Rider Jasmine Dotti is living the most sublime of human adventures. She’s the first female top rider in the fixed gear crit circus (we know of) who is expecting not 1 but 2 babies. As FGC we will follow her experience through a series of articles on Jasmine’s road towards her labour. We’ll be asking her about it every couple months, following the evolution of her entire pregnancy. Discovering how a formidable athlete prepares for such a formidable endeavour.
Text: Michele Colucci / vimeo: michele colucci / instagram: mikelone77
“I discovered that I was pregnant in the beginning of August. I was alone at home since my husband Daniele (Callegarin) was away on a work trip. It is really hard for me to use words to describe what I felt… I was hit by a million doubts and emotions. I couldn’t believe two tiny lines on a stick could really mean that I was expecting a baby, that I really was beginning to share my body with someone else growing inside me. And then of course it was an emotional tidal wave, I wanted to tell Daniele straight away…instead I waited, and prepared a surprise. We both had the biggest surprise afterwards, when they told us we were expecting not one, but two babies :)”
“All in all, my pregnancy is evolving well. I’ve had very little nausea or other kinds of problems. Above all I just feel tired, hot weather certainly did not help. But I raced on the road for the entire month of August and I was determined to continue racing until I felt I wanted to. The first fixed gear crit I raced after discovering I was pregnant was in Copenhagen. I raced until the 10th week. I thought I could end the year and race Milan. But since I’m quite skinny the baby bump on me was evident pretty much straight away…one of the reasons – actually the less important one – I decided to stop after the crit in Salsomaggiore.”
“In my case, the pregnancy did not weaken me physically. But it did weaken me psychologically. In Barcelona, I had no intention to risk a hairpin followed by a downhill sprint. Same feeling I had under the rain in Salsomaggiore. During those weeks, the voice in my head yelling “I’ll risk it, I want to win” when facing those situations had changed into “I can’t fall, I can’t get hurt”. Inevitably, I was braking and pulling out of the fight. That’s when I understood it was time for me to stop and focus entirely on me…and them.”
I did continue biking and I’m still riding right now. I actually would love to ride more but I’m working 8 hours a day and in this season the days are getting shorter. There’s another excellent exercise, yoga, and I’m about to begin lessons. This said, it is my opinion that everyone is different and you need to follow your own feelings and instincts. For example I have no problems on the bike, yet when I go walking for an hour my body aches everywhere 🙂
My advice is that if one feels like doing something it’s ok to do it: we know our own body and deep inside we always know what’s best for it, and what’s best for our mind. With this kind of spirit, I hope my recovery after giving birth will be positive and fast. Simply because I’ll have to start running after two little cuties!! Hahahahahahaha!
Before I get back to the races I’ll have to find a babysitter. I’m looking for volunteers…mom??? Jokes aside, I guess things will change, I’ll be much more careful about what I’m doing, and my attitude will change as well.
Talk to you guys in a couple months!
Michele Colucci
Dead Cyclists Society
Copywriter & Videomaker
vimeo: michele colucci
instagram: mikelone77
