Days 12 - 16

DAY TWELVE – Wednesday
Had an average nights sleep last night. It is very warm and a bit humid. Unable to even have a sheet on me. Never mind, I will cope with it – toughen up I hear you say.
We (tandems) went out for a quiet ride this morning exploring. It was lovely as we found this quiet country road and followed it. We didn’t take too many turns as we will had to get back. Ended up at this town called Leognan which sounded very familiar to me. Found out later once we got back that we were near the top end of the road course – cool. It was a very enjoyable ride. Neelu and I went and got some lunch, very nice, then rested up ready for our dress rehersal track session tonight. Full kit, helmet etc. Getting the warm up sorted as to how much warm up we will need, getting to and from the toilets, changing into skinsuits, helmets, eveything. It went quite well. We then went out and did an 8 lap effort with a standing start. As soon as we started my contacts started to move in my eyes and were threatening to disappear altogether!!!!!! I had to keep blinking but carefully so I didn’t lose them. Trying to do that and concentrate on the ride wasn’t easy. I wasn’t as steady on the bike as I should have been. In the end we did 9 laps as Brian had miscounted. I knew we were doing one extra but it didn’t matter. We kept them all below 19 seconds and most of them were the mid 18 seconds. We made the transformation from the start to the 2nd lap to the 3rd lap really well. We controlled it beautifully. Very happy. Neelu is listening to me as far as what we need to do. Once we’d warmed down we packed up and that was the track session over with. Got outside and it started to spit, so back inside we go and wait for the van. When it arrived the rain was really coming down. Quite nice though. Cools things down a wee bit.
Once we’d had a very quick shower we headed for this Chinese buffet place. It is only 2 minutes walk but we took the van because we didn’t want to get a chill as some of us had washed our hair and it was still wet. Toughen up I hear you say, but as you know I am a self confessed wuse and am proud of it. The food was yummy!!!!!!! Didn’t overindulge which was a miracle for me because I love buffets as do most athletes I guess, really I guess most people. Back to the hotel and Jayne and I went up to Ann-Marie’s room for a cuppa green tea and a chat. Very nice. As I was taking Jayne back to her room Fiona was coming up the stairs. Her track bike – the one Tim had brought over – had finally turned up!!!!! Simply amazing!!! It has only taken four days……..Steve and Margarite turned up at the same time with the other two bikes as Brian did with her original bike – and Steve’s bike as well).
You certainly can’t say it’s been a boring trip although I don’t think we would have minded really if things had gone a bit smoother. It would have been nice if luggage, bikes, hotel rooms, transport, had all run smoothly. I guess it makes us Kiwis dig our toes in even more and go out to prove that it doesn’t matter what’s thrown at you, you get through it and it makes you tougher. Well that’s what I think and I’m going to stick to it. Another late night. Easy day tomorrow. Here’s hoping I sleep a bit better.
DAY THIRTEEN – Thursday
Another very aveage night last night. This time I couldn’t stand the sheet anywhere near me…….boy it was humid. It reminds me of sleeping in the tent last year and how humid that was! We’ve had breakfast and we’ll be going out for a ride soon so I had better get ready. We (tandems) are going to get a little bit more adventurous today and get onto the road course. We will have a map with us to make sure we don’t get lost.
No, we didn’t have a map but we didn’t get lost. Pretty hard to when you basically go straight. We ended up in the town the the road course goes through but we didn’t know where the start/finish was. Never mind it was a nice ride. We had only been back for about 5-10 minutes when down came the rain, it poured!!!! Cooled things down a wee bit. After a shower a few of us cruised down to the shopping centre (our favourite haunt) and had lunch. After lunch Jayne and I went for a cruise around the shops – again…..Jayne bought a lovely pair of shoes cause the ones that had been wearing finally gave up the ghost. I bought a lovely skirt and back to the hotel we go. At 3pm we headed for the track to have a final touch up before the champs. We had shared time with Australia and Britain which was cool because Neelu, Jayne and myself got to have a chat with some of the athletes that we’d meet in Sydney earlier this year. We warmed up on the trainer then did a six lap tempo. It was quite good. Nice and even. Back on the trainer then we did one standing start. It felt quite sluggish but Brian came over to us with a huge grin on his face and told us that it was the fastest start/lap that we’d done! We couldn’t believe it! We did a 23.3! We had been doing 24’s/25’s. I think what clinched it was the fact that the start was a good steady straight one. We were wrapped. After getting back to the hotel we showered again and had dinner at the hotel that we’re staying at. It is where we will be having our meals from now on. Had a lovely cuppa with Jayne and Ann-Marie. Time for bed.
DAY FOURTEEN – Friday
Terrible nights sleep last night. I’m going to see for tonight at least if I can have the time out room, maybe even for a couple of nights. I really need to get some good sleep. I had been sleeping really well until the last three/four nights. Never mind. Didn’t do any training today, went into Bordeaux with Marguerite for a couple of hours. It was nice and relaxing which I needed (Neelu went for a cruise down to the shops (local haunt) and had a good couple of hours down there). So not much else to report apart from that. It’s just a nice relaxing day for us. Gabs and Jayne went for a ride. Yesterday Neelu took a fall in the shower. It’s a deep bath with the shower over top, she lost her balance when turning around. Bit of a sore arm but she is okay, a bit shocked as well – as you would be. That’s another reason why we didn’t go riding, I just wanted to make sure that she had recovered from the fall. Had a massage tonight and it was really good. Wendy got into the old legs good and proper. Had a nice cuppa green tea and now I’m heading for bed, so until tomorrow au revoir.
DAY FIFTEEN – Saturday
I had a brilliant sleep last night. I was in my own room for the night. Another night like that and I’ll be smoken’ tyres…….Mucked about this morning as we were leaving for the road course at about 1pm. As from Thrusday we have been chaufered around by volunteers for the Worlds. The guys we had today Brian could just about murdered them…..The guy with the trailer on didn’t seem to really care the fact that he had thousands of dollars worth of equipment in his van as well as the trailer cause he was going over bumps like no tomorrow!!!!! We were following and chringing every time he hit a speed bump. I think the trailer even left the ground at one stage!!!!!! Not good. And to make matters worse these guys didn’t speak ANY English…..oh dear…..not good for the peace of mind. The trip back to the hotel was slower.
The ride around the course was good. We were trying out the TT wheels but I’ve decided that they are too heavy for the type of course it is. What we would gain on the downhill would be minimal to what we’d lose on the uphill. Never mind, you need to try these things don’t you. After a shower Sam, Jayne and myself went for a walk down to the haunt and we did a bit a grocery shopping. Back to the hotel for dinner. Very nice. I don’t like eating this late though. I think it was about 7:45ish. Not good when you’re not used to it. Had a massage – nice……and a cuppa green tea and now I’m about to hit the hay. I’m in a room by myself again tonight but I’ll be back in with Neelu tomorrow night.
DAY SIXTEEN – Sunday
Another great nights sleep last night. I love that. A very quiet day today. Went down to the track with Neelu for her classification. She has been classed as a B3 which is the least extreme in blindness. Watch some of the other countries going through their paces which was really good. Some really amazing athletes here. Had lunch at the velodrome which was nice then back to base for a quiet ¾ hour toodle on the windtrainer. It has been a cooler day today with showers off and on all day. It’s quite windy to. I’m back in the room with Neelu now, she has the double bed now. I had it for two weeks so she’ll have it now for two weeks. Hopefully I will sleep well being back in the room with Neelu, if not I’m going to move out again. Need good sleep to race well – usually.
Anyway, as I say, a very quiet day. Not a great deal to report on. Catch up later.