Swiss Gigathlon Camp Day 2

Training Camp Day 2

Mountain Biking-  Today we went to do the mountain bike section on Day 5.  This was another hour drive by bus. I did get me a good breakfast in since I knew this was one of the harder mountain bike days so I was scared especially after riding with mountain lions the day before.  Dany was going to make sure that I made all the turns.  There was a huge group of us and once again I stayed at the back.  At the very beginning we were all of our bikes walking up some steep stuff. This was still in town and it was not long before we were on our bikes again.  I did notice one guy that I knew I was going to stay away from. He was off the bike waling over a tiny rock and was the main reason us in the back had to walk since he stopped.  This was not one of those hills that you could loose momentum on.  This is when  it sucks to have people ahead of you that stop.  You pretty much stop with them.  Anyway there was one girl that walked a little slower up the hill then the rest and that is who I stayed with for the rest of the day.  I am writing this on the way to airport and my brain is foggy but she does have a name…Roz.  She spoke really good English and was very comfortable to talk to.  We were bringing up the rear and that was great. I do not think I would have gone any harder without her.  We were going so slow that Dany was worried that she might need to take the bus.  She is doing couples at the race and had a great attitude. I had already told her that I would do the mountain bike with her. I was just as beginner as her and did not want to miss the ride.  We both needed it for our confidence.  It helped having her around and was fun.  We started a really long climb on jeep trail and this was something I would have really enjoyed hammering up. It was much easier then the hill that I have trained on in California so I was getting more confident about the race. The girl I was riding with is new to the sport and is one real stud to be signed up for the Gigathlon as a couple.  Somehow she got stuck with the mountain biking and skating.  She has had to learn both in a short amount of time just like me.  If I were her I would have told the guy to do the mountain bike…hehehehe  Anyway we climbed good and talked about the nutrition part since we she was using Hammer Nutrition. I was stoked that I could offer some advice and maybe help out.  I was not long and we had caught up to 3 other girls.  Roz seemed really happy.  She was riding really well.  I was the one who needed to stay back with the last person so later Roz left and i hung back with another girl that was not feeling so good.  I had to stop on occasion to keep her in sight.  I hate stopping in the middle of hills since I have trouble getting back on put this was good practice and I did get back on the bike. I was afraid of looking like a dork and not being able to get back on.  The girl was really feeling bad and was not able to make it to the top where the snow started.  She was walking and looked like she was about  to cry. I took her bike and pushed it to give her a break.  I was afraid that she was going to stop.  I could see Dany in the distance working like a little aunt and helping all the other girls get across some deep knee deep snow by carrying their bikes on his back. He was a very nice gentleman and was getting his weight lifting workout in.  I gave him the other girls bike to carry and decided I would carry mine on my own since I know that I will have to some at the gigathlon.  This was the first time that I ever had to put my bike on my back and it just plain sucked.  I also have not been in snow this deep before and had no clue that your foot could go so deep. I fell down with the bike on top of me once but I got back up and kept going. It was hard for me to learn about snow and putting my bike on my back at the same time but I was laughing.  This was the hardest patch of snow and it did take me a while. I was really happy to get though it and thought it was over.  Boy was I wrong!  We had more to come but it was not as bad.  You could role the bike beside you.  I was still falling down and slipping a bunch trying to learn how to walk in the snow. I also pulled my muscle in my back again when my foot went to deep.  This really hurt but I kept my cool.   My friend from the beginning of the ride was doing it all herself too. The only part that she did not was on the first batch of snow.  The other girl was still feeling ill and Dany ( the stud) was pushing two bikes through the snow.  Dany is truly an amazing athlete and seemed to even be having some fun doing all this.  He was the macho macho man! By the time we made through the snow patches and I had a pulled muscle and a bloody thumb.  When I fell with my bike on top of me I scraped my thumb and it was looking pretty bloody. I felt like macho taco then…hehehehe 

We then started our downhill and the sick girl then got back on her bike and we did not see her for a long time.  She must have gotten to feeling better and then after Dany carried her bike she was gone.  We had some more snow spots that were not bad but it was hard to get a rhythm down the mountain always having to stop and walk about 5 feet but after while the snow was gone and then there were some technical rocky parts that I got off my bike again on.  I bet Dany rode all of them but I am not good enough to try them yet and want to live.  After we got through this the rest of it was a piece of cake. I love down hills on jeep trails with loose rocks and wanted to let go of the breaks. I did go fast for a minute and had a blast but my friend I started with was still back and I did not want to loose her.  We started the ride together and we were going to finish together.  We then got to a sag vehicle and got a little break. There was a guy named Rodger there that had broke his bike.  He was last years gigathlon winner.  There was also the guy in red that I was afraid of in the beginning changing a tire so we waited for him.  We then got on our way and started some more technical single track down hills that had some sharp turns.  Turning is something that I have not perfected and did not improve today.  I actually fell down on one turn and got the “chicken blood “ in me.  Chicken blood is what I call fear.  This happens after I fall and I get a bit shaky.  After that I decided not to attempt the turns again and just stopped and manually turned my bike around.  My friend was making some of the turns but it was not long before she had  major wipeout on an easy part.  It look liked she just jumped off the bike.  She was ok and we laughed.  We had a great ride and lots of fun.  I am not sure if Dany had as much fun since he is usually “Mr.Speedy Gonzales.”   We finished the ride and it took a really long time.  I won’t tell you how long but I can tell that it will be one long race for me….yikes!

After we got back all safe and sound we were fed some pasta.  Since we were the slow group I missed the run that I wanted to do.  After the pasta we got back on the bus and headed back to the hotel. I did get a shower this time before dinner. I had also made arrangements to have an inline skating lesson after dinner.

Inline Skating-  This is what I need the most work on.  I did not get to participate in any of the skating sessions during the camp.  I knew that I needed to work on this so I set up a skating lesson with a K2 guy.  We did this after dinner at about 9:30pm.  We just did it in small area and I sucked.