I’ve been enjoying a brief pause from racing in my lovely home-away-from-home town of Luino. I wasn’t really planning on much of a mid-season break this year as I’ve been revelling in the packed racing calender.
Some riders like decent length blocks of training. I’ve been feeling strong and fit with each block of racing and it seems that I respond really well to racing as a physiological stimulus. Training has its place (of course) and is necessary to focus on specific aspects like time trialling, the ever-enjoyable ‘stengthies’ and to brush up on my technical skills like descending and cornering. I find I remain contented and focused as long as there is variety in my week… too much of the same thing on the same training roads and I quickly get bored. :-) This presents a particular challenge to my coach, Donna, but she continues to be creative and push my limits and as for the area where I live in Luino… well, there are endless possibilities for training roads.
I raced at Cento on July 18th. Every year this race is always a shock to the system, whether I ride the Giro Donne or not. This year, after such a tough Giro, the body was feeling pretty average and together with another extremely hot Italian afternoon it was a demanding race. There were several breaks throughout the race. Lotto missed a key one at about 70km and given we were wanting to set up Rochelle for the sprint it was up to me to do a solid session on the front for 12km. This effort brought the break within striking distance which then encouraged some others to contribute who had also missed the break. We caught the lead group of 15 riders 2 laps from the finish – about 16km – and I was completely spent. From here it was a case of just hanging in. My throat was burning and I was desperate for a drink. Whilst I don’t usually reach for Coke as my preferred drink I was open to anything at this point! I collected one from my soigney as I was almost ready to fall off my bike and this set me back further in the peloton. With the narrower roads at the back of the course there was little ground I could make up there. I managed to get back to the front with 1km to go, give Rochelle some final protection and encouragement for the sprint and that was me done for the day! Rochelle pulled off a great sprint to be narrowly beaten by Bronzini. All the team effort was worth it!
Following Cento, and given I wasn’t on the start list for Tour of Limousin or Thuringen 
, it was time to hit a big hard training block. I’ve been fortunate enough to have a training buddy in town (thanks Dan!) who has been playing to my competitive side by racing me up climbs, smashing me on the flats and generally just being my own little motorbike! In addition we’ve been doing a lot of thrilling motorpacing along Lake Maggiore. To top it all off, after every ride, I have to drag myself up the 2km berg back to my apartment on a hill. Whilst not very long, it’s not my favourite thing to do after the many “leg smashing sessions” I did last week. 
Next up is Sweden World Cup – both a team time trial and a road race - this coming weekend. I haven’t been to either of these races before, nor to Sweden, so am looking forward to a new experience. Training will wind down a little toward the 2nd half of this week so I don’t enter these events too tired… although I’m far from feeling refreshed after my break from racing! But that’s ok – I have full trust in my coach and her program which will ensure that I’m heading in the right direction.
Until next time,
Vicki