Monday, October 8, 2007

THREE DAYS LEFT OF CALM...

Yes, three days left here in The Bay Area! Again today we had an exquisite day - sunny, warm, and even the Blue Angels flying above us ! Doesn't get much better than that!

Next wednesday at 3:45am I am out the door to say goodbye to all my friends here as well as my kitty, Super Mega Duper, who has been staring at you from the blog. By the way, he has a new girlfriend. She almost looks just like him.

For the last few days i've been really appreciating my time here while looking forward to going back to Belgium for the cyclo-cross "world tour." To help in my transition, I got to spend yesterday with Johan who is visiting from Belgium and hear stories about his homeland. I even got to practice a few words in dutch like "Smakelijk" before our meals and "alstublieft" when i hand him something so I don't completely forget everything i learned in my last trips there.


Of all the challenging aspects of traveling back and forth between belgium and here (besides trying to figure out which clothes stay and which go) , I would say the most annoying is having to get back into a routine again. I know bike racers aren't supposed to be "creatures of habit" but i do admit i really love waking up in the same bed, to the same breakfast, to the same training roads, and even to the same fleet of bikes! Oh, on a side note regarding fleet of bikes, I rode the Ahrens Whole Shot at tempo on some seriously technical cyclo-cross terrain and it felt like an extension of me! I have never felt like a bike was more perfectly suited for cyclo-cross AND for my agressive riding style as my trusty chocolate brown & pink plaid Vanderkitten Ahrens mobile!

Tonight is bike accessory night. I will spend the next two hours in the garage going through every bike part and accessory i've accumulated over the past years in hopes of figuring out what to keep in the garage, what to give away, what to take and what to take with me. Fun.

Tomorrow is clothing night. Again, i have to go through every piece of clothing to determine what category above it falls in. My goal is to have all packing done by tuesday morning so i can sit back and relax the night before i fly. That's the goal, anyway! Time will tell...

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

have a good trip and good luck racing!

Anonymous said...

the cx storm has already hit portland, or. pretty hard. good luck out there!

Anonymous said...

have a safe trip and kick ass!

chocolate brown and pink plaid... brown and pink... brown and pink...

Philippe said...

Welcome in Belgium ! hope the best for you this season. For your comeback the weather is not to bad, of course it's not like Bay aera. Yes, good luck racing.

Anonymous said...

Good Luck babe! On Myspace, We got a press release from Vanderkitten and it looks great!

All those years ago. A far cry from falling off the bike because of sticky pedals!

-KA
P.S. when its over - Eat, Eat, Eat!

Anonymous said...

...best a luck to ya, kiddo...(ya shoulda done 'lion of fairfax') but none the less i'm hopin' ta see good solid euro results, along w/ great posts ta indulge us in flandrian mud n' craziness...
...all yer 'merican i-net pals 'll be here for ya...

...again, i admire the tough road ya chose ta ride...stay on it n' stay strong...

PEANUT said...

Thanks for all the comments! It is raining here in providence, RI. good prep for belgium - no offense Philippe!
Yeah, M-CoCo - dave of vanderkitten had to make sure the bike was ALL FEMALE!
BGW: it would have been fun to race local but i really needed NOT to start my season too early since i race through mid-february NONSTOP!!
Hi Kemal - the guy who got me into cycling way back when we all lived in NYC! What is the myspace address? And i will never forget my first ride on a bike when i borrowed your neon yellow road bike to do Tour of NY only to tip over at a stop sign in front of thousands of people. And yes, i still tip over periodically.

Anonymous said...

Opps; sorry for not responding

I set private settings... but here it is: http://www.myspace.com/nexush.

Hope the trip is going well!

-Ka