Introduction: SIlke Wunderwald is a former ironman and triathlete who became a
Cat 1 cyclist, and now races all over the damn place for the Kenda women’s elite team. In 2008
she traveled to Spain
to Train with Strong Like Bull before returning to win countless races and
qualify for her pro card in cycling.
Hey Silke, thanks for taking some time out of an insane schedule to do an
interview. You and I had a fun and kinda funny habit of calling each other from
airports. It seems like you are always on the go some place. How has that been?
Aside from one minor delay due to weather
it was smooth sailing (or rather flying) throughout the season: Flights were on
time, luggage arrived unharmed, customs let me keep my toothpaste and I
successfully dodged all germs and viruses! Of course now I probably just
totally jinxed myself for next year’s travel season! Waiting around
terminals was always a great opportunity to catch up with everyone or read a
few chapters in an actual book. Aside from that, I really needed to learn to be
organized to the nth degree and think ahead of all the things that I needed to
get done. It was a painful process. Ordinarily I like to procrastinate and work
much better under pressure, but I had to modify my habits in order to make it
through the season without going totally insane. Having to be back at your job
at seven o’clock on Monday morning after spending a weekend racing
someplace far enough away that you have to fly there requires a fair amount of
discipline.
One of the things we
joked about its that triathlons are always in great places, vacation spots, and
it seems like road cycling is always in bombed out old industrial towns. Come
on, don’t you miss St. Croix? Wouldn’t you
take Austin over Fitchburg?
Sure, but I can drive to Fitchburg and don’t have to wrestle my
bike box in order to get to the race. So in spite of less scenic locations I
did learn to appreciate the times when I didn’t have to get to an airport
first. On the other hand, I do wish we had done some of the races on the west
coast just to even out the score a little.
All kidding aside what have been some of your favorite places to visit and race
this year?
For urban races, nothing ever beats racing
in NYC! It is just the coolest feeling to be racing around Central
Park at six o’clock in the morning all covered in horse shit
and who knows what. I love the attitudes and the diversity, and I’ve met
some really cool people there. I met some pretty big a**holes there too, but
since I can pack up the car and leave at the end of the day I tend to be amused
rather than annoyed. Otherwise, there are some great races right here in New England that I look forward to every year: the Tour
of the Battenkill in April is my all time favorite. And I just came back from
the Tour of the Catskills and it features some of the most scenic and most
challenging courses in the area. This year the prologue took place in the
quirky town of Tannersville
which also happens to have a bistro with the most extensive beer list ever.
Best of all, it doubles as a packie and I stocked up on some Erdinger Dunkel as
it is known here. For crowd support, the Athens Twilight crit in Georgia earlier
this year was simply amazing. The rectangular race course appeared to be at the
center of a huge block party and it was weird in that the racers seemed to be
the only sober participants in what felt like a giant outdoor frat party
(including some misdirected sprays of beer and biting bbq smoke in my eyes and
lung)!
You turned pro or as they call it in cycling Cat. 1. What has been some of the
biggest changes for you this year?
I think the definition of
‘pro’ is a bit fuzzy especially in women’s cycling where very
few can actually earn a living racing their bikes. I like Kerry Litka’s
expression of ‘fake pro.’ I think that is much more applicable in
my case. The fields at the NRC level are much bigger and much more animated,
aggressive and competitive compared to the local races. This was the challenge
that I was looking for this year. I wanted to race at my limit and see what it
would be like and I think I got what I asked for.
What do you miss about triathlon?
I miss getting hugs and kisses before and
after the races! Bike racing can be a bit of an intimidating and harsh
environment and spectators clear out quickly after the first three finishers
cross the line. People tend to not stick around to cheer for the lantern rouge!
What have you come to love most about bike racing?
Unlike triathlons you can race multiple
times almost every weekend, so if you screw up you can have another go at it
within a day or a week, or maybe even within just a few hours. So I can get my
endorphine fix that much more often! Triathlons tend to require much more
recovery time so you have to bet all your fitness dollars on just a few races.
I also really like the tactical aspect of bike racing although it can also be
very frustrating. Much is determined by how well you play the game and oftentimes
someone will win who isn’t necessarily the strongest rider in the pack. I
tend to be too impatient and lost races because I got too antsy, but I am working
on it.
You have won some big races, and done well in even bigger races. What are some
of your favorite moments?
My favorite moments are those where I can
apply both my body and mind to ride a successful race. The kind of races where
good legs alone won’t get you to the line first, but where you have to
use your head as well to come out on top. In bike racing you usually only get a
split second to make a decision. As they say, if you snooze you loose and that
wheel that you needed to jump on is long gone if you hesitate!
You have also gotten
your ass kicked a few times this year. I was watching on of your race on Versus
and Kristen Armstrong just destroyed everyone. Do you find it cool to race against
the best in the world even if you just suffer and suffer?
That was at Nature Valley.
It took everything I had to stay somewhere in the middle of the pack with the
occasional slip to the rear, but every time I looked up I saw the yellow jersey
of Kristin Armstrong at the front pulling everyone around the course. It was
maddening and absolutely amazing at the same time. Then I almost took out
Jeannie Longo at Fitchburg
and I was absolutely horrified! I could already see the headlines in my
mind….”Newly crowned French time trial champion Jeannie Longo
breaks hip at Fitchburg due to rookie bonehead move…!” So aside
from the fear of doing something really stupid it was very cool to at least
start (and sometimes finish) the race alongside these incredibly talented
riders. (Hot of the press: Kristen Armstrong just won the TT World Championship
in Switzerland
today!)
One thing I think is interesting is that you race all kinds of races. Stage
races, crits, long one days events. Flat races, mountain top races, whatever.
Do you find that frustrating? Or does sometimes racing something that is not
your normal thing take some of the pressure off? Also have you found you had
new talents in events you didn’t know you could do well in?
I see myself as an all-rounder, but I tend
to do better in hilly road races. It seems like a contradiction, but somehow I
am able to get my fat @ss up and over the hills reasonably well at least on a regional
level. On a national level I just try to hang on no matter what and even
courses that would ordinarily suit me can become a bit of a challenge. When you
watch the TdF you will hear Sherwin et al talk about the specialists:
sprinters, climbers, time trialists etc. But then even those specialists have
specialties and then you get time trialists that will do well on either hilly,
technical or flat courses. I like to challenge myself and racing on courses
that do not play into my strengths keeps it interesting and fun, but doesn’t
necessarily lessen the expectations I have for myself.
You are THE toughest person I have ever trained with. That said even you broke
into that Church in Connecticut
with me during that insane thunder and lighting storm last year. What did you
do to make God so angry? Seriously, that was THE scariest ride ever. Trees
falling, power-lines coming down and almost killing us, flooding…You should
kinda be dead, no?
That was the absolute scariest ride ever! I
seriously thought that the only way we were going to survive that storm was to
pledge to enter a monastery. Are there co-ed monasteries? I think that is the
closest I’ve ever come to selling my soul!
Did you see that the Tour Of Spain went up the Pico [a 6000 foot, 32k climb in Spain that SLB
does yearly]. Did you know you still have the camp record? I think you went
around 2 hours. Wanna guess what the pros did it in? What do you think of that
climb?
I didn’t see the stage, but I am
guessing 1 hour flat or maybe just over to allow a minute for a pee break. The
climb is absolutely epic. Someone said that the word ‘epic’ is
highly overused (as is the word ‘hero’ IMHO), but this is one of
those cases where no other word will do it justice. The scenery is stunning and
it is just the coolest ride ever. The fact that Andy was waiting at the top
with food and warm clothes made the whole experience even more enjoyable.
Speaking of Spain
you also hold the record for most bake shops visited. I am pretty sure you
cased out one bake shop through the window of a baked shop we were in! Why are
the pastries of Europe so amazingly good?
I’m not sure, but evidently some
famous German cyclist used to follow the same off-season diet. Maybe it is
something in my genes, but bakeries exert some sort of gravitational pull that
I just can’t resist. But it could also be the same reason why even espresso
from some random gas station in the middle of nowhere tastes absolutely amazing.
Or why simple questions continue to provoke giggles for days on end… did
we ever figure out what kind of quarry that was?
What Climb did you like best in Spain
that we did? Personally I like the Puerta Del Sol but I have a thing for goats.
I still remember the goat shit sticking to
my bike! Nice and slippery from all the rain that stuff stuck to everything
like glue and was equally hard to get off! I love switchbacks so I’d have
to pick the Puerta as well, but, honestly, all the climbs were epic (again) and
the vistas were just breathtaking! Actually it isn’t just the climbing that
was a lot of fun, but some of the descents were just as thrilling. I remember racing
Johnny English down some twisted mountain road with lots of switchbacks and
that was the most fun I have ever had on a bike. I think at the bottom we had
gained some 10 minutes or more on everyone else. We also picked some rolling
routes through quiet olive groves that were really nice and a little bit easier
on the legs.
Anything else you wanna say?
Fiesta, siesta…. and a bit of
cyclocross that’s what I am going to do while you train for the 70.3
championship…. SUCKER!
(Silke on the famed Pico training in Spain before she went on to earn her pro card).
