Giro! Giro! Giro!...ouch!

My second week in Tuscany ushered in more mid to high twenty degree days, training rides through beautiful Italian countryside and pro cyclist spotting. Warning, for those of you whose body clocks get switched back eight hours every July to watch Cadel and Lance battle it out for overall honours live at the Tour de France this blog may leave you reeling with jealousy, read on with caution.

For those of you who are sane enough to maintain regular sleeping patterns I apologise for the name dropping which is about to occur.

Friday the 22nd saw stage thirteen of the Giro d’Italia, one of the three major European professional cycling stage races, pass directly through Lucca. As with all Grand Tours, the Giro draws the best male cyclists in the world, massive crowds and casts a cycling frenzy across the country in which it is being held.

Remember that Italian movie you watched a while ago? The one where the male main character knows everyone and everything that is happening? It’s not just in movies. The president of the team I had come to train with is that main character, just without the mafia bit. So, when the girls and I cruised up to the gate dividing the media, people with special passes and girls with very short skirts, very brown skin and very nice hair from the general public, we were ushered through without a second glance. But don’t worry, all this didn’t go down without some Italian man hugs and two handed grasps of the face as seen in the Godfather.

As we walked towards the fenced off area where riders sign on, interviews are conducted and the media congregate I was left thinking, am I about to watch the beginning of the Giro from the VIP section? The answer-Yes.

An hour later I joined the other ‘little’ people as we lined the path where all the riders rode past to sign on for the day’s stage. I’ve never been one to get over excited about seeing celebrities and getting their photos, but I found my inner star crazed teenage girl seeping out as I stood camera aimed, ready to pounce. Pro cyclist after pro cyclist cruised past me, helmet hanging on the handle bars and hair appropriately gelled, I mean you have to look good for a 200km road race right?

Lampre, Liquigas, LPR, Columbia, Cervelo Test Team, Rabobank. Cavendish, Sastre, Basso, Menchov, Di Luca, Armstrong. They were all there. However, despite seeing all these cyclists, who are unquestionably the best riders in the world, it was seeing Cameron Meyer ride past me in his Garmin Slip-Stream team colours that was the best part. Riding his first ever Giro, Cam had been racing in the junior ranks with me only 3 or so years before. Now competing, and holding his own against the best cyclists in the world Cam really is someone all up and coming Australian riders can look at and think, it’s possible.

After run

Afert Running my camera battery dead and filling my memory card we watched as all the riders rode away for their 176km relatively flat road race through Tuscany. We jumped back in the car and sped back to Lucca and were able to watch the peloton once again. This time speeding through the streets of Lucca at an unbelievable pace. Cameron Meyer and his Garmin team were on the front, working for their team sprinter, Tyler Farrar. Cavendish ended up winning the stage, taking out his third stage of the Giro with Tyler finishing in fifth.

Motivated and still buzzing from my first ever Grand Tour experience I headed out on the bike that afternoon for my second training session of the day. The training session was to end with me in an ambulance and my bike in pieces after being hit by a car.

I got to enjoy another sleep-over in a European hospital where communication may be difficult but good health care is provided. After numerous x-rays and scans I was discharged, apart from a fair bit of skin off my face I had emerged from the crash unscathed. When I arrived back at the team house and saw my bike, I realised how lucky I was.

My front Ksyrium wheel was in two pieces, my rear derailleur had snapped off and was hanging limply and my shifters were pointing in unnatural directions. My bike was truly a mess and my head began to spin. The next few days saw a mad frenzy begin as myself and my family tried to source out a bike that I could ride as soon as possible so as to continue with my preparation for all my up coming races.

The immediate response from everyone was fantastic. Two small Canberra company’s, Providence Consulting Group and Jennifer Angelatos Designs kindly offered a helping hand and are now two very valued sponsors of mine. Scott from OnYa Bike and Tim from RideShop and Marcel Bengston, my team manager from China all jumped in to help and all had Andrew, the national sales manager from Merida on the phone. (I felt a little sorry for him having to hear about me and my incident so many times, but at least he now knew who I was!)

On top of all these people, Martin Barras, the Australian National Women’s Road coach, Rene Groot, a friend I met while over here and also the sales and marketing representative for the luxury cycling clothing brand Rapha and Allan Sieper, the manager of Canberra Cycling team Velo Canberra were all seeing what they could do in regards to finding me a bike.

In the end, Merida Australia packaged up a brand new 2009 Merida Scultura Evo Team bike and sent it my way. Both my father and I have been ogling this bike for a long time, I think if I were not 2ft shorter than him I’d have to watch that he didn’t take the bike hostage in October when I return home after my season of racing.

I cannot thank everyone who came to my aid enough. It’s a great feeling when you realise that you’ve got a lot of people who are willing to look after you and help you out, especially when you’re on the other side of the world and have limited options.

The coming weekend sees me return to racing after a two week training block. Hopefully my forced break off the bike has only freshened the legs after my, what was probably futile, attempt to become a mountain climber in Italy.

One again, a massive thankyou to everyone who went to the trouble of helping me out, but especially my Dad, who acted as my link to everything and everyone in Australia and even made an early morning trip to Sydney only hours after hearing about my crash to put my old bike on a plane.