Hola!

Greetings from a campground in Madrid! just finished the 3rd world cup and finally have a moment to catch up with ourselves. it has been an intense three weeks of racing and travel, to say the least! from munich to houffalize (belgium) to offenburg (germany) and then all the way to madrid... but we seem to be managing it pretty well and are happy to be here.

The racing has been awesome. Riders and teams from all over the world are here to contend the world cups. It is pretty incredible to witness the Olympic fever as most countries are using the world cups as the selection process for Beijing. The level of competition is seemingly at an all time high as riders are gunning to show their best and beat their own compatriots... crazy competitive this year!

the speed and motivation of the women's field has caught me somewhat by surprise.... I feel pretty good about my races-- although I still want more, I have to keep my head down, continue to focus, and be patient with my process. my fitness is really good right now and I am healthy -- just getting my leg speed up and fine tuning race tactics and instincts is what I am working towards. I had some very consistent finishes so far (19th, 16th and 15th, the second american by far at this point and moving in the right direction!). I know I usually reach top race fitness by racing. So as we continue on, I look forward to the next opportunity to give my best at the w.c.s in Andorra (5/31), Scotland (6/7) and Worlds in Italy(6/22).

Mike has been working really hard to support us-- as mechanic, driver, problem solver, etc. He has done an incredible job of maintaining the bikes and is the perfect travel companion. Despite all his extra duties, he has been racing well in the IMMENSE elite men's fields -- (finishing 111th, 90th and 90th) hard to tell by results how smooth, strong and fast he really is racing. We both feel that to just be here representing, with good attitudes and sincere effort is what it is really about. Yes, it is difficult, and the pressure is on --- but if we cannot enjoy it, then we are loosing.

So as we remind ourselves to have fun and lighten up, we are continually amazed with the experiences we encounter. It has been particularly fantastic to reconnect with all the cool people we have met over the years from the global tribe of bike-- some making special trips to come watch the races and help out in our feed/tech zones.

A huge THANK YOU to all of you at Kenda for making this wild trip possible.

WE are working on the detailed race report and it should be posted soon on our cyclingnews journal.

XOXO

Mary and Mike

Team Kenda-seven