Rain and recovery

Woke up a little lethargic this morning, as expected after a few hard days, especially yesterday. Luckily, I was just doing an active recovery day today. Especially due to the weather today, 14 degrees and rain. Nice, traditional Belgie weather. Slept in until 8 this morning, made a nice cafe to go with my toast for breakfast, checked the email and other internet news, then headed off to the general store to pick up some milk to make some yogurt. No one here believes that I make my own yogurt (thanks John), so it's time. I miss the yogurt and cereal in the mornings. Got nice and warmly dressed up for my ride today, 1.5 hours of bakery riding. Started off by riding in to Oostkamp (home of my favorite bakerij) for a bread run; 1 loaf of multi grain (no sourdough today, only on Tuesday & Thursday) and a small loaf of sweet bread. Dropped the the bread off at home then headed out exploring. All in the rain, and it poured at times. That brings up the first rule of Belgian cycling, always carry a rain cape of some kind. No matter what the weather is when you start, it can change very quickly. And always seems to be raining somewhere in Belgium. After arriving home, it was time for a nice hot shower and some warm clothes, and then a nice warm lunch of leftover pizza, and some chicken noodle soup with fresh sweet bread. I'm not sure I'll ever be able to go back to regular store bread. Nice ride today, even with the rain, felt good to spin the legs and do some high cadence work to flush the legs. With most of us at the house racing this weekend, most riders are beginning to prepare for the weekend ahead, and awaiting Bernard's return from Albuquerque. As for me, I race my first European race Sunday, easy on Monday, and Testing with the Doc on Tuesday. After that, I will pass my results on to Bernard, who will then finalize my training schedule and racing schedule. I'm just looking forward to my next long ride day when I'll be heading off to ride more climbs of the Tour of Flanders. As for now, I'm back to researching new shoes (considering Keir's route of Rocket 7) as my current ones are beginning to collapse. But, should (knock on wood) last through this season. All for now from rainy Belgium