Podium Number Two in France!

The new kits arrived today. Just like in America, nobody gets their new kits until after a couple of the early season races. I guess that will always be that way. The main sponsor is Cassoulidet and secondary sponsors include Caissee d'Espagne. The kit id black, yellow and white. I don't know what these French guys were trying to tell me but they gave me Large shorts and a Medium Jersey. I won't take offense just yet till I figure out the size conversions to USA! Check out the landscape. Rapeseed fields are in full bloom all over France right now.
The field was smaller today as another race was occuring not too far from Toulouse. This tends to split the region and riders choose the race closer to them. For us, St. Pierre was the closest so that is what we choose (Gas: $5.88/gallon). Today was much harder as the course had a long, but not too steep 4km climb at the start/finish. I still don't know any of the riders and one guy took off at the first of the race wearing a Mapei Kit, so I thought for sure he is a poser. Later I learned that if your local team is sponsored by Mapei, you can wear the pro team kit. He stayed away until the end. Three riders attacked on lap 3 of 6 and I thought for sure they wouldn't stick it. But they did so on lap 4, I attempted to bridge and spent the next 2 laps chasing by myself until I caught them on the climb with 500 meters to go. I jumped them but one guy still was able to beat me on the uphill sprint.
So, another 3rd place. And considering I still have the French Flu as shown below, I was semi-pleased with that. Little Marco Pantani guy on my left was trying not to breath my flu filled air. NO WINE this time. Only a trophy, T-shirt, medal, and a cool bucket cap. I got to get me some of those winner's flowers before I head back to America. Oh, and gateux's (mini-cakes) and chocolats were served after the race! Life is good and you will never go hungary in France.

Pissaladiere

Pissaladiere: Onion and Anchovy Pizza. Additional toppings, black olives and tomatoes with tomato sauce and gruyere cheese. The dough is a sweet dough made with Petit Suisse, flour, sugar, and eggs. Not at all like pizza dough, thus the different name.
I have come to learn that Madame will never let anything go to waste. The tomato sauce that made up the base of the pizza was made for my roommate Peter when he first arrived almost a month ago. The half-remaining contents had been in the refrigerator since then and all the sudden it dissappered when the pizza was made???? I had a slice, but I will leave it up to you to determine if it was good or not.

The French Flu!!!

So, I guess riding back and forth to school and training in the cold, rainy conditions of this past April here in France has landed me the French flu (aka Common Cold). I have had it for about 8 days now and this is the latest treatment that I have begun. Madame Luthie instructed me to buy something at the Pharmacy and then she would show me how to use it when I arrived home. I will let the pictures do the rest of the talking!

I think it is just some herbal aromatics, but that smile post-treatment makes me think that there is more in that little box than I care to know!
Day 9 of the French Flu is nearing with little relief in sight. Three fumagations a day and hopefully this will be knocked out. I even found some Vick's Vaporub to get me through the night.

My first Podium in France.

The team readies to tackle the 70km circuit race in Ox, France near Muret. Myself, Yannis, and Laurent would make up a strong 3-man team, as we battled the terrible April weather of rain, wind, and cold.

The big crowd of riders was lessened today due to the weather, but a strong 50-man field took to the road.

The Podium from Left to Right. The girl didn't race, but presented the prizes. Not a French model by anymeans, but we are in Ox of all places.

So this Sunday was my first race with my new Toulousian based French team Cassoulidet. They are just a couple of buddies who love racing there bikes and have started a team sponsored by a local bank. This experience has really brought me back to my roots of cycling and every ride with them reminds me of why I love to ride….and race my bike. They don’t have power meters, or even heartrate monitors at that. They don’t care how many watts at threshold they can produce or even know what that means. Laurent comes from a football background (yes, soccer America) and Yannis grew up playing rugby. We ride 4-5 days a week together and they take me on some of the most beautiful French countryside rides that you could ever imagine. I occasionally will see a VeloTour Group pass by and I realize that those people are probably paying $3000-$4000 to get to do what I am doing everyday! Back to the racin! We loaded up the caravan of Laurent, Yannis, myself, and Laurent’s father Helios, who provides post-race gateaux’s (mini-cakes) which I love and a roof rack for my bike. The weather here in SW France has been atrocious this April. Lot’s of rain, wind, and low temperatures. Today would be no different as we took to the starting line with rain, wind, and 12°C. The field was smaller today as the weather keeps the French racers inside, hence the reason they haven’t had a Tour champion in 20+ years. Fifty or so riders took to the 5.5 km circuit, which was pancake flat. Within minutes, I could taste and smell the local produce and animals of the surrounding fields as the waste washed onto the roads and into my eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. In all honesty, I thought I had a piece of Chevre cheese caked in my nose and in my teeth because all I could taste and smell was GOAT! Now I know why half of the pro racers in Europe have unheard of intestinal disorders and are constantly sick from racing and training on these roads:) This race was pretty easy to read and after watching the field chase down everything that got a 20 meter gap, I decided today I would tryout the new 70kg body for the sprint. Sure enough, we hit the last section coming into the finish and a two-man break had snuck off the front 2km before and the one guy would solo in for the win. The field flailed every which way preparing for the nervous sprint and before I could wind up my cheese & pate power punch, some guy jumped the field to finish 2nd, and I led the sprint home for 3rd. The first podium for the team this year! I got to go up on stage as my “unrecognizably pronounced Walnofer with a French accent” name was blasted through the speakers. I gave my podium kiss to a 12-year-old local girl and gladly accepted my two bottles of wine and size Large T-shirt. A nice Cahors Carte Noir (Black Wine, Malbec) Red and a Table Vin de pays du vin Rose (Bordeaux style). Amateur races in America should ditch the $50 prize money and do as the French do and give regional specialties as prizes. I know I appreciate this more than any “gas money” I won back in Arkansas. I bought a nice cheese at the local market this morning that will pair nicely with that Cahors for dinner. Cheers!

Making Wine in Gaillac

Off to Gaillac I went this Saturday to buy wine for home-bottling, with my lab colleagues Kerry and Philippe and his brother (???). Luckily, this was a Citroen Station Wagon so I had plenty of room in the backseat and the hatchback had plenty of room for our wine we would buy during our trip. Gaillac is not a well know region for making wine in France, but it does make very respectable regional wines that pair nicely with the local cheeses and many duck and meat dishes that are famous from this area.
We stopped at a local, very local, winery for a few tastings and to buy the wine in bulk. This incredibly nice woman who owned the winery with her husband and children is pouring me a glass straight from the holding tank. If you buy in bulk, the price for this red wine was 2 euros/liter and the white was 1 euro/liter. It is the 2007 wine, so the plan for Philippe was to take it to his uncle-in-law's home to bottle it and age it for the next 3-5 years and then have some very good, inexpensive wine for his family. Philippe and his brother have been doing this since their college days and they say they have turned out some pretty good wine over the years. As I went to purchase a bottle from the lady, she pushed my money back towards me and told me that the bottle was a gift for the wine expert American (via translation!). Oh how I have these French people fooled with my interest and studies being mis-interpreted as Expertism. It was a very special gift and one I truly appreciate. For some reason, people are always so kind to me and I hope that I can repay this to everyone I meet along my path of life.
This operation kind of reminded me of old-timers in Arkansas making moonshine in their bathtub, but I guess the end product was to be better. This was Philippe's Uncle-in-law's garage and it had the petrol, weedeater smell to prove it. The bulk wine was poured into thier bottles and then Philippe had a corker that punched the cork into the bottle. After the wrapper was mounted on the top of the bottle, the label was slapped on the outside, and the wine was put into the cellar where it would remain until 2012. I asked Philippe if I could return for a bottle in 2012 and he said sure.
No trip to a Frenchmen's home would be complete without a look into his wine cellar. Philippe's Uncle-in-law had numerous bottles he has been collecting over the years. I guess this is the hidden trade of the French culture because I don't think they ever drink any of the old wines. They just store them to show off like pieces of art. Maybe that is why the wine auction scene is getting so big now-a-days, because so many people have these gems hidden away deep in their dark basements. Many Bordeaux's, Gaillac's, Cahors, and local wines of the region were shown to us from as far back as 30 years ago. He did give us a bottle of very nice Champagne to open when we returned home to celebrate the "Blessing of the Wine!" Cheer's to that!