Ma vie en France

Well it's been almost a week since I got here in France, and race one is already done. It took a little while to settle in to the different culture here, but now that I have things are going great. I'm still feeling the jet lag from spending two nights and two days in airports and planes, but it's starting to wear off and hopefully soon my legs will stop feeling like they have lead weights in them!

There are a few things about the French culture that are going to take some getting used to. For instance, whenever you enter a group setting or see someone you know, you have to shake their hands. Seems logical enough, but when there is a big group it can sometimes take a while! Meals here are also a lot more formal. Lunch and dinner are both 4 course meals, which, although took a bit of getting used to, is kind of nice. Other than that things are just smaller in Europe than at home and far more efficient.

So, on to the racing. Yesterday was the first race of the season here in Normandie in a place called St. Hillaire. The cut off for registration was 180 riders...for a regional race! On top of that, it filled up over a week before race day! The night before as I was getting all my clothes packed I heard on the radio that there would be a rediculous amount of rain, 120km/h winds and possibly hail. Oh boy, I thought, quickly putting the winter riding jacket I brought into my bag! Waking up yesterday morning to the sound of wind and rain confirmed the weather report, it was going to be a day for the hard men! Nonetheless, we packed the car up, put every stitch of clothing on and headed off to the race.

On the short drive there we saw numerous fallen trees and puddles the size of lakes! But still, upon arrival at the race there were riders getting their numbers pinned and legs oiled up with hot balm, the race was going to happen. I too got chamoised up and ready to roll, but it seemed I had far more clothes on than anyone else. These euro guys are tough, that's for sure! I stood on the start line shivering none stop with thermal jerseys, knee warmers, and a toque on, while others around me had nothing but shorts and jersey, with the odd pair of arm warmers and they seemed fine.

Anyway, the race started and there were a few groups go up the road early on. I got in one of them but nothing seemed to be sticking. Then finally one did seem like it would stick, but I missed it. Darn! Oh well, pretty soon thereafter me and another guy in a purple kit started a bridge attempt. We made up a lot of ground which was impressive in all the wind, but when we were about 150 meters back, he sat up. I couldn't believe it! When it was just me battling a head wind upwards of 100km/h, things didn't go so well! The group pulled away and left me to sit up and wait for the pack. No big deal though, still lots of racing left. After trying to recover a bit, which was tough on the hilly/windy course, I made my way back to the front for bridge attempt number two. I attacked on a steep climb and took a few riders with me, then two more small groups joined us and we got the train rolling. I think we were about 12-15 riders strong, and at the start it was going really good. We made up a fair amount of time on the 15 or so leaders in the first 10 or 20km of our attempt. This race was very short though, only 60 odd kms, and time was running out. With about 10km to go the group was fallin apart and it was clear that people were getting tired. Just then, someone attacked and shattered everything. I went with him, as did two others. We hammered, and I mean hammered to the finish and sprinted it out for about 16th spot. I had no legs for the sprint, and only managed to get the better of one guy, taking 3rd. I think that would put me in about 18th spot, but I'm not 100% certain.

After the race my body was so cold I didn't even know what to think. I started laughing at how misserable that race had just been. I had eaten about a pound of road dirt, my face and body were covered in all kinds of various junk, and I couldn't feel my hands or feet. But, as they say here in France, c'est la vie! I got changed and made my way to the cafe to warm up a bit, relatively pleased with my race and looking forward to the next week's edition.