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Photo Credit: Licensed royalty free. Provided by PD Photo.org .

 

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Chapter 8
 
On the first morning back at the Team Apollinaris complex after the Holidays, life was starting to settle back into a routine.

Jenny, Dave and Maria went back to planning out the coming year for the Youth Development Program and George went back to dealing with the pro team. His immediate focus was on the upcoming 2013 World Cup Tour with training scheduled to start in mid February, in Australia and he had to finalize arrangements with his staff.

“Gabi … ein Moment, bitte?” George called out to Gaby as she and Tina passed his office on the way to the weight room. Tina continued on her way after telling her that she’d meet her there.

As Gaby entered his office, George motioned for her to take a seat.

“The UCI finally got back to me about the 2013 schedule … und they confirmed that there ist a break in May, from the 11th to the 28th … but when you take into account any additional training we can get in between races … that break shrinks to nine days … from the 12th to the 20th.”

Gaby remained motionless and silent while she thought about what she was just told.

“Sorry … but that’s the best I can give you, Gabi. We haff Montreal on the 29th this year,” George said apologetically.

“That’s fine, George. We’ll take some time in the off-season. The main thing is that the 18th is free,” Gaby cheerfully replied.

“Frohes Neues Jahr, Gabi!” George enthused as she started to leave his office.

“It’ll be a very happy New Year, George ... Danke,” Gaby happily replied. She couldn’t help but be walking on the proverbial ‘Cloud 9’ as she continued to the weight room. More pieces were falling into place.

That evening when Gaby went over to Maddy’s place, after telling her that George had confirmed the chosen date was okay, she asked about the invitations.

“I gave Daddy all the invitations, sweetheart. He’ll mail them for us at the main post office in Bonn when he goes into work,” Maddy confirmed.

“I got some good news today, too. George phoned and asked me if I have a job yet. When I told him ‘no’ …he asked if I’d come back as his assistant for this year’s World Cup Tour. Claimed I was too efficient last year.”

“You take his offer?”

“Naturally! Gives us a bit more money … and we’ll be able to keep on top of things in the evenings.”

While the girls sat at the kitchen table, taking stock of the wedding preparations and with only four and a half months to go, it suddenly occurred to both of them that they’d not put any consideration into finding their own place.

The team was scheduled to depart for Australia at the end of the month and with Maddy going along as well, that left no one to pursue the housing question. Added to that, they realised they’d have to trust their mothers to make all of the remaining arrangements.

“It’s too late to begin looking for a place … isn’t it?” Maddy asked.

“We have three weeks … but the only real option I can think of is to see if George can set things in motion to get us an flat like he did with Mum. We’ll just have to trust ‘em to follow-up while we’re gone,” Gaby thought out loud.

She quickly added with a sombre tone in her voice, “I know Apollinaris still have the few flats they had when Mum was riding with the team ... question is … if there’s a vacancy.”

Seeing how upset Maddy was getting, Gaby reached across the table for her hand.

“It probably won’t be for long … just enough time for us to see what we can afford and find something … ‘kay?”

“At least tomorrow’s a work day. We can always ask George about the flat when we see him. How could we forget about something like this?” Maddy asked in disbelief.

“I don’t know, luv … too caught up in all the other things, I guess. We’ll just have to wait an’ see what George can do.” The more they thought about it, the angrier Gaby became with herself.

Later that evening, she talked to her parents about their housing problem. Together, they tried to think of and explore different options the girls could look into before the team left for Australia, As the evening progressed, it became clear that their best hope rested with George looking into the possibility of getting the girls into one of the ‘team flats’.

“On that depressing note ... I think I’ll just go to bed. ‘Nite, Mum ... ‘nite, Dad.” After giving her parents a kiss on the cheek, Gaby slowly headed up to her room.

Later that evening, Jenny took the opportunity to continue the discussion with Dave in the privacy of their bedroom.

“Dave … what if George can’t put them into a flat and they can’t find their own place in three weeks? They’ve put so much into this and now it’s … isn’t there something we can do to help the kids?”

He sat quietly on the bed beside his wife and put his arms around her shoulders. After a minute or two of thought, he arrived at a possible solution.

“I have an idea … but let me work on it a bit … okay? I don’t want to give you or the kids false hope if this doesn’t look like it’s going to pan out.”

Then he quietly added, “It might work to our advantage that the girls are leaving on the World Cup ... c’mon … morning comes early.”

Jenny nodded in agreement and they both settled into their bed and turned out the lights.

“Mornin’ dear …. feel better?” Jenny softly greeted Gaby as she entered the kitchen.

“Not really. We still need a place to live … unless the house-fairy came last night an’ left the keys under my pillow. Maybe I should check?” Gaby mentioned with a hint of sarcasm.

Jenny chanced a quick glance at Dave before she looked back at her daughter and saw the usual sparkle in her eyes, was gone.

“I told Mad I’d go see George today. Hopefully he can put us in one of the team flats.”

“What if he can’t, darling?” Jenny asked.

“I dunno. Mad an’ I don’t really have time to look around before we hafta leave.”

Gaby was in the midst of making herself a tea, when she suddenly turned to face her mother sitting at the kitchen table.

“You don’t think George will make either Kris or Nina move in with the other would, you? “

“Well … they are two-bedroom flats…” Jenny softly pointed out.

“He didn’t with you! You had your own place … an’ so do Kris an’ Nina.”

“Yes … but he also had the flats available to him to let him give each girl who needed one, their own place. You lived here and didn’t need a place. Now you’re getting married and you need a place of your own.”

“I know … but I don’t want one of our friends to move just for us. It doesn’t seem fair.”

Jenny rose up from her seat and hugged her youngest daughter. She could tell the stress and frustration of the wedding was beginning to take a toll on Gaby.

“Tell you what. Let us … George … your father … and I … have a crack at the problem. We’ll try to work something out so your friends don’t have to move … okay? Either way … your dad and I will make sure you and Maddy have a roof over your heads … even if it’s here. Now, let us help … you two have enough to worry about.”

“Thanks Mum…” As Gaby laid her head on her mum’s shoulder, a tear escaped and ran down her cheek.

“Don’t hold it in, dear…” Jenny whispered. The two continued to hold each other for several more minutes, before parting.

(sniff) “I’m fine Mum,” Gaby replied in an emotional and subdued voice.

“You sure?”

(sniff) “Yeah … I just needed that hug.” (sniff)

“Anytime you feel you need one…” Jenny softly replied while holding back one or two tears of her own. The two carried on with their breakfast and generally getting ready to face another day.

Since Jules was now carpooling with Heinrich to her new job in Bonn, it was a relatively quiet ride to work for Jenny, Dave and the two girls. Gaby’s parents did score a victory of sorts in that both girls reluctantly resigned themselves to letting their parents worry about the housing situation.

When they got out of the car at the training facility, Jenny hugged Gaby and reminded her to focus on her job and let others focus on the housing. She just nodded and silently walked into the complex with Maddy.

A few minutes after they got to their respective offices, Dave noticed his wife walking past his door, apparently heading for George’s office.

“Jen …” Dave called out before she was out of earshot. He quickly rose from his chair and joined her outside his door.

“We’ll see George together. I want him to help if he can … but I don’t want him to do anything that he can’t undo … you follow?”

“No, I don’t. You want to put that in plain English?” A confused Jenny asked.

“I’ll explain when we see him, okay?” Dave replied as they both walked to George’s office.

The same time they were having the impromptu meeting with George, the entire pro-team and their support staff, were gathering in the main conference room for a pre-World Cup Tour meeting.

“Okay, people … hot off the press … your 2013 World Cup schedule.”

Tina started passing them out to everyone gathered for the meeting.

“I’ve been told that George has been delayed for a few minutes … but when he gets here, he wants to go over these in detail. In the meantime … I suggest we look them over,” she added in a business-like manner.

As individuals began to look over the schedules, eyes began to turn towards Maddy and Gaby. By the time George arrived, both girls were blushing profusely under the stares of their friends.

“Have the schedules been handed out Tina?” he asked as he walked into the room.

Scanning the faces of the assembled team members, his gaze fell upon the happy couple and the smug look that was on both their faces.

“Ja … I guess they have.”

After a few minutes of joking around, he got down to business.

“Before we get into the thick of things … I want to say something. You all know Maddy Peters from last season. She’ll be joining us again this year … und like last year ... she’ll be responsible for keeping your stats straight as well as helping out in the team car ... so be nice to her.”

George quickly added with a knowing smile, “If you know what I mean.”

He then spent the next couple of hours running down the entire schedule and taking questions and comments from the team. Even though the first race wasn’t scheduled until the 23rd of the month, they were scheduled to begin their road training in Australia on the 6th of February.

Once the schedule began, Gaby aggressively tackled her training and races, during the ‘Tour”. She was determined to capture the 2013 World Champion title for her mum. This year the World Championship was once again, to be determined at the completion of the race ‘down under’.

She convincingly took Australia’s World Cup — Geelong in a 70-meter sprint, narrowly beating out Jocelyn Loane of the Australian National Team and Anna Beyer of RG Stuttgart. The victory gave her the World Champion title she had been looking for.

Kristen and Susan were unfortunately taken out of the final sprint when an enthusiastic fan accidentally clipped a T-Mobile rider, causing her to lose control and brush up against one of the crowd control barriers.

The pile-up that resulted took several cyclists down to the pavement. Most walked away with a few deep scrapes but Kristen got the worst of it with a sprained right wrist and a gash to the arm. The team doctor would evaluate her on a day-to-day basis to determine if she was fit to race.

The girls were also concerned that her injury to her arm might prove serious enough to exclude Kris from the wedding.

In the New Zealand World Cup, Gaby came in fifth place overall, but she took the ‘Queen of the Hill’ title with a very decisive performance in capturing all but one of the hill climbs.

Kristen had started the race but was forced to abandon after the first 25 kilometres due to her wrist. Fortunately there was a rather long period before the Tour des Flandres in Belgium, during which she could recover.

Later, in the Tour de Berne, Gaby again stood on the podium, this time taking first place overall in addition to capturing all the hill climb points.

The final results saw a podium sweep by Team Apollinaris. Kristen felt she had something to prove with her withdrawing from the New Zealand race. Her fierce determination resulted in a third place on the podium, losing out by a wheel to Tina. Now, a clear signal had been sent to the other teams and the cycling world in general that they were the women’s team to beat!

During the course of the race, the cycling world had sat up and taken notice of Jenny Bond’s youngest daughter, for her abilities as much as her heritage. Her peers always knew she was good, yet she was always seen as being in her mum’s shadow.

In the opening clashes of the current 2013 World Cup tour, Gaby had firmly established herself as a very real triple threat as a tactician, a superb hill climber and as someone who was more than capable in the short sprints.

Just as importantly, she’d earned a reputation of being an aggressive competitor like her mum, both early on as a junior and now as a pro. On this World Cup, her peers would learn just how aggressive she could be.

In Spain’s Gran Premio Castilla y Leon, Gaby took her third first place finish and for the second consecutive race, also took the coloured jersey for the “Queen of the Hill”.

The following day was a chance for the team to catch their collective breath after the performance they gave during the first half of the season. As George sat in his hotel room and pondered the first half of the season, he was aware that something or someone had inspired his team. Corporate Apollinaris was ecstatic and George was sure he had to find some way to bottle this new-found drive that gripped the team.

The following day, they packed up to head back to Bad Neuenahr.

May 12th, 7 days and counting…

“Say Auf Wiedersehen to sunny Spain, you two. Faster you guys are on board … faster you will be back home.” Tina excitedly exclaimed as she walked out to the waiting aircraft with the two girls.

The excitement of their upcoming wedding was infectious to everyone who’d accompanied the team on this leg of the World Cup. The good natured joking between Tina, Susan and Gaby, only reminded her that in seven days, she’d be a married woman.

“Enough of that … both of you! You trying to scare the girl?” George playfully berated the two ladies as they boarded.

The three who would serve as Gaby’s bridesmaids, occupied the row of seats in front of the happy couple while Tina occupied the window seat beside Maddy and Gaby.

“Achtung … bitte,” George stood up in the aisle by his seat and got the group’s attention once the plane was airborne. “Danke.”

He began his little talk with congratulating the team with all their successes thus far in the World Cup.

“Apollinaris is proud of you and I’m proud of you. We’ve had an excellent season so far ... und for our troubles ... we’ve become everybody’s target!” and then pointing menacingly towards Gaby, he added, “Und you Frá¤ulein! You’re number one on their ‘hit list’!”

Once the laughing and good-natured jibes had faded, George once again addressed the group.

“All I can say is that on behalf of our sponsor und myself …Danke … for all your efforts to-date!”

“Now … if I can change subject for ein moment.”

He remained standing in the aisle with his hands resting on the backs of the seats to either side of him, as he looked directly at Maddy and Gaby.

“Gabi … like your Mama … you’ve managed to crawl under the skin und into the hearts of everyone in the Team Apollinaris organization. As if that’s not enough … you brought Maddy mit you … und she had the same intoxicating effect on us as you did.”

George then walked the few steps up the aisle to where the girls were sitting and put a hand on the headrest of seat in front of Gaby. Following a brief pause to choose his words he took a deep breath before going on.

“Gabi … Maddy … I know the next few days are going to be chaotic at best for both of you … so I’ll say it now. On behalf of everyone on this plane … I want to wish the two of you all the best … not only for Saturday … but for the many, many years to come. Your union may cause more than a few eyebrows to be raised around the world … but I’m convinced that if you remain the Maddy und Gabi we’ve all come to know und love … the rest of the world will have no choice but to follow.”

As both girls rose from their seats, they had tears of joy in their eyes. Once they stepped out into the aisle, he received a hug and a peck on the cheek from both girls, to the sounds of applause from the rest of the cabin’s occupants.

Before they sat back down, each girl turned and thanked the rest of the team for their wishes. As they settled back in their seats, Tina passed them the seemingly ever-present tissue.

“Thought you might need these,” Tina smugly commented.

“Danke, mama…” Gaby playfully answered through a huge grin.

A short while later, George once again approached the girls.

“Gabi ... bitte?”

With a questioning glance to Maddy, she followed him back to his seat where he then picked up his opened laptop and motioned for her to sit in the now empty seat beside him.

Passing her the laptop, he casually mentioned, “I thought this would interest you. I’d like to show it to your mama when we get back … ja?”

Gaby looked at an Excel spreadsheet showing all the stats for the 2013 World Cup races that have been ridden to date. While it sat on her lap, George reached over to indicate a few of the displayed columns.

“Everyone on the team has a detailed spreadsheet like this ... und this is yours. With this, I can keep track of your stats for a full season ... but your sheet is also unique. Notice how each race listed has two lines ... und there ist a purple line of stats ... even for races you’ve yet to ride.”

“Ja.”

“Well, there’s a reason for that ... those are your mama’s,” George admitted. Gaby looked at George with a puzzled expression. He merely directed her attention to specific races listed on the display.

“Look closely, Gabi ... especially here ... here ... und here.”

At first, Gaby marvelled at seeing her mother’s stats for her last season of competition. She’d set records in several of the same races and on the same courses that Gaby had ridden or will ride. What shocked Gaby was that in three of the six races she’d ridden to date, she’d either broken or shattered some of her mother’s records, according to the display that she saw in front of her.

“You’re first overall in the GC standings at this point … and by a good margin, too … but don’t get over confident und let that lead slip away. You can take it this year if you remain focused … und I know you can.”

Gaby looked at the screen then turned to George, not really knowing what to say.

“Now go back to Maddy … und enjoy the rest of the trip. You’ll be home in a couple of hours.”

“Danke George,” Gaby quietly replied as she rose from the seat.

“Did he show you?” Maddy asked as her fiancée returned to her seat.

“You knew?” Gaby was genuinely surprised.

“Duh! What have I been doing all this time? Who do you think dug up your mum’s stats and compiled that spreadsheet? George was only curious to see how you compared. Boy ... was he surprised!” Maddy softly replied as she leaned over to give Gaby a gentle kiss.

All this time Tina was watching the girls.

“Sorry … I didn’t mean to just sit here und stare,” Tina apologized after Gaby noticed her.

“Not that you had much of a choice … sitting there, I mean...” Gaby replied with a giggle as she indicated Tina’s window-seat. “It was either the tops of the clouds … or us … an’ I’d know where I’d be lookin’.”

For the remainder the trip, the five girls discussed the remaining days leading up to the wedding. They made a ‘check list’ for everything that had to be done before Saturday and a few times, Tina was even asked for her opinions. Above all else, both girls were very anxious to get back and see what their mothers had done to all their plans.

“I’m going to ask George if he can arrange to fly Em and the others over in the next day or two … okay, sweetheart?” Maddy asked.

“Good idea,” Gaby replied as she moved to let Maddy out from her seat.

“That’s all set. Now, when he knows which day we can have the plane … we can phone the girls and let them know the plans,” Maddy quietly announced as she returned and sat back down.

In what seemed all to short a time, they were asked to fasten their seat belts as they lost altitude and joined the landing pattern at the Ká¶ln-Bonn Airport.

As the chartered Airbus A319CJ taxied up to the Apollinaris corporate hanger, they were able to see that the team’s mini-bus and trailer was brought around from its long-term parking and was waiting by the hanger.

Once the engines shut down, Mike and Hans helped the ground crew unload the team’s equipment from the aircraft while the girl’s of Team Apollinaris climbed on board the bus and patiently waited for Mike to slip into the driver’s seat.

Unlike on the plane, the mood was more somber, almost as if the team was reflecting on what exactly they’d accomplished and what was to come. For five of the girls, that reflection included some non-cycling issues.

A little more than an hour later, the bus turned into the car park at the Bad Neuenahr training facility and was met by Dave, Jenny and Maria. As they got off, everyone got their luggage and prepared to head home following the summoning of their respective rides.

“Dave? … Jenny? … bitte?” The elder Bonds followed George into his office, as the two girls put their bags in the back of the Volvo.
While waiting at the car, the girl’s found Dave’s mobile and Maddy decided to call Kat and fill her in.

Some time later, Gaby’s parents emerged from the building. When an elated Jenny reached the car, she threw open her arms and tightly embraced her daughter.

“I knew you had it in you!” Jenny enthused.

“George already showed you the stats?” Gaby asked.

“Uh-huh. I’m so proud, darling! When you phoned after your races, why didn’t you tell me?” Gaby saw that her mum had a few tears rolling down her cheeks.

“I didn’t know myself until George showed me on the plane,” Gaby replied.

Jenny gave her daughter another squeeze before they all got into the car and began the short drive home.

“Mum? Did you remember to pick up the wedding bands from the safety deposit box?” Gaby asked.

“They don’t close for another 45 minutes, so we still have time … now relax. Carol and I have everything running smoothly,” Jenny cheerfully replied.

The two girls skeptically looked at each other and then Gaby turned back to her mum.

“Why do I feel like Mad and I should be really afraid?” Gaby playfully asked.

“You don’t trust us?” Jenny pouted.

“Seriously, Mum … is everything okay? Church … hotel … reception … salon appointments … our flat … everything?” Gaby questioned, hoping her mother would take the hint and convey some news about their housing or lack thereof.

“Nerves?” Jenny asked trying to deflect the issue.

“I guess so…” Gaby turned and looked at Maddy, before she replied.

“Everything’s just fine. Now don’t worry.” Jenny spoke in a reassuring tone as she left the car to go and pick up the wedding bands.

When she got out, Jenny had a sparkle in her eyes as she gave a knowing glance to her husband. The girls weren’t really paying attention to what was happening up front or they may have caught the subtle signals passed between the two.

While the three of them were sitting in the car waiting for Jen, Dave’s mobile went off.

“Hallo? … Ja, ist sie hier.” Dave answered the phone and passed it to Gaby. “It’s George.”

“Hallo, George? … das ist wundervoll! … vielen Dank … Auf Wiedersehen.”

The other two could feel Gaby’s excitement as she passed the phone back to her dad.

Maddy was the first to speak. “Well… do we have a place?”

“Not quite ... but we do get the plane to pick up Em and the others, on the 14th. Might as well let Kat and the others know to expect
Company. I’ll give Em a call tonight with the details so she can let your friends know.”

“That was quick!” Maddy enthused.

“I guess you’ll need this,” Dave intoned as he passed the mobile back to Maddy.

Jenny returned with the rings just as Maddy completed another call to Kat and was passing the mobile back to Dave. Gaby let her mum know about George’s call and that she’ll be calling Em later.

When the girls pressed about the housing, Jenny looked at Dave.

“Everything’s under control. We managed to get you our old flat and they’re fixing it up as we speak. Don’t worry … it’ll be ready in time.” Jenny said, reassuringly. Neither girl caught the subtle side-glances exchanged by the two up front.

“Can we go see it?” both girls asked.

“Das ist verboten!” Dave firmly replied and then trying to stifle a smile, added, “You’ll just have to wait.”

The next day consisted of various housekeeping chores, for everybody that was on the World Cup Tour, both at the Team’s training facility and at home.

The pro team & the mechanics were busy with all the little adjustments to the bikes that were required after a tour like the team just rode. In addition to all the mid-season break activity, finalizing wedding plans and getting things ready to house the British girls was never far from the minds of those involved.

On Tuesday, while most everyone on the pro team had their first real day of rest, Jenny took the family’s van to the Apollinaris hanger at the Ká¶ln-Bonn Airport. Jules and Kat kept the happy-couple busy going over the many last minute details one encounters when planning a wedding.

Apollinaris was to fly Jenny to Manchester to pick up the rest of the wedding party and then fly everyone back to Bonn. She figured if things continued to go smoothly, the entire return trip should only take a few hours.

“That’s a big IF … knock on wood.”

The flight took a little more than ninety minutes and Jenny arrived in Manchester about one in the afternoon, local time. As she walked into the FlightLinks’ waiting room, the level of excitement she felt from the five waiting girls was almost palpable.

“Hope everyone had lunch, but if you’re starving … I’ve put some crisps and pop on board … an’ if a certain young lady remembers to make dinner reservations at one of Bad Neuenahr’s better Gasthaus … you’ll all be enjoying some real German cooking tonight,” Jenny announced. “Otherwise … you’re stuck with my cooking.”

“Once we land … I’ll take you to the Team Apollinaris training facility outside of Bad Neuenahr, where the other girls will be waiting for us.”

To her slight amusement, Jenny soon discovered the wedding wasn’t the only cause for the excitement.

Ann and Brenda had never flown before and were looking forward to the new experience. By contrast, both Em and Ally were seasoned travellers, having flown to America, but it was their first trip in something smaller than a large airliner and the excitement or rather apprehension was certainly there.

Cathy was the most experienced flier of the five girls, acquiring her private pilot’s licence at the age of 16.

While they walked out on the tarmac to the parked aircraft, Em made a sweeping gesture at the plane and commented in a monotone voice, “After this … even a limo will seem sooo ordinary.”

“That’s for us?” Ann wondered.

“I gotta find me a millionaire!” Brenda enthused while staring at ‘their private jet’.

“William may be married, but I heard that Harry’s still available,” Ann quickly replied.

“I’ve still got a chance!” Brenda quickly shot back.

That brought more than a few chuckles from the girls, including Jenny.

After allowing the ground crew to stow their luggage, everyone boarded and prepared for departure.

As they were approaching Bonn, Jenny put down the handset of the plane’s in-flight phone and announced, “Good news, girls … Gaby remembered our reservations!”

The next four days would be taken up with all the girls double-checking that every little detail had been done, as well as just enjoying Bad Neuenahr and area.

Jenny and Carol had hoped that by keeping Maddy and Gaby employed as tour guides showing their friends around, they just might find a bit of time to unwind from all the accumulated stress that came from planning their own wedding.

Friday evening would have everyone attending the wedding rehearsal and the following rehearsal party at the Peters.
 
 
Comments are Greatly Appreciated!

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To Be Continued...