After having a slight hiatus and mid-season break from blogging I am back! It was a whirlwind of a last month or two where I raced in the Tour of the Gila, Mutual of Enumclaw, and Mount Hood Cycling Classic. Each race was notable with their distinctive stage characteristics including: a time trial, crit, and road race or two. In each event I had a goal to try and make the break or front group to sprint it out for a decent result. I found myself in a break with 7 laps to go in the Gila crit, made the front selection in Enumclaw to place 6th in the road race, and rode on for 23rd place in the Hood Classic stage 4 where the field was slowly whittled down in the three summits road race.
As well as having my break from blogging I took a bit of a vacation from the bike as well where I traveled south to San Francisco. It was a bit difficult leaving the steed behind but the main purpose was visiting the Stanford Medical Center but also to tour around the city to refresh the mind and body. Not to alarm anyone, but the medical visit was to check on my heart to make sure everything is working smoothly. Valves are looking good, heart thickness is within normal ranges, and the resting and stress echo’s were passed with flying colors.
During my time downtown I took a gander at the numerous piers beginning with Pier 1 and strolling up to Pier 39 or more commonly known as Fisherman’s Wharf. My first objective of the day was to find a great, GREAT, bowl of clam chowder as that is one of my weaknesses in coastal towns. I eventually found myself in line at the Boudin Bakery where I sampled an Anchor Brewery stout and dived into a soft sourdough bread bowl of New England clam chowder. Needless to say, I was very satisfied after stuffing myself and had an increased boost of energy to get lost in the numerous neighborhoods of San Fran.
As I crested one of the many hills in downtown I began noticing bands of the Italian colors painted on every street light. I realized I stumbled upon Little Italy and eventually into an Illy Café where I had a killer cappuccino partnered with some fresh Tiramisu. So good!
After savoring the frothy concoction and coffee inspired dessert I walked my way into another mouthwatering situation, Italian gelato. Oh dear! An older couple, stationed behind the limited selection of creamy and dense ice cream, scooped me up some delicious coffee and stracciatela. I had no concern for the heat melting my little cup of goodness as it only took a couple minutes to devour the authentic creation. Finally, I was full! I walked it off a bit more touring around the outer edges of China town, the financial district, and visiting the Giants baseball stadium. It was a great few days in the sun and I really appreciated Dan and his wife Michy letting me crash in the guest bedroom. Thanks guys!
When I returned back to Bend, it was time to get a bit more serious and I started ramping up the training in preparation for my travels to Belgium. Before heading across the pond and getting to ahead of myself, I was honored to be a groom’s man for my best friend Tom Segal. Having been friends with him, and his now wife Sarah, I was super excited to finally see them tie the knot. I had a blast supporting them and catching up with everyone else that attended. Seeing parents, family, friends, new faces, and dancing the night away in beautiful Fall River was a nice lead in to traveling abroad where I will be based in Oostkamp, Belgium for the next few months with the Geox-Fuji Test Team.
Stay bookmarked as I will have my first international blog update after racing a UCI 1.2 on Sunday. Can’t wait!
