So I wake up in the morning and take a pee. Thirty seconds later Massimo, one of our many Italian soigners knocks on the door and says I'm needed for doping control, really wish I had held that pee just a min longer to dispense into a cup instead of the toilet bowl. Turns out that wasn't really an issue tho because by the time I got down to the testing room there were already a few guys in line ahead of me. With one drug tester taking both urine and blood samples plus talking each guy through the paperwork, I had plenty of time to work up another pee. That's right, blood too! I'm now part of the Biological Passport antidoping program so I'm told I may get more blood drawn this week to sorta build a set of base data for myself. So that took so long that I barely had enough time to run to the dining room and scarf down enough food for the day before getting ready to ride.
Six hours on tap! Long rides get me so excited for some reason. I guess it makes me feel ultra productive, like I may actually be doing something worthwhile with my time other than just being a college drop out. So we head out onto beautiful roads along the cost before turning inland to hit some climbs. I think we did 3 or 4 climbs that took 15 to 20min a piece and wow it got hard to keep the wheel. I found myself trying not to breath hard when really my heart rate was soaring so high out of my "zone" that my coach, Gleb, would prolly quit if he ever saw the data. No matter what anyone says before the ride, I'm positive no one takes it easy when it's their turn on the front of the bunch.
On our way back to the coast we descended what was without a doubt the most beautiful road I've ever ridden on. We came flying down one side of this valley/crevice type landscape (basically two green, converging mountains) right to the edge of the sea, with the sparkling water covering the entire horizon. I was pissed I had left my phone at the hotel, woulda made an incredible picture.
Once down on flat roads again, we finished off the ride with an hour of "racing" each other. Turns out trying to match Lazlo's pulls in a crosswind at about the 5hr mark is really hard. Finally, we all limped back to the hotel logging a little under 6hrs and around 205km. I always feel good about a ride of that quality.
Afterwards, despite the pain and sluggishness encompassing my body I took the quickest shower of my life so I could get to lunch and start shoveling food into my belly. I'll have to do another little entry about the food sometime, it's great here.
Straight from lunch I headed upstairs to another soigner's room to get a massage. That usually lasts 30 min, and this time Cecchi had my favorite Italian TV channel turned on: DeeJay (basically like MTV, a mix of American and Italian rap and pop music videos), it's quite entertaining.
Then, after a very short stint of laying in bed (gotta do some of that every day) and trying to get the crappy internet to work, it was time for dinner again. Yes there were only a couple hours between meals, that's what happens when we ride long, really late lunches. But I'm ok with it, I really like food.
So after we'd eaten again and the shouting Italians were finally coaxed away from their cute little drained espresso cups and shimmering plates of olive oil wiped clean with bread, we gathered in the lobby for more bike-geek stuff. Our meeting was for our French director Frederic Moncassin to go over basic instructions on how to win sprints as well as specific instructions for the next day's ride where we'd do some sprint drills with lead outs, etc.
When we were excused, it was back to the room for me where I always do a little stretching before bed. Also tried to trick the internet into working again so I could get in touch with the outside world, just to make sure I still remembered how to speak English.
There ya have it. Freakin exciting stuff!
