A preview of next season?

This weekend was the end of the year banquet for the old team. Same people, same bad food, and now I am done with that. It feels nice to know I moving on to a team where I can race some big events. The local stuff is all fine and good, but I can't survive on IP crits. I need something more, and I am going to get it next season. Hopefully I am ready for it.

Sunday was Como. I had a recovery week so on Sunday I was clear to hit the gas, just a little. The front group has been moving pretty good for the last two weeks, and I have been hanging back just a bit, not wanting to push it right now. Well yesterday was a day to let loose a little. The pace wasn't fast, just steady which was good. We got over the Cooks and on the way down into Santiago Canyon, some guy comes flying past motorpacing behind a BMW motorcycle. We all got on. "He" was Floyd Landis. Floyd is out at local rides often, but he was training yesterday. Flyod recently signed with a new team, OUCH Medical. It is mostly the former HealthNet boys, plus Flyod. Anyway, we got on the flats, and were strung out at 42mph. Finally someone gave up on his wheel and he pulled away from us. We went back to riding our paceline through the canyon. I hit the gas a few times on the Dump climb, but there was someone on me each time, so I dropped 4 or 5 spots back and sat in over the top. MJ and some other guy were just 10 seconds up on us, but I didn't want to be the guy who dragged the entire group up to them, so we let them dangle. I got refueld at the meeting point and tore out of there for the second half of my ride. Put in 75 miles in 3.5 hours. Not bad, I was going to do about 75 miles, but I figured it would take me around 4 hours. Guess not.

So Floyd was looking really smooth and good. I am stoked to see him back out training, and can't wait to see him race this next season. The bad news for the big teams in the country is that, if they hope to win any stage races this year they better sign some better racers. I can tell you right now Floyd is going to destroy people next year domestically. I would pick him to win just about any stage race in the country. Time to really start training.

It's on for next season

Now that the team has been decided on, it's time to get to work on the fitness. So what team is it you ask? Liquid Cycling. Yes I will race with the water boys next season. The team is really shaping up nicely for next season, and even if we only hit half of the big races we are looking at I will be a happy Travis. That reminds me, I need to renew my license, and give them my new team's name. I would hate to see all those valuable point (of which there are none), go to teh wrong club.

Speaking of the old club, the year end banquet is this coming weekend. One more apperance to make, and then I will be done with the ShoAir kids for while. I know I won't be racing pro1 forever, so I will keep those contacts strong, as some day (prob sooner rather than later) I will be out there battling it out as an old man. I know I have at least 2 more season of pro1 in me, but after that I will be ready to race shorter distances and not go AS fast. That is not to say that the old men aren't really fast, but they are fast over a shorter distance, which is nice some times. At the end of the day all of those guys are good people and I would be stoked to race with them again in the future. Having said that I fully plan on drilling it a little bit harder every time I see them in a p12 event.

What else is happening? Not too much. Halloween has come and gone without too much to derail my winter time efforts, but Halloween is just the start. Next is a bday, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, and then the my personal hell of winter time, the trade shows. The shows themselves aren't bad, it's the timing. I am right in the middle of pushing my winter training to get ready for the start of the season, and BAM there is a two week cluster F of travel and work and time off the bike. The goal this season is to hit a peak a little later, so I won't stress on that time too much, and be ready for the built in break from the bike.