Everything has been going really well here before Christmas. Jet-leg is still clear and present, as I am passing out each night before ten and getting up before the sun.  Can’t really complain though, it’s amazing how much more you can fit into the day when you wake up early.  I am just finishing up a solid block of training before I take a small break over the weekend.  The other day I made the mistake of riding my TT bike for four hours and now I can barely move my neck!  But other than that, it’s been great.  Most days have been spent training with George doing plenty of tempo efforts on the flats and getting in a few climbs here and there, weather permitting.  The snow from last week is still lingering in the shady corners and up in the mountains.  It’s not really worth the risks of riding on ice, so we have been forced to turn around several times.

This Christmas weekend should be as special as always.  It’s hard to believe it’s actually that time of the year.  I have been so busy lately that it’s been hard to keep up with when and where I actually am.  Surely when I sit down with my whole family for dinner on Christmas Eve it will set in.  Enjoy the Holidays!

Another nightmare of a trip finally brought me home to Greenville this past weekend.  Delayed, and even canceled flights were again the cause.  The “storm of the decade” was making its way up the east coast as I was trying to get from Philadelphia to Greenville.  My wife, Courtney, had to drive late in the night, with snow and ice on the roads, to pick me up in Charlotte, NC.  In total, I spent almost six days of traveling just to be in Lanzarote for six days!  I am glad we were able to get so many meetings out of the way as it probably wouldn’t have been worth it otherwise.

Now it is time to once again re-adjust to a new time zone and finish up all of my holiday shopping.  It’s hard to believe Christmas is this week, but it sure does feel like it.  Returning to the cold weather was a shock and it is strange to see snow by the roadsides and ice in the trees.  Training is full on for the 2010 season now.  It was a very quick switch from easing into things to being in the thick of it.  In fact, the week spent in Lanzarote, I had around forty hours of exercise!

The goal for the next few weeks is to just enjoy as much time with my family and friends as possible.  Before I know it, I will be back in Mallorca, Spain, for our next training camp and then the racing season will have officially begun.

It’s been decided amongst the Columbia-HTC riders to call this island Alcatraz, rather than Lanzarote.  We are all here on this rock in the middle of the ocean.  It is part of Spain, but we are over 1,200 kilometers from the mainland.  Mauritania, Africa, however, is only sixty kilometers away.  I am not quite sure how Spain ended up with control of the Canary Islands.  Anyway, this island is also as far from self-sustaining as you can possibly get. Even the fresh water must be shipped here. I feel very sorry for our staff that had to drive the trucks down here.  The drive to the port in the south of Spain took two days, and then they had to spend four days on the ferry to reach Lanzarote!

The training is going very well, partly because that is the only thing to do when we are not in meetings.  The roads are quite pleasant, and terrain is undulating.  Winds that could easily blow you off the road seem to be the only negative.  All of us have been making the best of things, putting in solid hours on the bikes and filling the rest of the day with core workouts and meetings.  The days have been flying by, and that’s great news, as I can’t wait to get back to South Carolina and enjoy Christmas with my family.

Just a little water falling out of they sky turned my fairly short trip to Lanzarote into three days.  After spending hours on the runway and many more hours in long lines, I finally gave in and tried to make the best of it.  London-Heathrow came into play as my connections were all shuffled around.  I spent some quality time there shopping and enjoying a full English breakfast.  Then, it was finally off to Madrid, only to arrive too late for any flights departing for Lanzarote.  At this point I was melting, but a glimmer of joy appeared as I realized I would be spending the night not too far from one restaurant which I have been dying to try, Santceloni.

After dropping off my bag at the hotel I headed into town and was waiting at Santceloni’s front door for them to open up at 9PM.  I sat down to one of the best meals of my life.  Several “compliments of the chef’s” dishes accompanied squid to start, then some lamb to finish.  Then the desserts came.  By the end I lost count of all the different dishes.  The only thing missing was my wife, or any company for that matter.  It is always strange dining out alone, but with as much time as I spend on the road I have gotten use to it.  And I just couldn’t pass up a chance to try Santceloni.

The next morning, three days into my travels, I finally boarded the plane for Lanzarote.  The island itself isn’t much too look at.  Sure it’s always beautiful and there are plenty of beaches, but there are no trees whatsoever, and the terrain is desert-like.  The next week will fly by regardless of where we are.  The riders and staff of Columbia-HTC will be busy with one meeting after another, while cramming in as much riding as we can.

My trip to the Canary Islands for the 1st team camp of 2010 turned into a travel nightmare thanks to nasty winter weather. I got stuck at Heathrow, and then got a “bonus” overnight in Madrid. Living the dream? If nothing else, it gives me the time to report that thanks to last week’s contest I got a great new name for my blog. After 5 years of ‘Journey of a Professional Cyclist’ the blog is now (maybe more appropriately titled?) “File Under Pain.”

Thanks to the incredible number of folks who submitted possible names. There were a lot of good ones there, and it’s heartening to see so many people are following the blog. Maybe I’ll actually make it to camp before it ends and I’ll send some updates from there.

It’s been quite the week here in Greenville.  Another birthday celebration, this one for my dad, and I have been keeping busy preparing for the upcoming Columbia-HTC camp.  Winter has officially arrived here in the Deep South.  Many of you northerners might laugh at what we call winter, but once it’s so cold that I can’t feel my hands and feet I consider that to be cold enough.  And it must be quite the site to see me out there, dressed in spandex, standing on the side of the road shaking my arms and hands trying to get some blood flowing back in them.

Everything has been going quite smoothly in my preparations for the 2010 season so far.  Some power is finding its way back into my legs and it is taking a little bit longer each day before I bonk out there on the road.  I would say that I am better than ever before at this point in the year.

On a side note, while on the massage table a few days back, Jeremiah noticed something poking out of a scar on my shoulder.  I had shoulder surgery over five years ago, but I had no idea of what it could be.  All I knew was that something had been itching me for some time so I asked him to pull it out.  Once we found some tweezers he proceeded to pull out a three-inch bright blue stitch!! It was quite gross to say the least.  It is crazy to think that it has been working its way to the surface for over five years.  The body really is an amazing organism and full of surprises!