Girona Trip Report Part II

On the third day of Girona we met up with Leah Vande Velde by the Cathedral near our apartment for a 10:30AM departure. Leah took us on a ride around the country-side before dropping us off at the base of a climb (I forgot the actual name of the climb, but I call it the “Tower Climb” because the climb ends at the top of a mountain with two towers on it). The ride with Leah was great because we didn’t have to figure out if we were going in the right direction or look at our map at all. Leah was in great shape after having a baby, “Uma” just about a year ago. It was nice to have the company of a “local” and the ride was gorgeous taking us through fields of flowers, rolling hills, and a town with a beautiful lake. Finally we ended up at the bottom of the Tower Climb. Leah had to be back to take Uma to the Dr, so George and I were on our own for the climb. She wasn’t sure exactly how far the climb was, but she said we should be climbing for about 30-35 min. Then she thought about it and said that we shouldn’t take longer than 45 min. So, I mentally prepared myself for 45-50 minutes of torture.

George was anxious, it seemed, because he started hammering right away! We weren’t even on a steep part of the climb yet, so I was not very psyched about this! However, I gritted my teeth and went along with the torture before the real torture! The real climb quickly approached and we rode side-by-side (sort of). I say sort of because many times George was just a bit ahead, so I had to push even harder to stay with him. After 30 min the pitch was reaching 10% and up to 12%! It was brutal! At times I found that my 12-27 was not enough…I had to stand and grind the pedals to get through the steep section. Every now and then George would say something like, “Wow! 10%?!”, or “The top should be just around this corner” (it wasn’t). I could tell by the way he was saying the comments that he had a lot of energy. Of the two of us, it was my estimation that I was suffering just a wee bit more. I didn’t have the energy to say a word. All of my energy was going into the pedals. He would say something and I would just look ahead praying that the end was near. It was hot and my whole body was aching as it was getting me up that climb. After 44 minutes and many frustrating switchbacks, we FINALLY reached the top of the climb. I was really hurting…my ARMS felt like they were shaking from the effort! George was grinning and psyched…soon I was too. It was a sweet climb! To top it off, a hang glider was just about to take off. He was all set to “walk” off the side of the mountain and fly away into the landscape. It was AWESOME! What a way to end the climb! We took some pictures, watched the hang glider disappear and descended down the climb heading back to Girona. After the climb, we had a great lunch, I digested and later in the day I ran 6 miles off the bike to Elles Angels (up a climb) and back while George took a well deserved nap. It can be tough to run after a ride like that. Especially when a nap seems like such a better option! Those are the times that being a triathlete are not so much fun! In the end, I had a solid run though so it was all good.

Friday was probably the toughest day of the trip. Not necessarily because of the effort, but the distance of the ride wore on us a bit. We had already ridden 11 hours in 3 days (plus I had run 18 miles) including some hard climbing and we were feeling a bit tired. George was handling the volume better than I had expected given that he typically rides about 7-9 hours in a week, but this day seemed to be a bit of a grind. We did the “Olot Loop”. Basically it was a loop that included a long gradual grind up to the town of Olot and a long rolling gradual descent, with some rollers, back to Girona. The scenery was absolutely magnificent. We rode through what used to be old volcanic terrain and it was now lush and spectacular with the snow-capped Pyrenees in the background. After 2+ hours into the ride, we reached Olot. George seemed done. He wanted to be off the bike…unfortunately we had a while to go. As I am very familiar with this type of riding (somewhat unimpressive wattage for LONG periods of time) my tolerance was a wee bit higher. Also I didn’t have to run after so I was psyched! Eventually we finished the ride after 4 hours and 1 minute, ate a big lunch (of course) and relaxed. Relaxation didn’t last too long, however, as I was itching to swim. George being an absolute sport was ready to find the “Piscina Municipal” and get his swim on. I was SO grateful as I usually swim 5-6 days a week and I hadn’t swam in 5 days. I was prepared for this, but I wanted to get in the water anyway. After I directed us to the wrong pool in the wrong village (we found an outdoor pool that had no water in it…Opps!) we finally found the pool I was looking for. After quizzing people on the sidewalks (remember we don’t speak Spanish so we would just say, “Piscina?” and the people would point to where we should head to) we found it! Piscina Municipal Can Gibert. We paid up and headed inside. It was PACKED!!!! I headed to the “RAPIDO” lane and George to the “Rapido” lane next to mine. It was great “race day simulation” dodging the swimmers in the lane. Let’s just say that not everyone in my lane swam “rapido”! The lifeguard came over to George shortly after we jumped in and told him (again in Spanish which we do not speak) that he needed to wear a swim cap. SO, I lent him a Zoot cap to wear…Now, for a swimmer, this is not so bizarre, but George is not a “swimmer” and I must say (again) that he is a total sport. He put on the cap and off he went. At one point in my swim I looked down the pool to see George at the end of the lane, swim cap on, with about 7 Spanish people swimming about. I had to laugh to myself. Talk about rolling with things! SO, the good news is that I got a swim in and down went another 5 hour day! We ate a big dinner (hamburgers for lack of anything better) had some gelato and were off to sleep by 12:30!

On our last day to ride, we decided to do one more climb that we had read about in Michael Barry’s blog…the climb to “Amer”. Barry describes this climb as a familiar one that the local cyclists “test” their fitness on. Tyler Hamilton had the record, which was broken by Tom Danielson (we don’t know what the actual record is…). Also, Barry’s wife, Dede trained on this climb before getting a silver medal in the Olympic Games. We had to do it…trashed legs or not! We decided to drive to a town close to it to avoid another 5 hour day. It worked out perfectly because we were able to put in a huge effort without being totally wasted by the ride out to the climb. We pedaled easily to the climb 4 miles mostly downhill and started the climb with the intent on pushing with whatever we had left. George left me right away. Being a strong climber (and maybe a bit cocky?), I decided not to worry for I was sure I would reel him in with a steady effort. I was pushing REALLY great watts, but somehow George’s lead was becoming greater and greater! Eventually he was not in sight! So much for that! I quickly settled into my own rhythm and was actually very pleased to be climbing alone focused on what I could do. Sometimes an effort can feel even worse when you have someone next to you…staying within myself and focused; I was able to get into a rhythm… OK! Would have been nice to catch back up, but that wasn’t happening! At the end of the effort I noticed a “Team High Road” jersey…it belonged to a female pro that races for the team. I had reached the top just as she had. After 32 min and 39 seconds, I was done. George had finished in exactly 1 minute faster. What a GREAT effort for the two of us after such a long trip! We were both on a high from the climb, surprised with how we were able to climb with such great power at the end of the trip! What a way to end it! After taking some pictures, chatting to the TWO female pros and riding back to town, we enjoyed a lunch outside at a café in the middle of this quaint town. For 9.50 Euros we had pasta, chicken and potatoes, gelato, bread, wine, and café. Knowing I had a run to do, I kept the drinking to 1 ½ glasses, but George was able to finish up the bottle for us! We chilled out in the beautiful weather in the middle of Catalonia reflecting on a great trip. A group of local Mtn. bikers took the table next to us after a nice group ride on a Sunday afternoon. What could be better? Soon we drove back, I ran 7 miles, and we got some dinner and headed to our massages (Christina who works n many of the pro cyclists in Girona). Great move getting a massage after such a long week of training! Knowing the travel day ahead of us forced us to try and fall asleep by 11, but it seems that people like to party in Girona on Saturday night well into the morning. No worries, we eventually fell asleep and made it back to the USA without a hitch! In all it was an awesome trip.

Pictures from Top:

George and Leah, Lake before Tower climb, George at the top of the Tower Climb (watching hang glider), Dee on top of Tower climb, George on Olot Loop, Dee on Olot Loop, George and Dee at top of Amer Climb