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July 8, 2003
Jimena Florit's Diary:
World Cup Round #3 Mont Sainte Anne
I just got off the plane,
arriving from a trip of 3 weeks of racing.
My legs are still really
stiff thanks to those small spaces between
seats in economy.Not even mention about
the gourmet food (chips and peanuts). Well,
lucky me, I was seated in economy-plus,
some kind of "status" to make
us feel special, but the plus is not more
than a little extra leg room. No, we don't
travel in 1st class, like some people think
we do, unless we break into the mileage
plus account and give up several thousand
of well earned mile, in exchange for royal
treatment.
Anyway, durng this three-week
trip, I earned quite a few miles, so I might
upgrade on the way back home.
The past weekend (yesterday)
we closed this trip, reaching mid-season
point , although I still feel I just started
it...
The race was the # 3 World
Cup, in Mont Sainte Anne, Canada.
We drove from Mount Snow,
Vermont, up north to the Province of Quebec,
just after the NORBA race. As we got further
North, the temperature kept getting higher,
and the air more and more humid. To close
the picture down to the detail, in our rental
van, the A/C did not work. So, windows were
open from top to bottom, allowing air to
come IN, but my music going out, taking
away the "disco" effect...
During the week, days were
long and the heat very high. The temperature
in my watch reached 106 degrees and my double-layer
was working fine as a pre-race adaptation.
After our training rides,
Willow and I kept jumping into the "black
whole", a secret creek that everyone
knows about (so much for "our"
secret...).
The water was SO cold, that
you could only be in for a mere 15 seconds.
I did not have the guts to jump in the first
day, so the 2nd day, Willow walked me through,
giving me mental support.Thanks teammate!
After a few down-to-the-wire
Scrabble games, we were ready to give it
all in the race. Sometimes I wonder of Dave
(Wiensy) tells my teammates to let me win,
just to keep me happy....
All the european riders
in the top 30 seemed to be present. Only
1-2 decided to stay home. The fight for
podium-top-ten was going to be a real battle.
The course, the shortest
we raced so far this year was so dry that
the speeds were very high. During training
we (women) were doing it at about 24-25
minutes, knowing that at race pace, we could
shave off about 3-4 minutes.
And the race pace did not
disappoint anybody.
We were up for 5 laps, and
as always, the start was ON TIME.
Pace was hectic, like all
the WC starts, with such unnecessary aggression.
Like the whole race is to the top of the
first climb. Silly.
I had number plate 9, so
my call up was to the 2nd row. Good position
to be in.
We started under a hot day
again, and soon enough, people were down
hitting the ground hard. With bad visibility
because of the dust, my breathing was really
limited. I also lost many spots that I started
to recover as soon as we hit the first climb.
But I was still too far back, in company
of with Alison Sydor that had suffered like
me, the result of the unnesessary crash
at the start.
We both were riding somewhere
in the 30's, that's my guess, when we slowly
moved forward passing people at any opportunity
there was. In the woods is the hardest to
pass, due to the limited room in the single
track, but once we passed a girl, we were
able to open a gap and look for the next
one, and the next one...
After one lap, I came by
the start finish in 14th place. I lost count,
and I couldn't even see the leaders anymore:
I had lost 2:30 minutes in just the first
lap.
I was super motivated passing
people everywhere and I finally started
seeing familiar faces.
I came by the 2nd lap in
8th place and started to think I could finish
near the podium.
I then saw my teammate Willow,
on her way to a top ten finish and I was
hoping we could do some work together to
catch the podium girls to switch spots with
them. But Sue Haywood was still in my wheel
and I did not wantd to bring her to Willow.
But sometimes it doesn't matter how much
you shake it...Sue was still there.
I then decided to do a little
climb attack (another shake) and not look
back. I got a gap! Thank God, I could breath
a little and take a sip to refresh.
By the end of the 3rd lap,
I was already in 7th, with Chrissy Redden
in sight.
I rode steady up to her,
and again, attacked by the climb, and worked
again! I was then in 6th place, with 1 lap
to go, chasing that always appealing podium
spot.
But I knew I had a hard
task, local favorite Marie Helen Premont
was having the ride of her life, riding
in a podium position for the entire race,
she was SO motivated, and I was feeling
the effect of the long chase. I did not
manage to chatch her, but I did have the
fastest last lap of all the racers.
So, I finished a very happy
6th place,still going strong, at about 3:30
off the winner's pace, earned valuable points
and got some little cash for pizza.
We packed after the race,
and drove back to the U.S. to catch an early
flight out of Burlington, VT in the AM.
I am now back to the heat,
this time dry, at home in San Diego, for
a few local rides, and leave again next
week to Vancouver.
I want to thank to my entire
team RLX-Ralph Lauren, for being the best
teammates in the world.
happy hugs,
Jimena Florit
RLX-Ralph Lauren Team
2002 NORBA XC Champion
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