The past five days have been spent relaxing at altitude. I am up in Tahoe with Luke, my brother Greg, and his girlfriend Jordan. It is absolutely stunning up here and every time I’m in the mountains, I seem to automatically relax. After two hard weeks on the bike, I was ready for some downtime and most of my rides up here have been pretty easy. On Tuesday morning I am getting physiological testing done at UC Davis so until then, I am resting my legs. Physiological testing is somewhat traumatizing. I really hate VO2 Max tests with a passion… Having your nose clipped and breathing through a jacked up snorkel while pedaling at threshold is not ideal. I felt like I was drowning the last time I did it and wasn’t thrilled with my results. Now that I know what to expect, I’m hoping I can relax a bit more and show that test who’s boss!
I’m hoping to fit in a ride or two before I jet off to Europe on Thursday, leaving my bike behind. Luke and I are going to Austria, Slovenia, and Germany for three weeks! The first week will be all business with Luke playing in Q School and me possibly caddying (this depends upon whether or not I can behave myself). After that, we will be honeymooning (five months later) and ending our trip at Oktoberfest in Munich… Danger Danger! To be honest, I am really looking forward to three weeks off the bike. I have hardly had any days off since October when I crashed and was on crutches. I know I will probably go a bit crazy not being able to ride with the Swiss Alps surrounding me but I’m sure I will go on plenty of hikes and may even try running a few times if my coach lets me. Staying somewhat physically active will be important since I know I won’t be able to control my intake of pretzels, sausage, and Franziskaner Weissbier!
With next year’s plans still up in the air, it will be nice to get away. I have been pretty anxious worrying about what team I will be with for the 2013 season. I am really hoping to sign with a US team that does all of the major NRC races. I’m very happy with the results I achieved for my first year of racing but only time will tell if my efforts were good enough… Auf Wiedersehen for now!
Photos below: Tahoe & Mi Amira y yo
Have a great break , honeymoon, rest, wish you well