Tory, the Austalian


Moravec is a town near the World Cup course in Nove Mesto Na Morave. We stayed in these great cabins that overlooked a beautiful little pond. Most of the 8 cabins were filled with World Cup racers but the only English speaking racers were right next door to us. It was Pete who manages Trek Australia and his athlete, Tory. My first question to her was if she knew Katherine O’Shea (Katherine is also from Australia, lived in Park City for the summers of 2011 and 2012 to train, you can find multiple posts about her during those times.  Including the one where she took me to the hospital and ended up having to leave me there for 4 days!). Tory and Katherine are good friends and I figured out why immediately. Tory is solid and hilarious and an all around great person. She is just a little bit younger than I am and has a two year old boy. We immediately bonded over raising a young child and being a professional mountain bike racer. 

Albstadt World Cup (Germany)


The Rothaus Jump
We had absolutely perfect weather Sunday morning.  I was so excited to race, I knew I was feeling good and ready. The views during my warm up were stunning, just spinning on the back roads near the course was enough to make the trip worth it! I moved up to a call-up of 83 (two place improvement!).  I was thrilled to be lining up with the best of the best again but this time I didn’t think about it as much since it had overwhelmed me a bit at the Nove Mesto World Cup. I drew in all of my focus and when the gun went off I was ready to rumble as well as stay focused. As is typical, at the second turn into a narrower path there was a crash. I went around it and picked up the pace to hang on to the pack. We all rode smooth through the next few corners and up the dirt road then it turned to single track. It was stand still traffic for  a second. We were all off our bikes and running (and unfortunately walking at times) for the majority of the climb on the first lap. The lap times were predicted to be around 11 minutes and with the 80% rule in effect I was certain I was going to be pulled on the first lap due to the walking! For a brief moment I was really frustrated I’d come all the way to Germany to be pulled on the first lap, but luckily I wasn’t!  I rode as smooth as possible and feel really good about the laps I was able to race (3).  The climbs are insanely steep (I’ll bring a 30T chainring next year) but smooth enough that by lap 2, I rode everything perfectly. They decent was slippery on the first half, but I was able to look through the corners and keep the rubber side down the entire time! I worked as hard as I could the entire time. I know I did because I had the typical cough and post-race stomach issues I usually get! I only raced for 45 minutes but I gave it my all!  This race had just as many spectators, particularly in the middle of the lap between the two halves. They were full of energy and SO loud, but I didn’t notice them this time. I didn’t want to repeat my Nove Mesto nerves.  I just focused on the trail and my riding. I heard my name around the course, but I didn’t look up or worry about the sheer volume of people and all the cameras! I finished in 72nd place, 5 spots better than last week!
I rode my Jamis Dakar XCR 29 again this week. It was the perfect bike for this course as well. With the "Rothaus Jump" and the "Albstadt Drop" I really wanted full suspension to absorb the terrain. Since mud was a possibility I stuck with the Geax Saguros. Had this course been dry the Mexcals would have rolled even faster, but with the slick descents I wanted as much grip as possible without it being a mud tire. Last year this World Cup was insanely muddy so I was prepared for those conditions.
My Stan's NoTubes Valors were great on the climbs, the stiffness made for efficient energy transfer. They really are the perfect wheel for me! Since we were racing in the black forest in Germany, I didn't need much UV protection for my eyes. In fact, I ended up wearing the Julbo Access with clear lenses for both of my races. Any tint in the lens made it too difficult to see in the thick trees. 




Pinned and ready!

riding the berm



signatures for little race fans!

Some German race fans that cheered heartily every lap and found me after to talk!

More Albstadt adventures

Sitting at the breakfast table of my hotel this morning, I didn't understand any of the languages being spoken. Then someone asked if I was here to race. When they all switched to English, I discovered that they are all here to spectate the World Cup this weekend! The 4 elderly people came from Belgium to watch Sven Nys and the German couple came to watch Julien Absalon! They don't know any of the racers personally, they are here simply to spectate the way Americans do for football and baseball! Apparently there will be 10,000 spectators on Sunday! They make a weekend out of spectating mountain bike races, imagine that! I love Europe (and especially racing my bike in Europe)!
The breakfast table of World Cup Specators
 Then I headed out for a spin on the racecourse and did some hot laps with Nino! (In reality I just chased him for minute then he dropped me without a single thought or any effort!)

Hot laps with Nino Schurter (Current World Champion)

The Spanish mechanics for Orbea were staying at my bed and breakfast, so I bribed them with the typical mechanic’s currency to take a run through on my bike.. They cleaned up the shifting and fixed a matchmaker issue with my dropper.

Spanish Meachnics







The kindness of strangers in a foreign country

This post is not about bikes; just about the amazing people I met in Germany and the generosity and kindness of strangers. Read ahead if you need more faith in humanity. There are lots of details that may get boring; I’ve added them so that I’ll remember how and why all of this happened!

While my bike was being worked on I set out on a mission to get some cash to pay the woman that ran my bed and breakfast. She said she couldn’t take credit card and I’d visited all the ATM’s in Albstadt-Tailfingen and none were taking my visa. I was told that Albstadt-Ebingen had a Duetch Bank that may accept my card. I didn’t want to ride any more since it was the day before World Cup and my bike was being worked on by the mechanics. So I came up with the brilliant plan to stand the exit of the venue and ask for a ride from anyone turning right (towards Ebingen), with bikes and a female in the car! The first two didn’t have room. The next was two women in a mini-van. They said yes, I hopped in and they asked if I was in a hurry. I hesitantly said no, they said they needed to go pick up a car on the other side of Tailfingen. One of them had a son that had raced the mountain bike marathon earlier in the day and she stood out there to feed him. We drove out there and picked up her Audi. She said she’d drive me since the girl driving the mini-van didn’t know where the bank was. We had a 15-minute drive and during that time I go to know about her and her family. She has 4 children between the ages of 19-25 and runs a bio-medical diagnostic company. It was a company she and her husband owned together for years until he suddenly passed away 3 years ago. When we pulled up to the bank in Ebingen she came in with me and helped me figure out the ATM. She could see I was trying to withdraw 300 Euros and it wasn’t working. (I won’t go into details, but withdrawing cash in Germany isn’t as simple as the Czech Republic). It was at that point she offered to give me the money. Of course I said she didn’t need to do that and I couldn’t take the money from her. I’d just met her 15 minutes ago; I was just a girl standing on the side of the road asking for a ride. She said she could tell I was trust worthy and she knew where to find me (I was wearing my Jamis vest)! I told her I’d wire the money the second I landed in the USA and she could email me or even email Jamis if she didn’t get the money. And like that, she handed me 300 Euros ($417). I couldn’t even pronounce her name properly! She then said she’d drive me back to Tailfingen because it would be harder to find a ride back (I’d just planned to look for people with bikes again!). She drove me back to the venue, we exchanged all of our necessary information and she was sure to tell me she’d be cheering loudest for me the next day. She did. She and her friends yelled “Go Erica!!!” every time I passed them. I’m absolutely overwhelmed by the kindness of strangers. That woman went FAR above and beyond the necessary kindnesses. She and I are now bonded and will be friends forever! I plan to visit her next year when I race the Albstadt World Cup and I’ve told her she and her children can visit me in Utah anytime! This amazing story continues. I was also looking for a ride from Albsadt to Stuttgart on Sunday evening. I’d been asking every English-speaking group of people I ran into! (The Australians the Israeli team, The Great Britain team, the Orbea guys, the people at my bed and breakfast) and pretty much anyone else I had a conversation with! I got a lead the some of the Cannondale crew may be headed that way. I walked into one of their tents and asked the first person I saw in a Cannondale sweatshirt if I could have a ride to Stuttgart. I didn’t realize it was the Press tent and the person I asked was a Barista that Cannondale had hired to serve coffee to the press people all weekend. Interestingly, they said yes, they may have room with the back of their van and there were 3 seat belts on the front row. I kept asking around because it would squish them but they seemed to be the only ones headed to Stuttgart (they were actually just traveling through to a city an hour beyond). After watching the men race the world cup I went back to my hotel to pack up my bike and other suitcase. This was the next favor I had to ask. I’d been eating breakfast with Dominique, the Austrian woman here training with her horse to become a show horse. She and her husband Wolfgang, were headed out to dinner but said they could give me and all of my bags a ride to the venue (to the baristas). But they had to wait for me to pack my bike. They sat outside and talked to me while I packed. The kindness of strangers. They loaded everything up and drove me to the baristas at Cannondale. I unladed my EVOC bag and other bags and had my fingers crossed that the baristas would have room. I waited for 2 hours for them to be done serving and pack up, but they made it all fit. We hopped in their van and they drove me to Stuttgart. The kindness of strangers. This is where you are introduced to the next family that helped me when they had no obligation to. When the Battens lived in Germany 14 years ago they made friends with the Friebe family in Holzgerlingen (outside of Stuttgart). This is the family we stayed with on Monday after Prague before I set out for Karlsruhe. That night they helped me figure out which trains I needed to take to get to Karlsruhe and buy the tickets online (this took us an hour). They also called my hotel in Albstadt and spoke to them in German to confirm I had a place to stay and that it was close to the venue. They also helped me call (from their phone) my friend in Karslrhue to coordinate my visit). Then they gave me the top floor bedroom and private bathroom while the Battens slept in the motorhome. They fed me breakfast on Tuesday morning then the husband drove me to the train station. Backing up though, we’d talked about buying me a train ticket from Albstadt to Stuttgart. We realized how complicated it would be with my baggage, so they planned to come pick me up. I couldn’t ask for that much from them so that’s when I found the baristas. However, I took them up on the offer to sleep there Sunday night and get a ride to the airport Monday morning. Sunday evening I showed up on their doorstep at 8 PM with the Baristas. We asked where we could get a typical German dinner (it was my last night in the country!) on a Sunday night in Holzgerlingen and would they like to come with us? I wanted to buy dinner for all the people helping me on my travels! We went to dinner and they ordered me a typical German dinner, which was quite yummy! We parted ways with the baristas and when we returned to the house we contemplated the situation I was in the woman that gave me 300 Euros. She wanted me to wire her the money since she didn’t have a paypal account. However, after inquiring a few people I was told it would cost both of us quite a bit of money to wire money from the USA to Germany. That’s when we came up with the plan that I’d pay the Freibe’s via paypal and they’d wire my new friend the money from their German bank. The kindness of strangers. Monday morning they drove me to the airport, a 35-minute drive (with traffic). Needless to say the Friebes have become dear friends as well and I hope to host them or their children in the USA one day. All of that happened within about 30 hours. Needless to say coordinating all of that and racing a World Cup in the middle of all of it was a bit tiring and tenuous at times. Not knowing how you are going to get from A to B to C to D and pay for it can be disconcerting. However, I knew it would all work out and it did. Now I have new friends and have been given the gift of knowing how many incredible people there are in this world.
Looking for a ride

The ride I found- a bike and two females


The woman that gave me the money 

The horse riding woman that gave me a ride from my bed and and breakfast

One of the baristas that drove me to Stuttgart

Sigmarenen


Friday was another drizzling cold day. I’d had enough time on the racecourse so I rode my bike to the train station and took the train to Sigmarenen to see the Danube River and Castle.


On a train with my bike!

Danube River










Albstadt-Tailfingen

It was bike-building time in the cool weather in front of my bed and breakfast. We’d been spoiled by the sunshine in Nove Mesto and Germany was showing us why it has the reputation of being rainy and green! My place was just a few blocks from the venue, so I took a quick spin over there and took a look. I was pleasantly surprised at the course. It was really steep but all very rideable. Before I left home I watched the Red Bull Replay of the race from last year, it had been raining so it was a muddy slippery mess that was honestly quite worried about. Even the men were slipping and crashing all over the course. There were multiple injuries. So the course designers did some work to make it an “all-conditions” course (such as making the “Albsdadt drop” lower). Thursday I was riding the “A” line with Shaums March coaching. As I came around the tree I lined my body, not the bike (don’t I know better yet?!). I tumbled down the “A” line and into Shaums. I broke my garmin mount and unfortunately I injured my knee. I collected myself and planned to ride it again but the adrenaline had my hands shaking for a few minutes. I moved on to the rest of the course. My knee stiffened up so I headed home. I knew this meant coach Lynda would advise heavily against racing the Eliminator the next morning. In hindsight, my knee has healed pretty well so I’m sad I didn’t race it. However, it was the conservative decision, which is how you have to play it if you want to have a long season! Saturday I returned to the “A” line to dial it in only to watch a guy crash on it and break his arm! So that was it. I rode the “B” line during the race. It cost me a couple of places, but I wasn’t in the mindset to ride it.
Bike building in front of my bed and breakfast

The race course

scoping out the A line

Karlshue, Germany

After Prague on Monday we spent the night in Stuttgart. From there I departed from the Battens. I took a train up to Karlsrhue to visit my German friend Anette. We met her and her husband and their 3 children in Las Vegas through my sister around 8 years ago. They moved back to Germany a couple of years ago into a really neat house. It seemed silly to be a train ride away from an old friend and not just do it! We spent the rainy day talking in her home while she prepared me some delicious German meals. Then she took me back to the train station to send me on my way to Albstadt. It took 2 trains, a bus and a walk on a dirt path to find my hotel, but I did! Luckily the Batten’s dropped my luggage (and bike) off at my hotel so I wasn’t hauling all of that around Germany!

Huge change of scenery from the Czech Republic! (Train station in Stuttgart)

My first Germans in Germany!

Anette and Erica in Karlsrhue


Castle on the way into Albstadt


The empty train station near the end of my journey (where do I go now?)

Pathway in Albstadt to my hotel

Slug on the path

Prague

Monday we left our little cabin in Moravec and drove to Prague to do some sight seeing. Cathy and Patrick had been there before so they knew exactly what we wanted to see. We spent 4 hours walking non-stop and we saw it all!
Berries in the market








Cathy, Zach, Erica, Nash

Erica, Zach, Nash, Haley, Patrick, Cathy

Nove Mesto World Cup (Czech Republic)


Keeping it smooth and calm in "Rock and Roll"


Riding the roots in "AC DC"
What a wild and amazing experience! There were literally thousands of spectators in the stadium making a sea of noise. They had horns, sirens (yes, there is a difference) paper slap things (that’s a technical term), and all sorts of other ways to roar! Just rolling up to the start line I was overwhelmed with emotion and excitement. I was lined with the very fastest female mountain bikers in the world. Every possible type of title was there, National Champions for countless countries, World Champions, World Cup points leaders, everyone. It was the most nervous I’ve ever been for a race. I was on European soil lined up with 90 women from all over the world and less than 10% had English as their first language! The gun went off and I thought since I had a call up of 85 it would be slow start in the back. Not. At. All. The track stayed wide for long enough that we didn’t need to crowd into a smaller space so the pace was blistering. The very fastest race start I’ve ever experienced (which was not the case a week later in Albstadt). I expected my nerves to calm after the start lap, which lasted about 8 minutes and covered half of the course. However, I never really got over my nerves due to the crowds of people lining the course. All through the trees up and down, around the entire course. There were 3 main technical sections and the crowds surround those created a near deafening sound. The first being “Rubena’s choice” (which was a descending rock garden) the second was the “Vertical Drop” (self-explanatory) the last was “Rock and Roll” (a horizontal rock garden). I had dialed in the lines for all of these and was really comfortable during the many laps I rode during the week. However, the noise and cameras and sheer volume of people at “Rock and Roll” was apparently too much for my brain to process! I made it half way through the garden each time then ran the rest. (Later I discovered that everyone that wasn’t top 5 was running it more than half the time as well). I had figured out to take breath out, relax, roll into it gently, look for the bridge, pedal up the big rock and look at my landing on the other side of the tree. I made it to the bridge and grabbed my brakes each time. It was really frustrating to not be able to ride that line under pressure. But it was a huge lesson learned. My nerves never really left me the entire time I was racing. I had a hard time handling my bike even on the up hills. In fact, I crashed twice on a climb! I see this race as my opening experience to racing in Europe. It’s technical, the crowds are amazing (and ridiculously loud), the other female are very, very fast and very aggressive and most aren’t speaking English! It’s a completely different ball game than racing in the USA. There is nothing on US soil to prepare you for a World Cup in Europe. I loved every second of my nerve-wracked race and can’t wait to race in the Czech Republic again now that I know what it’s all about. I rolled across the line in 78th place.
I chose to bring my Jamis Dakar XCR29 Team to Europe knowing that the courses had a reputation for being rougher and more technical. I was endlessly grateful to have the rear suspension in the rock gardens and the "Vertical Drop"! It handled all the rough terrain flawlessly. The wheels I chose to bring on this overseas trip were the Stan's NoTubes Valors, they are the most versatile, sturdy and light wheel I've ever ridden. There actually wasn't even a debate, they were the only ones I wanted to race in Europe! My Geax Saguaros were perfect in the slippery roots and big rock gardens. I knew before I left they would be the right tire for this course after watching the replay from last year. My POC Trabec helmet was the only one there! One of the spectators yelled "skateboard"! Riding in Utah it seems at least half the riders are in POC helmets, but I was the only one at both races in Europe in one! It makes finding me in a crowd or photo pretty easy! The Gaerne Carbon G.Kobras mountain bike shoes were great for this race, I had to use them for riding and some running as well (see photos below!).


Running "Rock and Roll"
Running "Rock and Roll"
PS…Being one of the screaming crowd at the men’s World Cup following ours was exhilarating! Screaming for Schurter, Kuhlhavy, Fontana, Fumich, Kabush and all the USA boys was just as exciting as participating in my own race! Those guys can ride. Seriously ride. They made the rock gardens look like child’s play!

Czech Republic Day 4

Saturday morning we woke to drizzling rain. The forecast was for sunshine on Sunday’s race so that meant the course would be dry. I’d spent plenty of time riding the course and I didn’t really want to see it in slippery conditions. So I did my workout around Camp Relax in Moravec. I rode over to Strazek At first I rode past a set of long stairs, they called out to me to be ridden! I kept on with my workout then when I returned, I decided to see if they were as rideable as they looked. They were! Then I was on a roll looking for fun things to ride. The sun was out, birds chirping and I was in the Czech Republic! I made a video of some of these obstacles which I'll put on Vimeo (and here) in a few days!






Nove Mesto World Cup Eliminator

Czech Republic (Day 3, part 2)...
I raced my first XCE, Eliminator on Friday morning! It's a Time Trial format, 2 minute race, with a few technical obstacles. I wasn't really sure what to expect but I had a blast. I raced the first round and missed out moving on to the next round by .1 second! That is one more pedal stroke, or one less tap of a brake or so many other little things. I'd love to go back and try again. I'm much more prepared for the next one now!




Czech Republic (Day 1)


View from our cabin

Zach, Erica and Haley at the cabin


Scenes from the saddle near Nove Mesto

Scenes from the saddle near Nove Mesto

Scenes from the saddle near Nove Mesto

Scenes from the saddle near Nove Mesto

Scenes from the saddle near Nove Mesto

Scenes from the saddle near Nove Mesto

Scenes from the saddle near Nove Mesto

Jamis Race Machines!


This is how I spec'd out my bikes, you can also see this permanently on the BIKES tab on my blog.

 Jamis Dakar XCR D29 Team
Stan's No Tubes Valors (for racing)
Stan's No Tubes Crests (for training)
Geax Tires (Either the Saguaro or Mezcal)
WTB Valcon 
ESI custom race grips
SRAM - drivetrain- xx1 (32 t chainring), 175 cranks, trigger shifters
Avid -xx brakes 
Rock Shox - Reverb Stealth dropper post, 
Sid XX World Cup fork 120 mm
Ritchey - WCS Carbon Trail Bar, WCS Trail Stem 80MM 

Jamis Dakota D29 Team


Stan's No Tubes Race Golds (for racing)
Stan's No Tubes Crests (for training)
Geax Tires (Either the Saguaro or Mezcal)
WTB Valcon 
ESI custom race grips
SRAM; drivetrain- xx1 (34 t chainring), 175 cranks, trigger shifters
Avid -xx brakes
Sid XX World Cup fork 100 mm
Ritchey - WCS Carbon Trail Bar, WCS Trail Stem 80MM, WCS Carbon Trail Seat Post