Cesana ICC - 2009 Part 4

Wednesday, January 21, 2009, second day of sliding in Cesana. I didn't have my camera with me, so this will be a short post!

Suffice it to say that my first run was a full second faster than my runs yesterday, so I'm quite pleased. Due to the stiffer competition, I'm training towards the rearward third of the pack, but that's okay! With the reputation of this track, I'm just happy to finally feel like I'm figuring it out.

The day (a beautiful bluebird day by the way) dawned poorly - the hotel didn't have breakfast ready at 7am when they were supposed to! I desperately wanted a trackwalk, so we had planned on leaving at 7:30...in the end, we still left at 7:30 but without any breakfast. Sigh.

We had a funny encounter as a result though - we quickly stopped at a wine bar (that was for some reason open at 7:30 in the morning) so I could grab a biscuit or croissant or something, and while my food microwaved the bartender asked us where we were from. When we responded "the USA" he started beaming and laughing and chattering about Obama and how happy he was and how happy we should be. It was awesome! Yesterday, Keslie had the same thing happen to her at the track, when the truck driver asked her if she was from the USA, and if so if she was happy; another person asked her today if she voted for Obama. It's hysterical! We're in Italy and they care more than a lot of Americans! Good stuff.

Then we got to the track and I raced off to run down the track before they kicked everyone out. I was able to make it down to curve 16 by the time the "trackwalks ended" announcement. I'd wanted to make it to see 17 and 18 (difficult corners) but by then was also in a hurry to get back to the top for my run, so I ran up to the finish dock and called for a truck.

My runs today were pretty crazy. They spritzed the ice right before we slid, so it was super fast, and I was OUT OF CONTROL!!! Ok, not really, but it felt that way. By the time I came out of turn 16, heading into the crux of 17/18, I felt way faster than yesterday (turns out it was about 2 mph faster, for 72.0 mph). Things came so much quicker, and I was a little late on my steers as a result.

After our runs, we drove down to watch the second group of sliders go through some rough spots. We watched 6-7, 14, and 16-17, and now I feel like I'm getting a handle on the track.

No, actually, I feel like a student cramming for a final...a student that didn't study! Since I've never been here, these six (yes, that's right, only 6) training runs are priceless, and also don't feel like nearly enough.

Shrug. As it's my first time here, and with such stiff competition, I just want to learn as much as I possibly can and have a strong finish. :)