VELONEWS
By Michael Barry
Posted Mar. 24, 2009


Monumental.

The night before a race, the last thing I do before I climb into bed is to prepare my bag for the next day. Each rider has a suitcase and a race bag. The suitcase travels to the finish in the team truck and we carry the race bag, which holds everything we’ll need for the day, in the bus on the way to the start. With everything ready to go, tucked in bed, I look over the race book one last time before closing my eyes.

Prior to each event we receive a small booklet that outlines the course, the difficulties, the past champions, brief rules and the prize list. As I did as a child when I had memory work for school, I glance at the book before falling asleep, knowing it will leave an imprint for my thoughts to work around through the night. The Milan-San Remo book was nicer than most, with some gaudy Italian art on the cover commemorating the 100th edition of the race, detailed descriptions of the climbs, and a list of winners on the last page. For many, winning the race had made their careers and for the others their victory was confirmation of their class.

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