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Our days are similar to camp right now...eat, sleep and train. And oh yea...wait in line to get a computer to check email and do journal entries!
Morning road rides, starting at 8:30. Afternoon or early evening time at the velodrome/track. All the countries are given two hour time periods each day on the track. Ours started in the evening and moves backward each day for our start time. By the day before track competition, we will be on the track in the morning. This is good for us...as it will give us time to rest and regenerate a full day before competition.
Between rides and otherwise, we are walking to and from the cafeteria, eating and having team meetings.
There is hardly even time for a quick rest/lie down to nap. We do get 30 minute massages each day...so that is nice, but also takes up our time. But, it becomes a relaxed nap, except for those deep rubs...that REALLY hurt. Even I cannot sleep during those! "Ouch that hurts" we keep saying!
Yesterday we drove 40 km away to the south coast to the road race and time trial venue. We got lost on the way there...but eventually made it. The road course is 7 km in length and seems more like a criterium course than a road race course. The big hill we planned for that goes up along the coast with beautiful scenery (200-600 foot drop off down to the water's edge) is not that bad. The killer hill will be on the opposite end where we have to scrub speed from a downhill and turn to go back uphill in a one lane turn lane that is in between a big median. That will be dicy and a tough out of the saddle sprint. Teams will definitely try to attack there...because you almost come to a stop then load up again on a long 1/4 mile hill (about 4% grade). The whole course is a big chain ring course. There is a tight "S" turn that may be hairy, especially coming down. It is up at the top of the course along the sea front where we turn to come back down. I can see tandems vying for position there, bumping each other and going down. The whole goal will be to position ourselves where, if there is a wreck, we can be in front of it and not behind it. If behind it, we could be in it...or slowed down to get around it and lose touch with the leaders. Will be a tough race! We were surprised at how much actual climbing there is...didn't seem like that much until we checked Glenn's GPS. Glenn and I did 8 laps, 50 k which ended up being over 1500 feet of climbing! So, our race (103 km) will be over 3,000 feet of climbing. The course will be real fast. The finish line is in the middle of the circuit...so we will have 2-3 km from the last turn to gas it. It is downhill and flat...so we did a mock finish. We will be well over 40 mph through the finish line!
The course is beautiful...unfortunately we won't be taking in the sights. But, should be good for pictures!
We have actually enjoyed the track the last few days. Have had front race wheel (tubular tri spoke Nimble) on for last 2 days. Working well. We go to race gear and rear race wheel this afternoon. So far, the track seems really, really fast. But of course, that means fast for everyone. Our time may be good on the 4 km pursuit, but we will see how it is in relation to others. We are hoping the second round includes the top 8. We do not know yet. Could just be top 4, like Olympics. For Worlds and European Championships it has been top 4. We do not know yet. It it is top 8...we may be able to slide in! That is our goal on the track. We will just do the best we can and see where we fall.
Glenn talked to the Irish cyclists at the track. They know Mick Walsh, one of Glenn's racing buddies in Seattle. Mick, your Irish buds remember you beating up on them earlier this year in Ireland. Way to go man! Others on the team thought Glenn was joking around and they were going along with it. It IS "a small world afterall" ...sorry, you know how it is with Disney Land on the brain with three children!
Well, we have seen some wild dogs here. For those that have not heard, wild dogs run in packs throughout Athens. They can be aggressive. Several cyclsits and triatheletes from the Olympics were bitten. So Glenn yells at them when we run across them. Saw one along the road/TT course and one up a mountain pass we rode up today. They both stayed put and stared us down...Glenn says they seem pretty brave.
Will share more later. The Tool is about ready to unleash a journal entry...think he might be slamming the Greeks and their shodding construction/housing work and the "manana" attitude here. Should be fun and entertaining...stay tuned.
Will also tell you all about the food here. Have had lamb, goat and today...duck. Maybe tomorrow...wild dog...just kidding! Okay...thanks for the support. Will talk to you all soon!
Heading to the track here! Bye.
- Jason
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