No nii esimene Epic Series võistlus tehtud, üks poodium ja kokkuvõtte DNF.
Talve ettevalmistus ja kõik, need esimesed võistlused enne seda, olid soojendus selleks, hooaja alguse eesmärk võistlus oli see epic. Osad arvavad, et lähen lihtsalt läbi sõitma, osalema, aga ei ma läksin tulemust tegema, kogu enda võimaluste ja oskuste pagasiga.
Jah, võib öelda, et mida seal Horvaatia kivi epicul teha hardtailiga, isegi sloogan neil "Conquer the rocks", samuti olingi ainuke hardtailil sõitev UCI klassi sportlane, nii naistest kui meestest. Ma teadsin juba enne aasta algust, et see on üks mu nõrgemaid kohti epicutel, kui ikka mitu päeva peab rassima maastikul, siis mugavus loeb palju. Ma proovisin ja proovin veel, äkki hooaja peale saan veel fulli, eks näis, aga ega see mind ei takista, et hästi sõita!
Eks kaheliikmelise tiimi osana, ei osanud ma aimata, mis võiks olla Liisa vorm, ja me polnud koos sõitnud juba ammu, aga samuti teadsin, et ta oli selle ka üheks eesmärgiks võtnud ja meie klapp sõitmisel, suhtlemisel on hea. Seega olin ehk valmis hästi palju kannatama, kuigi teadsin, et eks minugi vorm on päris hea, kuna võistlused eelnevalt näitasid seda tugevalt, et olen õigel teel.
Reis sinna oli pikk, aga ma tegin targalt ja ööpeatustega ning nii mugavalt kui sai, kohale jõudes olin suhteliselt värske tundega, kerge spinn Liisaga pühapäeval ja esmaspäeval numbreid kätte saama ja proloogi 12 km läbisõitma.
Proloogi rajal oli nii tehnilist singlit kui ka korralikku uhamissektsioone. Suuremal tõusul oli lõpupoole ka üks korralik jooksukas mäkke, millele järgnes mõnus laskumine.
Stardist saime me teise naistetiimina minema, tiimide vahel oli 2min. Paul oli meil kogu võistluseks meie abiline, ehk sõidutas meid starti ja tagasi, hoolitses pudelite äraandmise eest ja elas raja ääres kaasa. Hiljem pesi rattad puhtaks.
Proloogil pani kohe esimese kilomeetri Liisa sellist gaasi, mõtlesin ohoh, kas tõesti kogu tuur tuleb selline kannatamine, meil oli rannaäärne kiviklibu, kus ühes kohas sain ise parema liini ja sain ise vedamise positsiooni, panin siis ka gaasi, kuid esimestel tõusudel sain aru, et pean natuke tagasi hoidma, et ta saaks mul rattas sõita. Enne suuremat mäge olime juba eessõitvatelt naistelt 45sekundit ära näpistanud. Jooksuka tõusuks sain neile sabale ja kohe mõtlesin, et proovime siin neist kiiresti mööda joosta, mul see õnnestus, Liisal nii kiireid jalgu polnud ja jäi nende taha, ehk siis kohe see singel ja laskumine, panime nende tempos, eks ta midagi ikka segas. Kui alla siledale jõudsime ja rada laiemaks läks, panime eest minema. Ma tundsin end hästi ja korralikult sain vedada ja nii me finishisse jõudsime, teadsin, et tänane väga punane sõit, on natuke teistsugune kui järgmised päevad.
Proloogis olime 5. naistetiim, kaotades viimasele poodiumi kohale vaid 12 sekundit.
Kõik oli veel ees!
Esimene etapp, 71km 1750m+. Stardist minema ja kohe mäkke, pikalt. Alguses natuke positsiooni võistlust, kuid nägin et ka Liisa on kohe taga. Algas siis korralik tõusunurk ja Canyoni tüdrukud panid gaasi, neile vastasid ka liidrisärgis itallannad, ma sain kenasti nendega mindud, enne tõusunurga suurenemist panin veel tähele, et nii mõnedki naised olid juba korralikult lõõtsutamas, ma ise tundsin normaalselt, et noh pingutan, aga ei midagi hullu. Siis kui gaasi vajutati, ja kaasa läksin, kuulsin et taga on veel naisi minu jooksus, et olin päris kindel et Liisa ka olemas. Siis mingi hetk, enam enda taga kedagi ei kuulnud ja tagasi vaadates nägin, et minu rattas oli hoopis Janina olnud ja ta lasi nüüd kergemalt ja kaugemal vaataväljas olid näha Greete koos Liisaga, mõtlesin, oppaa päris hea jalg on all. Võtsin siis kergemalt ja ootasin, et kuidas seal neil madistamine läheb. Singli ja kiviteele jõudis Liisa enne ja siis võtsin jälle tempo tegemise endale, natuke tagasihoides, et mitte tiimi lõhki jälle kiskuda, naeratasin kaameravendadele ja jõudsime nn. kuumaastikule tõusu otsas. Selline kiire kruusakas, vähese kiviga enam vähem sile maa. Tegin siis ees tööd ja äkki peale mingit aega sõitmist tunnen, ah tagarehv hakkab nagu ujuma. Ma ei saanud aru, et polnud isegi kive, ega midagi, kus kummi lõhkuda, et kuidas nii. Aga jah tühjaks ta läks. Visuaalselt ei näinud mitte ühtegi viga kummi mustris ja otsustasime, et panen balooni sisse, panin, midagi ei muutunud, kumm tühi. Panin siis vahu, ikka ei võta vedu, siis Liisa avastas, et näe kummi küljel on lõige! Noh, siis jäi vaid jooks alt ära ja sisekumm sisse, enne seda muidugi tohutult tähelepanelik kummi sisemuse kontroll, nii minu kui Liisa poolt, et tubelessiga sõites võivad okkad sisse jääda, mis võiks sisekummi kohe järgnevatel meetritel katki teha. Kui lõpuks kumm täis, siis külg korralikult punnitas, ehk et ma pidin ettevaatlikult sõitma, et mingitki pauku ei saaks külg, sest siis oleks asi ants ja uus töö oleks ees. Tahtsime finishisse jõuda, samas kui oli võimalik, tegime korralikku sõitu, et siledad ja mäed olid tempokad, vahetades tiimitööd, kuid laskumistel ja kivistel kohtadel kaotasime, kuna ma lihtsalt ei saanud korralikult sõita. Lõpuks oli selg valus ja imelikud lihased valutasid, kuna ikkagi koguaeg oli teistsugune pinge kehas, et kummi uuesti ära ei lõhuks.
Jah, kuigi enne minekut, olin korralikult üle vaadanud ja kummilõhkumist korraliku tihedusega kummivalikuga vältida, siis seal see kivi ei-miskit-maal oli ikka minu nimega, sealses kohas oli kummi lõhkumine ikka täielik ebaõnn.
Etapp läbi ja fookus järgmisel päeval. Teine etapp 75km 1250m+, algus ja kogu sõit laugemate tõusudega ja rohkem ka kruusateid. Alguses oli jälle hea tunne, kuid jälgisin rohkem, et Liisa oleks ka olemas, natuke vahepeal aitasin ta järgi, kuid esimesed 10km olime kenasti nii liidrite kui itallastega koos. Siis liidrid vajutasid enne pikka asfladi lõiku, pidin eest ära laskma ja olime siis nii et liidrid, natuke maad, itallased, natuke maad ja siis meie. Siis jõudis suur punt meile järgi, alguses ei saanudki aru kohe, et mehed seal peamiselt, et Greete tiim ja mehed, meie naistena ei tohi meestel tuules sõita. Mingil hetkel mehed läksid niimoodi asfladil pundi ette, et lihtsalt blokeerisid meid ära, et meil polnud neljakesi võimalustki, kui et tuules olla. Mis on igavene jama meeste poolt, eks neid kohti oli veel, kus mehed lähevad mööda ja siis alandavad tempo, ehk et mitte tuules sõita, peadki ise pidurdama kui pole rajal ruumi. Meestele peaks rohkem teavitustööd tegema, sest päeva lõpuks oleme meie, kes süüdi jääme, kui tuules sõidame, isegi siis kui täiesti tahtmatult.
No igatahes ma võtsin Greete ja tema tiimikaaslasele sabale ja minu jaoks oli seal ok sõita, kuid mingil hetkel oli Liisa nii ära trügitud meeste poolt, kui natukenegi vahe jättis ja ootasin ta järgi. Paljudes kivistes kohtades, mis on kergelt laskuvad või siledad, tundsin selgelt, et hardtailiga on mul raskusi. Lihtsalt ei saanud kaasa vändata ja ilma pidurdamata lihtsalt kaotasin natuke meetreid, aga ma andsin Liisale teada, pole hullu mine, ma tulen järele kui rada lubab. Saime mõnusa koostööna head tempot hoitud.
Sõitsime siis koos ja teises joogipunktis nägime itallasi ees, nendest saime kiiresti ja valutult mööda ja lõpuni välja. JEPIII meie Epic poodium, kolmas koht etapil!
Kuigi esimesel etapil olime palju kaotanud ajaliselt, siis täiesti reaalne oli ikkagi top5 võtta, ehk et järgnevateks etappideks oli mott olemas!
3 etapp pidi olemas 70km 1650m+ kuid vihma tõttu võeti viimased 10km ära, mis oleksid sumpamiseks vist muutunud ja oleksime looduse lihtsalt ära rikkunud. Vihma kallas tohutult ja külm oli!
Starditõusul Greete ja Janina kes olid korralikult pukil sooja teinud panid kohe alguses tempo peale. Oli tunda, et mu keha polnud soe, kuid natukese aja pärst sain käima ja sõitsime mingi 10 sekundit Greetest ja partnerist. Siis tuli kivine laskumine, lõpupoole ootasin natuke, et olla kindel et Liisa saab turvaliselt alla, siis väga raskesti veereval rajal, hakkasime taaskord Greetet ja Janinat kinni püüdma, kes olid laskumisel vahe suuremaks käristanud. Siis oli üks kurv, kus oli betooni valatud, et autod seal liikuda saaks, kuid betoonis olid ka kivistunud autojärjed, jäin täpselt sinna autorehvi renni, kuid sain kenasti ära tõstetud ennast sealt, siis veel tagasi hõigates Liisale "Rööpad!", natuke läks mööda ja kuulsin kukkumist, vaatasin tagasi ja Liisa oli maas, paar momenti ja sain aru, et ta ei tõuse sealt, keerasin tagasi ja läksin aitama. Tal oli raskusi ja oli enda väga ära löönud, meil oli GPS seadmel SOS nupp ja siis ma küsisin, kas vajutan, peale natukest mõtlemist oli vastus jaatav. See kõik juhtus kuskil 6km rajal. Korjasime end sealt tee pealt ära ja hakkasime ootama, endal hakkas korralikult külm, mõlemad lõdisesime, vajutasin nii mitmeid kordi SOS, siis mõtlesime, et kui nii läheb edasi, siis külmume enne ära kui abi jõuab, Liisa sai jala liikuda, võtsin mõlema rattad ja hakkasime vastassuunas liikuma, kuna olime just mingi hetk autotee ületanud. Mingi hetk keerasime rajalt ära, kuna autotee tundus nii lähedal vasakut kätt, kõndisime lambateid ja lõpuks ronisime asfaldile välja, olin SOS nuppu ikka korduvalt vajutanud. Siis veeresin mina alla, kus rada oli asfalttee ületanud, et abi kutsuda, jättes seadme talle. Sinna jõudes oli meediku vastus, et jajah juba on abi seal, mul oli segadus, alles 30 sekundit tagasi olime üksi autoteel jõudnud, kuid just siis olid ka lõpuks abistajad GPS seadme koordinaatidele jõudnud. Hiljem kodus vaadates, oli mu telefonis mitu vastamata kõnet, mis olid kõik meie kukkumise hetkel toimunud, ehk et kui oleks reaalselt raske kukkumine olnud, oleks abi vajaka jäänud. Meile anti termokiled ümber, olime reaalselt külmumas. Siis transporditi mind koos ratastega finishi paika ja Liisa jäi meedikutega. Õnneks oli Paul aru saanud live ülekannet tulemustest vaadates, et midagi on meiega mäda ja ka finishisse läinud. Seal leidsin ta kiiresti ja sain kuivad riided ja rattad turvaliselt autosse.
Mingil hetkel jõudis ka Liisa, ta oli valges arstikombes, tal oli nii hull külmumise aste juba, et märjad riided pidi ülessoojenemise lootuses ära võtma. Kergendus, et ikka meid kenasti leidis.
Olin ka rattaid lükates paar pisarat valanud ja eks kogu seda asja oli raske seedida, meie tuur oli läbi! Hea halvas, et Liisal röntgenid hiljem maismaal näitasid, et kõik luud terved, oli korraliku põrutuse saanud, kuid luud terved.
Eks see nii ole, et ette ei tea me midagi, alati mõtlen ka ,et homne päev võib jääda mu viimaseks siin maamunal, et mina pean ikka oma asja edasi ajama, väga suur pluss sellest võidusõidust, mis mu sisse jäi, oli see, et ma olen õigel teel. Mu treeneriamet ja soov treeningutel rassida, aga samas ka mõistuse hääl, mis hoiab ka puhkehetkedel pea selge, et peab korralikult trenni tegema aga samamoodi korralikult puhkama, eks seal on alati piiri peal käimine, aga kõik on hästi.
Et eks on neid, kes arvavad, et noh miskit tulemust ei tulnud ja luhtaläinud sõit, ikkagi DNF. Ehk et hooaja üks eesmärk on aiataga ja suur osa eelarvest potist alla lastud, aga mina tean paremini ja seda teavad ka käputäis inimesi ja ehk need kes süveneda tahavad, et kõik on väga hästi. Esimene poodium on tehtud ja reis läks asja ette!
Suur aitäh kõigile pöidlahoidjatele ja toetajatele, Liisale ja Paulile! Nüüd taastun nii võidusõidust, autoreisist kui ka kergest külmetusest, mis ma seal saarel sain!
Well so the first Epic Series race is done, one podium and
an overall DNF.
The winter preparation and all these first races before that, were a warm-up to this, goal of the beginning of the season. Some people think that I'm just going there just to race, to participate, but I go there to make a result with all my resources and skills.
Yes, you may laugh at going to the Croatian stone epic with hardtail, even their slogan is "Conquer the rocks", and I was the only UCI class athlete on hardtail, both women and men. I knew before the beginning of the year that this was one of my weakest points in the epic series, if you have to race on rough terrain for several days, comfort matters a lot. I tried and will try again, maybe I still get a fully to ride, but that doesn't stop me from racing at my best!
As part of a two-member team, I couldn't guess what Liisa's form could be, and we hadn't ridden together in a long time, but I also knew that she had taken it as one of her goals, and we match well in spite all. I was ready to suffer a lot, even though I knew that my form was pretty good, because the competitions showed it before that I was on the right track.
The trip there was a long one, but I did it wisely and with night stops, and as comfortable as I could, when I arrived I was relatively fresh, light spin with Liisa on Sunday and Monday to get the numbers and ride the prologue course of 12 km.
The track of the prologue had both a technical single tracks
and wide power section on flat. The biggest climb at the end had a running part
and then on it was nice single track down to the flat part.
We got off from the start as the second women's team, it was
2min between the teams. Paul was our assistant for the whole race, so he drove
us to and from the start, took care of handing over the bottles and cheered
along the track. Later, wash the bikes.
On prologue Liisa immediately put such a gas on first
kilometer, I wondered if the whole epic would be like this, suffering on her wheel.
We had pebbles on the beach, where I got a better line in one place and got a
first position, so I put gas as well, but realized I have to hold back for her
to keep up with me. Before the longer climb, we had already pinched 45 seconds
from the women ahead. I got on their tail just before the running part and
thought ok gas to pass them, but Liisa didn’t have it, so we ended up being
stuck with them the whole single down. When we got to the bottom and the path
widened, we set off. I felt good and I was able to push a strong pace properly
and so we got to the finish, I knew that today's very red race is a little
different than the next few days.
In the prologue, we were the 5th women's team, losing only 12 seconds to the podium.
Everything was still ahead!
The first stage, 71km 1750m +. Start was immediately to a long climb. At the beginning a bit of a position fight, but I saw that Liisa is also behind. Then a good ascent angle started and the Canyon girls put on gas, they were answered by the Italians in leader's shirt, I could go with them also quite fine. Before that acceleration I noticed that some women were already breathing very heavy, while I was relatively fine. So when the pace was upped I went with it , I heard that there were still women behind me in my race, that I was pretty sure that Liisa was there. Then for a moment, I didn't hear anyone behind me anymore, and looking back I saw that Janina had been on my wheel instead, and now she could see Greete with Liisa way more back, I thought to myself wow I have good legs. I took it easier then and waited to see how they were going there. Liisa got to the single and the stone road before Greete and then I took the pace again, holding back a bit so as not to tear the team apart again, I smiled at the cameras and we reached the so-called moon-landscape at the end of the climb. Such a fast gravel, few rocks with more or less smooth ground. Then I did work in front and suddenly after riding for a while I felt like the rear tire is starting to swim. I was confused, there was almost no place to puncture. But it was emptying. Visually I didn't see any flaws in the rubber pattern and we decided to put the co2 in, put it, nothing changed, the tire was empty. I put the foam in it, still no change, then Liisa discovered that there is a cut on the tire side! Well, all I had to do was take the wheel out and put the inner tube in, before that, of course, a very careful inspection of the inside of the tire, both by me and Liisa, that when riding with tubeless the thorns could get stuck, which could break the inner tube the next few meters. When the rubber was finally full, the side swelled properly, I had to ride carefully so that there would be no side bangs, because then we would be in trouble again. We wanted to finish, we did a good ride, pushing well in the flat and uphills, good teamwork, but going down we lost a lot of time as I had to be so much more careful with the tire. Also this caused me to have different strain in the body than normal, so I started to feel pain in unusal places and it was exhausting riding like that.
So the puncture was really unfortunate, before the race I
had paid extra caution to have good density tires, as puncture resistant as
possible, but well that rock there on the moon plato it just had my name on it!
Finished and focus on the next day. The second stage was 75km 1250m +, the start and the whole race with gentler ascents and more gravel roads. At the beginning i was feeling good again, but I was more attent with Liisa, had to help her a bit to stay with the leaders, but we could manage well to be in the group of leaders and itallians for the first 10km. Then the leaders attacked befpre a long section of asphalt, I had to let them go, as Liisa was in trouble, so we ended up riding the leaders, little gap, itallian, little gap and us. Then a big bunch came after us, at first I did not immediately understand that the group as mostly made of men, just Greete and her team mate from women, so we take their wheel, as we are not allowed to ride after men. At some point, the men went on the asphalt in front of the bunch, just blocking us, so that Janina didn’t have any opportunity not to be on the wheel. Someone should educate those men a little more. We are not allowed to be on their wheel, but they are allowed to pass us and then slow down and be on our way! Many times it happened that we had to brake and slow down after a bunch of men pass us, because they started to ride slower. And in the end of the day, we get the punishment if we are caught on their wheel even if its totally unintentional.
Anyway, I took Greete and his teammate wheel and it was ok
for me to ride there, but at some point Liisa lost ground and with the
confusion of men passing, I had to wait for her quite a good time. In many
rocky places that are slightly downhill or flat, I clearly felt that I had
difficulty with the hardtail. I just couldn't ride and I just lost ground
without braking, but I let Liisa know that its ok, I'll catch up if the trail
allows. We kept a good pace with sharing workload.
We rode together then and at the second feed zone we saw the Italians in front of us, we got past them quickly and went our way. JEPYYY our Epic podium, third place on the stage!
Although we had lost a lot of time in the first stage, it was still quite real to make the top5, so there was a motivation for the following stages!
The 3rd stage was supposed to be 70km 1650m + but due to the
rain the last 10km was taken away, where we would probably ruined nature. It
was raining heavily and it was cold!
From the start, Greete and Janina put on the gas, they had
made a good warmup on the rollers while we were all on the rain. So the
beginning of the climb was with stiff body but by the middle of the climb it
was ok and we were following Greete and Janina team with about 10 seconds, the
leaders and itallians were more in front. Then it was a stone downhill by the
end I had to slow down to be sure Liisa was there and then it started a very heavy
rolling road, where we started to see Greete and Janina again, as they had
slipped further with the downhill. Then there was a turn where it had been
poured concrete, but while making also had left car tire marks, that were
dangerous for us after a turn. I passed and even yelled back “Tire tracks!”.
Then moment passed and I heard a crash, I looked back Liisa was down, I waited
a second, saw that she is not picking herself up, so I rushed to help her. She
had difficulty to move her arm from elbow, she couldn’t get up easy. So I asked
if I push the SOS button on our tracking device, after a moment of thought, she
said yes. So I did. Then we picked out bikes from the track and went to the
side under the trees. We waited and started to get cold very quickly, we were
soaking wet and so cold while doing nothing. I pushed the SOS button more
times, but we did not see any moment up on the road, which was visible from
down. So as Liisa was able to walk, holding her arm, then we started to go back
the track, as we had crossed the road few time back. I pushed the two bikes. As
the road looked so close, we took sheep tracks and pushed our way to the road.
I had pressed the SOS button repeatedly. Then I rode down where the path had
crossed the asphalt road to call for help, leaving the device to her. When I
got there, the doctor's answer was that yes there is already help there, I was
confused, only 30 seconds ago we had arrived on the road alone, but just then
the helpers had finally reached the coordinates of the GPS device. Later, at
home, I had several missed calls on my phone, all of which had taken place at
the time of our fall, so that if there would have been a really bad crash it
would have been ugly to wait all that time!. We were given thermofilms, we were
actually freezing. Then I was transported to the finish line with the bikes and
Liisa stayed with the doctors. Fortunately, watching the results of the live
broadcast, Paul realized that something had gone bad and was there waiting.
There I found him quickly and got my dry clothes and bikes safely to the car.
At some point Liisa arrived, she was in a white medical
clothing, she already had such a bad degree of freezing that his wet clothes
had to be taken away in the hope of warming up. Relief that she found us quickly.
I had also shed a few tears while pushing the bikes and it was hard to digest this whole thing, our epic was over! Good in bad is that later on mainland the x-ray showed that Liisa had no broken bones.Isn't it the case that we don't know anything in advance, I always think that tomorrow may be my last day here on Earth, that I still have to do my thing. A good thing that this race gave me is the knowledge that I'm on the right track. My coaching and my desire to suffer in training, but also the voice of clarity, which keeps it clear in the moments of rest, that you have to train properly, but also have to rest well. There are those who think that there was no result, because the end says DNF. It was a big goal for the beginning of the season and a good junk of the budget went for it, but I know better and a handful of people know that, and maybe those who want to get deeper, know that everything is very good. The first podium is done and the trip was not a disaster!
Many thanks to all the cheerers and supporters, and to Liisa
and Paul! Now I'm recovering from the racing, the car trip, and the slight cold
I got on the island!
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