After a highlight in my season on Sunday, I had an increasingly rough travel day on Monday.  I woke up feeling a little off, thinking it was just the race and the lack of good sleep.  Boarded the plane to Newark and the closer we got to the US the worse I felt.  By the time I made it back to Greenville I already knew I had come down with something, and at that time I was thinking along the lines of a common cold. 

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Everyone was very quiet at the breakfast table this morning. All you could hear was the rain pounding down on the rooftop. We all know the risks that are involved with racing in the rain and we all know that we must prepare for an epic day ahead. The winds are gusting over 100kph and the rain is steady, the only saving grace is that it feels much warmer than the past two days. We have a very long two hour transfer to the start this morning. We will be spending most of that time looking out the windows for a break in the clounds and hoping for dryer roads.

The race itself was full on and we never once eased up. The constant attacks along with the rain and wind wore down on everyone. By the time we hit the finishing circuits it only took one acceleration to shatter the field.  The circuit itself is as hard as it gets. Steep hills, up to 23% grade, and very small and twisty roads. It must be something to watch on TV, and I feel it is what we need more of in the sport. The fans were amazing as well. I couldn’t even hear myself think on St. Patrick’s Hill it was so loud.

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Another beautiful day here in Ireland today. Clear skies and warm weather by Irish standards. We rolled out of the neutral section and before I could even shift into the big chainring a break of two guys were up the road. That made for a boring first half of the race, but gave us a chance to take in some of the beautiful sights of Tipperary County.      

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We had an awesome start to the day today. An very nice breakfast, which we later figured out would have cost us €175 each had we have been a paying customer at the Ritz! The actual start to the race was right outside the lobby, it doesn’t get any better than that. Bernie, my roommate for the week, and I were joking about going to sign-in in our bathrobes and slippers.

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I first came here to Ireland back in 2000. I was a young teenager and was taking my first trip out of the US.  I had no idea of what to expect, but was very excited to see a different part of the world.  My father took me along with him on a business/golf trip and as soon as we arrived I instantly feel in love with Europe and traveling for that matter.  I was blown away by the history and how around every corner there was something more interesting than the last.  It was a trip that really helped me grow as a person and one I will always remember.

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The topic of conversation the past week here in Girona has been the heat. It seems like everything is revolving around it at the moment.

Today on the ride I knew it was going to be another brutal day when I was reaching for my water bottle before I was even out of town at nine in the morning. At this point in the day the sky is a clear blue and you can even make out the Pyrenees in the distance. As the day progresses it is as if the sun is so strong that the blue burns off and by late afternoon the sky is a bright white. Something that you wouldn’t dare look directly into.  The mountains become a blur, even the trees and buildings lose their lines. Its hard to make out much of anything other than the sweat pouring down your face.

It is day just like today that you fully understand why siestas were created so many years ago. It simply is impossible to work in the afternoons.  As a cyclist you just have to survive these few hot weeks each year. We ride early, almost two hours before our normal start times the rest of the year. Some even chose to head out before the sun is up, with lights attached to their bars. I guess I just enjoy sleep too much for that.

Our rides become very predictable, with our routes being planned around water stops. Venturing out to a new road or a new climb just doesn’t happen this time in the year.

Off the bike is still all about survival. Drinking cold water to restore the body’s supply and putting off all trips out of the house until the latest moment in the day when the heat is subsiding.   Fortunately for us here in Girona the heat won’t last forever and like the rest of life it seems to pass very quickly.

The late finish and the after party for the Tour of Poland meant that we would be spending another night there and traveling back on Sunday. When it’s possible, we all like to get home as soon as possible, so that usually means a late flight home and a really long night after racing all day. That wasn’t an option for most of us here, it is not so easy to get in and out of Krakow apparently.

If you put a couple hundred bike racers and staff together, add some alcohol and no place to go you will have one crazy night. I was one of the few that managed some sleep that night, a solid two hours. When the alarm sounded at 5:00AM I was not in the best mood, but it was time to get up and head back to Girona.

After two flights, a long layover and a good taxi ride I was back in my place in Girona and ready for some down time. After doing longer stage races there is always a few days of taking it easy to get the body recovered. I took the free time to catch up with a few friends in town. I had a nice cookout at Timmy Duggan’s with a few other of the Garmin guys one night, drank some wine with Will Frischkorn and Mike Friedman on another night and did a lot of sleeping. Then after a few days of relaxing there is the annoying task of waking the body up and getting the blood flowing. It is never easy to get going again. It usually takes quite a bit of suffering for a few days before you feel like you belong on a bike. It is made a little easier if you have some friends to join you in the process. Michael Barry and David Millar were in the same boat this week, so we pushed each other on a few rides in hopes of finding some form. It is also getting fairly late in the season, so it helps to have some company out of the long and hot roads of Spain. I have a few more days to get things in order, then it is off to Ireland for the Tour of Ireland.

Continuing the strand of beautiful weather, except for the one horrible day, we woke up to a different season on Sunday. The skies were clear and the are was fresh, fall had began here in the south of Poland. With a late afternoon start I had all morning to enjoy it. We had a very rough two hour transfer to the start. The roads are probably the worst I have ever seen, yet there are zero potholes. They just seem to patch everything and now none of the roads flow smoothly. It is not the ideal way to arrive to the start line, on the verge of some serious car sickness, but you learn to deal with it.

The last stage absolutely flew by. A big group of GC threats got up the road so there was never any down time in the bunch and before I knew it we were in Krakow city limits and on the finishing circuit. The team rode very well, maybe the best we have all week, and Andre Greipel repaid us with our 3rd stage win. We were a little slow to get started early in the week, but in the end we came out with three stage wins and a podium in the overall!

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The “queen” stage of the Tour of Poland was a little bit hard to say the least. Had the roads been paved in the past fifty years it might have been a little better, but as it was it was like doing LBL on cobbles.  The race book was also a little off saying that we would have 1,140 meters of total climbing today. It turned out to be over 3,000!  The climbs were not so steep though. Always around 4-5%. So the final selection of twenty guys was made by sprinting, big chain ring of course, up one of the final climbs.

I had asked Edvald earlier in the day how he was feeling and he said “not so good, there is pain in my legs….”  Well, he went on to easily win the stage. That’s the last time I will ask how he’s feeling! With the time bonus earned at the finish he is now in 3rd and only 11 seconds down on GC.  The stage is set for a good showdown on the final day.  There are plenty of bonus sprints out on course and also more at the finish so he still has a good chance to win the overall. All we have to do is keep a break from going up the road and stealing away those seconds. Easier said than done, but that’s the goal for the final stage.  All we can do is try to make it happen.

This area in the south of Poland is very beautiful. High mountains all around us and many nice villages in the valleys.  Fall has certainly began in this part of the world. Cool temperatures and fresh air, my favorite time of year.  Looking out the window this Saturday morning all you can see are families hiking up into the hills. Would be a very nice way to spend the day for sure.
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I wish I could give you a full recap of the stage today, but I really couldn’t see what was going on. It was raining so hard that it was nearly impossible to see the wheel in front of me!  We finally got a taste of the Polish rain that I have heard so much about.

The best thing about today was the stage was almost 100 kilometers shorter than the past three days so it flew by.  The race was much more active and a lot harder than any other day so far.  The hills today were steep, but very short and the stage was suited more for a one day classics rider. The outcome would echo that same thing with Allessandro Ballan winning the stage.

My day was not so great. I might be still paying for the efforts earlier in the week. Afterall, it is fairly difficult to recover when riding 250 kilometer days.  The weather may have played a part in that as well, as I felt as if I was riding in a river upstream all day.  I will spend the rest of the night picking gravel out of my eyes and hope for a better day tomorrow.
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