Lots of Testing today

Alright...I was going to get up at 8am and leave by 9 for a long ride (4-5 hours), but I awoke to a sore throat. I decided to sleep it off. I got up at about 11 (thank god for class starting at 5pm Tues and Thurs) and the throat was a little better. I definitely had to go for a ride, it was 63 degrees out today. I ate, showered and got ready to meet the Sesto team for a ride at 1. I showed up and the shop owner, Marco (ex-pro), was happy to see me there. And then we were off.

For the first 10km or so the "big guy" on the squad decided he would pull. He definitely has a huge motor. But I stayed with him easily. We then took turns pulling keeping the pace up. We then got to a 7% climb that probably was about 6km in length or so. They sent the climber on the team up the road. They then told me to go catch him. OK. I did what I was told. I was proud of myself, I stayed with him on the whole climb. We had a pretty nice pace going up the climb...I won't lie he was a good climber. He attacked right at the end and got me at the top. Oh well, I'll get him next time. We put on about a minute on everyone else in the group of about 8-10. Sweet! We all got back together and started on our way again. I saw a small steep climb coming so I decided to attack...again the only one able to come with and stay on was their climber. Right after the very short climb was a downhill for about 1km so I motored along and it was another climb right after the downhill. I was definitely going to get him on this one. He pulled around me and I stuck on his wheel. He tried to push a little harder and I stayed. Right at the end I attacked and beat him at the top. OH yeah!!! He then said "geez, I'm next to Lance Armstrong" in the best English he could do. That was definitley a complement cuz he was a really good climber.

At the end of the ride we were going along...I was third in line, the big guy was pulling again. This time he got out of the saddle....well what happens when you jump out of the saddle........you slow down a bit. I didn't know he did this, the guy in position two moves over to his left quickly. My wheel is overlapping his and BAM!!! Face plant into the ground at 25mph. I was able to absorb most of the impact with my hands and arms. Thank god I know how to absorb a crash. But I still got a little bit of road rash on my hands, a scrape on the chin and bruise on my left shoulder (which is getting a little stiff now) and I rolled/slid into the ditch. I got up without hesitation. Everyone came right to me and asked if I was 'bene' I was fine. Marco came over tune up my bike quick and they made sure I was good. Definitely...I showed them that I was strong.

It was a good day overall though. I can see the team likes me and they can see my strong points. I'll be training with them a lot more. I enjoy Italy so much even with a little road rash. I can't wait to race and see how I can do in Italy. Happy training...