Now that I am back up and running from a short break after the Giro and Philadelphia, I figured I would get my site up and running as well.  It was been a very eventful month, to say the least.  Having seen my fair share of Italy, and Europe for the past six months, I scored a ticket home to the United States.  This past block in Europe has been my longest stint yet, so I was more than excited to catch up with my family and friends at home.  Horrific travel from Milan to Greenville saw me arriving home a little over thirty hours late.  Yes, thirty hours!  Before I knew it I was back in the airport bound for Philadelphia, PA.  After a great race for HTC-Columbia in Philly, I finally had a chance to catch my breath and had the pleasure of spending a few days with my wife and family in the great city of New York.

The days spent in New York were just what my body and mind needed.  No stress, no schedules, just spending the day slowly moving from one great restaurant to the next.  At this point in the year all I need is some relaxing downtime to get me fresh and motivated for the second part of the racing season.

Now, with a clear head, I am starting again with some serious training.  The intervals and distances are not as difficult any they were.   However, the weather has been abnormally hot the past few weeks.  So much so that it probably isn’t healthy or safe to be exercising outside past noon.  By the time it was ten o’clock here today I had already taken off my jersey and soaked it in a mountain stream, hoping to cool off a bit.  It worked, but only for a few minutes.  The next stop I filled my empty jersey pockets with ice with a little more success.  In the end, there is not much you can do when it is so brutally hot outside except ride faster to get home quicker.