The day after I arrived, I went on a short 60km ride along part of stage 4 of the Tour De France.  I actually rode from the house, to kilometer 31 in the stage and continued until kilometer 59.  Aside from a few sprayed slogans on the road, there was no way anyone could have known that the tour had gone by only a couple of weeks ago.  Unfortunately , my polars’ battery is dead and I don’t have any documentation of my awesome ride; however, I found my old Garmin 0.1 in my backpack and used it instead.  Remarkably enough, it did the job quite well and I didn’t even get lost.

Garmin 0.1 - yes , a pen and paper

The next day I went on a longer 80km ride that left from Aix en Provence which is about 15 minutes from the house.  The ride was beautiful and the bike lanes were perfect… the drivers were courteous, views were breathtaking and after it rained butterflies* I couldn’t help but thinking ‘Is this real??’.  With all do respect to every other country in the world, France is better! I am so glad that I took my bike with me.  Being in France without a bike is like being in a bathroom without toilette paper – You manage but something is not quite right…

* May have only happened in my mind

Silly bike... Only people can go shopping

Working out while traveling

I’m on week 3 out of 17 in my marathon training plan towards the New York City Marathon. It’s not going to be easy to train once my family arrives but I’m determined to get all of my hill, fartlek and long runs in while I’m here.  The day that I arrived, I ran 45 minutes around the little city of Bouc Bel-Air, where the house is located.  Running whenever you arrive in a new place, even if it’s not for a long time, is a great way to figure out where you are, know what’s around you and plan your real runs later during the week.  Tip: Make sure that you fly with compression socks so that your legs are fresh.

Since then I’ve done one hill workout and one long run.  The best way to get the runs in is to just wake up early and do them.  If you leave anything for the end of the day, it just doesn’t get done.  On vacation, you never know what time you’ll get back. Tip: Workout according to time and not distance.  This way you’re not stressed about holding other people up; just run half the time and turn around.

Sunflower Field

Something I saw on the way

Maccabiah Half marathon

On the 21st of July, I participated in the Maccabiah Half Marathon.  If you asked anyone who ran the race to describe it in one word, they would say HOT.  It began at 18:30 so everyone was soaked before the race even started.  At each water station I took a water bottle and ran with it.  It was so hot that when I poured the water on my head, by the time it touched my ears the water was warm… It was so hot that about 20 people were sent to the hospital for dehydration… It was so hot that my running clothes were soaked all the way through after the first 20 minutes … It’s hard to describe.  Due to the terrible conditions, I also had a terrible time – 2:03.  Fortunately, I made my coach promise to make me faster so the problem is as good as solved.

Stuff I need

As you know, my birthday is coming up Joking… No one has to buy me anything BUT I have accumulated some things that I will purchase soon for the marathon training.  Please let me know if there is a better product that I have overlooked.

Compression Calf Guards

CW-X Women’s Pro Fit Shorts

Nathan Speed 2 Wastpack

Some More Photos

I thought about this during the bike ride in the Tel-Aviv triathlon

I’ve participated in three triathlons in the past month.
Click on the results page to see my results.

Photos from the Womens Triathlon

Photos from the Netanya Triathlon

Photos from Ness Harim Ride

TUNE IN NEXT WEEK WHEN I START TRAINING FOR… THIS

My team (Ayalot IWCC) and myself, left Tel-Aviv, flew through Frankfurt, arrived at Bologna and continued by van to Riccione.  Riccione is a cute little town on the beach in the provence of Rimini.  We arrived at a hotel that looked quite standard – Nice lobby, small pool and a couple of Jacuzzi’s, a bar with a television and reception.  In the next few days I realized that after relaxing my muscles  in a  much needed Jacuzzi,  I would be partying in the lobby most of the time with friendly Europeans,  drinking beers and watching the Giro D’Italia.

The hotel is truly unique.  Hotels are never quite as social as they should be.  You usually stick to the people that you have arrived with and people you do meet are usually no more than casual acquaintances.  Hotel Dory is different.  Each week, a new batch of people arrive and rent bikes from the hotel.  After riding with these people day after day, you form relationships too.  They have a full line of Scott bikes that are adjusted to your measurements which you send by email ahead of time.  Once you are set up with your bike, you need to check the rides for the next day.  Rides are split into different levels; Limoncino is the fastest bike with the strongest riders, Cappuccino Super is one step down , Cappuccino is easier still and another group (I forgot it’s name) which is very leisurely riding.  Every morning at 9:30AM, all of the riders go downstairs, grab some sandwiches and a banana, get their bike, and wait on the street for the groups to gather.  The groups leave one by one and come back about four hours later to have a nice lunch buffet and relax, take a nap, watch the Giro and get ready for the next day or riding.  This goes on each and every day with a couple of “rest” days scattered throughout.

I won’t detail the routes that we took; everything is available on the Hotel Dory website. What I do want to mention is how evident it is to me that this or similar types of vacations are my “style”.  I can see myself doing a “bicycle touring” trip in Europe or another country where you carry all of your worldly possessions on your bike and ride from town to town.  I also see myself doing another trip similar to this one where you have one “base” from which you can go on daily excursions with your bike.  One thing is for certain – I’m not leaving home without my Diva.  I definitely need a bike anywhere that I am going to spend at least two weeks.

Aside from the minor weight gain, and a few group dynamics issues, I did have an amazing time.  In retrospect, I should have settled for the slower group because I’m used to flats and not mountains right now.  Either way, a vacation like this allows you to return stronger and maybe just a tiny bit overweight… Totally worth it.

Nina’s famous apple slicing hands

Random ride video

For the rest of the photos, go to Picasa Web Album

I arrived in Florida several days before the big event.  In order to do what my coach told me, I didn’t use any air conditioning and overdosed on nuun tablets.  After putting my bike together, I went on a lovely ride through the the charming town of Kissimmee Florida to check that everything was operating properly.    What a dump.  It’s like driving in an endless loop of fast food joints – Denny’s , Shoney’s, McDonalds, IHOP, repeat.  It’s a good thing that I had a very specific purpose for my being there and somehow managed to find a decent diner to have breakfast in.  (Rodeo Diner).

My coach showed up a few days later and we decided to check out the expo which was located in Fort Wilderness, Disney.  What better place to accomplish a goal… After all, it’s Disney World – Where dreams come true.

On the bus to the expo we saw people of all shapes and sizes who were also, no doubt, looking forward to accomplishing something… and if you can show off with a cute riding shirt, then you’re really getting you’re money’s worth.  My brief anthropological experiment on the bus to the expo revealed that adult males who compete fall into one of two categories; the good ones who bring their family to Disney and the other ones.  I’m sure that the Disney shops were stormed with people buying compensation gifts for their kids.  Coming back from an Atlanta business trip empty handed is one thing but coming back from a race in Disney World with no gifts has to be the worst thing a dad can do.

We came back to the expo again the next day to have our bikes looked at and place them in transition.  We also had lunch on site where I predicted my state of mind during the race disciplines on a restaurant napkin using my illustration method of choice – stick figures.

I don’t know the answers to the following questions :

1. Why do your hands get shorter for the bike and longer for the run?
2. Why didn’t you put your hair in your bathing cap?
3. Why did you head get bigger?
4. Where did your hair go during the run?
5. Why is your hair standing at the finish line?

If you have questions other than these, I’ll be happy to answer.

To prepare for the big day, I had to get all of my equipment in sorted and nutrition planned out.  (Note: All of my nutrition comes from Sport Quest Direct, GU and nuun).  I had two water bottles with two scoops of Carbo-Pro in each and nuun in one of them, a cliff bar and two gels on the bike, two gels for the run, Thermolyte for every leg of the race (salt), VO2Max pills before the race, Recover during the bike phase and before the entire race, and some motivator pills just in case.  Oh… and don’t forget the Babba for good luck.

We woke up at 3:15AM, Breakfast at 3:30AM and arrived at transition at around 5:15AM.  I got marked with my number and organized my important stuff in transition (Babba too).  I recalled the first time that I did this in the women’s triathlon in Israel. For all intents and purposes, I was a monkey imitating the other girls lay out their towel, shoes, sunglasses, etc.  Now I already knew where everything went and how I like things to be laid out.  Others will be mimicking me in a few weeks during my third women’s triathlon in Israel.

My wave started at 7:00AM.  My coach, Sharone, already left at 6:50 and I had my dad with me to cheer me on and wish me good luck at the start line.  Everyone is nervous but not everyone shows it, especially when there are just a few minutes remaining until the start.  The gun was fired and I knew that the finish line was the furthest it will be throughout the entire race.  Makes sense, I know, but this is what you think about when you start new things.

The swim took 42:12 (35/79 in category).  I got kicked in the face once and even got an apology.

The bike took 2:52 (33/79 in category).  It was as flat as a pancake and I kept a good steady pace, averaging 19.5MPH.  During one u-turn, there was a man who must have rode too fast and his face was full of blood.  The volunteers were shouting “Slow down, there is a man down” or translated it would be “Slow down to see what could happen to you if you don’t”.

The run took 2:04 (22/79).  This time includes a bathroom break in the woods (Desert style) and stopping for a few seconds at each and every aid station.  This must have been the most significant because my total place was 23/79 in my category which means I’m in the first 30% of the finishers.

My stick figure napkin masterpiece was completely wrong.  I felt good the entire race.  I had a good pace on the bike and my workouts really payed off. Not to mention, I had a great coach without whom I couldn’t have felt this good during the race.  Now I’m sure you have a few questions.  Here are the answers :

1. I don’t know when.  It takes a lot of training to do a full ironman and I need to figure out where I’m headed before I commit to something like that.
2. Eww… I’m not even going to answer that.
3. Yes, I’m in Israel now.
4. My next one is the Women’s triathlon in Herzlia, Israel.
5. 1834.  You have to be an idiot not to know that.

Now to Italy for a cycle vacation! I will attempt to record all of my routes during this trip and report back to y’all.

12►

Today I received an email from TeamUSA letting me know that “you have earned a spot on the Team USA Roll Down list for 2009 ITU Duathlon World Championships because of your finish at the 2009 Duathlon National Championship”.  I blinked a few times, scratched my head to emphasize a thought process, and then realized that this email is the closest I will probably be to competing in a ‘World’ anything.  After conducting further research I found that “The top 12 in each age group, rolling down to 16th place at the Duathlon National Championship, will qualify for the 2009 World Championships in Concord, North Carolina (Sept. 24-26) “.  This means that I just made it to the rolling down point, whatever that means.  If 4 people don’t want to go, I’ll be offered a spot.  I wonder what t-shirt I’ll get if I compete in a world championship? Got to keep things in perspective.

Do you want the good news or the bad news?  The good news is that I got to sleep in on race day (hi five). The bad news is that my wave was at 11:35 and it was going to be 90 degrees outside (cancel hi five from before).  The issue is that, being the amazing team player that I am, I still woke up early to cheer on my fellow team mates who started at 8:30.  That means that my spanking new well-fit triathlon uniform was nice and moist with sweat well before the race start.  This made a 10k run feel like a very hot 10k run (That was a message from Captain Obvious).  This run led me to think about how I need to develop a kind of mantra for my run in order to survive the half ironman in a few weeks.  This mantra has to have a beat to it in order to keep my pace up and it needs to be something more powerful than my “left , right , left” mantra which made sense at the time.

The bike section was nice because I had a team to cheer me on.  In previous races, I was lucky if my friend, Rakefet, was competing because her brother came to cheer her on and I got a courtesy cheer every once and a while.  Not only did the team cheer me on, but they actually waited for me to finish.  Either Well-Fit is filled with great people or I have shitty friends (the ones who don’t read my blog).  In any event, I did feel like I was apart of the team for that weekend.  I had the luxury of roasting in the well-fit tent for a few hours and the Get-A-Grip “in tent” mechanic gave my bike a once over.

USAT thought it would be funny if they gave the duathletes beer glasses instead of medals at the finish line.  It’s a nice thought but all I could think about was opening my suitcase in Israel and seeing my Carbo Pro mixed with slivers of shattered glass.  Then I would have to throw away all of the Carbo Pro that made my bag overweight and cost me $100 to bring over and $20 to purchase.  So was my $65 race worth it?  I did get an awesome transition bag and hat and shirt so… what’s a few slivers of glass anyway.

Overall I really enjoyed myself in this competition and it gave me a much needed boost of confidence towards the 70.3 ironman on the 17th of May.  I can’t say that I was particularly fast during this race but I see it as a kind of intermediate race towards the main goal.  After the half ironman, I will be flying back to Israel and continuing to blog from there.

Some imagery and comments -

This was the well-fit tent -

The transition area -

Coach Sharone and myself :

I saw a bike that looked just like this ! Isn’t it cute?… I need to get a job…

12►

]]> http://www.anatkramer.com/InAnatshell/national-duathlon-festival/feed 0 http://www.anatkramer.com/InAnatshell/its-winter-time-with-snowman http://www.anatkramer.com/InAnatshell/its-winter-time-with-snowman#comments Sat, 17 Jan 2009 22:57:37 +0000 anat http://www.anatkramer.com/DwAnatKramer/blog/?p=350

Welcome to the Kramer blog winter triathlon special! (yay).  Today we will be covering the elements of training in the winter – How to run in the snow, bike in the living room and swim in the … pool (boring I know).  Now that I have a workout plan until May, I can relax and quietly prepare for my debut at the half ironman in Florida.  They won’t even see me coming…

Run in the snow

We’ve all done it.  Your running in the snow and you think that nobody is looking.  Slowly you lift your head , panic and quickly make sure that nobody is around one more time.  You lift you head a second time, flex your tongue out as far as it can go and wait for that faithful snow flake to hit your taste buds.  This process isn’t complete without closing your eyes because, what if a snow flake falls in one?? Where would you be then??  Obviously the strange looks are soon to follow but, hey, I’m a tourist here and I can do whatever I want.

The bottom line is that running in the snow is slow but fun.  It has the feeling of running in sand but not quite as messy.  Your either a patter or a sinker.  If you step right on the top of certain snow, you pack it down; whereas if you run on deep snow, you sink.   It’s important to follow peoples foot steps and beware the slush if you want your toes to stay dry.  At some point, if I keep this up, I will have to start looking at GORTEX running shoes but for now, a little bit of dampness wont kill me.

Bike in the living room

Winter means snow.  Snow means ice.  Ice means slipping, and slipping with your bike into the road and getting run over by a car and getting taken to the hospital and being revived and going through physical therapy and being in a wheelchair… isn’t a good idea.  This is why we have invented the Livingroom Biking Event.  The concept is simple – Everyone shows up at my house with their cycling trainers and we all cycle for several hours while watching previous Ironmans on DVD.
Sharone and Sunny showed up and we had a great workout in the comfort of my home. I guess this is the solution to the slipping problem and I can live with that.

Swim in the pool

It’s time to take my swimming to a whole other level.  Now that I have myself filmed on tape, I can fix all of the issues with my stroke.  I must become a water ninja by the time winter is over so check out my video :

Here is what I need to work on:

• Rotation – Need to turn those hips more
• Entry – Hand needs to come in deeper into the water and the tips shouldn’t go up.
• Head – I look down too much and I need to look a bit forward
• Right side breathing – My left hand comes back too quickly so my timing is off.
• Kick – My kicks don’t turn along with me

Try watching the video again and finding these mistakes… I’m trying to work on all of them but I can only really concentrate on one or two at a time.  It’s a process….

Future Plus Update
When I have a detailed plan, I will post it and also I will try to post my actual workouts and comments as much as possible.  To view my complete workout log : WORKOUT LOG

Leave comments!

Here is my new poem.  It will help you understand:

My influence is Shel Silverstein by the way…

When I decided that I liked triathlons, I got a bike and helmet.
And wanted to keep the skin on my hands so I bought some gloves, god damn it..

I wanted to keep tires in my shirt so I got a jersey with pockets
And the sun was beating in my eyes so I got sunglasses for my sockets.

I didn’t want my butt to hurt so I got cycling shorts.
I didn’t want to ask for his pump so I bought one of course,

I wanted to be part of a team so I went and got their outfit,
And now its cold and I need more stuff, I just can’t live without it!

Here is a list of what I got:

Gloves – Full finger gloves with a secret pocket that has a cover for my fingers

Socks – They look like gloves for you feet and they go under your cycling shoes

Pants – Thick thick pants so that my legs don’t get red again.

Hat – A scull cap to put underneath my helmet. It also covers ears.

Undershirt – A tight shirt that is breathable to wear under everything.

Here is a list of what I need:
A jacket – The one at the store was too small.  I need a serious one.
Booties – These go over your cycling shoes to keep even warmer

Chicago Marathon

I woke up on the day of the Chicago Marathon and walked one block south of my house to the 21km mark of the marathon.  It was at that moment that I realized how much I miss the competitions.  I miss the training and the nervousness, the freezing mornings, the line to the bathrooms, the heaps of people… Soon after this realization, I met my friend Gil and we walked over to the finish line and then to a friends house that overlooked the stream of runners.  It was an amazing events and I got great photos from the balcony.

My New York City Marathon is officially postponed to next year but my spot is saved.   Meanwhile I’m back to very light running and eventually I will increase the distance and time.

Another Opera – Lulu

Now for my famous synopsis –
Lulu was adopted by an old guy when she was twelve and he turned her into a dancer so she could get guys.  She married a guy and got caught cheating and the husband died.  She married the guy she was cheating on him with and got caught cheating again and the next husband killed himself.  Then, she married the guy who adopted her and ended up shooting him after he caught her cheating with a bunch of guys.  She got sent to prison and a girl helped her escape.  Then she had shares that turned out to be worth nothing and she became a prostitute and got murdered.

Southbeach Diet
I’m finally on a diet (yay).  South beach diet is really easy to follow and there is a lot to eat.  The concept is not to eat any sugar.  No sugar from breads or fruit either.  I’ve been on it for five days and I have a week and two days until the end of phase one.  After phase one, other foods are introduced and when I get to my desired weight, I go to phase three.  The problem is that I don’t have a scale but I ordered one online and hopefully the results will be in. My goal for now is to get back to 123 lbs or around 55 kilo.

Half Ironman
The training has begun for the half ironman. I’m aiming for the Ford half ironman in Florida (May).  You can check out my workout routine whenever you want by going here:
http://www.workoutlog.com/log/public/anatkramer/log.cfm
I write comments on each workout so you can glance at that too.  The one great thing about it, is the swimming.  I’ve always just swam 30 minutes of freestyle and now I have kicks and drills and different strokes (for different folks) which makes the workout more interesting.  Also, my stroke is improving so feel free to try any workout or ask me about it.  Sharone Aharon and wellfit (his company) get full credit for everything! Visit their website.

I hope that everyone saw the Country Music Awards!

In Chicago, the city doesn’t stop but there’s no reason to do anything differently.  I grabbed my bike and I set off on the path by the lake.  I rode all the way up north as much as I could.  Then, I turned around and rode back.  On the way back someone asked me about my water bottle and it turned out to be Sharone, the Israeli triathlon instructor who lives in Chicago.  The two hours which I had planned, quickly turned into three and I learned about the secret bike paths in Chicago.

So how do you ‘gear up for Yom Kippur’? This was Sharone’s status on facebook so I’m guessing it means to add up to 120psi, fill your bottle with Gatorade and have a pasta dinner.  For everyone else it just means to have a pasta dinner, sleep, sleep and sleep.

Culture:
I went to another opera called ‘The Pearl Fisherman’.  Your waiting for the cliff notes I bet: Two friends promise not to let a girl get between them, after years they reunite, woman comes to village to pray for fisherman, if she falls in love she will be killed, she falls in love, they get caught, village wants to kill them, other guy lights village on fire, the couple escapes, other guy is killed by villagers.  The end.

Food:

I found a great recipe.  Most recipes on the back of food products are underestimated so I thought I’d take a chance (take a chance take a chance…).  Last time I made chicken, it didn’t come out as chewable as I had hoped but this recipe made the chicken good and juicy.  It was on the back of an Athenos package of feta cheese.(See : Easy Feta Chicken Bake)

On a hard assets note, I went all the way to Kellogg for a lecture about managing risk by Sam Zell.  No matter how far away I get, University is always important to me and any chance to sit in on something interesting is an opportunity I’ll take.  Sam can’t deliver a lecture without saying the word f**k which makes it a treat to hear him speak.  Only a man in his position can afford to blurt that kind of language whenever he chooses.

Now a story for children –

Bottom line – I’m a spinning instructor! Hopefully, they will let me work at the gym in my apartment building.  That would be mighty convenient.

Coming up…

Country music festival

Chicago Marathon

First things first. I’m officially the breadwinner of my household. Actually the modern term might be something like the finedinningwinner of my corporateapartmenthold. I’ve never really worked in Israel, so you could say that this is my first real job experience. Yesterday something strange happened at work and it made me think. After some kind of reorganization, my boss was laid off; my bosses’ boss was laid off and (get ready) my bosses bosses boss was laid off. Needless to say, it was a strange day at the office and it’s really too bad because I actually really liked my boss… and my bosses’ boss… My boss often used the word ‘groovy’ which was entertaining and he taught me… well… everything I know so far about the company. After all of this happened, there was a conference call meeting where everyone, out of awkwardness, talked about which type of bagel is their favorite and the main differences between sweet and salty, a topic which isn’t debated enough if you ask me. By the time we had all figured out who had what for breakfast, the conference call was underway and in many fancy long descriptions, we were told that life goes on. I know that ‘Life goes on’ is always true as long as you can say it, so this was no new concept for me.

What culinary discoveries you ask? Well, if you squint until you look Chinese and see beyond the frozen lean cuisine and edamame dinners, you will notice that I’m beginning to form an interest around my own culinary skills. Last night, I defrosted some chicken breast, cut up peppers and onions, made rice, flipped it all up in a pan with stir fry sauce and walla! I was Chinese! I’ll be Chinese tomorrow too I think because I made a very large portion. My next goal is to duplicate my moms special coleslaw which I love and after that … who knows…

What about other meals? Breakfast has taken two forms:

1. Low fat yoghurt and blueberries. Blueberries are such a startup. People in Israel don’t eat them enough. Anyway, I like fruit names that describe what your eating.
2. Egg white omelet and turkey bacon. Why did I not know about turkey bacon? I love bacon and to have a piece of bacon that’s 20 calories blows my mind. Another great concept is the egg whites. Why hover over a bowl and separate yolk from white when you could simply purchase the egg whites in a carton. Genius…

Lunch? Well, recently I have been bringing in wraps that I make at home. There were two days when I actually went home, ate, and came back. Luckily, there is a nice Mediterranean place downstairs called Mezza that has good salads and wraps. We buy or bring food and sit in the kitchen and eat…. It’s the employee way. One day, it will be late night pizza in a basement (when my startup is underway), but until then, I will have to deal with the paper bag and aluminum foil lunches. This part of my life is called ‘healthy eating’. (guess what movie I’m referencing?)

Alright so we are saving the best for last. I have discovered a triathlon training place called ‘well fit’. It’s owned by an Israeli guy (Sharone) who moved to the US fifteen years ago and started this company. I met him through someone and participated in one of his running classes. Yesterday though, I had one of the best workouts since arriving in the US.

Sharone sent me a message on facebook telling me to come to an indoor cycle class on trainers. I told him I would come and didn’t think much of it. After a frustrating experience in the spinning class in my building, I was willing to try anything. I rode my bike a few blocks, got lost, consulted my map, found my way, and arrived at this University gym. Down the steps and into the basement I went, to discover a mound of triathletes with their bikes, mounting them on trainers and getting ready. You always think that your brain can control your movements if you aren’t having a seizure but I couldn’t control a smile when I saw what I was in for.

I have never used my bike on a trainer and I was surprised at how easily it slipped right in. Cinelli’s first steps, Cinelli’s first fall / slip and Cinelli’s first trainer… awwww… I love my bike. The feeling on the trainer was much different than a spin bike but once you get control of your legs and add resistance, then it’s a great workout. We even concentrated on single legs by taking the other food out of the cleat and spinning with the other. The workout lasted about an hour and I got a free waterbottle. Woo hoo!

What’s next?

• Next week I’m going to a concert which only cost me 12 bucks because my Upenn student ID is valid until 2010. When I found this out, I began rubbing my hands together in a circular motion and saying ‘excellent’.
• Next month is the country music festival which I am excited for. Taylor Swift and Gretchen Williams here I come. Yee Haw.
• Guess who is getting her first paycheck tomorrow?
• I ate at one restaurant from my company (Star of Siam) and should get cash back for eating there. If you live in the US, go to Rewards Network and get money back for eating out!

Here are some photos:

Jazz Club (Tal and myself)

You can go too : Andy’s Jazz Club
11 E Hubbard St, Chicago, IL

(312) 642-6805

Andy

Leane Cuisine w/ added fun

רכיבה אחרונה.  האמת שעד היום לא הרגשתי ממש עצב בקשר לנסיעה שלי לשיקגו. אני מתחילה לחשוב שאולי השפיעו עלי אלמנטים חיצוניים כמו האנטי-אוקסידנטים* שקובי הזריק לוורידים ואולי החומוס** שאסנת הביאה (מ’מגה’) עשה לי משהו בגרון.  לא חשבתי על התחממות כדור הארץ כל היום לשם שינוי אז העצב לא בא משם.  יש סבירות גבוהה שאולי אני מתחילה לקלוט שאני עוזבת את כל האנשים, המציאות והעולם שאני מכירה. (מספיק דרמטי?)

אין דרך טובה יותר להגיד ‘ביי’ מאשר 111 קילומטר של רכיבה במסלול ג’ירו השרון^.  יכולתי להתחיל מצומת רעננה אבל זאת הרכיבה האחרונה וצריך להפציץ בנפח.  ארבע שעות רכיבה עברו כמו טיל יפני על סטרואידים וכבר איכשהו הגענו לכפר הירוק.  We didn’t pass go and didn’t collect 100 dollars.

באמצע הרכיבה החלטתי שאני חייבת איזה פאנצ’ר אחרון^ לדרך כדי לנוח טיפה ולתת משמעות לרכב ליווי הצמוד.  מהר מאד החלפתי גלגל והמשכנו הלאה.  רק עצרנו למים ופיפי***.

אחרי הרכיבה הזריזה, התכנסנו שוב כולנו כדי לחגוג לי ‘ביי’.  היה המון המון אוכל וכולם תרמו עם המאכלים הביתיים שלהם.  נינה הכינה סלט נינה, פבל הכין סלט פבל, ירון הכין סלט פירות, דני הביא פשטידה ואני את הבעלי מתים.  אכלנו עד כדי החזרת הקלוריות העבודות ואז, אחרי הקינוחים, התחיל הגודביי האמתי.  קובי ונינה**** אמרו לי כמה דברים בקשר לרכיבה ולזמן הרב שבילינו ביחד.

כשהצטרפתי לקבוצה ורכבתי בקלילות מערד לים המלח וחזרה^, לא ידעתי אם אני מסוגלת להתמיד בקצב של אלופת הארץ ועוד תותחים כמו קובי ודני שלגמו קילומטרים כבר שנים על גבי שנים.  מרכיבה לרכיבה לא ידעתי אם אני אצליח לקום בבוקר ולא הרגשתי שכל העסק הזה בא לי בצורה טבעית בכלל.  לאחרונה אני ניסיתי הרבה מאד ‘תחביבים’ שונים ומשום מה דווקא הרכיבה ודווקא הקבוצה הזאת, Stuck.  לאחר תקופה, היה רגע בשלב כלשהו שבו פתאום ידעתי שאני קמה ביום שבת לרכב אפילו בגשם.  אפילו כשלא יורד גשם ומתחיל גשם תוך כדי רכיבה וממשיכים לרכב.  אפילו כשאין גשם אבל ירד אתמול ויש פאנצ’ר כל 2 דקות.  אפילו כשהזיעה של כל הקבוצה מריחה כמו אנטי-אוקסידנטים* מהלילה לפני ואפילו כשקובי שוכח לקום בבוקר. (זה לא ישכח *****

אחרי השלב הזה, הרכיבות פשוט הרגישו כמו המשך טבעי של השבוע ופספוס של רכיבה הרגישה כמו החמצה קשה.  מרכיבה לרכיבה למדתי המון על טכניקה, על רכיבה בכביש, על תזונה ובעיקר על כל האנשים.  עכשיו אני צריכה לקחת את הסטנדרטים שלי לקבוצת רכיבה ולהוריד אותם בצורה משמעותית לקראת שיקגו. אין ספק שקבוצה כזאת לא קיימת בשום מקום אחר.  נדירים הם הרוכבים שייקחו רוכבת מתחילה תחת חסותם בכזו צורה.

ועכשיו… תראו את הקליפ הבא ואת הגרסא שלי (אם זה לא עובד לחצו כאן).

סתם

אין לי כוח לרכב. סתם
יש לי כוח אבל זה מוקדם בבוקר. סתם
זה לא מוקדם בבוקר אלא לילה כי חשוך בחוץ. סתם
זה לא חשוך בחוץ אבל באלסקה יש אור כל היום. סתם
באלסקה אין אור כל היום, יש בערך שעה אחת של לילה ביום. סתם
אין שעה אחת של לילה זה כי לא מספיק כדי באמת לישון. סתם
זה כן מספיק אבל באמת לישון טוב זה שש שעות. במיוחד לפני רכיבה. סתם
לפני רכיבה אפשר לשרוד עם 5 שעות. סתם
5 שעות זה לא מספיק כדי לטפס את נס הרים למשל. סתם
אני לא יכולה לטפס את נס הרים. סתם
אני כן. סתם
רק כשאני בקבוצה. סתם
גם כשאני בלי קבוצה אבל לא ניסיתי. סתם
אף פעם לא ניסיתי. סתם
ניסיתי. סתם
לא ניסיתי. סתם סתם סתם

^ =ציניות
*אנטי-אוקסידנטים = יין איכותי
** חומוס של אסנת = הום מייד חומוס שאסנת הכינה.  קובי טען כי אסנת קנתה חומוס זה ב’מגה’ ענקית המזון.
***פיפי = היה פעם מים
**** קובי ונינה = אמא ואבא
***** הגעה לכפר הירוק רק כדי לשמוע צרצרים ולחזור להולמס פלייס עם הזנב בין הרגליים לשיעור ספינינג עלוב.

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