“Really?” I queried holding my new German champions jersey up for appraisal.

Dinner turned out to be lamb cobbler, a variation on the mince and vegetables idea, the rhubarb was a bit tart but a couple of spoons of sugar sorted that out. It was all simple stuff but who says you need complicated? Food out of the way Dad had passed out our new national champions strips.

“Maybe it is a bit much,” Dad allowed.

Bit much is putting it mildly, apart from the sponsors logos its effectively just a German flag front and back, not exactly subtle.

“Try it on Gab,” Mand encouraged as she modelled her much nicer white design with just the red, white and blue hoops across her chest and back.
“I’ve got Garde, Dad?”
“It’ll wait,” he agreed, “come on then.”

“So what’s happening with Jules,” I probed as we headed up the valley.
“She hasn’t told you?”
“Nada.”
“this goes no further right?”
“Cross my heart.”
“Boris has got a place at Heidelberg University.”
“Thats good right?” Even I know Heidelberg is one of the top universities in the country, perhaps Europe.
“Very except he didn’t tell your sister he’d applied and she’s got offers at Lincoln and Sheffield.”
“Ah,” I allowed, “I can see why she’s miffed.”
“Its a bit more than being ‘miffed’ as you put it, they were going to be sharing a flat which would’ve cut their costs tremendously, this throws everything in the air.”
“Bum.”
“Indeed, remember what I said.”
“Yeah, yeah, so they breaking up?”
“I don’t get to find these things out till afterwards kiddo, I guess its possible.”
“I like Boris.”
“We all do love, I’m sure we’ll sort something out.”

“Aaaannnd relax,” Han told us.

It might not be very physical compared to cheering but Garde can be quite exhausting and I collapsed in a puddle against the nearest wall.

“You look like you’re somewhere else Gab,” our coach opined.
“Er sorry, some stuff at home.”
“You want to talk?”
“Oh its not me, my sister.”
“Offer stands,” she advised with a questioning look.
“Thanks but I guess she has to sort it out herself.”
“She’s older yes?”
“Two years.”
“My sister is three more than me.”
“I didn’t know you had a sister?”
“Why should you? She lives in Madrid with her husband, its not like you’re likely to meet.”
“I guess not.”
“She ran away when I was fourteen, we only found out a year later she was okay, it nearly killed Mama.”
“Jules has moved back home.”
“Ah.”

Yup, that just about said everything.

We obviously had to set off fairly early to pick up the others but its only about an hour and a half to Wendelsheim, our destination, without that diversion. Todays race is billed as the Rheinland Pfalz junior championship, its open to anyone, there’s not a special jersey to wear, just a trophy and a line on your palmares. The attraction for us, and the BC guys following us is that its one of very few ‘big’ races this time of year which also means there will be a quality field attracted to race here.

“How much further?” I quested again.
“Use the one in back,” Dad suggested.
“But its not a wee,” I whispered.
“Just go, we’ll be at least thirty minutes yet.”

I’d need a big cork to hold on that long so I scuttled back to the campers bathroom.

“Its three laps, about forty seven a lap,” Dad told us, “feed station is about halfway round lap two so make sure you have your pocket rations.”
“A hundred and forty kilometres?” Tal queried.
“I know its a bit longer than your used to but there aren’t any bad climbs, it just rolls up and down a bit.”
“That’s worse,” Mand put in.
“Well you cope at home, there’s nothing as long or steep here,” Dad advised, “any more questions before we talk tactics?”

“You look like a road sign Gab,” Gret chuckled.
“Tell me about it,” I sighed, “and I can’t get in the pockets, they’re too high or something.”
“Yup,” Tal agreed after peering behind me.
“These gel things are just wrong,” Darren commented.
His use of English reminded me, “English today guys or we’ll lose Daz.”
Tal rolled her eyes, “as if we’d forget.”
“Come on yous lot or we’ll be starting at the back like,” Josh prompted.

As road captain today he’s in charge so we all followed him towards the gathering of riders out on the road.

There certainly was a good field, I spotted jerseys from as far away as Stuttgart and Essen alongside the likes of Innerthausen and the girls from up Wuppertal way. Of course the GB strips grabbed quite a bit of attention, more I’m glad to say than my horrendous flag outfit. No rider introductions today either but instead we had to listen to a ten minute diatribe by some official before the guest starter even took to the microphone.

With such a long race ahead of us the start was a bit of an anti climax, no one wanting to waste energy with possibly some five hours of racing ahead of us. Instead it was a slow roll out of the village, the neutral zone was quite short, less than a kilometre for sure and then we were straight into the first climb.

“Thought this was supposed to be flat,” Mand complained as we climbed out of the saddle in the middle of the peloton.
“It is,” I suggested.
“Compared to what, Switzerland?”

Well I had to agree, flat it isn’t but although fairly steep it wasn’t long and we soon rolled over the top. The bunch remained pretty much intact, we were only doing about twenty five on the flat, the marshals struggling to keep their motorbikes down to our speed. Yeah, clearly we weren’t the only ones with a plan.

Up, down, up, down, at least the road was fairly straight, no sharp corners so far at least. After the second village we hit a long rise that took us into forest, the road mottled with shadow which hid the imperfections in the surface. Of course that resulted in an off, well several riders went down after one tried to flick around a lump too late, yup, it’ll definitely be safer in a smaller peloton.

The next couple of villages and dozen or so kilometres of trees introduced us to some more interesting turns, climbs and drops before we descended through the feed station. Still no one seemed keen to take up the baton but there were a few itchy feet around us, it wouldn’t be long now, not long at all. I managed to fish a gel packet from my pocket and forced myself to swallow the slimy contents, think I’d prefer a narna.

Although not Roman road straight the road returned to a more gently rolling landscape, any escape would easily be visible most of the time. But of course teenagers aren’t known for their patience and with close on thirty K on the clock the first attack was instigated. There was a bit of looking around before any pursuit was made then it was like the dam had broken as one after another riders took off the front.

The net result, over the next couple of kilometres was that the pace lifted and a few riders were shelled but otherwise the bunch was all together again. The road became a bit more wobbly both up and down as well as side to side then we swept through a dip before the road dropped more steeply towards, I’m guessing the sharp right Dad was on about. Time for action I guess, I touched Josh’s thigh, he just nodded by way of reply before leading me through to the front of the pack, not the lead but a few wheels back.

Not a moment too soon, flashing lights, red flags and a chorus of whistles alerted anyone still unaware of the turn. Of course this caused some panic and over reaction just as Dad had surmised which allowed the pair of us to exit the corner in the lead. Josh hit boost and I had to scrabble to keep his wheel as we accelerated away, of course it wasn’t a clean escape, I could hear multiple riders following us but the die was cast.

The next village has a couple of tighter corners and Josh kept on the gas until we had open road and less than three kilometres to finish the lap. The pair of us pulled off and I wasn’t too surprised to find Herr Innerthausen take the lead. I checked the numbers, a dozen, not bad and I reckon we have three hundred metres, not bad at all.

Our other breakaway companions got the idea when Paul in turn swung off and with a fairly rapid rotation our speed hovered close on forty along to Wendelsheim. There were spectators all around the circuit but the biggest concentration were of course here. And so there was a hearty cheer as we went through, bolstered by the scratchy PA, then we were back into the silence of the countryside.

“Nice jersey Bond,” Innerthausen mentioned as we honked up that first climb for the second time.
“Well dandy,” I allowed.
“This it then do you think?”
“The GB lads will probably try to get across,” I suggested.
“I saw the Weltmeister sat near the back.”
“He seems to like it back there,” I agreed.

We quickly resumed the rotation after the climb, game on.

Only eleven of us emerged from the forest, a puncture claiming a lad I knew from Frankfurt. It was certainly easier to dodge the lumps under the trees in this smaller group, not for the first time I wished for flatter light rather than the harsh sun light of mid morning. And there it was, the feed zone and waiting patiently I could see Dad and Angela with our musettes.

Grab the strap, pull over your head and unload, Dad’s had us practicing the manouevre time and again. It might seem simple enough but get it wrong, drop or miss the bag and there can be nasty repercussions, a crash immediately perhaps but bonk later almost certainly. So practice we do, I pushed the energy bars in one pocket, dried fruit in the other and after a little juggling swapped depleted bidons for fresh.
I threw the empty musette into the edge, took a swig from a new bottle and I was ready to resume the battle.

“Pace is dropping man,” Josh confided.
“Theres still a way to go.”
“Aye but we don’t want Jamie or Mark up here like.”
“Thats what Daz and the girls are for,” I pointed out.
“Aye,” he agreed.

Everyone took their turn, some maybe shorter than others but at least no one was sitting out. Paul looks to be the biggest danger, he’s stronger and a lot more experienced than when we first crossed tyres in Switzerland last year. Of the others I was on nodding terms with all but two, two unknowns who so far were pulling their weight in our escape group.

There was actually a tail wind on this stretch but not enough to really assist us although it certainly helped a little on the ups. Then there it was, the last hilltop before ‘the bend’, we’ve been out here for over forty K, more than an hour’s effort. Now we’ve just got to hang on for another fifty kilometres, we made the turn and I nodded to Josh, time to instigate the second part of the plan.

Maddy Bell © 14.10.2017