The last weeks of cold and rainy weather conditions turned training sometimes into a real challenge. I also caught a flu and have been struggling for a week with a sore throat and a cough. Still I decided to take part in the XCM in Offenburg. I wanted so badly to continue the good start of the season I had.
Start at 8 am and it was still quite chilly. In the first flat part I felt comfortable, but in the first climb I noticed that my lunges where not co operating with muscles. No, panic I thought. Just continue and maybe I will start to feel better. Not long after those thoughts I suddenly lost my pedal. That can really hurt. Think I hit it as my foot suddenly was spinning in the air and hit the ground. Luckily I did not loose the pedal as we were still riding the first flat part. That would for sure have caused a chaos and maybe also a crash.
SO there I stood on the side of the gravel road, asking people passing me if they happened to have a tool with them. Finally a woman stopped and gave me her tool and told me she would continue. I gave it back to her as I passed her and thanked her. It was a really nice gesture.
After 10km I noticed that I was loosing the pedal again. No tools, only my fingers. Had no other choice than continue and stoped and fix it every now and then. I knew that I had some pedals in the car and I would have to ride the 40km there. I was scared. I just thought of a scenario where I would be riding downhill and suddenly loose a pedal. A bit risky.
A new pedal and 35km to go. Now I suddenly could ride more relaxed and only think about riding hard. Anyway, I had lost so much time during the first 50km and there was nothing I could do to reach a good placing in the race.
I am happy though, that I never gave up. It would have been much easier to just quit, but quitting doesn’t make you better. This makes me more hungry for success in the next races.
Pia Sundstedt 