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Papillon: The Joe Papp Diary 2005
Joe Papp is a UCI Elite rider with the UPMC cycling team. He was a double stage winner at the 2003 Vuelta a Cuba (UCI 2.5) and has finished in the top-10 three times at the UCI Pan American Continental Championships (2005, 2004, 1996). Joe's writing is good enough to make boring races intriguing and intriguing races captivating.
A Cuban Odyssey
Part 3 - Getting set for a crack at 1800 kilometres...
But back to this year...when my luggage finally did arrive, there was still time to go to Cienfuegos for the last day of racing, but the fact that I could train hard in the rolling hills to the southeast of Havana and not have to leave Yuliet kept me in Cojímar (a funky fishing village immortalized in the writings of Ernest Hemingway), where she's renting a house.
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The next few days followed a blissful pattern - train hard in the morning, usually spending part of the session with my wife and her teammates; lunch and nap in the afternoon; then dinner and ice cream in the Villa Panamericana, the old athlete's village that was built for the 1991 Pan American Games but is now occupied by the workers who actually constructed the facilities. There is a tiny little Italian restaurant - Restaurante Allegro - on the main drag, and over the course of four years we've become regulars there. You can get a small pizza, bottled water and espresso for about five dollars, or a surprisingly good plate of pasta carbonara for just a bit more. When my teammates arrived on February 3rd, they were housed in an apartment in the Villa that was all of a one minute walk from Allegro, so they too quickly became VIPs. Yuliet's friend Liudmila accompanied us on several occasions, including the first dinner with the boys upon their arrival.
While our ACT-UPMC/USA team for the Vuelta was a composite, we had the luck to secure the services of Colavita professional Aaron Olson. Dan Vinson from California also agreed to ride, as did a young buck by the name of Jared Gruber. Unfortunately, the two Argentines who were supposed to ride with us never appeared, which wasn't that surprising given some of the difficulties that have plagued the organizing of the team on the domestic side. We were 'assigned' a Canadian rider when we arrived in Baracoa, and my Italian friend Andrea Panarese also asked to be listed on the roster, so we filled six of a possible seven spots. Again, contact me via email if you're interested in riding for the USA next year! One of the most important staff positions - mechanic - was filled by Alan Albert from Westwood Cycle in New Jersey.
A unique addition to our crew was photographer - Chris Milliman (www.chrismilliman.com) who was on assignment to cover the Vuelta for a major US-based cycling publication. We didn't bring a US-director for the race, because our typical leader - Mike Fraysse - was training clients in Argentina, but when we arrived in Guantánamo after the first stage we convinced the Cuban Cycling Federation that the same Ricardo Salazar who I noted above should be assigned to our team as soigneur. Salazar, or 'Guitarra' as he's known because of his skill as a guitarist and singer, took care of us in 2003 and was our secret weapon because of his extensive knowledge of each individual stage and his great work ethic and personality. No matter how grim things might have appeared, with Salazar backing you up there was still hope. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
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Back in December, before I returned to California for my second attempt at serious winter training, my wife asked me in her most demure voice if I would please give her the gift of finishing the entire Vuelta. She added that climbing the podium in front of her in Havana would be great as well, if it wasn't too much to ask. Of course I said I would do my best. No one made me ride the Vuelta, and I certainly wasn't getting paid any money to pedal, so this was a purely personal endeavor, and my disappointment would be all the more acute if I couldn't follow through on my promise!
I was still struggling to see the glass as being half-full when the race started in Baracoa, despite the tempering presence of guys like Aaron and Dan. My back was a major source of discomfort, and with the finish line 1800km away in Havana, I was overwhelmed by the daunting task of completing all 15 stages. My friend Tim O'Toole who is a physical therapist sent me this email to sum up the injury:
"Describe it as L3-4 Lumbar Discogenic Pathology with nerve root compromise. Explain your test [a pedaling efficiency test done at the UPMC Center for Sports Medicine that showed a major loss of power in my right leg] and 50% loss of strength through part of the pedal stroke. Also advise of the continued radicular (leg) pain with each pedal stroke during racing. The average person would have difficulty performing their daily activities and most would be unable to work. Your ability to race with such an injury only confirms your mental toughness, desire, and passion for the sport. This demonstration of will is nothing short of Heroic!"
Thanks, Tim. I knew I could always count on you for your support.
Nonetheless, I think that just wanting to finish the race as opposed to starting with the mentality of being an active participant really limited my effectiveness during the first few days. That I didn't (and don't) have a contract for the rest of the season should have been a motivating factor to ride well in Cuba and to enjoy the experience, but I was definitely focusing too much on what was going wrong and how I was being cheated out of a blissful final ride in the Vuelta a Cuba (imagining that my retirement would soon follow this race). Ask Aaron or Dan or Chris whether we had to overcome our fair share of adversity and I'm sure they'll respond with a strong affirmative. Nevertheless, for every negative, there was always a positive, if only you knew where to look or had your eyes open in the first place. Cuban coffee, chocolate, cool temps, beautiful sunrises, guayaba fruit, fresh pineapple, the adoration of thousands of cheering fans...
Next Entry - Make pain your constant companion.
Email Joe at joe@cyclingnews.com
