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.