The Race: Giro di Coppi
The Course: 37.5 miles, 6,345,294 hills
The Field: 1/2/3/4 women
The Finish: 1st
Coming off a rest week after Toona, I wasn’t sure what to expect out of my legs. It was an unpleasant surprise to discover immediately after the start that they were sore, rubbery, and shaky. Shortly after the first longer climb, Laurel, Kathleen, Ainhoa, and Monika picked up the pace and I latched onto their group as we pulled away from the field. Our break stuck and we rotated pulls to keep the pace high. The field was out of sight pretty quickly, but our pace never slowed (and it took all of my dignity to keep from pathetically gasping, “Can we please slow down?”) It hurt the whole time. The downhills were no relief, because when I’d start pedaling again, my legs would feel like they had nothing to give. Only by focusing on the other riders in the break and how they were riding strong was I able to keep turning over the pedals and pulling through.
At just over 1km to go, Laurel attacked and I sprinted to respond. She sat up quickly and then attacked again shortly, and I was determined to hang on her wheel. Then she slowed down again (turns out she was cramping) and I was on the front as we started climbing to the finish. Then it was time to pick up the pace, sprint, and across the line with a huge sigh of relief.
This may be the coolest trophy ever:
Speaking of cool, Monika decided that icing her legs would be good recovery. After I watched Laurel go next and gracefully fold her incredibly long legs into the tiny cooler, I had to try it out.
