Milano - San Remo 2.0

For those of you who did not see the spectacle of the 2013 Milano - San Remo, the 300km classic that starts in Milan and finishes in the Ligurian cosatal town of San Remo, the race was held under conditions so terrible that the race organizers were forced to cut parts of the race.  In the GF Tre Valli, the conditions for the Focus XC Italy Team were eerily similar, except this time we weren’t watching the race from the comfort of the couch, we were competing.  Ok, so it wasn’t snowing and our race was only 42km long, but the organizers were still forced to shorten the race to 34km due to heavy rain and winds and temperatures around 5 degrees (40 F).

A racer battles extreme conditions at Milano - San Remo

In temperatures like this, the startline stinks of warming embrocation, which is basically an oil or cream that is rubbed into the legs that give a warming sensation.  Think vicks vaporub combined with really hot chilli powder and you get the idea of both the aroma and the effect.  On the startline, racers quiz each other about how much clothing they are going to wear for the race.  Most conversations go something like “wind vest or not?”  “You taking your leg warmers off before the start?”  I was fortunate to be starting next to eventual winner Michele Casagrande, who, when I asked him if he was keeping his legwarmers on, told me I should be admitted to the looney bin just for thinking about going without them.  About 2 seconds later, I looked to my left and saw my teammate Fabian Rabensteiner taking his leg-warmers off seemingly unaware that not only was it pouring rain, but we could see our breath with every exhale.  When you’re on form (or if you, like Fabian, grew up skiing in the Dolomites), things like the weather don’t really bother you. 

There's nothing like a cold bath when the temperature is near freezing

Soon after the start, on the first asphalt climb, my legs weren’t only burning from the embrocation, but from the ferocious pace being set by the front of the race.  I was a bit peeved about it until I saw that it was Fabian who was making us all suffer.  After the race split up, we all settled into a more sustainable pace, trying not to crash on the slick mud, rocks and roots.  Believe me, this feat of balance and bike control is decidely easier to do when you’re not shivering uncontrollably.  Mud found its way into every part of my bike, kit and eyes making the suffering even less bearable.  Other racers’ faces were so covered in mud that they were unrecognizable.  At one point I looked at my teammate Andrea Righettini and didn’t know who he was until he scoffed what I am pretty sure were a few English explatives letting me know he was as unconfortable in these conditions as I was.

Rabensteiner celebrates a hard earned podium place 

We all suffered on through the mud, rain, wind and cold until the race mercifully ended.  At the finish we didn’t even slow down; we rode our bikes directly to the showers happy just to have finished the ordeal.  A warm shower brought relief, but it wasn’t until I heard what my crazy teammate Fabian had done (without leg warmers mind you)- he’d gone and finished 3rd against a top-class field, while our young phenom Kevin Filipozzi won the junior race.  Even finishing a race like yesterday’s requires a phenomenal degree of determination,  competing for the win shows  another lever of will power.