Finding Peace and My Place in Lockdown

So, life has changed. If you’re a human on the planet, you’ve been affected by Coronavirus. For us at Rocacorba Cycling in Spain, that has meant full lockdown. It happened with very little notice and, with the exception of groceries, medical care, or walking a pet, we are confined to our homes. 

The notice of our lockdown came fast. In about 48 hours we went from rumours to “effective immediately” and with that came a lot of fear and questions. As the gravity of reality sank in, so did my fear about the future. In the big picture of life, sport is not an essential good. Everyone is vulnerable—physically, mentally, and economically—and in such unprecedented times, I was struggling to find peace and place in the global pandemic. 

The biggest obvious challenge for me was shifting all my training indoors. I’ve always rather put on a jacket and trained outside, rain or snow, so, I’ll be honest, I wasn’t looking forward to being stuck inside. But, whether injury, illness, the racing calendar, team decisions, training, family, work, or whatever, the best athletes are the ones that can adapt, period. Ready or not, I had to rise to this scary and extraordinary challenge. 

Rocacorba Cycling has always had a top-of-the-line indoor training set up thanks to our friends at Zwift. With a Tacx smart trainer and Zwift, I knew I had the best possible tools for success. Still, I wasn’t sure how I was going to keep it together mentally. A week was one thing. I was confident I could handle three even four weeks but what if it was longer? What about the Olympics? CCC-Liv? 

I just started out riding around Wattopia (one of the Zwift virtual worlds). Pretty quickly, I started to discover all the people; I began joining group rides and eventually started hosting meet-ups of my own. I rode with guests who were supposed to be staying with us, friends from across the planet who I never get to ride with, and I’ve even joined the London Dynamos for what’s become a regular Saturday morning ¨race¨. A whole new world of indoor training opened up to me and with real people behind every avatar, there was real engagement, real fun, and even real DOMS. I have a meet-up almost every day now and, unexpectedly, it’s actually allowed me to be more social than ever.

It took a while but I began to make peace with the situation. The Olympics weren’t gone, they were just a little bit farther away. The races would come back and I hoped women’s cycling would be able to find more ground in a post-pandemic world. We might not be racing as CCC-Liv but we were still very much a team. We had started meeting twice a week over the internet and that was actually bringing us closer together. The future of cycling was going to be different but CCC-Liv was already building a new, stronger normal and that security and support is just as comforting as it is a source of motivation. 

And I had also found my place: the indoor trainer. I felt blessed to be healthy and committed to doing my part and staying home. I was grateful that technology and Zwift allowed me to continue working and more grateful it became a source of motivation that also kept me connected to so many people. 

Rising to the challenge of Coronavirus, for me, has meant finding my place and making peace with reality and the unknown. Lockdown, no matter how long it will be, is always going to be hard but doing our part and staying safe from COVID-19 is about physical distance not social isolation. Whether it’s training inside and meeting-up for virtual rides, making a home office or a home gym, or picking up the phone and giving a friend or family member a call, staying together is the best way we can all rise to the challenge, stay healthy, and make it through Coronavirus. 

Full Circle

Silvie, Wouter, Ashleigh and Carl outside the Rocacorba Cycling front door.

I didn’t even realise it was happening but there it was: a Dutch couple I’d met at the Boels Rental Women’s Tour in September last year at my doorstep. I couldn’t place them right away, but I knew I knew them. They reminded me; after I had won the QOM jersey on stage one, we met and I gave them my podium flowers. Now, here they were in Spain, at Rocacorba Cycling, and making our vision into a reality. Let me explain…

When we first started Rocacorba Cycling, I had my racing life and my business life. When we opened our doors, it was about more than being a hotel and cycling destination. Rocacorba Cycling was and is part of a big dream to bring the parts of cycling together, to marry the right hand of cycling passion with the left hand of sustainability. We wanted a place where everything could viably function together so there were no barriers between cyclists, cycling stakeholders, and everyone in between—a positive feedback loop, so to speak. 

That positive feedback was loud and clear when Wouter and Silvie came to stay. We’ve had fans become guests, guests become friends, and friends become family over the years but having fans come to stay because I had connected with them in person at a race was something special. 

Racing life and business life have really become symbiotic and that alignment feels so organic and fulfilling. Seeing that connection grow and gain momentum is motivating and uplifting—we hope for our guests also. We aren’t just a hotel. We aren’t just a cycling destination. There’s so much more to experience and feel, not only at Rocacorba Cycling, but beyond our ancient stone courtyard. 

We welcome everyone to join us in 2020 whether it’s following my races and preparation for the Tokyo Olympics, coming for a cycling holiday, staying at the hotel and enjoying Catalunya, or connecting with us on social media and being part of our journey from afar. 

From our family to yours, best wishes and we hope to see you in 2020!

The Next Chapter

You can just imagine the family working where we’ve started to dig out the new pool. Originally the vegetable garden, you can still see the built-in benches in the remains of the stone walls where they would rest. We’re definitely keeping those benches.

The position of the pool moved several times during planning and was discussed at length over months, as are all the renovation plans; but, ultimately, the house always reveals what is best and we’ve learned to trust that. There is always an initial idea of what we want but when you live on a property like this one, you get to know it. All the quirks, how it functions and how people flow through the spaces, the scars of wear and tear, the layers of modernization—it isn’t a blank slate. Respecting what is here always presents challenges but working with what we have allows us to refurbish and reinvent instead of replace and erase.

For the recent updates to the Germa building, we especially wanted to reinstate the doors opening onto the courtyard. The action is always in the courtyard and it’s probably been that way since the house was built. We wanted to re-establish that connection, not just for the building, but so our guests can feel that connection too. It’s easy to think of Can Campolier as historical, and it is, but it’s also still a functioning property so it’s not just about highlighting what it used to be, it’s also about showcasing what it still is. 

There is so much history on this land and, as we modernise and bring the Rocacorba Cycling vision to life, there is a hope that this will become another chapter in the long story of Can Campolier. The truth is the house has 300 years of history before us and hopefully, with our help, 300 years of history after us. It’s a significant part of our lives but we are merely custodians of Can Campolier, hoping to leave it better for the future. 

Setmana Ciclista Valenciana

Off the back of a fantastic 10 day training camp at Rocacorba Cycling, it was finally time to get on a start line again. Our European opener was the four stage Setmana Ciclista Valenciana, just down the coast from Girona and it really did feel like an early season race.

The bunch was basically a bundle of nerves. A winter’s worth of race anticipation unleashed a series of crashes that claimed many riders. Fortunately, the whole team managed to stay upright and out of trouble and, by the third stage, we we well positioned to put our attack plan into motion. 

Stage Three was the queen stage and the obvious crux that would decide the general classification was Xorret de Catí. I had looked at the parcours but it wasn’t until we reconned the climb a few days before the race that I realised how completely savage it was. A part of the Vuelta Espana many times in the past, the 4km climb has an average gradient of 11% with much steeper sections, especially during the second half the climb. Nothing could have prepared me for what I saw; the last 2km were savage! I like steep climbs more than most but this early in the season, I felt a little underprepared! 

The stage was completely predictable but it wasn’t lacking in fireworks. A break had gone after the longer climb leading up the Xorret de Catí, with one of the riders, Soraya Paladin, having some valuable GC time. It wasn’t ideal but, as a team, we decided to stick to the plan, let the break go, and save it for the big beast of a climb that lay ahead. We hit the bottom and Movistar took control and set a demanding pace. Attacks started, including one from us, and chasers ramped up the pace again. I sat in and eventually we were down to a few riders and the fight was on. 

The road was decorated with names and there were sections lined with encouraging spectators but not for one second did I forget about me legs when the road tilted up and over 15%, 20%, and more. We caught what was left of the break but Clara Koppenburg stayed out of the saddle and mashed her way past the break and to the front of the race. It took me a bit longer to work my way past the break and by the time I had, Clara had a spacious gap. By the summit, Clara was clearly on her way to victory and I was coming in for second. 

Although I finished ahead of Paladin, her time advantage from the previous stage wasn’t to be overcome on the next day and neither was the 49 seconds that Koppenburg had claimed on the Catí. As the fourth and final stage ended with a bunch sprint, the GC unchanged, third was a great way to both finish our training camp and start our European season. Onwards and orange ;) 

The Best Things in Life Are Shared

The memorable rides, the ones that transform into shared stories, have a few special ingredients. Good roads help, great bikes are optional (okay, desirable!), but it’s the people, the vibe, and the opportunity that make a ride a memory. It’s not an easy combination to have when you travel to explore somewhere new but it’s exactly how we’ve designed our guided tours.

You might be hungry to conquer the legendary Girona climbs or longing for the sunshine and sea-side roads of the Costa Brava and a guided tour gives you the opportunity to go and ride. Explore the best roads of Girona without the stress of planning routes, navigating a new country and language, or finding people to ride with. With our local knowledge, in-house bike mechanic, and rider-focused premium accommodation, it’s a chance no cyclist will want to pass up. 

The best things in life are shared and every rider knows that’s true. Joining a guided tour might be a step out of your comfort zone but, at the end of the day, it’s riding bikes on great roads with new friends. Cycling brings together so many different types of people but with a shared passion it’s always a comfortable and happy environment. You won’t be too slow or too fast but you may be challenged, fall in love with Catalonia, and never want to leave. One thing is for sure, you’ll never forget your guided tour and you’ll be talking about it on your next ride. 

Only The Best

Riding somewhere new can be great. It can also be terrible. There is nothing worse than showing up to ride a route or climb you have dreamed about only to end up on the busiest roads, going the wrong way, at the worst time. We’ve all been there. A lot of people come to Girona and waste precious kilometres when they could be riding the good stuff. 

I never realized the value of a guide until I became one. After riding in Girona for many years, it’s second nature for me to put together routes. From the Costa Brava to the Pyrenees and every back-lane, not-on-Google-Maps road, I’ve ridden it. There are certain things that you just have to find out and experience first-hand on two wheels. Of course I know all the climbs, how to fix any road-side mechanical, and the best places to stop for coffee but it’s more than that. Its creating rides even the seasoned Girona rider would be excited by, knowing where the water taps are on abandoned back roads, the most picturesque places to stop for photos, where all the friendly donkeys are, and, of course, the inevitable conversations along the way. 

I’ve ridden with dentists, accountants, geologists, stay-at-home parents, lawyers, photographers. . . from all around the world. After a long ride it’s hard to remember I’m a guide because after the ride we’re all just tired, happy, and ready for a piece of chocolate cake or (and, in some cases) a beer. I can get you from A to B on the best and most incredibly quiet roads you’ve ever ridden but you’ll find out the really good stuff is along the way. 

Season Opener: Tour Down Under

It’s been 9 days since I’m officially a CCC-Liv rider! 

The excitement of signing with a brand new team has only built over the last few weeks. For the first time in my career I had a pre-season training camp so, in December, I had an early taste of what was to come: new equipment, new teammates, new management, new race schedule. Contracts only officially roll over on January 1 so after camp I had to wait. I felt like a kid waiting for Christmas and when 2019 finally arrived, the build up did not let me down. 

A week after the New Year we all jetted down to Australia for the Tour Down Under. After the million-hour long flight, we all crashed at the hotel while the time change crashed into us. Thank goodness there is a strong coffee culture in Australia because the next day it felt like I needed a constant supply of caffeine just to keep one eye open. The other eye, thankfully, was being kept open by spending time with teammates, exploring Adelaide by bike, and snuggling baby kangaroos. (Hey, when in Australia, right?!).

I couldn’t think of a better way to start with a new team then with a new race. It will be my first time competing at the Tour Down Under. Since it’s also our first race as a team, the goal is just to start learning how to race together over the four-stage event. We’re all professionals with a very professional set up so everyone knows what they are doing but there is sense of unspoken communication in racing, a rapport, that just needs to be built on the road in a race. It’s learning how your teammates react to race situations, what each riders facial expressions mean, and even who likes what in their bottles. In other words, it’s all about bonding this week but, if an opportunity arises, whether that’s snuggling a kangaroo or grabbing a podium, you can bet we’re going to take it!

Our First Olive Harvest

None of us ever thought we would buy a giant vibrating comb. That’s essentially what an electronic olive-picker is. If you thought you would never read a sentence like that in your life, think about how we feel writing it! First and foremost, we are cyclists, not farmers. Nevertheless, with Can Campolier we became the caretakers of over 100 olive trees and so the farming began. 

As with most of our farming endeavours, it all began with a Google search. We needed to know everything: when to harvest, how to test if the olives were ready, how to pick them, press them… and pretty quickly after that: “buy electronic olive picker online”. 

An electronic olive picker is basically two big-tooth combs on the end of a long vibrating stick. With a large net covering the ground around the tree, up and into the branches goes the vibrating comb while the farmer (that’s us) makes a combing motion. 

Waterfalls of olives fell from the branches and, with the help of a few extra hands, in the space of four days we had collected over 400 kilos of olives. Of course, the only thing to do with 400 kilos of olives is to press it into oil. Locals had directed us to a specialized olive oil pressing place (yes, those exist) near Roses and so we drove our harvest towards the coast.

In the end we picked 900kg of olives, made farmers out of 10 people, and came home with 100 litres of home-grown, cold-pressed olive oil. It didn’t just taste good, it tasted satisfying. 

Contact us if you would like to join the olive harvest in 2019 and get your hands on the giant vibrating comb!