BEFORE THE RACE
I wake up as we land in Milan . The airport is chaos and we can ’ t understand the language . I spend a panicked 15 minutes hunting for my suspension . I ’ ve seen snails that move faster than the rental car employees . We take the wrong door into the parking garage , can ’ t find the pedestrian walkway , and get honked at by annoyed traffic . There ’ s a mad shuffle of riders and mechanics and gear bags to fit everyone in the cars . It takes four tries and two different machines to escape the garage .
As soon as we arrive at the venue , it ’ s time to walk the tests . Most of the week will be spent on foot . Does walking 70-100 miles sound excessive ? Yes . But is it excessive ? Probably also yes , but we don ’ t mess with a winning formula . After walking two tests the day I landed , I fall asleep in the rental car and dream of sticking my feet in a bucket of ice water .
Being a Trophy rider comes with some perks . While we walked , Club riders were building bikes , prepping air filters , buying tires , getting groceries and hopefully walking a little . I don ’ t envy them . Meanwhile , the mechanics take care of our bikes , while Bob packed us delicious lunches . All we had to do was walk . And walk . And then walk some more .
The week passes in a blur of walking and the strange , West Coast music that my two strange , West Coast teammates listen to ( kidding , my teammates were the best ! Just don ’ t request country music in the team van ... haha ). We mostly walked in our own little group : me , my teammates and their support crew ( Damian and Rachel , who was my roommate for the trip ). The walking was exhausting , but the views and company were good .
After walking a test , we ’ d rest on the bumper of the van for a few , discussing lines , swapping stories , making fun of everyone and trading snacks out of our packed lunches like we were little kids again .
Testing was uneventful , aside from misplacing my shock spring ( which was later found under a pair of pants in the container ). Admin was uneventful , aside from temporarily losing my wallet . Impound was uneventful , except when my chest protector failed to pass . Fortunately , my team is awesome . Our manager Antti Kallonen summoned a man in