Windmills and Licenses

So this morning, I awoke to Albert giving me clothes, and informing me that I was going to be riding with Stefan for 2 hours. Which was awesome, I am all for meeting my teammates. I am not all for waking up and riding sans breakfast and coffee. Especially after a night of not the best sleep. The only good thing was that it was nearing 11am by the time I hit my bike. So I was able to get close to 7 hours of sleep. 


Riding with Stefan was great, even though he didn't speak English, he does speak some Spanish! So I could go beyond speaking half french and hand motions to having a conversation with someone. The route was a little hilly, but for the most part the lid was kept on things except for a few times he tried to turn the screws to me. Eventually the ride was over and I went back home, showered, made coffee and finally ate some much needed food. On the way home, I did see the sickest windmill. 

I was also informed in the afternoon that my license was not going to be accepted by the French Federation. I was proactive, called the Technical Director, Shawn Farrell, who was amazing and was able to make all the necessary changes and email them to me. This was an afternoon project, but when racing abroad for a National Level team, things need to be perfect, the i's dotted and t's crossed.

I also went for a walk looking for a cafe that no longer existed... It was nice to get out, but I was really looking forward to some coffee! Sometimes the internets is not always right!


Sleeping tonight is going to be easier knowing that I will be racing this weekend!

Learning French....

So despite all the anticipation and nervousness of being picked up at the airport with no real confirmation beyond email, things all worked out. Albert greeted me at the airport door, as all three of my checked bags made it over the pond! Surprisingly, there were no customs, I just walked out the door. One thing that I find funny, is that anytime I go overseas the airports all have luggage carts, free of charge. Anytime you are in the USA, its like $4-$8 bucks. I only mention this because of my large amount of luggage, getting through check-in at Orlando International was a dancing act to not mow any kids down, as I carried my bike, bike clothing bag, suitcase and laptop bag. Moving off my soapbox of tangent, Albert was very nice, we talked in half French/Spanish and hand signals on the way to my new home in Nueil les Aubiers. I was able to drive up to this

Definitely not what I was expecting, but then again I had no idea where I was going to start with. I was given the tour and met my new teammates (who were here and awake). I was also given my room, and went to the most important task, making sure my bike was in one piece.

My Room

As I started to unpack, I was glad to see that TSA decided to remove every thing from one of the pockets in my case and move all my well packed items around. I am glad that the Pikaworks Case is probably the best thing ever made, because it was totally fine. My only casualty was a bottle cage that came unlaminated. 

After getting this done and my room set up, I made a trip to the Pharmacy to get some cold medicine. I think its wicked hard to not feel something come on when doing a full day flight. So after that I slept as much as humanly possible. Albert brought me some groceries while I was passed out. My wicked good diet is going to just deal with the food here, pasta, granola, apples, yogurt, eggs, cheese and ham. 

As I got up on Friday, the weather was pretty rough. It seemed like it was going to rain all day. I took it slow, made coffee and some breakfast. I was so glad I brought my french press and 3lbs. of coffee. As the day went on there was some confusion over releases and licenses and eventually I think we sorted it out. Well at least I hope we did, because my French is horrible and I just downloaded Rosetta Stone to try and learn (since we are going to have downtime). Not sure if I was on the roster for the weekend races, I went for an imperative hour spin despite the weather. 

I tried to get lost, but not all the way, I did stumble on some pretty cool looking roads, that were about 8 feet wide. I noticed that it was about the windiest place I have ever ridden and that it was definitely going to make me tough just by the hilly terrain as well. I got back to la masion and everyone was gone. Not sure if people went for a ride or what, I showered, ate and hung out. Eventually no one came back, so I was assuming that I wasn't racing the weekend. Which was fine, it would give me some time to get my legs open and under me after a few days off from travel and near sickness.

I got a good night of sleep and felt pretty refreshed. To my surprise and disliking the weather was still pretty crappy. I continued with the standard breakfast and coffee and decided to wait. Not sure if I was waiting for Albert or the weather to clear, but one thing for sure was that I was not being very productive. 

Finally when the sun came out and glimmered through my window, I kitted up as fast as possible and went out the door with plans to get lost for 4 hours. I had no idea where I was going, no mapping of routes, nothing. My sheer guiding light was to ride to the towns that I thought sounded the coolest. Eventually, I got on path towards Anger, which sounds cool right? Along the way I ran into Brissac-Quince, which had a sick little climb with a church on top of it and it overlooked what was a historic palace. All in wall it was beautiful!

• The Look out to the Palace

• Church a top the col in Brissac-Quince

As the ride continued, I sort of got turned around cutting through Vihiers and turned on the wrong side street, then took another road to cut across back to where I felt I should be. Eventually around the 3:45 mark of my ride I hit the town of Maulevrier and saw signs back to les Aubiers. It was a relief until the signs had me to a virtual U-Turn. I stopped then and I had to summon the powers of the Iphone (which holy crap thank you Mom and Dad) which showed me exactly where I was. The sad fact was that I was 20km north of where I wanted to be. The good thing was that it was all tail wind. Finally I made it home and needed some rest after what turned out to be a very hilly, windy and hard ride.

Starting the Dream

Today marks a new chapter in my life. Something that has been a long time goal, a long time dream and now what seems to be a surreal reality. Besides being completely shell shocked and pretty nervous, I am ready to embarque on the journey of a lifetime.

First we need to jump back to my last voyage to really see how we got here and while in the Dominican, racing the Vuelta, I received contact from an agent in France looking for American riders. After a few exchanges of emails, resumes, power files and results I was offered a position on Team Albert Bigot 79. My position would be for a 3 month stay, I would get a salary and lodging. It seemed like all my dreams to race in Europe were no longer a dream.

After some evaluation with family, my amazing girlfriend, coaches and friends; everyone confirmed this was the chance of a lifetime and if I did not go, I would never forgive myself later in life. So the stones were put into place and finally after some fundraising, I was able to cover my flight, baggage and other expenses to get across the pond.

Our cycling community in Orlando really stood up for me and the donations were plentiful. I also had some people from racing in Colorado and High School friends send money. I was completely astonished at the generosity of the community and beyond thankful to everyone that sent money to make my dream a reality.

Once the dates were finalized, figuring out the best options for my current living situation and job were the next item on the list. Working for my family’s agency is a blessing. They have fully supported my dreams and without their employment, support and guidance none of this would even be a possibility. Deciding to move out of my house and back home was not as easy. I really enjoyed living close to downtown Orlando and moving back home just was not as sleek, especially at 26. Thankfully my roommate/landlord/friend was super understanding and in a matter of 3 days I was able to completely move residences, without interruption to training and racing. The only increase was the stress!

One thing most people that have not raced elite or professional level cycling, is that things are never concrete and sometimes information is limited to those who hold it. My situation was a spitting image of this, only knowing the agent and team director via email, only knowing the city to fly into and only knowing the team name and website, everything else was a question mark! I have no idea where my apartment will be and what my calendar looks like. This all adds to the craziness and nervousness of my experience.

Hopefully as the overnight night flight to Amsterdam comes to an end, things will start to come together and the new voyage into Team Albert Bigot will be seamless and taken at full speed!

Independent Experiences in FRM Magazine

Check out my new article in this month's Florida Racing Magazine.

The Article starts on page 74, enjoy!

Click Here

Donations NEEDED!

I am trying to raise money to get to France for a guest rider position with Team Albert Bigot 79. All of the donations will go to my travel to get to France and to pay to get my luggage there. Please feel free to paypal me at my email: mightywty@hotmail.com

or email me directly at gwhite12@gmail.com