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Taking a year off from her own racing career, Odessa Gunn remains heavily involved with cycling, as she continues to train and hang out with husband Levi Leipheimer and other European-based riders. In this installment of her tales from the scooter, she talks to Christian Vande Velde of US Postal about music, clothes... oh,and bike racing.
I have learned a few from living with a pro bike racer for four years. I watched Levi progress from a small American pro team to the best team in the world and I was able to boost my own career from the knowledge I acquired watching him. I knew from the start that bike racing is a 24-hoursa-day job involving every aspect of your life but it still amazes me. Levi lives each day with a natural focus and drive that most people could not achieve for an hour, let alone a lifetime. I have always admired this in him and learned to focus more myself. Still, most of my success comes from obsessive-compulsive behaviour and a chip on my shoulder… but that's between me and my therapist.
Back to my story.
It is significant to see this drive in one person but to live among a community of people like this is incredible. I just have to laugh when I hear people lamenting about how the top pros are all just gifted by genetics or have had everything handed to them all along. Then there are the people who have an even more difficult time with the success of others and insist on pointing fingers and making accusations to comfort themselves. I would invite any of these people to attempt the training these guys do in a week.
Perhaps the first time they should try it in a car.
Here is an example of what I'm talking about. I have been motor-pacing Christian Vande Velde a lot lately. He'll come by or call me on a cold and rainy morning on his way out to do intervals to set a time for me to meet him for motor-pacing. Then I'll meet him four or five hours later and drive for the last hour of his gruelling workout. This is just standard on a day that most people would scrap the ride all together.
These guys just ride huge hours with lots of intervals and intensity every day, and then they go home to rest. Well, Christian and George manage to throw a little clothing shopping into the mix but there has got to be some reward.
My point here is that the physical anomalies we see perform incredible feats on race day don't just ride fast by coincidence. The people who make it to the top are the ones with the best work ethic and the most self-discipline. It's the ability to pay attention to the smallest of details every day and never lose sight of your goals. There is just no way around it in bike racing. The best work harder than the rest and that's it.
When Christian first asked me to motor-pace him I was excited about being able to push the pace on the climbs even though I would be doing it on a scooter.
No such luck. I am not exactly skilled at cornering on a bike but a scooter is like a fridge on roller-blades and when I motor-pace him up some of the twisty, gradual climbs I cannot even go fast enough through the corners to stay ahead. This is when I don't appreciate how fast he is. I'm fighting to keep the speed at or above 45kph, and I'm trying to stay in my own lane, and I'm totally stressed, and I'm dodging lizards and cars while wishing for a straight stretch of road and Christian says," A little faster now." Yeah... And we haven't even hit the descent yet. I wonder if Todd Oldham has designed a full body cast in his spring line-up this year. I may be needing one.
Anyway I sat down with Christian and picked his brains about the team, the sport and himself. You'll see that he too has a sense of humour.
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CV: No comparison. Just look at the team roster.
OG: In your opinion what has been the single biggest factor in the change of the team since you first joined?
CV: I think that although the key players are the same, they've been bumped up a few notches in strength and ability. It has become more of an all-around team. We can do things in the Tour and in the Classics.
OG: In Liege-Bastogne-Liege you rode a great race and were so close to hanging onto the first group of five riders. Have you thought about what — if anything — you could have done differently or will do in the future to make it into that final selection?
CV: Well there was that one Monday a while back when I didn't ride, and the extra apple pie I had the night before the race… but other than that I have no regrets. Seriously, though, I could not have done anything more than what I did. I feel as though I am getting closer and closer every year.
OG: How do you feel about your chances of making the team for the Tour de France?
CV: Very good.
OG: After Amstel Gold you are going home to Boulder for six weeks. What is on your to-do list after being away from America for so long?
CV: Burritos, nightlife, normalcy and 160 channels of surfing.
OG: Where did you grow up?
CV: Suburbs of Chicago.
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CV: That someone else out there is training in the rain. And it will all be over in Five hours and then you can take a hot shower, that is if there is hot water.
OG: You must be learning a lot racing against a group which included Erik Dekker, Gianluca Bortolami, Rolf Sorenson and co in the finale of the Tour of Flanders this year. Did you feel as though Dekker was foxing in Flanders since he almost pinched the win (Dekker unleashed an amazing sprint to come second to Bortolami by a tyre width)? He would come off on the climbs and chase back on and then almost wins at the finish.
CV: Yeah, I learned tons in the world cups this year. Every Pedal stroke adds up at the finish. Dekker had me convinced that he was dead, and then I'd turn around there he was again.
(Editor's note: Classic specialists such as Sean Kelly believe that in a race like RVV/Flanders, it is possible to conserve energy by leaving a small gap on the final climbs, like the Muur de Gramont, and then chasing back on the descents. This works, unless of course there is a rider in that lead group who was the strength to attack on those brutal climbs and then stay away. Clearly, no rider in the lead group had the energy to do this in this year's Flanders.)
OG: What do you think about Ludo's ride at the Tour of Flanders (Ludo Dierckxsens, the Belgian from Lampre-Daikin who worked very hard to keep the break off the front)?
CV: Ludo is Ludo, there can only be one Ludo. If there was more than one Ludo? There is enough Ludo to go around.
OG: Do you see yourself going for the Classics win or a major Tour?
CV: I think that I'm suited more for the stage races but I had good success in the classics this year, who knows, I'd be happy either way.
OG: Were you disappointed about the comments (made mostly by Americans) about George not getting enough support at the classics, when you rode so strong at Flanders?
CV: Paris-Roubaix was a unique situation this year. There was plenty of good riders behind George that never made it to the front of the race. As for Flanders, our team rode very well, you can't tell what is going in a race over the Internet.
OG: This one is for all the girls out there who know Christian is single. What qualities do you look for in a girlfriend?
CV: Confident, independent, female. Good looking never hurts.
OG: What is your favourite toy?
CV: My boat. The Swamp Kooler, with a "K."
OG: Favourite band or artist?
CV: The Beastie Boys
OG: Me too!
CV: Cool.
OG: Describe your ideal training ride.
CV: The bike path, Lakeshore Drive, summertime at 10kph with a cowboy hat on. And that's how you get to the Tour.
OG: Favourite article of clothing?
CV: Grey felt cowboy hat which I wear to the dismay of my friends.
OG: Was it really a spider bite?
CV: No. It was just a good name for my home brewed beer.