So where do I begin with this? The trip to the venue was fantastic and the event was..a challenge to put it sincerely. The start of the rally, which was 10 minutes after the hour of 11, was pretty normal. I would make a frantic dash towards the front in an attempt to keep out of the chaos of the starting pack. From there, I just held on to a pace I could manage. I honestly think I could have pushed a little harder, but with the views I got, I honestly didn’t want to. It looked spectacular, far more intriguing then the suburbs that I’ve lived in my life. That being said, the consequence of the scenery was the fact that the roads seem to snake with the surprisingly steep hills. As much as I hate loathe hills, I seem to hold up quite well to them. I ended up passing massive amounts of people (apparently the majority of them were for the 100 kilometer event) on the up hill portions of the event. Also, the reward was usually a pleasanter downhill which you could coast and hit 30 mph easily. (that being said, the fact that I way slightly more then a grain of sand helps) The only exception, and this is a BIG one, was when me and a few riders went down an EXTREMELY steep downhill section when i hit 37-40 mph and some one crosses over infront of me, consequently leading me to end up going off-roading on a ROAD bike at 37 MILES PER HOUR. Amazingly, I ended staying on two wheels perfectly and got back on the road. Honestly I was more upset at the fact that I lost so much speed and will now have to waste MORE energy on getting back up to pace. The whole event left me horrible shaken, for about 5 seconds at most, then I got over myself.  That and I got off my bike because there a hill that was WAY to steep to climb. managed to get 80 percent of the way before getting off my bike and walking it up the stupid hill. Did I mention that I hate hills.

I’ve also noticed that I’m more motivated to move more quickly if someone passes or is at a speed I feel like reach. Point made, a van with a team name on it over took me on the other side of the road, and I increased my pace to keep up with him, weirdly enough. He even gave a nod of approval.

The rally was tough, but I ended up learning so much about myself.

Also, public bathrooms are still horrible, miserable boxes of dread. Avoid at all cost. That is all.

Muenster was Great Fun! The winds were strong but not too strong and the hills were challenging. But the 4 months training with Richard in the studio completely prepared me for mastering the challenges with a feeling of success! The comraderie with 3 other classmates made the whole day one to remember with pride and a smile. Not to mention that decadent brat, beer and Texas tator to top it all off! Ahhhhhh!

Alison, Vera, Peggy and I had a great time, and the training, particularly the anaerobic training, definitely helped on those steeper hills, so thanks!

I heard you came in 11th overall-congrats! 

The mix of training was much better this year than in the past. It has been more realistic than before. Muenster was fun. I did it in my own PR & cut out nearly 60 mins with all the rest stops included.

We had a great time at the Muenster Germanfest Rally 2011!  Beautiful scenery, great company, a fabulous workout, and scrumptious beer and brats!  Every single one of us that traveled the hills and withstood the winds of Muenster were most definitely prepared for this journey because of our time in the cycling performance classes.   The interval training really paid off with the hills…one right after another…and our threshold work covered everything in between.  Although our group didn’t do the 100k, I’m convinced we could have done it….maybe next year.  My stamina has improved from class especially on the rolling hills.  I felt as if I was in a “video game” of the computerized interval format used in the studio with you yelling to get “your speed up to 30″ at the bottom of each hill!   Couldn’t have done it without the studio work!

Had the best ride ever of course till the last mile when was struck by a bug in the eye.  The training helped me tremendously especially on the hills.  I passed so many people, especially the men.  Caught up with the Lawcar girls at a rest stop :)   Towards the end pulled a lot of the men to the finish.  It was wonderful.  Feel a lot for powerful.  Even received compliments about how well my pedal stroke was.  Not sure if that was sexual or not….lol!  Finished even doing the hills and wind at 18 miles an hour.  Very pleased with myself.  Thank you for the great training.  Still want to test out the crits but think I am more of a long distance rider than a racer….
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