COSTA ETRUSKA, ITALY

Good news comes from this end, as i can now say i have raced in europe. didn't go as well as i'd hoped, of course, but not for a complete lack of fitness and guts. i loved it! really, truly enjoyed every moment. the whole experience before the race, with such good support, the sign-in and team photos, the chaos of languages....the helicoptor!!! i can only imagine the world cups.

i can only imagine the world cups. i was suprisingly not nervous. probably because the team let me off the hook a lot, given that it was my first experience. so i approached it as a chance to learn, and anything great that came of that was an added bonus. we started on THE tiniest street, through an itty-bitty town, and straight into a windy descent. not my forte, but i actually did just fine! the whole first half i moved around, stuck out my elbows, ignored the yelling (unless needed) and had a great time! very different from the US, but super fun! at the bottom of the first climb i had decent position, but then alison powers flatted and had a broken radio. i was right there so i radioed the car for her, and waited to get her back.

lesson #1: no need to stay back with a potential future olympian! :P she made it back after the climb, i rode in the cars, and managed to hook up with a smaller group by the top. jim was great and coached me up, but there was only so much he could do. i descended the loooong descent with 3 others, only two of us willing to work. i was still feeling great, and i think they were not.

lesson #2: if there is a loooong descent on which to recover, GO HARDER on the climb to get back on! i think i was holding back to conserve - bad move. at any rate, as i'm sure you remember, they pull you over here faster than you can spit, so even though we could see the next group way up ahead....YANK! we were pulled.


lesson #3: don't think you can chase back on. don't get dropped to begin with. all in all, again, I LOVED IT! i wish i could have finished it, but tomorrow we go back for more and i have some learning under my belt this time! i am also glad that i was able to do some small job for the team before the end - makes it so much more worth it! armstrong won, fabiana lupieri 2nd, noemi cantale 3rd....not sure i got those spellings right....oh! and judith was 5th i think. :)

~ EMILY

MEGAN'S REPORT
The Costa Estrusca weekend consisted of two tough races. Although the races weren't particularly, they definitely make up for length in the form of incredibly high intensity. I learned a lot this weekend, and racing with these ladies will definitely make me stronger.
The first day did not go so well for me. Although the climbs were "only" 3 to 6km, they were tough. I could have sworn that the 6km climb was more like 15km. The first climb we were going 35km/hr when it "flattened out", relentless I tell you. At the fake top of the climb we went through one of the many mountain towns with insanely narrow streets, which resulted in the field stringing out single file for a brief decent until the road kicked back up into a mini climb.


I stayed with the main group until this last little kicker, at which point the girls in front of me died, and then I put in a good push to try to get around them but I saw two women look over their shoulder as I was coming up on them and they purposefully pinched me out. Seriously now - why? Anyway, so I had to hit the brakes, I got stuck with these girls and not with the main group. Anyway we eventually caught back on. Then the second climb came and some of the big teams throttled it into the base of the climb; it was strung out single file into the climb. It was a relatively steep climb, and I barely came "unattached" from the single file train after about 3km, at which point the girls in front of me were also dropped, so I thought "well I will just stay with these chics and they will bring me back to the group". I stayed with them because we still had about 3km+ to the top of the climb, but it wasn't as steep. The caravan cars started to pass and I questioned whether I should go with the cars and push it or stick with the group and work with them - I wasn't climbing as hard as I would have liked but I thought it would be alright because I wouldn't blow and we could all work together to get back. I was wrong.



I should have tried to go through the cars and ditch the group because they were not motivated to get back up and stay in the race. One cyclist started yelling at the others not to work (I think thats what she was yelling, because she went up to the girls that were working and then the girls immediately stopped pushing the pace). Well the officials let us descend the entire mountain and at the very bottom they told us "Fermi! Tre minuti! Fermi!" The field had 3 minutes on us and we were being pulled. Argh! I didn't finish! I didn't help the team. Our group finished the last 20km of the course easily, and I took the last climb "piano" because I had another whole day of racing the following day. More mistakes, but mistakes I won't make again.


Later I heard that after the descent the field finally took it easy, so it was a double bummer that I hadn't made it over the top with the main group. The course was tough, the weather was beautiful, and I got to take a few glimpses of the Mediterranean before start time. Although disappointed in not finishing Day 1 of Costa Estrusca, I am grateful that I had the opportunity to race at this level and I am learning a great deal. ~ MEG