So nice to get outside today. It wasn’t the warmest day of the week but it wasn’t the coldest either. So it was all good. On order today was a recovery ride. 90 minutes of nice light pedaling. Perfect for a Friday. Loaded up the iPod with some of my favorite podcasts and hit the open road.

Unfortunately most of the small country roads are still snowy and slick so I had to stick to the busier roads. No problems though – the bicycle paths are all clear of snow. I had a super smooth ride. Did get lost for a bit and ended up in Eindhout (with only 30 minutes of planned riding left)… I made it home almost an hour later. Perfect – I got in two hours of recovery instead!

Felt so nice to be outside breathing the fresh air and checking out the sights. Didn’t see anything too crazy today. The usual mix of classic Belgian brick houses with the odd uber modern house thrown in. Did see a house with siding on it… Forgot how ugly siding really is.

Hit up the bike store in Geel today with Erik (the latest Canadian to arrive on the scene). I picked up and thought about buying a lot of stuff. But I put it all back. Did buy Marc some new cycling socks – two pairs of winter socks for 9 euros (can’t go wrong)!

Been having a pretty chilled out evening. Smooth decaf-cappuccino brewed up in the silver bullet and some milk made bubbly with my handy dandy milk foamer. Now it is time to relax for a bit. Have the latest issue of Rouleur magazine (thanks to Erik) to read and some chai tea to drink. Early trainer ride tomorrow morning and then in the car to go to Marc’s race. I’d rather be going to Roubaix but such is life. Really looking forward to racing next weekend! (My thumb is slowly getting better. The swelling is going down but the flexibility and rang of motion is not improving. It was okay on the bike today – except when I hit the odd bump. But I know it will be fine come Tabor.)

Happy weekend. Make sure you get up and do something fun. Remember your New Year Resolutions? Well, time to tick an item or two off the list this weekend.

Sorry if you missed me yesterday. It was one of those crazy days. Race day. Unfortunately not for me… But it was race day for Marc. So on the road at 6 a.m., many hours of driving later and we arrived at the race site with a mere 40 minutes to spare! Marc had a good race in the very cold conditions (finished 11th). Nice lunch and cappuccino in the cafe and then back in the car for the drive home. Made it – tired and a bit weary.

But not rest for the wicked! Nope – trainer time for me. Sigh. I’m not a “late trainer” – I prefer to ride first thing in the morning. But such is life. Luckily it was a good hard ride, so the time passed relatively quickly. Season 1 of the Wire helps a lot as well. On deck yesterday – micro-burst intervals. Love this work-out. So hard. But it feels so good.

A solid chilled out evening. We’ve got a new house guest here so we took him on a bit of a tour looking for some food. Unfortunately our favorite little cafe was closed. Back to the house to eat leftovers. Then I sacked out. Pretty exciting life…

Today was another couple of hours on the trainer… I really wanted to ride outside but I have to err on the side of caution (so everyone says…). This time it was a long endurance ride with a chunk of tempo at the end. I’ve now watched the entire first season of the Wire. Excellent program. Now I need season two…

What else is up? Well, I talk a lot about my physical training, my attention to nutrition, stretching (yoga), resting, etc. But I never really talk about the mental training. Perfectly good reason for this – until now I really haven’t done any “real” mental training. I’ve dabbled here and there. I’ve tried to do the imagery and positive self-talk, but I really haven’t given it the attention it deserves. Well, I started working with a mental training consultant. I’ve only had one session so far (have another one tonight), but so far so good. It helps to talk with someone who I don’t have a “connection” with – I can be totally honest about what is and isn’t going on in my brain. I feel like I should have been doing this kind of work weeks/months ago. But as the saying goes, “better late than never”. I’m not expecting miracles from this, just like everything else some slow and steady progress.

Looking forward to riding outside tomorrow. Yes, I’ll be careful. Nothing crazy off-road riding. Just need to get out and get some fresh air. Keep pedaling and remember rubber side down.

So my thumb. What a hassle. Just got back from the doctor. It is badly sprained. Luckily it is not broken. But I’m not racing tomorrow or this weekend. This is a bummer.

I really was looking forward to racing in Surhuisterveen. Cool downtown course. And just simply fun to race in a mid-week race. Besides, I love to race – so why miss the chance. Also a drag about Roubaix. I was looking forward to racing in all the World Cups this season and of course to racing in Roubaix. I guess I’ll have to wait until next year.

Basically, I need to give my thumb some time to heal. The risk of crashing and doing further damage that would put at risk my ability to race in Tabor, are much too high. So we take the safe and smart road. This is definitely not the most fun road. But in the long run, the correct decision.

My mood? Well, it is what it is. Disappointed I can’t race. But I can train. And my thumb is not severely injured. So no need to be down in the dumps. Just a little bump in the road. I’ve been through worse, so this is nothing. Looking forward to getting in some good hard trainer work-outs and cheering Marc on tomorrow. Yep, we’re leaving at the crack of dawn on Wednesday so that Marc can race in Surhuisterveen.

So, with this, I’m going to sign off. I’ve got some organizing to do for our little road trip. Have a good one.

I’ve just encountered my first bump in the road. Quite literally it was a bump on the trail covered in snow… Now I’ve got myself a sprained thumb. Sigh. It is swollen. It is sore. But it is not the end of the world. I’ve had this injury before. Yep, it hurts. It is a pain and a hassle. Don’t realize how valuable your thumb is until you don’t have it. But I’m icing it, I’ve got it wrapped, I’m keeping it elevated. And it will be just fine. I don’t pedal with my thumb, so it is not a big deal. As I always say, “it could be worse”.

This all happened yesterday when I was out training in the woods. I had a fantastic ride. In fact, it was because I was having so much fun and riding rather smoothly, that this happened. Ironic. Normally when I veer off the race line, I panic a bit, slam on the brakes and do crazy stuff. Not yesterday… I veered of the race line, but because I was focused on pedaling and looking ahead, I was okay with it. But I neglected to see the two tree stumps buried in the snow. I hit the first one bang on and my right hand slipped and I slammed my thumb against my hood, bending it way past its’ comfort point. I then proceeded to hit the next stump. Through all this, I continued to pedal, got back on the race line and stayed upright! Yes, I’m surprised as well. There was no time for panic or breaking. I think if either of those had happened, I would be worse off. As it stands all I have is a sore thumb. No biggie.

But in light of this, I did take today off. Decided even riding on the trainer would be too much. Today has been about rest, ice, elevation, and patience. I got a handy thumb support strap thing from the Aldi (thanks to Tim for the tip) and I bought some athletic tape and tonight we are going to tape it up. I’ll be fine and ready for Wednesday.

Too bad about not riding today as it has been a beautiful day. Above zero. Blue sky. Perfect day for some riding in the woods. But I’ll have to wait until Thursday or Friday to hit up Averbode again.

I have started reading David Byrne’s book Bicycle Diaries. What a fascinating look at life – pedaling through major cities by bike. Byrne makes me want to buy a folding bike and pedal my way through the world. Hmm, maybe this will be next on my list. Perfect thing to do when for my 45th year… (This by the way is still a long way off!) I also started reading another book: Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. I’m only in the introduction but the basic idea is how to truly find happiness in life. Anyway, a couple of reads that might appeal to all you other bike fans out there.

We are off to Surhuisterveen tomorrow. Looking forward to the road trip and the night in the posh hotel. I’ll get to watch/pit for Marc and then I’ll race. This is a cool race because it is in the center of the town. Lots of people come out to watch and cheer on the riders. Fun way to spend a Wednesday!

Alright, I’m out. More Canadians arriving this week and next. Yep, it is getting close to that time. World Championship time! Cool.

Wow, everywhere I look these days I see white. Pure white snow. Makes me feel like I’m at home! Luckily we don’t have the cold temperatures of home. I think Friday was the coldest with -8. Yes that was cold on the toes. Yep, I decided to ride outside on Friday. Didn’t realize that it was that cold and a massive wind on top of it. Ah well, it was nice to be outside and feel the snow crunching beneath the tires. Besides, I’m a Canadian, I’m used to this weather!

We had planned to race this weekend in some small local races. But I guess with the weather and with every country (except Canada and the U.S.) hosting their National Cyclo-Cross Championships, the races we had planned on where canceled. Such is life. In a way it has been kind of nice not rushing off to races, standing in the pits, racing, driving home, doing laundry, cleaning the bikes, etc. Nice to have a weekend off from this. Don’t get me wrong – I’m still totally hungry to race. Just was nice to have a bit of a change this weekend.

With no racing, I got friendly with the trainer again on Saturday. Another solid two hours with some zippy microburst intervals thrown in for spice. The microburst intervals are a sure fire way of getting some of that coveted ached into your legs. Amazing how long 15 or 20 seconds can feel!

Saturday afternoon we took a little road trip and drove to Ham to check out the newest bike shop on the scene: Chaos. This store is owned and operated by Gino – a friend of ours that we met when I first came to Belgium to race on the road. Marc regularly races with Gino’s brother Bert, and I’ve done some training with him as well. Anyway, the shop is pretty darn cool. Gino sells a lot of brands of bikes but the main feature is his own line of bikes. Very clean lines and many frame options. We had a great time catching up with Gino and his dad. Told lots of stories and shared some laughs. We’ll definitely be back.

It was warmer today so I decided to hit up Averbode for some riding in the woods. I had a blast. Was really feeling the snow and the conditions. Luckily I know the race course quite well now since it was completely snowed in. What a difference it makes for me when I can’t see the ruts and roots beneath the snow. I really felt like I was riding more confidently and smoothly. I focused on looking ahead. This is more than looking up – this is really looking down around the corner and the next tree. Really helps to prepare for whatever is next and eliminates the “surprise” factor. After some playing in the woods I rode over to the Wandelpark that is about 15 minutes away. I rode around there on the trails and had more fun in the woods. All in all, an excellent ride. Super nice to be outside enjoying the sunshine and feeling the air move.

We had planned to go watch the Belgian Champs live in Oostmalle, but decided to stay home and catch the action on the television. An excellent decision. I relaxed with my home brewed decaf cappuccino and watched a stellar performance by Sven Nys. Wow! What an amazing ride. This guy is one super motivated individual. I’m so glad I watched him race. It simply goes to show that anything can happen in a ‘cross race and there is never any sense in mentally checking out and just rolling around when things “go wrong”.

Looking forward to another good week of racing and training. Off to Surhuisterveen, Holland for some racing on Wednesday. Then onto Roubaix, France for the World Cup. Might try to race in Huijbergen, Holland on Saturday but have to do a bit of a logistics dance to make this work.

Only a few more weeks of the season left. Crazy! Seems like it just started. I’m definitely closing off the season with some excellent sensations in my legs, lungs, brain, and soul. Can’t ask for much more.