On the Road Again

Recovery Day in Picture/Video

2012-01-27T07:29:00.000-07:00

READY!

Recovery day training complete! Thank you Mom and Dad for reminding me to visit an old friend!

**Please excuse any silliness that you have seen/heard in these videos.

My Thermostat's Day

2012-01-22T14:07:00.000-07:00

This is the description of my day as seen through the eyes, senses, buttons, what have you of my thermostat.

5am: It is time to switch to "day mode" and heat the house up for Matthew when he wakes.
8:30am: Good morning Matthew! I hope the house is warm enough.
10am: Have a great ride Matthew. Thanks for putting me on my 7 hour "night mode", so I can rest a little bit during the day while you're gone.
5pm: Wow, this has been a pretty easy day. I better switch on to "day mode" again and warm things back up. I really wonder where Matthew has been all day?
6:30pm: What do I hear? Is that Matthew coming home? Glad I warmed the house back up!
8pm: MMMM, dinner smells good.

Yup, I was gone a long time today. I had an epic ride with Caleb. We tackled one of my favorite rides in the area going northwest into the Pyrenees. The weather really could not have been much better. It was sunny all day and incredibly comfortable for riding. When we met for the ride at 10 this morning, I said to Caleb something about riding all day as a joke, but in the end, it was the truth! The sun was setting when we arrived back in Girona. We had planned on riding 6 hours, but either I don't know my rides very well, or we just had one of those rides where the time adds up really quick. It was weird though because we were going solid all day. Regardless, the day was incredible.

With such a long ride, we of course had to make a couple stops. Both stops were in Olot, the main town before going into the mountains. Given that it was a Sunday, finding open shops can be a trick. Thankfully Olot is a little bigger and had some options. The first stop was at a nice bakery for some tasty pastries. They were a scrumptious treat before tackling the next couple hours of relentless riding. Shortly after leaving Olot and heading into the mountains, I experienced my first lesson with the new Di2 electric shifting: low battery. With around 3.5-4 hours still to go in the loop, I had to to decide whether to risk it or not. Without much hesitation, I decided to venture on restricted to my small ring in the front (first mechanism built into Di2 for low battery life saving).

After another 3 hours, Caleb and I had ceased all conversation having transformed into survival mode. We desperately needed food and drink to recharge our souls and energy. We rode into Olot's center to see what we could find this time. At this time, many of the shops that were open the first time were now closed. Thankfully we had a saving grace though: a cafe with pastries, hot sandwiches, and coffee. We each had a cortado (coffee), sandwich, and pastry. Then when we paid, somehow another pastry was ordered to split. Whoops! Fully satisfied and re-motivated, we rolled on with resumed conversation and new energy. It took about 10 minutes after departure for each of us to realize we had overindulged! Our stomachs talked to us in anger and discomfort as they tried to digest everything. Despite the discomfort, we were still much happier. After another 20-30 minutes, the fire in our bellies alleviated the discomfort, and we were again on a strong rhythm toward home.

About 45 minutes from home, my Di2 appeared to completely die, leaving me as a single speed! Thankfully I was in a pretty good gear for climbing and flat riding. I rode it as best I could back to Girona, where I accidentally hit the shifter and wallah, it was partly functioning again. It actually was quite sporadic, but it seemed to work just enough to shift every so often. I think it was just trying to gather enough battery power to produce the shift in between each. Nonetheless, I made it home basically unscathed!

10pm: "night mode" on. I guess Matthew is going to bed. Wimp! Riding 7:15 makes him tired. Good night.

Nice to be Home

2012-01-21T14:16:00.000-07:00

I am happy to say that I have returned to Girona. It is very nice to be back to what has become so normal to me. It is funny how regular it feels to me. I am really missing Lisa, but I am doing my best to occupy my time with other tasks. Obviously training is a priority, but I did take a couple days easy after training camp to recover and try to get things settled here. Of course not everything is perfect, but I am slowly getting life back in order.

It was sure nice to wake up in my own bed yesterday morning and even to a "warm" house. We have water radiator heating here, and it seems to take forever to heat things up. I don't actually know how to properly set the thermostat and everything, so that could be part of the problem. I enjoyed a very lazy morning with a delicious first attempt of The Feedzone's oatmeal. Yikes it's delicious. Then I headed out for a couple hours of pedaling and catching up with Caleb. After returning home, I spent a couple hours of the afternoon at the store doing my best to decipher the meaning of Spanish/Catalan on printers. It was definitely a bit of a struggle, but I did manage and came home with a pretty decent deal I think. Now I am just trying to finish settling in and unpacking. I'm sure I will have more stories by the time all that is done!

Quick Note

2012-01-16T01:24:00.001-07:00

Hey everyone! I meant to let you all know that I did a new blog for www.cyclingnews.com. I believe it is on the right hand side as you scroll down the page.

The quick update from Mallorca is that camp is going good. The team is coming together very nicely both on and off the bike. We have been doing some big hours in the saddle with some efforts thrown in. The weather has been pretty good; not hot but not cold and no rain. The forecast is predicting some chance(s) for rain over the last few days of camp here, so that could put a damper on our finishing this thing up as strong as we'd hoped, but you always have to adapt! The cafeteria is still coming through strong with different options for dinner almost every night. The post dinner routine has been filled with a few different activities. Usually we have been going to the bar across the courtyard for a coffee or tea and socializing. Last night there was a big foosball craze. I played several matches, but I cannot call myself a foosball master by any means! Cancellara and many of the staff members on the other hand are impressively good. One night we also watched "The Road Uphill", a documentary on Leopard Trek from last year. It was really good and somewhat inspiring really. Ok, that's all I can muster for this one because training is fast approaching! Oh, I hope the Packers won last night... fingers crossed. Ciao.

One down...

2012-01-08T13:52:00.000-07:00

...And not sure how many to go! My trip over was a bit eventful. I made it to Ohare ok and then on to Zürich ok, too. However, the landing was quite rough due to weather, which ultimately ended up causing a cancellation of my flight to Luxembourg and then a second rebooked flight! I ended up spending the night in Zürich at a hotel, but was actually somewhat happy about it because I can honestly tell you I do not like turbulence! After my night at the Hilton Zürich, I got out to Luxembourg the next morning with minimal complications. As was to be expected after my layover, I was missing my bike. As it turns out though, my bike never actually left Chicago, so I guess it had nothing to do with the delay.

After the arrival in Luxembourg, it was straight into the business surrounding the team presentation. We had some media stuff in the mid-afternoon, followed by a dress rehearsal of the team presentation, a meal, and then the real deal. The presentation was fun; although, I will speak for everyone on the stage, it was ridiculously hard to stand for that long! (Cyclists are big wimps when it comes to standing/walking!) We survived though, and I think it was successful launch into 2012. After the presentation there was a good size VIP room where we went and mingled with guests who had VIP classification. I have no idea if they bought the ticket or were friends of someone or what, but it was a good time and it was fun to sign some autographs and talk with such enthusiastic fans.

After a late night, it was on to the Luxembourg airport for our flight to Mallorca. Thankfully that flight was easy and painless. We landed in sunny Mallorca, gathered the luggage, and took the bus to the hotel. We are staying at Robinson again. We stayed here last year, so it feels a little bit like home. It was a pleasant surprise at lunch for me to learn I would be doing a blood lactate test that evening. I was less than prepared mentally for that after 3+ days off the bike, flying across the ocean, doing the team presentation, and having a sufficient bout of jet lag. With little choice though, I persevered.

The testing protocol was simple: start at 100 watts and increase by 40 watts every 4 minutes until exhaustion. They took a blood sample from our ear lobe at the transition of each stage to monitor/plot our lactate levels throughout the test. I threw the white flag at the finish of the 420 watt stage, deciding that I had accomplished the goal of going close to maximum and giving proper/adequate data to assess current fitness and lactate threshold. I haven't spoken with the doctors or physiologists/coaches about my data yet, but I am interested to see the results.

Today we were greeted with abundant sunshine and good training temps. We did about 4.5hrs with two small climbs. I had pretty good sensations all things considered, but it is always hard to feel perfect with new clothing and a new bike. Something is always just a tiny bit different. Funny different thing for me is my new shorts. I requested my shorts to be a little bit shorter, similar to my old shorts, but after two years of longer shorts, I have a bit of a problem. There is a 2-3cm gap between my new shorts and my current short tan line! I will not tell a lie, I look a bit funny! Other news to report is that I am rooming with Oliver Zaugg, who has an awesome Haribo duffel bag. We had a good laugh when it came off the luggage belt at the airport. I guess I should also report that the new team website is up and running. You can click on the team logo on the homepage of my blog to be linked directly or go to www.radioshacknissantrek.com. Take care!

Gold Baby!

2012-01-04T17:48:00.003-07:00

I am officially "gold" status on Star Alliance! I am in the lounge at Chicago O'Hare prior to my flight over to Zurich and ultimately Luxembourg. There is really no relevance to the fact that I am gold status, but it has allowed me to make this post.

It has been a tornado like few weeks in the Midwest, and I am extremely sad to be leaving. It is time to start the 2012 season with our team presentation on the 6th though, so I am off again. My time at home has been great. We visited my parents, Lisa's parents, and Decorah. I have thoroughly enjoyed seeing family and friends, having good rides, some good runs, and some good dinner conversations. Heck, I even played a little hockey!

I suppose the big question looming is "did he rename his blog?" As you can see, I can finally answer that with a yes. I have to be honest that this title was not in my original consideration, but there was an "ah-ha" moment a few days ago that finally decided it for me. It is a very clever title that can apply in so many ways to my life. I appreciate everyone who has submitted their creative ideas. As I said before, it was not easy for me, but this title naturally fell into place as we were bouncing from one place to the next over the last few weeks.

Well, my lounge time has run out, time to fly. Next update from across the pond!

Made it to MN!

2011-12-27T21:13:00.001-07:00

Yesterday Lisa and I successfully made the trip to MN to visit her family. We arrived late last night around 915. We we're quite tired upon arrival and were content to head to bed after some hellos. Today though we were on full action. I am not sure I have been this tired after a day of not riding in quite awhile!

I began the day with a nice run; although, it was NM windy with cooler temperatures, so it was a bit chilly. After a nice breakfast, we decided it was time for the MN tradition of some hockey. We headed on over to the pond at the golf course where the ice was in near perfect condition. With good ice and some goals made of tree branches, it was time to play hockey. After 2hrs, we decided it was time to head home for lunch. I was quite tired having not skated in several years, but I was very happy!

Deciding I hadn't had enough for the day, I headed up to the fieldhouse to play racquetball with Mike and Tim (father and brother-in-law). It was another hour of beatings and running around. We had a nice round of horse, too. I'm just going to leave it at this; I was beaten at everything today! I had loads of fun though.

After all the activity, dinner was a nice surprise of Mabe's pizza. Mabe's is the pizza place from our college town, so it was really fun to have some pizza from there after a few years. I suppose the question is "how did they get it?" Long story short, the timing was convenient that Lisa's parents had it delivered by a person they knew who was coming from Decorah yesterday. They do take-n-bake, so it was perfect! A full day's worth of activities, good fun, and good food: I am ready for sleeping!

Tough Decisions!

2011-12-21T13:52:00.001-07:00

Ok everybody, I have been trying hard to sort through the great suggestions that have trickled in, and you have not made it easy on me! Honestly, there is more than one winner in this, but I am working to figure out exactly how I am going to choose. I was thinking it might be time to get away from the chaos/joy theme, but I realize just how fitting it is after my time being at home. It is so nice to be at home, eating Mom's food, seeing my brother/sister, and riding on some familiar roads with my Dad and old teammates, but this is the crunch time for me to take care of the things I can't do while in Spain. I will just say that it has created more than a little stress for me. As for the renaming of my blog, it actually has weighed quite heavily on me, too! Funny how something seemingly so simple can do that. Due to the difficulty of the decision, I decided to print out a list of all the suggestions and put it to a vote with my family. In the end, there were some front runners, but my decision was not made. I am working hard on it, but I ask for a little more patience please.

For other news, I have been trying to ride as best I can. The weather has been good considering the time of year but not spectacular. The time schedule has been pretty full as well with different appointments and things to do. We had a fun night decorating Christmas cookies with the family. The creativity didn't seem to be flowing as much this year as last year, but some gems still were put together. Check out Twitter for the evidence. I am excited for the upcoming Christmas gatherings, so I can see my extended family and enjoy good food and conversation. Oh, how could I forget! This past Sunday was a day for joy and sorrow. It began nicely with a celebratory brunch for my sister on the completion of her Master's, but it was then dampened with the defeat of the Packers in KC. Congratulations Amanda and darn you KC! I guess it had to happen sometime, but it seems unfair that it did. Hopefully they'll bounce back and carry on winning. Ok, I better get back to work with these big decisions! Merry Christmas!

Renamed?

2011-12-12T02:27:00.001-07:00

Ok everyone, I appreciate the participation, but I am not ready to close the contest/raffle yet. I will leave the contest open until the 15th/16th at which point I will decide the winner and promptly mail the official Team RS cycling gloves. Thanks for the help!

Blog Rename 2012

2011-12-07T15:10:00.001-07:00

Hey everyone! I'm midway through camp and all is well. I have the privilege of rooming with the one and only Jens Voigt, so things have been interesting. The whole team is awesome though. The vibe among all the riders is great. The trainings have been mostly easy but decent length, and there are always a few guys pushing the pace. The weather has been unbelievable with abundant sunshine, light wind, and temps around 70'F. I have begun to redevelop my tan lines on my legs, and I am noticing a mean sunglasses tan, which I don't usually get! I did a bike fitting session with the guys from Retul and changed a few things up. The biggest change was lowering my seat about a cm due to the difference in stack height between the Speedplay and Look pedals. I believe that is about the most interesting stuff I have from camp.

Who wants to win a pair of official Team RS Summer riding gloves? I figure it is an appropriate time to begin the contest for renaming my blog. So what is the name of my blog for 2012 going to be? I will put the close on this contest as Sunday the 11th. Help me out everyone!

Allez!

2011-12-04T11:43:00.001-07:00

Last week I went to look at my blog, and it came as a realsurprise to me that it had been two weeks plus since I had written an update.Now another week of craziness has passed, and I am finally finding a moment tocompose a small update. Maybe it is ironic that this moment is coming after Itraveled to Spain, instead of finding the moment while at home, but who knows!I have been quite busy this past month of November. It began with the trip toSolvang, then a week at home with some training in between trying to take careof all the important tasks of life: insurance, paying bills, etc. Notice theorder there! It must really be my “off-season”. Honestly, I sure don’t feel likeI have had an off season this year! Oh well, it is my job and life, and I lovethem both.

After feeling like I accomplished nothing the whole week athome, it was time for Lisa and my much anticipated trip to Col for Thanksgiving.We had been looking forward to this trip for a long time because it wasbasically our one week of vacation. Lisa had just proposed her dissertation,successfully I might add, and I was not in full training mode, so we werereally hoping to enjoy ourselves doing some other things we love; mainly justbeing together!

We spent a couple days in Colorado Springs with Ally andCaleb Fairly. We hadn’t seen them since this summer/early fall in Girona, so itwas really exciting to see them and check out Colorado Springs. After a reallygood time there, we moved on to Golden for a couple days where we crashed withAunt Sandy and Uncle Peter. They were gracious hosts, too, and our time inGolden was also very enjoyable. Being the homeless bums Lisa and I currentlyare (part of the reason we went to CO was for house hunting), we had to figureout our plans for Thanksgiving. It has been the tradition for the last coupleyears to spend it in Mesa, AZ with the Savre grandparents, but this year wechanged it up a bit because of the CO trip. We definitely missed the companyand cooking in AZ, but it was closely replaced with some great cooking andcompany at the Trumbo household (Ally’s parents).

Fully satisfied from a great Thanksgiving Day run, ride, andfeed, it was time for Lisa and me to take an impromptu trip to Estes Park. Ithad been a great week in CO, but we decided it was time to take some time forourselves and get away. We made a stop in Fort Collins at Snooze for breakfast,and it was great, but we were excited to get up to Estes, so we jetted ASAP. Ourtime in Estes was probably the funnest (maybe not a word?) 24 hours I canremember in a long time. We did some hiking in Rocky Mountain National Park,checked out my “house” from the two summers I spent in Estes, had a great mealat the restaurant I worked at, and managed to get caught in a snow storm. Itwas crazy fun really.

Our drive home from CO was cut in half by a stay over inTaos. We pulled in late evening, had a decent “new Mexican” dinner, and headedto bed. One complaint about dinner though, what kind of Mexican restaurantdoesn’t serve complimentary chips & salsa? I mean seriously, come on! Aftera good night’s sleep, we woke up and Lisa did a nice run, while I headed out onmy bike for a nice ride. My ride was a little ridiculous actually. I took the “highroad” from Taos toward Santa Fe and dropped off at Espanola, but it wasn’tuntil the last 20km or so when I descended from the mountains, that I was below2100 meters elevation. I was completely floored by the time I finished even my “easy”ride. The terrain was difficult enough, but the elevation really kicked mybutt. Lisa picked me up in Espanola, we enjoyed great, roadside Mexican burritosand headed back to Las Cruces.

Coming off our great week in CO, it was too few, short daysin Las Cruces before I headed to an appearance in Boston at Craft’s USAheadquarters. I had a great time in Boston though meeting people and learningabout Craft clothing and Karhu footwear. These are two great companies withgreat products. The worst part of my trip to Boston was my baggage beingdelayed because of a switch in flights that I made. And to compound my baggagebeing delayed, a wheel was broken off my suitcase and my bike bag ripped when Ifinally did get them. I’m a little disappointed in the AA for that, especiallybecause I paid $175 for my luggage. I don’t want to go into a rant on thissubject, but I find the airlines baggage fees/policy ridiculous. The policyshould be total weight, not number of pieces or what the piece is. It isincredibly unfair that I can have a suitcase, bike, carry on, and myself thatin combined weight are less than the guy alone who is sitting next to (andpartially on) me. I apologize if that offends anyone, but the policies aretruly unfair.

My luggage and I did make it successfully to Spain, and I enjoyeda nice ride today with Jesse Sergent. We were here a day earlier than the restof the riders, so it was just the two of us. I like the area around Calpe. Itis where I had my first European training camp in 2010, and we started thisyear’s Vuelta close by in Benidorm. I am looking forward to a nice week withthe team to get things rolling in a positive direction for 2012. I’ll try topost a couple pictures from our CO trip and make some posts as I progressthrough training camp, but don’t forget to check on the sidebar for my Twitter,too. Thanks!

Cooking Away!

2011-11-11T19:11:00.001-07:00

The chili is cooking on the stove and the corn bread in the bread maker, so I am compelled to write about my time in Solvang. My arrival to Santa Barbara airport was greeted nicely with sunny, warm weather. I had never spent time in Solvang besides the ToC time trial this year, so I was excited to check it out. I met up with Matt Shriver, our team liason, upon my arrival, and it was off to the Solvang! We arrived, assembled my bike, then decided it was time for lunch. We went to a local eatery called the Mustard Seed. I was instantly taken by their specials board offering "Lamb and Okra Stew". I viewed the menu but ultimately ordered the stew. I was taken back when the waiter (maybe owner/manager as well) asked me if I wanted to order soup with my stew. I could only muster one response, "Isn't that the same thing?" That pretty much ended that interaction. Lunch was good, and we headed back to the hotel.

After a little relaxing, it was time to chamois-up and hit the road. I was excited for the sunny weather and beautiful terrain. We did a little over 2 hours of riding and had a great time. At one moment, we saw this guy ripping on a dirt bike across some sweet trails. We stopped for a bit to watch the guy because it was super cool. Ironically, later in the week, the owner of the land met up with Shriver and told him that he had started a mountain bike trail system on his land, and the dirt bike was only to hard pack the trails after a rain. He offered for Shriver to ride them, which he excitedly accepted. The dinner that first night was at a brewery in neighboring Buellton. The food and company were both good.

The next two days were all about product presentations, bike rides, socializing, and good dinners. We did a great ride both days. The ride on Wednesday was quite epic really. We did a loop up Figueroa mountain. It was a pretty awesome climb. The climb was incredibly challenging, not only just because I am in bad condition right now either! The views on the way up and on the top were pretty awesome. And the descent was even pretty good; although, it was a little rough and narrow. I had good company in Shriver and Chris Horner, along with a few other dealers who were quite strong.

On Wednesday afternoon I met up with some guys from Spy to do some photo shooting. We accomplished a few shots on Wednesday afternoon/night and reconvened on Thursday to finish things off. We did a lot of still and action shots for the performance glasses, along with a few casual shots and interviews for extra stuff. The guys were great, and it was really fun. I am excited to see the results of the shoots and more excited about the new glasses. I am happy to be back in Las Cruces with Lisa and ready to start training again. I'll be doing a nice mix of road and mountain biking, mixed with some running, walking, and core exercises. It is time to get ready for 2012!

Having Fun

2011-11-07T08:19:00.001-07:00

I am on my way to Solvang, CA for a Trek event. It has been a great week at home, but I can already feel my off season winding down. It has gone way too fast between my surgery and trip to Belgium for the team camp., but I am doing my best to maximize my time at home.

This last week I have enjoyed a few mountain bike rides, as well as a couple runs, and even one road ride just to make sure I still know how to handle the bike. I don't want to look like too much of a fool for these Trek dealers; although, they might not consider me professional with my hairy legs. I was considering waxing because I have such thick/coarse hair that is always getting inflamed from shaving, massage, and just riding, but after deliberation on cost and pain (1:99% ratio!), I think I have decided to just continue with the razor. I really would love electrolysis or the laser, but I digress. Yikes, off topic ramble there...

So, I rode the mtb, ran, and rode the road bike. I have also been dealing with renewing/changing cell phone plans, which has been a real treat. I'll leave it at that, but I am pretty sure Lisa is ready to go back to pigeons and paper or Morris Code after all the questions I have asked her and time I have spent on it. Friday night brought some unusual excitement to our lives: bowling! Lisa ended up sitting out because it was hurting her back, but she was a great sport and cheered hard for me while I split 6 games of bowling with our friend Mike. After 6 games, my right arm was useless. Maybe if I could find a ball of reasonable weight with a big enough thumb hole, it would be different, but I always end up with a 12lb+ ball. Ok, I know that isn't very heavy, but I am basically useless and weak besides making my legs go up and down, so when I do other activity, my body tells me!

Sunday was date day for Lisa and me. We started off with delicious, homemade pancakes topped with bananas, raspberries, and REAL maple syrup. Then we were off for a hike and lunch in the mountains. It was very fun. We even walked through our first snow of the season! After hiking, we headed down to El Paso because I had to fly out so early that a hotel made the most sense. We had a nice dinner and went out to a comedy club. It was our first time, so we didn't know exactly what to expect, but it ended up being fun. There were some funny times along with some not so funny times, but we avoided getting called out or joked at, so it was a success!

I am sad to be leaving again so soon for these few days, but I am excited to see Solvang a little bit. I have heard so much about it. I am excited to see some of the riding and meet the Trek dealers who are coming out. Chris Horner is coming as well, so we will have a good time together. Not involving Solvang, I'm really excited for Lisa because she will be handing in her dissertation proposal on Wednesday, which makes her one step closer to earning the PhD she has worked so hard for. Good luck and great job! I guess that's about all I have to report. Please remember to go vote for the fan choice awards I posted in my previous post! Cheers.

Lack of Due Diligence

2011-11-01T10:46:00.002-06:00

I will not apologize for my lack of posting; instead, I will simply say that I have taken the beginning of the off-season seriously. I suppose I have had a fairly busy start to my off-season though with surgery, travel to Minnesota for three days, travel to Belgium for three days, and now I am finally back to New Mexico. It is very nice to be back with Lisa in NM, falling into a little bit of a normal routine. The time in Belgium was to start some team bonding and take care of some logistics for next season. It was a good time, and I enjoyed meeting some new guys, getting to know them a little bit. I did a pretty sweet run one morning around the awesome rolling hills and super soft grass on the edges of the Spa-Francochamps race track where we were staying. Other items at the camp included some general meetings, shoe fitting, and clothing sizing/fitting. I also was schooled in the art of billiards by my European teammates. Evidently the rules are different in Europe than in the US. By the end of the time there, I told them that when they come to California next year, we would play with one rule: "I win!" It provided for a good laugh.

Now that I am back in NM and trying to find the routine and get back on this timezone, I have been relaxing pretty hard. I haven't left the house very much, but I have been busy with the important tasks of real-life like paying bills, making sure insurance is up to snuff, and generally getting organized. To be honest, I haven't really accomplished much of anything, but at least thinking about it will get me started on doing it while I can. I went for my first mountain bike ride of the season yesterday. I took it really easy to just get a feel for the bike again and just enjoy it. I kept myself out of trouble except for one thorn bush that tried to eat my arm, leaving me with what appears to be claw marks on my upper forearm. I'm not discouraged though because I am likely going out again today. Post-ride yesterday, I took the stitches out of my collarbone, and everything seems to be healing well. I have very little pain/discomfort, except for a bit of numbness/tingling in the general surrounding area because of the trauma from the surgery. I had the same experiences when I originally broke the collarbone, so I expect them to dissipate over the next several months.

Ok, so I never gave a full recap of Lombardia as promised, but I would like to provide at least a brief summary. We began the race with three protected riders: Jani, Ben, and Philip, so it was up to the rest of us to go after the early breaks and eventually protect them. I was active in the start, following several moves, but it took a fair amount of time for the move to go. After it went, the race had an interesting dynamic. We had three fairly big climbs in the race this year. Normally it would be a reasonable tempo all day after the break went, but the dynamic was totally different this year. Liquigas drilled the first climb and trimmed the field down considerably. Then we went pretty hard down the descent but proceeded to basically sit up in the valley. Then we hit the Col d' Sormano where BMC drove the pace really hard, again slimming the field more. The descent was again even crazier with splits happening everywhere, guys single file through several switchbacks. At the bottom, there were probably three groups. Two regrouped with one up the road. The pace didn't relent between the Sormano and Ghisallo. I was starting to feel the effects of my efforts in the beginning combined with the efforts from the climbs, so I was drifting backwards. We hit the Ghisallo, which has always been a deciding point in the race, and the field was basically single-file. I was tailing on the back with no more energy, so I lost contact, and my day was over. Thankfully it wasn't 40 degrees and raining like last year, so I wasn't freezing to death.

Lombardia is an interesting race because once guys are dropped, they are looking for the first exit possible. I wanted to finish the race, but I was left all alone. I got to the top of the Ghisallo with a couple guys and thought maybe we would go to the finish, but they pulled the plug, and I was left all alone. I rode for quite a ways with the broom wagon behind me, but I got sick of it, so I waved them by, accepting my fate of simply finding the finish. I made friends with some local riders who directed me toward the finish and even pulled me for awhile. In the end, I did about 225km, basically everything but the final climb. I finished feeling disappointed because I hate to not finish, but there is not much of another option at this race. I checked results after the race, and the last finishers were only 100m in front of me at one time on the Ghisallo, but they were making use of the motorbikes around us, so I lost contact. I guess it just leaves me with a serious goal for 2012: front group. The interesting fact for Lombardia is that in 2010, they did Ghisallo then Sormano. In 2011, they did Sormano then Ghisallo. In 2010, I made it over Ghisallo and got dropped on Sormano. In 2011, I made it over Sormano and got dropped on Ghisallo. I guess I am just learning!

That's all I have for now. Oh, I almost forgot! Please go vote on Johan's Fan Choice awards. You will need to log in and click the "like" button, then vote! (Just follow the instructions). Thanks for reading and belated Happy Halloween.

I Forgot...

2011-10-23T12:29:00.000-06:00

I have no clue how I forgot this detail about my Saturday activities, but Lisa and I took in a good old Midwest tradition: apple orchard and pumpkin patch adventure! Upon arrival at the orchard, we took a look inside the cafe/store area and asked about walking in the orchard. After receiving the go ahead to walk, it was off for an hour plus of sampling/comparing apples, taking pictures, and enjoying the beautiful, autumn weather. After the orchard, we sampled some of the local cuisine with some hot cider and crumb-top apple pie: delicious. We made our purchases and left for home. We swung through a pumpkin place, picked up three pumpkins for carving, and headed home. It was a great afternoon.

Arrived at the orchard!

Enjoying a BEAUTIFUL day in the orchard

Taste Testing... We like what we found!

Some of the bounty.

And here are a few pictures from my adventures in Germany...

Incredible cathedral design in Cologne

Pre-game

In-game

Loving the Midwest

2011-10-23T09:42:00.000-06:00

Here is the quick and dirty run down of my last week...

Monday: I went to the hospital for surgery preparation. I met with the anesthesiologist real quick, then was confined to my room for 3 hours of waiting. It was pretty hard to sit and contemplate surgery whiteout the comfort of friends or family, with the added bonus of no food or water. I tried to entertain myself by reading books on my iPad, then playing games. At one point, I tried to turn on the tv with the big red button on what appeared to be a remote. A couple seconds later the nurses were running down the hall to ask if I was ok. Whoops! Finally it was time for surgery. They rolled me into the OR and began preparation. I remember the nurse/anesthesiologist starting the line in my arm and saying "ok here we go". I looked at Dirk and said, "wow, this stuff really works!" and then I woke up in my room again. Dirk says I said "guten nacht" before I went under, and then I also gave him Lisa's phone number after surgery while still completely dillusioned. I found that one out on the drive home when he asked if I wanted to try and call my wife again. I said sure, and he started messing with his phone and handed it to me. I asked how he got it, and he told me I gave it to him... No clue! I got home that evening and began my relaxation. A good dinner and some refreshing of my Deutsch with Dirk's girlfriend, and it was bed time.

Tuesday: I spent most of the day just relaxing and recovering from surgery. It was actually really enjoyable to sit on the couch and waste my day surfing the Internet, updating my various technological gadgets and trying to write back to people on emails.

Wednesday: I began my day with some physical therapy at Dirk's clinic. Then we went for a stroll through Cologne to check out some of the sights. I saw the huge cathedral and the shopping district. I didn't buy anything, but it was fun to see a new city. That night Dirk scored us premium VIP tickets to the Bayern Leverküsen vs Valencia Champions League football/soccer game. It was pretty sweet for my first experience at a European football game. "Our" team winning made it all that much better.

Thursday: Let the day of travel begin. Cologne to London to Houston to... Marriott Houston Airport. Took an unplanned bump because of travel complications between Lisa and myself, so instead of arriving in Minneapolis on Thursday night, I would arrive lte Friday morning.

Friday: HAPPILY arrived to Minnesota and greeted by Lisa and her grandparents, we began the drive to Lisa's parent's house. I enjoyed simply sitting in the back seat and watching the fading colors and farm fields go by. We arrived at Lisa's parent's in time for a good lunch. After catching up with them a bit, we didn't know what to do. Our main mission of simply arriving had been accomplished! I decided to go play 9 holes with my father- in-law. I'm happy to say that my golf game is as average as ever, but I did take home three bucks more than I went there with!

Saturday: My first run of the off-season! I went with Lisa to a local park, and we went around the small, wooded loop they have. Lisa took it easy on me, so I wouldn't get too discouraged. I successfully plowed through about 20 minutes of running mixed into a total of 30-some minutes (Lisa's entire run). It was a lot of fun, and I wasn't even too sore afterwards or later at night.

Sunday(today): I am prepping for another shot at running and walking. Although it has only been a week since the season ended, I am a little stir crazy just to be active, and I really want to enjoy the Autumn weather! Small fact for thus Sunday: the Packers play the Vikings in MN. All I can say is that I am in the minority here! Wish me luck.

Post-Op

2011-10-17T12:49:00.001-06:00

Well, I am all finished with my clavicle plate removal, back home, and surfing the Internet already. Everything went fine, so now I am excited to recover and take on the off season fully. I will write a more extensive Lombardia recap in the coming days, but I did a piece for CyclingNews you can read here: http://www.cyclingnews.com/blogs/matthew-busche/reflecting-on-the-season. Check back soon!

Season's Ending

2011-10-11T14:45:00.001-06:00

It's hard for me to believe this, but all things point to the fact that I only have one race to go for the 2011 season. It is incredible for me to believe that this is the ending of my second year as a pro cyclist. It seems like only a few months ago I was proposing to Lisa on a ski hill in Minnesota. And in reality, that was over 2.5 years ago, and I have now been married for over 1.5 years! Yikes, where does the time go, seriously!

So let's talk about the two recent races. I went to France for Paris Bourges on Thursday and Paris Tours on Sunday. Going into these races, I was really uncertain of my condition, and I was struggling to find the proper motivation. It was in the last week of training before Paris Bourges that I did some self-reflection and came to the conclusion that I needed to shut off my SRM and just ride. So that's what I did, and I had some great training just enjoying being on my bike and doing whatever I wanted; nothing structured. And on Thursday in Paris Bourges, I had confidence and motivation to stick myself in the action.

The conditions for Paris Bourges couldn't have been much more dangerous. It was lightly misting/drizzling for the start, so the oil/dirt on the roads was at its peak. We started full gas, and I was incredibly nervous because the roads looked like ice. The asphalt was worn away to the point that it was mostly just the tar remaining. It shimmered in the wetness and passed at an uncomfortable 50+kmh. It didn't take very long for the first crash to happen; although it was in a weird spot at the crest of a small hill. I narrowly avoided that going off into the grass for a few meters. Then it was maybe another 20km and another crash in a slight left hand corner. I was in the front of the field, and we were spread shoulder to shoulder on the road. It was nothing short of a miracle that I didn't go down because the guys on all sides of me went down; literally the guys I was shoulder to shoulder with hit the deck, and I kept my cool, didn't slam the brakes and made it through. I was thanking my lucky stars at that point.

The race was full gas all day because a break of about 12 guys went up the road, and one or two of the French teams missed the break; not good for them in a French race! We had Geoffroy in there, so our situation was good. As I said, the race went full throttle all day. At one point, we were maybe 10 seconds behind the break, but all the sudden we sat up, and they went away again! I rode attentive in the field all day knowing there was a point where the race would definitely get harder. As expected, the full gas turned to attacking over full gas at the exact point I predicted. I followed as best I could making it into the lead group of about 15, that swelled to about 50 after a regrouping. Then on the next climb, I followed some moves and made it into the chase group of about 10. I had Geoffroy up the road, so I didn't want to pull hard, but I also knew that getting myself up to him was advantageous. Our group chased and caught the fallout from the breakaway; however, we were not gaining time on the 6 leaders, so we sat up. It seemed clear at that time the break was going to make it. The peloton regrouped to about 60/70 guys though, and a violent chase ensued. I was actually dropped at one point, but managed to chase back in.

We caught the remaining breakaway (Geoffroy included) about 1200 meters from the finish. It was painful to witness for two reasons. The first was that Geoffroy was so close to winning the race. The second was the carnage I witnessed in corner before the last kilometer banner; the same moment the break was being caught. I was cruising the rear of the field at this point because I wasn't interested in contesting a wet, twisty final with a huge chance for crashing. As I suspected might happen, some guys went way hot into the corner and a big pile up happened. As I came through the corner, I saw Manuel and Ben laying in a big mass of guys, and about 20 meters after them, Geoffroy was laying on the road. It was unbelievable really. At the end of the day, we had 6 of our 8 guys crash: one broken ankle, one dislocated shoulder, one injured too badly to race Paris Tours. I was so very happy to cross the line in one piece, and I was also very happy to know I had raced well and gained confidence that my form was good.

Sunday brought Paris Tours. It started with a little rain and a lot of wind. This race is notorious for the crosswind explosions, so I tried to ready myself for the fight. I was lacking the motivation to play shoulder bumping though, so when the pivotal moments came, I was too far back and couldn't fight hard enough to make the selection. I did finish the whole race, but I of course feel disappointed about not being at least in the selection. The good I can take from the race is that I felt a confirmation that my condition is good despite missing the split. That provides me with confidence as I look to this weekend and Lombardia. I hope for better weather than last year, and I hope my form builds from the last two races to put me in the lead group in the end. I'll do the best I can to finish the season on a high note.

Flying Solo in G-Town

2011-10-01T10:56:00.001-06:00

I've been back in Girona for almost a week now since Worlds, and it is amazing the difference in the atmosphere. First, the weather is spectacular. It is the perfect temperature for riding during the day and sleeping during the night. The humidity is still in the air but without the intense heat, it is very pleasant. The second big difference is the lack of tourists. I went to meet a few guys on Monday night, and I thought I was in a ghost town when I walked down the hill from my apartment and onto the Rambla. I think it is typically a little quieter on Monday nights anyway, but now that the tourists are 90% gone, it is incredibly tranquil here. You can walk through the narrow, cobbled streets of the old town without rubbing elbows and sharing your conversation with the 30 other people within 5 meters of you. Let's not forget either that the markets are still going, which is always super fun for me. I actually just made it to the market for the first time today since being back. I have been on a really weird schedule since returning. I have had horrible trouble falling asleep (missing Lisa???) and then I sleep in super late. I usually like to go to bed early and wake up early, but it has been quite the opposite lately.

Despite the fact that it is late season and many rider's seasons are over, there are still many lingering around to keep me company. I went out to meet Timmy Duggan and Dan Martin one evening, and while hanging out, we crossed paths with Jesse Sergent, JJ Haedo, and at least one other who I am forgetting. I rode with Dan, Brent Bookwalter, Brent's girlfriend Jamie, and Caleb Fairly one day. I also did an awesome ride with just Caleb. We went and did some roads around my favoirte, close mountain town of Sant Hilari. The climbs aren't huge, but there are several different ways to go up/down, so it is fun to go up/down different sides a couple times. I took him on a new road which is always fun; although, then he proceeded to do an effort on the last climb and made me suffer a bit, dirty bugger!

Besides riding, I have enjoyed a few other social moments. I had a nice Mexican dinner with Caleb and Ally (his wife) one evening. I don't know what it is about Mexican food, especially for cyclists, but I think it is the absolute best! I also went for a nice menu of the day lunch with Caleb and Ally after a ride. It is fun to go out, but I sure wish I had Lisa here to share in the fun! It can be awkward feeling a little like the third wheel. Maybe the coolest evening I had was joining a group of Trek Travel riders for their last dinner. Their guide was one of the guides who was helping out our group at the TdF, so we coordinated for me to join the group one evening. I was really happy it worked out because I was able to catch up with Jonathan (the guide), but I also met some really great people. We had a great meal along the coast, and the conversation/interactions with the group were great.

A really interesting part about this dinner for me was that I had one of those "wait a minute... I've been here before!" moments. I thought that I had never been in this town before, but before we went to dinner, we walked down to the beach to take a group shot and socialize a little. When we turned to go down to the beach from the road/hotel, I had the "ah-ha" moment. I had been at this exact spot about 18 months prior with Christian VandeVelde. It was the day I changed my ride plan and decided to go with him to meet his friend for an afternoon on his friend's boat. I remember that day really well because it was super relaxing and fun. It was my first introduction to Paella, and my first time to the Mediterranean, too. Anyway, it was a random occurrence, but it brought back good memories.

Besides being this unusual social butterfly, I have managed to take one big burden off my shoulders this week: taxes. I filed an extension earlier this year to make sure I did them correctly because it was the first time I had real income, plus now Lisa and I are married, and add to that this special cycling situation. I don't know if the extension changed anything monetarily as far as how much I paid in taxes or legally because I was still clueless about what I was doing, but it still feels good to have them done. Other than that, it is now just time to do the year end cleaning of the apartment and tying up of as many loose ends as possible around here.

My next races are Paris Bourges and Paris Tours. They are a couple of the Fall one-day classics. I did them last year and remember having horrible luck at Paris Tours. I made it to the last 5km of the race feeling good, but all of the sudden got a horrible cramp in my back that made it nearly impossible to pedal or breath. I also remember my teammate, Geoffroy Lequattre, making a bold attack with quite a ways to go in the race and making it solo to the last 200m of the race before being caught. It was heart break! I'm hoping for better luck this year for the team and me. Hope everyone is enjoying the changing of the seasons. This is probably my favorite time of the year. Ciao!

Worlds

2011-09-26T15:28:00.001-06:00

I'm traveling home from Copenhagen, and I have to be honest by saying I am less than satisfied. I don't know what my expectations might have been going into the race, but leaving here knowing I did nothing for my team is a horrible feeling. Sure there are excuses I can make, but the bottom line is that I didn't perform as I would have hoped. I was useless at the start of the race to help cover moves, then I was not present in the middle of the race when more attacks started going, and finally I was the last one to make it through the crash and first one not to make it back to the field. I was chasing full on for almost half of a lap, but there was no way I could go fast enough to get back to the field. Writing this is almost making me feel worse, but I guess sometimes the truth/facts do that.If I try to look at positives, the whole Worlds experience was a good one to have. I hope I can take what I learned here and apply it to future races; I hope another Worlds. The race will also be a good boost for my last races of the year; all one day classics similar to the Worlds. One really good thing I have from this race is the confidence that my form/fitness after the Vuelta is probably pretty good. While I was chasing yesterday, I was missing the top gear, but I did have good heart rate and decent power, which means I recovered ok after the Vuelta. Also, if I do proper training the next week, I should be able to have good form for the last races of the season. I really need to have something at one of those races to feel good about because now that I have had more time to reflect on the Vuelta and now after Worlds, I am pretty disappointed with how I have been racing. I'm racing scared/tentative. Racing like that is not how I got to where I am, and it is not the kind of competitor I am. The disappointment of knowing this is weighing on me pretty heavily, so I need to figure out how to shake it. Ok, enough of my self-reflection and sadness. What have I done since the Vuelta? I spent one day in Girona, one week in the US where I was in Las Vegas a couple days for Interbike and at home in Las Cruces for a few days. I was at Interbike for the first time, but was excited to check it out because I have heard so many stories. Let me just say it is a incredibly large collection of everything you can imagine bike related. I definitely didn't see even half of it. I was there with Chris Horner doing some stuff for SRAM. It was really fun. We signed some autographs for SRAM and also for World Bicycle Relief; that's an incredible program. The bikes they provide for people change their lives dramatically. For my two days in Vegas, I never really left the hotel except to go see Cross Vegas, which was pretty neat. It was my first official cyclocross experience, and it was really fun. On the last night, Lisa and I were free, so we decided we had to try and see something, so we walked down the strip to the Bellagio Fountains, watched two shows, and grabbed dinner on the way home. That was our extent of "out of hotel" time. One other fun time we had was randomly bumping into Lisa's Uncle Peter and having a coffee with him. He is a big cycling enthusiast, so meeting him and chatting was great. When we returned to Las Cruces, I had four days to relax. We did the group ride on Saturday. It was great to see some people, and as always they were incredibly welcoming and friendly. I took in my share of Mexican food while home, too. I think I ate it every night! We had dinner at a friends house on Sunday. It was great to hang out with them; I was 1-1 in Taboo! It all had to end too soon though as I headed back to Europe.I had a travel delay on my way to Copenhagen and spent one night/day in Milwaukee with my parents. It was super nice to see them, and I got to ride with my Dad, which is always nice. I finally made it to Copenhagen and have been here since. My time here was pretty brief, but it was a great time getting to know the folks of USA Cycling, riders/staff alike. I was definitely feeling a bit like the odd man out when I showed up because I didn't really know anyone, but they were all welcoming and nice. I think it was much easier because we all speak English! I can't imagine trying to go onto a new team that doesn't speak English; it would be a nightmare. I'm excited to now get back to Girona, but I will certainly be missing Lisa. I haven't been in Girona at this time of year before, but it is supposed to be beautiful. I guess I will find out, assuming my to-do list doesn't consume every waking moment of my non-training time. I guess that is about all I have. Thanks for checking in, sorry for not writing in so long.

Written Yesterday...

2011-09-14T07:51:00.000-06:00

It’s been only two days since the Vuelta ended, and I think the funniest feeling is that it seems to have come and gone just like any other race. It hardly feels that it was almost 4 weeks of my life where I did nearly the exact same thing every day and accomplished nothing else. I am pretty sure even that I may have taken a few weeks off of my life because of it! I am wracking my brain really hard to come up with some great insights and reflections on the race in its entirety, but honestly I have nothing astounding to say. The bottom line is that the race was tiring physically and mentally. I would say that the biggest thing for me was just surviving the first grand tour. I think it is like any other thing in this sport, where having the experience really helps. Simply putting this race in my pocket as a reference for the future is valuable.

So what is next for me? Currently I am en route to Las Vegas for Interbike. I am doing an appearance for SRAM to sign some autographs and shake some hands. I have never been to Interbike, but I have heard it is pretty neat, so I am interested in the experience for sure. Most exciting for me is that I am actually meeting Lisa in Las Vegas. I am only home in the US for a week, so not getting to see her after 4 weeks was not a happy thought. We decided to make a little trip out of this, so she is flying in for the few days I am at Interbike. We will do some exploring around Vegas in our free time. I have never been, so I am looking forward to seeing the “mystery” that is Las Vegas. Afterwards, we will fly back to Las Cruces for a few days. I am looking forward to just spending some time at home, going on a date or two, maybe having a little Mexican food, perhaps joining the local group ride for a morning, and in general just relaxing and recovering. All that will take care of my one week hiatus at home, after which I will be flying directly to Copenhagen for the Worlds road race. I was selected for the US Team, so I am both honored and excited to ride for the US in my first Worlds.

Alright enough of the “life of Matthew”; instead, let’s have some airport stories. In the last 48 hours, I flown from Madrid to Barcelona, driven to Girona for a stint of less than 36 hours, driven back to Barcelona, am currently en route to Newark, where I will board a plane to Las Vegas. One of the luxuries of this sport is the travel time. As a cyclist, I fly a lot and one would think that I would have it down to a science at this point, but that is not the case. Let’s begin with Madrid airport on Sunday night. I arrived over 2 hours before my flight and noticed there was an earlier flight. I asked if I could be rebooked on that one, but it wasn’t possible. Not sure if something was lost in translation, but they wanted me to pay, so I decided just to wait the extra hour. After getting a bite to eat, I waited at the gate. Only then did I notice that my 8:45 flight had been delayed to 11:15. Yup, that was not going to work for me, so I began to weigh the options. First I tried to rebook on the next flight, but there were plenty of other Spanish people wanting the same, so my English wasn’t cutting it in the bull rush. Then I checked the board for other flights.

There was another airline flying at 9:05, so I decided to try and do that. I asked around to see if I could buy a ticket inside security, and they said I had to go out. That’s when I found out how confusing the Madrid airport is. It took me forever to find my way out. First, I had to find the exit to baggage claim. Then I had to go down a level to baggage claim, exit the airport, go back up two levels to ticketing and try to buy the ticket. I got to the desk and the lady said I couldn’t buy a ticket because it closed 40 minutes before the flight. I was crushed. Now I was stuck deciding how to get home the quickest. In the end of it all, I ended up on a flight that was originally scheduled after my flight but was departing before it. Anyway, I finally got on the plane and got home at 2am completely destroyed.

During the escapade at Madrid, I had to pass security twice. I passed the same gate, too, which in such a big airport is a little funny. The security lady actually recognized me. The first time I passed, I was happy to donate my set of alan keys to TSA because they felt I could disassemble the aircraft with them. I was disappointed at that point but sort of understanding. The second time through security my patience was running very short, so when the lady on the scanner decided she had to completely search my bag by throwing its contents all over the table, I wasn’t the least bit amused. Then she took my toothpaste, and I had to do everything within my power not to grab her and run her head through the x-ray machine to see if she had a brain.

After finally getting home on Sunday night, I spent a pleasant day in Girona on Monday. I took care of a few errands in the morning, passed through the Red Market for good time sake, went for a small training, had lunch with Steven Cozza, and spent the afternoon/evening packing and cleaning. Finally ready to go I enjoyed an amazing surprise dinner that Lisa had arranged from a local friend/chef: Salmon Red Thai Curry. I decided not to do rice or pasta; instead, I went a bakery and got a small roll to use as a bread bowl. The meal was amazing, and a perfect way to end my day. The whole day was a reminder of how great life is in Girona; the bakeries, the markets, the friends, the training, the people, the culture. It is all so different than in the US, and I feel so lucky to have the opportunity to be a part of it.

Now that brings us to this morning. I drove to Barcelona airport with little stress and relative ease. I got checked in no problem; although, it is always un-nerving when the gate people are interrogating you about what you have been doing because I feel like one wrong answer and you are not boarding the plane. Thankfully I passed but was then “randomly” selected for extra security screening at the gate. It didn’t seem like a big deal to me at first, but once I found out that the process meant I was going to have a chaperone with me until I boarded the plane, I was a little annoyed. This meant my whole relaxing before take off by having a leisurely breakfast, surfing the internet a little, filling my water, using the bathroom, and boarding as I pleased was all dictated by them. In the end, it really wasn’t a big deal, but I was above my limit with airport security after my time in Madrid. Everything is all fine though as I sit here at 10,000m above sea level. I will be happy to land in the US and have some US culture for a week. Thanks for reading my random exploits, I hope it wasn’t too boring or annoying.

Recovering

2011-09-09T03:35:00.001-06:00

It's funny to title a blog "recovering" in the middle, or at the end of a three week race as the case may be, because normally you are trying to recover between stages, but it doesn't happen to the max. Well, I can usually find an exception to most rules, so here I am "recovering" with only three stages to go in the Vuelta. I started to feel a little funky on the evening of the Angliru stage, and I began to fear. Sure enough, the following day (thankfully a rest day) I was definitely battling something besides general race fatigue. I did my best with positive mindset, rest, hydration, etc, but nothing was preventing my body in its weakened state from being subject to whatever pathogen/parasite wanted in.

The day after the rest day was the worst. Thankfully the stage was relatively easy. It was the longest of the Vuelta to that point, but it also was the easiest (on paper) and ended up being the easiest by all other evidence. For me, that was a blessing because I was nearly dead. Ok, I have been sicker before, but there was no part of me that wanted to pedal the bike that day. I suffered through the 203k though and was happy to still be in the race.

The following day was the longest stage at 211k, and it ended up being probably the fastest stage of the whole Vuelta. We did the whole thing in about 5hrs. Luckily I was feeling a little healthier and more motivated because I am quite certain that I would have been going home had I not been. The stage was quite ridiculous actually. We did the first 100k in 2:10 I think, and the pace never really eased because of the race situation(s): breakaways, teams being unsatisfied with the situation on the road, etc. Again, I was happy to see the finish, although it was not the greatest time climbing another mountain to the finish with the gruppetto. It is starting to really surprise me how guys don't get tired. It is a little depressing actually to feel like you can't hang with even the top 50 in a race. I continue though knowing I will be stronger and with/beyond those top 50 in the future.

Yesterday's stage was picked to be a big continuation of the war with Chris Froome only 13s out of the red jersey. Surprisingly, they played it cool though allowing a big break of non-gc threats to go and just riding tempo all day. For me, the sensations were a little better. Physically, the body is actually reacting pretty well. My legs feel pretty good and my heartrate has responded favorably the last couple stages. That gives me confidence that my body can still push. The biggest issue for me is the cramps in my neck/back from so many days on the bike. I think they are actually more accented the last few days because of the sickness. I am hoping they will dissipate over the last few stages, so I can finish strong and feel good about my efforts and in general in my body.

So I should probably offer a reflection on the mystic Angliru. My take is that I would like to go back some day and have the chance to race it. The day to Angliru was the shortest stage of the Vuelta (besides Madrid) and the pace was high all day. As we were approaching the category 1 before the Angliru, I was caught in a crash. The timing was horrible because it was less than 10k to the start of the climb, and the field was going 55kmh+ at this point. My teammate Nelson was also in the crash, so I waited a long time for a wheel while they fixed his bike. Once I got a new wheel, I followed cars and riders back to the field, but I was defeated mentally and physically at this point. It was nearly impossible to move up, so we hit the climb and I tried to move a little, but the front group disappeared. I made it to the top, descended and started the Angliru. I was with a big group of riders, but as the slopes steepened, the group split and I slowly went backwards just trying to survive. The crowds were pretty good and always eager to push. Many guys offered water bottles for pushes. One guys started the climb with 5 bottles (2 on the bike, 3 in the jersey) and finished with zero! It was a little dangerous at times with people pushing and running around, but the excitement is nice to see. The craziest part of the experience was climbing through the clouds. It was clear at the bottom, got misty/cloudy toward the top, and as we went over the top, the clouds disappeared and we were above them. It was a neat experience. Thankfully the steepest parts of the climb were in the clouds, so you could only see 100m in front of you. I was happy to complete Angliru and make it to the second rest day because I knew the stages I had just completed were incredibly difficult.

Now it is only three stages to go and I am returning to health and happiness. The nest two stages are not easy by any means, but I feel confident that I can at least complete them given what I have already ridden. The team is looking for a stage win to try and erase the bad luck, and we were close yesterday with a valiant effort from Sergio. Maybe the next two days can return the luck from Pais Vasco earlier this year. Thanks for checking in again, sorry it took me so long to write. Hope you have enjoyed the read.

Still in Spain!

2011-09-08T02:18:00.001-06:00

Hey everyone, I apologize for being absent the last several days. The second week of racing was really difficult, and "free" time was limited with long transfers added to the usual tasks. Plus I was just really tired! Then I actually came down with some sort of bug the night after Angliru, so I spent the rest day trying to recover. The day after the rest day was maybe the worst, but thankfully it was the "easiest" stage of the race so far, and I was able to suffer through it. Yesterday's stage was the longest and maybe the fastest stage of the whole race thus far. I will try to make a new entry this evening with details from some of the previous stages, but I felt I should at least let you know I am still alive and fighting. Also, I wrote a blog for Cyclingnews, so I have pasted the link below. Thanks for keeping in touch.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/blogs/matthew-busche/making-it-to-the-second-rest-day

Week 2

2011-09-02T14:57:00.001-06:00

Ok, I'm into week two of my first grand tour, and I think am officially engulfed. I have no idea of what day of the week it is, what the date is, or any concept of happenings in the world outside of the team bus, my hotel room(s), or on my bike, which are all pretty much cycling related. If I am lucky, I get to talk with Lisa everyday to see what is happening in her life. Every so often I might get to talk to my parents, too, but my social life is void of real substance outside of this right now.

I think my life is becoming fairly "Spanish", but I am not sure I am a huge fan all the time. We wake up between 9 and 10 most mornings for breakfast, which by now is pretty nice. Then we board the bus for a transfer to the start, arriving around 1hr before hand. After a meeting on the bus, it is time to sign in and line up for the race. After finishing the stage, we clean up in the bus and transfer to our new hotel. Then it is time for relaxation, massage, trying to talk to family/friends and respond to emails, and dinner between 9 and 10PM. I think that is the part I dislike the most. Eating so late is not easy for me because then I have trouble falling asleep. Plus, it means bed time is between 11 and 12, which for me seems too late. I guess that is the way of the race though.

Anyway, now we're through 13 stages and although I am physically and mentally quite tired, I am still feeling positive. I am not depressed or dreading waking up the next day and doing it again. Well, I shouldn't say that because I do have a certain cringe when I think about suffering again after 13 stages, but that is part of the job, so I just try to embrace it! Everyone is suffering, so I have to keep on doing it and help my team as best I can.

I would like to give you a stage by stage description of the past three stages, but I honestly don't remember what happened in 11 and 12. I think that is another sign I am engulfed, everything just blends together. No stage has been easy in this Vuelta, so I think it is just suffer, eat, sleep, eat, suffer again. Given that I just finished stage 13 though, the details are fairly fresh in my mind. Let me offer the summary: lactic acid.

Everyone knew today was a good day to go to the break because of a high probability it would go to the finish. That means, there is a huge fight to try and get into the breakaway. I was essentially useless in the fight for the break. I think I may have been able to cover one or two moves, but then I was just trying to survive on the wheel. It was incredible how fast/hard we were going. And the best part of the day was that it never stopped! I fell off the lead group just before the top of the second category 1 climb when some attacks started happening. I chased down the descent/into the last category 3 climb but couldn't catch. I regrouped with a few of my other dropped compatriots and rode the rest of the stage. For those of you power meter lovers out there, I took a peek at my numbers after getting dropped and saw that after 3.5hrs I had done 280W with zeros, 336W w/o zeros, and 3600kjs. At the end of the day it was something like 255W, 310W, 4250kjs.

Ok, it has taken me a long time to write this between bus time, massage, and dinner. Now I am ready for bed, but I want to give you all an update! I will try to remember something good for the next entry. The next two stages are going to be doozies, so stay tuned! Adios.

10 done, 11 to go

2011-08-29T12:56:00.001-06:00

Today was the 47km individual TT and to say my legs felt a bit ragged might be an understatement. I don't know if it was the fact that I knew my job was not to go full gas, or the fact that it was stage 10 of my first grand tour. Regardless, when I hopped on the trainer for warm up, to say I wasn't a bit concerned about making the time cut would be a lie. I felt atrocious. After about 10 minutes, my legs felt a little better, and I felt like I might be able to do the whole 47km, but I was not convinced yet! Anyway, I took the start with the simple goal of trying to find a comfortable rhythm and just get through this thing.

I rolled off the start ramp having zero idea of the conditions of the course. Man was it difficult. It was almost never flat. It was big rollers with lots of wind. It was brutal. I really struggled to find any kind of comfort. About 20km in, I blew my nose and sure enough, blood. FANTASTIC! All I could do was roll on and let it bleed. Thankfully it didn't bleed as much as the one on stage 5, but it was still messy. I think I might have begun to find a comfortable rhythm in the last 15km, but I am not really sure. I was just happy when the finish came, and I could roll back to the bus and relax.

The two previous stages were pretty similar to the others where the main goal was guard for big breaks and protect our guys to the finish. Stage 8 began with some "small" climbs before a 20km "real"/categorized climb. Well let me tell you that these small climbs were quite difficult. We screwed up big time by missing a huge group of 25+ riders, but thankfully so had Liquigas, so they chased. I had covered 5-6 previous moves, so when this one rolled off the front in different pieces, I was unable to cover it. Problem was that no one else was there either. No harm no foul though, right?

After the group came back and a smaller break went, we had a few moments respite before the 20km climb commenced. I was not feeling great when we hit the climb, and a few attacks started again, so to even follow was a real struggle. Thankfully they stopped and a "manageable" pace was taken up. I say manageable because at a certain moment maybe 6km from the top, Katusha went to the front and drove it hard. The field was fairly strung out, and everyone was definitely feeling some pain in the legs. After the top, you would think it might settle a little but no way! Katusha rode the front like motorbikes all day. I was suffering horribly, but took in some food and water; then I forced myself to make an effort to the front. Although it wasn't any easier there, it felt less painful. It is a weird mind game.

As the end of the stage approached, I knew I had to fight to stay with the leaders to help ours guys if they needed it. We hit the last categorized climb of the day, and as the shouts for "gruppetto" rang out, I fought to find a rhythm and get over the top. I made it over and readied myself for the next uncategorized bump that was probably just as hard as the categorized one. These categorization systems are so funny! Anyway, I fought my way up that one and found myself with Jani and Haimar at the top. I gave Haimar my last bottle of water knowing it was more important for him in the finish. I made the descent and roared into the next uncategorized bump with the remainder of the peloton. We hit the bottom, and the explosions began. My legs initially felt really bad, so I began to relax. Then I said to myself I had to fight, so I jumped back to the tail of the group. At that point my legs actually started to feel good, but it was too late. The field had strung out, and I could not make up enough ground to ever see the front again. A bit disappointed about being dropped, but knowing I had done my job, I rode to the finish. The finish was one of the most insane I had seen. It was so steep in a few parts that I thought my bike would flip backwards. It didn't though, so I got to ride stage 9!

Stage 9 was another summit finish with plenty of rolling beforehand. That start was directly into a category 3 climb at km 3. I was trying to cover the moves, but I was full throttle just trying to follow, so I was basically useless. I even lost the wheel on the descent after the top, just couldn't go faster! The move thankfully went right after the descent, and it was time to settle in for another day of being ridden into the ground by Katusha. I don't know how they are so strong. Anyway, I did my best to protect our guys, get bottles, and keep myself alive for the day. As is usual, the pace amplified as we approached the final climb. I lost contact with our guys, so I surfed the field as it rolled into the climb. As we hit the preliminary slopes, guys pulled the plug. I kept rolling on until about 10km to go when we came onto another ramp upwards, and I decided it was enough. I wasn't going to be able to help our guys anymore, so my job was finished. The climb was definitely not easy even going at my own pace. It was quite steep in some parts, plus it was super windy. I made it to the finish, gathered my jacket, and descended back down through the chaos of cars and spectators to our bus.

My "story" for stage 9 can be titled Frisbee Bottle Top. As we descended into some valley, a guy tossed a bottle to the side. He did a fine job of getting it out to the side, but it hit the rock wall and exploded. At that moment, I noticed a small "flying saucer" headed straight for me. It was just sort of hanging there mid-air, looking like a perfect Frisbee. Before I could react, the bottle top collided square with my mouth. It hurt quite a bit as we were moving at 60kph+. Thankfully the cap was going the same direction, so the physics made the speed difference a little less. Nonetheless, this hard plastic Frisbee left my lips stinging a bit.

So now it is onto the rest day. I am not sure if I am looking forward to it or not. I guess it will be nice to have a day to chill, but I am sort of used to the routine now. I'm praying we don't have a drug control in the morning. It is just so rude to give us a rest day, and then wake us up at 7am. Whatever though. I have heard reports of serious rain in the north of Spain, so I am praying for that to stop, too. I guess that is about it. Hope you're enjoying the reports thus far. I'll do my best to keep them coming.

Seven Done

2011-08-26T15:19:00.001-06:00

I guess by the math, I am a third of the way through my first grand tour. I have had my share of experiences already I think. I've fetched bottles, protected our leaders, spent all day in the break, given my wheel for a teammate, seen a team car get air, spent time in the gruppetto, and experienced a full range of physical and emotional/mental states that are typical for this sport. I am sure by the end of it, I will have plenty of more experiences/stories, but for now I am content with everything.

Today's stage seven was flat by the standards we have established in this Vuelta. Only 1600m of climbing and no classified climbs, easy right? I woke up feeling pretty jaded this morning. My legs still ached and my body felt tired. We had a 2.5hr transfer to the start, so I tried to sleep, but it wasn't happening. As we did the neutral, I could feel the blockage in my legs. The start was going to be one of two scenarios: the first attack would go, or it would take 50k for it to go. I was SO happy when the first attack went. Now I could spend the day in the peloton hydrating, eating, and trying to recover/prepare for the days ahead. A note of personal accomplishment, I believe I urinated 4 times in the race today. I have been lucky to go once the previous stages, so I did really good at drinking!

The stage spent almost the whole day rolling up and down the hills/valleys of the area on the same road for 180km. No seriously, it was almost one road all day, maybe 5 turns today. Thankfully it wasn't pancake flat or straight, so it was slightly eventful. So let's talk about the events! The majority of the stage was fairly low stress; although, we had to be on alert for the cross winds. We kept it under control until the last 40k or so and the course became a little more open. It was the typical everyone getting nervous for the conditions, as well as the increase in pace for the finish that cause a crash on an uphill, which split the field. Tiago got caught up in it somehow and needed a new back wheel. With him being a gc guy, we can't just leave him for dead! Nelson gave him a wheel because the team car was behind, and Sergio and I waited for him. The field was going very fast at this point and was shattered into several groups because of the crash, wind, and pace. We chased full gas for what seemed like forever. After probably 10k, we began to come back. We had picked up a few others chasing, so thankfully they helped us chase. We reintegrated just after 20k to go I think. I felt on my limit at this point and wanted to pull the plug, but I knew I needed to stay and try to help our guys again if they needed it. I did my best to recover and move up in the peloton.

With about 15k to go, it was evident the field would stay mostly together for the rest of the race because it was flat and the wind was not blowing hard. I drifted toward the back to chill out and just be available if any of our guys had an issue. At this point, I ran into Kloden who was also doing the same. I asked him if he wanted me to lead him out today, but he said he didn't feel like winning today. Instead, we will save it for another day! I carried on toward the finish, but noticed something felt funny about my bike. Finally at about 2k to go, I felt my rear wheel going flat. I called Eki for a new wheel and rode it to the line easy. I gained a compatriot inside the last km. I asked him if he wanted to put on a show for the fans and do a 2-up sprint. He said no thanks. Maybe he was intimidated of my sprinting reputation!

So how about yesterday's stage? Umm, it was a hard, long start. Took 60k for the break to go. We went through another one of those "glass road" towns, and a motorbike and some cyclists crashed on a very off camber corner. I think the slippery surface was caused by fine dust/sand on the road. I avoided trouble and was very happy when the break finally went. The rest of the stage was the standard. The run into the final was quite crazy. I did my best to help bring our guys to good position for the start of the climb, but I was really struggling to get my bike going. I am not sure if it was dehydration, lack of food, the heat, or any other number of reasons. In the end, I was tailing off the back of the group and was not finding any comfort, so I pulled the plug to save it and fight another day. I rode the rest of the stage feeling disappointed, but I had to do my best to just let it go because it is a long race with many more stages/opportunities ahead!

The next couple stages are going to be very difficult and maybe quite decisive in the first gc shake up. Our guys are riding strong, so we still hold high aspirations. Thanks for checking in!

I forgot a story...

2011-08-24T12:59:00.000-06:00

Scary moment today. I saw the results of a boy running out into the road to get a bottle. A rider collided with him at 60kmh+. I think they both were fine in the end. Maybe the boy broke his nose or something. The rider obviously had road rash and his bike was broken in half. Considering the situation, I'd say those results were pretty good. I hope they both recover well.

Stages 3, 4, 5

2011-08-24T12:49:00.001-06:00

Ok here is my best attempt at a race recap/highlight reel from the last three stages. Stage 3 was a good day for RS. We got Markel into the break, and in an unusual manner, it stayed away to the finish. Markel was suffering from cramps in the finish, but he made a great effort for third on the stage and moved up to the same on gc. Although he has no gc ambitions, it was really important because it moved our team car up in the caravan, which allows for easier feeding/support, especially in the following day's hard mountain stage. The other gc guys maintained position.

For me, I lost time on the day because I made my contribution by giving Haimar my wheel on a descent after the field had split, he had a flat, and the team car was way behind. With all the adrenaline and lack of mechanical skills at work, it took us what seemed like forever to swap wheels. Haimar did make it back to the main peloton though, so the wheel change was important. The team car arrived as Haimar was going again, so I got my wheel from them and was off. I chased pretty hard and thought I would make it back because I was still in the team cars, but when we arrived at the bottom of the descent, the group had split. I would ride gruppetto to the finish, unknowingly "saving" my energy for the next day's undertaking.

So the next day, stage 4, would take on 50+km of climbing, go to the highest altitude of the 2011 Vuelta, and be the scene of the first real mountain showdown for the gc favorites, so I decided I would go in the break! I should rephrase that, by me doing my job, suffering quite a bit, and feeling like quitting a few times, I wound up in the break. I was on call to make sure we were represented in any big groups, and I followed a big group initially. We got a gap, but the peloton chased. As we were caught, a few guys jumped again, and I followed. Seven of us went clear, and would spend the rest of the stage in front. Our group worked pretty well together. There was one guy who tried to skip turns, but we forced him to work because no one was getting a free ride! I was not incredibly comfortable for most of the day. It was the familiar feeling I have had for the first days here, feeling like I really have to fight the bike to make it go anywhere. I gave it what I had though and thought for a moment we might make it to the finish. When the peloton wants you back though, 99% of the time, you come back!

We hit the base of the final 23k climb to Sierra Nevada with something like 3min in hand. Rohregger attacked immediately and made the selection of 4 that would ride until 3ish km to go until the chasing peloton caught us. Honestly I was praying to be caught way sooner because I was not very comfortable. I rode as best I could though, even trying to help my teammates as they came by, but one dig to try and stay with them and I was filled with lactic acid enough to say enough is enough! I watched, trying to regroup my senses as the peloton sped away. Not much else to say about that. It was a long, hard day in the saddle; a good experience for sure and should help to make me stronger.

Today's stage 5 was not incredibly difficult looking on paper, but it was potentially the hardest stage so far! It was never flat and never easy. After ONE HOUR of neutral start (descent of Sierra Nevada plus 15k in/through Granada), we finally rolled through the km 0 banner. It was full gas with no sign of stopping. I was given the ok to rest today with other guys covering the moves, but there is only so long a few guys can last, especially when the road starts tilting upwards for sections lasting 4k+. Eventually, I found myself covering some moves. My legs actually felt really strong, maybe the best they have felt so far. With positive vibes and strong sensations, I did what I could. There were a couple sketchy moments in a town as I fish-tailed through a roundabout, then shortly afterwards skid straight through a corner coming to a stop unclipped just before a nice wire, construction fence as the guy in front of me laid it down into the fence. For some reason, the roads in this town were really slick. Several guys crashed. After this town, a big selection was made and we had Markel and Tiago in it. It was good team effort to make that happen.

Due to the size of this break and the fact that a couple big teams had missed it, there was no way it was going to get far. Before the teams organized and the chase happened, the pace lulled, so I thought all was fine as it normally would be. I drifted rearward in search of replenishment, meanwhile blowing my nose and happening upon an awesome bloody nose! These are the worst on the bike because you can't stop them and it gets all over you kit. I went back to the medical car to ask for some gauze to plug it. Meanwhile, the chase started, and the road went up again! With one nostril full of gauze, I suffered in the back. After a long, twisty descent, I found myself in the worst position possible to start the category 2 climb: DEAD LAST! Uh oh is an understatement at this point. I blew the gauze out of my nose and proceeded to navigate my way through the carnage. I made it to the back of the peloton and tried to catch my breath. I suffered over the top, through the finish line (first passage), down another big descent and finally got into the peloton. I was really suffering for no reason at this point from the hard start, hard effort up the climb, and general effort of the race. I finally got some food and drink though, and moved myself toward the front to protect my teammates. The pace was relentless today. I think I averaged the same or more power today than I did in the break yesterday. Ok, so this is getting long! In the final, I did what I could to deliver Jani, Tiago, and Haimar to the base of the final climb in good position, then sat up to save my energy for further on in the race.

My overall impression or mindset right now is still good. I really struggled the first few stages with feeling good on or off the bike. Now things are heading in the proper direction though, so hopefully I can keep the suffering to on the bike! The team attitude is still good with high hopes for good results to come. I think that's about it! Thanks for reading and all the support/encouragement.

Memories

2011-08-24T02:09:00.000-06:00

This is a view from my room. Funny to see the steeplechase pit on the non-existent track. Brings back some fond memories of where I have been. Ok, it's time to be off for stage 5. I'll write the update after today's stage. Thanks for reading!

High in the sky tonight.

2011-08-23T14:06:00.000-06:00

I would love to write a big blog about this right now, but I am tired and feel like relaxing. I will do my best to write tomorrow. Thanks for understanding. Here are a few pictures. Enjoy.

This is what I look like after a long, hard day at work. That was a tough one.

I also think earned this one!

Almost There

2011-08-21T13:03:00.001-06:00

Not! Two stages down and too many to count to go. It is great to be here though. Good experiences so far. We started the festivities with the opening presentation on Friday night. That was kind of a junky experience actually. It was cool to be a part of it as my first big tour, but it was way too long and way too hot. Also during the parade I had a guy say "go home American, go home". That left a sour taste in my mouth.

Saturday was the official beginning with the team TT. I have done one before, but I hardly call it official, so this was basically my numero uno! It started poorly for us with Jani dropping his chain in the first pedal stroke from the start ramp. We waited for him for what seemed like forever. It cost us a lot of time, which was really unfortunate because once we got rolling, I think we were the fastest team. We did the last 3k of the course in 3:07. I would say there is a really good chance we could have won. That's the way the cookie crumbles though. The good thing is that we were all healthy and upright with a lot of stages left. The race was not going to be won or lost in this stage. I think we were the only team to finish with all 9 riders as well, which really shows our team is in good condition.

Today was stage two and the heat was there to greet us! It has been steadily warming up in Spain the last week or so. I think all the summer heat that wasn't around in July is finally arriving. The sun was literally like a heat lamp today. When we would slow down for a climb, the heat was incredible. There was no way to drink enough today. I drank two bottles in the first 45min of racing. For the stage, it was relatively straightforward: protect and take care of Jani, Haimar and Tiago for the finish. I did my best to help the team, and I think in the end we kept our gc guys safe.

I guess that is about all I can report. Not too much excitement yet. I suspect there could be some more excitement in the coming days, but only time will tell!

Some News

2011-08-20T01:19:00.001-06:00

http://www.menafn.com/qn_news_story.asp?storyid=%7B1184bde6-2646-4368-82e8-86...

There it is!

2011-08-19T12:20:00.000-06:00

Dos Dias

2011-08-18T13:52:00.000-06:00

At this time in two days, I should be finished with the first stage of the Vuelta, funny to think about! I guess the big news from here is that it is less than two days until I begin my first grand tour! Yikes! Feelings of excitement and nervousness are the obvious and expected feelings at this point. It is going to be a huge experience for me, and a huge stepping stone for my future as a grand tour rider. The experience and strength I will gain from coming out of this thing alive will be huge. The team and staff we have here are going to be so helpful for me to learn from. It is also going to be a fun group to be around, which will be very important as the days/stages go on.

I arrived to Benidorm, actually a neighboring city, on Wednesday after an early wake up (5am) to catch the bus to the airport. I was already tired and sad from saying goodbye to Lisa and trying to ready myself the day before for the next three weeks, but arriving at the airport to see my flight already delayed 40min was just the cracking point I needed to cry for my bed and pillow. Figuratively of course, although it would be funny to see me on the airport floor crying for that! After having my personal space invaded by a friendly fellow in the check in line, I was through security and onto my usual routine of bocadilla tortilla and coffee. Then it was time to board and fly. I slept pretty much the whole flight. I claimed my luggage, met the soigneur and a couple teammates and then transferred to the hotel. After an easy training, it was lunch and resting.

Today was much the same or pretty standard pre-race stuff with breakfast, pre-race blood control, training, lunch, massage and dinner. Interesting thing about being here is that it was in February 2010 that I took my maiden voyage to Europe as a professional cyclist, and we had training camp 20km up the coast in Calpe. We have trained on some familiar roads the last two days. It is funny to think back on that time and the past year and a half. I have grown a lot as a husband, a cyclist and as a person in general. It is sort of ironic that this area has been the beginning of some big adventures for me. I hope the good story will continue!

Tomorrow we will get out the TT bikes and prepare for the following day's team time trial. We won't be able to preview the course until Saturday, but it is important to get comfortable on the bikes and as a group. We need to practice! I am nervous about the whole experience in general because I have never been a part of such an important team time trial and have only done one in the past. I'll take it easy though and do my best for the team. It will be important for us to do a good race. The course is rumored to be a bit technical and interesting, so we will have to see when we preview on Saturday.

I will do my best throughout the whole race to update, but as always it will be tricky with timing of races, transfers, massages, dinner, rest, etc. Anyway, I will do my best. Also, please check back and follow me on the sidebar with Twitter. As always, thanks for checking in and offering your support and encouragement. Adios!

Real Quick

2011-08-15T06:59:00.001-06:00

Ok, here is my best attempt to update you on the recent happenings.


A happy couple after a sweet dinner picnic.

A nice sunset after the dinner picnic!


My beautiful date for the evening. We got the "tapas menu". Tasty!

A view of the swimming hole. It is a locals spot for sure!

Lisa and Jen about to take the plunge!

Another beautiful sunset after a nice day.

Here is a video you might find amusing!

That's about it. I'm sad to say that I am taking Lisa to the airport tomorrow because she is going to back to the US. It has been a great summer, but it's gone too fast! And for those who haven't already seen or assumed so: http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/vuelta-a-espana-start-list-1. Going to be a good experience.

Had a Go

2011-08-09T14:21:00.000-06:00

This is coming many days later, but I would like to offer a summary of the final two stages of Tour of Poland. Stage 6 was a hard circuit that consisted of 15 climbs. There were 11 category "1" climbs, which weren't category 1 of the real sense, but that didn't make them any easier. They definitely were difficult and over the course of 207km and almost 6 hours, they certainly hurt! The race began really fast and quite hard. There was a big split on the first climb of the day, but eventually everything settled out and a small break went up the road. The next 100k or so were pretty standard; although, the effort was draining considering the course profile and the point in the race (stage 6). About 80km from the finish, Astana went to the front and began to drive the pace pretty hard. The field strung out and a lot of guys got blown out the back.

We entered the final lap with a severally diminished and depleted field. We hit the first climb and more guys were shed. I hung in there alright, although I definitely had some tired creeping into the legs. The next climb was even a little faster and more tense as guys knew that they needed to be in good position over the top. Immediately after the top was a narrow, twisty downhill that led directly into a few corners and the valley to the next, decisive climb. I fought hard to be in the front going over the top. I think I was top 25 or so, which left me feeling a little uneasy, but I had to keep fighting. The descent was dangerous enough in the dry, but now it was raining, so I was a little scared for sure. Keeping my nerves about me though, I made it down in good position and started the next climb in an ok spot. I readied myself for the upcoming dynamite and BOOM! The road pitched up from a gentle ~6% to more than 20% for over a km. Guys exploded in impressive fashion, and my legs began to beg to join them. I fought hard and kept contact with the second small group on the road. After the really steep section, we made it across to the front group. When everyone had regroup and gained their breath, there were about 23 guys I think.

After another tricky descent, it was the final 5k of the race. No rest for the weary because it was pretty well all uphill, some sections steeper than others. I came off the descent in the back with a small gap because a guy in front of me got really tentative. There is safe, but there is also lose the group (and race). I sprinted out of the corner and closed the gap. I knew it was only a few hundred meters to the roundabout at 4k to go and the main pitch upwards, so I recovered as best I could and pedaled toward the front. We hit the roundabout and I jumped from the group. After losing time on stage 4, I had nothing to lose, only an opportunity to move up on gc and/or go for the stage win. After I attacked, I think I realized my legs were not so good and the doubt crept in. I did the textbook looking back, which is the telltale sign that the rider is finished. I kept fighting because I still believed I had a chance, but I wasn't catching the rider in front, then another rider came roaring by me and then the field came by me in bits and pieces. I tried to cling to the different groups, but I was pretty well tanked. I watched in agony as the group in front of me swelled to near capacity again. I tried to come back, but it wasn't happening. I rode my own tempo to the finish knowing I had tried and crossed the finish line a tired boy.

I found out on stage 7 that tired was an understatement because I felt almost helpless on the bike. I felt pain in my legs and body as I pedaled from the team bus to the start: not a good sign! The race began and I was miserable. Not only did my body and mind ache, but the road was so rough that I nearly quit mid-race. I was so mentally defeated and physically tired, that I wanted nothing more than to stop pedaling, pull to the curb, maybe throw my bike depending on how mad I was feeling when I got to the curb, then lay on the grass and cry or kick and scream until I was so tired that I fell asleep. Thankfully I have more motivation and mental fortitude that I kept myself together and finished what turned out to be a very difficult race.

Besides for the circuit being rough, there was a lot on the line for the last day of the race. Peter Sagan was trailing Dan Martin by a slim 3 seconds. With one intermediate sprint worth 3, 2 and 1 seconds, and the finish being worth 10, 8, 6, etc. seconds, there was ample opportunity for a fast man like Sagan to make up that time and take the overall. It was evident from the start that he had intentions of doing just that because Liquigas took the peloton by control from the start and kept everything under wraps. A small break went, but everyone was content to sit in the field because they were exhausted, and they knew nobody was going to make it past the intermediate sprint with Liquigas wanting to take the time bonuses. The race got really fast coming to the intermediate sprint. Liquigas did a full on lead out with speeds going over 70kmh. I was fighting frantically to just hang onto the wheel at the speed. Sagan took second and 2 seconds, so he was now 1 second down. In the final, he was able to take second in the field sprint and win the overall. It was a pretty interesting and exciting final day of racing.

Tour of Poland was good for me. It gave me some really good speed work. I also got a lot of good climbing efforts. Most importantly maybe is that I gained confidence about where my fitness and form is at as I look to the rest of the season.

Now I'm back in G-town and enjoying some time with the Mrs. Sunday we had a relaxing bike ride together. It is so fun to have Lisa on the bike and to be able to go explore the roads around Girona together. Monday we planned a beach day, but it was ruined by clouds (AGAIN!), so we improvised and took care of some errands, a little shopping and general quality time together. Today I had a nice ride with Steven Cozza and a local guy named David. When we came back into town, we met Lisa and Jen (Steven's financee) at a cafe. After lunch and a siesta, Lisa and I headed out in search of a local swimming hole. We found the swimming hole, took a little dip and are hoping to return tomorrow. I will report more about that with potential pictures/video later. On our way back into town, we stopped by the grocery store for some supplies. We came home and made a pretty good dinner of zucchini and red pepper stir fry with an oven roasted turkey leg. It was the first time for a turkey leg, so it turned out a little dry, but I think we'll do it again sometime! Tomorrow I will begin some good training again. Hope you enjoyed the read!

Polish Sausages

2011-08-05T02:39:00.000-06:00

I'm finally getting a moment this morning to update on the race. It has been hectic with late finishes, long transfers and taking care of all the other business. Anyway, stages four and five have elapsed since my last post I think. The basic overview is that my legs and condition seem to be pretty good, but I have been stricken with poorly timed mechanicals and poor positioning in the peloton.

Stage four was a real disappointment for the team. We have three guys here to contend for a good gc position, and all of us lost time due to bad position on the last of the local circuits. There was a real nasty little climb on the local circuit that summited about 3k from the finish. It was a real fast descent through town to the finish, so if you weren't with the front group over the top, you weren't going to make it back. All three of us went over the top in contact but kind of far back. It was all good at that point, but then somebody opened a gap on the descent, and there was absolutely no way for us to close it down. It was really difficult because this race is usually decided by so little time. That was my second bad luck of the day, too. I got a puncture at the base of the climb about 40k to go in the race. This climb was on another lap we did twice in the middle of the race and a bit longer than the local/finishing circuits. It was really bad timing because the tempo was increasing and the field was strung out, so it took a long time to get my wheel changed and get going again. Once I got going, I rode a good tempo through the carnage, but I didn't make contact by the top. I rejoined Popo just at the top, and he helped me descend and pace through the valley to try and catch the group. I don't think we would have caught them, except they decided to sit up for some reason. That was good news for me, but I had burned some energy for sure. That's all part of racing though.

Stage five did not turn out quite as we expected. The circuit was quite difficult and totaled 3000m of climbing by the end, but it came to a field sprint. Some of the pure sprinters were dropped, but it was a very large group, not the 20 or less we were expecting. For me, I had a mechanical with about 20k to go. I wasn't sure what happened, but my chain jumped off and got wrapped around my derailleur. I got it back on, but then my shifting was messed, and if I tried to use anything other than my 53x12 (biggest gear), the chain would jump all over the place. That meant I couldn't stand up or pedal without feeling like I was going to go over the handlebars or without grinding a huge gear. Thankfully the speed was high enough I could push it out most of the way, but the last km grind uphill was tough. After the race, I looked to see what the problem was, and I had no top pulley left on my derailleur. It was only the bearing. I'm not exactly sure how that happened, but it explained why I was having trouble! I was disappointed to have the mechanical though because I felt good and was motivated to stick my nose in the action. I think I could have made a good finish if I had a fully functioning bike, but just like the flat on stage four, that is part of racing!

Today is the queen stage with over 4000m of climbing and an uphill finish. I can guarantee there will not be a big group at the finish today, but I will also guarantee I will do my best to be in the small group that does finish together. There will definitely be fireworks on the final climb to the line, and I am hoping I have the legs to be a part of them. It is another circuit today, so we will see the finish several times before the finale, which will be helpful. Hoping for a good finish to jump close to top 10 in gc. Today is the last chance, RadioShack is going to try!

Side note, I think I might have to find a fine Polish sausage after the race because I wanted to stop at the big party/BBQ they were having in the finish area yesterday. It smelled quite nice every time we rolled through!

Poland 2&3

2011-08-02T14:14:00.000-06:00

It's another late night here in Poland. I can't say I really enjoy starting stages at 330pm, or maybe I prefer less finishing at 700pm. Either way, it makes life hard because as much as I enjoy a long, relaxed morning, I don't enjoy eating dinner at 930pm. Enough of the complaining though.

The race update is status quo. The first three stages have been field sprints, all won in impressive fashion by the current yellow jersey. Tomorrow the hills arrive, and it is unlikely to be a pure field sprint, but a large group kick could be possible. I'm looking forward to the test and hoping the legs/fitness will respond favorably. It has been a taxing first few stages at times. I have seem my heart rate near max several times, and I have felt on my limit several times, which is slightly concerning; however, I am remaining confident it is a lack of race speed, and a different form of speed/power required in the flats than on the coming climbs. I will find a likely answer tomorrow, and the following days.

For the last two stages, I don't have anything special to update. A funny story from yesterday is in order. I was riding behind a guy who made this up and down waving gesture with his hand behind his back every time he was about to stand up. As much as I appreciated his unusual gesture, it took me awhile to figure it out, and I originally thought he was just farting! Sorry for be inappropriate, but it is little things like this that keep us cyclists sane! After the stage yesterday, we followed the GPS to our hotel, but we ended up in some random small town where there certainly wasn't a hotel. Long story short, GPS was confused, 30km turned into 80km+, and in the end we got into the neighborhood but had to hire a taxi to direct us to the hotel. It was a funny but impatient situation due to the late night. Everything is all settled and fine now though.

Tomorrow we have a good morning with normal wake up time, short transfer and normal stage profile/length, but I am dreading the 230km transfer after the stage. I suppose this is just part of racing, but it seems that nothing is fast in transport here. All the roads are under construction or small and slow. I won't hold it against Poland though because they have put on a good race, and the country's support of the race is impressive. There have been people along the roadside everywhere, not just at the start and finish areas. It shows an amazing support of the event and cycling in general. Hoping for good weather from here to the finish, but we have to take it day to day. Time for rest, recovery and preparation for the stages ahead. Good night.

Poland Number One

2011-07-31T10:29:00.002-06:00

Stage one of Poland is in the books, and I was able to avoid the rain and crashes. That's about the best I could have expected for today, so I'm happy. The race was rather short at only 101km. It took us only slightly over 2 hours, but it was pretty easy to sit in the bunch. I wasn't very excited to sit in the bunch though because the race was very nervous. It was partly the first stage jitters/freshness, so everyone thinks they can win the race. The other factor was the big roads in the finishing circuit, which were really nice, except that the speed was not high enough to keep it strung out. That meant everyone could rush to the front and be 20 wide across the road in between every corner. That makes the race dangerous and a big dog fight. I fought for a while, but decided it was safer and easier to be out of the unnecessary scrum and not waste my energy for the coming days.

As for the sensations today, my legs didn't feel bad, but they definitely were a little sluggish with the race speed and some of the efforts. I would say that is to be expected, and I think that after the next two days of flat stages my legs will respond favorably and in time for the critical hard stages of four, five and six. I usually find that my form comes better through a longer race, assuming I am recovering well. I guess we will have to wait and see how it goes!

It's raining out right now, but I believe it is to clear for tomorrow, which would be very nice. It was a long transfer after the stage today, and the transfer to the start tomorrow is supposed to be longer. I'm not excited for that, but I believe after that we have short, easy transfers for the rest of the race. It is always much nicer to transfer less and change hotels less. Alright, time for relaxing. Thanks for checking in.

Hello Poland

2011-07-30T13:52:00.003-06:00

Hello from rainy Poland. I woke up at 5am this morning to walk down and board the "Bewley bus" to Barcelona airport. My teammate (and roommate for the race) Sam rented a car to make the early journey. We met in Plaza Catalunya and were joined by Caleb Farely of HTC. After a quick drive, we were arrived, checked in and through security. I was totally cracking at this point and needed breakfast. It was time for "the usual": bocadilla tortilla (egg and potato omelet sandwich with tomato and olive oil) and cafe con leche or cappuccino. It brought me back to life, and I could now walk to the gate!

After boarding a completely full plane, it was time for sleep. I slept nearly the whole flight, it was awesome. I did have a really interesting experience though. Having recently seen the movie Inception (this year at least!), I was aware of this idea of a dream within a dream. I don't know if I believed it totally, but today I had the experience and am now a believer. I'm not sure of the exact details, but I was completely knocked out when I started dreaming that I was trying to wake up, I think. All I know is that I was dreaming something about needing to wake up from a dream because I had a banana chip or some trail mix about to fall out of my mouth. I eventually woke myself up and regained composure, only to drift away for the rest of the flight. It was a really weird experience. After a quick connection in Frankfurt, it was onto Warsaw and a short transfer to our hotel here.

We had a nice lunch and decided to give training a shot in about an hour. I was happy to use that hour for a nap. After waking myself up and convincing myself it was necessary to do some training, I went outside to continued rain and bikes on trainers. With the support of 5 other teammates, we made it through some trainer time. Funniest quote of the day was Nelson saying, "this isn't easy!" We all laughed because it was easy spinning on the trainer, not climbing a mountain! Maybe it was funnier to be there, but bare with me!

A sweet surprise awaited me when I went for training. I received a sweet new race bike with a US champion paint job. It is quite flash, and I am excited to show it off. Perhaps it will inspire a big performance! http://yfrog.com/h2qiwziaj

Post massage and dinner now, tomorrow begins the seven stage Tour of Poland. My last race, Tour of Austria, was now 3 weeks ago, so I am rested, trained and ready to race. Coming here, I don't have outright expectations, but I will give this race a go for sure. I think this race is actually similar in make up to the Tour of Denmark, so history says that makes it a great race for me! Although I don't know the exact parcours, I know there are no "mountain" days; however, similar to Denmark, there are a couple hard circuit days. Rumor is that one of the days is over 4000 meters of climbing but no mountains! I'm looking forward to the test and seeing where my fitness currently is. I hope the weather will clear soon, and we can enjoy a safe, fun and challenging race.

Vive le France!

2011-07-25T11:47:00.000-06:00

I think that means something like "Live in France", which Lisa and I did for the last week. We were invited to join the RadioShack VIP program for the week, and it was a great opportunity to for me to get to know the inside people a little bit better. On the whole it was a wonderful time. There was a lot of good socializing, good food, good riding and general fun.

The trip started in the lower elevations and wine country near Gordes, France. It was very beautiful. The jagged cliffs and rock formations, accented by the wineries and old cities was beautiful. I was able to do three very nice rides in the area, the ultimate being that of Mount Ventoux. I did not take the traditional route to the top; instead, I came up first from the east slopes, then descended to meet the rest of the group that was tackling the climb and rode with them to the top. It was a big undertaking for most of them, and everyone completed the monster climb in good spirits and proud of their efforts.

Post Ventoux, it was a long journey into the heart of the Alps for our next hotel. We stayed in Les Deux Alps, which was probably as picturesque of a setting in the high mountains as you can get. It is a ski village resting at about 1700 meters above sea level, surrounded by 3000 meter plus peaks. In the winter it is obviously a ski haven, but in the summer it is also an active town with lots of hiking, road cycling and downhill mountain biking. Just prior to our arrival, they had hosted some downhill festival/competition. It is crazy for me to try and imagine riding down the slopes of these massive mountains.

We stayed in Les Deux Alps for three nights and took in two great TdF viewings. The first was up on Col du Lautaret, which is the base of Col du Galibier from the south. The setting was beautiful and really fun to be at, except that I was really missing Lisa. She came down with major flu-like symptoms on that morning, and it wrecked her for the days we were in Les Deux Alps. Unfortunately, this meant she also missed the great viewing the following day at Alp d'Huez. After a great ride in the area finishing at the summit of Alp d'Huez, I got to watch one of the most exciting stages of the Tour. After all that excitement, the group was taken off the mountain by helicopter, which was a real treat, except the clouds had rolled in, so the views were not so spectacular.

The day after Alp d'Huez was time for the drive to Grenoble for the final TT. The showdown was set with Cadel Evans in prime striking position to take his first TdF. Lisa was on the upswing and happy to be back with the group at our viewing/lunch location. We were both really happy to arrive in Grenoble after a crazy 3hr+ drive from Les Deux Alps to Grenoble. Maybe you are asking, why crazy? Hint: Grenoble is only 50km from Les Deux Alps. The traffic was unbelievable. Lisa and I stayed calm and collected though, just enjoying the scenery and spending time together. After the viewing, we split from the group and headed back toward Girona. We were sad to leave and end the fun with everyone, but we will cherish the trip and opportunities we had forever.

Now we are back in Girona and catching up on life. We came home to a clean apartment but somehow within a matter of about 15 minutes, it was a giant mess, frustrating! I guess that gives up something to do though. Last night we went out in search of a good burger and salad to quench Lisa's craving after not eating much for three days. We came away largely unsatisfied, but the date was still fun! Tonight we are headed out to dinner with a couple friends. We were planning a BBQ, but thanks to the random public holidays that shut everything down, we were unable to get any food for the BBQ. Oh well, it will still be a good time to catch up with friends we haven't seen in a long time. Better jet, dinner is in 15 minutes!

Oh quickly, thanks to Kyle for the suggestion to link my Twitter to my blog. And a big thanks to Lisa for making everything work and look so pretty!

Conquered!

2011-07-21T00:17:00.000-06:00

I apologize for my lack of update in the last several days. Lisa and I left for France early on Monday and have been busy ever since. We have joined the RadioShack VIP group for their viewing/following of the Tour de France, and it has been really fun. We began the trip in Gordes, France, and it is a beautiful place! We did a couple nice rides while there. The most noteworthy of those rides was the legendary Mount Ventoux. It was a surreal experience to do a climb with so much mystique. And to make it better, I got to finish it off with Lisa! Yup, she conquered the Mount Ventoux!

The hustle and bustle continues today with an early ride, followed by an all day viewing up on Col du Lautaret, which is the base of Col du Galibier. It should be a prime viewing spot for the race, and a really fun day. Weather is looking good but cool. Temperatures will likely not be much above freezing, but the sun will hopefully make it feel much warmer. Alright, I best be off for breakfast and to prepare for the day. I'll try to update more again soon.

Yup, she rode the whole thing! So proud!

A Small Respite

2011-07-13T11:08:00.000-06:00

I am home from Tour of Austria now and very happy to have a small respite from the craziness of the last two-ish months. It has been full throttle with almost no break between Cali, US Pro, Dauphine, Lisa's parent's visit and Austria. It has been a wonderful time, but I am happy to take a small breath now.

Austria was a race with different goals for me. Usually I would go with the intention of being a GC guy, but this time I was going directly after a small holiday, so I was using the race as a test of fitness. Mainly it was the beginning of good training with goals later in the season. Overall the race was a success. I got really good training for sure, and achieved positive sensations by the end of the race. I feel really happy with how I felt considering a lack of intense training.

As far as the race goes, I wish I hadn't crashed on the run into the Kitzbuhler Horn, but maybe it was for the best that I didn't end up going full gas on it because that allowed me to finish the other days feeling stronger. The TT was anything but joyous for me. It is so flat and boring that I just struggle. I don't know if it is mental or physical "block", but trying to push a gear on that course (I remember last year, too) is nearly impossible for me. I know from experience that I usually do better when the course presents challenges to the rider such as hills because it helps me push myself. I don't feel bad about it though because I will continue to grow as a time trialist, so maybe some day I will be able to push it on the flats!

For the team in general, we were happy with the results. We came into the race with no clear GC threat or leader, so our main goal was stage wins. We accomplished that goal straight from the gun with Robbie Hunter winning stage one. With a little pressure off of our shoulders we continued to ride steady. Robbie held the yellow jersey for one stage and then continued with the points jersey until he was forced to abandon with a knee problem. It was a disappointment. From there on, we just rode consistent with our "GC" hopes resting on the shoulders of Geoffroy. He was our highest placed rider, and we hoped that with a good TT he would be able to crack the top ten. He did just that with a great TT to put him into 9th overall. We narrowly missed the stage win in the TT as well with Jesse taking second. Overall, it was a great week of racing for the team and me individually. The team atmosphere was really good.

I was very happy to arrive back to Girona on Sunday night with zero expectations to see anyone or do anything for a week. With this time to relax a little, I am able to catch up on the "to do list" and get refocused on the training. The biggest disappointment of my respite so far was the sun not showing itself yesterday for our trip to the beach. It actually turned out wonderful though as Lisa and I still enjoyed a great picnic on the beach.

Today I was back on for training and was very happy to have Steven Cozza to train with. It has been a while since we have ridden together or even hung out, so it was nice to catch up. Then following training, Lisa and I were invited to join Steven, Jen (fiancee) and Jen's parents for lunch at a new restaurant. It was a very nice lunch with great company.

The weather has continued to be cloudy since yesterday, and this morning (6am) it hailed marble size hail and rained pretty hard for a good bit of time. It has continued to rain on and off throughout the day, but I am holding hope it will clear up for me to resume training; although, the cooler temperatures are nice! Oh, I believe I might be obliged as well to say that Lisa and I broke down after about an hour long debate yesterday and bought a television. The computer screen just wasn't big enough to watch our shows and movies anymore. Ciao!

TT Saturday

2011-07-09T03:39:00.001-06:00

It's the morning of the time trial in Austria, and I am feeling slightly less than 100% motivated for this pancake flat, 30km of pain. I guess that is my job though, so I must chamois up and give it a go! It will actually be a good test for my fitness and another chance for me to hone my TT skills.

Yesterday's stage was anything short of boring. We woke up to see the trees everywhere being nearly blown over. The wind was whipping to say the least. The tension for the stage ahead was everywhere: breakfast table, bus, start line. The nervousness made everyone antsy to be in the front, so it was a dogfight from the gun. I did my best to fight and kept myself near the front. Amazingly there were only two crashes, and they occurred at the end of the stage when the tension was much less. Riders were probably tired and losing concentration.

Ben King jumped into the first break of the day, and it looked good. I was thinking then that the day would not be as tense and crazy as predicted. Of course some team was not happy though, and the gauntlet was thrown down. The echelons began, and the explosions happened. I made the first group in all the splits, and did my best to stay near Geoffroy to protect his gc position (the best we have!) Eventually the break did go, and Rast jumped into it for the second day in a row. The pace never really dropped actually throughout the day because it was 13 guys in the front, and not every team was represented, so some teams wanted it back for a sprint. We were happy to sit in, although it was not easy with constant wind and turns on fairly narrow roads. I was happy with how I fought for position yesterday and kept myself in the front. I was also pleased with the good, strong sensations I had in my legs. At the end of the day, 10 guys from the break stayed away, and we averaged 47kmh for 158km. Not too shabby for the 6th stage of a hard race!

On other notes, I am very sad for Team RadioShack at the Tour de France. The luck has not been in their favor. Almost everyone has crashed at least once, and both Jani and Chris have sustained serious, race ending injuries. It is the scary, unfortunate reality of our sport. The team still has Levi and Klöden as gc hopes, but Levi has lost over 4 minutes, so Klöden is the real protected rider now. He has ridden really well all year, and I think his form is coming right on time. I think we will see a great gc performance out of him. For the rest, I think the team will be looking for a couple stage wins. I hope the bad luck is over, and I wish them and the rest of the peloton safe riding.

Conquered the Queen

2011-07-06T11:16:00.001-06:00

Today's queen stage of Austria was tough! It was 199km and had 4 mountains totaling over 3000 meters of climbing. I tried for the early break and was in the first move that was looking good, but we were eventually reeled back in. I was at the front when the final move went and was kicking myself after it went because I hesitated to jump. Oh well! I was busy trying to get the bee stinger out of my shin actually! When I was in the front, a bee hit me directly in my shin. I swiped it off, but evidently ripped the stinger off the bee because when I looked down, it was still in my leg. I did get it out and went to the medical car to get some cream hoping to avoid a reaction. Now it is just sore like a muscle bruise.

After the break was gone, we rode a soild tempo all day up and down everything. It was almost never easy, even on the descents. The climbs were long and steady all day. The queen mountain was the Großglöckner which was something like 16km at 7+% with the summit above 2500 meters. We did the same climb last year finishing at a ski station I think. This year we turned on a different road about half way up. The pass we took is actually higher than the finish of the other road. After a small descent, we climbed another 2km steep section to begin the real descent of 20+km. It was a super fast and twisty descent, but thankfully it was a fairly big road. After a long valley road, we came past the turn to the finish town in order to take in another 15km climb that was average 5% gradient. It was deceiving on the course profile because it looked steady the whole way. It was actually quite shallow for the first 12km and kicked really hard in the last 3 at an average of 15%. It was a nice way to cap off the long, slow burn that was in the legs all day. I guess I shouldn't forget the final 2km to the finish that provided another drag and steep kick in the final 200 meters. I guess to summarize it, the day was up, up, up, down, up, up, up!

For me, I was happy to finish with the front group. I guess a couple guys stayed off the front in an impressive show of strength considering the stage profile. I didn't really know what the race situation was because no one was giving us any information. No radios and no info from the motos makes it difficult to keep track. In the end, I was trying to help Geoffroy stay in the front and protect his GC and try for the sprint. When the final acceleration happened, my legs said no. The next stages are sprint stages with a TT on Saturday. Hoping to just keep the rubber side down and continue to improve my fitness.

Fast Start, Hard Finish: Hard Day at Work

2011-07-04T11:12:00.001-06:00

Today was a very tough stage in Austria. The race started really fast. We averaged 51kmh for the first hour and then it still took another 30 minutes to get the break gone. It was a little crazy to be honest. I actually felt quite good and patrolled the front for much of the start watching for big moves or to mark a couple different teams. If a move went or a certain couple teams were represented, we had to be in the break. After all the chaos, it turned out that a dozen guys got away, but we had no problems. Plus we weren't going to control the race even though we had yellow because Robbie is not a climber.

After the break finally went my priority was trying to put some fuel in the engine to recover from the long beginning effort and to prepare for the hard finish up the Kitbühler Horn (8km @ 12+%, max @ 22.3%). I was really struggling to feel good, but I finally forced enough water and food down my throat to begin to recover. I started to feel like I might be able to have a decent go at the finish. I don't have pressure this race because I am only starting to train again after a small break, but I was hoping I might be able to test myself just a little. I was fighting for good position coming into the climb. I had good position, especially compared to last year where I was last 10 wheel going into the climb! Everything was derailled though when there was total chaos in the road with parked cars, medians and everyone fighting for position. I ended up skidding, bike sideways, then straight, then up on the front wheel, maybe back down on two wheels, but finally over the top and into a freshly filled dirt median. I came out basically unscated, but my day was finished. I got up and resorted, but I was consigned to just ride my own tempo to the finish because there was no way I would see the front of the race again.

After getting back on, I had to wait for a new rear wheel from the second team car. Then my derailleur was messed up and I was not able to use my easiest gear, which was not so nice for the hard finishing climb! I began the climb DEAD last. I couldn't see anyone. I started my own tempo and began to catch a few guys pretty quickly. It was interesting to see the destruction at the back of the race. I caught one of my teammates eventually, and he rode onto my wheel and said, "I have to stay on your wheel because I don't want to buy the ice cream tonight." it was quite funny. We said before the race that last guy today had to buy the ice cream. Unfortunately I am not seeing any ice cream places near where we are staying. Maybe tomorrow! By the end, I had caught a few groups and finished 10ish minutes down. I haven't seen results, so I am not certain, just what I heard/was told.

Today was not ideal for me, but it is ok because now I have other opportunities. I hope to get into the breakaway in one of the next two days and see what happens. If I get in and am having a good day, I could have a shot at getting close to the finish. Tomorrow would be the best day I think. One day at a time though. We'll see what happens tomorrow. Happy 4th of July!

A Photo Update

2011-07-03T12:12:00.005-06:00

My apologies for the lack of updates these past two weeks. After finishing up my whirl-wind trip to Cali, US Pro and the Dauphine, I finally returned home to Girona for a little rest and recuperation. Lisa's parents were able to arrange to visit during my break. We enjoyed having them in Girona and also got to tag along for two mini-vacations to central Spain and the French Pyrenees. I have included a photo recap of our adventures below!

Yesterday we said goodbye to the folks, and it is back into action again for me. Today was the first stage of the Tour of Austria where my roomie for the week, Robbie Hunter, took the stage win as well as the yellow jersey to kick us off on a very positive note. It should be a fun week and a beautiful race through the mountains of Austria. I'll do my best to provide some updates along the way!

"Dueling" in Toledo

Lisa & her Mom on the castle wall in Avila

Roman aqueduct in Segovia

Riding in the Pyrenees of France

Gnarly decent

One of many nice family dinners

Coastal town of Cadaques

Walking to the beach

Start of a solid training ride

What a view!

Made it to the top with support crew in tow

Avila's city wall

The center of Spain in downtown Madrid

The whole crew

Post Dauphine

2011-06-17T06:25:00.000-06:00

I'm back to Girona now and still trying to recuperate after the Dauphine. I tried to push the pedals little harder yesterday, but the body was having none of it. Much the same for today, although I did feel a touch better. I think tomorrow I can begin to go at it again.

Since getting home, Lisa and I have enjoyed some quality time together. We got a nice lunch together on Monday, followed by an evening trip to a small town named Besalu north of Girona. It was a really nice day and evening. On Tuesday, we took advantage of nice weather and a rest day to take the scooter to Banyoles for a picnic lunch and relaxing. After that, it was home for a nice evening relaxing together. We have spent the rest of the week trying to prepare for the arrival of Lisa's parents. They are coming on vacation, arriving Saturday, and we are excited to have them.

I suppose a few reflections on the Dauphine would be expected! The race was hard, period. I don't know all the factors that played into it, but by the end of the race, my legs and head were finished. It is actually a little depressing to think about because I feel defeated and disappointed, but I have to remain positive and confident that the quality of racing was high, and that I will benefit from the race to become a stronger bike racer. The race definitely brought a new light to my eyes about the level of climbs done at the Tour de France or the level of the racers. It is inspiring because I know I can strive to be at that level in a few years if I take my time and do it step by step. One thing I must say is that the Alps are BEAUTIFUL! The pictures you see on camera look nice, but in real life it is probably more impressive.

As far as the first race in the stars and stripes, it was a unique experience. It began with quite a few compliments and recognition from guys in the peloton. It was pretty nice! Then there is always the flip side where you make a small mistake or do something questionable (nobody's perfect!) and then someone says something like "Hey, American boy!" At that point, you feel a little singled out and obviously more noticeable or noticed by others. I guess that is just the little extra pressure that comes with the jersey. Overall though, I made it through the week of racing without putting too much extra pressure on myself to perform differently and an overall positive feeling. Now I am enjoying my recovery and looking forward to good training and Lisa's parents visit.

Three More Down

2011-06-11T12:47:00.001-06:00

I thought this published earlier, but here it is anyway!

Wednesday's time trial was a good test for me. I hadn't done a time trial of that length before, so it was really good for figuring out if I have the potential for it or how it makes the body feel. With no pressure on me, it was a really good information gathering "tool", and it turned out to be a pretty decent result. During the time trial, I felt pretty strong. I kept a good high cadence up and over both of the climbs, but I did struggle on both the false flat sections over the top of them. I know I lost time there, but it is just something to work on. I also caught both my one and two minute man, so that provided a little extra motivation. Biggest adversity I faced was a fogging visor on my helmet, and a wet descent from the second climb. The visor I ripped off and threw away because I could see through it! The descent I navigated with "careful precision". Luckily I had seen it earlier in the morning, but it was still dangerous. Nonetheless, I made it to the line safely and was happy with the day.

Thursday was a day for the sprinters. The field stayed under the control of Team Sky, and in the end, it was a bunch kick. I had a small bit of excitement in the last 20km of the stage when I got a "flat". I say "flat" because after the stage, the mechanics told me I did not have one! Whatever, I guess I just felt like I needed the extra interval. Came to the line no problem, day finished. Earlier in the stage, I carried on a nice conversation with Robert Gesink for probably 30+ minutes. It was quite pleasant. He is a very nice guy. I also talked with Dimitriy Fofonov from Astana. He and I first met while we suffered up the final climb of Criterium International earlier this year after being dropped. We caught up on our seasons thus far and had a nice chat.

Friday, the race took no prisoners. It was flat out from the gun. I was in the front for the first attacks and saw Sky was trying to put a man in the break to avoid working for the day, so I immediately went to the front and started "pulling". I say "pulling" here because my effort was pathetic. My legs were so blocked that I could hardly turn the pedals. I tried in vain to muster more power and/speed, but it wasn't happening. Thankfully, I kept the group close enough that some other guys started attacking, and it all came back together. From there, it was nonstop attacking for the next 90 minutes or more. It was relentless. We went over a category two climb, and I threw down an attack to try and help weaken guys more and get Sergio off the front, with a counterattack, but nothing was breaking what was left of the field. I think it wasn't until 100km in that somehow JMac just rolled off the front of the field and was solo for the next 100km. We thought he might have the stage win, but a few teams had different ideas and decided to start pulling. They pulled really hard, too. It was really difficult considering the start of the stage and difficulty of the terrain. I did my best to eat and drink to refuel my body after the effort of the start knowing the finish was not going to be easy.

JMac did really well to hold his own, but it is nearly impossible to hold off a charging peloton, so his fate was sealed, and he was caught inside 10km to go on the final climb. The final climb was not so steep, but it was long and fast. I stayed with the lead group until about 4km to go when the big attacks started. The efforts of those attacks was a little too much for me. I knew it was better not to go into the "red zone" and blow up, so I rode my own pace and kept them close. Overall, it was a really tough day of racing, but I am satisfied with how it turned out. The team is only 13 seconds down on the team GC right now, which is one of our goals for this race. The next two stages will be vital for the win there. Biggest explosions are going to happen over the next two stages, so there could be big changes in the race standings. Stay tuned!

The First Few Days

2011-06-08T04:50:00.000-06:00

It has been a good first few days of racing here at the Dauphine. Rain greeted us for the morning of the prologue, but most of us got lucky with the weather and roads turning dry for the ride. I felt good on my ride. The experience on the TT bike is getting better for me. I am learning much better how to handle it and ride the position. It is an art that takes practice, believe me! I placed 21st I think, which was good for me. I thought for a moment I might be top ten, but then the roads stayed dry and the big hitters came out to play!

Stage one was good weather with abundant sunshine and beautiful scenery. The finish was less than extraordinary for me personally, but Jani kept himself in the front, so no problems there. I got caught at the back again and struggled to try and get to the front. Then as the final climb approached, we went through a nearly dark tunnel and some guys in front of me crashed. At that point, I had to try and regain momentum and position, but the energy and position I had lost made it nearly impossible to come back. I'm still learning, and it was a good reality check about how hard things are here in the European peloton.

Stage two saw the return of the rain. It was pretty nasty for the first 3 hours of the stage, but then it dried up for the run into the finish. Stage two was good for me. I was able to find better positioning at the right moment and made it to the first group when there was a big split in an unexpected crosswind section. I was able to help bring Jani with me, too, which was important for him and the overall. A big group from behind was able to chase back with the power of Team Sky and BMC chasing because Cadel Evans and Bradley Wiggins had missed the split. At that point, it was inside 10km to go, and I did my best to keep Jani near the front because it was a technical run into the finishing climb. I brought him to the front one last time about 2.5km to go. Then I got nervous with all the swarming and craziness and disappeared! I felt good about doing the job for Jani though and know I can make up a lot of time on the gc in the coming mountain days (if I am having a good day!)

Today is the TT. It is 42km with two hard climbs in it. Basically it goes up, up, down, up, up, down, flat to finish. We previewed the course this morning. I don't know if it is better or worse to know what is coming! For now, I am staying relaxed and just going to give it my best shot. I have nothing to lose! I'll try to report back on it later, and I'll include some review on my first couple days in the stars and stripes. Bye!

Magical May

2011-06-01T15:10:00.000-06:00

The month of May began with a return to NM where I was able to catch up with some friends and reunite with Lisa. I had a great birthday BBQ thrown by our good friends the Cunicos. We were able to relax and reunite and enjoyed watching the Tour of California preview show. I was also able to take a couple trips up to Silver City for some good training and catching up with Luther pals Garrett, Dave and Dene. Robert and Melinda, two of the nicest and most interesting people we have ever met, graciously opened their home to us for training in the mountains. Melinda made homemade bread and a decadent chocolate cake. In fact, the training may have been a wash with all the great food! Finally, Lisa successfully defended her comprehensive exams which have been her main focus in school the past 6 months, and we got to celebrate her accomplishment with our wonderful friends Mike and Holly. It was a fantastic two weeks of building relationships with great training mixed in.

Following the short stint in NM, it was time to ship out to Lake Tahoe for the beginning of Tour of California(ToC). It was a beautiful and picturesque setting for the start of my first ToC. The excitement grew for me over the few days I spent there prior to the start. Unfortunately, after several days of beautiful weather, the skies turned and treated us to mid-May snow showers, which forced the cancellation of stage one and shortening of stage two. Despite the rocky start, stage three through eight created some of the best memories I have of cycling to date. With all the pressure of American sponsors and a defending champion on the team, the team delivered through awesome teamwork. It was a true team effort resulting in the overall victory, as well as second place overall and two stage victories.

For me personally, ToC was a huge confidence boost and affirmation to me that I can ride at this level of cycling. Going into stage four, we had the game plan of going fast up Mt. Hamilton to thin the field and then setting Levi and Chris up for Sierra Road. I was nervous about this plan because it was maybe the first time that I was officially being called on to make it to the finale and do the super domestique duties. I was excited but really anxious because I did not want to let my teammates down. On the first rise of the day, Chris felt he had amazing legs and called for the team to drive the pace and decimate the field as much as possible. Honestly, I was almost dropped in the first part of the stage, but thankfully my legs came around and on the ascent of Mt. Hamilton I felt dynamite. After Ben, Markel and Jason were done with their amazing effort, Haimar, Dimitriy and I had to finish the job and deliver Levi and Chris to Sierra Road. I was the last teammate left for Levi and Chris and was able to take them into Sierra road and up a little more than a kilometer. When I pulled off, Chris and Levi flew away from the field, and Chris completed an amazing day by finishing more than a minute ahead of his nearest competitor to take the yellow jersey.

After a few days of successfully defending the jersey due to Ben, Jason and Markel's work on the front, it was time for the queen stage to Mt. Baldy. With new confidence stemming from my performance on Sierra Road and the votes of confidence from my teammates, I felt inspired to have another good day at work. The team took control from the beginning and kept the race within reason. We allowed the break a small gap, but slowly dragged them back throughout the stage until their gap was inside a minute at the base of Mt. Baldy. After Dimitriy finished a dynamite pull into the base of Mt. Baldy, I took over and began to ride a hard tempo. With Chris and Levi on my wheel shouting encouragement and giving directions, I felt inspired to do the best job I could. I rode as long as I could, digging deep to drop other riders from the group. With one last effort, I was able to reel in the last member of the breakaway at about 2.5km to go and set Levi and Chris on their way to take first and second on the stage. In that moment, I was able to live out my dream of being the super domestique in the mountains. It was the highlight of my career, and it was so fun that my family and many friends were there to share it with me.

With a successful ToC behind me and good vibes flowing, it was time for rest and recovery before the US pro championships. For this, Lisa and I headed to Ben King's house in Virginia. Neither Lisa nor I had ever been to Virginia, but I think we may have fallen in love. Maybe it was the King's amazing family or the great food or the spectacular scenery and riding/running, but there is little doubt we will want to visit there again. I especially need to return to the Batesville Store to try another flavor of their tasty brownies and drink a Wisconsin born Sprecher root beer or cream soda, and I would love to get in some more serious training with Ben. After way less than ample time in Virginia, it was time to head for Greenville, SC for the weekend of races.

Coming off the week of great racing in California and a great few days of recovery in Virginia, I felt excited and confident heading into the weekend. I knew my fitness was good, and the team had a good chance of placing well in both the time trial and road race. Still, I had no idea what a weekend I was about to have! It began on Saturday with the time trial. I had little to no pressure going in, which I think is when I perform best. I rolled out of the start house and began riding fast immediately. I could tell quickly I was having a pretty good day and my legs were responding favorably. After seeing intermediate checkpoints and taking mental notes as I went on, I knew I was on a good ride. I dug in hard on the last lap with a little extra motivation to catch the two competitors who were slowly coming back to me. I chased and caught them both inside 3km to go. I drove hard to the line and came across to nab the third and final podium spot by only .12 seconds! It was a pleasant surprise and a great way to start the weekend.

After celebrating the unexpected podium during of the time trial and enjoying a restful Sunday with the family, Monday's road race arrived along with the heat and humidity! With temps already approaching 90 at the start, it was sure to be a brutal day of racing with 185km to race and four drags up Paris Mountain. From the gun, the action was hot. A lot of guys were trying for the break with the hope they could be the next Ben King long bomb breakaway man. It was not to be though. The race was aggressive and soon became a war of attrition. With the heat and humidity, hydration and eating were vital for survival. Lisa and my Mom feeding us was a huge help for Radioshack. Each lap they handed us life-sustaining water or energy drink and ice socks for cooling the body temp.

After the first ascent of Paris Mountain, a solid break away was established with Jason representing the Shack. It was the ultimate team move. Having Jason in the break meant that Ben and I could conserve energy in the field. The next two times up Paris Mountain were relatively uneventful with the exception of a crazy fan running in the middle of the field and in front of me at the top of Paris Mountain the third time. Thankfully he didn't take me or anyone else down and things carried on normally. The fourth and final time up Paris Mountain is usually when the fireworks happen and the final selection is made. Knowing this, I put myself into good position going into the climb. When we hit the base, Tejay drilled it. Only Hincapie and I were able to follow, and we quickly gained a gap on the exploded peloton and rode across to the remaining breakaway. At that point, we had a great situation because Jason was still there to help me. He did everything he could with his last bits of energy until Tejay attacked again and separated himself, Hincapie, Ted King, and me from the rest of the group as we entered town for the final three in-town circuits.

We all cooperated well taking pulls and driving the pace. With the four of us now securely in front, the anxiousness began to set in. How was I going to make my best bid at winning the race? I had several thoughts of launching a long bomb attack, but I was nervous about expending that energy only to be caught and then not have it left for the finish. Maybe that was a bit wimpy or gutless, but the moments passed and as we entered the final kilometer I found myself in a great position on George's wheel. Knowing he was the odds on favorite in our small group for the sprint win, I had a good position to follow his wheel and try to come around in the finish. I decided with 350 meters to go that I needed to try and make the race happen because I didn't trust my sprint. I launched an attack on the final rise going into the last corner and took it into the long home stretch. George was immediately onto my wheel and soon came past me. I was able to swing onto his wheel and regain some momentum as the finish line approached.

We sprinted down the right side of the road, tight to the barriers. The crowd noise was deafening. I remember seeing the meter signs coming by for 200, 150, 100 and then 50 meters to go. The line was approaching way too fast. I moved left and sprinted with everything I had left. It came down to a bike throw and neither George or I knew who had won. I waited anxiously to hear the results. Time seemed to stand still. I stood in the middle of the road as the cameras and press began to swarm. I watched as others finished. Time passed soooo slowly until finally the radio crackled through with the numbers of the top three racers. Two, thirteen, thirty two... I had won! I had beaten the legendary, three time US pro champion George Hincapie to win my first US national title. Wow!

As I sit here on the plane back to Europe and write this, it still seems surreal. The moments and celebrations seem so fleeting. I was shepherded to the stage for interviews, pictures and the podium presentation. The happiness I was feeling was multiplied exponentially by the fact that Lisa and my parents were there. Then as I fumbled through the immediate post-race interview, I remember looking to the road and seeing Ben lifting his bike above his head and Jason raising his arm in celebration. It was an amazing team effort on the day. That team was riders, staff, family, friends and the crowd. Without all of them, the race would not have been the same. Being called to the podium, slipping that stars and stripes jersey over my head, taking the top step of the podium and popping the cork of the champaign are memories I won't soon forget. I had a moment of sadness when I boarded the plane in Greenville not only because I was leaving my family, but I was also leaving behind some of the best moments of my life. I will never forget them. It seemed like it all went by in a flash.

Winning the stars and stripes is a huge honor for me. I look forward to representing my country every day I ride and race. I hope I can do it the justice and give it the dignity of the past champions. Again, I want to thank everyone for the amazing support from near and far. Without the votes of confidence and comments of encouragement, I wouldn't have been able to do it. Thanks especially to Mom, Dad, Aaron, Mike, Jann, Tim and Lisa for being with me from the beginning. I am so blessed to have you all. Also, a huge thanks to Eric, Shane, Lola, Dave and Tim for making the venture to California. It has been a magical May for me, thanks for being a part of it!

Many Successes and Thanks

2011-05-26T18:19:00.002-06:00

The 2011 Amgen Tour of California was a great week of racing for Team RadioShack and myself. It began with the team putting its stamp on the race on stage 4 to Sierra Road. The team drove the pace all day to make the field tired, and Chris finished it off with the stage win and taking the yellow jersey. From that point on, it was our responsibility to control the race, which we were happy to do. Coming in as favorites, we knew the responsibility would come to us eventually, so we were happy to accept. After a couple days of Jason, Ben and Markel taking care of everything, it was time for Haimar, Dmitriy and me to take care of a little business.

The stage finish on Mt. Baldy had been built up as Tour de France caliber since it was announced, and it turned out to be quite the show. RadioShack controlled the race from the gun and under the relentless drive of Ben, Jason and Markel, the field dwindled. It wasn't until about 30km to go that Haimar, Dmitriy and I had to start our jobs. Haimar sacrificed himself one last time to get some bottles for the leaders, then Dmitriy took over into the base of Mt. Baldy, at which point I was left as the last man to help Chris and Levi to the finish. I did my best to ride a hard pace for them and weaken/shed the other riders. At about 2.5km to the finish, I brought back the last remaining break member and was finished. When I pulled off, Levi took over and rode everyone except Chris off the wheel, and they took 1st and 2nd on the stage. It was a great day for the team.

After one more day, the best week of racing I have been a part of was complete. Two stage wins, the overall, and amazing team effort was the stamp we left on the race. For myself personally, I made a big jump in my racing career by helping Chris and Levi in the mountains and learned many more lessons about racing.

The week would not have been the same though, if I had not had the amazing support of all my friends and family. I am sure I am forgetting someone, but a huge thanks to my parents, Lisa's parents, Lisa, Eric, Shane, Lola, Dave, Tim, and all the other Team RadioShack fans who came out to support us. It was a magical week of racing. I will not soon forget it.

The last few days Lisa and I have been hanging out in Virginia with Ben King and his family. The accommodations are great and the riding/relaxation have been wonderful. Tomorrow we leave for Greenville, SC for the US Professional Championships. The time trial is on Saturday and the road race on Monday. Going into the race, Ben is clearly a marked man (defending champion), but we will have to see how things play out during the race in order to decide how to race. Should be a good weekend no matter what though! Family is coming to the race again, so it will be good to spend a little more time with them before it is back to Europe again! I'll do my best to update along the way.

Long Day Done

2011-05-19T18:52:00.001-06:00

Today's 217km stage from Seaside to Paso Robles was long and beautiful. The stage started through the beautiful Carmel Valley on a road I had trained on a couple years ago. It was cool to ride through and recognize some of the road. After a less beautiful middle of the stage, the ride into Paso Robles was again beautiful scenery; although, the pace rose and the suffering reacted accordingly.

The stage started with a few hard rollers and KOMs. The break went just before the summit of the first official KOM, and we were happy to see it go because it was only 4 riders, which makes our job of control throughout the day easier, and everyone's legs were a bit fatigued after the short but hard day in the saddle yesterday. Unfortunately we screwed up by not giving the break enough leash in the beginning, so some other guys started jumping across the gap making us resume a hard chase. Eventually things settled down again, but the break grew to 11 with a few dangerous men, so the chase was a little bit harder. The day was not easy for me riding in the caboose at the end of our train, but Ben, Jason and Markel were machines today doing 90% of the work on the front. Hats off to them. In the end, the team rode great and no damage was done at the finish.

Tomorrow is the time trial in Solvang where Levi has won three times. The race is not between Chris and Levi, but they are both racing, so naturally a little competition exists. The team morale and spirit is great though, no animosity is there. Both Chris and Levi are in great condition, along with the rest of a strong field. It will be a great show. For me, it is a "rest day" because my goal is not the gc. My goal is to be as recovered as possible to do work for Chris and Levi on Saturday and Sunday. There are going to be a lot of fireworks still. Stay tuned!

I wanted to post the picture of the new addition to my bike's paint job. Stay strong Aunt Mary, we love you.

I want to make a small note to any of my Luther alums, too. I don't necessarily believe in good/bad omens or superstitions, but while on the massage table the night before stage four, the song "Psychokiller" came through the playlist of the soigneur. After hearing the song, I knew the next day would be good, and Team RS delivered a great day! Go Norse!

On The Bus

2011-05-19T08:59:00.000-06:00

We are on the bus going to stage five of ToC. After a great, successful day for Team RS yesterday, it was a short but relaxing evening in the hotel. Up early for breakfast at 630 and on the bus for a 110km transfer to the start at 930.

The team rode strong from the start of stage four yesterday and put a sure mark of power and control on the race. With Chris in the race lead now, we will have a few days of work cut out for us. We're ready for the job with a super strong team. Thanks for the support and cheers. Take care.

A Couple Stages Done

2011-05-17T21:48:00.000-06:00

It's the evening after stage "2" and I am ready for the mountains to come tomorrow. After a disappointing cancelation of stage one, we had a shortened stage two due to the same weather front. Today we finally got to ride a complete stage, and I had my fill of un-needed excitement for the week. I had a minor crash about half way through the stage, followed by a flat tire as we entered Modesto for the finishing circuits. I came out relatively unscathed, but I am happy to go to bed this evening and put this day of work behind me. I much prefer to get to tomorrow's stage and help Levi officially start his campaign toward his 4th title. The ascent of Mt. Hamilton and finish up Sierra Road are sure to make some fireworks and make the first big gc shake up.

On other notes, I was happy to see my parents and wife at the start today. They are going to be here the rest of the week sharing the race with Team RadioShack and me. It will be nice to have their support in person all week. I should also give a congratulatory shout out to my brother and his new fiancee. I am excited to have a sister! I will report back soon. Thanks for checking in.

Please Stay Beautiful Lake Tahoe

2011-05-14T19:38:00.001-06:00

It's officially the day before the start of the 2011 Tour of California, and Team RadioShack is 100% ready mentally and physically. We enter the race as heavy favorites and are excited to carry that "burden" on our shoulders. Undoubtedly we have assembled a strong team with the ambition of getting Levi his 4th title. He has prepared, and now we simply need to deliver him to his time, and there is little doubt in my mind he will deliver.

Emerald Bay and the Lake Tahoe backdrop.

The boys playing in the snow.

I arrived to Tahoe on Thursday and have enjoyed two days of easy riding to shake the legs out and ensure freshness for the start tomorrow. It is going to be a hard week of racing with a few Tour de France quality stages and a strong field of riders assembled. I did a little exploring around the hotel area yesterday. It is beautiful here in many different facets from the surroundings to restaurants to shops. It is a definite tourist haven for the sport enthusiast, although the general tourist looking for a nice, tranquil, mountain getaway will find peace here, too. Heck, even the water skier and beach goer would love it here in summer because Lake Tahoe has beautiful beaches and refreshing water in the summer! Wow, I sound like a tourism board commercial. Seriously though, it is very nice here. I guess this is a big perk of my job. Many times I don't get the opportunity to really see a place, but sometimes I get a little time to have a slightly more intimate look, and I am glad I had the chance here.

The amazing custom Team RadioShack ToC paint job.

With the start approaching tomorrow, I am sad to report that the weather is looking more like winter than mid spring with snow showers and temps in the low 30's forecasted. I am asking Lake Tahoe to stay beautiful, but whatever is thrown at me/us, we will embrace it. It could be a very interesting start to the race! It really is special for me to be taking part in the biggest US race and arguably the most important race for Team RadioShack. I am super excited for the family and friends coming to be a part of this special race with me. Many friends and family will be arriving/viewing various portions of the race, and it is just a reminder for me of the awesome support I have. For that I am truly thankful and really lucky. Unfortunately I have to report that their travels are all a waste because I decided to take up a new sport on my way in from training today...

...

Meet my new friend Gizmo!

...

I will now pursue professional mini-horse/pony jockeying!

On This Day...

2011-05-09T17:42:00.001-06:00

...in 1985, to Craig and Cindy Busche, was born a boy they named Matthew. Yes, today I grow one year older. Thank you to everyone who has messaged or called to wish me happy birthday. It has been a nice day. Lisa and I have hung out together as she wraps up loose ends with school, and I wrap up loose ends before leaving for Tour of California on Thursday. We got a nice cup of coffee together this morning and relaxed for breakfast and Giro viewing together. Then it was exercise time. Now we are killing off some of the tasks before dinner.

Tonight we have a nice date planned at a new restaurant we discovered last Fall. It is a quaint little place in Mesilla with lots of charm. I think it is a house turned into restaurant, but what is really cool is the way they have kept it original. Much of the decor is still the same from outside to inside. Also, the story is still well exposed about how the restaurant came to be and the history surrounding the house. Needless to say, I am excited to spend a nice evening with my wife! Post dinner, there may be a stop at Mickey D's for a dollar hot fudge sundae; although, this is still up for debate. Then it will be homeward for co-baking of banana bread! Such an exciting evening ahead, I can hardly wait to get going.

Yesterday was another nice day in NM. It began with a good training session for me. I was up and out the door early to avoid the heat and wind. I rode the majority by myself, but had a partner in Dave for the climb up Soledad Canyon. I was happy to have the company, and he didn't make the climb easy! After splitting ways, I was off to do one last climb in Picacho Hills before heading home. While in Picacho, I met a random cyclist/fan named Gabriel. In real brief conversation, I found out he and his wife/girlfriend are considering the move from Scottsdale to Las Cruces, he is a cyclist himself, and he is an obvious cycling fan. He was excited to see me out there and excited to meet me. It's always nice to meet fans and make new acquaintances. After being literally blown across town by the wind, I was nearing the end of my ride. I had one last one stop at Pic-Quik though because we needed more lime juice for the infamous Corn-Black Bean Salsa/Dip. After successfully scoring a .69 cent bottle of lime juice, I was home for the day, 5:20 in the bank.

The afternoon was consumed by a wonderful BBQ hosted by the Cunicos (thank you!). It was a great get together to see people just a little bit in my brief stint in Las Cruces, and it was also deemed a good opportunity to give me a birthday party. We had great food, conversation and company. We watched the Tour of California preview show on Versus, then just hung out in the beautiful sunny weather, even threw around the football. It was a great way to end the weekend.

A few more days of training before I go. The weather is still nice, although there is some front or low pressure system moving/moved in that is causing the notorious NM winds to happen. Looks like I will have to be up and out early to try and avoid them the next couple days. Ok, I can't wait to go on my date anymore. Ciao!

Good Morning NM

2011-05-07T12:36:00.000-06:00

It was a good morning to join the ZiaVelo group ride. I had a lot of fun catching up with people. Thanks a lot to the group for welcoming me back and making the ride enjoyable.

Other than the group ride, I am close to wrapping up a week of solid training in preparation for California. Lisa and I made a trip up to Silver City for Tuesday and Wednesday to allow me the opportunity to train at altitude with some good climbs. Wednesday I trained with Tejay VanGarderen. It was nice to get to know him a bit. The trip was a nice chance for Lisa and I to relax, too. Although the time was short, we enjoyed ourselves a lot. We stayed in a small cabin thanks to some new friends we met through Garret and Dave (thanks guys!). It was a great pleasure to stay there and be able to get a chance to get to know the owners, Robert and Melinda. They have many great stories to tell and experiences to talk about. We are really excited to be able to go back some time in the future and hear more stories about their past.

Thursday I will be flying out for Tour of California, and before I know it, the race will start on Sunday! I am excited to start the race and happy to shoulder the pressure of the team with expectations of winning. I know we have a strong team and the strong riders to win the race. Hope we will fulfill the expectations! Check back for race reports and updates. Thanks for supporting Team RadioShack and me.

Good Reunions

2011-05-01T20:47:00.001-06:00

Back in Las Cruces and happy to report Lisa and I have been enjoying reuniting with friends. Yesterday we ventured up to Silver City for me to train a little, see the Tour of the Gila criterium and hang out with some friends we haven't seen for a long time. The first part of the day was a drive up toward Silver City with Lisa dropping me off to start my training. It was a great day for training despite the breeziness. I was excited and happy to be back on the roads by Silver City. With Lisa being my support crew, I was able to carry out a great training session ending in downtown Silver where I would run into some friends from the Midwest.

Within 5 minutes of rolling into town, I was talking to Sarge and Dene, friends from college/Decorah. Although it hadn't actually been real long since seeing them, it was great to catch up. I also ran into some old teammates or riders I had ridden with in the past. It was good to catch up with them. A short time was spent seeing a few guys from LC, too, but I look forward to seeing more of them on a ride or two. A long overdue reunion was with Garrett. Seriously, the guy was in our wedding, and we haven't seen him since! It was great to catch up with him and meet his girlfriend, Danyel. Unfortunately, Lisa and I had to get back to LC that night, but our short time to catch up was still wonderful.

There isn't much else to report. I have begun a good training block for California now. I am heading back up to Silver City this week, although I don't have my housing nailed down yet! Maybe I'll be camping. Anyway, I am excited to do a solid week of training in preparation for the big objective of California. Ciao.

Sweet NM

2011-04-27T21:12:00.001-06:00

I am returned to the "Land of Enchantment" for almost 24 hours now, and I have been nothing short of enchanted. Where do I start? Upon landing last night in El Paso, I was greeted by my familiar friends, the gusty winds of NM. I guess they missed me! Then as I arrived to Las Cruces and the house, I could see the mountains glowing from wildfire. Yes, my mountains are on fire! In the light today, it was easy to see the smoke billowing off the fire-stricken area(s).

It is really hard for me to believe I have been away for close to 5 months. I had this serious revelation on my ride today as I was noticing the pecan groves in full bloom. Incredible for me to believe that when I had left, they were getting ready to harvest the pecans. Now they are watering, fertilizing, preparing the grounds, etc. Anyway, the training was nice. I was short on time, but I really enjoyed the beautiful sun, warm temps and light winds. The less enjoyable moment of my ride was getting a flat. I can't even make it one day riding here without a flat! After my ride, I enjoyed a much needed straightening at Daugherty Chiropractic. Chris does great work, and always helps me to feel better. And to finish this day off, I got doping control today already! A busy 24 hours, but I am happy to be home. I am super excited to go get some good mexican food. Also excited to have a trip or two up to the mountains by Silver City and/or Ruidoso or Cloudcroft for some good training.

I suppose I owe an update from my week in Belgium. Fleche was a rough race for me. I had good legs, but something was off for me. There was just something not clicking for me, so all in all I was a bit disappointed in the end. I am happy to have had the experience for my future though. Sunday was Liege, and it was super difficult. I made it to La Redoute, the same as last year, but I think I was stronger this year than last. I do have a regret from the race though. There was a certain moment after the first big selection of the race when I was near the front of the field and some attacks were going. I hesitated to follow the move(s) and knew immediately that I had missed a big opportunity to do my job for my team and give myself a great chance for finishing highly in the race. Despite this disappointment, I feel like it is a good sign of my maturation as a rider to recognize these moments and know where/when I need to be in a race.

My next race is Tour of California. I am excited to take part in my first ToC. I am also honored to be a part of the team for such an important race for our team. The race is going to be pretty epic I am sure. It will be even better for me because I will have family, Busches and Savres, coming out for parts of the race. It is going to be fun to see everyone. Ciao ciao!

Amstel Gold

2011-04-18T07:42:00.005-06:00

It was a golden day in the Netherlands for the Amstel Gold race. The day greeted us with good temperatures and clear skies. Being totally atypical for the weather this time of year, I certainly was not complaining! It was an early start to the day though after being used to the Spanish schedule of Pais Vasco. Most days in Pais Vasco, we were waking up at 9-930am, while yesterday we were already at the start! That is totally necessary though when the race is 260km long.

The race started off pretty nicely with relatively flatter roads and only a few small climbs. For me, it was a brutal start because my legs were totally blocked. I had fear going into the race that I would be struggling from the start, and my fear was confirmed. I thought for a short moment that I was going to get shot out the back before 20km was past. I was barely hanging on the back of the nearly 200 rider peleton. I made it through the initial hour plus of racing finally starting to feel better. The pace was high for the first hour (~50kmh), and I was actually hoping we were going to continue like that because then the 260km would go faster, but inevitably it had to slow down, which it did after the break went around the 50km mark. Then it was time to settle in for a long day in the saddle.

Thankfully the long day in the saddle was never super boring thanks to the small roads, hundreds of turns and never-ending road furniture. If we weren't going up or down, we were going left or right, or we were swerving to avoid a traffic island or squeeze between some sort of traffic control strewn about the roadway. I was blessed with good weather for my first Amstel experience, but I can only imagine what this race is like if it is rainy and/or windy. I hope it stays that way, too! Although I do hope to come back and race the race again, so surely my luck cannot always be so good.

For the total of the 260km race, I don't think we ventured outside of a 40km square area. The race was constantly overlapping itself and circling here, there, everywhere. I was so confused where we actually were, but it didn't matter too much. My only job was to survive and try to help the team when it was needed. The whole day was a battle for me. With such small roads and so many riders, it was nearly impossible to be in good position the whole time. For me being such a good "position" rider, it was a particular struggle. I don't know if I saw the top half of the peleton more than 30 minutes of the 6.5 hour race yesterday. It was really frustrating actually, and I am sure a huge waste of energy. Usually it is much easier to ride in the front of the race because the "flow" is much better up there; a lot less braking in the corners followed by the accelerations out of the corners. Being in the front is not always the easiest though because that is where everyone wants to be! I was a victim of positioning several times yesterday. On one climb, I was at a stand still three times because the roads were so narrow. On another climb, I turned for the start and was immediately stopped at the bottom because we had turned off a wider road onto a narrower road, so inevitably it was clogged. Those are the things that cause a lot of energy waste and where positioning is key.

As far as how the race played out, it is very much a race of survival because of the distance and plentiful small climbs (31 "classified" yesterday, but there were plenty of extras) wearing you down slowly. If you have good positioning and take care of the important things like eating/drinking enough throughout the day, you have a good chance of making the front group when the first big selections are made. For me, I was in good enough positioning, and my legs were starting to feel much better toward the end of the race, that I was able to make the first big selections of the race. Then as the pace moved up and the finale was approaching, I was able to help the team with some last minute bottle/gel delivery, but then got caught behind/in two different crashes. Chasing back on from these crashes wasted a lot of energy for me, and despite my legs coming much stronger toward the end of the race, I was unable to make it to a small group over the top of one of the climbs. I was only 50 meters off the back as we were approaching the summit of one of the climbs, but I could not make the connection. I chased hard over the top and for the next 10km but never rejoined. Despite feeling disappointed in missing that group, I am very happy that my legs were feeling so much stronger toward the end of the day because that hopefully means they will be strong for Fleche and Liege.

This morning has brought a nice sunny day again. After a nice breakfast, it was time for some relaxed recovery training. An hour out along the canal, a coffee/tea stop, and an hour back. A nice lunch post ride. This afternoon a massage and dinner this evening. The rest of the day is laying on the bed surfing the internet, watching TV (they have English TV here!), reading and napping. It can get old/boring after awhile, but after 260km yesterday, I am happy to partake! Ok it is back to recovering/relaxing here.

The News

2011-04-14T13:30:00.000-06:00

Alright, it has been a week since I said I would update in a couple days after the final stage TT at Pais Vasco. To sum that up, the TT was tough and turned out great for Team RadioShack. Kloden and Horner turned in solid TTs to finish off the week of hard racing to land 1 and 2 on the podium. It was very rewarding for the me to be a part of the team for the week and see the work help land my teammates 1 and 2 overall. For me personally, the race was great for the experience and a tiring week of racing. I really enjoyed it though.

For the quick catch up since Vuelta Pais Vasco, it has been the usual recover and relax for a few days before getting ready for another race. Lisa and I enjoyed a beautiful bike ride with coffee on one of my easy days. I do have to say though that she did not take it easy on me. At one moment, she attacked, forcing me to put in a pretty good dig to return to her wheel. It was a very enjoyable afternoon/day with riding, watching Paris Roubaix and a great dinner.

Today is not such a nice day though. I had to take Lisa to the airport for her return to the US. It has been an amazingly fast 3 months, but the time was up and the two weeks we are apart will not go quick enough now! To help the time go quicker though, I will be spending the next week in Belgium doing the three one-day classics of the Ardennes. Originally, I was scheduled to do only Fleche and Liege on Wednesday and next Sunday, but shortly after returning to Girona from dropping Lisa off, I received a phone call from my director saying I am now to do Amstel on this Sunday. That means I leave on Saturday, return next Sunday and fly to the US on next Tuesday. Boy I have a lot of things to take care of before then and now and only two days to do it! Wish me luck.

Queen Stage

2011-04-07T14:22:00.000-06:00

Today's fourth stage was the queen stage of this years Vuelta Pais Vasco. It has occurred to me that queen stage is almost certainly synonymous with painful stage, and today was no exception. I started the stage trying to cover the breakaways, and it was really painful because my legs were really blocked and tired from yesterday's efforts. Thankfully the break didn't take too long to go (only about 30 minutes), and I was able to eat and drink to try and save myself for the upcoming climbs.

When we hit the first categorized climb of the day, my legs had not gotten better, and I was certain that I was going to get dropped. I felt awful. Then the second climb of the day was another unnecessary suffer-fest for me. For whatever reason, I just couldn't get my body going today. The stage took us over the final climb twice. The first time we did a small deviation at the top to descend and take in another climb before returning to the final climb for the finish. The first time up the final climb I was again really suffering. I made it over the top, and in the next valley, I came back to the front with the team. Then on the next climb I felt spectacular! It was so weird. That is the funny thing about the body though! Sometimes things are going horrible and if you can just make it through, then all the sudden you are great.

On the final climb of the day, my job was done, so it was up to Chris and Kloden to do their job and finish. Today they delivered again and stayed on same time with the leader. Unless something crazy happens tomorrow, they will have a great opportunity to win the race on Saturday's sixth and final stage, the individual time trial. Both are strong time trialists, and it would be great to see one of them win. I hope to bring good news with my next post!

Threes...

2011-04-05T14:06:00.000-06:00

How does that saying go... "Bad/good things come in threes"? That was the story of my life today in stage two of Vuelta Pais Vasco. I began the day feeling fine and helping to cover the breakaways. Then all the sudden thud, thud and pss-ss-ss-ss. Double flat! Shoot. I called the car and got both changed, but I had a lot of work to do to make up the ground with the field going super fast still because the break was not established. I caught at the base of the first climb but didn't get any reprieve because of the climb and lack of break still. I survived over the top and was very happy to see the break finally go. I did my best to recover and get ready for the rest of the stage.

I was doing ok and ready to move to the front about 45km to go, but then I flatted again. Let the process begin over! I chased for awhile and caught again at the base of the next climb. Thankfully the tempo was not too crazy, but it still was not pleasant. I again did my best to recover and fuel up for the finale, but I was pretty much finished. I had burned a few to many matches so to speak. I actually got dropped on the descent/into the valley after the climb I had caught back on. I just couldn't go any harder/faster, legs smoked. Thankfully the pace settled and I was able to ride back through the cars to the field. After this I was able to move up a little and survive over the final short but really steep climb.

After this the race was full on as the break was being caught and teams were setting up for the final climb. We were on a big valley road gradually climbing to the last 3km of real climb. I did my best to be around Chris and Kloden in order to offer my bike or a wheel if either of them had problems. When we hit the base of the climb, I blew up. My energy was finished. I rode it in and was pleased to hear Kloden had taken the yellow. So yes today was threes for me. I guess it was only one set of threes, but it was still three! Off to sleep now. I need to recover for the day of work ahead.

The Busche's Recipe

2011-04-03T00:26:00.001-06:00

A Wonderful Day:

Enjoy a leisurely wake up with your significant other.
Make French Toast, eggs and coffee for breakfast.
Take a stroll through the flower market trying to decide what plant(s)/flower(s) you want to buy.
Go ride your bike or explore new hiking/running trails with a couple friends.
Clean up and hop on the moped to take a drive through the flowering fields.
Take a stop during your drive to have an amazing 2 hour lunch including a bottle of water, a bottle of wine, fire-toasted bread with fresh tomatoes and garlic cloves for topping/flavoring, a first plate, a second plate, dessert and coffee. Be sure you sit outside in the broken shade of a tree with a view of the valley/countryside below.
Return on the moped back to town and do some random shopping.
Register for a local running race on the next day.
Go over to one of the city gardens and pick fresh rosemary.
Return home at the brink of exhaustion.
Make lemon-garlic-white wine-rosemary roasted chicken with sauteed zucchini for dinner.
While eating dinner, watch a favorite TV show/episode.
After dinner is finished, use the next commercial break to do the dishes and make popcorn.
Finish TV show and eat popcorn.
Snuggle up and fall asleep 100% happy and content.

Thank you for an amazing day yesterday Lisa!

A Few Days Late!

2011-04-01T11:40:00.000-06:00

I wanted to share a few images of what happens when I return from a weekend of racing and decide to take a rest day with my wife. Despite her dwindling sickness, she had enough energy to go out and play dress up with her husband. I was a good sport and played along. I actually sort of liked the button-up sweater because it was dressy and super comfortable. It was too expensive for my blood though. The other outfit was Lisa trying to make me look super European with the matching colors and what not. To be honest, I actually kind of dug it for the few minutes I had it on. I thought I looked pretty good in it. Take away the orange shoes and I could actually see myself wearing it. Maybe not the hat but maybe the shirt and scarf on a cool fall day.

The last one is a minor road block that Timmy and I ran into on my last big training session before Pais Vasco. We really should have gone back, but the hill we had just come down didn't seem so inviting and once Timmy was up and halfway across, I didn't have much choice! I must say that crossing a boulder and scree slope that has a 15 meter drop to water resevoir, while wearing cycling shoes and carrying a bike, is not my idea of being safe or smart. To the kids out there, remember I am a professional and trained to perform such stunts. Attempting such acts without proper training or adult supervision can be dangerous and life threatening! Yes funny now that it is over but not smart for partaking (sorry moms and wife). The ride was really good though despite the road block. I felt strong during my intervals, and it was fun to have Timmy to as a training partner during them. I'm looking forward to Pais Vasco! Check out Steephill.tv for information. Peace.

Birthday Wishes

2011-03-27T04:46:00.001-06:00

I would like to issue a shout out to my wonderful mother on her birthday today. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!! You are the best. Thanks for always being there for me and offering so much support throughout my life. Have a great day. Love you.

Beautiful Corsica

2011-03-26T13:01:00.000-06:00

I am here on the French island of Corsica for the two day, three stage Criterium International. My travels here yesterday brought back some fond memories from the 2010 season. First and foremost was the long travel day. For me it started at 4:50am. The alarm rang, I folded and packed a few last minutes items I had washed, closed the suitcase, ran through the checklist in my mind again, kissed Lisa farewell and was off to catch the 5:35am bus to the Barcelona airport. After two flights totaling only about 2:15 airtime, a long airport layover and a 2.5 hour drive, I was very happy to arrive at the hotel at 5:15pm (12.5 hours of travel = LONG DAY!). It was nice to arrive to a familiar hotel (same as last year). A short 30 minutes on the trainer, massage and dinner, and I was ready to tackle the first stage.

The stage had some repeat from last year, but it was much longer and much harder I think. The finishing climb was the same, but different conditions and different riders lent the race a different scenario. In the beginning, it took almost 70km for the break to go. It was pretty difficult and quite fast despite a constantly up/down parcours. After the break went, it was time for recovery and regeneration in hopes of being strong in the finish. My legs felt strong most of the day, probably the strongest they have felt all year. These sensations make me very happy with where my condition is hopefully going. As is normal, as the day progressed and the kilometers and climbing added up, the fatigue began to set in. I was mostly comfortable until the last few kilometers of the second to last climb. As we approached the summit, I could feel the lactic really beginning to creep in. I did my best to eat/drink to help buffer it and prepare for the final climb, but it was not going to make a difference.

As we descended off the top and into the valley, it was time to go to work. With the break still out front, it was time to start upping the pace higher and bring them back. I went to the front with Paulinho and some guys from Leopard and Euskatel, and we drilled it. At the base of the final climb we had reeled the break back to less than 20 seconds. I did my best to take one last pull/follow some guys as we closed the gap, but I was finished. I pulled off and hoped Kloden and Tiago had the legs for the finale. Despite being disappointed that I was not going to be trying for the final group, I took a little pride in seeing that I had helped deplete the group to 30 or so riders. The first group went away, and I recovered a bit and rode my own tempo to the finish. Overall I am very happy with how the day went. I did my job for the team, and I am excited about my form.

Tomorrow brings a double stage day. It starts with a 75km circuit in the morning and a short 7km TT in the afternoon. I believe the circuit is reverse from last year. I remember it being very tight and twisty, always up/down along some coastal roads. The TT is the same from last year with a short climb straight out the gate. Then a quick descent and a flat finishing stretch. I don't know what exactly to expect, but it should be a good day. I think the weather is good again, which always helps to make the job a little bit more enjoyable! See ya.

Another Lesson

2011-03-23T02:12:00.000-06:00

Yesterday I had intentions of a solid 4.5 hours of training with a few good climbing efforts. The morning began with a little bit of sun and cloud mixture, but all in all everything looked ok. I headed off into the mountains neglecting to take into account the more numerous clouds in that direction. I began my climb up into the mountains and everything was fine until I was about 15km up. That is when the weather took a turn.

What started as a nice day with good temps and favorable conditions, quickly turned into a 10+ degree celsius drop in temperature and the beginnings of a very miserable next couple hours. With 5km to go to the top and the weather being only spotty, I continued on. It was definitely against my better judgement considering I didn't have a rain jacket, and I knew if I got wet in these temperatures, I was going to be freezing. I did not turn around though hoping that the rain/snow/hail/sleet was only temporary and spotty. At first it was, so I continued on. When I got to the top, I descended down another road about 6km to where I was going to begin my first interval. All was good, the interval going fine, legs doing ok until about 1 km from the top and the storm cloud I thought had been moving across the valley away from me actually came to me! The weather took a turn for absolute misery. It was big hail/snow balls/flakes coming down like a heavy spring rain.

I finished my interval at the top and had to decide which way to go down. In hindsight, I realize I definitely chose wrongly. I went down the mountain in the same direction the storm was travelling, which meant I was in the storm longer than I needed to be. Needless to say, I was soaked and frozen by the time I was a few km down the descent and needed refuge. I made it another 15km down the descent wanting nothing more than a blanket, fire and hot drink before deciding I had to bail out in the only town along the way. I stopped at a cafe and ordered a coffee and hot sandwich. My hands were completely frozen and burning, but holding the warm drink in between my hands never felt so good. Eventually I stopped shivering and knew I was going to live, but there was no way I was going back out with wet clothes to finish another 10km of descending. I ordered another coffee and hoped that my clothes would begin to dry a bit from my own body heat.

During this time in the cafe, I was scheming how I could get home. I thought if I could get down the last 10km I could catch the bus home. I knew a taxi was possible but too expensive. I also thought of having Lisa bring me clothes with the moped. I even messaged a few friends with a car, but nothing really made sense. Finally a miracle happened. One of the old ladies who worked/owned the cafe asked if I was cold and felt my clothing (I must have not looked so happy). Then she asked if I wanted her to start a fire. I happily agreed and took my coffee over to sit by the fire for the next 45 minutes hoping I could get warm and dry out. After finding some warmth, burning/melting my glove in the fire and drying out a little, I decided I could brave the outside again and had to get home. The sun was poking out every so often now, and the rain had stopped, so I was going to be ok.

The fire was able to turn my frown upside down!

I hopped on the bicicleta and began to pedal as fast as I could to try and generate body heat and get the engine firing again. I made it down the descent and decided I was going to try and make this ride still count a little. I took a longer route home and tried to do another one of my efforts on a small climb. My riding was suffering though because I felt like my head and body were detached from one another. I don't know if the lady at the cafe had given me two caffeinated coffees instead of the decaf I asked for, but I felt like I was in a different world. I did eventually make it home though and was greeted at that point by the Telefonica technician installing our new internet. Thankfully Lisa had that taken care of, and he was all finished; I said hi, thanks and bye.

Normally after an epic adventure like this, a person might sit home and sip tea or soak in the warmth of dry clothes, but Lisa and I had planned to go to Banyoles to watch the finish of Volta Catalunya and there was no backing down! I showered, put on some warm clothes, and we rode the moped to Banyoles. We got there in time to see three of the four finishing circuits and watch Petacchi take home the sprint victory. After the race, we walked to the team bus. Lisa stopped to talk with a few girlfriends (significant others of riders who were racing) while I went to the bus to talk with the directors. After that we enjoyed a "xocolat" and pastry before we headed home. A nice hot bowl of soup to warm the soul and time to relax before bed. I was glad to lay my head on the pillow last night and put the day behind me.

Words Through Pictures

2011-03-21T15:22:00.004-06:00

The weather was junk for about two weeks straight, so I
decided to go buy a hose for bike washing. We live on
the second story... notice the hose descending from the
top of the picture. The system: hook hose to washing
machine, run through spare bedroom window down to
sidewalk where a man clad in spandex claiming to be
professional waits with a pot (not a bucket) of soapy
water and sponge. Spray with water, wash with
sponge-type towel and soapy water, rinse off.
Lisa finds this system funny.

We took advantage of a nice afternoon recently to take
our first moped adventure. We went up and around Els
Angels and had plans to get a coffee in a small
country-side town, but that failed. We ended
up getting cold, having no coffee and
stopping at the grocery store.
We did have fun though!

I have to thank my bicycle for giving Lisa and me the opportunity to go to the coast
for an afternoon. I was riding home on Friday and noticed my bike felt very flexy,
almost like I was riding a noodle. Long story short, I discovered the steerer tube of
my fork had cracked and was not far from causing catastrophe.I am thanking the
cycling gods that nothing worse than the inconvenience of not having my bike
for a day occured. Conveniently, the team is racing near Girona this week, so Lisa
and I took my bike over to the mechanics to get it fixed. While the mechanics
did their work, we took the time to pay our first visit of the year to the coast.

Taking a little hike up on the coastline. It was windy but sunny!

Sorry for ruining the real beauty with the guy in the foreground.
Shortly after his photo-op, we were off to find a baguette for our tuna, avocado
sandwiches. Post lunch we enjoyed a cafe con leche and some fudge long the
beach. Then we strolled the city for a little while before returning to my bike and
making the drive back to Girona. It was a great afternoon!

Mother Nature

2011-03-17T09:44:00.000-06:00

Ok, be honest here, how many of you have witnessed the birth of a live animal? I'm raising my hand because today on my ride I saw a sheep born. I was riding along and looked into the herd of sheep because one was making a lot of noise. That is when I noticed the one laying on the ground bellowing because she was pushing a baby out of her through an opening that was arguably too small for the baby sheep coming out of it.

I was riding with Steven Cozza and Daryl Impey, and we decided to swing around and watch this amazing act of nature. It was truly incredible. I didn't take any pictures or film, but I wish I had. It was pretty neat. After the birth, the mother sheep just got up and walked away. She continued to pasture about 50meters away, while the baby struggled to figure out what was happening. We waited to see if it would stand/walk, but after 5 or so minutes, we decided to finish our training. It was a very interesting even to witness.

For the training, it was nice. Great to have guys to ride with and very nice to catch up with Steven and Daryl. The weather has finally turned nice, and I am hoping it stays for a little while now. It is off to spend a nice afternoon with my wife now! Cheers.

Fun Fact of the Day

2011-03-16T06:08:00.000-06:00

It was brought to my attention by Lisa that the determining factor for your speed of drinking hot liquids such as coffee/tea is the number of times you must reheat the beverage prior to finishing it. There you have it!

And I should expand/explain a little about my last post. To clarify my mechanical and personal problems in the break on Sunday, I had front derailleur problems at the start of the second climb and dropped my chain. After getting it fixed with the help of Mavic neutral support, I chased for the entire climb and regained contact in the last 500 meters. Maybe it was perfectly planned timing for me to rejoin then, but really it was just the way it happened. I was chasing pretty hard only 30 seconds down, they were only 200-300 meters in front of me, but it was a daunting task after working hard to get into the break and not being recovered yet. Thankfully there was a flat spot about 1km to the top, and it gave me the opportunity to get a little extra speed and close the gap with a little less effort. Once I was back in the group, I had the personal problem of not being able to eat/drink to stay fueled. It is more of an experience thing than personal problem, but I don't know how else to describe it! Anyway, I was fighting to find the opportunity to eat/drink with the rain gear, twisty/slippery roads, always up or down. It is just something I have to learn better how to prepare for. Those are my clarifications!

For a quick update, the synonym for Girona right now is RAIN. I think it has rained for at least a week now. The river in town fluctuates a lot. Yesterday it was way up on it's banks, but today it is down a little bit. The rest day was pretty good yesterday. I have to get out yet today, but I am hoping to catch a dry patch this afternoon. Wish me luck!

It's Finished

2011-03-14T03:21:00.000-06:00

I survived Paris-Nice and am happy to be back home in Girona. Overall it was a successful race. The team rode very well and although a victory would have been great, we were happy Kloden, Jani and Levi took 2, 6, and 7 respectively. For me, it was another great learning experience. It is the biggest race I have participated in, and probably the best team I have been racing with/for. I learned a lot from the race and my teammates. I had fun getting into the break on the last day, too. Unfortunately some special circumstances, mechanical and personal, killed my chances to survive, but I can't make excuses. In the end of it all, I have left Paris-Nice feeling positive and knowing it is going to make me a stronger, better cyclist. Now it's time to recover and enjoy some time with my wife! Thanks for keeping tabs.

Bed Time Story

2011-03-11T15:28:00.001-07:00

The story goes that I have returned from the food room after retrieving a small bowl of cereal as a bed time snack. To be specific, the cereal was part Special K Red Berries and part Special K Yogurt with a drizzle of honey over the top. Anyway, I am enjoying my cereal, but toward the end I begin to cough a little because something went in/down wrong. Then Levi says, "Slow down man. I'm not giving you the Heimlich! Plus I don't know how." We start laughing and say that I would be over here coughing/choking, and he would be saying, "Hold on, I am Googling how to do the Heimlich." Then I finished the cereal and he says, "Are you done finally? Sounds like you're playing the drums." Evidently I was clanging.

Then a short while later, Levi starts giving me a hard time about this or that. Anyway, we got into looking things up on the internet and talking about funny things. Then we got into talking about funny cycling stuff, and I told him to Google "Gray Wolf Tucson". It's a very unique cyclist in Tucson who I encourage you all to take a look at. Now we have diverged into the massive web of videos on YouTube. Good stuff.

Quickly about the stage. Yes disappointing that we lost the jersey, but it was not for a lack of effort. For me, it was more of a rest day because I needed to conserve my energy for hopefully defending the jersey. Unfortunately no defense tomorrow but hopefully Sunday! Ok way too late, good night!

Kloden in Yellow!

2011-03-10T14:52:00.000-07:00

It was a good day for Team RadioShack in Paris-Nice. Andreas Kloden took the stage victory and yellow jersey on what is considered the queen stage of the race. It was a really hard stage, and it is really awesome to see Kloden take home the victory. Tomorrow is the TT, and competition will be tough, but I have a good feeling that Kloden can make a real run at holding the jersey.

For me today was pretty difficult. The stage started really difficult with attacks and the normal happenings. It took a really long time for the break to go. The first 90 minutes were super hard. I was dropped going up the category 1, but made my way back on the descent. Then the stage got pretty hard when attacks began flying on the category 2 climb about 130km in. The pace from there didn't relent. It was up and down another two climbs/descents. Then the final descent was crazy fast and twisty. I was nearly dizzy by the bottom. In the final valley, there was a group of 7 guys up the road, and I went to the front to help pull them back. We had them within 10 seconds at the turn to the final climb, and my job and day were done. I pulled the plug and rode it in. It's getting late now, so I best get to bed. Ciao.

Find more information about the race/stage on VeloNews or CyclingNews or Steephill.tv or the RadioShack website.

It's Getting Difficult!

2011-03-09T14:26:00.000-07:00

The fourth stage was a beauty today. I tried to get into the breakaway as directed by the team knowing it was a good day for the break but no luck. I was near the front when Voeckler attacked, but holy cow did he go so fast that I never would have been able to follow. Kudos to the guys who were able to!

For me, I felt good on the bike today and am hoping it carries through to tomorrow. After the break was gone, it was the normal tempo riding in the field. It was nervous at moments, especially after a crash on a slippery descent that took out Levi (he is a-ok), but normally it was pretty relaxed. Nearing the end of the stage it of course got difficult. The final two climbs were pretty tough and maybe even more difficult were the final 25km. After the final descent, it was big rolling hills and super fast trying to catch the break. I was totally on the rivet for a while but survived to the finish.

Today's weather was again good. We have been really lucky so far. It was the second day in a row I gave my legs a little sun bathing. I might be the palest guy in the peloton! A little embarrassing. Tomorrow is supposed to be good weather again I think, but I don't think it will be the first thing on my mind. Probably the most difficult stage thus far, and for sure the first big and real shake-up in the GC. I better get to dreaming happy thoughts because I am relatively certain that tomorrow there will be plenty of painful ones!

It's Bed Time!

2011-03-08T15:04:00.000-07:00

Ok I really need to be getting to bed, but for sure I need to update my peeps! Yesterday for stage two, it was super nervous again in the field. If anyone saw the coverage on TV, I am sure you noticed the half-dozen or so crashes that took place. It was pure mayhem for no reason. Ok not no reason, but it definitely did not have to be like it was. Everyone is fighting to be at the front because they are worried about the notorious cross winds and what not, but the conditions were not bad! That means there is no reason for everyone to be so nervous and crazy! RadioShack managed to avoid most of the trouble. Kloden went down but was pretty much unscathed. Levi and I were caught up together in another crash where we had to unclip. And I was impeded by another 1 or 2 crashes by the end of the stage as well. It was really silly and quite aggravating to be honest. And I tried desperately to get to the front, but that was impossible.

For today's stage, it brought a welcome change of more rolling hills and a 2nd category climb near the end of the stage. I felt pretty strong today and was happy with how I felt especially at the end of the day. I stayed out of trouble and am excited to begin more real climbing tomorrow. The stage has 7 categorized climbs and will certainly put the hurt on a few people. I'll try to report on tomorrow's stage. Bed time!

Stage One Paris-Nice

2011-03-07T01:59:00.001-07:00

The first stage of Paris-Nice was interesting. It started off with no one really even riding. It was super slow and casual. Without me even knowing it, two guys were let go off the front and became "the break". Their lead didn't last long though when a couple teams started pulling. They were reeled in with 50km to go, so the chaos ensued.

The day had already been really nervous because of narrow roads and some winds, but once the field was all together it became dangerous. I was trying super hard to find a way to the front of the field in the last 40km, but the narrow roads made it impossible. One time I was close, and then the field split in a cross wind. Once we reintegrated I was caught behind a crash that completely blocked the road. With my legs feeling totally blocked/dead all day and after chasing hard twice, I couldn't muster anything to stay with the field on the cross-wind finishing straight. It was really disappointing to me, but I am not worrying about it too much because my job this week is to be an excellent domestique. I want to do my best for the team and make them believe in me and my ability to do the job. Unfortunately yesterday was not much of a testament to it, but I am leaving that in the past.

Today is stage two and cross-winds usually wreak havoc on the field. I hope my legs are stronger today, and I can help my team leaders to stay safe. Chao.

Catching Up

2011-03-03T14:29:00.001-07:00

Alright, I have been home in Girona for four days now trying to recover from a hard week of racing in Sardegna. For sure, the race took it out of me! It was six very difficult days of racing. Besides the first day being 135km, three of the next five were 175km and the other two were 200km+. Not only were the distances long, but the course profiles were difficult with a large amount of climbing and add to all that, the speed/pace at which we covered these stages was not slow! All in all it was a tough week of racing. Overall I am pleased with how it turned out, too. On the whole I felt strong and to cap it off, I got into the break on Sunday!

Getting into the break was not easy task either! Well, actually it wasn't brain science, but the effort required to get there was the part that was not so easy. The attacks started straight from the gun, and I just followed wheels for a little while. When I started to feel that the attacks had a better chance of surviving, I started to follow more intently. It was at that time I found myself following Vincenzo Nibali and feeling strong but also never wanting to quit more! The effort was tremendous. Once into the break, we drove the pace to open the gap. We opened it up to about 3 minutes.

I knew being in the move was really good because all the big teams were represented, and the big names from the week were in there (Sagan, Cunego, Sella and others). I did my best to take my turns while still trying to save energy. The teams in the field who missed the break chased hard, but they realized they were not going to catch us, so they gave up hope about 100km in. When the field hit the feedzone, they all abandoned! It was something I have never witnessed before. That meant I was in the break for the win.

The rest of the stage was nothing special. As we entered the last 30km, the energy level went up and the tension grew. Everything was going fine until the paceline in front of me exploded. Someone in front of me hit a pothole causing them to swerve. A few riders went down, and I got tangled up with another rider eventually hitting the ground myself. Thankfully I was at the grass shoulder by the time I hit the ground. After doing the post crash self-evaluation, I was ok and checked my bike over. By then the team car arrived and the mechanic was checking my bike over. He replaced my rear wheel and I remounted.

I began going and tried to clip into the pedals but couldn't get my right foot to clip in. I looked at my pedal, it was fine. Then I looked at my shoe/cleat and it was nearly gone! In the process of my crash, I was "skiing" on my right shoe trying to avoid and steer out of the crash. During that time, I completely wore away and broke off the back half of my cleat making it impossible to clip in. Now I was in trouble because the race was going away from me and I couldn't pedal!

I told Gallopin (director) what was going on. We searched for my spare shoes, but they were not in the car. Shoot now I was really in trouble. While the search for my shoes and/or a solution was going on, I was busy holding onto the car going 80kph+ and making my way back to the field. That was an experience! The real experience happened though when Craig (the mechanic) treated me like royalty and took my shoe off and replaced the cleat! Getting the shoe off was no doubt something to be seen. Craig (in the rear passenger side seat of the car) was on my left and my right shoe had the broken cleat, so I was holding the car on the back of the front passenger window and bending my leg back/up like a quad stretch over my rear wheel while going 50-kph, and Craig undid the shoe cover and velcro to take my shoe off. It was crazy. I held onto the car and followed behind the field while he replaced my cleat and put my shoe back on. I velcroed the shoes, clipped in and rode back to the field. Although it wasn't perfect, I was still in the race!

Shortly after I got back in, we went down a descent with a small crosswind, and the attacks started to fly. I missed the first move and was forced to chase. Unfortunately I ended up missing the move because of bad tactics and bad legs. I was chasing hard, but when we hit some steep little pitches in a town, my legs were completely blown and I couldn't even follow. It was a horrible feeling. I really felt like I had a chance at a good result because I felt strong, and I had worked so hard to get into the break that day. Disappointingly though, my energy was spent, and my day was done. It was an unsatisfying conclusion to a long, hard week of racing to say the least, but it was also really good because the efforts I did in the week of racing are going to make me really strong for the rest of the season.

I was really happy to hop on the airplane and be on my way home to Lisa, but of course I had a delay and ended up getting in 1.5 hours late. By the time we got home, it was 4am, and we were exhausted. Monday brought a recovery ride, and my body felt destroyed. Tuesday was a welcome rest day. Wednesday was another easy ride, but I felt much better and able to ride the bike. Today I was due for some efforts and went out the door motivated, but in the end, I cut it short despite feeling stronger and nearly fully recovered. Tomorrow I will do my workout and be ready for Paris-Nice starting Sunday. It should be a great race. I am excited to go work for a strong team with high GC hopes for Levi, Jani and/or Kloeden. Stay tuned for some race info as I go. Also check out Versus.com or TV for coverage.

The remainder of my cleat after the crash.
Missing 1/2-2/3 of it!

One Day to Go

2011-02-26T13:51:00.000-07:00

The final stage of Sardegna was not the typical parade stage with a sprint finish and no real shake up on GC. Instead, today started flat and fast and then returned to the mountains. My prediction going into the race was that the break might stick to the line. We got Popo in but unfortunately, I was completely wrong. Instead the break was reeled back and the final climb was super hard. I fought for it, but the pace set by Lampre was brutal. Then the attack of Scarponi was enough to string everything out creating a lot of gaps. It was game over for me, but I rode hard to the line. I haven't seen results but perhaps a top 20 on the stage and GC. That said, I feel good about the start to the season. For the team, too, we had a decent race with Ben 6th on GC. Really a bit disappointing to leave with no podiums/wins (GC or stages), but it was still a good week of racing and team bonding.

Unfortunately good things come to an end, the weather being no exception. Tomorrow is a one day race, although it really should just be stage 6 of this race, and I believe we are expecting rain. Hopefully it is minimal, and the temps stay relatively warm; otherwise, it will be a really long day in the saddle (200km). Thankfully, at the end of the day I get to go home and see my wife. I am real excited for her to pick me up at the airport. Ciao Ciao from Italy!

Three and Four Down

2011-02-25T13:52:00.001-07:00

Stage four is complete and all is still going a-ok. Today’s stage was another dandy for sure. It started off out of the blocks with 13km of climbing. (Insert sarcastic tone) Thankfully it was not a categorized climb, so it really was not difficult! No seriously, this race is crazy. They have a very confusing and random system to categorizing the climbs because there are many climbs that should have been categorized that have not been. Oh well I shouldn’t complain because it really is to my liking. As I was saying, the start was nothing short of hard. Directly the road tilted upward, and the attacks began to fly. The field strung out from the effort and the tired legs everyone was feeling. I believe quite a few guys were dropped, and splits began to occur in the field. At one point, I was in the second group on the road about 30m off the back of the front group containing about 30 guys. I was nervous about it and about to make the jump across to the front group when the pace let up a bit, and we then reintegrated with the front.

Eventually two guys were allowed to go, and the pace became more humane. From the top, it was a quick descent into the next valley while we looked across at our next ascension, a category 2 climb direct from the bottom to the top of the other side of the valley. It was actually pretty cool to see the road twisting up the mountain side. Thanks to the now more moderate pace, the category 2 climb and the following category 1 climb were very manageable. I should also note that there were at least 2 other climbs that should have been categorized, but I will stop with the complaining. Overall the day was very beautiful with nice weather and awesome scenery.

Today’s stage finally allowed the sprinters to have their day with no big climb close to the finish. Unfortunately two things went wrong. The first is that Robbie McEwen got a flat in the final few kilometers for the third or fourth time this season; therefore, RadioShack has no sprinter! The second is that Peter Sagan is some kind of freak and can sprint just as well as he can climb; thus, Alessandro Petacchi did not get his stage win today. For me, I just tried to stay clear of any trouble and avoid any time loss. I think I was successful.

A recap of yesterday’s stage three consists of a very similar theme to today. First was starting with a pretty difficult climb right out of the blocks. Then there were a couple categorized climbs; however, the finish was on the top of a climb. The tempo all day was quite high because Alessandro Ballan from BMC got into the break, and he was only 20-some seconds down on GC. Lampre drove the pace all day. I did my best to eat and drink to keep the energy levels up. When the final climb came, I was in good position and as the pace was driven up by Liquigas causing a lot of riders to be in difficulty, I was able to fight for some decent position. All the fighting was an energy drain, but it is experiences like these that will help me in the end. When the final kick to the line came, I lost contact because a couple guys in front of me got tangled up, and I had to shut it down and restart my sprint. Overall, the third stage was strong for me. I am happy with where my early season form is, and how my experiences from last year are already beginning to pay off for me.

Tomorrow’s stage is another solid day in the saddle. It has a number of climbs in it and finishes on a category 2. I think tomorrow might end with the break being successful and the rest of the peleton taking it to the line in a relatively civilized fashion. Only the situation in the race tomorrow will tell though. The weather will hopefully hold good again. Thanks for checking in!

Long Day in the Saddle

2011-02-23T13:27:00.000-07:00

Today was arguably the queen stage for the race, and it unfortunately turned out a little disappointing for me. The day was 208km including the neutral start of 10km. I felt good all day and had good positioning on the final climb, but when the acceleration happened, I was unable to follow. It was not a matter of overall strength but more the ability to make the big effort for 30-60 seconds and then settle back into the rhythm. Despite being disappointed with not being in the first group, I am remaining positive because it is early in the season, and these races and efforts will make me stronger for the next ones. More opportunities will come in the upcoming stages and upcoming races.

That is really all I have for today. I am tired and need to go to sleep!

The "Flat" Stage

2011-02-22T13:04:00.000-07:00

Today looked like a day for the sprinters, but deceptive is the term I will use to best describe it. The profile showed a short 138km route which was mostly flat. However, it turns out the stage was actually quite hilly with almost 1800m of climbing. By all means, that is not a flat day. In the end, it came down to a group of about 25 sprinting for the win.

The pivotal point in the race today was a short but nasty climb that turned downhill only 4.3km from the finish. The run into the climb was a bit chaotic because the roads were the typical rolling, twisty, coastal (sandy), Italian roads with the added spice of some rain just to keep things interesting. I was able to get into good position for the turn into the base of the climb; however, I found myself in the wrong gear despite my “preparatory” shift before the turn. Once I was able to get the gear going and shift again, I had things rolling and the key moment(s) of the race were happening.

The climb started with a few solid rollers followed by their counterpart downhill. After a solid day of up and down, these rollers were anything but easy as evidenced by the last remaining member of the day’s break feeling the effects and returning to the peleton. I presume he might have shortly thereafter been exiting the peleton, too. I used the beginning rollers to move myself up a little bit more before what I was expecting to be the final, nasty pitch to the top. For sure I was correct because it was not long and the road turned up in earnest. Thanks to good position and my legs being pretty good today, I made it over the top in the front group. Down the mildly sketchy descent and to the finish was all that remained between me and being on lead time heading into tomorrow’s category 1 summit finish.

Descending... Shoot! Pothole… psss-sss-sss-sss. Puncture. Game over. No run to the finish for me. Thankfully though, there is a rule about mechanical issues in the last 3km of the race. This goes something to the effect of “the rider will be placed last in the group in which he was riding when the mechanical issue occurred.” Luckily, this rule saved me, and I was awarded the same time as the front group. That means tomorrow I start same time as the leader (down however many seconds for time bonuses for the win today) and have a chance to contest of the race assuming my legs are good, and I am there at the finish.

All that said the weather was decent most of the day today. It didn’t start raining until about 30km to go. Tomorrow the weather is supposed to be good I think, so that is always a nice way to take on a 200km stage with 3 categorized climbs that finishes on a category 1. I hope the legs are good tomorrow! I should also put in a plug for my all-star teammate and roommate Ben King for doing some solid work on the front today. He was very instrumental in bringing back the break. Thanks dude!

On a side note, I had an “ah-ha” moment today. I was riding along and noticed how big one of my teammates calf muscles were. I thought for a moment it was Kyle Jacobsen but then realized it was Popo. It made me smile and laugh a little, so I thought I might share that for a little humor for those who know Kyle “big calves” Jacobsen.

I can’t wait for dinner tonight, but I hope they don’t run out of food again like last night. I think they were surprised by the amount of food cyclists can consume! The same happened this morning at breakfast, but it affected me less because the team generally has food (cereals and such) that is supplies/puts out for breakfast. That stuff at least takes care of the pre-race meal. Ok, enough of my ramblings for today. I’ll do my best to update tomorrow!

Quick Update

2011-02-21T13:51:00.001-07:00

I am tired after the first, long day of travel and really need to get to bed, but I need to update my people on my life! I have arrived in Sardegna for Giro di Sardegna. It was my first race last year, so I have fond memories and am looking forward to it again this year. It is a bit smaller field but still quality for sure. The race has three summit finishes in five stages, so it is to my liking I hope!

Other than that, Lisa and I have been settling into a comfortable routine in Girona. She is back to being a great housewife and taking care of all the necessary/hard duties of communicating with various repair people. It is funny because when I am home nothing really happens, but when I leave everyone calls to fix/replace everything. Today for example, I left for the race, and Lisa got a call from the repair people for the washer. They came and replaced our washer with a brand, spanking new one! I am super happy about it. I haven't received the report yet on how it worked for Lisa's trial run.

On another note, Team RadioShack has been ripping things up across the racing circuit. Check out the team website (www.teamradioshack.com) for all the details. I hope that my form is still good after the sickness and look to contribute to the success while here in Sardegna; stay tuned! I believe you can find some race coverage on www.steephilltv.com. Thanks for checking in!

It's Thursday

2011-02-17T14:01:00.004-07:00

That means yesterday was Wednesday and my rest day (for this week anyway). Lisa and I took full advantage of my short ride and were able to have a few adventures. We started our afternoon with a walk down to the park at the bottom of the hill from our apartment. It was there that I was gifted (for Valentine's Day) a set of ping-pong paddles. Why you ask? Because this particular park has outdoor ping-pong tables! And so with the awesome gift, we played the best of three in which I barely snuck out the win. It was weird though that despite our rotating one side of the table had all the wins...

Amazing capture of some ping-pong action!

Post ping-pong, we needed a little refueling, so we were delighted to stop at a cafe we have been wanting to try and get a small treat. Actually I got a whole sandwich because I was super low on energy after the morning's training. After the cafe, we started a journey to a lookout Lisa found while out running and really wanted to show me. After hiking up and up, then a little down, but then up some more, we arrived at "Montanya de la O". It was a lovely place with a beautiful view of the city and a nice back drop of the Pyrenees. Unfortunately they had clouded over mostly, so they were only barely visible if you looked really closely.

A view from "O" mountain

After "O" mountain, we finished a hiking loop back down into the city and wandered through the maze of cobbled streets that is Old Town Girona looking for any new shops we might like or anything new we would have to put on our list of "to try or see". We found a couple places but nothing super cool; I think we have finally "out-wandered and seen" Girona; highly unlikely though.

One of the chefs at work

After the very long hike/walk it was time to get home because waiting for us for dinner was our first crack at making SUSHI! Post cutting up our ingredients and preparing everything, it was time to fill and roll our seaweed. We made two different varieties consisting of avocado, carrot, and cucumber; one with cream cheese and one without. Overall, our first attempt at Sushi was a success and we will certainly be trying again. Next time though, we might venture into the realm of fish and other more exotic ingredients. We really didn't have the time or confidence to try it with our first go of it.

Finished product

Let's Eat!

Today I was up early and out the door at 8am to get my ride done before the rain hit and to be home hopefully in time to catch the repairman at the house. Unfortunately I got lightly rained on for the last 30 minutes or so and I missed him! No big deal on either account though. I didn't melt and Lisa seems to have sorted things out with the repairman. He was there to check on cleaning or replacing our clothes washer because... well let's just say it needs to be. It is the one thing we really didn't look too closely at before moving in, and although it works, it is too dirty (moldy) to be healthy to be washing clothes in. Plus it almost electrocuted me, so it has to go!

After training and having a nice lunch, it was time to kill the rainy day, so Lisa suggested we run errands out at the mall and try to find things we still are in search of for the house. Well two bus rides, at least a dozen stores, many receipts, and five hours later we are finally back home. Funny thing is though, most of what we came home with was food! We found a couple things we were looking for, but like it usually goes, the intended items were not found, but others were. Oh well, that gives Lisa things to do while I am training or racing.

I'm tired and have another big training day tomorrow, so I best be off to bed. Good night.

4.5... 6... eh, what's the difference.

2011-02-15T09:44:00.002-07:00

Steve and Danny rolling on the way home. The Pyrenees up by
Olot today were gorgeous, even in the cloudiness.

The story of my training today was is there a difference between 4.5 and 6 hours in the saddle? I would have to say that there is a difference, quite a big one, too! I was only slated to do training of 4.5 hours, but when the opportunity came about to do a ride I have been wanting to do for a while, I couldn't pass it up. I went out with Danny Pate and Steve Cozza. I believe the ride usually takes around 5.5 hours, but due to some wet conditions and lack of mid-season form and motivation to kill it, the ride ended up closer to 6. The highlight of the ride was probably the little town up in the middle of the mountains the ride is named for called Rupit. We stopped in there after 3:45 in the saddle and just in the knick of time because they were closing basically when we got there. Literally, we walked in the door, got some stares from the 6-8 locals sitting at the counter/bar, then went to the bakery case to order something to eat and when we turned around, they had all left! Nonetheless, it was a tasty coffee and a pretty good egg sandwich to help power the ride home.

Danny is wondering what I am doing...
Maybe checking to see if I am ok? I think!

Will You Be My Valentine?

2011-02-14T10:24:00.000-07:00

Happy Valentine's Day everyone. Did you get your special someone their flowers or chocolate yet? I unfortunately have not yet, but that is because she woke up feeling yucky this morning. The symptoms seem similar to mine, but hopefully she is not going to get it as bad as I did. She seems to be doing ok. We have decided that we will celebrate Valentine's Day when we are both healthy!

So instead of a big dinner or exchange of presents and being sweet to each other, I left my sick wife to go for a 4 hour ride in the rain! Yes sir it was very romantic, my bike and me rolling through the countryside on peaceful, rain and mud (or possibly manure) covered roads. In all honesty, it was actually a very nice ride. The rain was very light and had stopped by the end. I did one of my favorite roads today out to Olot and then instead of completing the normal loop, I decided to come back the same road/direction and go on some of the back roads. It turned out very nice and I found a few new roads with some awesome views/surroundings. Other good notes about the ride are that the proper sensations seem to be returning. My body/legs are still a little empty, but overall the feel is coming back; that makes me very happy!

Ok, now let's talk showers. Of course after a long, rainy ride on dirty roads both the bike and the cyclist need a shower. First the bike, I don't have the set up in the apartment yet for the bike wash, but it is coming, so instead I stopped at the car wash and put in 2 euros and voilà, clean bike. Second comes the rider, me. Thanks to my fender set, I am only really dirty on the front from the knees down, but I am dirty! So here is the interesting part, today I got into the shower still wearing my shorts and leg warmers. It was a weird feeling. I have done shorts before because I sometimes just hand wash them, but the leg warmers adds a whole new dimension. They were so dirty though, it was easier to get in, spray off, then take off, then wash more thoroughly. That way, the mess stays in one place: down the drain!

Well, the sun is gone, the light is disappearing, I am feeling a little hungry, and I have a sick spouse to check on, so I best be going.

Down But Not Out

2011-02-12T12:14:00.000-07:00

So it's been 4 days since my first race day and it is probably expected that I would have posted a blog about it long ago, but thanks to the "European/Mallorcean" bug that everyone seems to have gotten, I was put on the disabled list and unable to feel the motivation to write something. Sorry. Here it is though!

The race day was really good. It was a little unique because we were racing with no radios due to the implementation of the new UCI ban on race radios (very controversial and hopefully will be over-turned), but the race went on mostly as normal. The first hour was very fast. I am pretty sure we did about 55-60km in the first hour. Thankfully the roads were wide and the winds were minimal, so it was pretty easy to surf the field. I know it was difficult for the guys trying to jump into the breakaway though because it is nearly impossible to ride any faster than that, so the field just rolls you up as soon as you make the jump and loose the initial burst and settle in. Eventually though, the break went and it was time to fuel up and take good position for the first climb of the day.

Usually the first climb is not super important if there are more to follow, but this one was important because it was only about 5km long, was super twisty (I venture a guess at 20-25 switchbacks), and over the top was a short, slippery, twisty descent (nearly a mirror image of the ascent) and small valley before hitting the start of the 14km potential race determining Puigmajor. Coming into the first (Soller), I really thought I had good position, but as soon as we began climbing, I realized I might be in trouble because I was only entering one switchback as the front of the peleton was exiting the NEXT switchback; uh oh! Careful not to panic and blow all my steam, I rode a solid pace and just tried to keep the momentum rolling, picking guys off as they cracked or simply followed the wheel. By the top, I think I was 50-60 wheels back and in ok position.

Due to the technicality of the descent from the Soller and near immediate start of the Puigmajor following, there was a necessity to be in the front. Unfortunately with the technicality, comes splits in the field. Of course a split happened in front of me and at the base of the Puigmajor I was in a small chase group about 250-300 meters behind the main peleton. Deciding my only chance to get back in was early, I had to not see what my group was going to do and just go at it alone. I set into my own rhythm and was able to slowly ride back to the tail end of the peleton. I couldn't believe I made it back and how strong I felt; that gave me great confidence and I hoped that I would be able to survive the remaining 10km despite the big effort I put forth earlier. By the top, the peleton has split into a few groups and I was in the front!

A short descent and some big rollers over the top before the final descent and stretch run to the finish were what lie ahead. Thanks to my teammate Ben who attacked just before the summit and broke away with two others, I had a fairly straightforward job: follow wheels and make sure that nothing goes up the road without me or one of my teammates in it. Thankfully I had Tiago and Philip in there with me to cover things. Unfortunately though, I was not much use, as after the first descent my legs had completely locked up and when we hit the first big roller, I went straight backwards until I could get my legs functioning again. I didn't lose contact, but I did lose the front and would have to fight to get back there. By the end, I had made it back and was doing my job, while Ben was busy doing his: winning the race!

Overall it was a great day on the bike. I felt really strong and overall comfortable back in the peleton. It gave me a lot of confidence looking forward for the season. All of the excitement and confidence was derailed though when I got sick that night. Not really sure what I got/have, but it is still trying to hang on. Besides body/headaches and general lack of normal feeling (which I hate because I know my body pretty well), my stomach has been the worst symptom. I haven't had much of a problem with anything besides a real loss of appetite and a somewhat volatile stomach, which has lead to ultimate loss of all energy. I just feel empty. Hopefully I am on the mend now though and by next week I will be back to regular training without having lost too much.

Of course, I am back in Girona now and happy to be home. Lisa settled/organized the apartment very nicely while I was away and we got everything squared away with the lease now, so I think we are officially moved in! Yesterday was my first day back on the bike since Tuesday and like I said, I was completely empty. Thankfully I had Lisa along for motivation. We took our first bike ride together in Spain and it was Lisa's first time on clipless pedals and she handled it like a pro; it was awesome! Today we had a get together with some folks at Steven Cozza's place; it was very nice. The weather has been pretty good here. A little foggy in the morning, but by the afternoon, it kind of burns off and the sun will shine. The temps are 60's I think, so it is nice.

I think that is about all to report and catch up on. Thanks for reading!

A Big Thanks to Amazon and Technology

2011-02-07T07:05:00.001-07:00

It is the day before race #1 of 2011, so unfortunately I couldn't stay up last night to watch the Superbowl (which was live in the early hours of the morning here), even if it was my home-state Green Bay Packers playing for the title. No problem though, because Chris Tivo-ed (amazing technology!) the game back in the U.S. and we planned to get up and ride this morning and then use his Slingbox (another awesome invention) to watch it today without knowing what had happened. However, I was highly disappointed when my plans were derailed by junk mail. That's right, it was not a teammate or family/friend email or Twitter that ruined the suspense for me, but rather a junk mail from Amazon in my inbox that leaked who won the Superbowl. Thanks Amazon! Of course, we will still watch it and I'm sure it will be great. It is always fun to see the commercials and still good to watch a good game and see my GB Packers bring the Lombardie trophy back to its home!!!

In other news, I had a pretty funny moment at lunch today involving the "language barrier". I was BlackBerry Messenging (more wonderful technology) with Lisa and she asked me what "modus tollens" meant. Assuming
it was Spanish/Catalan because she was at a cafe in Girona and I had no clue what it meant, I asked a few of my Spanish teammates. They also had no clue so they proceeded to ask the waiter because he spoke more Catalan. The waiter did not know, but decided to ask other staff members. In that time, Lisa messaged me more about her reading and it dawned on me that she was asking about some of her comps reading materials, which is of course in English and not Spanish. Now it was funny! I had the waiter, some of his staff, and a few of my teammates all trying to figure out what I thought to be a Spanish phrase! Ah well, no one could figure it out and it was Lisa and my little secret; except everyone reading this now knows! Shhhhh!

In one final splash for sweet technology; without my awesome BlackBerry and its messenging and email capabilities, this blog would have never happened! And of course thanks to my chief editor for proof reading and posting these! Time for revitalization before tomorrow's big day. See you!

Racing Season is Upon Us Again

2011-02-05T09:07:00.000-07:00

It is the final official day of training camp and a rest day! Tomorrow the racing begins at Challenge Mallorca; although, I will not be racing until the 3rd and 5th stages on Tuesday and Thursday. It is a series race instead of stage race, so different riders can race everyday. It is 10 man teams, so more riders/team than usual, and there are 20 teams I believe, so the field is going to be big. Should be a strong field too, with 10 Pro Tour teams here to partake. We'll see how it goes!

Yesterday I had a bike fit with the guys from Retul. It went really well. There were no major changes actually, besides raising my seat a few millimeters. After the fit I had a nice training session on my own. It ended up being a little longer than I planned, but I felt good and was enjoying the sunny and warm weather.

As today is a rest day, there is no specific riding requirement. I did a nice easy ride to a neighboring city. I got a coffee at a cafe by the port and soaked in the sun before heading back to the hotel. Lunch was delicious and now it's time for some relaxation: movie(s), massage, early bed time (I think!).

Tried out a new gadget last night. We got this sleep monitoring system called the Zeo. It tells you the statistics of your sleep like total time asleep, time in light, REM and deep sleep, and provides information about "quality" of sleep. It gives you a sleep score based on those factors. Last night I scored a 100! 120 is the best, but I think I still did good! It really is just interesting information.

Not much else to report! Adios.

A Few Days in Mallorca

2011-02-01T12:11:00.000-07:00

A few days have past here in Mallorca in a pretty quick fashion. Several good days of training, a rest day today, and back on it tomorrow. The weather has been good, with the exception of it getting coldish and windy today. I believe it is expected to stay similar for the upcoming days, but hopefully dry.

Yesterday we did the first hard efforts and "tests" of the year. It was a five hour ride with a couple 20 minute, high cadence, pace line rotations. Despite the relative low intensity, the high cadence and general length combined with the inevitable ramping up of speed/intensity lead to a pretty hard effort. Following the first of the paceline efforts, we headed toward a climb where we would do the first race type effort. It started out with joking and general lack of want to really go full gas, but being professional we did get it up to a full effort and by the end of it, there was a solid 5km effort in which Tiago took the win for our first race of the season! After the descent, we pedaled for a little bit and then did our second rotation. This one was a little more taxing given the prior efforts, but still manageable. We headed over to the San Salvador for our last effort and rode up it at a more tempo-ish pace. It was just enough to tax the legs a bit. Another hour of pedaling and we were home for some well deserved lunch.

Today I woke up ravaged with hunger. After eating half of a protein bar and messing with my computer a bit, Sam and I headed to breakfast. The hunger quenched, I could now get on with the day. There was no specific training or team time today, but I decided I just wanted to head out. I ended up starting the ride with Tiago, Nelson, Fumiyuki, and Chris. After about 40 minutes, Chris and I stopped at a bike shop to look for a rain fender; the others went on. The shop told us they would have it in an hour, so we went and pedaled up San Salvador and had a coffee (coke for Chris of course). Despite the clouds and wind, the view was still pretty nice. On the descent, I got a front flat. It was pretty strange because it went from full to flat in a split second and with no puncture sound or anything. Despite the fact it happened as I entered a switchback, I avoided any trauma. After fixing it, we headed to get the fender and then home for the relaxation of rest day.

Everything else has been chill today. I got a massage. I also had a nice, longer phone conversation with Lisa; it was very enjoyable. Now it is dinner time to charge the batteries for the upcoming days of training. Ciao!

Hello from Team Camp

2011-01-30T09:25:00.003-07:00

The view from Sant Salvador

Sant Salvador Monument, where I rode with Ben.

Hello! Sorry for the delay in updates, but internet is 20 euro a week at our camp hotel so for now I am skimping. That means I am without any sort of free time entertainment. I can't read cycling news or track world happenings or (most importantly!) blog. I'm going with plan B here, which is to type up a short entry on my blackberry and send it to my secretary (a.k.a. Lisa) to post!

After a busy day Thursday moving into our new apartment, I left Girona Friday morning for Mallorca. I arrived at the team hotel mid-afternoon, where I will be rooming with Sam Bewley for the next two weeks. The rest of the team trickled in throughout the afternoon and night, while I went for about 2.5 hours training with Ben King. It was a fun ride. We could see a large monument on a small mountain close by and decided we were going to try to find our way to it! We were rewarded with a pretty stellar view at the top, which you can see above. We then proceeded to circum-navigate our way back to the hotel, which was a bit of an adventure... we had to stop and ask for directions twice!

The Bounty!

Our first real day of camp on Saturday consisted of a 4 hour ride around the island. It was fairly uneventful, but nice to be back with the team. We saw a lot of other cyclists out on the roads. Mostly local yocals I think, but maybe I am wrong and it was a lot of others coming for some winter training; it is pretty nice here as as far as I can tell.

It feels good and exciting to be getting ready for my second season; although, it hardly feels like a year has passed. We've got 6 hours on the bike on tap for today. It is clear this morning with mostly blue skies. I guess that means I should sign off and get ready for training!

Getting Sorted

2011-01-25T10:28:00.000-07:00

Things are getting settled in Girona for Lisa and me now. We signed the contract for our apartment this morning and should be getting the keys to move in on Thursday. That is really the last day we can afford to move in because I am leaving for camp on Friday, so we need to get Lisa moved in and let her have the task of sorting the place out while I am gone. Then she can properly claim her share of closet and bathroom space, too. Kidding! It's all good; we share space wonderfully.

On other notes, the weather has gotten progressively nicer the last few days. The wind has died down and switched more southerly, meaning the temperature has risen a few degrees. Today I had a nice 5 hours with a few folks. We rolled out to the coast for some great views of the Mediterranean and very pleasant, sunny weather. It was a very nice ride and a good way to cap off some solid riding since I have arrived. It hasn't been anything super, but it is just good to be able to get the legs some more consistent hours now. They were definitely rebelling the first couple rides, but now they are coming around a bit and I am feeling more proper on the bike. Soon enough the intervals will come!

I just finished a "scooter-run-along" session with Lisa. She hadn't left for her run before I got home from training, so I told her I would come out on the scooter and give her some company. It turned out really sweet. She got to do a little exploring with the added security of having me there and we found a sweet loop. It was really fun and we saw a nice sunset over the mountains.

Now it is time to decide what is for dinner. There is a good possibility the pizza joint at the bottom of the hill might be winning. We haven't eaten there before, but it is supposed to be good and we really haven't yet bought proper groceries because we didn't want to buy them and move them again from here to the apartment. We don't really have anything real for dinner though, so pizza might be the winner. It is just a little too far to go to the grocery store from here. Not like being in town and having groceries on every corner. But we shall see what the night brings.

I'll try to get some pictures of our apartment up as we go and updates from camp as it progresses, but things could get busy the next few days. Thanks for checking in!

Apartment Found

2011-01-21T14:35:00.000-07:00

At least that is what we are saying for now. We have not signed the final paperwork, but after seeing 4 more apartments this morning and sitting at a cafe for a while after the last one, we came to the conclusion that our pick is probably the best.

We did one of those charts that weighs pros/cons or lists and ranks criteria. Similar to what we did when picking colleges. In the end, there was a not a clear winner because all of our choices had different advantages, so that made it somewhat difficult. It was nice though to be able to pick between good choices, instead of having to choose the lesser of not god. After being honest with ourselves and looking at the situation reasonably, we came to a sensible agreement on an apartment that has a less ideal location, but had good amenities and was economically responsible.

We are excited to start moving in, but not until we sign the final paperwork and get approval from the landlords. Hopefully by Tuesday or Wednesday all things will be clear and we can get moved in before I leave for training camp.

On other notes, Lisa and I had good training today. We have both enjoyed the warmer weather. However, it has been the coldest it has been here probably all winter. It seems we have brought the Midwest winter with us. There are some strong winds blowing straight off the mountains and cooling it down for sure, but 50ish degrees with strong winds and nice sun has still been a nice change from the snow and well below freezing temps we were experiencing in the Midwest.

In case anyone is concerned about my bicycle, it has supposedly been delivered... but not to me! I somewhat expected it to happen this way, so hopefully I can dig it up tomorrow. In the past I have always given the delivery driver Levi's address, but they can never find it and then it is really hard to connect with them. This time I told them to deliver it to the golf club house down the street from me. Usually they call to say they are delivering, so I expected it this time, too.

After not hearing from them, I figured they just didn't deliver and would get it tomorrow. Well, to check on it, I called the company tonight and found out they had delivered it to "reception". What does that mean?? I have no idea! I think there are only two possibilities if they got it to the correct area, so hopefully tomorrow I can find it! Wish me luck! Time for sleeping.

Does anyone see a problem here? Hint: the wind was very strong today!

Girona We Have Arrived

2011-01-20T13:54:00.001-07:00

Hey everybody, Lisa and I have arrived safely to Girona. We had our share of travel problems, but thanks to patience, partnership and good food we made it still in good spirits.

After arriving to the airport on Monday for our 2pm flight, we called my dad at 4ish to say come get us, we are not going tonight. There was snow in Milwaukee and mechanical delays with our plane from the inbound flight and the delays with plowing the runway, so it was to the point where we would miss our connection in Newark and have to stay the night. We much preferred to stay with my folks again and catch a flight the next day.

We got re-booked on the first flight from Milwaukee to Newark to help give ourselves extra time for delays, but this meant we had a 6.5 hour layover in Newark. Well, as luck would have it, our plane was delayed an hour from the gate, then we got onto the last stretch of "road" before making the turn onto the runway and the pilot pulled the plane over to the "parking space" and came on the PA to announce that Newark had temporarily shut down all inbound flights due to freezing slush. Evidently it is a problem to try and land big airplanes on slippery cement? After 1.5 hours sitting on the runway, we were given the all clear and off we went.

Arrived in Newark and had only 3.5ish hours to kill. Lisa and I went to find a sushi place I had eaten at before. After feeling like I had found it at a different airport, we turned the corner and there it was! We enjoyed a nice sushi lunch/dinner and resigned ourselves to try and kill the last 2.5 hours doing nothing. We walked and "shopped" a little bit, enjoyed a free sample of white chocolate Toblerone at a duty free shop and as the boarding time approached got a bowl of soup to make sure we were satisfied heading into our 7 hour flight.

Thankfully the flight to Barcelona was easy, with the exception of some bad turbulence at take off. It was due to some storms in the area. I think they may have been part of the same storm system that went through Milwaukee the day earlier and caused us the delay originally, but not sure.

After arriving in Barcelona, we went through the regular routine of passing customs and going to the baggage belt. No sooner had we gone through customs, used the restroom, gotten two luggage carts for our four suitcases (one was a smaller carry-on bag), two carry-on bags (shoulder computer bag and backpack), and two bike boxes/cases, did we arrive to the luggage belt to see our suitcases rolling through. What a great sign! Quickly our bags arrived and all seems well. We rolled over to the over-sized belt to pick up the bikes and what was two became one. Lisa's bike (conveniently my spare!) had arrived, but there was no sign of my bike. After checking other luggage belts, we decided to file the lost luggage claim, get the car and head home.

Currently we are staying at Levi's house while looking for an apartment. We have seen four apartments so far and have a real possibility in two of them. One is very contemporary and modern with newly updated appliances, furniture and bathroom (has a towel heater rack!). It is located very near our apartment from last year, above/on one of the busier streets in town, and closer to the train station. The other apartment is located basically opposite the other from our old apartment and has a pretty sweet location in the old town. It is a block or so down the street from the Rambla (walking business/restaurant district), in an old building with a lot of charm and the apartment stretches the length of the building with a window overlooking the street (basically a continuation of the Rambla) and the other window looks out over the river. Basically I would classify the two as modern/updated vs. old charm. Neither is perfect, but both are a possibility.

Tomorrow we have scheduled to see three more apartments and then we will probably make our decision. It is exciting to be looking at our possible home and at the same time very difficult because it is possibly our home for the next several years (hoping I can continue to ride/race or get a (re)new contract) because we don't want to be moving every year; it is not very easy! Because of this we are considering things very cautiously. We are weighing on other factors too such as the ability to host some people if they come visit or the ability to get get to the train station or the comfort level during the summer heat (blinds and a/c). Other factors include kitchen space or bathroom space and the economics of it. I guess basically I am running down the normal laundry list of things people consider when looking into a living arrangement, so moving on.

Today I went out for a nice first ride in Girona. It was nice to not be fighting the cold weather, the roads were pleasant and peaceful, and it was nice to be on a road bike again; although, it was not my bike! Thanks Lisa for letting me borrow your bike!

Lisa went for a run around the neighborhood up here at Levi's and enjoyed herself I believe. It is a different area for her to run because Levi lives a little bit outside of the hustle and bustle of the Girona center, so it is nice for her.

We had an oven roasted chicken, with gnocchi and vegetables for dinner. It was quite delicious and especially enjoyable while watching the first season of "Two and a Half Men" (thank you Grandma and Grandpa Savre!). We bought a whole chicken and roasted it ourselves. It is very easy to do and usually tastes better than simply buying chicken breast or whatever is already cleaned up or done for you. We are trying to do more dishes like this because it seems more economical and they are really quite simple to do. We have always shied away from it I think because it seems difficult and it is not so simple to just throw together, but really it is quite simple to turn the oven on, throw a chicken or beef roast in a pan and let it go; just takes a little for thought. Anyway, enough about our food!

Wait, one other food related thing. Yesterday after seeing the first two apartments, we stopped in one of our favorite bakeries/cafes and had a "cafe con leche" and a "xocolata con menta". And yes they were delicious!

Other notes, I was beginning to worry today when I checked the status of my lost bike in their automated system because it said something about "still trying to trace baggage". After a phone call with a very kind gentleman at customer service, I had come to the conclusion that it had been stolen or fallen out of the plane while crossing the ocean and I would not see it again until I took up deep sea diving. I decided however that I needed to be patient and have a little faith in the system.

About 5 minutes after I got off the phone (thank you Skype!), my cell phone rang and it was Continental saying they had probably located my bag. Evidently it had lost its baggage tag and the information on the luggage tag didn't match the information I gave them at the lost luggage; the address was different I think, so they were not certain if it was mine. Also, the lady at the lost luggage counter had put in the description was a large black suitcase, even though I tried to explain to her it was not a suitcase, rather a very large bike case which doesn't look like a suitcase at all! Nonetheless, due to these errors, there was confusion, but after my phone call, there was someone who connected some dots and said there was a large bike case at Newark that had lost its baggage tag and had my NM address on it. Thank you to that guy and hopefully I will be seeing my bike (in working order, cross my fingers) in the next day or two.

I think that is all for now. Stay tuned for updates as the second year of this journey begins. Adeu! (pronounced "a-day-oh"; usually just said "day-oh" I think. It is the common Catalan saying for goodbye.)

Picture: Me spicing the chicken after arriving home from training... Lisa thought this was funny.

Kit

2011-01-12T10:46:00.000-07:00

Check out my new work clothes for 2011!

http://bit.ly/gCjtZ2

14 Below

2011-01-09T11:14:00.000-07:00

That my friends is the current temperature here in Glencoe, MN. It's a pleasant Sunday morning here and I am waiting for my bike and the rollers to warm up, so I can handle them without "metal-freeze burn" to set them up and then ride them for a few minutes. Anyway, Lisa and I left Decorah yesterday and made the drive here to arrive in time for a delicious meal of meatloaf, potatoes and vegetables. It was wonderful and highly needed for the recharge of the batteries.

The week in Decorah went too fast! It was wonderful to see friends and family though. I had a week full of great rides though the northeast Iowa countryside with other crazy cyclists like myself. For that I have to say thanks to Dave, Novian, Issac, Steve, and Karl for being crazy with me! It was wonderful as well for Lisa to have some friends to run some miles with. And a quaint little potluck on Friday night was a great confirmation of why Decorah is such a great place with great people.

While in Decorah, I was also taking part in the late season muzzle loader deer hunting season. It has become a tradition of sorts for the last 3 years to go to Decorah in late December or early January to spend some time in the woods hunting. My dad comes with and it is really fun for him to see all the deer in the woods and have a chance to hunt with me. And it is also really fun for me to have my dad with me in the woods to take part in the experience. Perhaps the highlight of my week came during an afternoon hunt when Lisa and my mom came out into the woods with my dad and me. It was Lisa's first time in the woods; hopefully not the last! And the fact that my mom was able to make it out to the woods for the first time in my life by doing about a mile long walk through several feet of snow, in cold temperatures and with less than ideal conditions was very special. I am so glad that afternoon was able to take place. I will never forget the walk out of the woods because it was so nice to share the struggle out of the woods through the snow with my family. We were all very glad to make it back to the truck!

The weather today is quite cold and the forecast is pretty cool as well, but hopefully it will be ridable for at least a couple hours a day. Time is winding down here for the journey back across the pond. The time at home has been super nice, but too fast. Take care.

Good to be "Home"

2011-01-02T15:23:00.000-07:00

Lisa and I have arrived safely in Decorah for a week of good times. It all starts today with our one year anniversary! Love you girl! Then for the rest of the week it will be good company, good riding, good hunting and generally good times hanging out.

Happy New Years to everyone. Lisa and I were fortunate enough to spend New Years Eve with a good group of Luther alumni in the Twin Cities. It was a good time and really nice to catch up with people we haven't seen very much over the past year plus. Happy to say no crazy/bad incidents, just good hang time with some dancing, socialization and smiles! Hope everyone had a great New Years Eve and has some positive resolutions (goals) for the upcoming year.

MN Fun

2010-12-24T14:55:00.000-07:00

Last night was great fun at the Savre family Christmas party. Great food, company, and gifts for all. The drive home to Glencoe was the most interesting part as it was snowing fairly heavily and the roads had a solid inch plus on them. It was my first time driving in solid snow for quite a while and probably the first time I have driven my car in the snow. Things were interesting, but I kept it on the road and made it home. It was a late night, but a lot of fun catching up with people and it was great to be back in Glencoe.

Today the snow has mostly quit, but a few flakes still linger. I headed out into the snow covered landscape to treat myself to the first gravel roads of the year. The ride turned out incredibly nice and the weather was great. Despite the temperatures only being about 25, there was minimal wind and the sun poked through once in a while to keep things pleasant. I ended up doing almost 3.5 hours, consisting of 75-80% gravel roads; it was really nice.

Tonight is Christmas with Lisa's immediate family. A great dinner, Christmas Eve church, and gift exchange is on tap. I am sure some other excitement will come as well, but not entirely certain yet. Perhaps some cards or a movie. Merry Christmas to all!

Heading North!

2010-12-22T18:11:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow Lisa and I are headed to the great state of Minnesota. Our venture there will begin with a stop at the Savre grandparents for Lisa's family Christmas. It should be a great time. Haven't seen most of these people since January, so it will be nice.

Last couple days have been really nice. Last night Lisa and I drove down to Zion to see the other side of grandparents. It was a nice evening with some delicious Chicken Alfredo and plenty of cookies and hot chocolate. A few of the local family members came over to say hi to us and ask how our first year of marriage and cycling have been. It was very good to see them and chat a bit.

Yesterday and today I got to ride with some of my old teammates. The weather has been very nice for the last couple days. Today it was sunny and mid 30's. It was great to catch up with them. After the ride yesterday, my mother had sloppy joes ready for consumption, so we consumed and enjoyed some more good conversation.

Recently I also did a PodCast with local radio man Phil Cianciola. You can find it at www.thephilcast.com, and click on PhilCast shows. I'll check in from MN next!