Training camp days 3 and 4

Day 3: 5hrs good tempo all day. Finished the day w/ 2, 10km climbs.

Day 4: Am- 10, 3min intervals w/ an hour on ecah end of the ride. Total ride time: 3.5 hrs

Pm- 3hrs w/ 3, 15min team time trial intervals.

Total ride time for the day 6.5hrs.

I'm tired

alex

Traning camp day two

Today was tough. 8 hill repeats in the 53x11. Roughly 7min to the top. Needless to say nearly everyone was struggling just to get off their bikes at the end of the day. Right now I am laying in bed begging my body to rebuild. I have faith in my spirit. Tomorrow I shall dance again. Tomorrow the French will see what a snow monkey is really made of....

Let the transformation from good to great begin.

Traning camp day one

(Silverton...just because)
I was pretty slow. No.... really slow. Can't say I didn't expect it though. I've been feeling sick the past two days. Fortunutly I think it has passed and I should be able to complete camp w/ out too many problems. I was happy to see how strong my new team is. Most of the riders seem to be going really well right now. Especially a good portion of the French riders. They are hoping to make the team for "VC La Pomme's World Championships." Apparently the first race of the season is a big deal for the team and the rest of France. With the way I road today my chances of participating are minimal but hey, tomorrow is another day. A day whitch I plan to be much better prepaired for.



Takin' the hard hits just for shits,

alex

I've been spending way too much time trying to figure out how to publish movies and audio. It's a bit of a pain in the ass on this blog. I might end up switching or just giving up. We'll see.

!!!!!!!!!!!

I would kill for a jar of peanut butter right now! Any one who says it's more rewarding to make something your self has never tried to make peanut butter. After searching every store with in 10 miles of my home I decide that the only way to get it in my pantry and more importantly, in my belly, was to make it my self. So far all tries have been unsuccessful. Stupid, no peanut butter, France.

I think I might start buying it off of ebay and selling it on the streets. Start some sort of revolution.

A decision has been made...

I have decided that I am too young to get bummed out. “Why?” You ask. My logic is simple: all men who are depressed grow a beard. They get lazy, they feel worthless, and they are trying to hide the hurt they have inside. But…. I can’t grow a beard (trust me I tried real damn hard!). Thus, I can not be bummed.

All is perfect all is well.

Today I found my old happy place. I’ll post some pictures if I ever get my card reader back.

Peace and love from the French side of life,
alex

Built to win

I went to the doc today. It was by far the most thorough examination I have ever received. Checked everything from my toes to the hair on my head. Especially the hair on my head. Did a full on VO2 max test. I'm not going to lie, I felt like crap today so I definitely half assed the majority of the test. Probably not the best thing to do but I think the information I gained is still relevant. Most everything he told me I already knew. High hematocrit and hemoglobin levels, average lung capacity, huge heart for my body, baby fat still present, ect. However, (and this is big for me!) my lactate clearing abilities have improved significantly! Not sure if the results from either this test or the one from 2 years ago are both accurate (or if I even remembered the numbers correctly) but if they are I'm going to be in a good place this year! This will serve me well in hard races with lots of accelerations and inconsistent speed.

After the test I had to sprint home (this is right after a VO2 test mind you!), shower, and pack in the car and race to Marseille for an awards presentation for the Cup du mond. It's a French thing.... apparently it's the big thing to win around here and the team won it last year. Way to go guys! What this meant for me was I got to practice my French in a handful of, "sink or swim" situations. Most of the time I sank.

Oh well. As science shows, I'll recover.




*Small side note- I think by the end of this odyssey I will have lost my ability to speak english. Or at least speak it in my native style. I'm already starting to speak with a french accent.

PURE BLISS!!!!!

Today was probably one of the best days of my life!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The king of rice puddings has been discovered!!!!!!!!!! Words can not come close to describing the joy I feel right now! Unfortunately, this probably means I'm going to get fat. Real fat.

Small warning when in France: Take caution when buying Garlic. I borrowed some of Pierre's garlic the other day (I'm sure he will read this so.... Thanks Pierre!) and it was no big deal. Same as the stuff at home. I hardly noticed its presence. But today, today was a completely different story. Half a clove minced and sprinkled on my salad had me crying, sweating, and desperately trying to force the greens, down the hatch. Never have I ever been so over powered by a food. If you can even call this a food! It was like eating some type of acid! I know your first thought must be that I am simply a wimp or some type of garlic light weight but I can assure you (with a very special girl back at home who can testify for me) that in my native land I am a clove consuming champion, a garlic gorging beast! But this is truly something else all together. Alas, I shall adapt.

If I conquer only one thing in France it will be the garlic.

Oh yeah, that face at the top is not a face of fear, It's my extream garlic/skiing face.

...

I'm starting to fall in a bit of a routine over here. Wake up late, eat, ride (with a nap shortly after sometimes), eat, computer (study), eat, computer (surf), sleep.

I think it needs some changes. Maybe wake up a little earlier, less time on the computer, and a little more food in my belly would do me some good. Trying to become a climber kinda sucks. Losing weight blows. Perhaps I'll eat out tomorrow.

Today's ride was a doozy. 5hrs 30min. For the majority of it I was hammering. Sometimes, geting lost feels so good.

FEW SMILE IN THE FACE OF WAR IN A MANNOR SUCH AS I

and the beat goes on....

The very basic core of a man's living spirit is his passion for adventure. The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun.

Jack London

I've loveded this partcular quote for quite some time now (and was happy to see that it made its way into the movie and book (I stongly recomend seeing and reading) "Into the Wild") and firmly believed in it. However, I have recently brought it up for questioning. Why? I miss Katie. A lot. More than anything ever before.

I love France. I really do. I love the culture, the people, the challenge of learnign the language, everything. Asside from one small minute detail this place is perfect. Heaven on earth. The ideal place and circumstances for me to develop into one of the worlds top cyclists. Unfortunutly, I feel like someone just punched me in the stomach. And "there's a window in my heart and everyone can see how sad inside"

That one's from Neil Young.

chapter one

I'm starting to get over the initial shock of departing from my english speaking world and doing my best to adapt to a new French lifestyle. My old european habits are beginning to resurface and excitment for the comming season is growing exponentially.

Toughest challenge since arriving in France: sitting through a German movie w/ French subtitles.

Seeing as this is the hardest thing yet, life can't be too bad. Right?

I've never been home sick on the first day of the trip before. I guess there is a first time for everything.

Thanks!

I never realized how many spectacular friends I had until I tried to say good by to all of them. Right now I am not really shure how to feel about leaving. I am looking forward to France with great anticipation how ever I leave Boulder with a heavy heart. For the last five months my life has been so perfectly perfect and to leave that behind truly hurts. However, I have no intention of leaving home simply to get waxed by a bunch of euros. My hope is that this perfect off season will be the base to an amazing season abroad. My objective: return with some serious results worth bragging about.

As my final note I would like to say thanks. I don't know how else to say it. I feel as if I have been treated like royalty here so...

THANKS!

alex

ps. happy new year!