However, today I learned that Gran Fondo racing is the equivalent of the European racing I used to dream about. The difference between it and pro racing is simply that the prize list includes salami and wine instead of cash. This realization didn't occur to me until about 15 minutes after the race started today. I had heard that Gran Fondos are like big group rides with the guys in front actually racing it. Not sure exactly what I was thinking about going into the race today, but it had to do more with fear of the distance with the rollers and not the idea of it being an actual race.
As an aside, when I realized today was the culmination of the past 4-5 years of training, dreaming, others supporting me in my effort to get to Italy, the bike race became so much more. I thought about you all so much. I raced for the Italians here who believe in me after knowing me for such a short while, I raced for my family and friends who have helped me get here and are always there for me and I felt the hand of God on my shoulder...as it has been a lot lately. There's no way I'd be here if it weren't.
First, let me explain everything. (Sorry, this is a long story. Grab some coffee and settle in.) Daniele, the guy I met on the road probably close to 3 weeks ago now, told me about this Gran Fondo and I expressed interest in doing it. His cousin is the president of the bike team he races for so Daniele asked me to visit the sports doc and contact his cousin via Facebook to get everything squared away with getting a race license. Now mind you that a lot (I mean a lot) got lost in translation at first. One week ago, I didn't understand anything Daniele said. Now I understand him pretty well (note conversations are simple and there are a lot of details that I miss). Crazy how fast that happened. I didn't quite understand that his cousin was the president of the team, I thought he was organizing this Gran Fondo.
I've wanted to join a team, but didn't have the first clue as to how to go about getting on one and I didn't want to be too forward to ask about getting on a team, especially considering the language differences. This week, Daniele and his cousin, il Presidente, did a ton of work to get me set with clothes, race license and get me a spot in the race today. I am still in disbelief that I have ended up on such a cool squadra (team) in such a short period of time. I met the team today, they are really cool and fun. No English is spoken, either. I looked across the numerous racers everywhere and these guys really seem like the ones with the biggest smiles and warmest gestures (when I say guys, I'm including our other woman racer, too, she's awesome and I'm still shocked to have a female teammate considering she's the first woman cyclist I've met who lives here). One of our guys (who wasn't racing today) was at the feed zone handing up water and doing a lot of work to make life better for the rest of us pre- and post- race. He's racing next week, not sure what we'll do!
We met up early (I was up at 5:45 am) so they could get me race numbers and a timing chip. The line was long, but we were in the front of it. There was an issue, though, not quite sure how the guys knew there was a problem, but we had to return to the line a little later to get it fixed. Basically, no one here believes that my first name is not my last name. There are certain girl and boy names here that most people have and my name isn't one of them. At least they all spell it correctly (since my name is an Italian word). Thank goodness for the Italian last name. I didn't see one name that wasn't Italian on the entire start list (and there were hundreds out there between the long and short courses - 140 km long, 89 km short, I think).
The guys loaded me up with food and nutrition products (there's a big emphasis on BCAA--branched-chain amino acids here...I know when I used to race, I swore by them and no one ever believed me (except for my coach) that they really enhance performance. Basically I'm sold on them (again) after today. It was pretty funny, Daniele took the liberty of cleaning out my jersey pockets just before the race. Bye-bye wallet, camera, cell phone. Extra weight. I'm so glad he did since my pockets were the nastiest things ever by the end of the race with all of the water bottles (plastic screw-top ones w/o a top from feed zones), left-over gel wrappers, etc. Unfortunately, though, I don't have any team pics with us wearing our uniforms. A picture was taken, but it's on film, so it could be awhile before I get it.
There was a huge blow-up start/finish line banner (super awesome, like what they have at pro races in the U.S.) I understand that as a woman, I can start in front if I want. (5 total women from what I could see and gobs of men in my race. I need to get totals, not sure on those.) Today I started in the middle of the pack with my teammates and that was tough. It really only dawned on me that this was a real race in the realest sense of the term at the gun. The race started in town and it was a sketchy start. Jockeying for position was everywhere, potholes (an Umbrian thing) were everywhere, lots of squeaking carbon-fiber wheels/brakes (I hate that sound). The start was no different in intensity and feel than the start of the pro races I experienced in the U.S. I expected to see crashes considering the jockeying, but these guys handle their bikes really well. No one did anything all day to freak me out. Unfortunately, Fabio, our President (mentioned earlier), crashed at one point and his collarbone took the brunt of it. I hope to understand what happened. Right now, I don't know how to ask.
I was able to make up some positions after we got on the open road. I stayed back a little at the start since I didn't trust myself. I haven't had a big mass-start race in years (local CO races don't count considering the small pack sizes in the women's fields)...and this is the first race this season. Pretty funny to choose the longest race of my life (and with men) as a first one for the season. I'm glad I didn't know what it was all about going in, I might have decided not to do it considering my strength is more in criteriums (short 45 minute races), not road races and not with men.
The first 30 km were rolling, but not bad terrain-wise. They were fast, though. I can't remember these miles well at all. My heart rate was well above LT (urgh, I have been training in zone 2 for months now with short bursts above LT). It wasn't long before groups formed. Instructions from my team: today was about finishing. No being out in the wind, no pulling others, no riding solo. Make it across the finish line.
At 30km, the road went up. Up. And up. Over 1,000 feet in ~5-6kms. I dropped back some from the group, but caught up with everyone on or just after the descent. On we rode. Again, it was good that my camera wasn't in my back pocket. Some of the vistas were too amazing not to photograph. The countryside is ridiculously green right now. I took turns with the guys pulling, but I spent a little less time than they at the front since it was a long race and I had real concerns about finishing. It's been ages since I've done a ride this long, let alone a race.
Not once during the race did one guy have any issues with racing with me. They were great to work with me and I made it clear I was there to race. One made me start laughing when I took my turn at the front of the pack and he started yelling (friendly way) to go faster. So I yelled back and pulled off, offering him a chance at the front.
The group tended to go a bit slower than I'd like on the rolling portions during the middle of the race. It would have been nice to catch onto a really fast group and get dropped until I found a group that pushed me just to the limit. But, beggars can't be choosers. I wasn't offering to help us go any faster. Survival.
We worked together for a good long time and made it over tons of small rollers (hills). Easy when I'm sitting on someone's wheel. Much harder when I'm alone. My legs felt great all day, it was weird. I also ate a lot before and during the race. We flew through a few little towns. People were set up to watch. There weren't that many spectators, but it was nice to see the people out watching. Navigating the tiny city streets was cool--it was Euro Pro cool, very similar to what you'd see the pros riding in the Giro d'Italia. Speaking of which, that race is starting soon!
The next big climb (maybe? I forget.) was in Assisi. At the top was a feed zone. I was dying of thirst at this point and had to have 2 bottles of water. So I stopped to get the water and meanwhile the group sped down the hill. I didn't come this far to have these guys get away from me and no way did I care to wait for the next group to come up from behind. One of the bottles fell out of my jersey pocket. Very upsetting. An ambulance was following behind me...they stopped to pick up the bottle and drove up next to me to give it to me. Crazy nice! Then it was an all-out 7 km time-trial to jump back in with the guys. It worked, I made it back.
The adrenaline of the chase gave me a little more zip...it was time to start working harder. I figured finishing was in the cards and I was also plotting to contest the finish. Not okay to sprint for the line if I haven't worked much during the race. From then on out for the rest of the race (the last 60ish km), I worked just as hard as the guys. It was waaay more fun this way, though harder, of course. I had thought that CO altitude training had worn off...it hasn't yet. Recovery from efforts was really quick and it felt good to push it. There was another massive climb and I lost some ground on that one (made the mistake of going up the first part too fast and then discovering that it wasn't going to end for awhile). But after working with one guy, we made it back to most of everyone on the flat section and then were together with the group until the end. I knew I should have tried to attack a little distance from the finish line. The guys I was with all had a bit of leg muscle indicating sprint ability. But, I also wanted to see what would happen. It's not like I was competing with them for anything. I was only competing against the women, whom I hadn't seen after the race started. It was great, a real sprint finish! And I had legs to sprint, too. In fact, they felt fine after finishing. Definitely should have tried an attack just for fun (small chance it would have worked).
After we finished the race, it was nice to shake hands with some of the guys I'd worked with during the race. They were super sweet, very generous with kind words and I very much felt like one of them. When I say this, I mean I felt like one of the guys and I'm feeling more Italian every day that I understand more of the language and culture. There's a lot to this culture that isn't obvious to the casual observer. Remind me to blog on this another day. I'm understanding a lot more on why many Italians don't speak English, why they live in their home towns forever, live so long and appear so happy.
The race promoter sponsored a huge pasta feast after the race. Food served included macaroni with meat sauce, salad, neck of pig, pound cake, white and red wine. I've never eaten this well post-race and my legs really feel the difference.
A quick note about the swag bag (all racers received one). It included laundry detergent for 55 loads (awesome since I just moved and was about to go to the store for just that), a bottle of wine, pasta and a nice refrigerator-less large container of milk. If one registered for this Gran Fondo in advance, it was 25 euro. I'd say that's quite a good deal considering all of the support during the race, the great road control, timing system, pasta feast and huge swag bag. It costs $25-30ish US for a 45-minute crit and not much else. I'm not criticizing U.S. race promoters, they'd do it less expensively if it were possible, it's just the whole system (insurance, cost of patrols, etc, etc) and number of racers that makes the difference.
Daniele gave me a ride home (thank goodness), I wouldn't have been able to ride. Before he vanished, he made sure I had some gelato (chocolate cherry and what was called muffin). Now that was the perfect end to the day!
I've nicknamed Daniele Taz.
This fits him so well. He is this flurry of Italian, everything he does is quick and deliberate; he wastes no time on anything. The very moment it's time to go, he wisks me away to whatever is next. Or he takes off to who knows where. Often I don't know exactly what is going on. I'm really glad my obligations are few and friends are few here. Much easier to not have to say that I'd like to, but I have to do this other thing...it's too complicated to express!
[Now it's Sunday morning and I'm finally posting yesterday's blog & including today in it.]
This morning I woke up at 8 and found a txt message saying that we'd be getting together at 8:10...so I flew to get ready and got out of the house at 8:20. People talk about Italian time (Italians are known to be chronically late to everything), but with bike riders, they seem to always be on time.
Daniele, Paolo and I had a nice 55km recovery ride (was supposed to be 100km), but a lot of rain made us turn around early. I slipped and crashed in a corner, I forget that braking is bad in rain. Wasn't any big deal considering the road was smooth and wet. It was sweet to see the guys super concerned. I wish I knew what they were saying--the Italian was flying rapidly between them. Afterwards, Daniele got me dry clothes and his mom made me tea and fed me. She was sweet and very welcoming. I spent some time talking to her. We understood each other well for the simple things we relayed to each other.
I know I mention Daniele a lot, he's sort of the center of my world here right now. There's nothing romantic going on, he is very kind with good intentions. I trust him and am very happy to have him in my life. He puts me at ease because I know he is taking care of me without expecting anything in return. I am trying to figure out how to repay his kindness...I hope to figure it out. At this point, he has refused anything I try to offer (which hasn't been a lot since I never know what to expect going in to any situation).
Off to hit the books, do laundry and figure out where to get my next meal. Town is closed today and all of the food I own has to be cooked (I don't know how to use a cigarette lighter to light the stove...trust me, I've tried).
1 comment:
How AWESOME! Is being jealous bad?! Thanks for the great descriptions of everything.
Jay
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