Journeys...

Some would say I am a jet setter. I get onto the plane with the hope of a new airline magazine is there to entertain me for the first 10 minutes, usually with some pretty pictures. A text "Journeys" in the Air France magazine after six plane trips and six reads, I had to tear it out. Although I did attempt to read it in French, I turned the page and the English version was awaiting my read. It reminds me of the first time I did get on a plane; the novelty and uniqueness of being high above the clouds. I have to admit it’s not the same anymore. A few plane trips a month allows the mind to wander- "images of people and things we’ve seen, loved, dreamed of, yearned for, in places and times frequently distant from another". My thoughts generally although consist of did my bike get on the plane, how long do I have to sleep, what did I forget and the list is endless…

 
 
 


My journeys this month have been twice to France and once to London. I would say I have had two successful trips to France with my French team Tri Val de Gray. We had our first podium win in Sartouville and finished 4th overall for the season for 2013 by 0.5 points. Sartouville was exciting being in a breakaway and finishing just a few metes too short in a sprint finish for 2nd place. The last French GP of the season was held in Nice. It is a beautiful place where the beach side atmosphere makes me miss home. The thought of my bike not turning up came true and I had a few dramas pre race. I was very lucky with my Giant Envie turning up one hour before we were leaving for the race! Nice beaches aren’t like the beaches at home with blinding white sand but instead had massive pebble stones. Running into start I miss judged my dive and nearly faced planted straight into them. The water was pretty choppy but I found good feet from the start and had a hard swim with 5 of us girls having a gap on the rest of the field.


The swim doesn’t finish until you have jumped on your bike. I was just off the back of the girls and I knew that if I didn’t get on, there was no body for ages. I rode hard the first lap and got myself within the group of five by the end of the first lap. We all rode well together and got
a gap of 90 seconds by the time we entered T2. I had a pretty shocking T2 and ran straight past my bike rack. This meant I missed the girls going out onto the run and was alittle off the back from the start. The ride was fairly solid and took abit out of the legs. I was pretty stoked that the torrential rain came when we were running but I couldn’t be happier to finish up with a solid 4th and first under 23!

We have also been having a few adventures or journeys here in Vitoria. We headed to picture perfect San Sebastian for the day to soak up the last days of summer. It’s always so relaxing there and time sure does fly when you are having fun! I felt like I came back alittle bit browner than I left but it’s probably just my imagination. The water is still somewhat warm and the pontoon with the slide is always fun. I tired to be alittle adventurous and went to go get my hair cut before home. This could have turned out extremely well or horribly bad. Too much of my surprise, the lady did a fabulous job understanding my Spanish to try and have some hair left when I left the place. Might go back there next year! ;) This last month we have been trying to explore Vitoria more, finding new restaurants, coffee stops and making regular visits to the butcher. It is always so busy there- it feels like a mosh pit. They cut your meat to order so it is actually better to grab a ticket, leave and come back. We wanted to only order 2 slices of cold meat and we got 22. Oh well looks like we are set for a few
days..

The number of people here in Vitoria has shrunk over the last few weeks, with everyone going home to their different places around the world. Not going to lie I do miss the best neighbours in the world, Gwen and Pat. Grace and I always do our regular checks to make sure they haven’t come back.. One more journey to Tongyeong before heading home to Australia! 