Misc pix from Sankt Johann +1 from Italy

A first sighting for me...an electric car....2 seater

Another first sighting for me...a stork

Could be anything..is actually a gym for women

I'm not sure putting an apron on the tree at the door of Mrs Sporty sends the right message!

This is either a building set around a tree or the builder used whatever material he had at hand!

The weather here is the Tirol is not good...today's temperature  topped out at 19C and it rained...pfffttt...that's not what I'm here for!  The rest of the week appears to be somewhat similar and the long range forecast is somewhat similar in Feltre where I'll be for the next 3 weeks.  Not happy Jan!

Races, the challenge of Trento and THE challenge

Don't you hate it when everything you wrote magically disappears.  Grrh!

Ok so what I said was (in a much shorter version!)

I'm fine, my health is good, my wallet isn't empty, I'm in good form, sticking to my diet and not losing any more weight.  My next races are TT's and so I've reluctantly gone out today doing TT practise...well sorta TT efforts...actually more like sprint efforts.  Hill climbing here is such fun and the scenery is inspiring.

I'm off to Hartberg tomorrow midday for a TT then on to my second home from home Sankt Johann i Tirol ( my other HFH is where I am right now...Feltre) for a TT and a RR.  So  I have a week in Austria then I return here for a final 3 weeks of language school and training, ending up with another attempt at the Trento  TT.

Another coupla challenges beckon though...Monte Grappa ..a mecca for cyclists and with a rich war time history in  both WW1 and 2 and also the Passo  Croce D'Aune...site of the inspiration for the quick release skewer.  Apparently a young Mr Campagnolo had frozen fingers and struggled to change his back wheel, later he got the idea of a QR wheel.

The lower slopes of Monte Grappa

I went out for an hour yesterday..the road climbs almost from my door but the climb proper,  as you can see, starts a bit abruptly some km later.  This was a bit of a test and I will ride it on weekend day..taking as long as is needed.  This route is one of the easier (less difficult) versions...there are 10 options.

Passo Croce D'Aune..not yet attempted

Skype is great isn't it...yesterday I had a long chat with Donna Meehan  who is in a language school much further south than me...in really hilly terrain and with temps hitting 40 regularly.....her hill climbing is going to super ace when she gets back to Oz...in order to get back to where she stays she has to heave herself up a 14%er...similar to when we were in Mazze, although her hill sounded much longer than the one I grovelled up on daily.  No wonder Italians are good climbers and not quite so good at TTing.

I've finally found a truly great bike shop here...Della Rosa, Via Belluno, 57 Feltre 32032 who do great work and are extremely helpful.  Also almost next door is THE best supermarket and since I've finally discovered where the laundrette is...life is peachy!

Criterium

Today's race was the crit..and this version called for 10 laps giving us 11-12 km race with points up for grabs for the first 5 across the line after 5 laps.

the pace was on from the get go with a surge at lap 5 that left me floundering and chasing.  My competition, Vida from Slovenia, had stayed with the front group but a few laps later she's been dropped and was back with us...then the front group had slowed and we were altogether again.  I marked Vida but she beat me by a wheel in the sprint to the finish.  I think I'm right in saying she's an ex- Olympian so I'm punching way above my weight.

My prologue result was either discovered or made up...they got me as being .1sec (1/10th of a second) slower than Vida

the podium for the road race

What with the racing and the party that went on outside my hotel room til 0330, the drive back to Feltre was punctuated by 3 stops for power naps!

Hartberg Road Race

Done,dusted and won.

We were ok..our  start time was correct but others were not so fortunate..the internet said 1 thing...the revised list (NOT posted on the internet) another. This meant some who were to race at 1pm arrived at the start at 1100.  Not happy Jan!!

The group of ladies 35 and up was about 15 strong.  the race started off with about 5km fairly flat which was just as well since I needed all of that to wake up:-)

The hills saw some falling off the back and at some point the person I saw as my major opposition got dropped.  I was climbing strongly only getting into difficulty once when a poor gear change caused me to drop back.

2km from the end the younger ladies started to play cat and mouse so I went to the front to up the pace in order to ensure my opposition didn't get back on.  Needless to say I was well and truly swamped in the sprint to the line, but...who cared...I'd won my class.  Yay!

No pix.  Sleep calls as yesterday's drive, plus race plus today's race has left me just a bit weary!

Hartberg Austria

Each place/town region/location you race in makes an effort to show off it's good points.  Hartberg doesn't strike me as a "sin city" at all...but as a German speaking friend of mine pointed out Sinne=senses.  soooo boring!

The welcome bag included the above offering + an apple and a can of Red bull!...oh and a rather large ball of Austrian chocolate complete with a pix of Mozart on the silver paper...so far I've managed to steer clear of all offerings.  At least it's not as bad as the WMG where I discovered a (in)continence pad in my welcome bag!!!!!

Yesterday's prologue beat the somewhat shambolic WMG races by a country mile...there were chip timing problems and the race, slated to start latish in the evening, started 1 hour late and was cancelled half way through when it became too dark.  By the time the race started I was well and truly over it and started the 1.4km race as though it was a 500m track time trial and died somewhere along the way!...took ~2minutes.  I was the last female starter and the first male rider, starting 30 s after me overtook me on the narrow tight last corner....crazy organisation and truly lacking in thought.

Hopefully the tough road race today wont be another disaster as that would completely kill off the event for future years since there are already some really pissed off cyclists.

Longer rides

Monday's ride was a bit of a reversal from Sunday but adding in a small col I had  looked at but didn't ride previously.  Plus i needed to find a bike shop for chain oil and new tyres...ended up buying 2 sets of sunnies, chain oil but no new tyres!...as you do/don't.

Tuesdays' ride was one where i really wished i had my camera with me, but it was doing Monte Grappa along with Alex and Chris.  I am just going to have to return as the vineyard terrain was magic.....more pix when i can bring myself to repeat this ride...bit tired now so can't even think of it.  i wore my new shoes and so the beginning involved a fair amount of stopping and starting while I sorted out the cleats and the last part was done with shoes loosened as I suffered a bout of hot foot.  I might have to revert to my old shoes for this weekend's races in Hartberg.

Language school is going along ok although I'm finding the grammar too easy and the conversation too hard!

 The guys leave  Feltre (AKA Fel3) on Friday am and I do a mega dash into Austria to be in Hartberg for a 1. something prologue at 7pm

Sunday's ride

today's ride had a dual purpose...get some kms into my legs and find a laundrette!  handwashing isn't good for weeks on end...at least not at our skill level!

I was told to forget about hills for a while, but that is really hard to do here.  However there was no real reason for me to attack the hill near Anzu..except for the fact that I had failed before and wanted to see how I'd go  "right now!"..I did it..thankfully..now I dont have to return there.  It's a nasty little climb peaking at 16% that goes up to a church, so I was accompanied on the way up by cars full of people going to mass and politely beeping their horns as they approached the blind hair pin bends...something I was grateful for on the way down.

The rest of the ride was going over old territory and I did manage to find 2 laundries,although the one at Anzu I think was not quite what we wanted. The one at Cesiomaggiore fit the bill...open from 0700 to 2000 and with drying too.  I rewarded myself with a tiramisu ice cream at Santa Giustina and also located the bike shop there.  A truly great ride.  Home again I quickly fell into nanna nap mode and have whiled away the hours since then prior to joining the other students at the welcome meal.

Feltre, like Sankt Johann, is a sort of second home.