going big

Going big on a Friday night in Tucson, Arizona! I just finished up watching 2.5 hrs of PBS (I’m fascinated by politics and world news for those of you who didn’t know), and making curry with coconut rice. I’m wearing recovery tights because my legs ache after bonking out on the MTB today. I’ve pretty much been on this couch for 4 hrs. Its 930 and past my bedtime. Tomorrow I will probably be on the bike for nearly 7 hrs, and repeat this, although the curry dinner will be leftovers because Ill be too tired to stand up in order to cook dinner. Might have the energy to mince some fresh cilantro. Glamorous.

This has more or less been my life for the past 2 weeks down here. Every day I feel more fit and more fatigued. It’s a weird sensation that only comes around this time of year. I’m on the bike 4-6 hrs pretty much every day, sometimes with friends, sometimes alone. Either one is good.

Fast-forward… Its Monday morning, I woke up at 630 today and all I could think about was a couple cups of coffee and reading the newspaper. I’ve got 7 more days of hard training down here, one final big week. I’m excited for it. I’ll spend as much time on the bike this week as most people spend in office chairs working their 9-5’s… somewhere in the low to mid thirties. On Sunday I went out with Todd, Spencer, Carl, Russell and Morgan for a 6.5hr, 120 mile ride, with a long dirt section south of Tucson; the Box canyon loop. It was stellar, and after 6 hrs on the bike I was still feeling awesome. Yesterday was another big day… along ride down the coffee shop 15 min from here, with some cappuccino intervals. Then it was a little nostalgia with football night in ‘merica. My grandpa (who I am staying with down here) was a professional coach for his whole career and won the Super Bowl with the ’85 Bears. His younger brother also lives in town, as does my aunt and her family. So needless to say we had the making for a good ‘ole American football afternoon. I love watching the game, but really have nothing invested in the teams playing, nor can I get excited enough to start jumping up and down, screaming at a TV!

It’s been incredible to be down here over the past couple weeks. I feel like for the first time since September I have rhythm to my life. As I had mentioned before, last fall was a physical and emotional rollercoaster. I barely kept my head above water. Being down here with some direction, good books, time to reflect and meditate has been so incredibly healing. I’ve been blessed with what has been an outrageously rewarding and exciting 5 years in Bozeman. I cherish the memories, friends, experiences and knowledge I have gained. Its indescribable; and it will still take me a long time to realize what it really all means.

I’m opening a new chapter in my life… I’m a college graduate, and really entering my professional career. I wouldn’t go as far as to say that I’m in the real world yet, because lets be serious I ride my bike for a living. I’m moving in a new direction… I don’t know if I’ll stay in Bozeman after this season. I love it there, but maybe I want to be somewhere more conducive to my cycling pursuits… Bend, Seattle, Santa Cruz… Durango maybe. On the immediate horizon I’m more or less moving to Switzerland for the season. BMC is getting an apartment set up for me in Valais, and I will be spending pretty much my whole season racing over there. It will be weird flying to Sea Otter in April… from Europe, and returning to Europe. I doubt I’ll make it back to Bozeman during that trip. Ill be speaking French… imagine that. Assuming this Rosetta Stone thing works like they say it aught to…