So here I sit in my parent’s flat on Boxing Day and a new determination has come over me to finish writing about this year’s activities before the year ends. I may not post everything in the next week but let’s see how we go. My mind is already occupied with plans for next year but I am determined to finish this series before we start next year’s journey. So let’s get on with it!
Thursday was the day before I was going to race for two days in a row so we decided to lay low and try stay out of the intense heat. I don’t actually remember much about the day except we were lying on our beds, still eating the beautiful strawberries that we bought the day before with one extra ingredient that we stole from the breakfast bar – Nutella! I think we also went to the local grocer just down the road and were rewarded with not only some groceries but also with someone who could speak English – something that we didn’t find often in the small towns that we were in.
The relaxing time also gave us time to discuss the mosquitoes that were slowly sucking us dry, especially poor Anet. The mosquitoes looked so different than the ones we are used to. They were much bigger and had black markings on. Later on we googled them and learnt that they were Tiger Mosquitoes. But there was one more remarkable difference – they were silent! You would see them but you would not hear them coming! So we named them the silent assassins. There was a reason to celebrate late on Thursday afternoon when Pieter du Preez opened South Africa’s medal account when he won a silver medal in his Time Trial. On Thursday night we went back to the one and only restaurant in the town which only served pizzas. Once again we used google translate to find our way through the menu! The Brazilian cyclists, who were staying at the hotel also ate at that restaurant frequently.
Friday was the day we had all been waiting for and the day I had been dreaming about for months, if not years. Although I had competed in three international competitions during the last three years (two World Cups and one World Championships) I felt awkward calling myself an international athlete because all three had been in South Africa. Today would be the day when I would finally break out and race my first race in another country. We had a fairly calm morning at the hotel as I was only racing in the late morning session. We arrived at the square with more than enough time to spare and went to our small and deserted tent and tried our best to stay as cool as possible which was very difficult to do in the heat. We met up with one of Goldy’s friends, Fabio, who was a photographer and had promised to take some professional photos of us during the time trial. He took some amazing photos of us during the day which he mailed to me upon our return to South Africa.
Due to the fact that I don’t have rollers for my trike I eventually took my trike out the tent and went to ride around the square as my warm up. As I warmed up I could see the other riders in the start queue and starting their time trials. Finally it was time to line up and await my start. Nerves are always part of my starts. In the past I have had some bad starts where my right foot has come out the pedal and I have needed help getting it back in which has wasted of lot of time in my races. Having Anet cycle behind me has really helped to make me feel relatively safe out on the route so it was great to have her lining up behind me again. I was third out of five to start and this was a really nice change for me. In a time trial the slowest or lowest ranked riders start first with the outgoing World champion starting last. In years past I have been the first starter so it was going to be interesting for me to have two riders in front of me. The two riders that were starting in front of me were new competitors and I had no information on them so I was very keen to see how I would fair against the new women.
The first rider to start our class out was the Czechoslovakian, Karolina, and then the first of the two Russian riders started out. A minute or two later I was in front receiving my count down. I was extremely careful going down the starting ramp and once I was on that cobble stones, with my start behind me, I slowly increased my speed till I felt I was in a rhythm. I knew that the last two starters, Yulia and Shelley would soon pass me and I was ok with that. In my mind I am still not on their level and my competition was the two who started ahead of me and I had to slowly try and reel them in. Because I didn’t know how strong they were I wasn’t sure if it was possible but I would certainly give it a bash! I remember relaxing after the faster two women had passed me. I was now the last person on the road and I didn’t need to worry about someone giving me a fright when they passed me. From my position at the back I could attack.
Just as I settled things in my head I lost Anet! I couldn’t hear her behind me nor could I see her! Because we had spoken through this scenario before I knew my job was to continue racing as hard as I could but as her friend I wanted to stop and make sure she was ok. Torn but knowing what she would want me to do I kept pushing and in a few minutes I heard huffing and puffing behind me. Anet managed to shout that she was back and her chain had fallen off but she had gotten it back on. She kept encouraging me and saying that I was keeping a good pace but it wasn’t until I saw the outline of a trike in front of me that I realized what was really happening. After a few more minutes I had caught the Czechoslovakian who had started two minutes in front of me. I was excited. This was the first time in my racing career that I had caught anyone and that I could actually make a race out of it. I passed her and managed going down the pass without incident. But as we reached the bottom Karolina caught me again and passed me. My downhill isn’t my strong suit so I wasn’t too phased about her passing me. As we climbed out of the pass I caught the girl again and managed to keep her there for a while until she caught me again on the flats.
I could hear that Anet was enjoying this ‘racing’ as much as I was and she kept encouraging me to push and try and pass Karolina but as I continued to cycle I suddenly and weirdly (weird because it came automatically and I had never been in this situation before) I knew exactly what my plan was, even if I couldn’t explain it to Anet because I could not shout behind me. Karolina had started two minutes ahead of me so I knew that if I kept her not further than two minutes in front of me I was ahead of her in reality. So I sat biding my time inching closer without putting myself into a pace where I would be in trouble. My time eventually came on the last hill of the course where I once again passed her.
Having passed her, but also knowing there were no other hills left, I wanted to see how long I could hold Karolina off. I knew flats and downhill’s weren’t my strong points so I fully expected her to close the gap once again. I kept looking behind me to see if I could see the Czechoslovakian and asking Anet how far away Karolina was but I just could not see her. As we enter the town of Maniago again I started to believe that I could hold her off and not finish in last place for the first time in my career. Crossing the line I was so happy and relieved. All the months of training, fundraising, and planning that we had put in and all the belief that others had put in me and I had raced my best race ever! There was another little surprise waiting for me when I looked down at my odometer. I had just raced my fastest ever average speed! It didn’t matter to me that I had not finished on the podium but the fact that I had raced well and performed to my best that was enough for me and I knew it would be enough for others around me. In fact when I reached the hotel I was so happy with my race that I felt that I could return home without racing the next day’s race. After watching the medal presentation, it was time to head home to the hotel and get ready for the next day’s race.
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