Tuesday, June 13, 2006

Belgium 2006, entry 9

My mid-season break is over and I feel refreshed both physically and mentally to charge into the second half of the season. I spent 5 days in Germany visiting my relatives and experiencing life on a farm. I think the highlight of the trip was being in downtown Munster for the first game of the World Cup (Germany vs. Costa Rica) and watching it on a big screen in the town square among thousands of German soccer fans. It was probably more 'out of control' and fun there than in the stadium itself. My vacation also included some tasks on the farm such as working a wood splitting machine, herding 125kg pigs into a semi, and even driving a tractor! I saw and experienced so many new things during those 5 days which really kept my mind off cycling and 'recharged me' mentally. Thank you to the Selhorst family for opening their home to me this past week.


I feel very good to be back in full training mode and am really looking forward to the hard training that is coming up in the following weeks. I got my training schedule today and have several 5+ hour rides ahead of me and also a short training camp in the hills of Wallonia in a few weeks. My next race will be a kermis this weekend to hopefully get my racing legs back in time for a big UCI on Tuesday. Then there's no looking back because it's pretty much racing and recovering all the way until September! It's a little hard to believe we're already halfway through June and that I've been here for over 3 months. It just needs to serve as a reminder to make the most of every day I'm here and to train and race as hard and best as I possibly can. Thanks for reading.