Mike and I could feel the end of our Euro trip coming fast. Although we really do enjoy the Euro RV...
This Czech town (Image credit: Mike Broderick & Mary McConneloug)
Mike and I could feel the end of our Euro trip coming fast. Although we really do enjoy the Euro RV travel, the coming of summer in Europe brings staggering crowds to our quiet spring campgrounds and just about everywhere else outdoors as well. Now that schools were starting to get out for the summer, it was starting to feel like time to head back to the States.
Thumbing through our print out of the UCI race calendar, we decided to head back to the Czech Republic for a national race just 600km away in Ceska Kamenice. We were looking forward to returning to this beautiful region in northwestern Czech, but were especially drawn since we heard that the race course was going to be technical and fun.
The massive hemotoma covering my right quad was healing quite nicely mostly since I had been focusing the majority of my energy on a regimen of icing, elevating, massaging, changing bandages, and light spinning. The swelling was dissipating but as race day approached, it was clearly still not right. I needed more time to heal to be ready for the next World Cup in Switzerland now just ten days off. It was difficult to refrain from racing since I knew I could push myself to compete at the lightly attended race and still have a good shot at the podium even with my injury, but after checking out a lap I knew racing here would not be a good idea. I was resolved to rest, take my first weekend off in six weeks and enjoy the day supporting Mike from the feed zone
Strong riders from all over Europe and even fellow Americans Adam Craig, Kelli Emmett and part of the Luna Chix squad showed up for this category 1 race. The scene was flavorful, complete with banners, a loud speaker, beer tent, and grilled sausages. There was a solid crowd of spectators including rowdy locals who could watch from the porch of their nearby nursing home. The course was almost as good as promised, though the major feature was the solid climbing. It also included some really technical bumpy sections, a hike a bike over huge boulders and some challenging sandy transitions to top it off.
