Hillary Reports from Italy

Im not sure whether the second time around doing a race is easier or harder. Its nice to know what to expect, but if the race involves endless climbing I dont know if having information about whats coming up is exactly the best thing. In any case, this was my second year doing the Prato-Abetone and it being so different from any other races Ive ever done, I think being in the know was probably a good thing.

The day started early. The plan was to meet Filippo at 5:45 a.m. at his house. When explaining where his house was he explained the general area and told me to just look for the blue car with a bike in it (let me just tell you, Filippo isnt the sharpest knife in the drawer). We easily found the car but as soon as we got a close-up my mom and I both looked at each other thinking, uh-oh. "Youre going in THAT!?" she exclaimed. The car was a tiny fiat that was dented on all sides. It had obviously gone through several accidents or at least one big one. Needless to say, I wasnt all too keen on driving 45 minutes with this guy but what was I to do? Fortunately, we made it to Prato in one piece (after I kindly reminded F. several times that we did not need to be racing yet).

We met up with our other friends and did the usual pre-race preparations, much easier this year since someone had gone to Prato on Friday to pick up our race numbers and packets. Shame on me, I didnt even bother to warm up- whats the point when you have to be lined up for an HOUR? By 7 oclock I was in the griglia, waiting for the race to start. Fortunately, being a woman, I was allowed to be in the first griglia, that is the first 500 or so people (there were about 1600 starters this year, 900 finishers. 21 of them women), and I had my group of friends to keep me entertained while we waited. Oh, and good news- this year they had porta-potties! 3 of them, right by the starting area. I actually got to pee before the start (last year everyone just went nel campo, in the grass by the start, not really possible for me unless I wanted to expose myself to 1500 people).

At 8 on the dot the race started. This year I was determined to not get stuck in traffic like I did last year and for the most part it worked. The first 20 kilometers were behind a pace car but I was going about as fast as I could, having started cold. I successfully avoided a few wrecks (as you might imagine, with that many people there are bound to be mix-ups), and we were safely on our way to the first climb. Nine kilometers uphill felt like a long way, especially when my friend Danieles 65 year old (no, Im not kidding) Dad passed me near the top. With an all too cheerful, "ciao, Ilari" he just rode on by. Somehow I managed to just pretend like that didnt happen and continued on with the grind. Finally the descent came, only to be followed by another climb. I had been going back and forth with one woman from the start and at the top of this one she and another fit looking girl passed me. Fortunately, I proved to be the better descender and was able to drop them on the final descent of the day but when we came to the last climb, a seemingly endless 12 kilometer push, I knew that they were not far back. Somehow I stayed ahead until 4 km to go when one of the two caught me. Not willing to give up so easily, I jumped on her wheel and stuck. At 3 k to go the climb leveled out just a bit and feeling good about staying on the wheel I attacked and didnt look back. The last kilometer was pure hell, as the pitch increased and my legs screamed, but I convinced myself that it was just like the track, with only three laps to go- easy (yeah, right). I finished, was given a big round of applause and a bouquet of flowers for being one of the few ragazze out there, and twenty seconds later my pursuers crossed the finish line. Close, but I held them off.

I am happy to report that I finished with a time about 8 minutes faster than last year on the same course (3 hours, 5 minutes). Overall, the times were a bit faster this year, probably due to the cooler weather, and I had a much better start. However, considering that about the only preparation I did for the summer was riding around in circles on the flat, my 8th place finish wasnt too bad. Oh yeah, and by the way: Cesare, Danieles dad, only beat me by a couple of minutes.

After cleaning up (yes, in Italy they DO have showers for all of the racers, hairdryers too!), we drove to the "after-party"- this year it included a few of us that had raced, each (expect for me) with their own personal entourage: girlfriends, wives, kids, friends, to make a party of about 20. We ate at a mountain top restaurant where we were served a set menu of (are you ready?): Prociutto & salame, pasta con zucchine, pasta con funghi porcini, ravioli con burro e salvia, a pork dish, lepre with potatoes, salad, all to be topped off with homemade, fresh out of the fryer ciambelle (sugar covered donuts). Hours later, sleepy and full, we made the drive back to the start where we left our car. Id tell you all about the ride back home in the pouring rain with Filippo but I think Id rather just forget it. Coming up: A mountain bike race next weekend.

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