Like most Canadian cyclists, I am getting very well-acquainted with my trainer. I’m doing lots of pedaling in place and watching a lot of television programs and movies to help pass the time. No complaints here – I’m super happy to be back to regular training and most importantly to seeing my fitness come around.

It is amazing what a short break can do to your fitness! We’re still taking things fairly moderately this first month since I’m not 100% recovered from my back injury but I’m making steady progress every week. I had an encouraging appointment with my physiotherapist last week – she said that I am getting stronger and now I’m allowed to stretch. I have missed stretching so much – my hamstrings, calves and quads were starting to get super tight. So now I’m getting super friendly with my foam roller and doing some gentle yoga moves in my basement after each trainer ride.

Really other than this, there isn’t too much to tell you about. I am not going to spend any time commenting on the recent “big news” in the cycling world. What is there to say?

I’m simply looking forward to getting my bike out on the open road again! It is tempting to plan a spring training camp somewhere but I have to remember that my focus is cyclo-cross and I don’t need to go away in the spring to prep for a race season that starts in September. I have taken a good long look at the 2012-2013 cyclo-cross calendar and I’m super excited about the upcoming season.

I’m very happy to be racing in Plzen and Tabor again to kick off my European season. There is also a World Cup in Rome so this will be a new course for me. The North American schedule is chock full of races so it is going to be a busy month and a bit before I take off for Europe.

But for shorter term goals, I’m looking forward to the spring and early summer racing season. I’ll be out at likely all of the local and area racing events. Back out at the Tuesday night crits as well. And something new for this year, I’m going to be helping out with the OBC program set up for younger kids – I think this will be a great experience – I’m sure I’ll learn a thing or two from these young kids as well (hint – I need to learn how to hop a curb!).

If you’re in Ottawa and are looking for something to do on Friday night – how about coming out to Empower Me yoga studio for a free yoga class? This class is sponsored by Lolë and is a great way for you to kick off the weekend. I’ll be there so let me know if you’re coming out.