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.

My mind was made up.  I would pick up the car in Girona, drive to Belgium and race through Liege-Bastogne-Liege, then drive down to Italy to pick up Brendan Quirk for a few days of training on the Giro d’Italia course and finally bring the car back to Girona in early May.  I am tired just from writing about all of the driving ahead, but at least I know I will get to where I need to be.  The outrageous bike charges and the countless security screens that come with air travel will not be missed either.

Driving in Europe is not all that bad either.  I am amazed at how much the scenery changes in such short distances.  Being from America I am use to driving hours on end before I was out of the deserts of the West, or the mountains of North Carolina.  Here in the space of a couple hours you go from the arid landscape of Provence, past the high mountains of the Alps and you are in the rolling pastures covered in yellow mustard seeds that make up central France.  The scenery defiantly keeps the drive entertaining, but I was more than excited to pull into our team hotel late last night.  It was a long trip that took some thirteen hours from door to door, but I am happy I did it.  It is great to be back with the team and where I belong.  I hated watching Amstel on TV, and I didn’t want to be in that same position the rest of the week.  These races are some of the best of the year and regardless of how I feel after the long drive I can’t wait to race tomorrow.

For 2010, Fleche Wallonne has had a pretty significant course change.  As always we pass the infamous Mur de Huy three times.  With its slopes kicking up above 20% it has always been a deciding factor, but probably never more than it will be this year.  In past editions we would pass the Mur two times before the finish on the third trip up, but those first two times were always far out from the finish so the pace was calm.  This year the 2nd passage comes just twenty-nine kilometers from the finish, so it will play a vital role in the race.  The run-in to the 2nd passage will be chaotic, as we all know the race will be decided there.  HTC-Columbia’s goal is to have some riders up the road by then as with a finish like tomorrow it is always good to be a little ahead of the game.

My training will get longer as the week progresses, but for now I have been filling my days with cooking classes and spa treatments, as well as just relaxing in the sun on our balcony. This morning the alarm sounded at an early hour of half past four, as we had to meet up with chef Jacques Chibois at his restaurant, La Bastide Saint Antoine, for a full day of following him around. We drove into Nice and joined him on his weekly food run through this massive market that is only reserved for professional chefs. It was amazing to see how much food Jacques needed to purchase to just get him through a few days. By the time the sun came up, we had filled an U-haul sized truck full of vegetables, fish, meat and even flowers.

Then, it was back up to Grasse where his restaurant is located to tour the grounds. Down in his wine cellar we browsed through over 20,000 bottles, some of which dated back to the 1800’s! Once we had a good feel of the restaurant we were seated at a small table in the middle of the kitchen and served a very large eight-course lunch. The food was amazing, but what made it the best meal I have ever had was being able to walk over and watch them put together each ingredient and knowing that we had picked it all out this morning.  With all of this accomplished before it was even two, we were all pretty cracked. So I have been staring at the mountains from our balcony ever since, and the sun has long disappeared. A very nice rest week I must say…

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.

Our ride today started out quite pleasant, actually.  Maybe it was the fact that we had the wind at our backs the first half of the ride, and the sun in our faces that kept us warm.  As soon as we started to head back it was a different story.  The rain blew in; followed by a short burst of snow, then more rain!  Luckily, all of this crazy weather hit us in our final half hour, so it could have been much worse.  It is also amazing at how just having some fresh roads to ride makes the day go that much faster, and it also makes you a little less sensitive to these bad moments.

I am looking forward to getting the year going and figuring out where my fitness is in the first few races.  I feel the winter has treated me well, but it’s hard to say when you’re not racing and don’t have anything to compare with.  I am also really excited to get back to life in Girona.  The life and culture there is about as good as it can get.  Morning coffees overlooking the river at our place, and an evening glass of wine in one of the town squares with Courtney are some of the best parts of life.  It will also be nice to escape the bitter cold that has settled in Greenville, and have some fresh roads to train on.

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.

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.