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Nicole Freedman, U.S. Olympic Road cyclist just returned from a three-week racing tour of Europe with the U.S. National Team. The final race included the fifteen day Tour Femenin, (Women's Tour de France), the hardest and most competitive women's cycling event in the world. The following diary provides an inside look at a typical day. August 25, 2000 9:00 a.m. Wake up and head downstairs for breakfast. 9:05 a.m. Head downstairs for lunch despite being full from breakfast. Try to pretend that no correlation should exist between how hungry you are and how much you eat. 10 a.m. Load into team vehicles for transfer to race start. Unobtrusive carbon monoxide fumes pumped directly into back seats afford me a deep, relaxing nap. Noon Arrive at race site. Teammate wakes me by gently dropping her race bag on my skull. 12:15 p.m. Admire the many fans who have ventured outdoors to watch the race start. Apparently they don't realize that they could be inside watching the tape delayed version of the race on TV in which the fine intricacies of the five-hour race are perfectly captured by three minutes of condensed coverage. 12:31 p.m. Begin warming up by taking a nap on the pavement by the van. 1 p.m. Riders take off from start, looking forward to the day's advertised flat stage. 1:30 p.m. Begin climbing vertical cliff not described in detailed race bible. Close post-race inspection of bible reveals a dark fleck, which corresponds to the mountain pass. 1:50 p.m. Still climbing. Pass a group of fans drinking beer. Think about stopping to join them. Remember that although I am just about stopped as it is, I don't particularly like their beer brand of choice. Continue on. 4 p.m. Peloton reforms after climb. Riders begin gabbing harmoniously in all different languages. Brings back pleasant memories of 6th grade band class in which upwards of 50 percent of the students developed some form of permanent hearing damage. 4:30 p.m. Nonchalantly pass farm, cow, sheep, medieval 14th century castle, farm, cow, sheep. Apparently (if I remember correctly from my one awake hour in Ancient and Medieval History) men during the Dark Ages (or is it Ice Age?) ran up and down mountains for many, many years with boulders on their heads building castles for wealthy, beautiful queens they were hoping to impress. While these suitors were balancing boulders on their heads, the woman was busy having affairs. And thus, these men never got the woman, but the woman got the castle. This is analogous to situations today and perhaps the first important reason I can think of to stay awake in history class. 5:30 p.m. Finish race well off the back. Get nipped in sprint finish by my grandmother. 6 p.m. Head to showers. Make wagers with other racers on whether today's showers will supply only hot or cold water. Try without success to rescue the numerous underfed racers who begin slipping down drain. Make a mental note to see if the following days start list respectfully marks their absence with a "DNS -- Did not Start" or simply a dashed line. 6:30 p.m. Back in van en route to our next hotel. 8 p.m. Arrive at our next hotel. Hotel fliers in the lobby advertise exciting activities like kayaking, hiking, swimming, and wine tasting. Coach yanks us away, reminding us with a smile that, "There will be no fun on this trip." 8:30 p.m. Throw post race clothes in sink and pretend to wash them by swishing around soapy water any time a teammate glances my way. Flip the dripping clothes onto floor to dry and hope that I don't break my neck slipping in the pool of water spreading across the floor. Pray for no rain in following day's race as the suds that would emanate from my clothing could be hazardous. 9 p.m. Eat again. 9:30 p.m. Crawl up to my bunk bed, top level. Fall asleep halfway up ladder. Repeat as necessary until race is over or drop out sick. -- Nicole
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