Rain, wind and some race schedule action

For those who have not yet seen my new kits... Say hello to Cap'n America

Got my training/race schedule this morning after our team house cleaning. Looks like I'm doing something right, got myself slotted in for 2 UCI 1.12 level races this coming week. For those not involved in Cycling, this ranking means that the races are very hard. haha. I will race Schaal Schoeters on Monday (156km) and then Pittem on Saturday (164km). Gonna be a hard week, hopefully the weather will improve somewhat as it is again cold and rainy here in Belgium, and both these races apparently have some decent cobbled sections. Along with this race schedule, I also received my training schedule for the next little while, which involves a decent amount of rest in addition to these races this week. Probably a good thing ;). On the other hand, it has also given me some wings in training and has made me work more closely on doing the little things right to make sure my body is at 100% for these coming races. I will be racing against the big boys after all. Expected to be there are of course many of the top Belgian continental teams and the continental wings of several top Pro Tour teams. Wicked! As for my training today, 2.5 hours with big gear sprints every 15 minutes. Weather, 13 and pissing rain. The nice thing about this kind of rain is that it soaks you within about 15 minutes, so after that you are already wet, why not just keep going? Plus, the hot shower and warm food feel that much better after a few hours in the Belgian rain. Needless to say, my tan lines have been suffering as of late, but at least I'm not drowning in my own sweat back home in the traditional Ottawa humidity! I much prefer this Belgian weather, though I hope it returns to ~20 and sunny soon so I can strip off the long sleeve jerseys and leg warmers. Best of luck to my boys of the Echelon Project as they make the trip/adventure down to the Tour of Martinique. I know it'll be one helluva experience for them. Follow that along at http://wqwechelon.blogspot.com/. I for one will be taking an easy afternoon, and having a nice big dinner before settling down for another movie night here at the Cycling Center. Not sure whats on the bill yet, but hell - what do I care? Good luck to those of you racing Canadian Nationals coming up as well, I hope to see some nice new jerseys around Ottawa when (if) I come home...