Yesterday was a very funny but also frustrating day. I’ve never realized how spoilt I am to have the races I got to in the East provide me with an interpreter! We booked 2 cars to take us out to the road cycling circuit. Some how the drivers thought we wanted to go to the Velodrome because when they hear cycling they think track cycling. Once we got there and realized we were at the wrong spot we took out our athlete guidebook with the map (in English!) and pointed to where we wanted to go. At this point I realized that these guys do not real English as they don’t use our alphabet! If we could write the name of the venue in Chinese we would have no problem. So after wasting an hour and eventually getting somebody from the control center that could speak English to tell the driver in Chinese were we wanted to go we were on our way!

We got to the road circuit and after all the commotion the coach left the map of the course in the car! So off we went. We pretty much got lost very soon after we left. We just missed one turn and we were stuffed! One lap was supposed to be 12k and after 30k we were in trouble. When we stopped to try and find the way but the public was more interested in my bike than showing us the way! Eventually after 90min we got back to the point we started from but in the blistering heat we decided to head home and come back today to fight another day.

The village has been state of the art and the food is really good. I’m still standing strong and I’ve not given in for ice cream or Snickers. I did however ‘award’ myself with one slice of pizza last night after cutting carbs for two days. Mc Donalds will open tomorrow to worsen the temptation!!

I picked up some travel damage coming over when I picked up a bag in an awkward position and somehow injured my rotator cuff. Nothing serious but just a bit of discomfort. I’ll have a sonar scan later tonight to pinpoint the area so the physio can target the right muscle without aggravating something else. Nothing to worry about but I am being extra careful.

We headed back to the road circuit today and after discussing the course in depth with the other racers I knew exactly where to go. The course is a tough one. Quite a bit harder than the one we had in Bordeaux last year. I prepared for a worst-case scenario and this is the worst-case scenario! There is a considerable amount of climbing and the course is very technical as well. Some real scary fast down hills with some very tricky hairpin corners at the bottom. The road race is going to be a thinker’s race and should be good.

Heading out now for some easy marathon training around the village.