“Ability is what you’re capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it.” Lou Holtz

"I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand." Confucius

Sunday 24 August 2014

Farewell Hartberg and hello Sankt Johann in Tirol



So ...that's concluded what may well have been THE most exhausting 9 days I have ever experienced!

I had entered all 7 events without having the remotest intention of racing all 7, however...after winning the criterium on day 2 and the road race on day 3 and therefore winning the leader's yellow jersey, how could I not go on and race the lot.


 I was super strong on the hills after all that mountain climbing in the Dolomiti and Alps and so was able to keep up with the younger riders (35 yr olds) ...usually until the last km or so when they upped  the pace considerably.

The hill climb on the second last day was a struggle-some low day for me but with  10 min buffer ahead of the second placed rider I was able to concede only32 seconds on the final race...the Time trial and so thankfully held onto the yellow jersey. Final tally was 1 x 3rd (prologue), 5 x 1st (3 road races, the hill climb and the Crit), 1 x 2nd (TT)

After peeling off the plaques (?spelling??), I donate all trophies to Tracy Lea who uses them in the races she promotes for juniors, however I will be keeping the overall trophy.,,,.the brandy glass shaped one in the centre.(missing is a trophy for the prologue..the program said the presentation was to be at 10pm but it actually happened at 9pm!...no show=no trophy)

After experiencing a noisy room in a hotel in the centre of town last year, I opted to stay in a quite location 10km out of town.




The distance was a bit of an issue but the hosts were friendly, the food plentiful and yummy, the ambience great, there were other Aussies there and the bed was comfortable...so I'll be wanting to return there next year.  There was a farm close by with genuine free range hens, so I bought some eggs for this week..10 eggs for  2 euros,


Wigwam or drying hay?
To close this post, I want you to share my 2 am/0200. confusion ...after 9 days of hopping out of bed and turning left for the bathroom...tonight it was hop out of bed turn left and  find myself trying to get into the wardrobe!

Wednesday 20 August 2014

Rest day today

I've got 3 more races here..1 road race, 1 hill climb and a time trial...then I move to Sankt Johann in tirol.

Herewith some random pix:

We're not the only regular visitors to Hartberg!


Tracy, Liz, Vida

What can I say?!

Such honesty
and finally after so much riding over such a short space of time, I must acknowledge Keywin Anti Chafing Cream. (I know.....TMI)  I won  some in NZ when MTB Orienteering and found it to be THE best chammy cream out, so bought some more ...thanks to the Victorian agent Kevin  of Gravity Zero for his help in getting it to me in time for my departure.


Monday 18 August 2014

Random pix

Hartberg..not a slope we have to climb, thankfully

Elegant building, inelegant shop name!

Some names dont cross the language barrier too well!

Hartberg..old and slightly less old

Troll?
Napkin at the Die Sonne cafe!

Beer Pong..

Winner! can I hang on to it for 4 more races?

 Feltre...This one and the one below..irate shop owner pissed(!) off with dogs and their owners


Sunday 17 August 2014

Finally a rest day!


There has been a huge hole in my blogging this year due to very poor internet connections despite me having my Huawei Personal Wifi .  I threw alot of money at it by buying more Gigs but even with  copious memory..we seemed only to have 2G or even worse H connection..ie VERY S L O W.  I learned 1 thing though ...in order to recharge for data you have to go to  the TIM orWIND (vodaphone or 3 too) shop...NOT the Tabaccheria...so that was 20 euros added unnecessarily to my hone SIM card!

We finished off our time in Italy by returning to Feltre for close to 2 weeks where we were joined by my sister for  10 days.  The theme for the time there was training for legs speed not climbing and delving into the history of the area WRT to WW1.

Prior to that we were in Bormio.  Our time in the mountains was beset by less that perfect weather, but with a week in Cortina and another in Bormio we managed to do all the climbs we set out to do.  Where there was an option we opted to go for the easier one and will be returning next year to tackle them all again possibly the harder option, or maybe just trying to do better on the ones already done.  Can't find the Stelvio pix but these below are the last 2 rides from Bormio, done on consecutive days due to weather concerns.  The really old body found day 2 very very hard...I got to the top but really I was ragged.
Mortirolo
 
Gavia

Friday 8 August 2014

Back in Feltre


So the Alps and Dolomiti are now just a memory and a lasting fatigue in the legs.  I hope to return there next year in order to re-climb the mountains I've already done and perhaps a few more.  I hope to be better prepared next year and plan to allow more time in each place to give me a longer  recovery period between big efforts.

My training is now shorter sharper stuff that is much more easily done here in Feltre and knowing the area as well as I now do, I can accurately chose where to ride.  Next year there will be no house in Pedavena though...even although that slog up the hill was good "medicine/training" it's difficult access  cramped our style.  The town flat I'min now is much better despite it being basic++.

So here with me are my sister and son.  Alex continuing his training prior to his comp in Poland and my sister joining me in exploring the history of the area around the WW1 period.
Outside the cafe at the top where we encountered an Aussie we knew..small world!


Entrance to the tunnel dug right through the mountain to behind Austrian lines

We drove up Monte Grappa which was highly significant during WW1 and a bit in WW2 and also went to the War Museum at Rovereto.  Today we are having a lesson with my language teacher..it's to be a conversation on what we have learned so far.

Wednesday 6 August 2014

Internet woes =no blog updates

Weve had mega issues with nternet access recently and since creating a blog post + pix takes a while Ive not managed to get anything happening...there's ony so long you can stretch the friendship of a free WiFi  cafe on 1 cup of coffee!

Updates wil hapen but perhaps not til I get to Austria next week.  In the meantime:
Cortina was good and appartment 100% good..rode all the climbs I'd planned but there are more..that's for next year and I've already asked to book the same place next year.

Bormio..we did the 3 iconic climbs..Lo Stelvio, La Gavia e il Mortirolo and more.  Back next year to do the alternate approaches to all these 3 but not in the same apartment as itwas a bittoo far out of Bormio and was too small.
Gavia.ridden the day after the Mortorolo which was too soon for me

Mortirolo


Now we're back in Feltre to do pre race training, rest up and learn about WW1...an opportune time given the centenary.
Monument to the partisans in WW2, Monte Grappa