We're proud to welcome the beautifully talented cyclist Amber Pierce to our blog. We'll be reposting her blog Anywhere Road from Triple Crankset. This series takes a look at the personal life of one of America's brightest and up-and-coming cyclists as she lives and works her way toward the realization of her cycling dreams.

I write you from a bike race in Austria, in a little town called Schwaz just north of Innsbruck. In my early racing days in the States, a weekend of bike racing would probably find me staying at a Motel 6, looking forward to some early morning ‘Moons Over My Hammy’ at Denny’s, followed by a Starbucks doubleshot chaser before heading to registration.

Right now, I’m staying in a big Austrian Bauernhof (farmhouse), built over a working dairy barn. In the morning I’ll head down to the Stubn (breakfast room) for a homemade breakfast of semmeln (fresh rolls, delivered early by the local bakery to all of the Gasthäus in the neighborhood), eggs from the chickens out back, and coffee with cream fresh from the dairy barn.

Road tripping around this whole world of ours for bike racing is one of the things I love most about my job. I miss Starbucks and breakfast sandwiches and, yes, even Motel 6 (there’s something to be said for their dependable low prices – quoted per room instead of per person – queen sized beds, cable TV, and in-room bathroom with flushing toilet, shower and hot water). Although I miss a lot of Austria when I’m in the states now, what I love most of all is taking in all these odd differences and the tiny challenges and triumphs that come with breaking out of one’s comfort zone. There is so much to see in this crazy world of ours.

Breaking out of my comfort zone to living Austria has presented a lot of challenges – some big, some small. But with every challenge comes the satisfaction of overcoming it. I counted a surprising number of little milestones for myself this weekend alone:

1. I have figured out how to register myself online for races. (I know – sounds silly, but you would be surprised… and dammit I am proud of myself for this one.)

2. I could read and understand all of the signage on the four hour drive to get here. (This is huge; makes driving MUCH less stressful. I still remember how my heart rate would go through the roof when driving, trying to make sense of all the different signs while looking for street names in German; now I am cool as a cucumber. Totally local.)

3. I actually knew how to get here without even looking at Google Maps. (!!!)

4. I didn’t even make a room reservation before I left! (I used to stress over making a reservation in advance, so I would do an internet search to find a place, then would have to type what I wanted to say into Google Translate and read that over the phone to the Gasthaus I’d just found online to make the reservation… sweating bullets the whole time and feeling completely inept.)

5. I knew where to go to ask for a room (fyi it’s the Tourismusverband or Tourism Association) and what price would be a good deal, and the lady didn’t even respond to my schlechtes Deutsch (bad German) with English! I got a reservation within 10 minutes speaking only German. No stress. (Bam!)

6. Before the race, I was able to have an enjoyable conversation with my teammate completely auf Deutsch and she understood me (showing enormous patience with my mixing up of word order – thank you).

7. I actually made small talk auf Deutsch with the Hausfrau (hostess) at the Bauernhof where I’m staying (and not only did she not respond in English, but neither did she ask me where I’m from)!

Registering online for a bike race, chatting with teammates, making a hotel reservation – none of this probably sounds all that impressive to you. Well, that changes when you’re learning a new language, different cultural norms, rules of etiquette and a whole different infrastructure. It’s not always easy, but then you get to celebrate all of these little milestones.

And when you’re seated in a mountainside Gasthof, laughing with teammates over a hot bowl of post-race Gemusesuppe, waiting for the Siegererung (podium ceremony), well, it’s definitely all worth the effort.

Tschüss!
Amber

Amber Pierce - An American expat living in Austria, Amber has made the leap across the Atlantic in pursuit of her dreams on the road. After making a name for herself as one of the top road cyclists in the US, she now faces new challenges in her life on the road in Europe.

Amber's path to full-time racing in Europe has been anything but linear. From high school valedictorian holding national swimming records, to scholarship athlete at Stanford University and researcher on the open ocean, she has found herself in countless adventures all over the globe. With 53 career victories under her belt, however, Amber appears to have found her calling on the bicycle.

Follow Amber's adventures as an American cyclist and expat in Europe and beyond, as she shares the journey through her own words on Anywhere Road.

I had an interesting race this weekend. This Sunday I was up at Lake Tahoe for the 22 Mile Fall Classic. The race started off really well for me. I felt very fresh for the first hour, drinking from my hydration system, and generally feeling the race out. Over the course of the second hour I really just tried to settle into a nice rhythm and keep good control of my breathing and heart rate. I also really focused on my technique which as a whole I was really pleased with. It was early in the second hour however that I ran out of fluids in my hydrations system, and that would later become a big issue for me. At around 3 hours into the race I still felt really good, and I even thought about picking up the pace a bit. This lasted for about 10 minutes until I suddenly hit the wall in a way that was very unusual to me. Not only did my body just start to shut down, but I became very dizzy. From that point on a just tried to keep my paddle moving and tried not to look at the water as that immediately made me disoriented. I was able to push on, and in the end I finish 2nd in the Elite Class, which is something that considering the circumstances I feel pretty good about. My race time was 3:47.38.

Every race I try to learn something, and at this race I might of learned the very most important lesson. I learned that it does not matter how fast your car is, or how big of an engine it has, if you don’t feed it the right fuel it is worthless. In the future I need to, and will, come up with a system that allows me to carry a lot more liquid, but the key is also that the liquid will also carry all of my calories. This is something that I need to take the time to test before I race long distances, and ultimately it will make me a better competitor, which is always the goal.

I specifically would really like to thanks Duke with Surftech http://surftechsup.com/ and all the folks at Surftech for that matter. They have been very supportive of me not only at this race, but throughout this race season, and I really appreciate that. I would also like to thanks Phil at Tahoe Paddle and Oar http://www.tahoepaddle.com/home for putting on such a great race.

Jay

My friends at Surftech sent me a new board to train and race on. They sent a new 14ft Jaime Mitchell, and it is very good. It is light, and it is fast! Now for the first time I have a board to train on that is equivalent to what I race on, so that is certainly very helpful.

I have a 7 lap loop that I do for time at the marina. On a normally day I will do between 7 and 12 laps, but about every two weeks I time my first 7 laps to try to get a feel for improvement. Prior to last night the fastest 7 laps that I have ever do was 1:03.07, but last night I was able to knock that down to 1:00.33. I am getting really close to breaking the 1 hour mark, and probably would have last night but I had some wind that had to hurt my time a bit.

I really want to thank Surftech www.surftechSUP.com for getting me set up with the new board. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who enjoys paddling for exercise.

Jay

My wife, Lisa, and I went on a nice camping/Grouse Hunting trip this last weekend. It was the first bird hunting trip of the year and it was a welcome adventure. We took all of our camping gear in on our ATV, found a perfect place to camp, and spent two days in the mountains having a great time. The evening were nice and cool, and it was very relaxing to sit next to a small campfire, sipping on a cocktail, with tired legs after a day of hiking and hunting. Just about perfect, in my book.

For whatever reason the hunting was not as good as it was in the past, but it was still good enough to keep things exciting and shoot limits of Blue Grouse on each of the two days. The dogs had a great time, and hunted very well. They only hunt grouse a few days a year, but they sure remember what it is all about, and they have it pretty dialed in. I could not have been happier with them.

All in all it was a great weekend. It was the official kick off to my bird hunting season, and I am looking forward to all the great adventures awaiting me this year. At the end of the day all I really hope for is happy healthy dogs. After that, all the fun will take care of itself, and there is plenty of fun to be had.

Jay

In many places around the county a bird season of some kind has just opened (Dove, Grouse, etc…). For those of you with an open season, be safe and have a great time!

Remember, as hunters we can be very proud that the biggest conservation groups in the world are made up of people just like us; other hunters. People who are not only passionate about hunting, but who also have a genuine desire to protect and enhance the lands and habitat that these animals live in, preserving these opportunities for future generations.

If you have the opportunity, please introduce someone new to the outdoors.

Jay