me. Yep.. Here I am, on the front because I didn't feel safe in the bunch, and I took myself out. MUPPET.

Picking myself up and assessing the damage, just some skin off, and the chain, so I managed to shake off the shock and get going again, but the Coms were being really strict on the cars helping people back to the bunch, so I was on my own. I got tantalizingly close, but couldn't quite make it, and once I joined with a small group who were off the back I decided to save the legs for tomorrow.

Top 10 (minus Jo) on the Podium

Day 4.. After a pretty crappy nights sleep due to my left side being too sore to sleep on, it was time for the last stage. Thankfully the sun was back out and we were set to have a nice day! The road were a bit damp, so I was a bit of a pansy in the corners, but thankfully my legs felt good again so I was looking forward to the stage! A 50k loop with 2 QOMs, and then 3 laps of the 'Vapenka' climb again.. GC was close in the top 10, so it was going to be an active day. 20k in to the stage, whilst the bunch was strung out, I clipped a big stone and had a sinking feeling.. sure enough, puncture. So, last time I punctured in a race it was in Aus.. Automatically I've gone to the left. BIG NO! Service from the right! Arg! So, by the time I got that sorted out and got going again, the bunch were long gone. Same as yesterday.. Chased and chased, made it back to Groupetto and that was it for the day. At least it was a lovely day for a training ride! We had a nice little bunch with a couple of girls from England from the For Viored team who were nice to chat to, and we made our way around the course and finished together. Tour complete! Jo rode awesome and made her way back up to 10th on GC

Jo and Meike with the 10th place Trophy

After the tour was done, it was time to go back to the Penzion Liberta with Meike for a well earned celebratory meal and glass of Red Wine! Then the next day it was back in to the car for the journey home to Dortmund! Racking up the k's in the car over here, that's for sure!