MONDORF-LES-BAINES, LUXEMBOURG
I was warned. My Whoop band showed a recovery of just 10% and was the seventh day in the last eight I was in the red. My warning was to not engage in heavy training. I ignored it. I had to.
I was antsy. My bike was missing for one week in Europe which means I hadn’t ridden in one week. Today was probably not the day to go long but I had to.
Breistroff-la-Grande, France
It was our first day of riding with Rooster Racing but we wouldn’t roll out until 11:00 am. At dinner the night before one rider, Bill, asked me a question “As a veteran of this group.” He said that he wanted to ride early and wondered if that was allowed or would be looked down upon. I told him that I was headed out around 9:00 with Alonzo and that he could join us.
We rolled out at 9:00 a.m. and went about 400 meters before leaving Luxembourg and entering France. We stopped for a photo op. I had designed a route that would take us along the Moselle River.
We came to a “road closed” sign but went through to see how far we could get. In fairness to us, we weren’t 100% sure that it was a road closure sign. And we got to the safety of a bike path that took us over the river.
We followed the path on the other side of the river and were still in France. Without notice or signage, we entered Germany, and as quickly as we entered Germany we crossed the bridge back into Luxembourg at Schengen. We climbed the hill for the direct route back to Mondorf. Partway up the climb a policeman routed us on another road. The main road was closed for a triathlon.
We started on an alternative route but Wahoo wasn’t finding an alternative. We stopped and then went back to the policeman. He wasn’t local and checked his phone. We decided to go back to the French town we came through and rode back to start arriving at 10:45 a.m.
At 11:00 we were greeted by Fränk Schleck who went over our riding rules and itinerary. We started out on the same route that I had just ridden and rode to France.
But we took a different route than four years ago and found some great bike paths. We ended up at the same place at Schengen as I had ridden earlier and climbed a long hill to lunch.
I did not have a good day on the bike. Being off the bike for more than one week had taken its toll. Also hurting was that we went out early for 21 miles before the 47-mile ride and did not have a chance to refuel before the second part of our ride.
For the first 20 miles or so I hung near the front. But the rolling hills were beginning to take a toll on me. I could feel cramps coming on.
On the way up the climb to lunch I cramped. I dropped behind the group I was riding. Fränk saw this and came back down the hill then pushed me for about 200 meters. I couldn’t figure out if it was cool or embarrassing. It was both.
This was not a good thing. Fränk was sizing up all the riders and it did not matter that I rode 50% farther than the others. He saw that I could not hang with my group on this day.
Lunch was a very thin pizza with an excellent view. After lunch, we followed a nice path that was flat or downhill to Mondorf.
I was feeling better and a bit recovered after lunch. The path back was nice and I had it marked as a Strava segment. I thought I might get a PR but if I was going to it was because I earned it. I went to the front and picked up the pace. And I got my PR.
I felt pretty good at the end of the day. I did have the cramping problem right before lunch which would define my week. The main group rode 47 miles and the three of us rode 68.
