Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Ya gotta move up, it's getting hectic.

It's been a bit of a long month and a half, but this time next week I should be back in Boulder and have my broken jaw mostly behind me. Last Wednesday I had surgery to get some plates and screws that were in my jaw removed. Then tomorrow I get the final screws taken out. I am looking forward to being done with it. However, from that point onward things aren't really settling down, really just speeding up.

Unfortunately I'm only going to be in Boulder for about 10 days. I love it in Boulder, I love my apartment, I get motivated to train harder in Boulder seeing all the fast people. But yeah, I'll be in Boulder for 10 days with nothing to do but train. It's not as much time as I would've liked, but hopefully I can finally get one good block and get some fitness going. After that I'm going to California for 9 days for a camp with Cal-Giant. It should be really good, and I'm excited to meet everybody. All the interactions have been so professional so far. I don't want to come off like a jerk, though it could be far too late, but it's really awesome just not having to worry about things. Not having to worry about having a bike to ride, and not having to worry about booking flights. I should mention though that I would not have even been able to train for the past month and a half if it hadn't been for November Bicycles. They gave me a bike to ride and while I'm looking forward to getting my Specialized it has truly been a joy riding the November. There is something special about those grass roots companies that I think sometimes do a lot more for the sport than the big corporate engines. Check them out at www.novemberbicycles.com

After California I've got a lot of travel. I'm flying from California to Denver, then from Denver to DC. Then I'm at home at DC for one day to see a doctor. The next day, March 10, I fly from DC to Brussels, Belgium. I'll be in Belgium from March 11-May 9 racing with the National Team. My feelings about it are interesting I would say. For the past couple of years I wanted it so bad, and imagined how great it would feel once it happened. However, now that I am going in just a month I'm not sure how I feel about it. I wish I hadn't crashed and broken my jaw before going, most of all I am just unsure. I am excited, but at the same time I am nervous. But I have my schedule and it looks like a lot of good races, some hilly races so hopefully I can go fast in those. For anyone interested the schedule of races over there is:

March 20- GP Wilfried Pieters
March 27- Aalst-St. Truiden
April 8-10- Circuit des Ardennes
April 13- Cote Picarde
April 16- ZLM Tour
April 18- Zellik
April 24- Affligem
May 1- Hoboken
May 8- Circuit Wallonie

It should be good, and hopefully I'll return with some form rather than shattered to pieces.