It was at this point last year that I began gathering content for my website during the Tour of Poland.  I guess it is only fitting that I get back to writing, after a very long hiatus, and breath some life back in to my website during this year’s edition of Tour of Poland.

The month of July has been a busy one for me.  Even though I was not taking part in the Tour de France, instead just racing one week in Austria, I was still covering the Tour stages each day for Versus.  A lot of work went into predicting how each stage would unfold, but through the research I learned a great deal about the sport, its riders and the different regions of France.  All in all, it was a great experience and I enjoyed a new challenge in my life.

Work wise, the past few weeks have seen some of the better training rides of my year.  Even though I already have over sixty days of racing in my legs, I have felt fresh on the bike and able to do a larger than normal workload.  This all bodes well for my upcoming block of races.

The next three weeks will be a little like a grand tour for me.  After the Tour of Poland I will have two days of rest and then jump right back into racing at the mountainous Tour l’Ain.  Then after the five-day race in the Alps it is on to Italy for some hilly one-day races before I return home for the Canadian Pro Tour races and US Pro.  I know it seems like a lot, but at this point in the year it is so much more enjoyable to race than to train at home by yourself.  And I would like to see some good things from me at Worlds and Lombardia this year, so keeping the fitness up is very important.

Off the bike, Courtney and I have been enjoying all that Catalunya has to offer.  Last weekend it was an over night trip down to Barcelona to take in the sites and have one amazing meal after another.  That trip was followed by a few nights at a farm in the foothills of the Pyrenees.  We had a great stay on the farm, even though Courtney was bedridden with a sickness I have never even seen.  But we still enjoyed the silence of the mountains as well as dining on food that was grown or raised outside our door.

The riding from the farm was some of the best imaginable.  In every direction are mountains that rise up to almost 3,000 meters with roads going up to 2,000 meters (6,600 feet).  I passed more hikers and bikers than I did cars.  And there is just something special about never quite knowing what was around the next bend.  With the good days of training behind me now, I am hoping to have a solid showing in the coming weeks.