GIANA DAY 3 & 4 AUSTRIA - WIN!

A criterium in Europe? You must be kidding…
Day three from Deutchlandsberg, Austria

This morning rain greeted us. Hard, driving rain. Rain that makes the cobbles in the area treacherous. I laid in bed listening to the rain pound on the window and worked myself into quite a state by 7 am. I was pretty well convinced that there was no possible way I would make my way around the 1 kilometer course without either crashing or getting dropped.

But breakfast called and I spent a solid hour sitting at the breakfast table lavishing my fresh baked bread with the homemade jams and drinking the superb coffee. Watching the rain fall, I opted to go to the supermarket and explore the candy aisle in lieu of a training ride. Seriously. A candy aisle in Europe is a veritable party for your mind and mouth with every conceivable gummy, hard, chocolate and sour candy available.

After making my way out with only a yogurt gummy candy, we decided the roads were dry enough to head out for a ride. It was about noon and my criterium was scheduled for 2 PM. I took Rob out on a course that I thought I knew well. As we rode out of town the sky darkened once again but I paid no heed. Nothing was going to come between us and our training.

As we rode along I was reminded that this area’s economy is based on pumpkins. Every course at dinner has pumpkins in it; from the soup to the salad dressing to the sauce on the pasta or meat, pumpkins caress every dish. The pumpkin oil used in the salad dressing is actually quite lovely.

Perhaps it was the musing about pumpkins that got me a bit off course. Rob might say we were lost, but I did have a general idea of the direction we needed to go. Of course as we bore down on the two o’clock hour, I realized we were still quite a bit from the Deutchlandsberg. Why is it when you are off course (lost) you go faster? We were flying along through the narrow little rides, over hill and dale when the clouds opened. When I finally recognized where we were it came with the realization we were still 20 km from the race.

Well, nothing to do but get yourself to where you need to go. We pulled into the course in time to talk to Tracy about how the miss and out format would work and get some oil on my legs. I did not need to warm-up.

The officials would pull two women every lap until only three were left. At that time it would be bell lap. Oh, and there was a neutral first lap – very important as it allowed you to get a good position when the race actually began.

At this point my stomach was in knots and for the first time in years I was nervous. I mean sick to my stomach nervous. I remembered why bike racers are skinny and it has more to do with the pre-race stomach than it does miles in the saddle.

Fortunately, I had very little time to think about my nerves. My plan was to race the first two laps and then pull out if it was dangerous. After a brief count down we were off. I went right up to the motorbike and immediately wanted to pass but was given a stern shake of a finger. As we came into the start finish I stood up and accelerated to maintain my front position, which according the people watching busted up the group and created what would become the winning break of six.

The course was very technical and still a bit wet. Thankfully I was riding Michelin’s Pro Grip tires which were ideal for the wet cobbles. They were unbelievably predictable and gave me a tremendous amount of confidence to ride aggressively.


Thank you Michelin for such great grip!

So I stayed at the front, content to take the corners as I saw fit. Knowing that the women behind me were struggling in the corners I jumped into and out of every turn, trying to take a little bit out of their legs so that I had half a chance in the sprint.

After quite a few laps like this, I offered to let someone else do some work. As my main competitor (Inna) came by me and into the corner, I knew I had made a poor choice. For the most part crits do no exist in Europe and it is clear the minute you ride in the bunch that the cornering skills are lacking.

So back to the front I went just as we got the bell lap. There was a slight up hill grade after the start finish and I gave it some gas up to the 180 degree turn around. Looking back I noted that I had a bit of a gap and decided to stay on it. At least I would be able to get to the final corner first, which I did. Coming out of the final corner I kept my eyes on the finish and with a bit of a jump came across the line first.

Coming home for the win

Flush with the win, I quickly threw on my still damp leg warmers and jacket and Rob and I headed out for some more training. A few more hours in the saddle and we would come back for his race.

A slight miscalculation on our part. His race did not begin until 7 pm, and Rob’s 7 hour warm-up might have not been the best preparation for the crit. His race began fast and furious with a guy dressed in full Fassa Bartolo (I mean full – leg warmers, arm warmers, hat, booties, jacket, jersey and shorts… oh and bike) drilled it from the time the motor bike pulled off until he crossed the line in first. Although I had warned Rob how exciting it is to race with people who have no idea how to corner, much less carry speed through the corners, he got to learn it first hand. After some near misses, and almost full stops, Rob was in the front group and had a strong finish in fourth place.

Would you please get out of my way?

Tomorrow’s race is a circuit around Deutchlandsberg for me and a rest day for Rob. I suspect we will go adventuring if the weather allows for it at the finish of the road race. I am now tied in the series for first, so tomorrow I will look for an opportunity to move up before the dreaded street sprints on Monday.

Stay tuned for more from Austria!

Results:

Masters 1
4th – Rob Dillion

Master’s 4
4th Dirk Crowly

Damen 2
Giana Roberge - PROMAN- USA
Panina Inna
Michaela Brunningraber

The women's podium



One more picture from yesterday's hill climb