April 18, 2007

Frischi's race report - from Cape Epic to Sea Otter

So far the season has not been perfect. At least as far as the racing goes. Training has been good, the new bikes (especially the Spark) are awesome, I'm healthy and in shape. But racing luck has not been on my side so far. At the Cape Epic, Tom Ritchey and I were not able to finish. Tom injured his hand prior to the race and was in a lot of pain riding the rough trails of South Africa. But the trip to South Africa was great, and the super well-organized Cape Epic was an adventure I will not forget. Because of my early return, I jumped into round one of the Swisspowercup in Schaan. A broken chain caused me to fall off the first page of the results list. Perfect weather and a road criterium on Easter helped me to train well. At the Sea Otter Classic I found myself with some good legs. Unfortunately, it's not a stage race anymore, just individual races with the cross-country on Sunday being the only race that counts for UCI points. So I tried to get some quality training done, including a beautiful five hour ride with Tom Ritchey and Nino Schurter through the spectacular mountain biking areas around Tom's home. I took it easy during the first few races with the intention of doing well in the cross-country. I started out well, was always in first or second position for the first 40 minutes of racing until I cut the sidewall of my tire and had to go search for a new wheel. I was pretty disapointed about this situation and had some energy left to burn. So I jumped back into the race in about 15th position to finish the second of two laps we had to do. I did not fly all the way to California to be racing for less than an hour. It's clear that I did not cross the finish line, since I was not part of the race. But at least I had some kind of racing before the Houffalize World Cup next weekend. Hope that things will go my way in Belgium. At least I know the legs are good. Tom Ritchey, Frischi and Nino Schurter are excited about the trails around Tom's home.