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The Jimena Florit Diary
The 2002 NORBA series champion is one of the most widely-liked riders on the mountain bike circuit with a positive attitude as big as her racing talent.
As well as a repeat of her 2002 series victory, Jimena's 2003 goals include working toward qualification for the 2004 Athens Olympics where she hopes to ride as a US citizen.
Hot and bothered in Mont St Anne
UCI World Cup round 3, Mont St Anne, Canada, June 29, 2003
I've just got off the plane, arriving home after three weeks traveling and racing. My legs are still really stiff thanks to those small spaces between seats in economy and I won't even mention the gourmet food (chips and peanuts). Well, lucky me, I was seated in economy-plus, some kind of "status" to make us feel special, but the plus is not more than a little extra leg room. No, we don't travel in first class, unless we break into the mileage plus account and give up several thousand well earned miles, in exchange for royal treatment.
Anyway, during this three week trip, I earned quite a few miles, so my next trip, I might upgrade on the way back home.
The past weekend (yesterday) we finished this trip, reaching the mid-season point, although I still feel I just started it. The race was the third round of the World Cup, in Mont Sainte Anne, Canada.
We drove from Mount Snow, Vermont, up north to the Province of Quebec, just after the NORBA race. As we got further North, the temperature kept getting higher, and the air more and more humid. To complete the picture, the air conditioning in our rental van did not work. So, windows were open from top to bottom, allowing air to come IN, but my music going out, taking away the 'disco' effect.
During the week before the races, the days were long and the heat very high. The thermometer in my watch recorded 106 degrees (41C) and my double-layer was working fine as a pre-race adaptation.
After our training rides, Willow and I kept jumping into the "black hole", a secret creek that everyone knows about (so much for "our" secret).
The water was SO cold, that you could only stand to be in it for a mere 15 seconds. I did not have the guts to jump in the first day, so the second day, Willow walked me through, giving me mental support. Thanks teammate!
After a few down-to-the-wire Scrabble games, we were ready to give it all in the race. Sometimes I wonder if (Wiensy) (our manager, Dave Wiens) tells my teammates to let me win, just to keep me happy.
All the European riders in the top 30 seemed to be present. Only one or two decided to stay home. The fight for top ten was going to be a real battle.
The course, the shortest we've raced so far this year, was so dry that the speeds were very high. During training we women riders were doing it at about 24-25 minutes, knowing that at race pace we could shave off about 3-4 minutes.
And the race pace did not disappoint anybody.
We were up for five laps, and as always, the start was ON TIME.
Pace was hectic, like all the World Cup starts, with much unnecessary aggression. It's like the whole race is to the top of the first climb; silly.
I had number plate 9, so my call up was to the second row. Good position to be in.
By the time we started it was a hot day again, and soon enough people were down hitting the grown hard. With bad visibility because of the dust, my breathing was really limited. I also lost many spots but I started to recover as soon as we hit the first climb. I was still too far back though, in company of Alison Sydor who, like me, was suffering, in her case because of like me, the result of the unnecessary crash at the start.
We both were riding somewhere in the 30's, that's my guess, when we slowly moved forward passing people at any opportunity. In the woods is the hardest place to pass, due to the limited room in the single track, but once we passed a girl, we were able to open a gap and look for the next one, and the next one.
After one lap, I came by the start/finish in 14th place. I lost count of people, and I couldn't even see the leaders anymore. I had lost two and a half minutes in just one lap.
I was super-motivated, passing people everywhere and I finally started seeing familiar faces.
I came by the second lap in eighth place and started to think I could finish near the podium.
Then I saw my teammate Willow, on her way to a top ten finish and I was hoping we could do some work together to catch the podium girls to switch spots with them. But Sue Haywood was still in my wheel and I did not want to bring her to Willow. But sometimes it doesn't matter how much you shake it, Sue was still there.
I then decided to do a little climb attack (another shake) and not look back. I got a gap! Thank God, I could breath a little and take a sip to refresh.
By the end of the third lap, I was already in seventh, with Chrissy Redden in sight.
I rode steadily up to her, and again attacked on the climb, and it worked again! Now I was in sixth place, with one lap to go, chasing that always-appealing podium spot!
But I knew I had a hard task. Local favorite Marie Helen Premont was having the ride of her life, riding in a podium position for the entire race, she was so motivated, and I was feeling the effect of the long chase. I did not manage to catch her, but I did have the fastest last lap of all the racers.
I finished a very happy sixth place, still going strong, at about 3:30 off the winner's pace, earned valuable points and got a little cash for pizza.
We packed after the race, and drove back to the US to catch an early flight out of Burlington, VT.
I am now back in the heat, this time dry, at home in San Diego, for a few local rides, and leave again next week to Vancouver.
I want to thank to my entire RLX-Ralph Lauren team, for being the best teammates in the world.
Happy hugs,
Jimena