I can’t think of any other race throughout the year that could motivate me so much so late in the season other than the Giro di Lombardia.  Last year I had the best result of my short career at this race and I was hoping to go even better than that in this edition.  I was better prepared both mentally and physically and was more confident than ever before.  The day just didn’t go that well.  I felt good, I just lacked that extra gear and was unable to follow the accelerations.  I have noticed that I have been lacking that extra something since Ireland really.  Maybe it just comes with the long season of racing I have done.

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My final stay in Girona for this year has had its ups and downs to say the least.  It took a little longer to expect to recover from the World Championships.  I would basically pass out around 10PM and I would stay that way for a solid ten hours each night.  I guess my body was just not used to seven hours of racing on the bike.

I did start to come around after four or five days of rest, so I started to get in some good days on the bike.  As soon as I was feeling like my old self, I headed towards the hills and ended up on what was one of my favorite loops.  A really nice climb followed by a gravel descent towards a massive reservoir and up another mountain.  Sounds awesome, right?

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This past week has brought nothing but rain here In Greenville. It has made for a rough week of training.  About the last thing I like to do is leave the house with my rain jacket already on.  I took a few days easy once I got back from Missouri, I actually felt much better coming out of the race than going into it,  and I have started doing some big days to get ready for the upcoming World Championships.  How do you train for a race with 265 kilometers and 4700 meters of climbing?  I am not sure, I have never done that, maybe the closest thing would be LBL this year.

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