survival camp in East Java

Hello all!

just coming back from Perlis Open in Malaysia we had the chance to take part in the UCI Tour of East Java.....I personnaly came back pretty tired from Perlis open and got a bit sick few days before leaving for Java....

The trip to Java went great, and we arrive on the island in early evening...A big truck was waiting for Team Fuji and other teams to pick up the bikes and drive them to the hotels. While the riders were nicely taken by van to the hotels....The drive was fun and we had some time to try and practice some "indi" language with the driver...

One nice surprise was the hotel we were to stay at...All I would say is that at least we had some AC and it was pretty quiet.....for the rest it was not much of an hotel, but well, we are there to race so we`re supposed to sleep rest of time anyway....

To be franc the first race day was tough on me, once we hit the only climb of the day I just had no leg, no power, so it was "survival mode" all the way to the top...and pretty much to the end...I got dropped with 10km to go, with no excuse other than being really weak that day....

Second day went a bit better. As Chris showed and adviced me I began by thanking the local divinites by some prayers...

The day was really fast right from the start. In those UCI race a lot of racers attack from the gun and we can all be riding a paceline at 50km/h from first kilometer...There can be also a lot of splits as the level between the riders are not so even in strength. So it takes a lot to be and stay well placed in the bunch. On that second day I made a mistake again and got caught in the third group, while Leo had a great ride and stay in the second group where all best asian riders were.
I finished feeling much better in the third group, even though I messed up my placing I was happy to begin and feel "good" again....

The third day was a 80km criterium with 7 turns, so a lot of accelerations. All the team worked smart and stay in the front to avoid crashes and splits. All team did great, especially Fan who for his first UCI race hold on and give it all to finish, to me he is sincerely a model of will. Well done Fan!