Got in a great two hour road ride this morning in Nurnberg, Germany. I set off for the town of Brunn again. This time I completed the rolling climbs and enjoyed the descent into town. A picturesque German town with a very nice walking, riding, and horseback riding park. All in all, an excellent ride.

Then it was a quick shower (as my dad cleaned my bike!) and we were on the road to Plzen, Czech Republic. Luc, his daughter Kelly and friend Karin also stayed in the same campsite as us last night. We had a good visit with them and then we split up as they were onto Prague.

The drive to Plzen was pretty smooth. Basically no traffic on the highway so we made it in good time. Had some major headaches getting to the campsite – the GPS kept on trying to send us through a 2 meter high tunnel (the RV is 3.3 meters high)… We ended up parking and walking the 800 meters to the campsite only to discover it was closed…. After some consultation with Marc (he had the Internet connection), we decided to stay at the Ibis Hotel.

Got out to the race course for my second ride of the day. Did about five laps of the course, with some extra time spent on the key sections. Well, the stair run-up is wicked. Very long and the stairs are massive. Right after the stairs there is a steep climb. The descent is long and pretty much wide open – it curves a bit but there is nothing crazy on it. On the far side of the course there is another steep climb, a flat bit and another steep climb. Rest of the course features very bumpy grass, false flats and some slight rises that can suck the speed and power. Oh and there is the curb…. After the start/finish stretch, there is a curb that you have to “hop”. Sigh. I can’t “hop” curbs – I’ve struggled with learning this skill for many years now. Hoping the curb is sandbagged on Sunday. If not, well, I’ll figure it out….

Legs felt good for the second ride of the day. I was careful not to go too hard on the course. Really just wanted to get a feel for it and get a solid picture of it in my mind. I’m going back tomorrow to do my ride on it. Looking forward to racing it – I think it is a course that suits me – power course.

Have to say my dad has been a rockstar – doing all the driving, putting up with my stress and fatigue, cleaning my bikes, remembering to keep the RV tidy and just generally agreeing to whatever I want! (I guess my mom has trained him well!)