Friday, July 13, 2012

Thuringen Rundfahrt

The last race that I did in Europe was the Thuringen Rundfahrt, a 7 day stage race in Germany that was one of the biggest races I have ever done, in terms of prestige. It went from June 9th through the 15th, and was a really fun race. The place we were staying was really cool, also. It was on the top of a mountain in Oberhof, Germany, which is known for its winter sports, such as ski jumping and luge. The mountains surrounding us looked like they came straight from the chronicles of narnia, so it was a really nice area:




























Day 1: 7 km Team Time Trial in Sangerhausen, Germany


That is me on the far right
The first day was an 7 km team time trial. A team time trial is like an individual time trial, where you race by yourself and whoever has the fastest time wins, except with a team. In this race, it was a team of 6 guys, and the 4th guy across the line stops the timer. This allows two guys to not finish with the team, in case they have a mechanical or are just not strong enough to stay with the team. Going into the day, I was pretty nervous, since we had done a few practice runs that had gone really bad. But once we started warming up, I started getting excited. As we got to the start, we tried to calm down a bit, but once we started the race, it was game on.  Since the course was so short, so we knew we needed to not hold anything back, so we just went for it.

Right before the start, I'm 4 or 5 guys in, so you cant really see me





















I am the 4th guy

In the end, we were pretty pleased with our performance. We finished 11th out of 21 teams, which was about the best that we thought we could do, and we beat some pretty solid teams. On top of that, we all finished together, so no one lost time, and everyone seemed like they were riding well, so that was good. There were still a lot of days to race, though.

Day Two: 170 km road race around Erfurt, Germany

The first road race was really cool. It started out really aggressive, as was to be expected, but the team that had the lead, a team called the Rabbobank continental team, controlled it really well. This meant that the middle of the stage was pretty mellow. There was one big climb that was about 1000 feet of elevation gain in 4 miles, but the race didn't get hard until the finishing circuits. The circuits were crazy. We had three laps of a 7 km circuit, with a steep 1 km climb every lap, and a fast, technical descent with cobbled switchbacks. I was actually riding pretty well in the end, and managed to stay with the lead group every lap, if just barely. I also managed to avoid all of the crashes and mechanicals that occurred on the cobbled corners, which was really lucky, so somehow, I was there for the finish, and although I only got 24th, I was pleased with the result, since the finish was pretty hard. In the video of the race, if you are really bored, you can see me and my teammate around 2:01 to 2:03. 

Day Three: 140 km road race finishing in Langerbach, Germany

Day three was a big climbing day. In the second half, there was a 7 mile climb, a 5 mile climb, and a 3 mile climb that the race finished on. I knew that I was not going to win the stage or have any good chances at a general classification, so I threw in the towel pretty early, and just finished in the groupetto this day. I knew that the next day was another good opportunity for me, and I wanted to go in as rested as possible.

Day Four: 147 km road race in Bad Blankenburg, Germany

This day race was really hard. Rabbobank did not let a break go the whole day, so we just went really hard the whole time. There was one big climb in the middle that was not too fast, but then on the two finishing circuits, there was a 2 mile climb that got pretty hard at the top. I did fine the first time, but the second time, I started too far back, and by the top, I had to close too many gaps to make the front group, so I finished in a group that was a minute back. 

Day Five: 183 km road race in Treffurt, Germany

Day five was one of the least lucky days I have had in a while. About an hour in, I flatted right before a really hard section, and spent 10 kilometers chasing as hard as I could to get back on. Then, later in the race, I was stuck behind a crash, was off the back again, with only one other guy. I later found out that he is the national champion of sweden, and that he said that this was his hardest day on a bike, ever. We spent 60 kilometers chasing before we barely made it back on. I then got immediately dropped up the final climb, and just rode the finish really easy with a group of 12 guys. I was actually happy with that though, because 17 guys didn't finish the stage (including 4 USA national team kids, which was a bad day for the team in general). Also, two of my teammates ended up in the hospital after the race, so I was happy to not have been involved in the crash. One guy just had a dislocated shoulder, but the other one broke his collarbone and needed surgery. I felt really bad for this kid, because not only was he in pain, he was stuck in a german hospital (where no one spoke english) for four days while he recovered from the surgery without anyone that he knew. On top of that, he then had to stay in Belgium for an additional week, with only the guy in charge of the house, and nothing to do. It sounded terrible, and I feel really bad for him. 

Day Six: 9 km uphill time trial in Oberhof, Germany

So, let me preface this by saying that time trials are not my specialty. I am pretty bad at them, actually. This time trial was essentially 3 km of false flat uphill, followed by 6 km of outright climbing. At this point there were only two of us left in the race, so our mechanic, soigner, and director had time to blow by taking pictures of us as we got ready.

Me warming up
Me getting ebrocation, a warming cream, put on my legs by the soigner Anthony.
Me right before the start

But, this was a bad day on the bike for me, I just had nothing.

Day 7: 143 km road race in Triebes, Germany

The last day was interesting, because there were only two of us left in the race. It was a pretty hard day, and I fell off the pace the last time up the final finishing circuit climb, and finished in the second group. 


This was the two of us before the start, getting ready to wreak havoc. Actually, Matty, the guy on the right, had a good ride the last day, finishing 8th, which was impressive. 



Anyhow, it was a fun race, and I was actually looking forward to doing more. Here are a few random pictures that I thought were cool from the race:

I think this was taken the second day, before the start. It gives you an idea of our support; We drive there, get out, sit down and try to stay as relaxed as possible. The mechanic sets up our bikes, and the soigner gets us any food that we need, before and during the race. After the race, when we get home, the soigner starts massages as soon as possible.
This is the view from the our team car most days. It is something that doesn't get a ton of attention, but there are a ton of cars following us. It provides a safety net for you; If you flat or get dropped, you can generally draft the cars to get back on. On the 5th and 7th stages, I saw this view a lot. Also, funny thing about this picture, you can see the guy in the blue car smoking out the window. Everyone seems like they smoke here, but not around the riders, which is why I assume that the mechanic has to do this, since later their riders will have to drive home in that car.
 Another view of the caravan, with one of the guys on the team, he must have had a mechanical. 
 This was what a lot of the country side looked like, it was a nice area.
One more picture that the soigner took. He fills each musette bag with bottles and food and passes them out in the feed zone. I just thought this was an interesting picture. 

Here are some links to videos of each day:

And here are the results:









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