Remember when you were a kid and you were counting the days to your birthday or maybe Christmas? You’d ask your parents over and over again – “how many more sleeps?”. You would kind of feel sick with excitement when you hear the magical number “2”. Only 2 more sleeps!! Wow – it is almost here. The day after tomorrow.

This is how I’m feeling. I’m ready for it. I’ve had a great week here in Tabor. Lots of time spent on the course today and yesterday. Some quality trainer sessions earlier in the week to flush my legs and body out from the travel. Now I just want race day to be here.

Not because I’m feeling anxious or nervous. Rather the opposite. I’m so excited to be racing in the Cyclo-Cross World Championships. I’ve been thinking about this for two years. And now I’m only two sleeps away from it. Awesome.

Had a solid session out on the course this morning. I decided I wanted to ride in the morning – rather than during the official training time. I find it hard to practice specific sections of the course when there are lots of people about. So Marc was willing to take us out this morning and help us drill the course. He helped myself and Connor break down the key sections – looking at lines, exits, entrances, and offering us lots of confidence. This helped so much. After spending a long time on one lap breaking everything down. I set out for one complete lap with no stops. I had a pretty good lap. I was feeling good about how I rode the lap and then even more so when Marc said “I’d have to say that was a pretty good lap you just rode”. This made me feel fantastic.

Now of course with the warmer temperatures this afternoon, the course has softened and a lot of the ice has melted. I kind of expected this. I’m sure it will change even more between now and Sunday. I’m not sweating this. I’ll get out to the course nice and early on Sunday and get in a few more laps before the race so I can get a feel for the changes.

At least I can go to sleep with an excellent picture of the course in my head. One of the keys to this race course is maintaining momentum. There are so many easy spots where one can loose speed without even realizing it. So I’ve got a good mental image of the course that I can replay so I can remember the key sections. There is nothing worse than “forgetting” about a steep incline or descent and having it surprise you during the race.

I had a pretty chilled out afternoon. Marc went back out to the course in the afternoon with some more of the junior boys to help them ride the course. I settled into the hotel room and basically surfed the WWW. I hopped on the trainer for a light 30 minutes of pedaling just to keep my legs loose. And now I’m just relaxing again. Marc is busy working on the bikes for the racing tomorrow. Everyone except me is racing tomorrow so there is lots of action happening right now.

I’ve got a good opening work out for tomorrow and then I’ll simply relax in my room. Do some stretching. Sleep a bit. Surf the WWW. Read. All the usual stuff.

In my typical fashion, I’ve been doing some planning for the 2010-2011 season. The 2011 World Cup schedule has been announced for the season. Looks like I’ll be making a trip to Switzerland for the first World Cup of the season and then I’ll be back in the Czech Republic for the second World Cup. Busy times. Fast times. Fun times.

I’m feeling your positive vibes and good wishes. Thank-you. Keep them coming!