Mary Mac and Michael Broderick Update

Europe Update
April 25 2007

Hello!

I can hardly believe 2 weeks have passed since we arrived here in
Europe. We have been blessed with a beautiful blooming spring with
temperatures closer to high summer, which is definitely unusual but
has been great for training and living out of an rv!

We are currently in a small campground south west of frankfurt in
the quiet hills stationed at a campground that has wireless (a
first) and is surrounded by some of the best road training we have
experienced in europe! we’re glad to finally have a chance to
check e-mails and plan some logistics for the next few weeks... I
wish we could spend more time at this quiet area, but we have to
hit the road in about 5 hours, which is just enough time for the
laundry to dry and to get our training in. We are currently on our
way to the czech republic for a race this Sat and we are still 700
km away!

we have already done a good bit of driving here in europe starting
as usual in Munich at our friend and RV rental specialist michael
braun’s, packing our substantial lot of equipment aboard one of his
sweet modern rv’s and and heading directly to our first race in
Oldenzaal, Netherlands.

Ok just have to let everyone know that the rv is the way to go when
traveling europe and you could do no better than
www.rv-rental-germany.com for your fully outfitted vehicle and
personal touch that is almost impossible to come by these days when
renting anything.






Though we only had a few days to make the 700k drive, prep the
bikes and handle the logistics to get ready to race, our previous
familiarity with europe and the ease of the rv way of travel helped
immeasurably to arrive fresh on race day.

We arrived to contest the first race of the Benelux cup series
(belgium, netherlands and luxembourg) and were glad we arrive with
half a day to dial in each twist and turn of the fast loose (big
ring only) course.

Short version, I ended up winning and mike finished 9th in hot,
dusty and typically well attended conditions. The lot of the
Netherlands are super flat but all the races we have contested here
are full of fun single and ingenious courses that push the limits
of all the riders.

After a few days of recovery and training in the Netherlands, we
headed south to Belgium.

Our sore muscles are still recovering from racing the first world
cup in Houffalize, this past Sunday. Mike and I were glad for the
return of this classic mtb race venue. We have made our way
through here many times, not only to race, but also spending days
training in the surrounding hills--as always it is nice to return
to familiar territory. The quaint stone built town nestled in a
valley between the steep hills of the Ardennes is the perfect
atmosphere for a bike race and no doubt one of the best places for
the first round of the World Cup series.

Being creatures of habit we returned to our favorite local
campground down the river and far enough outside of town to limit
the influx of the thick Belgian crowds that show in force to watch
the race. The Belgian people really embrace the cycling culture
and certainly it doesn't hurt their businesses to have tons of
extra bodies in town and throngs of thirsty and hungry race fans
flooding the streets on race day.

The competition this year was typical but still a bit staggering,
the numbers of competitors in the elite fields was bordering on
ridiculous with 245 elite men and 124 women! Mike and I knew it
was going to be tough to make it thru the steep wide pavement start
loop and maintain our good start positions from last year’s work.
The course was similar to the last time we raced here, with a few
added extra climbs and exciting drops... nice changes making this a
fast, steep, winding cloverleaf course that pleased the racers and
entertained the spectators like never before.

Mike and I both suffered it out pretty good in the heat and
finished without any major problems, but unfortunately not with the
results we were hoping for. The difficult start had everything to
do with this. We were both unprepared (or just unwilling) to
grind up the impossibly steep 2 k pavement climb at full throttle
right from the start gun. This gave many start fast then blow up
and bog down the rest of the field type racers a chance to do their
thing.

Even a slight hesitation or a bad line can cost you time and at the
world cups a few seconds are so difficult to come by; A lesson we
were forced to relearn in houffalize! Still in the interest of a
good result both Mike and I have raced enough to have trouble
giving every ounce of energy at the start, knowing we need to gauge
the output for the whole race. but in this case with such large
fields and tight trail we spent the rest of the race paying for our
tactics .

I weeded my way forward throughout the race , climbing strong and
descending smooth, to finish 16th. My legs felt awesome and the
bike was perfect, but I lacked those few seconds of incredible
suffering at the start that I needed to make that podium spot I was
hoping for.

Although familiar, the level of competition seems to have been
upped another notch. The women from China have really continued to
step it up, with U-23 world champion, Ren Chengyuan (CHN) out
sprinting the formerly untouchable Gunn-Rita (NOR) for the win.
Margarita Fullana (ESP) in 3rd, Sabine Spitz (GER) in 4th and
Jingjing Wang (CHN) in 5th. I am glad there are 5 more world cups
to contest and looking forward to some intense racing at smaller
venues for the next month... building it up!

Mike rode a strong race but suffered as I did in the start. Still
he kept focused throughout the choking dust and turmoil caused by
the enormous field of riders. With 245 men filing into single
track, there was unfortunately quite a bit of time that Mike spent
literally standing still waiting his turn to enter the single
track. He pushed forward completing laps ever faster as he passed
riders or they dropped out on their own accord. He finally
completed the 5 lap race in a painful 2 and a half hours.
Though it was far from where his sights were set I was proud of
Mike and his mental resolve to make the best of his bad start...
From 157th on the first lap, he moved up 60 positions to finish
99th.


Mike is not one to take advantage of the flimsy course tape and
find an illegal line, he prefers to tough it out with the majority
of the field while some others will cut the course to advance their
positions illegally. In the heat of the moment some riders do not
respect the rules or the brotherhood of the racers and decide to
cut the course to find a better but not rightfully earned result.
We know that sometimes it is not the result that really matters or
the points, but that we are out there, honestly giving our best.

Mike and I have planned to compete in 3 uci ranked races in the
next 10 days, with lots if kilometers of driving in between. this
block of time will see us travel to the Czech Republic to Italy
then backup to Germany. it will give us a welcome chance to train
up our racing. We are both looking forward to the opportunity to
brush up on the excruciating and all important start that cannot be
trained in any better way than on race day.

Hopefully this e-mail finds you and your people happy and healthy!
we are continually grateful for the support to race our bikes over
here. Thank you for helping to make it happen!

All the best,
Mary and Mike