Weekend Update w/ Tina Fey

I not only held down the fort.  I went to the Fort (Les Rousses).  This is where the UCI mtb race started on Sunday morning.  I went to catch the start to see Zach and Thomas off.  The race started at 8 so I had a quick breakfast and rode the 5k down to the start.  The race started inside the courtyard of Fort Les Rousses.  They offer tours of the caves below which I guess there are miles of underground tunnels.

There were around 250? starters for the race.  Not quite Chequamegon but it was a pretty big event for the area.  Previous days offered road riding tours and a 55k and 80k mtb race.  I did not recognize any of the Pros on the front line but some big names have shown up in the past.

front line  - no back-ins allowed

99-Thomas,  497-Zach

After the start I headed back to my cell for 2 hours.  Upon release, I came out to find Zach, pretty bummed out.  His derailleur had broken off only 7 miles into the race.  At the same time, he came upon Thomas who was helping a friend of his from Denmark, who had crashed badly.  He was knocked out and Thomas rode along in the ambulance to the hospital.  It was not a good day for the mtb crew.
I was able to get out for a hard 2 hour training session on a new route.

Up we go

The road race gang got back just in time for dinner which meant 3 extra hours in their cells on Monday.  Their race was south of Geneva in the Alps.  120k with a 5k climb at 13% avg. to a downhill finish.  It was a hammer fest as they average 44k/hr until the final climb. I guess a couple AG2R guys showed up.  It was only 7 euro to race and a some finished some had problems.  I felt a bit left out while sitting back and listening to the war stories from the day.
I will have my chance next weekend at the cx race.  I have been hopping barriers and getting ready with bike practice on the soccer field.

Today, was a rest day for most.  The road racers walked around looking pretty thrashed.  I hit up the soccer field and did some core work in the gym.  A few of us went for coffee and other went on a beer run/ recovery ride.

The vampires are coming in the morning.  I better get some rest.