Belgium 2005, entry 5

I think of myself as a fairly flexible guy, but there is something about a solid daily routine that is so comforting, especially for an aspiring professional athlete. Although there is no day that is exactly the same as the last, much of the daily routine here at the Cycling Center stays the same. I'll now give you a brief summary of what a training day at the CC for Vince Roberge is actually like.

I wake up daily at 7:30 and take my morning measurements which include heart rate, weight, temperature, blood pressure, and morning feeling. I then go out for and hour on the bike before enjoying my cup of coffee and bowl of oatmeal. After breakfast I head over to the sun room where I do my morning stretching and core workouts. Usually I check my e-mail an absurd amount of times periodically throughout the day, one of which would be at this point. Now I should point out that many of the days here in Belgium are planned around the weather. If it's raining in the morning, some guys will hold out and ride in the afternoon, while others will just take on the rollers. I don't mind riding in poor weather so I usually head to the garage in the late morning for my ride. Fast forward through lunch, nap, and a few more e-mail checks and we arrive in what is known as Cycling Center Nothingness Time. This is the time of the day where just about everything has been taking care of and can be very dangerous for eating bad stuff from the corner store or bakery. The Cycling Center Nothingness Time is usually spent doing something different everyday. Cleaning your bike, sweeping your room, reading the Velonews your family sent you from cover to cover twice, checking your e-mail again, doing laundry, or preparing an amazing dinner that takes 2 hours are all options for this special time, the latter being the least common. During the month of July, of course, the Cycling Center Nothingness Time is usually occupied by watching the Tour live in French or Flemish. After the CCNT it usually goes something like this: dinner, core work , activity, and bed. For the first month the activity was watching a movie on the big screen, but now that most of the movies have been seen 3 times other activities are becoming popular. Video games (complements of Scott) and card games (also complements of Scott) have been the recent favorite for me. The last few nights a group of us Midwesterners have been playing the World Series of Euchre. My partner, Spa (Matt Moore), and I have been in possession of the championship belts for the entire Series (even though actual belts have yet to be made). Bed time is usually between 10:00 and 10:30, and the following day I do it again!

No day is the same here at the Cycling Center so don't base your opinion of what we do entirely on the previous paragraph. All the guys here are serious about their job and training is always the most important time of the day. I love the routine here at he Cycling Center and every day is sure to bring a new adventure or at least a lot of fun! VR