After finishing up the Volta ao Algarve with a fairly strong ride in the final time trail I am ready for what lies ahead. Spring has made its first appearance here in Girona, and my pale skin saw the sun for the first time this week. There is nothing quite like those first few warm days on the bike after a long a miserable winter. Those are the days when the hardest part is forcing yourself to turn your bike back towards home.

I feel my fitness is heading in the right direction now. After a rough start to the racing season, with two crashes, too many flat tires to count and the horrendous weather, I can say that the bad luck is behind me. Now I can look forward to performing well in Paris-Nice. I will spend this week in Girona working on some longer distances as there are many stages over 200 kilometers in Paris-Nice, and then next week I will head up to Nice with Courtney to meet up with some family and recon the last couple of stages. I can’t wait to see how it all goes. Much of my time lately has been spent daydreaming about wearing the white jersey after the prologue!

With the Mallorca Challenge now a distant memory, Courtney and I are enjoying some quality time together on the island in Deia. I have written quite a bit about Deia in the past, but each time I come back I love it even more. The whole atmosphere is something very special. Taking in the fresh air with mountains behind you as you gaze out towards the open sea makes this very friendly village of 800 residents truly unique. The roads are quite amazing as well. Countless climbs dot the coast as you twist your way through the Tramuntana region of Mallorca.

For the long weekend we will be calling La Residencia home. Days spent out of the bike will be followed by some serious spa sessions! Not a bad life at all. My teammate, Vicente Reynes, has been kind enough to point us in all of the right directions in his hometown. Some amazing food and wine is to be had, as well as some rest and relaxation before it is off to Portugal for the Tour of Algarve next week. After my recent crash on the first day of Challenge Mallorca I am finally starting to feel back to normal. The stress and strains of crashing are never easy to bounce back from while racing, especially while racing in the mountains. So I was digging myself into a hole for the final two days of the race. Now with just an easy day or two I am back to normal and the legs are feeling good for the future.

The Challenge Ciclista a Mallorca marks the start of the 2010 racing season for me. It is quite a strange way to begin as well. The five-day race looks like a typical stage race, yet the format is far from the usual. There is a final overall for the general classification, just like the Tour de France, but each stage is raced separately. Only if you choose to race all five days will you be in the running for the overall title. I know, it sounds confusing, but it is just like what I grew up racing a lot of in the South, the omnium.

Most teams bring over half of their roster here since ten riders can start each day (instead of the more normal six-nine) and it doesn’t have to be the same ten everyday. With some riders skipping a stage or two, spots open up for others, and you could see over fifteen riders sharing the week of racing.

It is a pretty nice way to roll into the season, and I feel it’s great for the fans as well. They get the chance to see twice as many of their favorite pros. The fans also get to ride out on the same roads that others, who are not racing, are training on for the day. A training camp with race days and twenty teams all in the same area is basically what it boils down to.

The first two days were rather flat, so I opted out of those and arrived here today ready for the final three stages in the mountains. Each stage seems to get progressively harder as well, and the weather is not the brightest in forecasts. But I am remaining positive that this will be a great start to the year. With all of the training I have done the past few week’s things couldn’t be better. I am just looking to erase all of those question marks that you typically start the season with. Will I be strong enough to finish? Will I be strong enough to be at the front? Could I be there fighting for the win? By the end of the week I hope to answer them all with a “yes.”

This past Saturday Courtney and I decided to take the train down the Barcelona. After the hour and a half train ride we jumped off at the Barcelona Sants train station and headed to one of our favorite restaurants, Inopia. Here are some pictures of how we spent our afternoon.