PA

Just yesterday I was in a country where "dunk u wel," "alstublieft," and "speculoos" are the 3 most popular words. Now I'm back in the US of A where "extra-large," "instant," and "24-hour" rank among the top 10. It's both exciting and frightening to be back in America. I'm not quite home and won't be for another week seeing as how I have a job to do before hand. The Tour of Pennsylvania starts tomorrow. 6 days, 7 stages, and a lot of money to be won. The JCBA/ CC Team for the race is made up of Jim Camut, Steven Van Vooren, Peter Horn, Aaron Pool, Dave Nelson, and myself. It's a strong selection and I believe we can do very well.

It's been a while since I've done a race of this scale in the US. In Europe there are UCI races every week, but the the peloton isn't U25 and the language sure isn't English. Needless to say I'm glad to be here in PA, and looking forward to a great week of racing on home turf. I'll note the differences and get back to you. Till then... speculoos!

The 8 Day Rule

I think I should institute an 8 day rule: No racing in the week leading up to a major stage race. 8 days before = ok... 7 = no good. My last 3 crashes have all happened 7 days before big stage races. Last year I had a major crash in Willobroek, 7 days before Tour of Liege, and was unable to race. A few weeks ago I kissed the pavement, 7 days before Volta a Galicia, and luckily was still able to race (although probably not at 100%). And yesterday in Romsee, 7 days before Tour of PA, I took a little spill. I think I may have broken the curse yesterday, though, because I didn't touch the pavement. 50km into the race there was a big pileup near the front of the peloton. Unfortunately I was eating at the time and didn't have the braking power to escape untouched. I landed on a pile of riders and quickly rose to my feet, powerbar still in hand. After I fished my bike out of the pile (and chucked my powerbar) I checked it and started rolling. My derailleur was bent and by the time I got a bike change my race was over. No radios and car 24 in the caravan... not a good combo for mechanicals. Not my ideal last race in Europe. At least I escaped unscathed. On the plus side, my legs felt great in the 90 minutes I raced. Now it's all prep for Tour of PA. And in the future the 8 Day Rule will reign supreme.

Mini Training Camp

I'm in Houffalize right now with 3 of my teammates for a short training camp in the Ardennes. 3 long, low-intensity days of up and down. The weather is unbelievably bad. Yesterday it rained for the entire ride and it doesn't look much better now. It's June 13th and I'm wearing a thermal coat with a rain cape. Gotta love Belgium. My last race in Europe this year is Tuesday in Romsee. Then it's off to the Tour of PA from June 24-29. After that, I'll be sticking stateside racing locally, working a bit, and trying to hunt out a few big races to do. I think it stopped raining, at least for 5 minutes, so it's time to ride.

Volta a Galicia

An "in the car view" of the Galicia region of Spain.

It was a great week in Spain for the CC team. With strong, smart riding and selfless teamwork we took home 2 jersey's, the KOM and the U23 classification. Aaron Pool spent a day in the U23 jersey and Jim Camut took the final U23 classification while Steven Van Vooren wrapped up the Kom jersey before the race even ended. My race was spent in selfless support of my teammates, riding myself into the ground for them and working to defend our jersey's. Although I achieved no personal results it is a good feeling to know that my work was necessary to achieve the team result. We functioned as a pro team: each rider did his job and sometimes that job is not as glamorous as crossing the line first. Several stages I finished well behind the lead group, but where as in the past I would be frustrated... on these days I was proud! I covered threatening attacks in the early parts of stages, fetched bottles from the team car, and escaped in the early break to give my teammates in the peloton an easier time. A good domestique is a valuable asset to any team and now I fully understand the feeling that pro domestiques get with the success of their team leaders. I also know that my day will come and that my teammates would do the same for me.

The Volta a Galicia was a new experience for everyone at the CC. Spain was a new frontier as no one had raced there and no one knew exactly what to expect. There were teams with ex-pros that had raced the Vuelta a Espana and U23 teams from Portugal. Who knew what was going to happen. The rumor that the Spanish peloton races at one speed is nearly true. They ride very hard up mountains and then take the descents and flats fairly easy. I think they try to ride 38 kph no matter what the terrain is like! Where as Belgians race the crosswind, the Spaniards race the mountains. The other quirk about Spanish racing is the schedule and time frame. The Spanish are on Daylight Wasting Time: Race from 2-6, dinner (quite an ordeal) from 9:30-11, breakfast at 10:30. Everything is shifted 3 hours later than Belgium. Took a little getting used to but I liked it and rolled with it. Now it's back to the 8am wake up call. The course profiles in Spain were nearly impossible to memorize. It was like trying to study for the SAT's. Luckily they provide cheat sheets that fit into your pocket. Those little plastic cards were so valuable in knowing how the race would unfold, when to eat and drink, and what monster climb was comming up. I learned that the 20k climb is the staple of Spanish racing and that I can climb with those mountain goats. It was a great experience and I look forward to returning to Spain in the future.

Galicia served as a perfect prep for Tour of Pennsylvania, which is the next big race on the schedule. I think I'll do a one day race next week before hopping across the pond.

What would Spain be without a bull fight? Brutal.

A relaxed neutral start? We're sure not in Belgium. Jim in Blue. Steve in Green.

Aaron, Steven, and Dave after a long day of travel to Galicia.

http://www.voltagalicia.com/2008/index.php

100th Post, Eve of Spain

Ah, it seems like just yesterday that I created "the gutter" and posted my first blog. Now 100 posts later I'm sitting on the couch at the CC with facial stitches, watching a bad movie, getting ready to go to Spain tomorrow! It will be a new experience for me as I've never raced in Spain (or have even been there) and do not know exactly what to expect, save tons of climbing. I think the style of racing in Spain will suit my abilities or so I hope. All I know for sure is that I've prepared the best I can under the circumstances and I'm mentally ready. So the wise advice of the 100th post is this: the greatest power I have is not on my bike but rather the power to choose my reaction to a situation. You can contemplate that for the next week while I may not be able access the world wide web.

Tomorrow will be a long day of travel. A short spin on the rollers, 1 hour shuttle to the airport, 2 hour flight, 4 hour drive... Galicia. So until post 101, thanks for reading.