tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14244682784745743762024-03-12T21:01:59.565-07:00Life Behind BarsAn account of track cycling adventures.Dana Feisshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16280782796284244457noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1424468278474574376.post-72872799567673338812015-12-01T07:46:00.000-08:002015-12-02T03:14:37.021-08:00Hallo<div class="MsoNormal">
“Hallo.” <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Hello.</i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Hoe gaat het?” <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">How
are you?</i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I sat cross-legged on the little couch in the living room
with my notebook in my lap. Hylke sat across the coffee table corner from me
and followed along as I read aloud, gently helping with pronunciation. Earlier I
had passed my notebook around the flat in an effort to compile a study list. It
had turned into a team event – everyone contributed key words and common
phrases that I should probably know; now it was time to practice. I was certain
that my vocal chords were physically incapable of creating the right sounds, no
matter how hard my brain tried to shape the words. Tenuous and gawky, I
thrashed my way through each thought and each sentence. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Ik ben verdwaald.” <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I
am lost.</i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Language skills had generally come to me readily, even
when abroad. Most of my travels had been to countries rooted in Romance languages
like French and Spanish – both of which I could understand and use on a
functional level, however clumsy it may have been. Here in the Netherlands it
was much different. I had crash-landed in Alkmaar directly after racing in
Ghent, Belgium (my Flemish being equally nonexistent, for the record) and been immersed
in the Dutch language for about a week or so; I tried to soak it up everywhere
– at the track, on the bus, on the sidewalks and street signs, in shop windows,
on store shelves. Dutch was so unlike most other languages that I had encountered before. The vocabulary only revealed itself in shards and shimmers of
familiarity; it was like trying to listen to a conversation under water. Everything
else left me in a mental fog, disoriented and bewildered. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Waar ben ik?” <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Where
am I?</i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
*<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
My easiest yet most embarrassing communication tool had
quickly become The Face. I had mastered the move within hours of being on the
ground in both Belgium and the Netherlands: eyes widened and blank; jaw slackened;
mouth slightly agape – culminating the universal look of vacuous confusion. To
immediately pull this off would spurn the speaker to rapidly switch to English
approximately ninety-eight percent of the time. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I hated it. Being unable to use the native language made me
appear a dimwitted cow. It felt like a direct affront to the host country and
its people while simultaneously dumbing myself down. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The brain would have an idea but the right verbal coding was
missing. Words would swirl around the mind and bubble up from the lungs, only
to tangle in the back of the throat or swell and snag on the tongue to leave me,
the hapless Anglophone, spouting out the wrong sounds. Each time the result was
withering, like orchid petals left to the sun’s blazing scrutiny; it stung –
even a simple greeting required courage and understanding that I didn’t have. I
was incapable of being my normal friendly and talkative self. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
*<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“De taal leren!” The Turkish cashier at the grocery store flashed
me a stern glare and pointed at my brow with the flick of her wrist. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I made The Face at her and then quickly rounded to my Dutch
compatriot Shanne for help. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“She said ‘learn the language,’” Shanne told me. She then
proceeded to explain to the woman that I was merely training in Alkmaar for a
few weeks and not here to stay. The cashier gave a sigh of resignation (and
perhaps relief) as she handed me the receipt. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I hated that part especially. How could I learn something if
I hadn’t had the opportunity to do so?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It’s irritating to be in one’s home country and attempt to
communicate with someone who doesn’t know the language (but had the audacity to
show up anyway). What one can often miss or overlook, however, is the equal
exasperation of the person on the other side of the conversation – the newcomer
without the vocabulary, mechanics, and practice to speak with anyone over the
age of four. I was suddenly on the cold and confounding side of the fence. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Ik versta het niet.” <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I
don’t understand.</i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
*<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Now here I sat in the Dutch team house in Alkmaar – I had
been graciously adopted by the Dutch riders, and my lack of language skills
left me feeling more and more boorish by the day. We would all train and cook
and hang out together, but I was only getting a small fraction of the whole
experience. Naturally, when the riders said that they could teach me some
important bits, I jumped at the chance; I wanted to learn, I <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">needed</i> to learn something.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“You’re crazy,” Shanne said. “Dutch is a crazy language. It
makes no sense.” That was certainly not a ringing endorsement from a native
speaker. So be it; I was willing to try. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I hated not having words. I hated not having answers. I
hated reducing myself to blank stares and body language. I hated feeling
dubious and dull.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Genoeg<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">.</i>”<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> Enough.</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I glanced across the table at Hylke and let out a deep
breath of air. Folding my legs together a little tighter, I gripped my knees
and studied the page with the hand-scrawled list.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Gaat alles goed?” <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Is
everything alright?</i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Ja. Dank u.” <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Yes.</i>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Thank you.</i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Graag gedaan.” <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">You’re
welcome. <o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
***<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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Dana Feisshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16280782796284244457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1424468278474574376.post-9426020811861974492015-11-19T01:01:00.000-08:002015-11-19T10:27:39.572-08:00Bleu, Blanc, et Rouge<div class="MsoNormal">
“There was a terrorist attack in Paris,” Danny said.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“What?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I sat straight up from my cot and blinked
down into my lap, rubbing my bleary eyes. Tangerine beams of streetlamp light
cut through the curtains of the room's east window. Down below, a tram car
clattered past; the boulevard otherwise was silent. It was 7AM, dark and cool,
in Ghent. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Terrorist attack. There’s like 80 people dead.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Oh shit.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Oh. Shit.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<br /></div>
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My team mates and I were staying in a second-floor apartment in the Moscou neighborhood of the city – we had arrived a
few days beforehand for the upcoming International Belgian Open. This was my
second visit to Ghent within the year in pursuit of UCI points. Roughly 296
kilometers (183 miles) south, just hours before we woke, a mass of murderous
monsters had descended on various points of one of the most decorated and
closely-patrolled cities in Europe – managing to shoot and bomb their way
through innocent crowds. We wouldn’t learn the full scope and death toll until
later on. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
“This is a hell of a time to be an American in Europe,” I
mumbled. “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">F*ck</i>.” We were always aware
of a certain discomfort in being an American abroad, regardless of where it
was. It’s a common notion that Americans are universally disliked, and that in
travel we take an extra risk that someone will do us harm. We were here for a
bike race, but that took a back seat in my brain for a moment as I tried to
process these events along with our proximity to Paris. We had been walking and
riding around all week with "USA" stamped on our chests – in a foreign region
that suddenly felt less safe. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“They’re closing the borders. France is in a state of
emergency,” Danny clarified. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Indeed, France was not screwing around. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Well, now what happens?” I looked at Danny and Maddie
through the streaks of amber light and shadows.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Danny shrugged. “We race.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
*<o:p></o:p></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
“Ladies and gentlemen, we will now observe a moment of
silence for the victims of Paris,” boomed a voice over the loudspeaker across
the <span style="color: #10131a; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">Vlaams
Wielercentrum Eddy Merckx</span>. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
All conversation stopped. Roller warm-ups ground to a halt;
a compressor blasted air through the mounting quiet. Those on the infield
turned towards the stands with raised heads and squared shoulders. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
My heart drummed against my ribcage and clanged into my
throat; I felt my pulse in my ears. It seemed so loud inside my body that I
speculated who else could hear. I was certain that the calamity was audible and
I couldn’t determine why it was happening. Nerves were to be expected, but it
had been a long time since they were this pronounced. Perhaps that happens when
one is still reeling in the aftershocks of jarring news. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I gazed across the infield to the French team standing stoic
in their pit – four men and a woman for the sprinters, from what I could tell; I
was surprised that they had made it. I wondered what was going through their
minds as they passed the silence. I wondered if their heads and hearts were
pounding in the same rapid and deafening symphony – even if their reasons were
different than mine. I wondered, but I could only really guess. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Merci, madames et messieurs.” <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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*<o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We continued to roll for several laps after our 5<sup>th</sup>-8<sup>th</sup>
final. The French rider and I had just finished our last 3-lap battle for the
evening (she took 5<sup>th</sup> and I a close 6<sup>th</sup>). I reached down
from up track and shook her hand as we rolled – grasped and really shook it. It
was a normal congratulatory gesture, but I had wanted it to show solidarity. I
wanted her to know that our team felt the same shock and fear that she might. I
wanted to be there for this fellow competitor whom I didn’t actually know. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As I walked out of the infield that later evening, I saw the
French girl curled up by a support beam while talking on the phone. She sat
with her knees pulled to her chest and one hand clutched at her feet; her face
was flushed as she babbled in rapid-fire French. I
strode past and studied my sneakers in an attempt to give her privacy. On any other day she
might have seemed flustered by results, all spilling
out to a coach or family member on the other side of the phone. Today
it was difficult to tell; it was anyone’s guess. I wanted to ask, but I
couldn’t. I wanted to know if she was okay, but I didn’t. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
*<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I mourn Paris – just as I mourn Lebanon and Bangladesh and
Egypt and Turkey and Tunisia and Kuwait. I mourn the worshippers whom ISIS
bombed in a mosque during Friday Prayer. I mourn those lost in a peace rally
which was descended upon by ISIS suicide bombers. Violence and hate have few
geographic and cultural boundaries – but so do harmony and love. I mourn all of
these losses in all of these places, even if I cannot reach them. If there is
an opportunity to offer strength and support, however small a gesture, how
could one not do so?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I can remember where I was when we learned that our nation
had been attacked. I sat at the front of Mrs. Koch’s 6<sup>th</sup> grade
English class as we watched the crash footage looping continuously on the news.
We had believed our country to be safe – that these things couldn’t happen, not
to us, or that they would be thwarted before they could become real. Perhaps
that was what everyone experienced in and around Paris. I might not know
exactly what the French riders were thinking and feeling on that day, but I
have a ballpark idea. The notion that just a couple hours away one’s countrymen
are dying, grieving, fearful, and raging in the wake of unprecedented atrocity is
quite familiar. Paris is very close to us in this regard – through this we
manage to empathize, not merely sympathize. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If I had spoken to the French rider, I would have told her
that it would be okay. I would have told her that I knew, at least a little bit,
how she felt. I would have told her that she and her team were not alone – that
we were scared and uncertain too. I would have told her: we both bleed the same
colors – we are red, white and blue; <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">nous
sommes</i> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">bleu, blanc, et rouge</i>. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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***<o:p></o:p><br />
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Dana Feisshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16280782796284244457noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1424468278474574376.post-76022214520637768832014-12-11T00:49:00.000-08:002014-12-11T00:49:29.425-08:00Intro to Euroland<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“You know, most people go to
normal places for their first European trip. London, Paris, Rome, or something.
You picked Belgium,” Erin said. “What the hell?”</span></span><div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;">My friend had a point. Growing
up on the Eastern seaboard I had always envisioned grand European adventures –
the geographic accessibility alone seemed to make it a no-brainer, along with the
culturally euro-centric focus of the east coast: good things come from just
across the pond. </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Um, well, it seemed like an
unusual opportunity,” I stammered into the phone. “When one presents itself,
you’ve gotta take it.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In the four years that I had
been racing internationally I had never been to Europe once. Bike racing had
afforded me the opportunity to travel to and compete in a handful of incredible
and unlikely locations, mainly in South America (though the Kazakh visa is
still my favorite page in my passport). Europe, the crown jewel of cycling
sport and culture, had been conspicuously absent from my rider resume. Patrik
Lyons, a friend and cycling agent who had been trying to get me into 6-day
events for a number of years, tipped me off to a grand prix that had just added
women’s sprint events. A few days after the Los Angeles Grand Prix in early
November – and with the encouragement of my coach and family, as well as the
help of a heap of frequent flier miles – I was on a flight over to race the
International Belgian Open in Ghent. I was about to dump myself into a city I
had barely researched, without a local contact, to do a race I had only learned
of about a week prior. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Good God and dry
gin, what am I doing?</i><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Solo travel can be daunting
in one’s own country. Solo travel in a foreign country with no ground support
and crap-load of bike equipment is an odd mix of terrifying and exciting. Get
on a plane. Tumble off the plane and onto a train – the correct train (and find
somewhere to stuff the bike box on said train). Pile off the train and onto the
little tram that finally stops at the hotel on the outskirts of the city. The
strain of attempting to read each stop in Dutch, Flemish, and French was enough
to give me gray hair – but, unlike the organized chaos to which I had grown
accustomed in South America, at least everything in northern Europe runs
blissfully regimented and on time. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Upon arrival at the Holiday Inn,
an unassuming brick-and-plaster cube across the parking lot from an Ikea and an
empty expo center, I was able to connect with fellow rider Jake Duerhing and
his Dutch mechanic Jan-Willem van der Heijden. Jake and our third U.S. teammate
Ian Holt would both be racing the men’s ominium that weekend (a lucky
coincidence for me); I was thankful to have a couple familiar faces here with
me in such unfamiliar territory. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">*<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Ghent may be Belgium’s
best-kept secret; once medieval Europe’s second-largest city after Paris, it
has developed over the centuries as an incredible showcase for European arts
and culture – but has remained less on the tourism radar than Brussels and
Bruges. Here hides one of Europe’s finest panoramas of canals, ancient spires,
and extravagant grand houses against a backdrop of steely skies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Under the imposing grace of Gravensteen Castle
and St. Bavo’s cathedral the city hosts an ornate opera house, 18 museums, 100
churches, and over 400 historical buildings – as well as a handful of
monasteries-cum-breweries that put Belgium on the map for some of the finest
beers in the world. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsKvLbAWgonP9QQ31Ga2JJJnqTajD6vfhtt9nOnax-M1lhImV1lnXTeh4jeIjSazupIwZgayBmPEouDkKBDjM4yNbKq46A-u_3-d1LNyU6gq59GLeG8uHIDu0yeekemZDf4vLbOyyQQw0/s1600/10477449_10205535281725115_4136956747887864380_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsKvLbAWgonP9QQ31Ga2JJJnqTajD6vfhtt9nOnax-M1lhImV1lnXTeh4jeIjSazupIwZgayBmPEouDkKBDjM4yNbKq46A-u_3-d1LNyU6gq59GLeG8uHIDu0yeekemZDf4vLbOyyQQw0/s1600/10477449_10205535281725115_4136956747887864380_n.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The city sits at the
confluence of the Scheldt and Leie rivers in the heart of the Flanders region –
arguably one of the most infamous racing realms in professional cycling.
Belgium takes its cycling seriously and Ghent is not stranger to this obsession
– it boasts two separate velodromes, one being the Eddy Merckx Cycling Center
and cycling school. This particular 250-meter oval office would be the venue in
which we would do bicycle battle for a weekend. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The Eddy Merckx velodrome is
a stunning expanse of track from the inside and a perfect tribute to Belgium’s
most celebrated cyclist. Glass panes on all sides of the building allow light
to pour through and illuminate the black-brown boards in a rollicking explosion
of color and contrast. Not all tracks are created equal; I became irrevocably
sure of this as we walked into The Cannibal’s shrine for the first time for
pre-race training. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBoDioBWFIdO4PZkei4zI50rTy6Q3SvT2ayLILiaQBZSY0rqjD0bFkz6UZDpUFpHkD_M32eyIA9hhNXjou1Z3FsS4XcEkYRHeSUlNBgGI6-lKfdax41CSmEGdMle-3IOB7Kd23wzQKk5Y/s1600/photo-8.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBoDioBWFIdO4PZkei4zI50rTy6Q3SvT2ayLILiaQBZSY0rqjD0bFkz6UZDpUFpHkD_M32eyIA9hhNXjou1Z3FsS4XcEkYRHeSUlNBgGI6-lKfdax41CSmEGdMle-3IOB7Kd23wzQKk5Y/s1600/photo-8.JPG" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Getting acquainted with a new
track is like going on a blind date. No matter what your friends and the
internet tell you about him, the only way to properly determine how well you
guys mesh is to meet in person – and the first encounter is almost always awkward
and a bit uncomfortable. If one can be comfortable with being uncomfortable,
everything will go fine. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Probably. Maybe</i>.
<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I had three days to figure
out this particular track before racing began. Each track has its own quirks
and nuances – a facet of racing that one comes to appreciate instead of dread
if she’s adaptable. Steeper turns made this track a slightly different animal
than my usual training venue of L.A.; otherwise the shape and tightness of the
two seemed the same and made it easier to get a handle on timing and strategy. In
an unknown field the only thing a rider can control is her own ability and her own
execution; this velodrome would suit me just fine. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">*<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Rituals tend to be an
important part of the racing process, especially in an entirely unknown place.
In my case, these anticipated patterns became centered largely on convening on
caffeine and food. Each morning I found Jan-Willem in the dining area of the
hotel atrium – where we swapped cultural notes over bad Keurig coffee. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Jan is a Dutch
racer-turned-mechanic; a light athletic build matched with bright blue eyes,
angular nose and cheekbones, and sandy Flock of Seagulls-style hair give him
the quintessential euro-dude countenance. At 20 years old he’s one of USA
Cycling’s go-to mechanics at its European base of Sittard, The Netherlands –
and, to compliment his wrenching skills, also happens to be an excellent guide
on all things Euro. We discussed everything from the precarious predicament of
Ukraine to Bulgarian travel to the culturally divisive nature of Europe as a
whole. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Ukraine is screwed. Don’t ever fly Bulgaria Air.
Despite how everyone here likes to pick on their neighbors, they all seem to
unanimously hate the French. Makes sense. <o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">*<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Give me your bike for a
second,” Jan said.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Um, ok. What’s the matter?”
I blinked at him and wheeled it over.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Your bar tape. It looks like
shit. I won’t let you ride like that, you’re not in South America anymore,” he
replied as he plunked my bike onto the stand.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Yes, that became grossly apparent by the giant Lithuanian
and Belgian girls who just strode onto the infield for the open training
session. That’s cool. No problem. I got this. Yep.<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Thanks, cupcake. Good
lookin’ out.”<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">*<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Whoever coined the saying
“attitude is everything” may have very easily been a cyclist. The attitude that
one brings to the line can often dictate how a race will unfold even before the
gun goes off. I considered this briefly as I sat at the start of the keirin
final, hands on hips and staring straight ahead at the sweeping boards in front
of me. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The attitude doesn’t tend to
change regardless of whom I race – from a good friend to a French
stranger.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Look me in the face; know that I want to rip your heart out and eat it
raw</i>. It’s not personal. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I had managed 5<sup>th</sup>
in the sprint tournament the previous evening. I knew very little about the
riders on either side of me except some 200-meter times and their respective
placements; everyone had speed, varied skills. I didn’t care, it didn’t matter;
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I want to rip your hearts out and eat
them raw</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I gave Jan a couple
thwacks on the shoulder as he held me before I sank into my drops; the gun went
up. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">BANG</span></span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">*<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Hey, are you almost ready to
go?” Jake asked. “We need waffles!”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“No way, dude, I gotta go do
that podium thing first. We’ll get to the waffles soon enough. And beer, that’s
non-negotiable.” I zipped up my skin suit, checked my hair, and moseyed across
the infield. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;">I had drawn fourth position
and slotted in directly behind Belgian rider Shana Dalving. I was anticipating
a move from the German behind me and patiently protected my precarious fourth
spot until the derny swung off. I throttled out of turn two on the final lap
and swept up Dalving in three, barreling through the corner and into the home
straight after Olivia Montauban and M</span><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;">é</span><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;">lissandre Pain on the front. I finished on the wheels
of the two French to round out the podium. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;">After the photos and proper
“f</span><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;">é</span><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;">licitations”
I was still reeling, thrilled for my results and thankful for the help I had to
get there. It was indeed time for a beer. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjugfepUwQNBxqtbQrTbN3XW3HPYLYOeFKyxreK6t9xN4tlaZrb6hhwOCvcU0rXAOuzQbvF2ROPa3IxDj37r6PWhPgfK0hZLMmzFtOeVi474uyYufZHC5eIsMkCSlTOK4h0RO-wwEZPIE4/s1600/photo-9.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjugfepUwQNBxqtbQrTbN3XW3HPYLYOeFKyxreK6t9xN4tlaZrb6hhwOCvcU0rXAOuzQbvF2ROPa3IxDj37r6PWhPgfK0hZLMmzFtOeVi474uyYufZHC5eIsMkCSlTOK4h0RO-wwEZPIE4/s1600/photo-9.JPG" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">*<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Belgium’s claims to culinary
fame are all items that are decidedly deemed bad for athletes – beer,
chocolate, waffles, and fries. In fact, my theory regarding the Belgians’
cycling prowess is that they’re inherently strong because they have to ride so
much – how else can they consume all of these things and still remain lean? They
need to burn them off somehow. It’s the only logical conclusion in my American
brain. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Naturally, the mission once
racing had concluded was to sample all of these items – not necessarily in any
particular order. After dumping off equipment and swapping spandex for normal
clothes, Jake, Ian, Jan, and myself took the tram into downtown Ghent to see
what we could find. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Ghent has a cool elegance during
the day, but it comes truly and lavishly alive at night. The streets and building walls
teem with electric light that bathes the city’s intricate architecture in a
brilliant golden glow; sparkling facades in the old port markets of Graslei and
Korenlei pair with bubbling banter from canal-side cafes and bars long into the
evening. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unfortunately, this excludes
bakeries and waffle stands (which close promptly at 6PM on Sunday evenings,
apparently. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Damn it</i>) and so we
settled for beer first. We bought a round at the cozy Picardie – I sipped the
best brown ale I’ve ever had (Trappistes Rochefort 10, for the record) in a
basement bar that was older than my home country. We cut across the square for
some proper Belgian fries and a second beer before calling it a night.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">*<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Cobbles are awful. After a
day of running around on the cobbled streets and sidewalks of Ghent I will
never understand how folks manage to race their bikes over them. I suppose
that’s one of the many reasons I remain a track racer. My extra day on the
ground after the grand prix allowed me to fully embrace every tender step; the
boys had left early that morning and I was on my own. I spent the morning
getting hopelessly lost in the medieval neighborhoods of Patershol and
Vrijdagmarkt before stumbling into a teeny café on a tight side street for a
recovery waffle. Indeed, I finally got my waffle – airy and delicately crunchy
with a dappling of powdered sugar, accompanied by a perfect cappuccino at Fritz.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Ghent is best viewed from the
ground up – or, rather, from the canal. Gravensteen’s walls were as striking
looming over me on the water as they had been as I viewed the city from their
tops an hour beforehand. For six euros a boat tour gave an intimate look at
Ghent by way of the very canals that gave it life; incidentally, it’s also
better than walking. I used the remainder of my on-foot energy to snag to
chocolates and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">cuberdons</i> in
Korenmarkt and an afternoon glass of Gruut at a canal-side bar across the
square. That evening I lingered over post-dinner coffee in a corner of Restaurant
Valentijn, allowing the rich Belgian cuisine to settle in my stomach, before
reluctantly ambling through the bright streets to the tram station. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;">***<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Dana Feisshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16280782796284244457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1424468278474574376.post-29949727693866034272012-07-20T16:39:00.003-07:002012-07-20T16:39:39.344-07:00Summer Camp<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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I spied Jack
as he ambled on to the infield – and immediately took off running at full tilt.
I barreled across the grass and leapt straight at him through the air, arms
stretched wide. We collided into a hug as he took three staggering steps
backwards, narrowly missing the rack on which he had just hung his bike. It was
two days before the Alpenrose Velodrome Challenge in Portland, Oregon, and the bike
racing Summer Camp extravaganza was in full swing. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>When I was a kid, summer camp
entailed a week plunked into a chunk of Pocono forest and doing, well, campy-type
things: hiking, canoeing, horseback riding, archery, campfires, arts n’ crafts,
sleeping platform tents. It was a time to get out of town and reunite with friends
whom I hadn’t seen since last summer. We kept in touch with letters or email as
we impatiently awaited a blissful 7-day block of shenanigans.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Now, at 22 years old, my version
of summer camp has taken on an entirely new meaning. The winter World Cup season
had long since ended and the summer domestic season officially started up in
June. It was time to load the bikes and prepare for a couple race weekends of
fast and friendly racing up the West Coast. Besides Nationals, this is the time
that we bike racers can get to commune en masse with others of our kind – and not
have a damned care in the world.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
I had
stuffed myself into the back of Missy’s Subaru Impreza like a troupe member in
a clown car. The vehicle had three humans, five bikes, a bike box, a wheel
case, three sets of race wheels, and luggage loaded in and on top of it. We
were chugging up the 5 from Los Angeles to San Jose for the first stop of
Summer Camp: the Hellyer Velodrome Challenge. My vision was still hazy as I was
coming out of post-nap stupor, having been dozing and cuddled up next to a
Mavic disc wheel for about two hours of the trip. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Are you okay back there?” Missy
said, blinking into the rearview mirror.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Yep, I’m good. I told you, I’m
little. I’m totally compact and built for travel,” I replied. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The name “Summer Camp” started
out as a playful nickname for the West Coast race series. The idea is that each
major track – Hellyer in San Jose, Alpenrose in Portland, and Marymoor in
Seattle – hosts a three-day track race. The relative proximities of the tracks
makes a drivable trip, and riders go to as many of the races as they can; more
often than not one sees the usual suspects year after year. Like the summer
camps that we attended as kids, the race series has become a summer staple – both
athletically and socially speaking. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The Hellyer Velodrome Challenge
felt like a warm-up. There were fewer familiar faces at this particular race
than in seasons past, but that only left me more stoked for Portland.
Wagons-ho!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
Every summer
camp needs activities, right? Our theme might be bike racing, but that doesn’t
mean that other interests are neglected. If one thinks about it, we’re already
sort of camping: tents litter the infield at each race and we’re based out of
said tents for most of those three race days. In Portland, there are requisite day
trips to Sumptown Coffee and Bike Central, or sometimes Voodoo Donuts.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Arts n’ crafts” pertains to
decorating one’s race number with stickers, as well as nail painting. I can’t
speak for the male racers, but any girl worth her salt takes these necessary decorative
measures into her race prep. Racing is a lot more exciting with glitter and
neon colors. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Picnic lunches consist of
splitting a slightly smushed peanut butter-and-jelly sandwich on a blanket
under a pop-up tent – followed by a banana and an energy gel for dessert. We
don’t have campfires, but we all like to gather around a table with food and
some beer after racing. Singing, dancing, and rambunctious laughter undoubtedly
ensues – much to the chagrin of normal diners. It’s almost the same. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
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We sat in
the ready area for the keirin final. The rain had passed lightly over Alpenrose
and we had been able to move on with the third and final day of AVC. Some of
the girls skimmed their tires for dirt; others shook out their legs as final
wake-up for their muscles. I stared straight ahead before turning to my right
to look at Missy.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Attack pandas, engage” I said
as offered up my hand for a pre-race fist bump. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“We got this,” she said as our
knuckles clacked together through our gloves. We then drew starting position Popsicle
sticks and walked to the line. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
Racing is the common thread that ties us into this whole thing in the
first place. But it wasn’t until this year that I myself actually started to
get it. I went to my first summer camp race in San Jose in June of 2010 and
treated it like a World Cup. It was my first race anywhere else other than
Trexlertown or Los Angeles. I had no idea who anyone was, no actual team mates,
and limited race skills. I did, however, manage to put a lot of pressure on
myself, regardless. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
However, this was my third year of Summer Camp and was somehow different –
more relaxed, I suppose. We all race to win, and it’s true that this is about
competition – it always has been. But it’s also about fun and just racing your
freakin’ bike. It’s about cheering for everybody. The same people that race
each other in a sprint final become partners in the team sprint. The friends
you make and keep along the way are just as important as any cash you make or
records you break. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center; text-indent: 0.5in;">
*</div>Dana Feisshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16280782796284244457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1424468278474574376.post-21060598859990479012012-03-18T10:22:00.000-07:002012-03-18T10:22:33.107-07:00Don't Cry For Me, Argentina<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves/> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:DoNotPromoteQF/> <w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/> <w:DontVertAlignCellWithSp/> <w:DontBreakConstrainedForcedTables/> <w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/> <w:Word11KerningPairs/> <w:CachedColBalance/> </w:Compatibility> <m:mathPr> <m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/> <m:brkBin m:val="before"/> <m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/> <m:smallFrac m:val="off"/> <m:dispDef/> <m:lMargin m:val="0"/> <m:rMargin m:val="0"/> <m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/> <m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/> <m:intLim m:val="subSup"/> <m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/> </m:mathPr></w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
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</style> <![endif]--> <div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">This time was going to be different, I was sure of it. I lay on my cot in our tiny hotel room as the Mar del Plata nightlife roared on outside; the Argentinean beach city was alive and glittering beyond the 19<sup>th</sup>-story window. I closed my eyes and breathed deeply, letting my belly balloon with air and my spine to press into the smushy foam mattress. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span> </span><i>We’re in the starting gate. Count-down is starting. Beep-five, beep-four, beep-three, beep-two, beep-one, beeeeeeeeep-GO!</i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span> </span>Yes, this time would be different.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">Located on Argentina’s Atlantic coast, the city of Mar del Plata is about 400 kilometers south of Buenos Aires – the second largest city in the Buenos Aires province after the capital itself. Mar del Plata was built essentially on national and international tourism; it’s the quintessential South American beach city, complete with a host of hotels, restaurants, casinos, and golf courses. It also hosted the 1995 Pan American Games, which attests to the city’s certain athletic panache.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span> </span>Subsequently, it was here that we were plunked for the 2012 Pan American Continental Track Cycling Championships. After roughly 20 hours of planes and airports, as well as a five and half hour bus ride, it’s only fitting that I was genuinely enamored with Mar del Plata. This went beyond the normal gritty fieriness that I enjoy about South America in general. The vast expanse of ranches and grassland we had covered to get there belied the vibrant mixture Old World European-styled architecture and modern coastal flair of the city itself. It’s lively, loud, and eclectic. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span> </span>Plus the steaks were to die for. Anyone who tries to tell you otherwise about Argentina’s meat products should be smacked. Period. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">After months of trying to rebound from Colombia, I was ready to sink my teeth in Argentina. Immediately we settled into the all-too-familiar, enticingly chaotic routine of the South American bike racing scene. <i>Game on</i>. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">It was if, for a moment, the morning breeze was being held like baited breath. Liz and I sat in the ready area for the team sprint in anticipation of our qualifying heat. We had practiced handfuls of starts together prior to departing Los Angeles and upon getting to the track in Mar del Plata. The track here was 250 meters of outdoor concrete, a seemingly far cry from the protected indoor wooded tracks we had raced on before. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span> </span><i>It matters a lot less in the pole lane, assuming I can get on Liz’s wheel.</i> We had started perfectly in practice the day before. Somewhere in training my breathing rhythm had clicked, my bodily mechanics slowly and consciously aligned to enhance my start. We were ready. We had to be.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span> </span>But as I sat in the plastic lawn chair on the home straight, all my demons from the Cali World Cup came screaming out of the closet. The frozen legs as the gate released, the wheel bobble, Liz slowly pulling further and further away with each pedal stroke, all replayed in my head as I remembered the disaster. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span> </span><i>Not this time. You just nailed it yesterday. You visualized your perfection last night. You will do this.</i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span> </span>At the call of “Estados Unidos!” we rose from our seats and went to the start line; Liz got situated in the gate as Ben rolled me up next to her. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span> </span>“Cincuenta segundos!” <i>Hands on top of the bars, deep belly breathing. Yoga’s good for stuff, see?</i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span> </span>“Treinta segundos!” <i>Keep breathing. Remember, hips forward and up.</i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span> </span>“Deiz segundos!” <i>Hands in the drops. Breathe in on the odd counts, out on the evens.</i> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span> </span>Beep-<i>five</i>, beep-<i>four</i>, beep-<i>three</i>, beep-<i>two</i>, beep-<i>one</i>, beeeeeeeeep-<i>GO!</i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><i><span> </span></i>It was the scene I had played in my mind’s eye the night before. Our start was perfectly synched as the gate released; I filed directly behind Liz before the middle of the first turn, building smooth speed as I latched onto her wheel in her draft. <i>Leave a gap, take a run</i>. By turn four Liz was swinging up for the transition and I slung myself ahead. I barreled along the black line for my second lap, legs cranking against the lactic strain in my quads and hamstrings.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span> </span>I busted across the line with a guttural yelp and swung up to graze the rail, hoping, praying for a satisfactory time. <i>Holy hell</i>.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span> </span>Jamie gave us the news as I spun on the rollers: we had qualified second behind Venezuela and would be riding against them in the gold final ride-off in the evening. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span> </span>“Dana, that was the best start I’ve ever seen you do. Ever.” <i>Mind: blown</i>.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">That afternoon I eased onto my bed and watched the ceiling fan wobble precariously as its blades whirled in a breezy blur. My open palms faced skyward, my feet splayed lazily outward. Outside, gulls squawked overhead and boats bobbed on the deep green Atlantic in the distance. A tired taxi horn blared somewhere down below. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">We were in the gold final. It would be easy to get wrapped up in anticipation of the races to come already. But the sprint and keirin were far off – and whatever happened in those races happened. The focus was here and now, and I had to visualize accordingly. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span> </span><i>Let’s get this</i>. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">Shakira blasted over the loudspeaker – it’s difficult to attain maximum groovitude at a sporting event without a decidedly Latin beat. I tapped my cleats on the concrete as we sat in the ready area on the backstretch. The Colombian team sprint team sat next to us as they prepared to ride off for bronze. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span> </span>I glanced to my right at the Colombian starter and extended a fist in an offertory good luck fist bump. She met my knuckles with hers and smiled, braces glinting; I smiled and nodded back. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">We watched as the Colombians clinched bronze in a perfectly-executed ride.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span> </span> It was our turn; we settled into the starting formation as usual. <i>Just more of the same</i>. The countdown and breathing began.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span> </span><i>Breathe and GO</i>.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">We finished second after Venezuela edged us by 0.3 seconds – close enough that it should have felt like a crushing defeat. Compared to my Cali ride, however, it was perfect. Nothing to cry about there. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">* </span></div>Dana Feisshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16280782796284244457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1424468278474574376.post-46594026918252766662012-01-01T23:09:00.000-08:002012-01-04T09:41:18.492-08:00Blurtful<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">Blurtful (<i>adj.</i>): inadvertent in nature and with the potential to be harmful to feelings, image, self-esteem, or judgment. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">My team mates and I were walking down the hallway in the Team USA building on our way to the dining yurt of the PanAm Games athlete’s village. At this point, we cyclists had been on the ground in Guadalajara for only a few days; a handful of athletes and staff were still trickling in before competition began. Liz Reap, Maddie Godby, Robin Farina and I were about to board the elevator when off walked USAC’s Olympic Team leader Ken Whelpdale. Liz greeted him with her usual friendly “Hello!” (as Liz seems to know all of the important people) and we went in a semi-circle of introductions. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"> “Hi, I’m Ken, ” he said as he extended his hand to me.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"> “Hey, I’m Dana. Dana Feiss,” I replied with a firm shake. <i>Not too firm, not too lame. MAN-SHAKE.</i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"> “Ah, so you’re our keirin racer,” he asked.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"> “Yep, that’s me.”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"> “Feeling good and ready?”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"> “Aw, hell yeah! Ready to murder some bitches!” I piped emphatically.<i> Oh, man. Did I really just say that? Blurtful. Didn't even flinch.</i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"> Ken blinked for a beat and straightened up. “Well, okay then!” He made his way to the coaches’ room and we proceeded to file into the elevator. As the doors closed, Liz glanced at me.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"> “You realize who you just said that to?” she said. “That’s our team leader and USOC representative right there. Might want to be careful what you say.”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"> <i>Didn’t the intros already cover this?</i> “Oh. Shit. Hmm.” I’ve said before that I have peculiar neurological condition in which my lips move when I think – the end result being statements that often push the limits of social grace. In this particular instance I had had a terrible lapse. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"> Robin chuckled and said “That was awesome.”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"> “Send me off to the ladies room the next time we run into someone important,” I huffed. I gave Robin a half-hearted high-five and studied the linoleum as we descended, trying to decide if I should be proud or ashamed.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">I would learn later in the week that not only did Ken himself curse like a sailor, but that he was rather impressed with my confident response. My stupid knee-jerk reaction turned out to be one of my more socially savvy achievements. <i>Two points for Dana – blurts be praised!</i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">The New Year is everyone’s time to pick something that we need to change about ourselves. We vow to do something that will make us better individuals in some way: lose weight; drive less; get fluorescent light bulbs; be friendlier. But what about things we <i>like</i> about ourselves? </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"> Understand that I’m all in favor of resolutions for self-improvement. But, to add to that, here’s my New Year’s proposition: find something that you like yourself and won’t change, no matter what. It doesn’t matter who you are or what you do – chances are that you bring at least one cool and good quality to the table. Something you think a flaw just might be a saving grace.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"> <i>Go be blurtful if you want. But more importantly: Train hard, ride well, love yourself, and be good to everyone else. Let’s make 2012 awesome – GO TEAM!</i><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><i>* </i></div></div>Dana Feisshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16280782796284244457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1424468278474574376.post-41571573504442397942011-12-11T10:39:00.000-08:002011-12-11T10:44:42.398-08:00Black Belts<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">I was slumped down on the kitchen floor and leaning against the dishwasher; I had my knees hugged to my chest and my feet pigeon-toed in. The Trader Joe’s shopping bag lay limp on the tile – I had momentarily forgotten the post-travel grocery mission in favor of conversation. I peered at the tips of my Vans and held the phone to my ear.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"> “It’s tough, you know? I know it’s bike racing, but sometimes I still need wrap my head around this whole thing,” I said.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"> My father cleared his throat. “You work very hard, and these are World Cups. Lots of competition, seasoned riders,” he said. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"> “Gah. I completely agree. Doesn’t mean I don’t want to kick ass.”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"> “You know, there are no two-year black belts.”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"> <i>What?</i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">My elbow skimmed the rail at the top of the track. For a split second the stadium was illuminated in white; a crack of thunder reverberated though the bleachers and over the boards on which we rolled. A light tropical rain flicked my glasses as Liz and I wound up and dove to the pole lane in a team sprint formation.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"> <i>Yeah. Feeling good. Just another training day in Colombia.</i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><i> </i>I was immediately enamored with the track. Technically the Cali velodrome is indoor, but to explain it properly: it’s 250 meters of outdoor and covered tropical hardwood – an open-air venue, if you will. It meets the basic UCI and Olympic-caliber track requirements. However, being always open, the track has a tendency to take on water as well as host moths and beetles the size of small dogs. It’s less of a nuisance than one would think; I prefer to consider it as “keeping things lively” – something for which South America in general has a certain propensity. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV4-Vu0KEB6VoR10hcHrFt2uZqkDdtmOZN_EkrkFY0zw-A_nWIvqelzPrKqTGcddVSZyo4QDNecF9pCRs-PCrtmhd3M1dXdZOdKwmg9vAHauQh4EVXHrb9krHtZzHNMKNprsuBzBjCVEk/s1600/Cali+WC+2011+007.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV4-Vu0KEB6VoR10hcHrFt2uZqkDdtmOZN_EkrkFY0zw-A_nWIvqelzPrKqTGcddVSZyo4QDNecF9pCRs-PCrtmhd3M1dXdZOdKwmg9vAHauQh4EVXHrb9krHtZzHNMKNprsuBzBjCVEk/s320/Cali+WC+2011+007.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"> We had touched down in Cali a few days before – it was now Tuesday and we were doing our final race prep for our first event, the team sprint. Things were going fine, all factors considered. I was feeling a little apprehensive about this particular race – it occurred to me that I hadn’t done a real team sprint race since Nationals at the beginning of October; it was now December. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><i>So what? I’m here and I’m feeling good, feeling strong. Ready to race? Hell yeah, ready to murder some bitches.</i><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">We shoved off the line and immediately my front wheel bobbled. <i>Not good, not good, not good.</i> <i>Panic!</i> I heaved myself forward with each pedal stroke, but already I was watching my team sprint partner pull away from me.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"> At turn two she was two bike lengths ahead. <i>Crap</i>. Turn three, turn four, she was still out of range as she pulled up and I swung through.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"> Ding, ding!</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"> We hadn’t predicted much better than tenth for our team sprint, but more could have been expected for our execution. <i>That was terrible. Period.</i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">I was certain that there was nothing worse than completely flubbing a ride in front all of Colombia. I tried to take the next couple days to focus on what I considered the “real” racing: the sprints and the keirin. In the 200-meter I rode almost the same time in Cali as I did in Astana; it wasn’t enough to make the tournament. Tactically, my keirins were improving: I narrowly missed qualifying through the second round by riding from the front. It was difficult to decide if I should feel frustrated with the misses or happy with the progress. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><i>Dude, I could write the book on mixed emotions right now. What do I do with all of this?</i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">I uncurled my legs and readjusted my seat bones as I cradled my cell. “What? What’s that mean?”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"> “There are no two year black belts,” my father said again. “In martial arts, belts tell a fighter’s skill level. Black belts take a while to earn, and there are levels.”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"> “How many levels?”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"> “Sometimes six, sometimes twelve, depending on the fighting style. But anyway – my point is that anyone who gets a ‘black belt’ in as little as two years didn’t really <i>earn</i> it. There’s a difference between a black belt and someone whose belt happens to be black, you see? Stuff takes time.”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"> “Got it. I’m going to be a black belt. Bike-wise, that is.” </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"> “That’s it. Proud of you.”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"> “Thanks, Dad. Love you, too.”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">*</div>Dana Feisshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16280782796284244457noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1424468278474574376.post-61841784947236297582011-11-23T01:41:00.000-08:002011-11-23T21:09:08.334-08:00All Saints Day<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><i>Author’s Note: This incident happened a few months ago, but I feel that it’s still relevant and worth sharing. Like the rest of my posts, this one was crafted according to detailed notes. Please enjoy.</i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><i>This is madness. I’m at least half blind and it feels like there’s a fork in my hamstrings. This is not good.</i> Fridays are generally welcomed by the average American. It’s the end of the work week, an open door to the weekend, and usually a casual, relaxed weekday. Fridays in Dana Land are met each week with a strange mix of anticipation and dread – and this one was no exception. The end of Team USA’s work week is graced by three different workouts, and I had just finished my last set of the day’s third session: lactic 500-meter repeats; it put the <i>aaaaack</i> in lactic. Pain was radiating up from my legs, through my ass and abs and out across my shoulders. My left eye was involuntarily clenched shut and my arms were seizing in spirals of acidic agony. I slumped over my bike as I rolled around the track apron. I would have thrown up, but my stomach was empty; the last meal I had eaten was at 10 a.m. and it was now 3:30 p.m. <i>I could die right now. I could flop down and pass out and that would be fine. Dear God, just make the pain stop. Why do I do this?</i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"> He was there when my vision cleared: a man in white painter’s pants and a white t-shirt standing at the top of the bleachers, smiling and waving. I glanced and waved back with my still-tingling arm. <i>What the hell?</i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">Ben is a barrel-chested man of medium height in his late fifties to early sixties – no one is quite sure of his age. His shining hazel eyes are encircled by a round, leather-tanned face that nearly always wears a smile; his long salt-n-pepper hair hangs past his shoulders in unkempt strings. He likes to dress in white. And he loves track cycling, as well as the athletes that race and train for it. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"> On this particular day Ben had been in the stands watching our team work out. We had all seen him around the track from time to time, but none of us really knew much about him. Today he would have seen every painful pedal stroke, had he not slipped out for a few moments. He arrived back at the track with two platters of Subway sandwiches – along with ten Bank of America envelopes, each with a twenty-dollar bill inside; one for every rider at training. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"> We ate and were merry for the fact that someone cared enough to do this for us. I looked down at the envelope in my hand. <i>Twenty bucks. I’m going to go to Sprouts and buy as many mangoes as I can. Or maybe I’ll save it for when I need it. Somethin</i>g. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">It didn't really matter after such a hellish workout. The mere gesture was cool by itself. <i>Who would do this for a bunch of rag-tag American cyclists?</i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">I saw Ben as I made my way to the door after the post-training festivities. I smiled and gave him a real wave, along with a handshake and a formal introduction. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"> “That was so wonderful, what you did for us today. Really, we can’t thank you enough,” I said.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"> “It was my pleasure. You guys train so hard, it’s beautiful to watch. So inspiring,” he replied. “We should help you any way possible. And I have the means. It’s just right.”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"> “Well, it was awesome. It means so much to us as athletes to know that people care about us. I dunno, maybe sometimes we forget.” People like this made training worth every ounce of lactic acid. I looked straight at him and grinned. “I’m going to call you Saint Ben. Because you are!”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"> Ben laughed and shook his Wild Man of Borneo locks. “Okay.”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"> <i>Yeah, I know why I do this.</i></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">*</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"> </div>Dana Feisshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16280782796284244457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1424468278474574376.post-61951108676917786912011-11-22T12:02:00.000-08:002011-11-22T22:20:34.394-08:00Back to School<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">I breathed in the scent of drywall and polished hardwood as I walked into the empty gymnasium; each footstep made its own resounding echo across the basketball court and out to the bleachers. “The Den of the Lobos” was painted in black and orange along each white wall, accompanied by banners and plaques displaying the school’s sports records. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"> It was the first time I had set foot in a high school since graduating from own in 2008. I was preparing to present to all of the sports teams of Los Amigos High School on my experience as an elite athlete – I had to take a moment to get my bearings as to what it was like to be in a high school again. The gym in particular here in was very similar to the one I had used myself three years ago in Pennsylvania. Everything looked smaller and older and more worn than I remembered. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">This plan to present had been hatched just a few days before I left for Kazakhstan. My friend and housemate, Lori, is a physical education teacher at Los Amigos; Lori herself is an Olympian who went to Barcelona in’92 for team handball. We had gotten to talking about the plight of athletics in public schools – and how that tends to carry over into other areas. She told me how sports aren’t available at the middle school level for Los Amigos. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">“The kids aren’t encouraged to do sports” she explained. “And once they can play in high school, it’s difficult to keep that fire to play alive. No one tells them <i>what </i>they can achieve, <i>that </i>they can achieve.” Lori stressed the trickle down from athletics to academics, and how students’ ability to focus on sports tends to go hand in hand with focusing on school. Those that see the value in both with excel in both. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">My aim was to impress upon these kids, by way of example, not just how awesome sports can be (<i>everybody knows that, right?</i>) but how important it is set goals.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">The kids began to file in – over 200 of them – and take their seats on the floor. I had made sure to wear my garb from the PanAmerican Games – it’s the only stuff I own with the Olympic rings on it, and I figured it would make a statement. I sat on the floor among the students as Lori welcomed them in and introduced the “special guest.” I popped up when she said my name and pointed in my direction. I probably would have felt more impressive if I wasn’t about a foot shorter than everyone else in the audience. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"> We kicked off with a video called <i>Dare to Dream</i> which Lori got a while back as courtesy of the U.S. Olympic Committee. <i>Cue dramatic soundtrack and inspiring sports cinematography</i>. We used about three minutes of this to set the mood. <i>Bingo</i>.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"> I introduced myself and briefly explained track cycling. <i>It’s Nascar for bikes except we don’t have brakes. We chase motorcycles and beat the crap out of each other as well as ourselves</i>. I then proceeded to share my own story: how I got started; my journey over the past four years; recent competitions; a typical training day. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"> <i>My God, there are a lot of kids here. I’ll be lucky if what I’m saying gets through to half of them</i>.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"> The natural flow of the presentation went nicely into a question-and-answer session. Thank goodness; oddly enough, I hate talking about myself and was starting to get uncomfortable. <i>Cool.</i> <i>Let’s see who’s been paying attention and who’s still curious. </i>Hands crept up and bunches of questions bubbled out. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"> “What do you do to prepare for a competition? How do you get ready?”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"> <i>Well,</i> <i>I try to keep calm and relaxed for as long as possible. Then, once at the line, I get really intense and ready to commit murders</i>. “I’m a big fan of visualization. Study videos, get a mental plan of how you’re going to execute during race time or game time. Once you have a plan, just relax, maybe zone out to your ipod, and keep focused on what you’re going to do.”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"> “How did you manage to go to school and do cycling full-time?”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"> <i>Dude, it was hard. It was 5 a.m.-to-11 p.m., two-workouts-and-eight-hours-of-classes kind of hard. Days-in-the-hurt-box, no-sleep kind of hard. But it was worth it</i>. “It was all about time management. You work it out in your schedule, on a spreadsheet, how you’re going to fit in both. There’s not as much social time as you might want, but that’s part of the deal. And it’s important, that whole ‘school’ thing. No matter what happens, a degree is something that no one can take from you once you have it.”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"> “How do you stay motivated through all your training?”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"> <i>Blind faith, sir, blind faith. I have to keep believing that if I put in the work now that I’m going to get where I want to be – whether that’s right now or four or five years from now.</i> “It’s one part faith and one part toughness. You have to know that your training is going to pay off. That payoff is largely dependent on how you train. For every one day of practice that you feel good – fast, strong, fresh, whatever – there are going to be ten more practices where you just feel like crap. They hurt, but you need to get through them. You have to know that it’s those days, the hurt days, that make you accomplished. They make you better.”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">About fifty kids lingered after I finished my presentation – the soccer, water polo, cross country, and track teams hung out and continued to ask me questions. I took photos, signed notebooks, and gave out hugs and high-fives. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"> <i>Sweet, I made an impression! About fifty kids’ worth, actually. I should go back to school more often.</i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><i>* </i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"> </div>Dana Feisshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16280782796284244457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1424468278474574376.post-2508164424060124752011-11-12T07:29:00.000-08:002012-01-01T23:45:46.052-08:00Borat Was Wrong<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">In 2006, Sacha Baron Cohen released the mockumentary and comedic sensation that was <i>Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan.</i> The satirical story follows a Kazakh journalist along his journey through America. A master of stereotypical characters, Cohen enlightened the American public to the socioeconomic plight of Kazakhstan through his (in)famous role. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"> I was a junior in high school that year – and hoping to have a better grip on my future by the time the following year rolled around. College sounded like a good idea; the tricky part was nailing down where to go and what to go for. I had good grades, hometown friends, track and field, and no immediate plans. Fabulous. Too bad I wasted eight bucks on that damn movie. It wasn’t even that funny and I could have used that cash for other things – like lip gloss or something. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"> Four years later, I found myself in Astana, Kazakhstan for my first-ever UCI World Cup. I never thought I would find myself here, of all places – and as a member of the US national team, with an Olympic goal, for all reasons. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"> <i>Holy hell. </i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsyWSTRmGHueANT_Ws5TnMXP2tBKis7LKKj-E_o6BBGamKwnjy0DAyaqM1y9h-Ae6OrgkAQUyG5pXXe_UHu2sP308QVSwfcD-ImZTRvjWkXQ3EJ3B_wTcqjtRuaQ_7hzneAkrp5InTMLA/s1600/Kazakhstan+2011+135.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsyWSTRmGHueANT_Ws5TnMXP2tBKis7LKKj-E_o6BBGamKwnjy0DAyaqM1y9h-Ae6OrgkAQUyG5pXXe_UHu2sP308QVSwfcD-ImZTRvjWkXQ3EJ3B_wTcqjtRuaQ_7hzneAkrp5InTMLA/s320/Kazakhstan+2011+135.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">First of all, <i>Borat</i> was wrong, at least in part. The capital city of Astana is exceptionally nice – almost <i>too</i> nice. Kazakhstan gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991 and designated the small city as the new capital in 1995. Development began and the capital was officially moved from Almaty to Astana in 1997. The result was an ultra-modern city so new that there appears to be very little remnants of true Kazakh culture. High-tech office buildings, hotels, apartment complexes, and shopping malls make up most of the cityscape; it’s unclear as to whether there are even enough people in the area to fill up this created space. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDKlNeoaXV8lcr8_tx-UQkAqy-Oi2FqHPFkGSp11frSqfKqbd5r4Yoe3rMllJ41KsOLkVue3F3uzG2MKn0cViNIbk7EupCmTiHpJ3w7meLVbpXEsmm_9KX2onrqMZEGIv45Jtt9KCkecc/s1600/Kazakhstan+2011+152.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDKlNeoaXV8lcr8_tx-UQkAqy-Oi2FqHPFkGSp11frSqfKqbd5r4Yoe3rMllJ41KsOLkVue3F3uzG2MKn0cViNIbk7EupCmTiHpJ3w7meLVbpXEsmm_9KX2onrqMZEGIv45Jtt9KCkecc/s320/Kazakhstan+2011+152.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMAaw9yovovU0Zqbl0R4UIGemqvrlsd6dWlpITO2EqT1JIPCiXV6_T0vNANxyZsSp07W08QPK37BsVOgz6XqaKtakZmCxbPY6SSGzrhVeswhJDj_NtQuxawCufbS6rJ3sGOCbqpMwQw2k/s1600/Kazakhstan+2011+160.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMAaw9yovovU0Zqbl0R4UIGemqvrlsd6dWlpITO2EqT1JIPCiXV6_T0vNANxyZsSp07W08QPK37BsVOgz6XqaKtakZmCxbPY6SSGzrhVeswhJDj_NtQuxawCufbS6rJ3sGOCbqpMwQw2k/s320/Kazakhstan+2011+160.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"> This is Kazakhstan’s huge stores of oil money at work. The locals that mill about the city are polite, pretty, and well dressed; a sizeable chunk of the population knows English. The young ones seemed friendly. However, we were cautioned that the older population still harbors icky feelings towards Americans from the Cold War – and we were therefore advised to pretend to be Canadians or Brits when out and about. <i>Awesome.</i> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"> Our four-star hotel , the Dumont, had 15 stories and was occupied by most of the teams in town for the World Cup – only a handful of teams were in the Radisson across town. It was like a dorm, or quite possibly the world’s largest international locker room, but classy – complete with high ceilings and granite walls and floors. I was out of my element in that regard, sure enough, but the poor hotel staff was probably worse off. Cram 100-plus track cyclists into one building and see what happens.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"> Actually, what happens is just a lot of odd meals, bike traffic, and roller noise – at least until after racing. Then a bit of beer happens. Enough said. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><i>It’s 80 degrees in here and yet there’s still a cold spot in turn one. What the hell? Focus. It doesn’t matter. What does matter is going fast. </i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"> I made my way up from the blue line and to the rail, just like always. The track felt almost exactly like the home track in Los Angeles – the difference was it was only six months old and looked clean enough to eat off of. We had been in town for a week, mostly getting over the 23 hours of travel required to get there. I was now beginning the wind-up for my 200-meter qualifier, and my biggest concern was simply that I would have enough legs just to keep me from looking like a goober on the world stage. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"> <i>First lap, second lap, it’s just like home, it’s just like home. Pressure on the pedals. Goose it here. Omigod, stand! Stand now!</i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"> Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding!</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"> I rolled a personal best for a sea level track, but it wasn’t fast enough to make the tournament. I was a little dismayed, but not surprised. After all, this was a World Cup. Plus, it was Baby’s First World Cup; I was just happy to be there at that point – we all have to start somewhere, right?</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">I swallowed hard as I waited in the buffet line. It was 6:30 p.m., a.k.a feeding time, on Friday night and a handful of Brits had just walked into the dining room. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"> <i>Oh God. That’s him. </i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"> Chris Hoy filed in line directly behind me – I was now in fact standing next to track cycling royalty. I let out a whoosh of air. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"> <i>Don’t panic. He’s just a bike racer, just like you. Don’t panic. Actually, he’s shorter in person than I thought. Don’t panic. </i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"> We shuffled down the row of food, bypassing the buttered vegetables and mystery meat. Hoy leaned over for the tongs, looked at me, and said “Nice that the food’s actually hot today, eh?”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"> <i>Yes, you are. Very. Um . . . what? Shut up, brain, shut up.</i>“Hm. Um. Er. Uh, yeah, totally!” I stammered. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><i>Good work. A moment of silence, please, for our dear friend, Conversation.</i> I scuttled to the Team USA table before I could blurt out anything else. <i> </i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">Sitting up squarely on my seat, I leaned over to Jamie and blinked. “Any last nuggets of advice?” </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"> “Get second or third. Be patient. And <i>do not</i> panic.”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"> <i>Hm. I wish</i> I <i>had thought of that.</i> We were lined up for the keirin repechage – Sandie Claire of France, Daniela Larreal of Venezuela, the Ukrainian, the Korean, and I comprised heat four. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"> <i>Don’t panic. Don’t panic. It’s a keirin and you’re riding a big gear. Don’t panic, just race.</i> I tipped down into my bars and got set.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"> Bang!</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"> I settled into fourth position and waited, controlling my speed and making space behind the Ukrainian. Five laps, four laps, three laps to go. The motor swung off on the back. With two laps to go I rose from seat and made as if to sprint, hoping to spook the three riders in front into action. <i>Panic, panic, panic. For God’s sake, will you people go already?</i> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">Oh, they went – fast. I was trailing the Venezuelan, the Frenchwoman and the Ukrainian going into the bell lap. I swept up the Venezuelan in between turns three and four, but couldn’t catch the other two before hitting the line. It was hard not to feel a bit disappointed – I am a bike racer, after all, and this was my favorite type of bike race. But this was the international stage, and this was a World Cup for a reason.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><i>I<span style="font-size: small;">’ll take that for Baby’s First World Cup. Eat your heart out, </span></i><i><span style="font-size: small;">Borat</span></i><i><span style="font-size: small;">. Kazakhstan rocks. </span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center; text-indent: 0.5in;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">* </span></i></div><i style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></i>Dana Feisshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16280782796284244457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1424468278474574376.post-44804018868705510432011-10-26T23:37:00.000-07:002011-11-21T08:46:09.117-08:00I Came To Dance<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">There was a Cuban on my left and a Colombian on my right. The unusual precariousness of my situation had officially sunk in as I tried to put on my harshest, scariest face.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">“Just stick with the plan and you’ll be fine,” Jamie said.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">I blinked and gave him a curt nod. “Okay. Got it.”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">As I sat at the line, I attempted to do two things: A) come to terms with the fact that I was indeed in the keirin final at the Pan American Games; and B) convince myself that I would be okay. <i>I’m here. I can do this. Probably. Maybe. Well, yes, I suppose. Definitely.</i> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"> The plan itself was simple: be at least in fourth position with two laps to go. Trust the gut and see what happens. <i>Genius</i>. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"> “Big push,” I said. I leaned over and plunked my hands into the drops. After shaking my ponytail from my face and giving a quick snort, I sank back on my seat bones and prepared for the gun.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"> “Turn three . . . turn four.”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"> Bang! <i>Game on.</i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">Bike racing is like dancing. One can’t learn to dance if she doesn’t get out on the floor – and when one does get out on the floor, there’s the worry of looking silly as a first-timer. Last week the Pan American Games was, in my eyes, my first <i>real</i> international competition. True, I had the PanAm track championships and the Colorado Springs Grand Prix under my belt. However, at the former I did a two-lap time trial; the latter happened in my own back yard. Somehow that’s like one going to a sock hop when she wants to be break dancing. It doesn’t feel quite right or the same.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"> I touched down in Mexico knowing exactly what I was doing there: the sprints and the keirin. We had had trials at the beginning of August and I had earned both spots based on times. I’m all for quantitative data, but I don’t consider myself a time trialist – I just like to race my bike. I was happy to see my USA team mates Liz Carlson and Maddie Godby prepared to kill the team sprint. I’d take the <i>races</i>. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvuxoR2Cd81lo6dACUSLp7yqcedKfiQ2QEVKLjO9ICMpZjNRNwXJukxN9T4dH-qlBdPbudgrTWtBj4c6Cej7nWUnwxrhqGagvcQrO5reteckxMDnFRMmmzP-iSpBGqbd-C1xwPuiz3nD4/s1600/PanAm+Games+2011+034.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvuxoR2Cd81lo6dACUSLp7yqcedKfiQ2QEVKLjO9ICMpZjNRNwXJukxN9T4dH-qlBdPbudgrTWtBj4c6Cej7nWUnwxrhqGagvcQrO5reteckxMDnFRMmmzP-iSpBGqbd-C1xwPuiz3nD4/s320/PanAm+Games+2011+034.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"> The PanAm Games had a less business-like feel than the previous races. Instead of the standard hotel-track-hotel game plan, we lived as if on a college campus – minus the classes. After team processing in Houston (team processing: i.e. get lots of free USA swag) we came to Guadalajara for one of the largest-scale competitions in the world – for the United States, it’s second in prestige only to the Olympics. It’s kind of a big deal. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKa8zEUz6KLq0VlzU3QHmSTt5-QeDgkD_Pry7BH-Qlj0c6GvW1gtCpxZx8nxK_jX8juAM75zxHxS8y0XekjVXpfflqpKONl39SagEwSWFrfktikpQtnUyFrnuY3KZsKxBZdlPmTrxMqEE/s1600/PanAm+Games+2011+006.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKa8zEUz6KLq0VlzU3QHmSTt5-QeDgkD_Pry7BH-Qlj0c6GvW1gtCpxZx8nxK_jX8juAM75zxHxS8y0XekjVXpfflqpKONl39SagEwSWFrfktikpQtnUyFrnuY3KZsKxBZdlPmTrxMqEE/s320/PanAm+Games+2011+006.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYYJ6kA-t18afGykeF2kWdT8mSCpxVlYI-teDJoMpj9CZDOKW3kCluVVh_pqAggi9VQHj5Z6A_K38eLdGRv-uq9qdDENU-nFyuiJzipXdjquKtg0DU2FHbhJhtOj1Ytw1dR99D16VdjQI/s1600/PanAm+Games+2011+043.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYYJ6kA-t18afGykeF2kWdT8mSCpxVlYI-teDJoMpj9CZDOKW3kCluVVh_pqAggi9VQHj5Z6A_K38eLdGRv-uq9qdDENU-nFyuiJzipXdjquKtg0DU2FHbhJhtOj1Ytw1dR99D16VdjQI/s320/PanAm+Games+2011+043.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigtKVQBs43YlBkGSi8It5UQ86WW7c1xaPHQOzeGElcOOv40faIE7AHsPUyIwjBPR5avW-7cLEWsQAaa7psaZVCbhEmjThAXJXkgencB0Wr7M8I4nRNfqBj7flUkvAQVqL68tXdvIpTt-o/s1600/PanAm+Games+2011+038.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigtKVQBs43YlBkGSi8It5UQ86WW7c1xaPHQOzeGElcOOv40faIE7AHsPUyIwjBPR5avW-7cLEWsQAaa7psaZVCbhEmjThAXJXkgencB0Wr7M8I4nRNfqBj7flUkvAQVqL68tXdvIpTt-o/s320/PanAm+Games+2011+038.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">Having the chance to mingle with other athletes, from both our own country and others, reinforced that idea of prestige but also made it more fun and relaxing at the same time. The dining hall and international zone were the Spanglish social zones; the dorms, sorted by country, were the team solidarity headquarters. It was certainly a strange paradox, to say the least.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"> With so much going on, it was easy to get distracted – but there’s also a fine line between focused and stressed. It was important to switch on the race brain once I got to the track – especially since the USA team had a good chance to do well. I had to remember the mission and what I had come to do personally and for the team.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"> You can't dance unless you get on the floor, and I came to dance. It might have been my first Games, but I was still there to race.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">Seven riders launched from the line at the sound of the gun. I knew a handful of these riders from the sprints a couple days before – the Cuban especially, since it was she whom I had had to race in the first round; I managed 6<sup>th</sup> overall and wanted better. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"> We rode two wide for the first three laps, everyone jockeying for the best position as the motor gained speed. The Cuban crashed going into lap four after getting too snuggly with the Mexican – a lucky break for me, as it shook the lineup and I was able to move out of sixth position and closer to the front. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"> As the motor swung off at the two-and-a-half mark, the pace immediately quickened. <i>Thank God I slapped on the 100-inch gear for this</i>. I was sitting in fourth and had to act. Soon. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"> Ding, ding!</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"> Three riders were doing battle at the front and caused the rest of the group to swing up, opening a hole below. I took a huge breath dove down to the left.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"> <i>I hope I don’t get relegated for this.</i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"> As I hit the pole lane I hammered the pedals as hard as I could, swallowing up the Colombian and Brazilian after the pursuit line.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"> Turn three. The Mexican closed the door before I could get beneath.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">Turn four. I chased the Venezuelan and the Mexican as fast as my legs could turn. I hit the white line with the two in front, all else behind.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><i>Bronze! I just won bronze! </i>Who would have thought? </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">We stood on the podium with our medals and turned to face the flags as they sank from the ceiling. They might have been playing Venezuela’s anthem, but my eyes were watching <i>my </i>flag. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"> I was so happy I felt like dancing. I cried a little bit, but I also could have danced. Tango, two-step, freestyle, anything. I had done what I had come to do.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">*</div>Dana Feisshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16280782796284244457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1424468278474574376.post-71536358760807454052011-10-13T21:08:00.000-07:002011-10-13T21:08:23.560-07:00Like Wonder Woman But Different<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves/> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:DoNotPromoteQF/> <w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/> <w:DontVertAlignCellWithSp/> <w:DontBreakConstrainedForcedTables/> <w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/> <w:Word11KerningPairs/> <w:CachedColBalance/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> <m:mathPr> <m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/> <m:brkBin m:val="before"/> <m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/> <m:smallFrac m:val="off"/> <m:dispDef/> <m:lMargin m:val="0"/> <m:rMargin m:val="0"/> <m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/> <m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/> <m:intLim m:val="subSup"/> <m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/> </m:mathPr></w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">When I was six years old, I sat with my classmates in a circle as we talked about what we wanted to be when we grew up. My friends wanted to be teachers, nurses, ballerinas. I wanted to be a Power Ranger. I wanted the tight suit and slick helmet, the super powers, the lightning-fast karate moves. I wanted to use my giant, ultra-cool robot to make intergalactic bad guys beg for mercy. Yep, that would be pretty awesome.</span> <div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span> </span>Now fast-forward about fifteen years: being a cyclist seems to be the closest one could possibly get to being a superhero. I wear a Lycra red, white, and blue skinsuit stamped with “USA” on the chest and legs. By the power of fast-twitch muscle fibers, I zip around a banked track at crazy-high speeds – just because I can. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span> </span>The 2011 Elite Track Nationals were held in Los Angeles not quite two weeks ago, and it was then that it occurred to me how super track cyclists can be.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">The stadium was packed fuller than I had ever seen it. It was Saturday night of Nationals and I was prepping for the second gold medal ride of the sprint tournament. I had won the women’s keirin the night before and was hoping for a repeat in the sprints as well. The evening’s events had been tailored towards the audience’s entertainment as well as the racers’ performance; some kids racing had been mixed into the program between the elite races, so there were more young faces in the stands and on the infield than usual.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span> </span>The kids racing were some that I had worked with on and off during my time in L.A. I realized as I sat on the infield that most of them had never actually seen me kitted up and in race mode. Naturally, that wasn’t exactly the biggest concern of mine at the moment, but it was there. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span> </span>As I sat on the line for the second ride of the round, I went through my mental plan, reviewing my strategy. It went as most sprints go for the first two laps: the riders maneuver around and goad each other into position for the final sprint. I had my opponent, training partner Cristin Walker, on my hip and exactly where I wanted her into one lap to go.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span> </span>That’s when I heard it. Coming out of turn four into the final lap, I heard the kids on the infield chanting my name. In any other race situation, any noises from the stands just sounds like white noise; this was quite clear.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span> </span>Crap. I better not mess this up.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span> </span><i>Ding, ding!</i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span> </span>Cristin began to initiate the sprint and it was on. I shot to the pole lane and barreled along the black line as fast as my legs would churn. The video later would show me bursting across the line first to win the title in two rides. I wasn’t thinking of that at the time, but rather that now I could finally use the rest room. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">Jodi is ten years old, has long golden hair and almond-shaped brown eyes set in a perfectly round face. She’s so small that she has her own tiny track bike that she brings to each kiddie training session; the bike has “JoJo Monkey” emblazoned along the top tube. Her jersey bunches around her shoulders and her shorts hang loosely at her knees. She says she wants to be a professional cyclist when she grows up.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span></span> I saw Jodi running at me as I walked down from the podium – she had raced earlier that evening as well, and had her own medal to show for it. She wrapped her arms around me in the tightest ten-year-old’s bear hug I’ve ever received.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span> </span>“You were so awesome!” she yelled up at me.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span> </span>“You were, too! You looked great out there,” I said.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span> </span>“Really?”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span> </span>“Really. Anyone ever tell you that you look good with a medal on? Because it’s true.”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span> </span>“Thanks!” She gave me one last squeeze and scurried off, locks flying and medal swinging. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">I’m not exactly Wonder Woman. I don’t have a cool cape, I can’t actually fly, and I have no hope of filling her Wonder Bra. But if I can inspire kids to start riding bikes – and keep riding them – my mission has been accomplished.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">***</div>Dana Feisshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16280782796284244457noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1424468278474574376.post-41559082927550391742011-08-24T23:15:00.000-07:002011-08-24T23:15:09.990-07:00Rainbows and Butterflies<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves/> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:DoNotPromoteQF/> <w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/> <w:DontVertAlignCellWithSp/> <w:DontBreakConstrainedForcedTables/> <w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/> <w:Word11KerningPairs/> <w:CachedColBalance/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> <m:mathPr> <m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/> <m:brkBin m:val="before"/> <m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/> <m:smallFrac m:val="off"/> <m:dispDef/> <m:lMargin m:val="0"/> <m:rMargin m:val="0"/> <m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/> <m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/> <m:intLim m:val="subSup"/> <m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/> </m:mathPr></w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
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</style> <![endif]--><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">Judging by the size of things, I knew this was going to be different than most race weekends. And when I say <i>by the size of things</i>, I mean the size of my bum and thighs compared to those of the international racers. My glorious golden engine paled in comparison. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">Oh, and the rainbows. There were lots of rainbows, all of which were manifested on cuffs and armbands of skinsuits reserved for world champions. The riders that wore them were plunked in Colorado Springs for the 2011 Winslow BMW Grand Prix of Sprinting. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">This was as close to a World Cup race as I had ever come in terms of competition. In fact, a team mate so accurately described it as “a World Cup race without the World Cup pressure.” It was true. The PanAm championships were close, but I did one race against the clock. It’s a bit different to be racing a keirin with a slew of seasoned international riders. Australia, Canada, Colombia, Holland, and Trinidad were all there in force. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">That’s when the butterflies came. It had been a while since they had last appeared. But upon preparing for the keirin qualifier on Saturday, the butterflies surged through my stomach and into my throat on a wave that was one part anxiety and one part anticipation.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">For the past two months I had been bouncing around the domestic track racing circuit – a handful of races on the west coast, a couple on the east coast, with a whole lot of training in between. This circuit had gotten dangerously close to being comfortable; by this point in the summer season most of the American racers know one another and their particular racing styles. Throw some world champions and other international riders into the mix and you have a whole different race – the riders are brand-new to the locals and well-seasoned in their racing capabilities. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">Not to mention that several teams were sharing space at the U.S. Olympic Training Center just down the road from the track. The campus is like a college campus without the classes: dorms, dining hall, gyms and training areas, offices. It’s funny to sit down in the cafeteria with an Aussie or Canadian or Dutchwoman for lunch and know that you will be slaughtering each other on the track that same evening. But such is sport – nice that it’s all in fun and that we don’t actually kill anyone. <span> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">To summarize the racing, I managed a 3<sup>rd</sup> place in the team sprint and a 5<sup>th</sup> place in the keirin; the sprints could have gone better, but I was happy with the overall results. However, it’s not necessarily the placements that are important, but rather the processes that went into them. I went into this with eyes wide open, embracing the learning opportunity. My abilities for planning and executing tactics in were tested. For example, I chose to attack from the back in the keirin final as opposed to my usual habit of immediately riding from the front. I used it as a chance to test new moves; after all, I was racing the world’s best – I didn’t have much to lose. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">Equally important was not letting the butterflies drive the bike. The sequence is simple: see rainbows, get butterflies. If one is expected to successfully race on the international stage, one must overcome this tendency quickly. Everyone needs to start somewhere, and what better place for me than for this event? </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">I still have my eyes wide open – and I’m grinning. </div>Dana Feisshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16280782796284244457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1424468278474574376.post-55413519544355823172011-06-04T17:02:00.000-07:002011-06-04T17:02:29.356-07:00Visions of Sugar Plums<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves/> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:DoNotPromoteQF/> <w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/> <w:DontVertAlignCellWithSp/> <w:DontBreakConstrainedForcedTables/> <w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/> <w:Word11KerningPairs/> <w:CachedColBalance/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> <m:mathPr> <m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/> <m:brkBin m:val="before"/> <m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/> <m:smallFrac m:val="off"/> <m:dispDef/> <m:lMargin m:val="0"/> <m:rMargin m:val="0"/> <m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/> <m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/> <m:intLim m:val="subSup"/> <m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/> </m:mathPr></w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
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</style> <![endif]--> <div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">After a fall and winter bi-coastal training, I’m finally back in L.A. The idea is to put in as much time as I can with my coach and the rest of the team amid a summer of traveling and racing in preparation for nationals and the next international winter season. Upon arriving home from Colombia, I was home for a week and a half and then almost immediately bounced back to the left coast. It’s good to be home – well, my other home. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">Oddly enough, this will be my first summer training with an actual sprint group. During the past three seasons, I had generally been training on my own with the guidance of my own coach; this experience of training with more than one or two other people on a regular basis is entirely new. As such, there’s a period of adjustment to go through in meshing with the rest of the bunch. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">Understand that my frequent travels and training stints already have me integrated with the team and program – my team mates are awesome, and it’s just plain cool to feel the support between everyone. At the risk of using a terrible cliché, it’s becoming like a family – a masochistic family that painfully trains together. However, apparently there are some team dynamics that I’m still getting the hang of. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">Now, I’ve always considered myself to have decent people skills. On the other hand, I suffer from a very serious and all-too-common affliction. There appears to be a direct line of neurons that immediately connects my brain and my mouth; subsequently, my lips move when I think and all kinds of stuff pour out. Thoughts range from intelligent to silly, cute to unsettling or even mildly offensive – and usually laced with some colorful profanity and always a smack of brash attitude. I might refer to myself as blunt; it’s not supposed to be mean, but can certainly be taken that way. In this way I have, as of yesterday, earned the nickname of “The Sugar Plum Fairy.” <span> </span><span> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">I looked up the character from Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s famous ballet<i> </i>to understand exactly to whom I was being compared. According to an online article in Dance Magazine<i>, “</i><em><span style="font-style: normal;">If the dancer performs the role with warmth, graciousness, and elegance, the spell is cast. Sugar Plum not only welcomes Clara and her prince into the Land of the Sweets in </span></em><i>The Nutcracker</i><em><span style="font-style: normal;">, but provides the classical high point to this favorite holiday ballet</span></em><em>.</em>” </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdVTDO0Mjw_Zq2L-EGUGciFXoLtRijY6lXgHdKtvK8uAokaSyLTj2zZOqylbHG0t1__FOIVGeOu1nVoTd1nbDSxQzsZDA_QsIIYw-dMFFUwXRL-yRNScGvEK6Pg8oQHJe28nj_W1VK-ZM/s1600/SPF+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdVTDO0Mjw_Zq2L-EGUGciFXoLtRijY6lXgHdKtvK8uAokaSyLTj2zZOqylbHG0t1__FOIVGeOu1nVoTd1nbDSxQzsZDA_QsIIYw-dMFFUwXRL-yRNScGvEK6Pg8oQHJe28nj_W1VK-ZM/s320/SPF+2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">Hmmm. I can be warm and gracious and elegant if I try. Mostly I’m all spice with a side of nice, and no sugar added. And if that, along with a goofy or off-color comment, can’t be a little highlight in someone’s day, then that’s just lame. I’ll fully embrace the irony here in my new title.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">Every family has a gonzo grandma or loopy uncle. Oh yes, it does. Those who don’t believe this are kidding themselves. In this training environment, I’m that relative you just can’t take anywhere. So in the interest of healthy team dynamics, I accept my role as the blunt axe of friendship. Yep, it’s going to be a fun summer. </div>Dana Feisshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16280782796284244457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1424468278474574376.post-30989210746083799962011-05-15T09:49:00.000-07:002011-05-16T13:04:25.653-07:00Just Got Personal<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">The funny thing about a self-imposed blog is the lack of deadlines. By now I’ve had a week to process the PanAms experience, which, predictably, didn’t go exactly as planned. I’ll get the audience up to speed by backtracking.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">Due to some UCI scheduling mix-ups, the dates posted for the PanAm Championships were roughly two weeks earlier than USAC had anticipated – April 30<sup>th</sup> to May 5 for the track competition, as opposed to the usual mid-May time line. It was decided that the sprinters would be selected for competition through a team camp, which was held from April 2<sup>nd</sup> to 8<sup>th</sup> in Chula Vista, California. Times were taken over the course of the week and a list of PanAm-worthy riders was compiled. I got the call from coach Jamie Staff moments before leaving for the airport to head back east: I was going to Colombia.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">I was immediately hit by a combination of excitement and confusion. There may have been some panic mixed in there, too. I had no idea what the times were like on which the decision was based, so I had virtually no concept of how fast I actually was. I had been training through the East Coast winter of ice, snow and rain; this had kept me relegated on an ergo, rollers, and weight room as opposed to being on the track full-time. This, in conjunction with my writing internship and culmination of senior year at Kutztown University, made training tricky business. It was difficult. But I’d put in the work just the same and to the best of my ability; now I needed the international experience that I hadn’t been able to get during the past World Cup season. I had three weeks to make myself fast.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">So I did the only thing I knew to do: continue to train. I wrote articles; I made newsletters; I compiled portfolios. And I trained, all with my usual tools and resources. My coach and I both understood that I was coming from an unusual situation; that didn’t change the fact that I didn’t really know what to expect of myself beyond getting international exposure and experience. Before I knew it I was on the ground in Medellín, at 10:00 p.m. after 22 hours of travel. I was packed into a bus with heaps of bike equipment and the Trinidad & Tobago team, en route to the hotel and the rest of my own team mates. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">The following morning I was issued my Team USA swag: skin suits, jersey, bibs, jacket, shirts and a pair of pants. As an official team member and representative, this would be mandatory attire when at the hotel and track. I’m happy to say that liked how I looked in red, white and blue. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">The days before competition were reserved for pre-race training to get used to the track – which is a fantastic venue in its own right. The air about the team was light and fun and we settled into the space and rhythm that was Medellin. The city is a different slice of Colombia than what I had been warned about; unlike other places, you can go out on the town during the day without being shot or kidnapped, and the people are genuinely friendly if you can get through the language barrier. Yep, there’s a certain charm here. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgQ7Ke_TFeVhSfwAbWdMJJaG0MmXNgOvxmJsVyIPC9hcOxEXp6h8mW4ajFSXD9LUm7_j0tWefj3T5s0lBcWJqj4WphSjtbXXQ6f157YuQcHxybU9pmipe6DuSKHatXqu0J91eo_A1CRDk/s1600/Colombia+II+008.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgQ7Ke_TFeVhSfwAbWdMJJaG0MmXNgOvxmJsVyIPC9hcOxEXp6h8mW4ajFSXD9LUm7_j0tWefj3T5s0lBcWJqj4WphSjtbXXQ6f157YuQcHxybU9pmipe6DuSKHatXqu0J91eo_A1CRDk/s320/Colombia+II+008.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">Once racing began, the mental tune changed. I was slated to race the 500-meter and the sprints, so I had to focus my energy accordingly. I approached the morning of my 500-meter just like any other race: roller warm-up, a couple practice starts, and an ipod play list (for sanity’s sake). In approach and procedure, it was just another race.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">Actually, it was <i>almost </i>just another race. I was amazed at the energy of the spectators; they cheer for everyone, even through the most mundane events like the 500-meter and pursuit. Of course the Colombian riders were the most popular, but still. The stadiums don’t fill up at American races quite like they do abroad, and the crowds aren’t quite as loud. It was nice. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">Latin America takes its track racing seriously, as evidenced by the security that was present. These were not navy-clad rent-a-cops or volunteers wielding MagLites. These were legitimate <i>policia</i>, from their green flak jackets to pistols to combat boots. They were perfectly nice to talk to – though it got weird when one asked if I had a boyfriend (that’s the last time I’d fraternize with the gestapos). I also noted the cement Jesus statue in between turns one and two. Even Our Lord likes bike racing! Between the small army and its own personal Jesus, the host track had its bases covered. Good to know. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjam8IGxhYJkd5CtaAkTy_wGj2M406pVeYp60e5hRIgGQ66o87-CgqfCcCXWyi1q_eTeTQ74Petb65Hr5C94uz95uFXrmhkYSmE_akeBDk5jDBtiWWDfTUvBZ_uF-1tiFypOesjFM7P-Cc/s1600/Colombia+II+005.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjam8IGxhYJkd5CtaAkTy_wGj2M406pVeYp60e5hRIgGQ66o87-CgqfCcCXWyi1q_eTeTQ74Petb65Hr5C94uz95uFXrmhkYSmE_akeBDk5jDBtiWWDfTUvBZ_uF-1tiFypOesjFM7P-Cc/s320/Colombia+II+005.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgmmMRpTc9mVfgHC_33NwYUrD4mUasoq2NeP1uY6J_GnjETU6XeD9h5_nTRMIMuP4yw3dIqRlvFqrdieZYFvqO2F7JsePEbBcnqsja7dUytbRm2DSSiG3i2cIq4pbbfQXc7x-uyfCVj_Q/s1600/Colombia+II+010.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgmmMRpTc9mVfgHC_33NwYUrD4mUasoq2NeP1uY6J_GnjETU6XeD9h5_nTRMIMuP4yw3dIqRlvFqrdieZYFvqO2F7JsePEbBcnqsja7dUytbRm2DSSiG3i2cIq4pbbfQXc7x-uyfCVj_Q/s320/Colombia+II+010.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">But back to the racing itself: my 500-meter was a straightforward two laps and the time wasn’t that far off of what I'd posted at nationals eight months ago. My start is my Achilles heel and I wasn’t expecting anything big – I had to be happy with my time, and I was. Now I was preparing for the sprints, which I was feeling a bit more confident about. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">Unfortunately, there was a change of plans. Due to an oversight during the pre-race coaches meeting, our team had not been informed that we could only field two women in the sprint tournament – up until this point, we were under the impression that there were three spots per team, the same as the men. I was given this news the night before the event. Times became the deciding factor; my 100-meter approach time, taken a few days before during training, was slowest by .03 seconds. I was sidelined while my other two team mates raced the rest of the week. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">That’s when it got personal. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">That’s not to say personal within the team. Everyone raced extremely well, and I’m especially proud of my team mates Cristin and Tela. They raced their butts off and had the great finishes to show for it. Between the team sprint, sprints, and keirin, our men’s squad brought home a handful of hardware. Team USA was undoubtedly a force to be reckoned with. The crushing part was that for all my training and traveling and balancing, I myself wasn’t quite good enough. It was frustrating, and I grappled with my feelings of anger and incompetence for the remainder of my time in Colombia. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">I like to think that out of disappointment comes energy and opportunity. I took this time to study the racing itself. So I wasn’t on the track myself. Okay, fine. That didn’t mean that I couldn’t observe and learn. After all, the basic premise of this trip and taking so many riders was so that those that were new could get experience. I’d be damned if I didn’t take advantage of that. I watched. I listened. I talked to coaches, fellow riders. There really is something to be said for absorbing the flavor and atmosphere of an event, if not just to get it out of your system. Next time, when I’m even stronger and more competitive, it truly will be just another race. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">There’s always another race. And a rider who’s hungry for it is all the more terrifying. </div>Dana Feisshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16280782796284244457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1424468278474574376.post-75703538375776358472011-05-02T10:42:00.000-07:002011-05-02T10:52:50.350-07:00Get Acquainted<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">Generally, I like to get to know people. Or in the case of this trip, my first international competition, it’s getting to know places. I like the idea that in order to do well on a new track in a new setting, a rider should give herself the opportunity to ogle at the environment. Get that sense of wonder out of the way so that rolling to the start feels like just another race. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">I was notified of my selection to the PanAm squad in mid-April, and subsequently met with gasps of concern upon telling family, friends and professors where I was headed. Medellín, Colombia, while apparently considerably safer and well-off than other areas in South America, is a place where you need to play heads-up ball – especially if you’re a woman. The rules our team was given were pretty straightforward in terms of roaming around town: tell the coaches and team manager where you’re going; use the buddy system; ladies, take a male team mate with you if possible; don’t go out at night <i>at all</i>. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">Naturally, I wanted to go out and see some of the city. I’d have to do this before racing got under way – I might not get a chance otherwise. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">Rule number one of foreign exploration: don’t look like an American. Nothing says “kidnap me” like a blonde-haired, green-eyed gringa in a USA kit. My team mate, Cari, and I decided to go for an adventure to find fruit a few days before racing started. We threw on neutral colors (i.e. black and grey – without a trace of stars and stripes), plus face-shielding sunglasses, and hit the sidewalk.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0rRhwDJXI71QUANhPvm11ac7Ptqa7G1s04SbEZ_Vp0DXfxKauAuqdEco_lvIzyTnRvz35bN199QhAY-74m7Mv0uMXGnY1_a2PdtXfGUZ-JP5JCzhr_lhGqArEpg3crqxk44KnJJgFvaw/s1600/Colombia+I+005.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0rRhwDJXI71QUANhPvm11ac7Ptqa7G1s04SbEZ_Vp0DXfxKauAuqdEco_lvIzyTnRvz35bN199QhAY-74m7Mv0uMXGnY1_a2PdtXfGUZ-JP5JCzhr_lhGqArEpg3crqxk44KnJJgFvaw/s320/Colombia+I+005.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7x1LjCFrRFjy7vfCSHP3FPAvTE69suViFiU-aflYo62HuR630o6Eno0-zcW8ZoJ3-iqshrS8xOybftI7ms-pbdg8FUjyrOTKvWcJnus7UeInSUJLkWGwmsAcg9OgnxrJcJj2iTG0mWyE/s1600/Colombia+I+007.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7x1LjCFrRFjy7vfCSHP3FPAvTE69suViFiU-aflYo62HuR630o6Eno0-zcW8ZoJ3-iqshrS8xOybftI7ms-pbdg8FUjyrOTKvWcJnus7UeInSUJLkWGwmsAcg9OgnxrJcJj2iTG0mWyE/s320/Colombia+I+007.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"> Rule number two: look like you shouldn’t be messed with. This is straight out of my mother’s playbook (after her own experience of living in Philly while attending Temple in the ‘80s – not a nice place to be at the time). Act natural, not nervous, but not careless. Carry yourself strong and confidently. Friendly but terse smiles are perfectly fine at 11:30 a.m. in Medellín. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">These guidelines can get you some kick-ass fruit: mangos, strawberries, and guavas are fresh, delicious and readily available for a couple thousand pesos (the equivalent of a couple bucks). Bueno!</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">The city itself is pretty incredible. It spans the bowl of a gigantic valley nestled amid the towering Andes. It’s surprisingly humid for about 5,000ft in elevation; the tropical climate is welcome for those of us who have been training at sea level and aren’t used to the typical dryness associated with altitude. The face of Medellín is all red brick walls and tile roofs; neighborhoods and tight streets are interrupted by green spiking rises of mountains. A collection of corner cantinas and small markets make up the area around the velodrome and our hotel.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBkHOXkSkgXcbBiUX8jOgOxQtwu8APBZiriG-6cInBKu6Ql7Sj_f68MkZg7JQ_lP8Ar0p7hyLjTQdlrK8B09bMgN2myza-IdPagcIF0HJCa8RsyoQERLuCpOvfhAsx4z0VhOCBPDA9xkU/s1600/Colombia+I+029.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBkHOXkSkgXcbBiUX8jOgOxQtwu8APBZiriG-6cInBKu6Ql7Sj_f68MkZg7JQ_lP8Ar0p7hyLjTQdlrK8B09bMgN2myza-IdPagcIF0HJCa8RsyoQERLuCpOvfhAsx4z0VhOCBPDA9xkU/s320/Colombia+I+029.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWGLxJsa4yH93lGk4ogXi2MuDGEwXotfR14XvYoSuVTeJANj45gcvxSDe4oYpNw1D-E3fSRFWzyKtNain7hOSwCpn6rpfFpdYlv9hcsMDxbn3325tr5V5US-VweD4PMHIz2wjYs8OYv1k/s1600/Colombia+I+019.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWGLxJsa4yH93lGk4ogXi2MuDGEwXotfR14XvYoSuVTeJANj45gcvxSDe4oYpNw1D-E3fSRFWzyKtNain7hOSwCpn6rpfFpdYlv9hcsMDxbn3325tr5V5US-VweD4PMHIz2wjYs8OYv1k/s320/Colombia+I+019.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">Then there’s the track itself, which is a whole different set of introductions. The Martin Emilio “Cochise” Rodriguez Velodrome is 250m meters of outdoor painted concrete – a very distant cousin of the ADT center in Los Angeles. It has the same familiar surface of my home track in Trexlertown with the same distance and speedy 45-degree banking of ADT. The combination of these traits makes the track a brand-new animal. But if our times during training are any indicator, it’s going to be a fast and fun week. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZei0LVk7VSjlScw-RQAo5iH5Iw8Ix7aCn-gpvD36GPeqqvhxe6HL8D4pzOTHAyjOpFNgS2rkyNcfIMou8gsmzD4dr22hQI3LNX9CQBfKq1P7EaMTNUBOpEZQrHw2l6e7bI5t0mOMZc98/s1600/Colombia+I+002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZei0LVk7VSjlScw-RQAo5iH5Iw8Ix7aCn-gpvD36GPeqqvhxe6HL8D4pzOTHAyjOpFNgS2rkyNcfIMou8gsmzD4dr22hQI3LNX9CQBfKq1P7EaMTNUBOpEZQrHw2l6e7bI5t0mOMZc98/s320/Colombia+I+002.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"> Cinch those toe straps extra tight, kids. Medellín’s been waiting. </div>Dana Feisshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16280782796284244457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1424468278474574376.post-31842237396410053472011-05-01T08:13:00.000-07:002011-05-01T08:13:42.697-07:00Let Me Explain<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves/> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:DoNotPromoteQF/> <w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/> <w:DontVertAlignCellWithSp/> <w:DontBreakConstrainedForcedTables/> <w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/> <w:Word11KerningPairs/> <w:CachedColBalance/> </w:Compatibility> <m:mathPr> <m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/> <m:brkBin m:val="before"/> <m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/> <m:smallFrac m:val="off"/> <m:dispDef/> <m:lMargin m:val="0"/> <m:rMargin m:val="0"/> <m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/> <m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/> <m:intLim m:val="subSup"/> <m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/> </m:mathPr></w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
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</style> <![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:shapedefaults v:ext="edit" spidmax="1026"/> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:shapelayout v:ext="edit"> <o:idmap v:ext="edit" data="1"/> </o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--> <div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Hi. Allow me to explain myself. I’m Dana Feiss.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I don't normally do formal introductions, but it seems necessary. I'm new to Blog Land and trying to figure everything out. All of my setup directions are in Spanish at the moment, so it's trickier than what I'm guessing is normal. My apologies. But yes, let me explain. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I’m an American track sprint cyclist, but I wasn’t always like this – a track cyclist, I mean. I began racing at age 18 at the Lehigh Valley Velodrome in Trexlertown, Pennsylvania – now the Valley Preferred Cycling Center. I had always ridden on the road as a kid with my parents, but this banked-track-no-brakes deal was totally new. After a few clinics, I was hooked. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">That was a little over three years ago. I’m now a member of the U.S. national sprint program and presently representing my country at the 2011 PanAmerican Championships in Medellin, Colombia. It’s been a very fast three years, with a lot happening all at once, and I’ve just now decided to start talking/writing/blogging about it. I’m just a baby by cycling’s standards of training, skills, and experience. My thinking is that my foray into the international track cycling realm (and hopeful progress) has the potential to be decent blog fodder.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">But, see, I’m also a writer.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I’ve spent the last three years at Kutztown University of Pennsylvania getting my Bachelor of Arts in Professional Writing – I graduate this May. I’m highly trained in collecting thoughts and ideas and putting them into coherent written messages, specifically for magazine and travel writing. It’s the Navy SEALs of creative nonfiction. Plenty of people blog; half of my hits from the Google Gods are people yammering about a select topic. I’d like to take this blog as a way of meshing my two loves, cycling and writing, and turning it into a worthwhile and readable chunk of cyberspace. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">This will be a platform from which to share my personal experiences as a cyclist and reach out to others. Or maybe it will be source of entertainment for audiences to observe as I clamber across the international stage. I suppose I’ll leave the intellectual and entertainment value of all of this to the individual reader’s discretion.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">If you like bikes, I like you. Nice to meet you, too. </div>Dana Feisshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16280782796284244457noreply@blogger.com0