The Ardennes.

The last dregs of winter are evaporating.  The birdsong has changed.  After the first melodious notes, all you can think is, "Spring!"  Mood elevators for sure.  I have been absent, I apologize for that.  Trying to get an apartment in a foreign country is a foreign headache.  I have never had trouble sleeping in my life, but for the months of February and March, I couldn't sleep.  For all of us sleep is extremely important, for a cyclist it is absolutely essential.  Recovery is the name of the game folks.  If you can't recover from your training you might as well not be training because you aren't getting any benefit out of it.  It was more difficult than I imagined trying to nail down a place to live and race in the process, all while trying to get past the language barrier.  I come to you now, refreshed and sitting on my bed in my new, second, home in Girona, Spain.  Nice, a healthy sigh of relief is the tastiest thing since the pizza delivery man rang your door bell.

I just finished up accomplishing one of my biggest dreams to date.  I say it non chalantly but, trust me, I know where I come from.  Amstel Gold, Fleche Wallone, and Liege-Bastogne-Liege are races that may seem obscure, and they were to me once too, not anymore.  I have come to realize that they are important form markers for the contenders for the maille jaune in July.  Very tough, hilly, narrow, long, one day races.  I only finished the mid-week Fleche Wallone, Amstel and Liege are 160 brutal miles and too long for me at this point.  Very valuable information has come to light regardless, and I am sure of the fact that one day, I will step on the podium in one of these races.  I have made it one of my long-term goals.  My wife, Kristin, and my parents, Jac and Joanne, came to Belgium for the first time to watch these races.  It was great for me to have them out so they could finally discern between racing in the United States and racing in Europe.  There are important distinctions and I think they had a lot of fun.  Their view of dreary, cold, rainy, Belgium was skewed though.  The entire ten days they were there it was bright and sunny, and warm, save the last 50k of Fleche Wallone, a deluge that saw half my team crash and hurt themselves.  But still, ask any bike racer about going to Belgium and their tone, and facial expressions drop an octave as they inquire, "Did it rain every day, or just every other day?"  It was great to have my number one support group to nurse me through my first real classics.  On the plane home I still had a feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment even though on the surface it didn't seem successful.  I sit here proud to be taking small incremental steps forward on a path to greatness, or, really just taking small steps forward on a path.